Brigid tried to angle away from Josh, her eyes darkening. Her shoulders tensed.

Raider gave a subtle shake of his head. If she tried to fight, the gun would go off. His hands curled into fists. He couldn’t get to Josh before he could shoot her. “Let her go. Whatever you want, I’ll make sure you get.”

Jonny smiled, revealing a chipped tooth. “Oh, we’ll get what we want. Tell the farmer he has twenty-four hours, and we’d better have that damn journal. All evidence, in fact.” With that, he dragged Brigid to the SUV and shoved her in the back seat, following as Josh started the engine and whipped a U-turn to speed down the private driveway.

Raider ran to his rental to find the tires had been slashed. Damn it. He looked wildly around. Where the hell was Sean?

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Brigid craned her neck to peer out the back of the SUV, but smoke from the burning barn hampered visibility. She shoved against Jonny P, who scooted over but kept the gun pointed at her. “Did you kill my father?” she choked out.

“You’d better hope not,” Jonny said, wiping rain off his forehead. “It’s not like the old coot hasn’t been shot before.”

Brigid shoved her hair away from her face. Did she have time to open the door and jump out before he could fire off a shot?

“I will shoot you,” Jonny said, easily reading her thoughts. “Just behave yourself, and you’ll be fine when your dad gives us the journal.” He reached up with his free hand and knocked Josh in the shoulder. “Good plan, buddy.”

There was too much to decipher. Why the hell had she taken off the damn camera necklace? “Plan?”

Jonny nodded. “It’s all about leverage. We knew Sean had a daughter, so we’ve had the regional airport staked out for a year in case you showed up.” His blue eyes raked her. “You’re not a good daughter. This took way too long.”

“Screw you,” she retorted, trying not to feel vulnerable in her wet T-shirt. “You’ve been here before, right?”

“Yeah,” Jonny snorted. “Sean finally blipped on our radar a few months ago by showing up at a county planning hearing to stop some development. Dumbass.”

She swallowed. “What’s your plan now? I’m not getting on a plane with you.” Her voice remained steady, but anxiety spiraled through her, making her throat scratchy. These guys were killers, and she was unarmed. She didn’t even have on shoes.

“You’ll get where we want you to get,” Jonny said.

Okay. This was crazy. “My dad isn’t in the mob,” she said, eyeing the stalks flying by outside the car.

“He was,” Jonny said. “That loyalty shouldn’t ever go away, right, Josh?”

Josh didn’t twitch. Did the guy even talk?