“We?” Cole spat. His eyes were wild, and his chest heaved up and down. “We?!”

Gene grew quiet, pausing as his eyes lingered on Cole for a moment. “Well, me and a few others. We lost Stephen and Jimmy last year. They didn’t know when to keep their mouths shut about something.”

“So not all of the elders are involved?”

There was a beat of silence.

It extended to another minute.

Then I got it. Gene wasn’t as connected as he’d made it sound. As soon as I figured it out, Cole must have too, because he started laughing.

“You’re an idiot, Gene,” he said. “A complete idiot. Have you thought this through?”

“You think you’re so smart, Cole? You never would’ve figured this out. Ever.” He waved a finger at him, a gleam of pride coming to his eyes. “If it had been Carter on that stairwell just now, he would’ve gotten it the second he saw Emma being held against her will. He would’ve launched an attack then and there. Hell, we’d probably all be dead if it’d been him and not you.”

He puffed up his chest, as if he were boasting. “But no, lucky for us, Carter’s still being questioned. The police want to pin everything on him. Who do you think he’ll come to for help? To make sure nothing comes back to him? Me. The only thing that’ll keep him out is…”

His beady eyes swiveled back to me. “…his woman. Thanks to the Bartels wiping out most of his security guards, we were able to scoop you up. We knew right where you were, and for once, you weren’t protected. I can’t let this opportunity go to waste.”

“You’re sick, Gene.”

He shrugged. “No matter how much Carter tried to push you onto us, your place was deemed irrelevant the day your father died.”

“So you’re with the Bartels? You’re working with them?”

“What?” His eyebrows lifted, but he was grinning. He enjoyed this. I saw it now—it was almost time. He bent down and opened a drawer.

I sucked in my breath.

He reached inside.

No…

He pulled out a gun.

“Are you? Are you working with them, Gene?” Cole’s voice rose.

He was stalling. I got it then. My whole body felt drenched with ice. He couldn’t fight them? Is that why he was stalling for time? If he couldn’t—I couldn’t. I wanted to see out that window again. I wanted to pretend I could find an escape route. Fighting was pointless. They had guns. One shot and everything was done. My pulse picked up. My vision began to swim around.

Gene had started to come around the desk, with that gun in hand. He was checking the clip.

“Are you?” Cole demanded.

He slammed the clip back into place and stopped, only a few feet from me. He held the gun like it was a phone. Like it was nothing to him. It was everything to me.

He smiled at me, but murmured to Cole, “You don’t think I know what you’re doing? You think I’m that dumb? Waste his time. Ask him his agenda. Ask him anything. Demand it. Make him mad. Make him upset. He won’t think right. He’ll start talking. He won’t know what he’s doing. That’s your plan, right? Wasting my time, trying to stall. For what?” He waved the gun between us. “You’re both going to die. You have to.”

Talk, Emma! A voice screamed in my head. My throat wouldn’t work. I couldn’t get any noise out.

A high-pitched laugh started to build in my throat—no, that was my head. I could hear myself laughing. This was hilarious. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Then I walked away from myself. I saw myself sitting there. She’d been screaming at me, but she waved her hands in the air now. Skipping. She was going away.

I began to slip away. My mind was leaving the room.

I heard Gene’s voice from a distance. “That’d make everything better, would it? No. I’m not working with the Bartels. If they got some information, then…that’s a different story. No, Cole. After you’re dead, the Bartels will be wiped out. Carter’s already eliminated half of them. They’re hurting. They’re wounded. You know how an animal can be, if they’re backed against a corner? They strike out, and maybe not in the smartest way.” He winked at me. “Maybe they kill someone they shouldn’t?”

Me. The Bartels would be blamed for our deaths. I swallowed. Carter would buy it. He had no reason not to.

The gun was so close to my head. He was going to do it. Any second. My heartbeat raced. It was almost deafening, but I could still hear him. Close your eyes, Emma. I tried to make myself do that. I didn’t want to see it happen, but my eyelids weren’t obeying me. They remained open, almost glued to my face to keep from closing. I fought against myself. I felt my muscles coiling. My mind was leaving, but my body wanted to attack.

“If you kill her—” Cole seemed to snap. “You say you want Carter back in, and killing us will do that, but it’s only going to launch a manhunt. Carter won’t buy your story that the Bertals killed her. He’ll find all of them, and he’ll question every single one. He won’t be satisfied until he knows for sure who killed her. He’ll find you. He will.” He softened his tone as he finished, “You’re cementing your own murder if you kill her.”

“No, Cole. You’re wrong. Carter will come back to us. He will lead us and fine, if he needs to know the truth, I’ll make something up. I’ll pin her blood and hair on someone so he can kill him, knowing he’s avenged his woman.”