I stopped myself from laughing out loud. I didn’t want to give him any reason to shoot me.
“You can kill me,” I said, bluffing. “But if you do, the entire Steel fortune goes up in flames.”
“That’s a goddamned lie and you know it. We’ve seen your father’s will.”
“Maybe you have and maybe you haven’t. In Colorado, wills aren’t a matter of public record. But even if you have seen my father’s will, you haven’t seen mine. Maybe it escaped your notice, but my father is dead. Everything belongs to me now, and my brothers and sister and I decided long ago what to do with it should any harm come to any one of us. We have things in place with our attorneys. Contracts that override any stipulations that we might be forced to sign at gunpoint. Ironically, we made that decision because of you and what you did to our brother.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Maybe I am, and maybe I’m not. Do you really want to take that chance? Kill me if you want, but you won’t see one penny from the Steels.”
“I have had enough Steels to last a fucking lifetime. You people ruined my life.”
“You ruined your own life. You abducted and raped my brother, raped your own niece, tried to kill your girlfriend for insurance money.”
His eyes got a little rounder. Only slightly, but I had rattled him.
“Oh, yeah. I know all about you, Mathias. You’re legendary around here.”
“I don’t know who the hell you think I am, but you’ve got the wrong name.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not that good of a liar.”
He moved toward me and nudged the barrel of the gun against my heart. I tried hard not to piss myself.
“Not a good liar? Do you think I’m lying now? I’m going to kill you, Steel. I’m going to put a bullet into your heart.”
Wendy surged forward then and plowed into the masked man, making him drop his gun. The weapon slid across the tile floor.
“You will not hurt him! I love that man!”
Before I could think about what was happening, I lunged toward the gun. My hands were clammy, but I got hold of the slick weapon.
I stood over the two of them. “Don’t either of you fucking move.”
The masked man got to his feet and grabbed Wendy, putting her in a headlock. “You drop that gun, motherfucker, or I’ll twist her head right off.”
“You think I care?”
“Brad, please!” Wendy cried. “Don’t let him hurt me. I’m carrying your child!”
Jesus Christ, this woman was deranged. I looked around the house. There had to be a landline here somewhere, but I hadn’t been able to find one. I had no cell phone.
“Either one of you have a phone?” I asked.
“You think I’m giving my phone to you?” the man said.
“I think you’re giving your phone to me,” I said. “Otherwise I’m going to put a bullet in your brain.” I touched the barrel of the gun to his forehead.
The man was cold as ice. No reaction at all.
Until I heard the cock of a pistol behind me.
“Drop the gun, Joe.”
That voice I recognized. Tom Simpson. I had wondered how Mathias had known which door I would try to use to exit this house from hell. Now I knew. He hadn’t. Simpson had been waiting at the other door.
“Nice to see you again,” I said, although I hadn’t turned and I couldn’t see him. I didn’t dare budge with a gun pointed at me.