“Hopefully, she’ll go nice and quiet once her father’s body is found. If not, she can join him in a fucking hole in the ground!”
Dana struggled, more against his words than his strength. She couldn’t stand the thought of poor Jennifer going through any more pain.
“Stop it,” Griffin muttered, tightening his grip. “I should just snap your neck right now.”
Dana saw tension flow across Rux’s body like a wave. He didn’t move, but she could tell he was like a coiled spring.
“Griffin, give up. What are you going to do, make all of us disappear?”
Griffin laughed heartily. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I have guys on the island, still. They are moving Dennis right now. If one of you should happen to get free and make it back to the party, none of my guests would believe you.”
Griffin paused to chuckle and shake Dana by her neck again. Rux growled, regaining Griffin’s attention before he killed Dana out of sheer carelessness.
“I can do anything I want out here. All I have to do is claim one of you had some kind of episode, then I can get you carried away by a medical helicopter.”
Griffin adjusted his feet, tightening his grip on Dana.
“Or I can pin the whole business on you. It wouldn’t be hard. A scattering of dead bodies and one person covered in evidence. It’s got a nice ring of poetic justice to it.”
Dana struggled, trying to break Griffin’s grip. He almost lost his hold on the gun and swore as he choked her even harder than before.
“On your knees, now!” screamed Griffin. “My guys will be back soon, and I’m going to make sure every last one of you disappears! I can do anything I want on my island!”
To Dana’s horror, Rux knelt on the ground. He put his hands behind his head, looking meekly at Griffin.
“Let her go,” he said softly. Griffin laughed again, low and taunting.
“You know I can’t. The only decision I have to make now is who dies first.”
Dana’s heart sped up, and she trembled all over. Cold horror soaked through her as she thought about what might happen next.
I can’t stand to see Rux die!
Panic raced through her, a bone-deep, blood-racing terror. It wasn’t until this moment that she realized what Rux meant to her.
I never told him properly. This can’t be happening!
“You know, as fun as it would be to kill your woman in front of you, I think you have to go first. You’re too much of a liability.”
Griffin raised the gun. Dana went into a frenzy of kicking and scratching, desperate to throw off his aim if she couldn’t get free. She heard the gun go off, and the scream that spiraled out of her was loud enough to break the sky above them.
She had never been so afraid in her whole life.
Suddenly, she was thrown to the ground. Her breath blasted out of her, leaving her in a trembling, messy pile. She rolled over, trying to see what was happening.
Rux was grappling with Griffin. Obviously, he had leapt and run at him when he fired, knowing he was going to get shot either way. It looked like Rux had decided to run straight into the bullet and attempt to take Griffin out, even if it killed him.
She couldn’t get her breath back to scream. She could barely move. They grappled with each other, twisting back and forth. Rux kept a firm hold on Griffin’s wrist, so he couldn’t use the gun.
Blood poured down Rux’s chest, the bullet hole somewhere around his ribs.
I have to get the gun.
She didn’t know where the thought came from; it was like divine intervention. Courage flooded her, and she sat up, getting her feet under her so she could spring at Griffin’s back.
He roared with rage as she landed against him, knocking him forward. Her hand joined Rux’s on Griffin’s wrist, and both of them squeezed as hard as they could, their minds and bodies in perfect sync.
The gun dropped from his hand just as Griffin threw himself backward to dislodge Dana from his back.