Page 36 of Perfect Liar
I grabbed at his arm. I scratched. I kicked.
Suddenly, he lost his grip on me.
I pulled my face out of the water.
But he lurched forward, grabbing me, putting the blade against my throat again.
I gasped for air as salt blistered my lungs.
The clouds then rolled out, letting me see what had distracted him…
Will stood just several feet away.
His posture was tall and erect, his stance wide, and his fists clenched into weapons. The muscles in his jaws tensed. His eyes flashed with the promise of death.
Will was a dangerous storm in his own right.
As I locked on to his stare, terror fled from my soul, and those raging flashes of emotion in his eyes calmed me. I was repulsive, sick for feeling that way. Maybe my mind had completely broken. Either way, the fire in his eyes was my lifeline…his darkness was my salvation.
But still, he was so far away.
Will’s voice boomed above even the thundering waves.
“Focus on me, Elle. Look at only me,” he shouted.
Cloud cover rolled back in, thicker this time, and Will became a dark silhouette.
The intensity of the hit man’s desperation grew palpable.
“I will slit her fucking throat,” he shouted at Will.
I searched the darkness until I found Will’s eyes again.
He nodded at me.
Strength climbed from my quivering stomach up to my heart, and I slammed my elbow into the man’s stomach.
He grunted and grabbed his abdomen in reflex, losing his grip on the knife. It fell away from my throat and sunk into the water.
I pulled away from his body, but he still held on to my hair.
He yanked my head back.
“I can snap your neck just as easily, bitch,” he spat.
And then a sharp pop echoed through the night air. Then another. Suppressed gunshots.
The man jerked and contorted…he’d taken the second bullet in his leg.
Will shouted over his shoulder to the beach.
“Hold, goddamn it!”
Using my shoulders, the hit man steadied himself and shielded his body with mine. He squeezed my neck with his arms.
I couldn’t breathe.
God, I couldn’t draw in any breath.