SEE HIM DIE (13 page)

Don’t worry, baby. I got this
.

Randall reached beneath his jacket and retrieved a gun. Julie’s breath caught. “What’re you doing?”

“Protecting myself.”

She scanned the airfield. There was a small building, the office, she supposed. A truck and a car sat near the building. A plane stood on the asphalt runway. How odd the plane and asphalt looked surrounded by hundreds of acres of fields.

She prayed again that Blake would find them. If Randall got her on that plane…

Randall wrapped an arm around her waist and held her against him. He nudged her temple with the barrel of the gun. “Don’t do anything foolish, Julie.”

Lamar headed for the office or whatever it was while the other man, gun drawn, rushed up the steps of the plane.

A burst of gunshots had her wheeling around to see where they’d come from.

Randall jerked her back toward the SUV.

Lamar shouted something she didn’t understand and then there were more gunshots. What was happening? She tried to wriggle free of Randall’s hold as he reached for the driver’s side door.

“Keep fighting me and I will pull this trigger,” Randall warned. He yanked the door open. “Get in and move over to the passenger seat.”

The windshield abruptly exploded, glass showered into the vehicle. Julie screamed.

“Drop the weapon, Barton.”

Blake!

Julie didn’t realize she’d said his name aloud until Randall gouged her with the gun.

“Unless you want to watch her die,” Randall cautioned, “I would suggest you stay back and allow us to drive away.”

Julie twisted, trying to see. Blake was behind them. Her heart pounded and hope dared to bloom. Had the authorities finally believed their story?

Randall pulled her around in front of him as a shield when he turned to face Blake.

Julie’s heart dipped. She couldn’t stop looking at Blake. His face was battered from his fight with the guards this morning. She wanted to run to him, but Randall had the muzzle of the gun boring into her skull.

“Your bodyguards are dead. Your pilot is out of commission and backup is on the way,” Blake explained. “There’s nowhere for you to go.”

“So this is it.”

Julie stared at the man holding the weapon to her head. Something had changed in his voice.

“You’re done, Barton,” Blake promised. “If you want to walk out of here alive, put down the gun and let her go.”

Randall laughed. “My brother always said that one day a woman would be my downfall.” He shook his head. “He couldn’t have known that woman would be his wife.” Randall forced her face closer to his, the gun nudged under her chin now. “I should have let you go to prison for his murder, sweetheart, but I wanted you for myself.” He shook his head. “You,” he said to Blake, “I should have recognized the first time we met. How heroic of you to try and avenge your brother’s death.” He laughed. “I suppose you’ve accomplished what no one before you could. You’ve momentarily paralyzed the Barton empire.”

“Let her go,” Blake urged, “and maybe we can work something out before the others show up.”

“Do you really think me such a fool?” Randall jabbed the gun harder into her throat. Julie whimpered. “I’ll take my chances with a jury. You may have the upper hand at the moment, Detective, but you will not win. Regrettably, I won’t have sweet Julie, but neither will you.”

Julie suddenly understood what Randall was going to do.

She grabbed him by the crouch and squeezed as hard as she could. He roared. His arm loosened the slightest bit and she jerked free of his hold. She hit the ground.

The sound of weapons firing bombarded the air.

She jerked at the sound.

Silence settled around her. She opened her eyes. When had she closed them?

Randall lay a few feet away, his eyes open and staring at her. The hole in the center of his forehead leaked blood.

Blake
.

Before she could scramble up, he was lifting her into his arms. Cops were suddenly everywhere.

“Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head, “I’m okay.” She didn’t want to think what would have happened if Randall had managed to evade the authorities. What if Blake had picked one of the other SUVs?

She stared up at the man who had proven more than once that he was her hero. “How did you know which SUV I was in?”

“Lutz put a tracking device in the cell phone he gave you.”

Julie threw her arms around his neck. “Remind me to thank your partner.”

“All I could think about was getting you away from him.”

“I’m glad you did. He intended to force me to marry him.”

“He can’t hurt you now.”

Julie glanced back at Randall one last time. It was finally over. She shifted her attention to the man she loved. Now that his brother’s killer was dead, would he go back to Atlanta? “I guess you’ll go see your family now.” He would surely want to give them this news in person.

“A few days off would be good.”

Julie was back to square one. She needed a decent place to live and a job. She supposed Marie still needed a waitress. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. Julie’s heart, however, would never be the same.

“There’s just one problem.”

Julie managed a wobbly smile. “Besides all this?” More cops had arrived. Lieutenant Cannon was yelling Blake’s name.

“I can’t go anywhere without you.”

Her heart welled into her throat. “You want me to go with you?”

“I’d love for you to meet my family.”

Julie smiled. “I’d love to meet them.”

“Good, because they’ll definitely want to meet the woman who owns my heart.”

Julie’s breath hitched. “What’re you saying?”

“I’m saying, I love you.”

Happiness filled her and she couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m glad because I love you, too.”

He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Why don’t we leave right now?”

She slid her hand into his. “I’m ready.”

No one noticed as they slipped away. Blake’s boss would be looking for them, but they would be long gone. His partner could handle things here. Julie was ready to move on with her life. She intended for Blake to be the center of it.

He squeezed her hand as they walked away. “I was thinking of asking you to move in with me.”

“We have a lot to learn about each other,” she warned.

He stopped and pulled her into his arms. “I can’t wait to learn every little thing about you.”

Julie kissed him. She wanted to do this at least once every day for the rest of her life.

Want to meet FBI Special Agent Collin MacBride? Read his story in SEE HER DIE! Just click 
here
! And don’t miss Debra Webb’s next romantic suspense with sexy CIA Agent Wyatt Murphy! WHAT SHE DOESN’T SEE, coming July 17, 2015! Click 
here
 to order!

DEBRA WEBB, born in Alabama, wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the military behind the Iron Curtain—and a five-year stint with NASA—that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then she has penned more than 100 novels including her internationally bestselling Colby Agency series. OBSESSION, her debut novel in her romantic thriller series, the Faces of Evil, propelled Debra to the top of the bestselling charts for an unparalleled twenty-four weeks and garnered critical acclaim from reviewers and readers alike. Don’t miss a single installment of this fascinating and chilling series!

Read all the Faces of Evil books!

OBSESSION

IMPULSE

POWER

RAGE

REVENGE

RUTHLESS

VICIOUS

SILENCE (A series prequel)

The Face of Evil (A short story)

VILE

HEINOUS

DEPRAVED

The Wedding (A short story)

The Dying Room (A Faces of Evil Novel)

Visit Debra at
www.debrawebb.com
. You can write to Debra at PO Box 10047, Huntsville, AL, 35801.