“Say your name for the police.”
She swallowed. “Kira. Kira Yassan.”
“The doctor here will die if I don’t get Alden Jenkins in here in the next ten minutes.”
“It’s going to take more time tha?—”
Stuart set the gun down and jabbed at the button on the display to hang up the phone. What he didn’t do was let go of her—or check that the call had ended—all while he maintained his punishing grip on her.
Kira grabbed for the gun.
He saw what she was doing.
Oh no.
He slammed down on her hand, his grip on the back of her neck tightening so that she cried out. White spots flashed at the edges of her vision.
He lifted the gun, her hand wrapped around the grip. His finger crushing hers on the hard metal of the weapon.
She gasped, tears running down her face. Think. But her mind refused to recall any kind of self-defense with all the pain swelling like bookends around her, pressing in and threatening to crush her.
“Stuart Parker, this is Rutherford.” His voice rang through the phone speaker. “Do not kill that woman. If you end her life, we will not hesitate to breach that room and take you out.”
His grip on her didn’t relax, not even slightly.
Kira gasped, and it sounded like a muffled cry.
“Let her go, Parker.”
He shifted, then kicked her away. Her fingers slid from under his around the gun, and she fell to the floor.
“Get me Jenkins.” He hung up the phone.
Kira took the chance to look at the door, but from the floor, she couldn’t see if anyone was in the hall. She stood and turned so her back wasn’t to Stuart. Not that it made her any less vulnerable to face him rather than have her back to him. But at least this way, whatever it was, she’d be able to see it coming.
She straightened, pain making itself known in her hand and on the back of her head. “Why do you want him?” Her voice shook and she sounded scared. Small. Kira cleared her throat. “What do you want with Jenkins?”
Stuart looked at her like she was something smeared on the bottom of his shoe. “I wanna kill him. What do you think?”
As soon as he did that, he was going to kill her. That’s what she thought. But she said, “I thought you wanted Frankie.”
“Oh, she’ll suffer. Don’t worry.”
“You can’t hurt her if you’re in prison for the rest of your life.”
That’s what he would get if he carried on with this. A judge wasn’t ever going to let him out. How could he think this would end well for him? It sounded to her like the plan had a lot of issues. And yet, he seemed convinced it was a sure thing.
“It isn’t me that’s gonna pay her a visit. That’s the deal.”
She frowned. “Who did you make a deal with?”
He rolled his eyes. “So many questions.”
“You’re going to kill me.” She saw the other guy look at her, but didn’t lose focus on Stuart. Amir just stood there, watching everything. “What does it matter if I know why or if you explain what is going on? I think I deserve to know.”
He chuckled. “Good one.”
The low regard he had for women was distressing, to say the least. Stuart thought anyone who wasn’t male didn’t get respect or deserve to have an opinion or be considered.