Tazzy lifted her chin higher. “He’s smarter than you give him credit for, stronger too.”
“He would have to be.” The General laughed. “Sabre Security and the imbeciles who work there have been lucky in the past. Unfortunately for you, their luck has run out. Yours isn’t going to fare much better, I’m afraid. You just remember, this is entirely Jaxon’s fault.”
“How? Why are you doing this? What possible good will killing me do you?” She had to keep him talking, buy time for her Daddy to reach her.
The General’s face twisted into a snarl. He stepped closer, stabbing her chest with the point of the gun. “Everything that’s gone wrong in my life for the past eight years is because of Jaxon. He cost me my career. Lost me all the power I’ve worked so hard to gain. He turned my own daughter against me. He has no idea what real power looks like. But he will soon.”
“You are delusional. Jaxon was in jail all that time because you put him there with lies.”
The General shook his head slowly, the way a king might regard a peasant who had just offered a ridiculous suggestion at court.
“It was because of Jaxon that Sabre came into being. He started it all. It was all his doing.”
Tazzy stopped talking. It was pointless. General was indeed batshit crazy. A cold tendril of fear snaked into her chest and wrapped around her heart.
The General’s diatribe was interrupted when his driver lumbered in carrying four large red cans of gasoline. He set them down with a heavy thud and went back outside. He made three trips in all, bringing in a total of twelve cans.
“Start upstairs and work your way down. I want this place to burn to the ground.”
While Reggie was pouring gas upstairs, the General kept talking. The man loved to hear his voice, now didn’t he? He went on and on, as if he were giving a campaign speech. “I had plans. I was going to be governor. I was going to run this town the way it should be run. But Jaxon and his little band of heroes had to interfere. Just had to stick their noses where they didn’t belong. Just couldn’t leave it be. If they’d joined forces with me, they’d all be rich, and we’d be running this whole state by now.”
Tazzy’s fear rose to a new level. This man was insane. No, the man was totally unhinged. “Jaxon is ten times the man you are. And Sabre would never help you.”
The General’s hand tightened on the gun. His face flushed red. “You stupid little bitch. Of course, they wouldn’t help me. That’s why you’re here now. If you want to blame someone for what’s happening now, blame your lover and all the other men at Sabre. It’s going toplease me a great deal to bring him down. I just wish I were going to be here to witness it.”
Reggie clanked back into the room with six empty gas cans. He poured the contents of the last few cans around the edges of the room they occupied, then stood quietly by the door. The General barely glanced at him.
“You should take comfort in knowing that your death will play an important role,” the General told Tazzy, his tone almost conversational now. “When I leave, an anonymous tip will be sent to that ignorant detective, Ezra Harper. I’m sure he’ll let Jaxon know where you are. By my calculations, Jaxon should arrive just in time to hear your last scream. At least I hope so. Knowing you died such a hideous death, all because of him, will break him in ways nothing else could. I’d much rather he suffer for life than give him a quick death. It’s so much more—” the General waved his hand in the air as if searching for a word— “poetic, don’t you think?”
Tazzy’s heart pounded, and she wanted her Daddy, but she forced herself to meet his eyes. “Is that his motorcycle I hear?”
The General jumped and looked around the room as if Jaxon might jump out at him. Then, running to the nearest window, he peered outside, keeping the gun trained on Tazzy.
Tazzy laughed. “You’re such a chicken. Just a big fat coward, who’s too scared to face Jaxon yourself.”
The General’s face twisted into a savage snarl, lips peeling back from his teeth as pure, unfiltered rage burned in his eyes, turning his features into something feral and ugly. The gun shook in his hand.
Tazzy closed her eyes and waited for the bullet to hit.
The General didn’t pull the trigger. “Maybe you’re right, but I’m the coward with the gun. And, no, I don’t need to see Jaxon in person to watch him or you suffer.” He pointed to a camera in the corner. “Not in person, anyway.”
Tazzy’s breath caught as he took a silver lighter from his pocket and flicked it open. The small flame danced in the dim light. The General tossed the lighter onto a gasoline-soaked section of the carpetwell away from the doors. Tazzy rolled her eyes. Trust this asshole to leave himself an escape route.
Reggie opened the front door, letting in a rush of fresh air that only fed the growing flames. “We need to go, sir. The fire’s spreading fast.”
The General ignored him, keeping his eyes locked on Tazzy. “Tie her to that chair,” he said, pointing toward the breakfast table.
Reggie hesitated for half a second, then ran to do as the General ordered. Grabbing a wooden dining chair, he dragged it toward her.
Tazzy tried to pull away, but the General crossed to her and pressed the gun against her temple. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” He picked up a gas-stained rag and stuffed it into her mouth.
The driver yanked her arms behind the chair and wrapped thick rope around her wrists, pulling it so tight the fibers cut into her skin. He did the same to her chest and thighs, cinching the rope until she gasped in pain. The rough cords dug deep, biting into her flesh, even through her clothes, and pinning her in place.
Reggie straightened, breathing hard. “Sir, we really have to go. The smoke’s getting thick.”
The General’s voice turned icy. “So it is.”
He raised the gun and fired once into Reggie’s chest without hesitation.