Too Close to Home: A Scarecrow and Mrs. King Continuing Story - Book 2

Chapter 27

Day 11, Friday evening

Outside the King House

"Lay the gun down and let go of my wife." Lee's tightly controlled voice dripped with the deadly self-confidence that came with knowing his ability to neutralize this vermin.

"Ah!" Tom turned, bringing Amanda around with him. "It's the hot-shot agent man come to save his damsel in distress."

Lee's jaw tightened, but his steely gaze never wavered from his target. "This is your only chance to walk out of this alive, Watson." He took several steps closer.

"You keep walkin', and I drop her right here in front of you."

The gun pressed harder against Amanda's temple. That had to hurt, and by the pinched look on her face, it probably did. Wanting to throw Watson off balance, Lee's eyes flickered to his wife. "I thought I told you to stay in the car?"

Amanda's eyes opened wider, but her fear didn't prevent her from playing along with Lee's misdirection. "I did stay in the car...I just...forgot to lock the door."

"Shut up!" Watson's nerves were on edge, and it was showing. "Just shut up!" He jerked Amanda back against his chest, using her as a shield. "I'll tell you what, Mr. Agent-man. You give me Jennifer, and I'll give you your wife. How's that."

Lee knew Jennifer would never make it out of Watson's clutches alive. "Not happenin', Tom. Now, let my wife go...gently."

Still standing behind the corner of Buck's house, Philip peeked around the corner watching the showdown between Lee and the guy who had a gun to his mom's head. It was all he could do to stay put, but he knew if he got involved, someone would wind up getting hurt or killed. Most likely his mom. As difficult as it was, for once he needed not to react to the emotions churning inside him. He had to stay put. Besides...he looked behind him at Jennifer...he had a job to do. He hadn't been able to save Melissa; he wasn't going to mess up this time.

His mom always said Lee was good at protecting her. He'd never understood what she meant before. Now, he wondered how many times the two of them had been in potentially deadly situations. Well, he sure hoped she was right. He couldn't help but notice Lee looked and sounded pretty wicked right now with that heater in his hands. It was a side of Lee he'd never seen before.

Glancing back at his mom, it dawned on him that the miscreant who held her hostage also had his baby brother or sister. A grudging desire to meet the little interloper came over him, taking him by surprise. Yeah. The guy was deader than dead if he hurt either of them. One thing he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt; Lee was feeling the same way.

"Come on, Tom," Lee continued trying to reason with the guy without giving away how much he knew about him. If Watson found out he had nothing to lose, Amanda and the baby were goners. "You know I can't let you take either of them."

"Wrong again, Agent-man. I'm taking at least one of them with me." He looked down at Amanda. "Maybe I could have a little fun with this one like I did with that lawyer broad. Of course, it looks like your lady would be a two-for-one deal."

The man's salacious grin curdled Lee's blood. His gut told him it was either Amanda or Watson. Given that scenario, there was no way Watson was going to leave here alive. He needed to get Amanda's attention.

"Valarie Collins was your work, was she?" Lee glanced over at Amanda thankful she was remaining calm and glad her eyes were trained on him. Using his supporting hand so it just looked like he was adjusting his grip, he tapped four fingers against his left hand once...twice and caught her eyes with his. She blinked twice; she'd gotten the message. "You know, we've been scratchin' our heads trying to figure that one out, Watson. Why'd Foster want his lawyer out of the way, anyway?"