Page 26 of He Had It Coming

Maeve’s rage-filled scream bounced off the walls and she lunged.

“No!” But I was too late.

Maeve let Jerek send her careening out of control, which appeared to be his plan all along. She shoved her chair out of the way and lifted her leg. With one sharp kick, she toppled Jerek’s seat and sent him crashing to the floor with a grunt.

The carpet cushioned his fall but the jolt and his constant work to loosen the ropes around his ankles worked. The rope slid off the chair and his legs slipped free. He rolled and took the chair with him. Used it as a shield as he rammed the chair still sitting upright into Maeve, knocking her off balance.

This was his play. His big move.

I lifted my leg to bring my foot crashing down on his cut arm, but he moved faster. He kicked out with his uninjured leg, finding strength from a reserve he’d hidden as he wove his sinister tale and lured us into thinking about things other than self-protection.

His heel landed with a crack on my shin. Pain radiated through me as my knee buckled. I dropped to the floor close to him. Too close. Within striking range. I watched his lips twist with savage enjoyment at the chaos he’d caused.

Maeve’s shoes thumped against the floor as she regained her balance.

I didn’t wait for an opening or a better chance. I grabbed for the knife still stuck in his leg as he squirmed to get away from me. I’d trained for an attack. Learned maneuvers and self-defense tactics. In the end, I didn’t need them.

I wrapped my fingers around the knife’s handle and yanked it out. Jerek’s howling filled the cabin, but I didn’t wait for the blood loss to kill him. Rising to my knees for leverage, I brought the knife down again. This time, into his chest. Into the exact space where I thought his shriveled heart would be.

His eyes bulged and his voice cut off. His body bucked as he watched me. As my hand pressed down, plunging the blade as deep as it would go.

I repeated his depraved words back to him as the life seeped out of him. “Biggest turn-on you can imagine.”

Everything stopped. Sounds wound down around me. My heartbeat thumped in my ears. Even the sloshing of the water against the boat seemed to still.

I waited for the punch of relief. For a wave of satisfaction. Neither happened.

Maeve’s voice broke through my mental floundering. “Oh my God.”

I sat down hard on the floor, next to Jerek’s lifeless body, and tried to breathe again. Closed my eyes, just for a second, and begged my brain to restart.

Maeve kept whining and pacing. Talking to herself through hiccupping sobs. “How could you do that?”

The blame knocked me out of my stupor. “What did you think would happen today?”

“I don’t. . . . I couldn’t . . .” She rubbed her hands together as she sat on the mattress, then stood up again before repeating the sequence.

She sounded and looked lost. The reaction was both understandable and irrational. She’d come to me. She’d contacted me with an idea to out Jerek and lessen his potential for danger once and for all. The opportunity overrode my reservations. I knew she had ulterior motives unrelated to getting justice for Ruby, and I didn’t care.

After a few bobbling tries, I stood up. Ignored the trembling in my legs. “Don’t act surprised. There wasn’t any scenario where Jerek walked off this boat alive. And you knew that.”

She finally looked at me. “I didn’t—”

“No.” It was my turn to speak and set the new ground rules. “Now it’s time for us to come to an understanding.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

After a quick check to confirm the lack of a pulse, I gave Jerek one last look, waiting for even a whiff of remorse to hit me. Still nothing.

Now, I had to deal with his sister. “Maeve.”

She continued to wander around the confined space on the far side of the bed, muttering to herself. She stayed as far from Jerek’s body as possible. She’d detached and retreated to her own little world.

I looked for signs of grief or regret from her but got emotional frenzy instead. She’d set this up, weaponized me, and aimed me in Jerek’s direction. Now, she acted like she’d walked in on a surprise. Shock could do that to a person, but I didn’t have time to assess and assist now.

We weren’t done.

“Maeve, we should go up on deck.”