Page 99 of Lead Me On
Jane shook her head, hoping he’d be dumb enough to let her go, but his hold stayed tight.
“I’m not going to let you ruin my career over something that didn’t even happen, all right? Just take the recording off your phone, and I’ll leave.”
She nodded and closed her eyes, waiting for his hand to ease off, but his fingers dug harder into her cheek.
“Don’t try anything, Jane. That killer is still on the loose, you know.”
Tensing, she frowned at him.
“You don’t want to be written off as his last victim, do you?”
Oh, my God, was he really threatening to kill her? No way did he have that in him. Then again, she hadn’t really expected blackmail or breaking and entering either.
“You know who he is?” Greg asked. “A locksmith. And I used that spare key you hid on the side of the building. There’s no sign of forced entry. Everything will point to him.”
Jane nodded, serious this time. She felt his hand slide off. For a few heartbeats she considered screaming, but his story about the locksmith sounded well thought out. Maybe he really would hurt her. When he brought the phone closer to her, she decided on a better plan. She’d already screamed three times anyway. Either neighbors had heard her or they weren’t going to.
“Delete the message,” Greg demanded, holding out the phone.
“This is ridiculous,” she said. “Do you think I won’t tell the police about the blackmail? Not to mention that you’ve broken in to my apartment and threatened me?”
“It would be your word against mine. And I’ve got to tell you, your word just isn’t worth as much.”
Jane grabbed the phone, but Greg snagged her wrist before she could push any buttons.
“If your finger comes anywhere near the nine or the one, you’ll regret it.”
“Fine. But I have to call in to the system. It’s not saved on my phone.”
“I’m watching,” he warned.
Jane pulled up her recent calls and quickly moved down to the one she wanted. It was a risk, but…
The line opened and began to ring. Jane held her breath, and so did Greg. There was no sound but the electric tone ringing through the ether. Finally it clicked into silence.
“Hello?” a deep, hoarse voice said.
“Chase!” she yelled just as Greg barked, “Goddamnit,” and knocked the phone from her hands. “It’s Greg!”
He slammed his fist into the phone, turning the screen dark. “You bitch,” he growled.
“You’re an idiot,” she snapped. When he twisted toward her, hand raised as if he might strike, Jane punched him. Hard. But not as hard as she could, not from this angle.
The feel of his jaw shifting under her knuckles freed some tightly controlled animal inside her. Jane pushed up to her knees as Greg sat back on the bed, both hands cradling his jaw.
“Hey,” he whined. “You hit me!”
Putting years of practice into every movement, Jane drew back her arm and envisioned putting her fist right through the dark oval of his face. When her knuckles hit his nose, bone crunched.
Greg screamed. Her phone began to ring.
“You stupid, arrogant shit,” she muttered, reaching out for the light next to her bed. When it snapped on, she saw Greg dressed in a black sweat suit and black knit cap, but the hands cupped to his nose were bright red and getting redder by the second.
He stood and backed away from the bed. “You broke my nose!”
A few seconds ago she’d been scrambling for a plan to get away from him, but now Jane jumped out of bed and followed. His eyes widened. Before he could turn and run, Jane jabbed him in the gut. When his hands fell, she aimed an uppercut for his jaw.
Greg fell backward, crying out in a high-pitched little scream that made her smirk.
