The Christmas Tree Farm by J A Whiting & Nell McCarthy

Author:J A Whiting & Nell McCarthy [Whiting, J A & McCarthy, Nell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J A Whiting Books and Whitemark Publishing
Published: 2023-06-01T16:00:00+00:00

12

“What are you doing here?” Hope’s heart was racing. “Put down that knife.”

“You got to help me,” Conair replied.

“No one can help you as long as you’re holding my daughter at knifepoint. If you want anything at all, you have to let her go.” Hope tried not to panic.

“I let her go, and you don’t do anything for me. I’m no idiot. I’ve been around the cops before. I ain’t gonna hurt her … not if I don’t have to.”

“You’re being stupid, Conair. That’s your name, right? You know you’re already in trouble. Don’t make things worse.”

“Listen to me.” Conair waved the knife. “Listen to me. I got to tell you that I had nothin’ to do with Lauren’s going. That wasn’t on me.”

“I don’t care.” Hope’s voice was firm. “We can’t talk as long as you’re threatening my daughter.”

“You got to listen to me! The police talk to you.”

“No one will talk to me or you, unless you drop that knife.”

As Conair looked around the room, Hope spotted the desperation in his eyes. He was cornered, and he wasn’t smart enough to figure his way out.

Bijou ran into the kitchen, arched her back, and hissed at the man.

“Look at me,” Hope said. “Look at me. Let’s stay calm and figure out how we’re going to get what we want. You want to tell me your story, and, believe me, I want to hear it. But, you’re holding my daughter. I don’t hear so well when she’s in danger. That’s simple parenting. I’ll tell you what. You let her go, just let her sit at the table, and I’ll listen. I promise.”

Conair frowned before he sat Cori in a chair. He didn’t put down the knife, but it was no longer close to her throat.

“You better not be messin’ with me,” he said. “I don’t like being messed with.”

“No one is messing with you.” Hope moved close to the stove where there was a skillet she hadn’t yet used. “Now, start at the beginning. What are you to Lauren?”

“I ain’t nothin’. That’s just it. She’s pretty and all, but she never paid no mind to me. I’m not stupid. I know when a gal is lookin’ down on me.”

“What did you fight about?”

“Drugs, booze, the usual.”

Hope drummed her fingers close to the skillet handle. “Was she stealing from you? Was that it?”

“No, no, you got it all wrong.”

“Ruffian!”

Conair turned to the voice and found Max standing a few feet away. Surprise filled Conair’s face.

“What the…?”

That was all the distraction Hope needed. She grabbed the skillet and swung it hard against Conair’s head.

But not hard enough.

Conair staggered, but he did not go down. Blood ran down his cheek, as he turned to Hope. He raised the knife and stepped toward her.

He didn’t make it.

When Cori stuck out her foot, Conair tripped and fell to the floor, and Bijou jumped on the man and repeatedly bit him. That gave Hope time enough for a second blow with the skillet, and that did the trick.

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