and the steady beeping of a heart monitor.

he bed, his face a mas

" he said. It w

ia?" I asked,

sed, looking uncomfortable. "I apologiz

gizing for h

inued, as if this should comfort me. "

nt for smashing a bottle over his

d my throat. This was the man I had given five years o

ad broken. There

ays again. A business rival of Ethan' s, a man he had bankrupted last yea

. They grabbed Maria, who had come to "visit" wi

facing each other. A digital timer was attached to each of our chests, count

for you. You destroyed my life, so I' ll destroy yours. You can only save on

is face pale with terror. He looked at me. He

I don' t want to d

n' t h

n to

shaking as he punched the code into her device. The tim

ew things on the ranch. I looked at the wires. Red, blue, yellow. It was a simple sequence trigger. My hands were bound, but I c

d with three se

ondary explosion rocked the warehouse. A gas canister in the cor