Free An Impostor in Town (Colorado Series) by Denise Moncrief Page A

the muck out. “So maybe you’re tapped out, but I know someone who’ll give it to me. Getting it from her won’t be easy, but…I’ll just make her.” She kept quiet, not wanting to encourage him. “You want to know who I’m going to get it from?” He grinned with evil intent. “Carol.” He stepped closer. “Typical woman. She took the money and ran, but I found her. I’ve got to get to her before he does.”
    She had to keep him talking, keep him inching toward the closet and the gun. “He? He who?”
    “You know what he’s been doing? He’s been pretending to be me. Got a job with that guy from Virginia.”
    “Who are you talking about? What guy from Virginia?”
    “He’s a foreman for that guy we stole the money from. I’m the one with construction experience, but he’s the one out at the resort pretending to know what he’s doing. Isn’t that a hoot?” He shifted mental gears without warning. “Cory knows she’s here. He’s been watching her.” He caught her by the wrist. “I need to distract him, and you’re going to be the bait.” He pulled her across the living room and away from the door.
    She dug her fingers into the flesh of his upper arm, and he released his grip. “I won’t help you.” The quaking in her insides belied her false bravado. She put a few paces between them.
    “If you don’t, I’ll tell Cory where his son is.”
    The threat had its effect. She lunged toward him. He dodged. He wrapped his fingers around her forearms and threw her against the wall. She slid to the floor before the room fuzzed and her vision went dark.
    ****
    Jeff woke Peyton with a kick to her abdomen. She winced and opened her eyes. The morning light shot stabbing fingers through the partially open curtains and blinded her. How long had she been out?
    “Get up.” He jerked her from the floor, nearly dislocating her shoulder. “We’re taking a little road trip.” His speech slurred, the telltale sign of a bad hangover. Red shot his eyes as if someone gouged them with a stick. “We’re going to go visit Cory.”
    “No.” She tried to back away, but his hand pinched the flesh around her elbow.
    “Move.” He shoved her toward the door, jamming her already throbbing arm into the socket.
    “It’s cold. Can I at least get my coat?” Her teeth chattered on cue. The moron hadn’t turned the heat on in the house. He stared at her for a second and then released his grip. She made haste to get the coat, but before she could pull the gun from its hiding place, he grabbed her by the wrist.
    His eyes glittered with hatred as he spun her around and shoved her out the kitchen door, then pushed her into the driver’s seat of her car. “Scoot over. I’m driving.” She scrambled over the center console and pounced on the passenger door lock. He pressed the barrel of the gun against the back of her head. “Don’t even think about it.” He lowered the weapon when she settled into her seat.
    He remained quiet while he drove toward the city limits, his knuckles white where he gripped the steering wheel. His erratic driving produced spasms in her shaky stomach.
    She waited until they were out of town to start her mental campaign. “You’re just like your father.”
    His hand jerked, causing him to veer the car across the centerline. An oncoming truck honked at them. He ignored the warning, barely missing the other vehicle. He shook his finger in her face, looking at her instead of the road. “I am not like my father.”
    “You can’t get a woman to do what you want willingly, can you?” She baited him, playing a dangerous game. She wanted him mad enough to do something stupid.
    “Shut up.”
    “Carol ditched you, didn’t she? Did you beat her? Did she run away from you just like I ran away from your father?” Hate for his father was a strong stimulus for Jeff. Peyton stomped on it.
    “She deserved it just as much as you did.”
    “You’re not much of a man.” She bit at him, intending to