Poisoned Prose (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

her unspoken question, Flynn’s fingers dug into her skin. “Don’t do anything to keep me from telling my story. If you do, I’ll be forced to use this.”
    Olivia felt the cold kiss of metal against her neck. She hadn’t even known that Flynn owned a gun.
    Glancing in the rearview mirror, she said, “I have to be able to move if you want me to back out. This is a tight spot, and I need to turn my head to see what’s behind me.” Her voice was surprisingly steady.
    The hand on her neck fell away, but Flynn kept the pistol barrel pointed at her head. Olivia put the car in reverse and accelerated gently. Then, spying a cluster of garbage cans in her rearview mirror, she pressed down on the pedal, slamming the Range Rover into the cans. They made a dull crunch against her bumper and then fell over with a thud, but that was all. No one came rushing out of Decadence to see what had happened, and Olivia knew she’d failed to draw attention to her plight.
    “That’s the only free pass you get,” Flynn snarled into her ear. “Screw with me again and Haviland will pay the price.”
    The words were more frightening than the gun or Flynn’s hands around her throat. Olivia felt a wave of nausea wash over her, and she had to fight to keep the car in the middle of the alley. “How did you get to him?” she asked in a childlike quaver.
    “Most folks don’t know that Diane and I have called it quits. And since she’s your vet and has watched your dog before, it didn’t seem that strange for me to be picking him up on your behalf.” Flynn smiled. “It’s nice to know that Haviland still trusts me. He hopped in the car with his tail wagging. Gentle as a lamb.”
    Olivia stared at him in the rearview mirror. She saw the flash of his teeth as he smiled, and she wanted nothing more than to slam on the brakes and hope that his face would smash against the windshield. As Olivia drove out of town, she tried to think of how she could deliberately crash and still survive while killing Flynn or at least rendering him unconscious, but she had no idea how to accomplish such a feat. Not only was he shielded by her seat, but if she suddenly accelerated, he’d only jam the gun barrel against her neck. And he had Haviland. The thought had her clenching her jaw in fear.
    Olivia tried to calm herself. She needed to be sharp and lucid, to not be ruled by her emotions. But it was hard. So hard. She’d never felt such hatred toward another person before. Fury surged through her, white-hot and fierce. “If you so much as scratch him, I will kill you,” she promised, her eyes dark in the mirror. “Go ahead and shoot me. I’ll come back from the grave and haunt you. You’d better fire every bullet in that magazine because if you don’t, I will end you.”
    “I don’t want to hurt him, Olivia. You either,” Flynn said, his tone morose and almost regretful. “Nothing will happen unless you force my hand.”
    Olivia drove out of the business district and turned onto the narrow road leading to the Point. There was rarely any traffic on this quiet stretch, and Olivia knew the chances of someone seeing Flynn in the back of her car were slim. Glancing out the passenger window, she noticed how the clouds had multiplied and darkened since she’d first gone into Decadence.
    When she pulled in front of the lighthouse keeper’s cottage, Flynn released a pent-up sigh. He then leaned over the seat, grabbed Olivia’s purse, and threw it on the floor by his feet. “I just need you to listen to me for a little while, and then this will be over. Get out. We’re going to the lighthouse.”
    Olivia did as she was told. Every time she was tempted to turn and fight, she pictured Haviland as she’d last seen him in her office at The Boot Top Bistro. Right now, she didn’t even know where he was, and if anything happened to Flynn, she might not be able to find where he’d hidden her dog. Flynn had found her Achilles’ heel. He knew that she would do anything to keep Haviland safe. It was the only thing that would have her walking so meekly alongside a madman with a gun.
    Flynn was moving fast. He kept his hand on Olivia’s lower back, pushing her forward so quickly that she nearly stumbled over the uneven sand. When they reached the lighthouse and Flynn discovered that the door was locked, he kicked it a few times and then, without the slightest warning, raised his gun and shot the lock. It flew into the sand, the metal twisted and