Hold On

Chapter 20

"Well, well... look who's here."

All of them turned to see the person that had just entered the room. Although he was wearing a mask, one could tell that he was middle aged, tall and had piercing blue eyes.

"Is this the famous Juliet Higgins?" The mysterious man asked and approached the woman. "I heard you had caused Burt a lot of trouble and pain."

"And I'd gladly do that again." She replied, glancing at Burt and sending both of them a sweet innocent smile.

The visitor started clapping his hands.

"Bravo! Apart from being beautiful, you're also smart and quick-witted. Good for you." He stated. "I wouldn't take you for someone who could successfully fight Burt here." He pointed to the kidnapper.

"Hey, you do remember the instruction was not to harm her no matter what." Burt protested at once.

"Yeah, I remember and you fulfilled this order really well, thank you. I'm very grateful for that."

Burt snorted at his words. "I would be grateful too if the money was finally transferred into my bank account."

"Don't worry. You'll get the money as promised."

"I hope so, Timothy." Burt said under his breath and smiled with satisfaction at the fact that he had revealed the man's name. "I have someone to spend it with."

Timothy instantly gave him a furious look and then turned his attention back to Juliet.

"I must say, Miss Higgins, you're much prettier than in the pictures they kept sending." He stated, briefly glancing at Burt. At that point he moved even closer to her, his face coming so near that she felt his breath on her cheek.

Juliet started feeling uneasy by the man's behavior. The first thing that sprang to her mind was to fight this man, for example by kicking him right where he would definitely feel it. If only she could do that. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like a good idea. One, the man had his ready for use gun on her and two, Burt's gun was pointed at Thomas and he could kill her partner at any time. So she decided to lay low for the time being and try not to do anything that could endanger Magnum.

"It's hard to believe that such a charming woman like you, would harm anyone." The man continued.

"I can assure you I am capable of many things that would bring one immediate pain and I'd gladly show you if you just put your gun away." Juliet told him with courage in her voice, her eyes cold as steel.

The man's instant reply was a shy grin. "Oh, I don't doubt you'd do that. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, I can't let that happen. Sorry." He said and at the same time his hand touched Higgins' arm and then his fingers deliberately very slowly slid down to her wrist.

She swallowed hard and gritted her teeth, sending him a death glare full of hatred.

That was enough for Thomas who suddenly launched forward. "Hey, knock it off! Leave her alone!" He protested.

As soon as he did that, he was given a painful blow to the head by Burt's gun.

"Magnum!" Juliet cried out in horror.

She was afraid something like that would happen. She tried to avoid it but knowing her partner, sooner or later it got to take place. She gathered her strength and was ready to launch an attack on their mysterious visitor, when she was being stopped by Burt who quickly jumped to her, grabbing her arms from behind and holding her in place.

The power of the blow made Magnum stumble. He felt a sudden dull pain in his head and had difficulty standing straight, frantically trying not to fall to the ground at once. He blinked a couple of times and finally seemed to be able to keep his balance.