Snatched (15 page)

The only thing he could do was play another ace.
The last one he had
.

"
Before I take her out, there's something I need to do
.
Last
night s
he let slip something
interesting
. Something about money…"

"Money?
What money?
" Rez's stare had a measure of curiosity
now
.
The
possibility
of currency always
took top position on
his list of priorities
.

"Not that she has a whole lot. Just a few bills
in the bank
and other items of interest
in a security box
. I
just
want to make sure I milked her for all she's worth. And of course…" He assumed a fierce leer as he continued. "I want one more turn…for old time's sake."

Already Rez was shaking his head. "Too much of a risk
. Especially getting money out of a bank. She's not going to go meekly to the slaughter, man. As she's already shown."

"Oh, I can get her to be more cooperative.
Don't worry about that."

He had to play this cool, even though he felt a bead of sweat running down the nape of his neck. Rez was no fool. Fortunately, neither was he. He had
flawlessly
played the bad ass these last few weeks. There was no reason for Rez to think he had a soft spot for the woman. For all Rez assume
d
, the only thing any of them had to worry about was the logistics of her murder. And, now, getting some extra funds for the crew.

It was another second or two before Rez answered. It felt like an eternity.

"Look, I'm leaving this whole thing up to you. But you bring down any undue attention, it's also on you. You get picked up by the police, there's no jail cell you'll be safe in. We got crew in and out of County.
Just so you know."

Inwardly, Dele sighed relief. Outwardly, he bent to pick up the still unconscious woman. Dead weight but fortunately not dead…yet.

Even as he carried her out of the warehouse, he felt eyes
drilling through
his back.
Clare
said something
not
totally audible. But he caught the tone.
Disappointment.

Outside, he maneuvered
Nailah
on
to
the bike. Then
lightly
slapped her cheeks. No stirring at first and he began to worry that he had done some damage.
A second or two passed and then
finally
a slight moan
followed by
another moan.
This followed by
a stiffening as she lifted a hand to her cheek. Her eyes opened
and stared directly at him
.

He
didn't have time to duck as the lightning fast fist connected with his jaw. For a woman she packed a wallop. Nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Don't you ever raise a hand to me again!" she spat between gritted teeth.

"Are you kidding me? I saved your life in there! You were going after Rez and trust me you wouldn't be breathing right now if you had."

"So you want me to thank you for belting me?"
she asked
angri
ly.

"No, you should thank me for saving your
damn ass
!
Again!
And if you haven't realized it in these past
few
hour
s, it's been getting h
arder and harder to do
. It's not like I can…" he stopped just
short of an admission about his undercover position. He couldn't come
clean
because he still needed more evidence on the gang.
And any admission could put her in more jeopardy.

"Look we don't have time to argue. Not here. Let's get back to the hotel."

She looked as though she was going to make a move off the bike.

"Do you really want to do that
?
If you even try to run, someone's going to catch you. And it may not be me. I at least bought you some more time. So think hard about what you want to do."

That seemed to get through to her finally.

Now all he had to do was get her out of here and
"kill" her or she would definitely
be dead by nightfall. As it were
, there was g
oing to be a body count tonight no matter what he did.

###

Nailah
sat
on the bed
and
watched as
Dele
peered in the
bureau
mirror
,
a
hand running along
his
bruised
jaw. She took some satisfaction that she'd given
out
a little
pain
at last
. Lord knows she was due.

"Don't be a baby about it
," she said with
irritably
.
"
I didn't hit you that hard."

"Lady, you hit hard enough. Keep that hook, it might come in handy."

He left the mirror and walked
over
to the window to peer out. They were on extra alert
making sure none of the members had followed them to the hotel
.

"So what's the plan?
"

He turned to her and said casually, "I have to kill you."

She knew what he meant but it still jarred.

"I'm tired of hearing
those words
."

"I'm serious. If I can't convince Rez you're dead, he'll not only kill me where I stand but
come after you to make sure there
're
no loose threads
.
Even if y
ou
do
run to the police now,
they
can't watch you 24-7 and trust me, Rez
will
come after
you and
do things to you that you can't imagine
. The only advantage we have is that he'll take my word
that you're dead
…for now.
That is, i
f I give him enough evidence that the deed's done. Until then, I'm going to
have to stash
you somewhere. It's to
o
dangerous for you to hang out here. And y
ou definitely can't go home
."

"How about a five-star hotel?"
she
tried to joke
, but the levity did nothing for the bats in her stomach.

"You've got five-star hotel money
on you
?"

She didn't answer but asked wearily, "When is this finally going to end?"

A look crossed his face
. It wasn't
reassuring.

"Give me
another day or so
."

"Why? What's going to happen in
another day
that's going to make this any different?"

A
nother
unreadable
look.

"Things are coming to a head.
M
atter
s will be settled
finally
and you'll be the least of the gang's worries
believe me
. But even then you're probably
going to
have to move. Just to be safe."

She remembered something that Rez had said before they left. While she was half conscious on the floor.

"
You're going to kill
t
hat Jamaican
tonight
."

He looked at her squarely.
"
How do you know
that?"

" I wasn't out totally
back at the warehouse
.
I heard Rez
and you
talking
."

Dele
seemed to consider something
, the lines on his forehead pronounced
.

"
Don't ask
me
anymore questions.
It's none of your business and for your sake,
it's better you
leave it that way.
"

She heard the warning in his voice and it unsettled her. In these last
hours
with him, she'd come to believe he wasn't as cold blooded as the other gang members. Now she wasn't so sure.

"
Dele, h
ow did you get involved with
this
gang
? You seem
so
…" She paused,
reaching for words that eluded her
.

"Seem what? Kinder, gentler? Trust me, I'm not. The reason
I've kept
you alive
so far
…is well…I don't like killing women."

"But you
can kill
a man
in cold blood?"

"If
I have to
. So don't make the mistake of underestimating what I'm capable
of
.
Y
ou don't know what
I'll do.
"

The
edg
e
in
his voice was one s
he hadn't heard before.
S
ince that horrible
first
day
which seemed so long ago
she
realized she
wasn't
so
sure he wouldn't hurt her
or even kill her if
he thought
it necessary.

She decided
from that moment
that it was safer
to treat him
like
any of the
other
gang members
.
She had to in order to save herself.

"How are you going to convince Rez I'm dead?"

He
didn't answer immediately but
walked over to
the bed
and stood
over her.

"
Take the shirt off
,
"
he demanded.

"But…I d
on't have anything
else
to
wear
…"

"Now's not the time for modesty
.
"

He
stepped back
to give her room and indicated
with a hand signal that she should stand up.
He pointed to
the shirt he'd given her
earlier
.
She reluctantly did as she was told.
Better to go along for right now.

Standing in her bra, she felt
vulnerable
b
ut he barely glanced at her. Instead, he took off his
denim
jacket and handed it to her.
She eagerly reached for it, slipped it on
and pulled it close at the front before sitting back down.

Standing
only
in his t-shirt and jeans for some reason, he looked more human
to her
. Less demon.

She
continued watching
him
cautiously
as he produced a knife from
his jeans pocket
.
With
one
deft
motion
he
slashed through the material
of the shirt
.
She held her breath when i
n the next
moment
he
deliberately cut his right fore
finger.
S
he hadn't realized what he'd done until the blood began forming a widening stain on the shirt.

"Oh God," she said quietly.

He didn't
respond
but
instead
walked to the bathroom.
He left the door ajar and s
he heard running water. When he emerged he wore a couple of band aid strips over the wound.

She figured it must hurt like hell but if it
did he
did
n't show it
.

As he'd said earlier, he did what needed to be done.