by Nicole James
She skimmed the page. “Shit, that’s a lot of money. No way he got all that from a phone scam.”
“You sure?”
“There’s no way. Not unless he had a room full of people working for him full time.” She closed the file drawer. “There’s nothing in this cabinet.”
“Keep looking.”
Her eyes scanned the room. “Wait. What’s that?”
Liam twisted to look. There was a small duffle bag on the floor behind the desk with a coat half thrown over it. She squatted down and unzipped it. They both stared down at three plastic wrapped bricks of what looked like brown sugar. Their eyes met and Liam said, “I’m guessing that’s heroin. I think you’d better call your friend at the FBI.”
Velvet’s eyes widened and flashed over his shoulder. That was the last thing he saw as his head exploded in pain, and he crumpled to the floor.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Velvet screamed and clutched Liam to her as she stared up at Vano. He had a gun pointed right at her face. “What are you doing, Vano?!”
“I should be asking you that, Vee. I heard what he said. You were going to call your friend at the FBI. Since when do you have friends at the FBI, Vee? Huh? And where the hell have you been? Skin and Weasel went out looking for you. Did they find you?”
She stayed quiet, not wanting to answer any of those questions. She clutched Liam and ran her hand over his head. There was a lump forming on the back of his skull, but she didn’t feel any blood. Still, he could have a serious concussion, and it worried her that he still hadn’t come around. “Liam? Liam, please wake up.”
“Liam, Liam wake up,” Vano parodied her attempts. “You sound like a love-sick kid, like you did back in Indiana that summer.”
“Shut up, Vano! I found the drugs! I know what you’ve been up to with Skin and Weasel! You’re dealing aren’t you?”
“What I do with Skin and Weasel ain’t none of your business, and if you know what’s good for you, you better keep your fucking mouth shut! And what’s this shit about calling the FBI? I hope that was a joke, Vee. Because Skin will kill you, deader than a doornail if you even say that shit.”
Velvet studied her brother. He looked disheveled and sweat was pouring down his face. His skin was sallow, and his hair was greasy. She’d never seen him like this before. Vano was always concerned about his appearance. He was always well dressed, and he took extra care with his hair, even using hairspray and products on it. He liked to consider himself a real ladies man, a player, but now he just looked like a two-bit tweeker. “Are you using, Vano?”
He jammed a cigarette in his mouth and flicked a lighter open, dipping to light up.
Her eyes dropped to the gun he still held in his right hand. Would he use that on her? Would he really shoot his own sister over drug money? She glanced down in the duffle. It was a lot of drugs, and there was a lot of money in those accounts. So, yeah, he probably would shoot her.
He took a deep drag. “It’s none of your business what I do, just like it hasn’t seemed to be your concern what happens with Ma. You’ve never loved her, have you?”
His sudden change in topic had her reeling. He had to be using. He was jittery, and his eyes darted around like he was paranoid.
He pointed the gun at her again. “Who were you gonna call, Vee, huh? Tell me!”
“I wasn’t going to call anyone, I swear.” Looking down the barrel of a gun was terrifying—just as scary as staring at that mountain lion about to pounce. “You have to believe me.”
“I don’t have to do shit.” The barrel shifted aim to Liam’s back. “And what’s that motherfucker doing here? He’s got no business in my shop, Vee! You fucking him now? Skin’s not gonna be too happy about that. He wants you, you know that? He plans to have you, and I won’t be able to stop him.” He was rambling again, and he began pacing, sucking on that cigarette.
“Vano, please. Just let us leave.”
He whirled on her. “I can’t let you leave. Don’t you see? Skin will be back soon.”
Velvet swallowed, and her eyes shifted to the door. She wondered if she should tell him that Skin was dead. Would he believe her? Would he be angry? “Vano, please, put down the gun and let’s talk.”
“Talk? You want to talk? About what? About what a lousy sister you’ve been, about how I’ve had to take care of mom all these years, about how you abandoned us? What do you want to talk about, Vee?” he screamed.
“We can talk about all of that. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you, Vano. Just…put the gun down. I’m your sister; you don’t need the gun to make me do anything. Please, Vano.”
“Yeah, I do, Vee. You think you’re so smart. You think you got this all figured out.” He made a swirling motion with the gun. “You’ve got nothin’ figured out. You don’t know shit about me and what I’ve had to deal with. You think prison was easy? I did what I did because that’s the way I was raised. Pops raised me to be the man of the family. When he died, that’s what I did.” He slammed his palm on his chest. “You’re the one who didn’t do what she was supposed to!” There were tears in his eyes now.
“I’m sorry, Vano.”
He whirled and pointed the gun at her. “No you’re not! You’re not, Vee! You have never been sorry! But you’re gonna be. Get up!”
“What?” Her arms tightened around Liam.
“Let go of him and get up!”
“What are you going to do?”
“What I should have done a long time ago.” He grabbed her arm and hauled her across the linoleum, dragging her out of the office and into the tiny bathroom. He yanked her to the sink that jutted from the wall and pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pants pocket. Before she realized what he was going to do, he had her cuffed to the big curving pipe under the sink.
She tugged on her arm. “Goddamn it, Vano, let me go!”
He backed away. “Who’s the smart one now, Vee?” He disappeared into his office where Liam was passed out, and she began to panic. Would he shoot him? She was terrified she’d hear the sound of a gunshot any moment. “Please, Vano, don’t hurt him. Please don’t hurt him!”
He came back in the doorway and pointed the gun at her. “You keep you’re mouth shut or I will.”
She nodded. “Okay, I swear. Just please don’t hurt him.”
“What do you care? You care more about that son-of-a-bitch from Brothers Ink than you do about your own family? Huh? He’s my fucking competition. He’s the enemy!”
“No, Vano, he’s not your enemy. Please, just listen to me. You need to calm down. You’re not thinking clearly.”
He took another hit off his cigarette. “I’m thinking clearly, and I know exactly what I need to do.
He moved into the other room.
There was the sound of the metal against wood, desk across floor, and other sounds like maybe he was dragging Liam. She strained to hear. There was the sound of a drawer opening and closing and then the sound of another set of handcuffs closing around something. She couldn’t imagine what he’d handcuffed Liam to.
“Vano! What are you doing? Just let us go, please.”
Velvet suddenly remembered her cell phone in the pocket of the sundress. She pulled it out and opened the voice memo app, then set it on the floor beside her hip out of Vano’s sight. Maybe she could get a recording of him confessing and give it to Sanders. Then this nightmare would all be over. “Vano?”
He reappeared in the doorway and ran a hand through his hair. He was breathing hard. Apparently dragging Liam around was hard work. She noticed the cigarette was gone from his hand. In its place was the duffle bag. It looked fuller now, like maybe he’d taken stacks of cash from the safe and stuffed them inside. She met his eyes. “I know about the scam you were running.”
“What scam? You don’t know shit.”
“Yes, I do. I overheard Skin and Weasel making the calls.”
“When?”
“A while ago.”
“Yeah, so?”
“You’re taking money from old people! They’ve never been your mark before. Don’t you have a conscience at all?”
“Crime is crime, little sister. You think all those years growing up Pops was really painting houses? He ran a home repair scam for years. You think he cared how many people he hurt? You think he thought twice about them when he got home to us? I rode with him on his last trip. He taught me all about it, how to do it, how to find a good mark. I learned well.”
“And I found the heroin, Vano. Did Pops teach you that, too? Are you dealing drugs now?”
That brought his chin up, and he snarled, “That ain’t your business. And I’m smarter than Pops. I learned a thing or two in prison. There’s easier ways of making money than driving all over the country in a van pretending to be a damn handyman.”
“Who are you selling the heroin to, Vano?”
“That doesn’t concern you.”
“Are Skin and Weasel in on this? Maybe Skin is the real boss of you now.” She knew this would get to him.
“That piece of shit ain’t the boss of me. He ain’t the boss of shit.”
“You sure? He seems like he’s got you under his thumb.”
“Shut up.”
“Who are you selling the heroin to, Vano?”
“Okay, fine. I’m leaving town anyway, so what do I care if you know. That was all Skin, okay? Does that make you feel better, little sister? No, your brother’s not a big-time drug dealer.”
“Are you on something, Vano? Are you a heroin addict now?”
“Fuck no! I’ve been taking some pills to stay awake, is all. It’s hard to keep up with those guys. You have no idea, Vee.”
“Vano, how did you get mixed up with them?”
“It was stupid, okay. I conned Skin. He figured it out and wanted his money back. I didn’t have it anymore. I’d used it to open this place. That’s why I had to steal your money. It was to pay him back. It wasn’t enough. He wanted more. Then the next thing I knew I was laundering drug money for them. They cut me in for part of it. It was easy money, Velvet, and I didn’t have to do a damn thing to get it. I don’t know. It all just got out of control, and now I don’t know how to get rid of them.”
“Vano—” She was about to tell him about Skin and Weasel when he cut her off.
“I’m in over my head, but I’m done with that, do you hear, done! Take care, sister. You’re my final payment to that asshole. He wants you so bad, maybe he’ll forget I took all the money.”
He disappeared down the hall as Velvet’s mouth fell open. Her own brother would give her over to that disgusting ex-con? At that moment, she realized her brother didn’t love anyone but himself, and all her delusions of family, and all her guilt about them shattered like a plate glass window under a wrecking ball.
She heard the door slam, and felt a tear roll down her cheek. She brushed it away; she couldn’t think about her family anymore. She had the beginnings of a new family now, and a man who loved her. “Liam!”
She heard only silence.
She grabbed up her cell phone to call 911, but the battery had died. “No! Shit, shit, shit!”
She only hoped it still had some of the recording she’d tried to make. Vano had confessed to everything. She studied the room she was in. She’d bugged the office, but she hadn’t bugged the restroom. Could the FBI hear her if she called out? Had they already been listening? Or had Vano or Skin found and destroyed the bugs? Maybe that’s why Skin was so intent on finding her. She had to try anyway. “Sanders! Can you hear me? I’m handcuffed! Vano is escaping with the drugs and money! Liam is hurt. Come get us! Help!”
She kicked her foot. “Goddamn it.” She realized coming here was a mistake. She’d gotten overconfident, and she’d been naïve if she thought it was all going to be so easy. She’d been stupid to think she could just come in and find evidence and everything would be over. Fat chance. It was never going to be that easy. She shouldn’t have underestimated Vano.
She heard movement in the office and moaning. “Liam? Liam, are you okay? I’m here, baby.” There was more moaning. “Liam!”
“Mmm. Velvet? Where are you? Fuck, my head hurts. What happened?”
“Liam? I’m trapped in the bathroom.”
She heard rattling. “What the hell? Baby? I’m cuffed to the radiator.”
“Vano hit you over the head. He cuffed me in the bathroom. He took off with all the money. He’s leaving town.”
“Baby?”
“Yes?”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No, I’m okay. My cell phone battery died. I tried to record Vano. He confessed everything to me, Liam.”
“That’s great. Did you call the police?”
“I tried, but it died before I could. What about yours?”
There were more rustling sounds.
“My phone’s gone. He must have taken it, or maybe it fell out of my pocket when I hit the floor.”
“Can you see it?”
“No. I guess we’re gonna be stuck here awhile. Anybody else have a key to the place?”
“I don’t think Cooter or Finn have one. If Skin had one—“
“Yeah, that won’t matter anymore.”
“Maybe we can scream when the guys show up later. Maybe they’ll hear us.”
“Maybe.”
There was silence.
“Liam? Liam?!”
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay? Keep talking so I know you haven’t passed out again.”
“What do you want to talk about, babe?”
“I don’t know, but I’m starting to freak out.”
“Maybe your buddy in the FBI will show up soon.”
“Maybe.”
“Too bad there’s not a landline phone on this desk. I can’t reach the desk, but I probably could have pulled the phone off it by the cord.”
“Vano’s too cheap. There’s just the one up by the register.”
“He left his cigarette burning in the ashtray.”
Velvet frowned. Why would Liam mention that? “He did?”
“Yeah. Babe?”
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s all that flammable stuff up there and that cigarette is burning down. I think it could fall off the ashtray if it burns back far enough.”
“Liam, you’re scaring me.”
“You sure you can’t get free? Wiggle your tiny wrist out of those cuffs?”
She pulled tight on it, fear flooding her. If Liam was concerned enough to worry her like this, he had to think they were in real danger. “I’m trying, but I can’t do it.”
“I’m trying to find something to pick the lock on these cuffs.”
“Liam, I’m scared.”
“Baby, you remember the tattoo expo?”
“Yes, why?”
“You were so hot rolling around on that stage. Hottest woman I’d ever seen in my life.”
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to get your mind on anything but where we are, Velvet.”
“Do you think we’re going to die here?”
“We’re not going to die. We’re going to get out of here.”
She heard the sound of a boot scraping across the floor. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to reach the tattoo needle laying on the floor over by the desk. I can barely reach it. Fuck!”
“Liam?”
“If I can get it, maybe I can pick the lock on these cuffs with it.”
She quietly waited, praying, and giving thanks for once that the shop was so dirty. There was a whooshing sound. “Liam, what was that sound?”
“The cigarette fell and rolled across the desk. The rubbing alcohol soaked wipes just flared up.”
“Oh, my God.”
“Baby, imagine we’re somewhere you love. Where would you like to be right now?”
She could hear different sounds, one that might be him fiddling with the needle in the lock, one that might be the crackle of fire. “Liam, stop, I
can’t think about that now.”
“Yeah, you can, baby. How about with the horses in the canyon? You loved that place, right? Imagine we’re there.”
A strong chemical smell reached her along with the scent of paper burning. “Liam, I smell smoke.”
“Good. Maybe the smoke detectors will go off and someone will hear them. Hey, do you have a window in the bathroom?”
“Yes.”
“Can you reach it?”
“It’s got bars on the outside.”
“Anything you can throw to break the glass? There aren’t any windows in here or I’d do the same.”
Velvet looked around. There was nothing. She glanced down at her phone. Maybe it was strong enough to break the glass. She’d probably be throwing away the evidence of Vano’s confession, and with it maybe her chance at immunity from a twenty year sentence, but if she didn’t they both might die in a fire. There was no question what she would do; she only hoped it would break the window. She paused with her hand in the air. “Wait. Will this make the fire flare up, I mean, the outside air source?”
“Baby, we need to get out of here. The stack of magazines is burning, and the ceiling tile is starting to blacken and melt.”
“Oh, God, Liam. Can you pick the cuffs?”
“I’m trying, baby.”
She hurled the phone at the window. The glass cracked but didn’t break. She stomped her foot on the tile in frustration, and screamed on the top of her lungs as the smoke detectors went off. Thick black smoke rolled out of the office and drifted across the ceiling of the hallway.
“Liam! Liam! Help us! Help! Fire!”
Liam suddenly was in the door, he paused his hands on the frame as a coughing fit took hold of him. “B-baby.”
He staggered to her, dropped to his knees, and tried to fiddle with her handcuff.
The smoke had made him woozy, and his eyes were watering. She coughed and covered her mouth and nose with the fabric of her dress. “Baby, cover your mouth.”
He looked at her, trying to focus. “I have to get you free.”
“Liam, look at me! Get the fire extinguisher! It’s in the break room across the hall. Go. Quick.”
