‘Try not to spill this one down your front,’ he said as he handed her a fresh drink.
‘I’ll do my best. What’s that you’re drinking?’ She nodded towards the glass of clear liquid in his hand.
He held it up. Examined it as if it were a fine wine, swirled it around in the glass.
‘Water.’
‘You don’t drink?’
The words were out before she could stop them. She hoped it didn’t sound too incredulous. Or worse, that she’d marked him down for a serious personality defect.
‘Oh, I do. Just not tonight. I’ve got things to do.’
Her heart sank. She felt stupid. She’d only known him two minutes and here she was, feeling like her whole evening was ruined.
‘That’s a pity.’ She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. ‘So, what is it you do, that you have to do it at this time of night?’
He gave a small shrug.
‘Just some stuff. Nothing important. But I need a clear head.’
She nodded like she knew how it was, didn’t mind if he chose to do nothing important instead of stay and have a drink with her.
‘Besides, it looks like you’re here with friends.’
She looked around at the others, wondered if anybody had noticed what had happened. Or that she was talking to a strange man who was doing his very best not to stare at the way her wet blouse clung to her. She’d soon find out Monday morning.
She didn’t know it then but Monday morning would never come, not in any normal way.
‘What is it? Some kind of office celebration?’
She laughed without any humor.
‘Yep. Elaine—that’s her over there looking like she’s about to be sick in her handbag—just got hitched to the firm.’
His eyebrows raised a fraction.
‘The firm? As in John Grisham and lawyers and all that legal intrigue.’
She took a sip of her drink, looked at him over the rim of the glass.
‘You got it. Only much more exciting.’
His eyes lingered on her, a faint smile curling his mouth.
‘Hitched, you say?’
She nodded again.
‘More like joined at the hip.’
‘And are you hitched? To the firm?’ There was a slight pause. ‘Or anything else?’
A surge of heat rushed through her. This was ridiculous. She told herself he was only passing the time until he had to go and do whatever the nothing important thing was.
‘Not to the firm, no.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m a lowly junior associate. But . . .’ She gave him a quick flash of her wedding ring.
He nodded, a little bit of the sparkle in his eyes slipping away.
‘C’est la vie. He’s a lucky guy. You too.’
That wasn’t exactly how she’d describe her life at the moment. She certainly didn’t want to get into any of that with a man she’d only been talking to for five minutes. She might as well ask him to go away, talk to somebody more interesting. Somebody available.
‘So, what about you?’ she said before he did exactly that.
He gave the same amiable shrug as before, shook his head.
‘This and that. Nothing—’
‘Important?’
He didn’t know what to say for a moment, a furrow creasing his brow.
‘You got it,’ he said, recovering. ‘Only not so exciting.’
The Margaritas she’d drunk were starting to get through to her. She wasn’t drunk even if she wasn’t completely sober either. And a little bit of harmless flirting never hurt anyone—especially after she’d already drawn a line firmly in the sand. And he’d acknowledged it. She leaned in closer as if she was going to share a secret with him, dropped her voice to a whisper.
‘I understand. You work for a secret department in the government. A secret agent or something like that.’
He leaned in closer still. Breath-mingling close. Voice barely above a whisper.
‘If I told you I’d have to kill you.’
Although the words were light-hearted, they depressed her, reminded her again how dull and tedious her own life was.
‘I wish something exciting would happen to me.’
‘Be careful what you wish for.’
Much as he tried to hide it, he was suddenly serious, his words like a personal insight based on hard-earned experience rather than an everyday expression. There was something specific behind the words. And the concern in his eyes.
‘That sounds—’
‘What’s going on over here?’ a small, shrill voice that carried well said from behind them. They both spun around to see Elaine standing there, swaying gently, an empty wine glass in her hand.
‘Elaine. You look like you’re having a good time.’
Elaine nodded vacantly, swayed some more.
‘Why are you all wet?’
She suddenly jerked her head backwards, eyes blinking. As if she’d just noticed the guy next to Sarah. Like he was the sort of guy you might not notice the second he walked in the room.
‘Hello. I’m Elaine.’ She thrust out her hand.
He took it, dwarfing it in his. He didn’t introduce himself. Sarah suddenly realized she didn’t even know his name—and he didn’t know hers either.
‘Congratulations on getting hitched.’
Elaine’s face creased in puzzlement.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Sarah said.
He glanced at his watch.
‘I have to make a call. I’m really sorry.’
The moment had passed. More like Elaine had kicked it into the weeds.
‘I know. Things to do.’
He fished his phone out of the inside pocket of his jacket before moving away, checked the screen. Something passed quickly across his face. Then it was gone.
A moment later, so was he.
‘What happened to you?’ Elaine said, staring at the stain on her blouse. ‘Come on, come back and talk to us,’ she continued without waiting for a reply. She took hold of Sarah’s arm and tugged gently. Sarah didn’t move. She was suddenly incredibly tired. All she wanted to do was flop into bed and sleep for a week. She certainly didn’t want to stand around talking shop, drinking more drinks she didn’t need or want.
She checked her watch. It was a few minutes after eleven o’clock. Not too early to go home. She made her excuses to Elaine, headed towards the ladies’ room on her way out. She pushed through the door leading to the rest rooms and there he was, leaning against the wall in the narrow hallway. He had his back to her, shoulders almost blocking the way. The tension in them struck her from ten feet away. His phone was clamped to his ear. He wasn’t doing any talking.
She stopped mid-stride. He hadn’t seen her yet. He’d think she was stalking him. She was sure it happened to him every day of the week. Before she had a chance to decide what to do, he dropped his phone back into his pocket and turned.
‘Oh, hello again. You looking for me?’
The color rose up her face as surely as if she’d been doing exactly that.
‘No, of course not . . . actually, I was just leaving. I’m really tired,’ she added as if she needed to reinforce what a party pooper she was.
‘That’s a pity.’ He sounded like he meant it. Even though he knew she was unavailable. ‘I’m going to be here a while longer. But if you’re tired, you’re tired.’
He lifted one hand slightly and let it drop, a gesture of futility or parting. She wasn’t sure which, was on the verge of saying why not? when the door burst open behind them. A man pushed through on his way to the men’s room, spoiling the moment. Or saving her from doing something stupid.
‘I’ve got to go.’
She was aware of the bartender watching her as she came out of the restrooms, headed for the door. She couldn’t blame him. Not that the trouble with the drunks was her fault. Even so, he’d be glad to see the back of her anyway. Some people are a magnet for trouble, whether it’s their fault or not.
She was about to find out exactly how true that was.
Then a guy sitting near the door leaned towards her as she passed.
‘Are you okay? I saw those guys pestering you.’
What was it with people tonight, all wanting to come to her rescue? Except this guy was different. He was big too. But in a different way. The sort of way that would have you crossing the street if you saw him coming towards you late at night. She immediately felt guilty thinking it.
‘I’m fine, thank you.’
‘I saw the other guy deal with them.’ He gave an appreciative nod. ‘He looks familiar. His name’s on the tip of my tongue . . .’
His big face compacted in concentration. She reckoned he had to concentrate like that chewing gum. She couldn’t help him anyway.
‘Sorry. I didn’t get his name.’
The cool, fresh night air hit her as soon as she got outside, made her head spin. Her legs were weak, unable to hold her. She’d drunk more than she thought. She walked slowly down the street towards her car a couple of blocks away, resting her hand on the parked cars to steady herself, taking great lungsful of air to clear her head of the drink and everything else that was spinning crazily through it. By the time she got there she knew she was in no state to drive. She should call Evan, get him to come and pick her up. Something stopped her.
And in the space of that one vengeful second, with that seemingly unimportant decision, her life changed forever.
There would be no going back.
She got a blanket out of the trunk, climbed into the back seat, stretched out as best she could. Snuggling down, she pulled the blanket up and over her head. She set the alarm on her phone for exactly one hour. Closed her eyes. She’d see how she felt when she woke up, call Evan then if she needed to.
Chapter 13
WHEN JAY CAME OUT of the men’s room, he caught sight of her talking to a large man sitting at the table nearest the door. A second later she was gone, the door banging shut after her. It was for the best. He had things to do.
Where the hell was Cole anyway?
He checked his phone again. No change. Except it was now 11:15 p.m. Cole was over an hour late already. Then he made the mistake of glancing down the bar to where two blond stick insects were watching him hungrily. One of them had already made an unsuccessful pass at him earlier.
He looked away again quickly. Too late. The one who hadn’t already tried her luck was on the move. Time for some air. He turned away from her as she closed in on him, headed for the door.
A big guy filtered in from the side, making for the door ahead of him. What with getting away from the blondes, worrying about where the hell Cole was and thinking about the girl whose name he didn’t know—and how all the best ones were always taken—he didn’t pay him much attention. The guy paused at the door, became aware of Jay immediately behind him. He held the door open for him, a courteous gesture, a big friendly smile on his large face, light flashing off a gold-capped tooth. Jay nodded thanks to him, sailed straight through without a thought. Gold Tooth followed, the man at the table by the door joining him, pulling the door closed behind them.
Outside on the street another man was standing in front of Jay, head down, not looking where he was going as he tried to come in. Jay went to step to the side, his turn to be polite. It was the last polite thing that happened that evening.
The guy looked up. Jay recognized him instantly. Esteban. And with the recognition came realization. This wasn’t what it appeared to be. It wasn’t simply two people blocking each other’s way, about to do the side to side dance as they both moved the same way to get past.
The realization was only a thousandth of a second behind the recognition. It might as well have been a week.
An arm like a steel hawser looped around his neck, a strong hand on the back of his head as Gold Tooth put him in a choke hold, the smell of eggs on his breath strong in Jay’s nose. Esteban buried a fist like a rock in his stomach, drove the air out of him like it wasn’t ever coming back. The second punch eviscerated him, turned him into a boneless, retching rag doll.
They dragged him into the alley at the side of the bar where Esteban pulled out a Glock semi-automatic. He dug the barrel hard into the flesh under Jay’s chin as Gold Tooth released the choke hold. He twisted Jay’s arms behind his back, cuffed his wrists with plastic ties. Behind them, a dirty Chevy cargo van climbed up onto the sidewalk, stopped with its open side door in front of the alley. They bundled him in, Esteban following in after him. Gold Tooth went back inside the bar. He was out again in under a minute, jumped in the front as the van bumped down the curb, burned rubber all the way down the street.
In the back, Jay leaned against the side, stared at Esteban opposite him, thinking very slick of them, very stupid of me. He knew exactly where they were going, who would be waiting for him when they got there.
If he’d been paranoid, he might have thought the whole thing was a set-up—the girl included. Because he’d seen her talking to the guy up front driving. And he didn’t believe in coincidences like that.
SOME DAYS NOTHING goes right. Today was one of those days.
Cole got to the bar at eleven thirty. An hour and a half late. Jay was already gone. All because of a stupid old fart who shouldn’t have been on the road in the first place jumping a red light, totalling his car. They’d collided at a forty-five-degree angle, his front axle snapping like a dry twig. They all had to stand around waiting while the cops made a meal out of it. Then they did some more waiting for the recovery truck to get there, which took them right up to clocking-off time for every cab on the planet. And on top of all that, his phone’s battery decided to die right then.
It was obvious as soon as he walked into the room that Jay wasn’t there. He went to the bar, dropped his backpack on the floor. Scanned the room more carefully. He wasn’t there. The bartender trotted up behind him.
‘What can I get you?’
‘I’m looking for a guy about the same size and build as me. Dark hair, blue eyes. Looks like he needs a shave.’
The bartender grinned back at him, eyes bright beneath several inches of prescription glass. At least Cole thought it was a grin. It might have been a grimace. Or he was about to cry.
‘What?’
‘There was a guy like that in here a while back. You just missed him. He got into a situation with a couple of drunks who were pestering a young woman.’
Cole groaned inwardly. That was Jay all over—everybody’s knight in shining armor.
‘Yeah, that sounds like him. Don’t tell me he left with her.’
The bartender shook his head.
‘No, I don’t think so. Although they were getting along pretty well. They disappeared for a while together, over by the restrooms.’ He gave a small shrug, I can’t be responsible for what people get up to. ‘But she left on her own after talking to some guy by the door. Your friend went outside himself shortly after. I haven’t seen him since. I suppose he might have gone after her.’
Cole kicked the bag at his feet. Slapped his palm down on the bar top in frustration. A couple of blond women at the end of the bar looked over. Why the hell couldn’t he be filling in the time talking to them?
‘You couldn’t blame him if he did,’ the bartender said. ‘She was . . .’ He made an hourglass shape in the air with his hands rather than finish the sentence. Suddenly, all the amusement drained out of his face like dirty water going down a plughole. ‘Except I don’t think that’s what happened.’
The sudden change in his tone and attitude made Cole look up sharply. The guy’s face had taken on a sickly hue, a nervous tic twitching in his cheek.
‘What?’
‘A couple seconds after your friend went outside, the guy who’d been sitting by the door, the same one who talked to the woman on her way out, came back in. He was a big guy too, mean-looking with it. Had a gold tooth.’ The bartender touched his own front tooth, swallowed nervously, his Adam’s apple bobbing. ‘He s
aid if anybody came in asking around, I should give them this. Told me what he’d do to me if I looked inside it.’
He reached under the counter, pulled out an envelope. Slapped it down on the bar in a puddle of spilled beer, a tremor in his hand.
‘I don’t get paid enough to deal with this kind of shit.’ He sounded like a man who’d swallowed sour milk.
Cole stared at the envelope, the beer soaking into the paper, felt his intestines start to dissolve and trickle down into his shoes.
Why the hell wasn’t he surprised?
He peeled it off the bar, wiped it on his leg. Hoisted his bag over his shoulder, went outside. It didn’t take long to read the note. There wasn’t anything in it that he wasn’t expecting. He’d known what was coming ever since the mention of the guy with the gold tooth. Trouble was, it didn’t make it any better because you saw it coming. He read it one more time, his lips moving, nodded to himself. The deadline was achievable.
So long as he didn’t run into any complications.
He needed to find a car.
Chapter 14
IT WASN’T THE ALARM that jerked Sarah out of her sleep. It was her head banging painfully into the hard edge of the armrest.
It took a moment to work out where she was. Then it all came back to her in a rush. She was lying on the backseat of her car. Even with the blanket over her head she knew it was still dark outside. She’d obviously slept right through the alarm. She had no idea what time it was.
Something was wrong. The car was moving.
She lay still, hardly daring to breathe. Tried to think what to do. She eased the blanket down, made out the shape of a man—a large man—in the driver’s seat. Her heart lurched. For a stupid, fleeting moment she thought it was the good-looking guy from the bar. Then she caught a glimpse of his profile, knew it wasn’t him.
She must have forgotten to lock the doors. Just her luck some opportunistic car thief had come along. She was sure she’d locked them but she’d been so tired. And a little drunk. Maybe she hadn’t set the alarm properly either.
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