by Stark, Cindy
“Okay,” she replied, feeling a tad guilty that she hadn’t worried about him getting all grimy to help her.
“Let me wipe off, and then I can move that heavy bag of yours back into the trunk.”
“Oh, no. No, no, no. It’s completely fine. The bag can stay in the backseat. I’ll be taking it out when I get home anyway.” She tried once again to relax her shoulders and appear unconcerned.
“Alrighty then, I’ll let you get back on the road. Don’t want to make you any later.”
“Thank you, Officer—” She glanced at his name badge. “Collins. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.”
“You’re more than welcome, ma’am. Patrolling this stretch of road can get mighty boring at times. I’m glad to have the company of a pretty lady every now and then.”
She pretended to blush as she backed toward her car. “Thanks again. Have a great evening.”
“You, too, ma’am.”
She smiled and climbed into her car, immediately starting the engine. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she pulled out onto the highway. The heavy overdose of adrenaline caused by the officer’s presence faded, leaving her with a roaring headache.
“Thank you, God.” The thought of how close Officer Collins had come to drug money sickened her. One slide of the zipper… She cranked up the air conditioning, aiming the blast of cold air directly at her face. Thirty minutes behind schedule. Again.
She couldn’t do anything but own up to what had happened and pray to any god that might listen to protect her from harm.
Chapter Sixteen
This was it, Eliana thought as she turned onto the street where Angel Hardy’s warehouse resided. The next few moments could very well be the last of her life. Either way, she was screwed. If she didn’t return and kept the money, she had no doubt she’d find herself at the wrong end of a gun or knife in the coming days. If she faced Hardy today, she could plead for forgiveness and play the stupid newbie who had no idea of his rules.
It was her only hope.
She didn’t know if the fact that the garage door opened on her arrival was a good sign or not, but she pulled directly into the bay.
Burt greeted her with a stony-faced expression and gave her one slow shake of his head showing his disapproval.
She shoved the gear in park and opened the door, her excuses hovering on the tip of her tongue. “I’m so sorry—”
“Stop,” he commanded and turned away.
She glanced around the empty warehouse and then hurried after him. He led her down the same dim hallway she’d walked before when Hardy had first given her the assignment. She had no doubt he was taking her back to his boss again.
This time, the office was vacant. Burt held open the door, and she slipped past him. When the door closed behind her, it rang with the finality of a death sentence. She sank into the same chair she’d occupied before. She fished the Duke from the bottom of her purse in case things didn’t go well, and then she prayed.
Innumerable, agonizing minutes passed. She tried again to rehearse what she’d say, but fear clogged her mind and she couldn’t regain control of her words. She’d faced some harsh judges at trial before, but nothing compared to this.
When the door squeaked open again, she turned with a jerk.
“Look who’s returned.” Angel Hardy made a point of twisting his hand to look at the expensive gold watch circling his wrist. “A mere thirty five minutes late.”
“Thirty,” she countered. “I’ve been here five minutes.”
An angry spark flitted in his eyes. “What did you say?”
She swallowed. “I’m sorry. What I meant was I apologize for being late. I ran into some unexpected complications on the road which slowed me down.”
“Is that so?” He moved closer until he stood above her, and she had to tilt her head upward in an uncomfortable position to maintain eye contact. But she wasn’t about to look away.
She nodded emphatically. “Bad weather, bad traffic.” She omitted the part about his contact giving her trouble. “A flat tire on the way home. You can check my car. I still have the spare on it. The flat is in the trunk.”
“I saw the tire when I went looking for the bag that wasn’t there.”
“It’s in my backseat,” she hurried to spit out. “I had to move it when I changed the tire.”
“I know. Lucky for you, Burt found the bag, and the money’s all there.” He shifted and took a step until he more fully faced her. Then he reached behind him and pulled out a wicked knife.
“Of course the money is all there,” she stuttered as a violent shiver ripped through her. “I didn’t open the bag or touch anything. I swear. But please believe me when I say I couldn’t help what happened. I got here as fast as I could. I didn’t want to speed and risk getting pulled over.”
“But you talked to a cop anyway.”
The implication of his words shocked her, stealing her breath. “You had me followed?”
He snorted, looking down his nose at her. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to let you run outta here with that much product?”
She wasn’t about to question him further on that. “I couldn’t help talking to the cop. My tire went flat. He stopped to help.”
Hardy tested the blade against the top of his forearm, bringing forth a thin line of blood. “You ever find that pain enhances the quality of life. It reminds you to take time to feel stuff?”
“No.” She inhaled a choppy breath. He intended to cut her.
“You should try it sometime. You might like the high.” He grinned and stabbed the blade into the top of the wooden desk where it vibrated back and forth. She hardly dared to breathe.
He strode to the opposite side and claimed his chair. “So, now what the fuck are we going to do with you?”
She blinked rapidly. “What do you mean? I know I was late, but I completed the assignment.” She’d done everything he’d asked.
“Yes and no.” He leaned back in his chair and regarded her with an easiness that left her on edge. “You’re going to have to give me more than that.”
He toyed with her. She could see it in his eyes. He would push her until he discovered exactly what she was made of. The thought allowed her to harden her resolve. She hadn’t scrapped and scraped to get this far in life only to succumb to his pressure.
“What do you want from me?”
“I have a one more special delivery.”
More drugs? Like a larger amount? She couldn’t begin to guess. “Okay.” There would be no other acceptable answer for this man.
“Okay? You don’t want to know what it is, or where I want you to go?” He sassed her now.
“Does it matter?” Really, did it? He owned her. The only way to get out of this hell she’d jumped into was to keep moving forward until she had enough proof to involve the cops.
“You got balls.” He gave her a smile that hovered on sincere. “I’ll give you that. Get out of here, and go find Burt. He’ll help you. This time you’ll be in town.”
Eliana did her best to give him a nod that would inspire confidence when, inside, she wished she could throw up. She hurried from the office and into the warehouse, letting the sound of voices guide her.
Her car sat where she’d left it. She could see the headlights of another vehicle parked next to it, and two men stood nearby talking to Burt. As she approached and the dim light chased away the shadows, she realized the strangers were no strangers at all.
The brothers, Christian and Gideon both turned their gazes toward her as she neared, her approach marked by the sound of her clicking heels. Christian met her gaze with something akin to relief while Gideon grinned.
“You’re alive,” Gideon teased.
“Fuck you,” she said with all the venom she could muster.
“Whoa-ho!” he said with a laugh. “Don’t get all testy with me. You take a job, and you’d damn well better be prepared to pull through.”
“Like you with your
lacking sales?” Burt taunted, bringing a similar curse from Gideon as a smile cracked on Christian’s face.
She took a moment to appreciate the sight of the man who’d haunted her dreams. The last time she’d seen him Gideon had punched him in the face for sleeping with her. Apparently, whatever Gideon had said to Christian after the fact had been enough to keep Christian away from her.
That was just as well. Whatever powerful feelings she experienced when she was with him were nothing more than lust, no matter how much she wished otherwise. His presence in Hardy’s warehouse proved he was nothing but another pawn in the huge arena of organized crime. She might delude herself into believing he would change for her or that he was only there for his brother, but the fact of the matter was, he was a criminal like the rest of them, and if she let him any closer to her, the remnants of her shattered heart would be on her head, not his.
Christian caught her gaze and held it, She sensed he was trying to impart some sort of information to her, but she didn’t understand. She blinked and looked away.
“You’re up first,” Burt said to Christian as he lifted a two-way radio to his lips. “Bring the big package.”
From the back area of the warehouse, two younger men, thin and hunched over pushed a rolling cart toward them. As they neared, Eliana rounded her eyes with horror at the sight of the “package”. Layers of cellophane couldn’t disguise the dead body of a woman rolled inside.
Sick revulsion and frigid fear bellowed inside her, threatening to take her down. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
One question vibrated through her head over and over. Who was she? Eliana glanced at the men around her, and only Christian seemed affected by the corpse. A second later, he masked his emotion.
“Where do you want it?” one kid asked Burt.
Eliana shifted her traumatized gaze as a familiar voice from her past penetrated her stupor. Eric? Disbelief stole Eliana’s ability to think or breathe.
Her brother’s hair was a matted nest of greasy black, and his once sparkling green eyes were now pools of dead matter. Was there any semblance of her long-lost brother left inside his hollow shell? Or was he as lifeless as the woman inside the plastic?
“Put it in the Mustang,” Burt instructed.
Eliana stood stupefied as her brother rolled the cart to Christian’s Mustang. Christian followed him over and popped the trunk, and then stood back to allow Eric and his companion to lift the body and dump it into the trunk with a thud.
All of them were so sick and messed up. She wanted to scream that the body had once been a living person, someone who’d brought joy to someone in this world. Now she was…nothing.
Hot vomit tormented her throat, and she fought to keep it down. The man she’d slept with. And her own brother. Both involved in something so atrocious she couldn’t comprehend.
She clasped her shaking hands in front of her, watching the surreal scene unfold before her. Christian slammed the trunk closed and met her gaze. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away.
She’d never felt so alone in her life.
She looked up again when a car door banged shut, and she realized Christian had entered his vehicle.
“You’re going, too,” Burt told Gideon.
Gideon took a step back, looking panicked. “What the fuck for? I’ve already proven my loyalty.”
“For fucking up continually. Now get your ass in the car and help your brother dispose of that trash, or I’ll fuck you up and then let Hardy have his turn.”
Gideon cursed as he joined Christian in the car and slammed the door behind him.
Burt signaled for them to raise the bay door. The taillights on Christian’s car flared red before they dimmed, and he drove away into the night.
She never wanted to see him again. Any of them for that fact.
“Get the goods,” Burt told his two grunts.
Eliana stood with her feet glued to the cement as her brother and his friend disappeared and then came back, both carrying backpacks.
“This fine lady is going to give you a ride in her car and drop you off at your points. You’ve got twenty-four hours to unload and be back here. Understand?”
They both nodded.
Burt shoved a piece of paper in her hand. “Take ‘em, drop ‘em off and go home.”
“That’s it?” She’d expected something much worse after the way Hardy had scared her.
Burt nudged her with his elbow. “He set you up to fail earlier. Wanted to see what you’d do.” He leaned closer. “I think he likes you.”
She nodded with a jerk in response. “Okay.” She should have said more, but words failed her.
She glanced at her brother and his friend before heading toward her car. Both climbed in the passenger side, her brother taking the backseat and the stranger occupying the front.
She ignored the stench of unwashed bodies and started her engine. A start zipped through her when she caught her brother staring at her in the rearview mirror. She couldn’t tell if any recognition lay beyond his cold, dead gaze of complete disregard. He was a ghost from her past, and even now, she wasn’t sure if he was real.
Chapter Seventeen
Eliana drove in silence with her long-lost brother and his accomplice to the first address listed on the paper that Burt had given her. It was nothing more ominous than a street corner a couple of blocks east from the center of town. She pulled over to the side of the road, and the kid climbed out.
“Thanks,” he muttered before he shut the door and walked away.
Eliana didn’t pull back into traffic. Instead, she focused on the hollow green eyes still watching her in the rearview mirror.
“Go,” he insisted.
“No.” She had so much she wanted to say but didn’t know where to start.
“What the fuck are you doing, lady?” he persisted.
“Why the fuck are you pretending you don’t know me, Eric?” She threw her frustrated words back at him.
His stony gaze remained focused on her.
“It’s me…Eliana. I know you recognize me.” How could he not? They’d spent so much of their earlier years being each other’s only friends. His mental illness couldn’t have stolen that much of him, not with the state he was currently in.
He remained silent.
She slammed her palms against the steering wheel in frustration. “Goddammit, Eric. Where have you been all this time?”
“I don’t know nobody named Eliana,” he insisted, but she saw the brief flash of pain in his eyes.
She shifted in her seat. “Don’t say that. I know you struggle, and I want to help. Just, please, let me in. I don’t know how deep you’re messed up with the group, but I can help get you out.”
“Maybe I don’t fucking want out. Maybe I like what I do. Maybe I like the money I make.”
“But you could have so much more. A good home. Good food—”
“A fucking job like you?” His words were so bitter, so angry. “If you like it so damn much, then why are you working for Hardy?” He tilted his head in an aggressive way as though to say, “come back at me, bitch”.
“I’ve been looking for you. For years. That’s why I’m here. To help you and people like you.”
He snorted. “People like me. What does that mean? That you’re holier than thou now? How many times did you have to spread your legs to afford this car? Huh, Eliana?”
His questions were slaps to her face. “I earned this, and you damn well know it. I’m willing to share with you. So stop being so damn stupid and let me.”
“Stop trying to be my fucking mother. I didn’t need one back then, and I sure as hell don’t need one now!” He shoved the passenger seat forward and tried to open the door, but it was locked. “Open it!”
“No.” Emotion clogged her throat, making it hard to speak. “You’re coming with me. I’m not going to let you ruin your life running with people like Hardy.”
She’d finally found him, and s
he wasn’t letting him go. The money hadn’t been worth risking Hardy’s anger, but her brother’s well-being was.
She reached for the gearshift just as Eric shoved his way between the two front seats and fell onto the passenger side of the car. He knocked her hand away and pulled a knife from beneath his pant leg.
“Eric,” she gasped, shrinking away from him as far as her car would let her. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Listen here, bitch.” He thrust the knife in her direction. “Hardy is more family than you’ll ever be.”
She could see the delusions in his eyes now. But how much was mental illness, and how much was from abusing drugs? “You need help.” Her body trembled from an overdose of adrenaline mixed with fear. “Just relax. I know someone who can help.”
If she took him to the hospital, people could treat him. She reached for the gearshift again. With lightning speed, Eric slashed the knife across the top of her forearm, and she cried out.
Blood rushed forth, and she stared in shock at what her beloved brother had done to her.
“I’m not fucking going anywhere with you, you crazy bitch.” He flipped the lock and threw open the door. Once he was out of the car, he turned back to her. “Next time I see your face, I’ll kill you.”
He slammed the door, hunched his shoulders and walked away.
A vicious ache speared her as something inside broke. Violent shivers claimed her body and kept her from moving.
“No, Eric,” she whispered as his form faded into the darkness. She could jump out of her car and run after him, but he was beyond reason. She had no doubt he’d slit her throat as easily as her arm. Tears clouded her view, and she rapidly blinked to drive them away.
Hardy had capitalized on her brother’s mental illness, turned him into a monster. Over and over, the cursed felon had stolen the people she loved. He ruined lives without a care. Gloated over the pleasure of killing. Someone had to stop him.
She had to stop him.
Her voice hitched on a sob.
She could do it. She could do it right now.
She had no reason to wait. No reason to let him destroy more lives. She wiped her hands across her cheeks to remove some of the wetness and shifted her car into gear. If someone had taken him out a year ago, her friend Howard would still be alive. Her brother might have gotten help. That poor, dead woman, whoever she was, would still be alive.
