Bounty and Bait: Bounty Hunters, Book One

by Tiffany Allee

  “Girl, you need to get a cell phone. It's weird having to call you on a landline.” Lisa's tone was friendly, but there was something off. Sophia had known her long enough to pick up on that much at least.

  “One of these days, when I win the lottery,” she said. “You okay, Lisa? We sound a little upset about something.”

  “Oh, Jason's just being a dick. You know how that goes.” Lisa hesitated on the other end of the line as if she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if she should. Finally, when Sophia didn't respond, she added, “Not really sure I should be saying anything about this. But I guess it's okay since it's just you. If he'd want anyone to know, it would be you.”

  Sophia felt like her heart stopped. And she went very still. “Who would want what now?” she said in mock confusion to her friend.

  Lisa laughed nervously, apparently relieved that Sophia seemed to have no idea what she was talking about. “I saw Darrell and some of his friends last night at the party after you left. You barely missed him.”

  Holy shit. She'd allowed her discomfort to driver away from that party—Darrell could be locked up already if she hadn’t wimped out. The hell was wrong with her? “Damn. Can't believe I missed him.”

  She hoped she sounded disappointed for the right reasons.

  “Well, no worries. I guess they're actually going to Jimmy’s bar tonight if you want to try to catch him. I'm sure he'd love to see you,” Lisa said, her tone was slightly amused, but she was holding something back. No doubt Lisa knew very well that Darrell wasn’t thrilled with her, maybe even that she’d run. But she doubted that Lisa knew much else. Darrell wasn’t much for sharing.

  Sophia laughed along while she thought. Darrell was fond of that bar — but that made it dangerous, too. It was full of his cronies. His friends. His fellow criminals, as Nick would say. But damn, what an opportunity. Trying to sound nonchalant, she said, “Well thanks, Lisa. Maybe I'll stop by. See how everyone is doing. Be nice to catch up.”

  “You're not fooling me,” Lisa said, and for a moment Sophia's heart felt like it was suffocating her. “It's obvious how bad you want to see him. But don't worry about it, I totally understand. I won't tell him how eager you are to see him.”

  “Maybe don't tell him anything at all. Make it kind of a surprise, you know? Unless you have already, then that's cool,” she quickly added.

  Lisa took the bait. “Nah, I haven't told him anything. I like the idea of a surprise—could get dramatic and fun.” Lisa laughed again. The girl had always loved drama.

  “All right, then. Maybe I'll see you over there tonight.”

  “Hey, what time do you get off work?” Lisa asked.

  Without thinking, Sophia said, “Nine o'clock.”

  “Perfect!” Lisa said, excited. “I'll come pick you up after you get off work. We’ll get ready in your bathroom and then we can head to the bar together. I know you don't have a car right now.”

  Sophia laughed nervously. “You don't have to do that—”

  “Sure I do. It’s the least I can do to help my girl.”

  Shit. Sophia couldn't think of an excuse that would sound plausible. “Sounds good.”

  She hoped Lisa couldn't hear the fear in her voice.

  “All right, talk to you soon,” Lisa said, then the line went dead.

  Sophia took a deep breath and readied herself to dial another number. Nick was going to be pissed.

  Sophia was stupidly nervous. Her hands shook as she brushed her hair in her work bathroom. The florescent bulbs highlighted how pale she was, the dark circles under her eyes.

  This was it. This was her chance to redeem herself—in more ways than one. She would go tonight to that bar and find Darrell. She would do whatever she had to do to help Nick take him down. She would make up for what she'd done.

  She applied her eyeliner extra thick, just the way Darrell liked it. So strange to have her whole life revolving around a man that she had spent the last year trying to forget.

  But was it him she was trying to forget?

  Something inside of her told her that it wasn't Darrell she had been running away from. It was herself. It was the chicken shit choice she'd made.

  She might tell herself that it was to ensure her survival. She might even insinuate that to Nick. But really, it was her guilt that drove her. She faced herself in the mirror, staring into her blue eyes. Refusing to look away.

  Sophia Scott had watched her boyfriend murder a defenseless man. And she hadn’t done shit about it.

  She almost looked down but forced herself to continue to meet her own gaze in the old, grungy bathroom mirror. Carefully, she applied a thick layer of eyeshadow. Like riding a bike, she hadn't forgotten how to do her makeup the way Darrell liked it.

  She'd watched him kill a man. And she'd done nothing about it. She had options—no matter how she'd like to tell herself ever since that she hadn't. Going to the police was one—probably the one she should've taken.

  But she hadn't trusted the police. Hadn't trusted anyone. Hadn't even trusted Nick enough to tell him the truth.

  Now, she wished she’d told him. Just in case she didn't get another chance.

  Lisa knocked on the bathroom door, saying something in a highly annoyed tone that Sophia couldn’t make out through the bathroom door. Quickly, Sophia finished doing her makeup.

  Fortune had smiled upon her when she'd connected with Nick. The man wasn't perfect, but he was something else. Something different. Despite poor choices he'd made in his past—he was still human after all—he was still a wonder to her. A man who wanted to be on the right side of the law. A man with integrity for Christ’s sake.

  A man who seemed to genuinely care about her.

  Another loud knock sounded from the door. “Hurry your ass up.”

  “I'm done, Lisa. Just give me a sec.”

  Lisa muttered something unintelligible behind the door, but she didn't knock again.

  Out of ways to stall, Sophia forced herself to take a deep breath and look in the mirror. Pasting a flirtatious smile on her face, she tried to relax.

  Not the most convincing smile, but it would have to do.

  Lisa seemed annoyed when she exited the bathroom, and her mood didn't improve when they got to the car. Distracted, the other woman chatted a bit with Sophia, but her mind didn't really seem to be focused on their conversation.

  “Still worried about your guy?” Sophia asked.

  Lisa’s smile looked forced. “We'll be okay. Sorry if I'm not in the best of moods tonight.”

  “No worries,” she said, patting her friend on the shoulder.

  The same eeriness that had filled her when she walked into the house party the night before touched her as she headed into the bar. So familiar, and yet it was as if she remembered someone else's life. Or something she'd seen in a movie. Her experiences here—numerous though they were—almost didn't seem real.

  The bar was already full, even though it wasn't much after 10 o'clock. Smoke hung in the air, despite the fact that it wasn't legal to smoke in public places. Apparently, this bar hadn't gotten the note. Along with the smoke, the air was thick with the smell of drink and men. The pool tables on one corner were already full of players, and the small dance floor was occupied by only one couple—older, obviously already drunk. Barflies, but ones that held each other close and swayed to the music. Of course, the music playing was fast and loud and had nothing in common with whatever they were dancing to, but it was still sweet.

  Palms sweaty, she followed Lisa to their usual corner—a dark area of the bar that couldn't really be seen from anywhere else in the building other than one side of pool tables. There was a room behind it were Darrell and men like him talked. Away from the music and the crowds. Away from the witnesses.

  Dark dealings, no doubt.

  She almost tripped over nothing at the sight of a man of Darrell's height and build sitting at one of the two tables and the nook. But it wasn't Darrell. After a long look, she realized she
knew him. She thought his name was Robert.

  Lisa gave her a weird look.

  “Still tripping over my own feet,” she joked. But when she glanced back at Lisa, the woman had turned, and was heading back the way they’d come.

  Before she could process that, someone grabbed her from the side and pressed a gun to her back.

  “Walk,” the man ordered.

  Her stomach dropped, and she swayed on her feet. She knew that voice.

  Darrell.

  10

  Nick was sick to death of waiting.

  There'd been no sign of Darrell, but then again, there wouldn't be if he was already inside. Nick had done enough research on them, talked to enough people, so he knew Darrell was a clever man. Maybe not educated. Maybe not exactly a master planner. But he had a good survival instinct. And no qualms about doing whatever he had to do.

  Calm down. Sophia had only been in the bar for ten minutes. What could've happened in ten minutes?

  His mind flashed back to the crimes he'd seen as a police officer. To the momentary lapse in judgment that had cost him his career, and for a long time, his direction in life.

  A hell of a lot could happen in ten minutes.

  Fuck it. He was going inside. She might be pissed, and he might lose his perp, but he could figure those things out later. If she got hurt, really hurt, then there’d be no fixing it.

  He had no doubt she knew that Darrell was dangerous. But he didn't think she knew how dangerous. He was fairly confident, even though she'd never confided in him, that Sophia had seen Darrell kill someone.

  But according to his research, Darrell had likely murdered a lot more than one person. The man wasn't strong in his own right — he didn't run a syndicate or gang. But he was perfectly happy to hurt people for the men who did.

  And no matter what Sophia thought, Darrell would hurt her too.

  He got out of the car, touching his gun to reassure himself it was still there. The other in his boot rubbed against his ankle. Then he went into the bar.

  He got a couple of long stares, some furtive glances. This was a locals bar and strangers weren't encouraged. If he were here for a drink, he'd probably get the cold shoulder until he found somewhere else to drink.

  He scanned the dark, hazy room for Sophia. But she was nowhere to be seen.

  Panic making his heart rate skyrocket, he walked back past the pool tables and checked out the nook Sophia had described to him over the phone. One man sat in the corner, similar build and hairstyle to Darrell. But it wasn't his man.

  But Nick knew him. He was a crony of Darrell's. Even if he could get information out of him about Sophia, it would take far too long. The clench in his gut the shake of his hands told him he didn't have that kind of time. Spinning around, he walked back toward the front of the bar and headed for the restrooms. He threw open the door to the ladies’ room causing the woman fixing her makeup in the mirror to squeak and spin around and panic.

  He scanned her quickly. Her red eyes and still smudged mascara revealed she'd been crying. Her face was familiar, but it took him a moment to place it. Lisa. She'd been in Sophia's file, one of her friends. She dated another of Darrell's cronies, but not the one he'd seen in the bar.

  “The fuck are you doing?” she demanded, voice high.

  “Where is she?” he said, voice cold.

  Her eyes danced away from his. “Where's who?”

  He took two steps toward her, letting the bathroom door swing shut behind him. Then he reached for his gun but left it at his side. Her eyes followed the weapon, and she tried to step back. The counter kept her from moving farther away.

  “The friend you just betrayed. That's who.” Anger raged through him, and only the knowledge that Sophia’s chances would be a helluva lot greater if he maintained control kept him in check.

  Her eyes widened, and finally, she met his gaze. “Who are you?”

  “Not important. Where the fuck is she?” Another step. Leaving just enough room for him to raise the gun should it be necessary. “Tell me now. Don't make me hurt you.”

  For a half second, it looked like she might argue with him. But something in his eyes must've told her he wasn't bluffing. “She's with him.”

  Nick didn't need clarification on who he was, and she seemed to know that. “Where?”

  She sniffed and wiped a tear away from her eye. “I didn't have any choice, you know. I had to tell.”

  “Where?” He said anger finding its way into his voice. “Don't make me ask you again.”

  She blinked rapidly and touched her stomach. “He’ll hurt me if I tell you.”

  He pointed the gun at her kneecap. “I'll hurt you if you don't.”

  A sob escaped her. “The back room, last I saw,” she choked out. “Don't know if they're still there.”

  “How do I get back there?”

  She sniffed again, loudly. “There's a door, back in the area past the pool tables. Kinda hard to see unless you know you're looking for. On the bar side.”

  Nick nodded and turned just in time to see the door behind them fly open. Darrell's buddy stood in the doorway, the one he'd seen sitting at the table earlier.

  “The fuck you—”

  Nick didn't wait for him to finish before he punched him in the face, hard as he could. It was his non-dominant hand, but he'd spent years boxing. Robert—that was his name—fell down like a sack of bricks. Eyes rolling into the back of his head.

  Ignoring Lisa's stifled scream, Nick stepped over Robert’s still form and walked back around the way he'd come.

  Making sure to keep one eye on the hallway and Lisa in his peripheral vision in case she decided to try something, Nick quickly pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and sent a text.

  This wasn't Chicago—he didn't know half the force. But he did have a contact. And it wasn't stupid enough to go into the situation without backup. But at the same time, he couldn't risk waiting for them to arrive. Sophia's life was in danger. The thought made it difficult to breathe, but he forced himself to taken a long breath and let it out slowly. Sophia was going to be okay. He would not let that bastard hurt her.

  And if he already had… The fucker was dead.

  Nick strode toward the back room, passing the bar and the patrons around. No one tried to stop him. No one said anything about the gun in his hand. They all watched. No doubt hoping for a show, all of them.

  Nick didn't try to knock down the back door. He opened it carefully, and as soon as he stepped inside, he pointed his gun at the man in the corner. Darrell sat on a chair, with the table and chairs between him and Nick.

  Sophia sat on his lap. Her eyes were red rimmed and wide. Pale, she looked so afraid that it made it almost impossible for Nick not to dive over the table and try to strangle Darrell. But it wasn't the arm he had wrapped around Sophia that stopped Nick. It was the gun in his other hand, pointed at Sophia's chest.

  Keeping his gun pointed at Darrell, he said, “Take it easy.”

  He stepped to the side so he could keep the door that led out to the bar in his sight. It would be just like this man to have one of his cronies sneak up on Nick while he was distracted.

  Darrell gave him a slow smile. “I think you're the one who should take it easy, bounty hunter.” He tapped the gun against Sophia's side. She flinched every time it touched her.

  Rage and fear tore at Nick. If he put down his gun, he was dead. That was a given. But the worst part was, Sophia would likely be dead, too. And he'd avoid that no matter what it took. Her life was worth a lot more than his.

  Fuck him. He was in love with her.

  “Come on, pig. If you put that gun down, I'll let you go.” Darrell didn't even bother to hide his lazy smile.

  The lie was obvious, Darrell wasn’t even trying to bother hiding it. But he played along. “What about Sophia?”

  “Have you fucked her yet?” Darrell asked. When Nick didn't reply, Darrell laughed. “Doesn't really matter if you did, I guess. She's already shown she
won’t go to the cops even if she sees me kill somebody. So I suppose that's pretty good loyalty, considering. Just got to keep her from running.” He rubbed the hand he had wrapped around Sophia up and down her arm. She cringed.

  “Promise that you’ll let her go,” Nick insisted. The word of the snake in front of him was worthless, but distracting Darrell bought him time. And right now, he could use all that he could get.

  Darrell’s smile widened even further. “Sure I will. No reason to take out a good piece of ass like her.” A spark of something else shined in Darrell’s eyes when he spoke of Sophia, despite his words. Fuck, the asshole criminal prick actually gave a shit about his ex-girlfriend.

  That decided it. Very slowly, Nick put down his gun on the floor.

  “Kick it toward me,” Darrell ordered. “Nice and easy.”

  Nick cursed under his breath and carefully kicked the gun in Darrell's direction. He didn't want it to go off accidentally any more than Darrell did. Sophia was in that chair too.

  Darrell laughed again and pointed his gun at Nick “Bye, pig.”

  Just before he pulled the trigger, Sophia elbowed him hard in the solar plexus. Darrell's gun hand fell a few inches and the loud gunshot cracked the air. Barely missing. Sophia fought to get away, Darrell lost his grip on her body, but he held her by her hair. She screamed at him to let her go.

  “Bitch!” Darrell pointed the gun at Sophia, seeming to forget about Nick.

  Nick grabbed his spare gun, yanking it violently from his boot, and shot Darrell in the chest. Then he lunged for Sophia.

  11

  Blue and red lights flashed around the bar more than two hours after Nick shot and killed Darrell Ferry.

  A bitter chill touched the air, and about thirty feet from where Nick had just finished giving his statement to the local detective, Sophia huddled under a blanket.

  Eyes haunted in red-rimmed, she looked cold and lost. Something in his chest twisted, and he wanted nothing more than to go to her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. One of the officers gestured toward him, waving him over to Sophia. They were done interviewing her, too. For the moment.