Page 65 of Fighting for Tawny

Pedro threw Yolanda down on the dirty, concrete floor and followed Whitcomb through the open doorway.

“Damn! I’m sorry, T. I let Whitcomb and Macintosh get the jump on me.”

“It’s okay. Do you think you can help me sit up?”

“Yeah.” Yolanda struggled to her feet. She lost her balance twice but managed to shuffle close to Tawny. She swung her legs over the side of the cot and helped Tawny use her upper body strength to sit upright.

“Thanks. Jesus, Yolanda. You look like you did after our fight.”

She grimaced. “I’m gonna kill that guy for ruinin’ my smile.”

Tawny only half grinned. “Is Terrin here, too?”

“Nope. Just us.”

“Listen, they’re going to force us to swallow balloons filled with heroin. We have to do it, Yolanda.” Tawny turned her neck. “Can you lift my hair?”

“Yeah. What am I looking at?”

“See that tiny incision? There’s a tracker under my skin. My team knows where I am. To make this bust, we have to carry the drugs across the border into California. I assume we’re in Mexico.”

“We are. Wow. You have a whole team?”

“I do. When this is over, I’m pulling strings and getting you out of prison for good. How’d you like to be a cop instead of a firefighter?”

“Me? A cop? I used to hate ‘em until I met you. Can I think about it?”

“Absolutely. No matter what you decide, you’ll be great as either one.”

Keys jangled in the lock. The metal door scraped as it swung inward. Whitcomb, Macintosh, Pedro, and another Mexican man dressed in a white lab coat entered with a tray of paraphernalia. Tawny identified the drug-filled balloons and a numbing agent. Her throat constricted, and her heart pounded an erratic rhythm in her chest.

Yolanda whispered, “Jesus, save us.”

Macintosh moved a small table and two chairs into the center of the room. The man in the white lab coat set the tray on it and slid his hands into a pair of latex gloves.

“Shall we begin?” He gestured toward Tawny. “Her first.”

Pedro cut the zip ties with his knife and pressed it slightly into Tawny’s sore ribs. “Try anything, and I’ll gut you like a pig.”

He pulled her roughly to her feet and shoved her into the nearest chair. Whitcomb elbowed him aside and grabbed a fistful of Tawny’s hair. He yanked her head back, exposing her throat.

“I see your pulse beating,” he murmured in her ear. “You’re afraid, Ginger.”

“No. Just sickened by you.”

Whitcomb wrapped his hands around her throat and choked her.

“Stop!” the man in the lab coat ordered. “She won’t be able to swallow the balloons.”

He released her, and she drew in deep breaths. “As soon as those drugs are out of your system, you and I are going to have plenty of alone time.”

“Fuck you.”

Whitcomb smiled. “Yes, you will. Over and over.”

“Get out of my way.” The man in the lab coat pushed Whitcomb away from Tawny. “I’m Dr. Xavier. I’ll be spraying your throat with an anesthetic that works within seconds, and then you’ll start swallowing these balloons. Do not graze them by accident with your teeth. We don’t want you overdosing on heroin.”

Dr. Xavier pulled down her jaw and sprayed her throat. The anesthetic tasted lemony. He placed a balloon on her tongue. “Swallow.”

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