Page 48 of Cooper

She smirks. “You were just stupid enough to fall for it.”

“Fine. I was stupid. Get on with it. I should never have left Cooper.”

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty.”

“Fine. What do you want? Money? Good luck. If you find any, give some to me, because I don’t have any. This dress? Salvation Army special.”

“We know you don’t have the money, bitch.” The guy behind the wheel says.

I ignore the name calling, and focus on the fact that he said, ‘the money’.

“So, if I don’t have the money, what do you want with me?”

Moira and the driver exchange knowing looks. That’s when I lose my shit. “The F.B.I. told me you’re getting your money back. Why do you have to go and kidnap me for, huh?”

Moira smirks again, slitting her eyes at me. “Yeah, well, if they know where all the money is, what makes you think that us getting just our share is enough?”

“So, you want all the money.” I say blankly, wondering why the hell James got involved with criminals, like an idiot. “And you’re going to use me as ransom.”

“Look at that. She isn’t as stupid as you thought.” The driver says, tongue in cheek, talking like I’m not here, facetiously.

What a fool I am. Leaving Cooper alone, or even coming to this funeral. I should have known better. But my guard is down. That call from the F.B.I., and my naïve, lovesick head made me forget about all the dangers that still lurk. The F.B.I. said that it was almost over, and I just ignored that. Like an idiot. “You’ll never get away with this. My boyfriend is going to figure out that I’m missing, and he’s going to have a team of people after you.” I spit back, remembering how quickly the men came to my rescue the night of the gunshot. It was less then ten minutes before they showed up in Dalton’s Escalade.

“We wish them luck. They’ll never find you, where we’re taking you.” Moira says casually, like she’s telling me that I’m wearing unmatched socks.

“What’s the point in using me for ransom? Who are you going to call for ransom? My ex-husband is in jail, and he’s the only one that knows where the money is.”

Moira looks slyly at the driver. “Oh, did we say ransom? I think you said ransom.”

It takes me a moment to catch on. The whole reason why the F.B.I. placed me in Witness Protection. “If you think that I know where the money is, you’re sadly mistaken. Don’t you think that I’d be in prison, too?”

“You might have the feds snowed over, bitch, but not us.” The driver says.

“Look, my name is St—”

“London?” Moira interrupts. “Of course, we know what your name is, you stupid idiot. Don’t you think we know everything about you?” She scoffs and shakes her head, like I really am stupid.

I decide to take another angle. “How did you find me?”

The driver and Moira exchange another look. “Let’s just say that everyone has their price.”

Vague. Smart. I try to look around, just moving my eyes, not my head, placing where we’re going. We’re not using a highway, it’s back roads, and I don’t recognize anything. Not like I’ve had a ton of time to sightsee since moving here. By the new car scent in this vehicle, I’m guessing it’s rented. It’s not stolen. It’s newer. Since they evidently want me to get them the money, I’ll assume that they’re taking me somewhere that has a computer and a wifi connection. Chances are it won’t be in an old, dilapidated building or warehouse, but I could be wrong.

“I suppose you think that I can just log in to a magical site and download the money for you, right?” I guffaw, using a firm tone, so they know that I mean business. “I’ll need specialized software, passwords, unless you think that banks are stupid and don’t change them.” I pause. “And a banking token, which was under lock and key.” Another pause. “But I don’t suppose you thought of all that. You probably just rented this nice, fancy minivan and came up with a kidnapping plan. Nice work.”

Moira looks at me, like she’s about to smack me, but she doesn’t. “We’ve got everything we need.”

“Impossible.” I spit. “The only way you’d get all that is through Jam—” I stop myself, putting two and two together. “Oh my God. They didn’t let him out, did they? James isn’t out of prison, is he?”

The driver looks at me, like I’m an idiot. “If James was out, don’t you think that he’d be the dude getting all the money?”

“Then how did you get all of that? The banking token in particular. Only James had that.”

It’s Moira’s turn to look at me like I was born yesterday. “Prison security guards are all idiots. It’s amazing how much shit you can get away with, especially when you don’t have a penis.”

“Yeah, and when you’ve got a rack like that.” The driver adds, eying her up and down, making me cringe.

The guy sitting next to me pipes up. “Hey, turn here.”

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