Page 89 of Morally Gray Daddies

“I had the code.”

“Oh.” Sonja’s body had been tensed before; now it went taut, her spine rigid as she sat on the edge of her chaise. “Well, he’s gone for a while on business. If you give me your name, though, I’ll let him know you came by.”

“Is there anyone else here? Tomás? Someone else?”

“No,” Sonja replied after a second.

Now his gaze came back to her, his eyes piercing. “So, you’re here all alone.”

“He’ll be back soon,” she answered, her voice almost a whisper.

“Oh, Sonja, I think we both know he won’t.” He stepped out from under the patio into the sunlight. I’d been right; he was a big man, and now he slipped his hand inside his sports jacket to the back of his waist to pull something out.

A gun.

Sonja gave a sharp cry as I sucked in a lungful of air as if I were being dragged under water. The man held the weapon down at his side, pointing it at neither of us. The sight of it, though, dark gray and menacing, sent a rush of fear pulsing through me that left me lightheaded. Neither of us moved as the man simply stood there, smiling.

“No, Sonja, we both know Daddy won’t be back anytime soon. And that’s good, because it’ll give us all the time we need…”

My heart seized.

“To do what I came here to do.”

Chapter Five

Derrick

Fear.

Being able to watch someone in the throes of fear was always delicious, and never more so than when coming from a woman. Gazing at two pairs of eyes staring back, glittering bright with pure, unadulterated terror, was more rewarding than I’d anticipated. I couldn’t let it cloud my judgment right now, though. First things first.

“I know your first inclination,” I began, “is going to be to scream, and your second to run. Please don’t. In regard to the first, no one will hear you from here, and for the second, I don’t want to have to do what you’ll force me to if you take off.”

Neither girl said a word, their bodies frozen, pupils blown wide as their eyes remained fixed on me. A moment passed in shocked stillness.

“Good. I’d hoped we could start this off without having to resort to violence.”

“What do you want?” It was the daughter, Sonja, who spoke, her voice tight.

“It’s very simple.” I took another step toward them. “I’m here to do a job. That’s all. Now, to do that job, I’m going to need your assistance, but if we all work together, I’m sure we can get through this and soon be on our way.”

“A… job.”

“Yes.”

“Do you work for my father?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m afraid my saying I was friend of your father’s was simply a ruse to buy me some time to make sure no one else was here I wasn’t aware of.”

“My father will be back?—”

“Sonja, stop. He won’t. I know your father is out of the country on business right now. He’s not coming back until Monday. By then we’ll be done, and I’ll be long gone.”

“My cousin Alex?—”

Enough of this. I went to her and brought up my handgun. “Do you seriously want to continue with these lies? Because if you do, how we proceed from this point forward can go in a completely different direction than I’d hoped for.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

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