Page 18 of Carter's Battle

Carter seriously doubted that was going to happen. There was no way a guy like Bobby was going to let a golden goose like Mia slip through his fingers. Not in this lifetime. Or any other. “Professional gambling. I gotta say, that was totally unexpected.”

Mia lifted her chin. “I’m unexpected in all kinds of ways.”

She could say that again. Carter was blown away by her and that in itself was a mystery to him. The gambling thing was just the icing on the cake.

“So what do you think? Still think you can help me?” Mia asked.

Carter nodded. “I can. I can keep you safe while you’re gambling and, once I get the lay of the land, maybe I can figure out a way to get Bobby off your back.”

She shook her head. “Don’t mess with Bobby. But if you can keep me safe until I get the money, that would be…helpful. I need to be able to concentrate totally when I play. I don’t want Bobby or anyone else bugging me and I need to know that he’snot going to just show up whenever he wants and catch me off guard.” She shivered.

“Agreed. You should call him before he turns up here again. You need to arrange some sort of meeting location for whatever he wants. Tell him your place is off limits because your neighbors are already asking about him and you’re pretty sure they’ll call the cops if he shows up again. That should keep him away. I’ll go with you to the meeting and make sure you’re okay.”

She nodded and picked up her cell phone. “You sure you’re good with this?” she asked one more time as she dialed.

“More than sure.”

“Okay then,” she agreed.

“I’m just going to get my stuff and I’ll be back shortly. Are you going to be okay here on your own or do you want to come with me?” Carter offered.

Mia looked up, the expression on her face totally confused. “Get your stuff? What are you talking about?”

“You can’t stay here on your own. The threat of the cops will only keep him away for a bit. Either I move in here with you or you move out to my cabin at the ranch, which would be safer, but it’s your choice.” Carter did his best to keep the smile off his face but he had to admit he was looking forward to his new job. Maybe even a bit too much.

CHAPTER 11

Mia bither lip as she tried to stop her hands from shaking. Bobby’s visit to her place earlier this morning had shaken her up more than she’d realized. Suddenly, she felt stupid for not telling Carter about the meet. She’d hired him after all, hadn’t she? He was supposed to keep her safe. How could he do that if he didn’t know where she was? She tried to do some breathing exercises to slow her heart rate down from stratospheric to merely a gallop.

Carter had just pissed her off so much with his moving in shit. Seriously. He’d just said Bobby probably wouldn’t come back for a while so why did he have to move in? Or worse, have her move out to the ranch. No way in hell that was going to fly. Then everyone would know there was a problem. The Big Island was, in fact, a very small place, and nothing circulated faster than a juicy piece of gossip. No way she could go stay at the ranch without the world knowing. They’d either assume she was in trouble, which she was, or assume she was sleeping around, which she wasn’t. But who would believe that after one look at Carter?

Not that she cared what people thought when it came to her sleeping around, but she did care when it came to her reputation. She’d built the business from scratch, and she wasproud of it. The fact that her parents had been so damn proud of her because of her success meant she’d do anything to avoid doing something that might disappoint them. It didn’t matter that they were dead. She would not bring shame to her family name. They would hate the fact that she was gambling again. Absolutely hate it. But they also would understand because she was helping protect her business and she was helping a friend in need. They’d always liked Akela and thought her upbringing had been a bit tough. They would want Mia to help in any way she could.

Now that she’d justified what she was doing by blaming dead people, she needed to haul her ass out of the car. Somehow her legs just wouldn’t move. She stared out the windscreen into the darkness. The sound of waves hitting the shore filtered through, and usually she found it relaxing. Tonight, the sound was more ominous, nearly violent. The fact that Bobby wanted to meet at Honoli’i had seemed like a great idea earlier when she’d talked to him. She’d always loved this beach. It was one of her favorite surfing spots when she was a kid. This time of night, it just seemed desolate and scary.

The clouds parted and the moon shone through. The beach appeared empty and there were no other cars in the parking lot. Bobby had set this beach as their meeting place, so where the hell was he?

Over the dull roar of the crashing waves, the sound of an engine reached her, followed by a set of headlights in the rearview mirror blinded her.

Bobby’s van had entered the parking lot. As it pulled up beside her she noticed Mele, known as Mikey, in the passenger seat, and Nakoa driving. They were two of Bobby’s sidekicks from back in the day. They weren’t too swift, if she remembered correctly, but they’d always been nice to her, or at least as nice as Bobby would let them be.

She took a deep breath.Here goes nothing.Mia opened her door and got out.

The van’s side door opened. “Do you have the money?” Bobby snarled. He was sitting in the seat behind the passenger seat.

Mia was taken aback. How the hell did he know she’d made money? “Er, yes but not on me.”

“Then what the fuck are we here for? I want that money.” Bobby’s lips were curled into a snarl. Despite the van’s overhead light being dim, Mia noticed Bobby had a cut above his eye, and a thin trickle of blood dribbled down his face.So that’s why he was late. Things did not seem to be going well for him.

“I’m not giving you the money until I have all of it.”

She jumped back as Bobby shot out of the van. “That’s not how this works, bitch! You do what I say, and I say give me the fucking money you won.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Mia stammered.

Bobby got right in her face. “You do what the fuck I say!”

She smelled sweat and bad breath and something else. The acrid tang of fear soured the air around her.

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