Page 49 of Sinner's Secret

The suited man strode away, out of sight, shouting as he went, “Stop that godforsaken noise.”

Nika grabbed the clothing, discovered a pair of sweatpants, and yanked them on over her shorts. The only other item was a thin t-shirt, but she couldn’t put it on with one hand handcuffed to the bed frame.

Three shots rang out, interspersed with yelling and shouts, indistinct enough that she could only pick out a few words.

Stop.

Shoot him.

Kill him.

More grunts, groans, and gunshots, sounding like a riot gone wrong.

If this were the police, they would have identified themselves, and there would have been an organized clearing of each room. Whatever was going on was not organized.

Another high-pitched scream knifed through the air, and she winced at the shrill pitch. That sounded like...torture.

Running footsteps approached and the man in the suit darted into the room. His clothing wasn’t so neat and tidy now, covered in dark liquid stains and ripped along one arm.

He grabbed Nika and yanked her partially in front of him. Her handcuffed wrist made it impossible for him to hide behind her completely, but he forced her as far away from the bed as possible. He held a knife to her throat, and squeezed her neck so tight the room spun.

He was breathing hard, his head turning in jerky fits and starts as if trying to find an exit that didn’t exist. His clothing was wet.

Jesus, he was covered in blood.

Someone in heavy boots walked closer and closer.

Nika’s stomach sank. Was this some kind of turf war or assassination? Was she going to be the next casualty?

A shadow swung through the doorway, followed by...Baz?

Baz.

Her whole body went weightless as hope and relief surged through her bloodstream.

“You don’t want to do that, asshole,” Baz said in the evilest voice she’d ever heard to the man behind her. “I’ll just hurt you some more.”

His tone made her take another look at Baz. He was wearing a paramedic’s uniform, and there was blood on it and him. Several splatters, spots, and streaks, enough to tell her he’d been involved in the fight with Mr. Suit and his cronies. There was a broad streak of blood across his face as if he’d gotten in the way of arterial spray, but he didn’t move as if he’d been injured.

“Stay away from me you...you freak,” Mr. Suit said, his accent becoming more guttural. Not the suave well-bred man he pretended to be. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll kill her.”

“I thought you were all about people following orders. Wasn’t that what you said to your less than professional band of bozos?” Baz pretended to remember something by smacking his cheek. “Oh yeah, and punishment when they don’t follow orders. Do you know what happens to pieces of shit like you when they don’t do as they’re told? They get taken apart, a little at a time.” Baz smiled, and Nika, for the first time, wondered how anyone thought him safe at all. “I think I’ll start with your balls,” Baz continued. “You’re not going to need them anyway after tonight.”

Mr. Suit was so panicked he couldn’t even talk. All that came out of his mouth was a series of wheezy groans. His grip on her neck only got tighter. Her vision blurred and breathing was difficult, but with the knife at her throat, she couldn’t pass out.

“But if you’re a good boy and you leave her alone, I’ll let you keep your balls.”

“She has a buyer,” Mr. Suit managed to get out. “This buyer doesn’t suffer failure. If she isn’t delivered, he will kill us.” He swallowed audibly. “Me.”

“Someone asked for her specifically?” Baz feigned surprise, but he was so over the top no one would ever believe it. “How astonishing.” He smiled again and looked more like a shark homing in on blood in the water than a human being. “Your business partners in the kitchen thought you were looking for a body type, tall, blonde chicks, not specific tall, blonde chicks.”

“They...they didn’t know.”

“Here’s something you didn’t know,” Baz said with a smirk and a wink that was just plain creepy. “She’s off limits.”

The suit continued to breathe heavy, a racehorse in the race of his life.

He swallowed hard. “They’ll kill me if I don’t deliver. You can take all the rest, just leave me this one.”

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