Page 158 of Stuart Woods' Smolder

The woman circled around the boss and scooted the gun to Phillip.

“Thanks. You might want to use the bathroom.”

“I— It’s not hooked up yet.”

“Please.”

“Oh. Um, sure.”

She hurried into the bathroom and closed the door.

Face roiling in pain, the boss yelled, “Jared! Mick! Get your asses in here!”

“Sorry, but they won’t be coming,” Phillip said.

The man’s eyes widened. “Wait. You can just go. I’ll—”

Phillip put a bullet through the center of the man’s forehead. “Damn right I can just go.”

He opened the bathroom door.

The woman shrieked.

“Relax, lady. I’m not going to hurt you. I just have a couple questions.”

“Questions?”

“First, do you know where they put my phone?”

“Uh, I think there were a couple in the kitchen.”

“Cool. Last question, where are we?”

“What?”

“Our location. I wasn’t exactly conscious when they brought me here.”

“Right. Uh, this is Palmdale.”

“Is that part of L.A.?”

She shook her head. “It’s in the desert, about an hour north.”

“Thank you. You’ve been a big help. Probably best if you stay in here for a while. Can you do that for me?”

She nodded.

He smiled. “You have a nice day.”

—

An hour later, Simon picked up Phillip outside a 7-Eleven, a mile from the house where he’d been held.

“You look like shit. What happened?”

“Drive,” Phillip said, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

Simon didn’t like the tone in Phillip’s voice but, given thatthe man’s face was a mass of cuts and bruises, he decided not to call him on it.

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