Page 66 of Release You

Jonathan’s head snapped up at me. I gave him a half smile and left the room.

I fumbled with the fabric of my fluffy skirt until I found the pouch strapped to my thigh. If I had to guess, Jonathan already had someone waiting for me. I walked out of the Speakeasy room with my hand firmly over the Taser. My plan was simple—Taser the fucker in the crotch until he told me where Tessa was being kept.

As soon as the door closed behind me, a shiver prickled my back at the same time a needle pierced the skin on my neck. I turned and saw Scott, the bartender Jonathan had sent to hurt Henry.

“Hello, beautiful.” His stale-beer breath hadn’t improved since the last time Henry beat him up.

My heart drummed so hard I couldn’t swallow. I gripped the front of his shirt to keep awake, to hold on to my fading lucidity. Then everything went black.

CHAPTER 22

The Long Con

Henry

The sight of Jonathan Cavalier was nauseating. He didn’t deserve to be here, free and respected by everyone in this town. I fisted my hands below the tabletop and focused on the other players instead. He couldn’t know how much I wanted to hurt him.

The fact that he didn’t have a clue what we were planning gave us an advantage—it was the only fucking thing we had going for us. Because the truth was, we were flying blind. We didn’t know why he wanted Mom’s jewelry or what he planned to do with it.

I squeezed my fists tighter, fighting the urge to flip the table over and pound on his face. I had to keep calm. I couldn’t kill this asshole without putting Mom’s life in danger. Not to mention that a quick death would be doing him a favor. No, he needed to face the town for what he did. He needed to rot in jail. I glared at him, so sick of this cat-and-mouse game. This was Nikki’s MO, not mine.

Make your fucking move already.

“Your bet, Henry,” Russ said.

With a nod, I threw in my chips. I didn’t need much skill to read Jonathan. The way he kept wiping his hands on his pants, blinking fast, and drinking from his glass as if it were the last bit of bourbon in the world, he was scared shitless. But what was he afraid of? To lose money? He had loads of it. What then? Me? Did he know that if he didn’t have Mom, he’d be on the floor right now, suffocating slowly under my grip?

Or had he already figured out we broke into Mom’s security box? No doubt Mr. Paredes had mentioned seeing Nikki and me at the bank yesterday. He had definitely reacted to Nikki’s necklace when we walked in. I was sure he grabbed his phone when Russ pulled out a chair for Nikki. She made a big enough deal out of it to ensure all eyes were on her to make him feel it was safe to send out a message. If he did send a message, who had he contacted? Would he be stupid enough to make his move tonight, right now, as Nikki had said? God, I hoped so. Our entire plan depended on it.

Sweat beaded across Jonathan’s hairline. He peeked at his two cards and then at the river laid out in front of us on the table. All the while he kept a close watch on his phone.

My eyes darted between him and the door. Nikki was taking way too long. We’d agreed to stay together. Our plan was to let Jonathan see the necklace and then follow him. She had assured me he would either go to the hotel to get the jewels himself or at the very least go to Mom to tell her he’d found her getaway bag. Nikki going off on her own wasn’t part of the deal. Why the hell had she left the room?

Jonathan flipped the chips between his fingers, counted his stack, and shifted them around—one of his tells. He had shitty cards. He took another sip and went into a bout of coughing. He stood, and I did too. He’d gotten a message. I was sure of it. Screw the plan. This game was over. I kicked my chair backand left the room. Russ called after me, but I didn’t have time for niceties and goodbyes. Something in the pit of my stomach told me Nikki was in trouble.

Her perfume lingered in the Speakeasy corridor and out in the public section of the bar, but she wasn’t around. I checked the women’s bathroom, kicking every stall door as I went through. I swallowed, took in the room, and made note of every detail. Had she been taken? There were no signs of struggle. I went in the men’s bathroom. Nothing there either. Nikki was smart. If she needed help, she would’ve left a clue, dropped an earring…anything to warn me our plan had gone wrong. My mouth went dry at the thought. Had she gone of her own accord? Dammit. Why would she leave when she knew it wasn’t safe? When she knew Jonathan might try something?

I tromped back to the Speakeasy room. I’d never get another chance to be in the same room with Jonathan without his bodyguards. Heart thudding, I shouldered the door open, ready to beat him to a pulp if I had to. Ready to make him tell the truth for once. But he was gone too.

“Where the fuck is he?” I shoved a hand in my hair. My face burned hot, then everything blurred. Jonathan had Mom and now Nikki. “Did you set this up?” I glared at Russ.

Russ stood. “He left right after you. He’s not with you?” He put out his hands, speaking softly as if talking to a wild animal. “Henry, are you all right?”

“Everything okay?” Mr. Paredes asked, his eyes wide. He’d never seen me like this.

They had no clue what was going on. I didn’t have time for any of this. “No, I’m not alright.” I bolted out of the room.

If I hurried, I might catch Jonathan and Nikki back at the hotel. With a bit of luck, he’d taken her there firstto get Mom’s bag. Nikki had to be there because otherwise, I had nowhere else to go, no idea where to start looking for the only family I had left.

I climbed into my truck and sped down Main Street, glad for the late hour and empty streets. Jumping the curb, I parked the car by the hotel entrance and went in. Someone had broken into our place, left a mess in the lobby, as if they’d been looking for something. If Jonathan had Nikki, he’d know exactly where Mom’s things were. Had he sent his bodyguards? Or was this something else?

I rushed up the stairs to Nikki’s room, and my stomach dropped to the floor when I swung the door open. All her things were gone, her clothes, Dad’s pictures on the wall, the toiletries in the bathroom…Did she leave me?No. Jonathan took her. He made her do this.

My hands shook. A ringing in my head made my jaw clench. “Nikki. Please.”

I couldn’t think about what any of this meant. I pushed the thought aside and focused on looking for Mom’s bag. The hollow feeling in my chest made it hard to breathe. This was the same pain I felt the day Nikki left me waiting by the mesquite tree, when Jonathan’s men came to tell me they’d seen her leave town, when I realized I had lost her forever.

I checked the back of her closet. Everything was gone. I rubbed the side of my face. None of it made sense. Nikki wouldn’t do this to me. She loved me. I trudged to my bedroom. She hadn’t done this to me again.

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