Page 58 of Wrapped in Silver

“Hardly. If you were hiding in the van, that means you had time to come rescue me from the house.” She licks her lips to get the sticky tape off her mouth, and I suffer flashbacks of our time in the shed.

“If I’m being honest, I found out just in time,” I say. “The decision was made due to a series of close calculations. A kid like you wouldn’t understand.” I grab her face by the jaw and stare at her.

“Try me, Silver.”

“I knew they wouldn’t harm you because you’re the payload. There are Ring cameras across the street that could be set off by movement, or recording indefinitely, depending on the setting. Having me swoop in would add another complication to an already high-profile murder heist.”

“You were protecting your family…” She shakes her face out of my grip. “I get it. I would do the same if mine was on the line.”

“You see reason, even when blood and death surround you.”

She scoffs. “My dad used to take me to crime scenes before my mom forbade him to. He had high hopes of me turning into the best detective Jersey had to offer… a long time ago. One bad night where I almost got hurt had him U-turn. Now here I am, a feeble accountant, stuck in the back of a van.”

Her voice shakes. There is fear in her, but she hides it well.

“Ferraro took you,” I say, and I can see the frustration in her eyes.

She scoffs in an embarrassed sort of way, or maybe in anger. “Yeah, how in hell did you know it was him? Were you watching?”

“No. I had some research done. Turns out your old family friend has a gambling addiction, and some very high-ups are after him.Youwere his option out.”

“His wife is dead up there.” She nods backward. “I know he’s bad, but do you really think he ordered this?”

I grunt, glancing at a car starting down the way. “No. I think these two are not known for following rules well, and she became collateral damage.”

“This is goddamn insane, Silver.”

“It is,” I agree. “Not only are we dealing with the Russians, but the entire might of the Jersey PD.”

“Shouldn’t we be burning this van or something? It’s weird.” She dips her head. “I remember seeing another identical van when they were dragging me out of my house. One went a different way. Was that supposed to be some sort of diversion?” She slides on her backside to try and get the cuffs from behind her back to the front. “Can you get me out of these?”

My smirk finally breaks. I rummage through the pockets of the two corpses. “Perceptive, kid. Yes, the fat bratva did much of our getaway job for us. We have two issues now, however.” I pull the key and hold her hands up so I can free her. “If there’s a rendezvous location somewhere close by, then the bratva will know something’s off when we don’t show up. I haven’t heard any burner phones go off, which gives me hope—”

“And what’s the second issue?” She shakes her hands and wipes her mouth once she’s free.

“If we move at this time of night, we will be on every traffic cam or live feed in the area. By now, a neighbor called the cops about the dead body lying outside of Ferraro’s house, so there will be high alert in the surrounding area. The diversion van is purposely clean, taking the main streets where the cops will undoubtedly track him down. Us? We have to be careful. We have to wait until people start waking up so we can blend into traffic. We can probably get moving at around six.”

“What are you?” Quinn still rubs her wrists, asking me for the second time.

“Nothing but a ghost.” I hold her gaze before starting my cleaning process.

At first, Quinn holds her nose and just watches me carefully haul the bodies toward the back one at a time. Then when I start cleaning the blood spatter, she asks if she can help.

We speak without words to one another. Such a decision means she’s not married to the law—which shocks me to no end. I hand her a rag and cleaning agents specifically for blood.It’s just a precaution, really, in case we get pulled over, because Castor—Bullion—DeMatteo has a chop shop nearby.

It’s dangerous to involve him, as it could lead back to Donny. But this will be one of those “no questions asked” situations. I’ll call it in through John.

Watching her scrub with her clothes all half-torn… it does something primal to me. I want to take her now, show her that we’re meant to exist in this crossroad, against every rule this world has to offer.

Instead, I see her hand shaking, so I take off my glove and grab it.

“You’re brave,” I whisper.

Her head turns slightly so our eyes connect. “I have no choice.”

“You know I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you, right?”

She bites her lip and looks away. “When I was up there… when he was groping and tearing at my…” She chokes up. “I prayed you would come.”

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