Page 75 of Against the Clock

“The order is to deal with her.”

“So then do it.”

“Have you checked the account?Has the money been posted?”It was hard to tell how many different voices I was hearing, but this one sounded the same as the first man who spoke, the baritone in his voice recognizable compared to the other voice.

“Not yet,” another voice answered.Instinctively I pulled away when it sounded like they were on the other side of the wall from me.

“Then she lives until we get paid,” the first man stated.

“But that’s not the order.”

“I don’t give a fuck what the order is.They hired us to do a job, and I’m not doing it until we have that money.There’s too much at stake to be fucking around with these lunatics.Get an update on when they’re transferring the funds.Until then—she stays alive.”

Forty

Quinn

Isat in a chair bythe window with my hands still tied in front of me.I couldn’t pretend to be unconscious anymore, especially after one of them had kicked me in the ribs and I groaned in response.Now that I was awake, they were discussing what to do with me.It was apparent that I wasn’t supposed to live long enough for them to bother with tying me to the chair, which was stupid on their part.

To add to their stupidity, all three of the men now had their ski masks off, allowing me to memorize every detail of their hideous faces.From the tattoos that covered the tall one’s face to his neck to the one with no teeth and a receding hairline—they weren’t anyone that I had seen before in any of the cases that I’d worked.Toss in the fact that they were discussing how to get rid of me, and I knew that they were simply hitmen for hire and not at all associated with whoever had Rosie.

My Rosie.My heart ached at the thought of my sweet girl somewhere alone with these monsters and I prayed that she was okay.Had Roman gotten to her?Was he okay?

I subtly shook my head to clear it and focused on the task at hand.

While they were busy talking, I scanned the room for anything I could use to my advantage.My hands were still tied and I didn’t have a weapon on me, which meant that I would have to rely on improvising.

Two of the men wore shoulder holsters but didn’t appear to have any armor on.The third guy didn’t have armor on, nor did he appear to have a weapon.He was short and stocky with a gut that begged to be punched.I looked between them, searching for anything that would tell me who would be the hardest to take down—that’s where I would start.

“I don’t care what they said.I want the money, and I want it now,” the short guy sneered into the phone.

The guy with the tattoos rolled his head on his neck, closing his eyes briefly while he did.Out of the three of them, he was the largest and most muscular.The other guy had a few missing teeth, but other than that, he wasn’t in that bad of shape.If I had to choose between the two of them—and I did—I knew that the one with the tats would be my biggest challenge.

As if lady luck was on my side, the short guy on the phone turned and paced by the boarded-up window next to the front door and continued to tap the screen of his phone.No Teeth Tom, as I decided to name him, took off down the hall after announcing he was taking a piss.

That left Tatted Tim and me.He rolled his neck again, and I took that moment to make my move.Within seconds, I jumped up from the chair, ducked to avoid his hand that reached out to grab me, and slid down as if I was trying to steal home base.As I was mid-slide, I swung my hands up and punched him in the balls.It was difficult with my hands tied, but I knew it was the only way to disable him quickly.

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