Page 4 of Hidden Dane
Perhaps she’d read the man wrong, though a cold sense washed through her as she pointed the man to her table, away from her friends on the dance floor. “Oh. Sure, let’s talk over there.”
Without a word he followed. She picked up her mojito that had been delivered and sipped as he said, “Ms. Mira, that’s an interesting necklace you’re wearing.”
This necklace had started many conversations since Dane had given it to her to wear for her high school prom. She’d not seen or heard from him since, but that night was one of the sweetest she’d ever had. She put her drink down and shrugged. “It’s kind of a family treasure. Now, what about my sister?”
The man looked over his shoulder at two other men near the door and then asked, “You consider Uriel Delligatti family?”
“Who?” Her mind went blank. The last name was familiar from somewhere, but she’d never met a Uriel. The name rhymed with one of her favorite cartoon characters so she wouldn’t forget it.
The man motioned with his hand—the two other men had grown to four associates, all menacing in their stance as they took out guns and raised them high.
Patrons of the club screamed and ran toward the door. Her graduation cap tumbled off her short blonde hair, but it didn’t matter. Her heart beat fast as he clasped his hand on her arm and again showed his phone to her. “Look, this is your sister, Isabella?”
“Yes. Why?” She pulled her hand back.
Her friend Karla had made it to the door with the crowd. Karla held up her phone and said “911” and then ran with the others to safety outside.
Her other two friends were not as lucky. Florencia and Maria now had guns pointed at their heads as they clutched each other. The man held his phone next to his wrinkled face. “She will die by my hands if you don’t give me that necklace.”
Isabella wasn’t here in Gainesville—she lived with their sister and Michael, finishing her last semester at University of Miami in the spring with a business degree and interning at Michael’s company. Her ears buzzed from the screams inside the club, but this man, even with his guns, was no match for her brother-in-law. She shook her head and said, “You clearly don’t know my brother-in-law if you think that threat will work.” Most times, Michael had said, men with weapons were bluffing—but you had to be prepared for when they weren’t.
The man put his phone in his pocket and said, “So you won’t give me the necklace?”
Dane, even though he’d left her, somehow still mattered to her. Sure, she’d only known him two years of her life, but she’d never forget his kisses or the verbal sparring lessons.
Her fingers gripped her glass—she needed to get out of here, like Karla.
She released her hold on the drink and shoved the table at him, and when he wobbled, she kicked him away from her as she ran toward the door in a full-out sprint.
Guns clicked and the man called behind her, “What about your friends?” She turned to see him nurse his chin as he snapped, “Do you have the same faith that they will be safe?”
Her heart beat a mile a minute. She never should have come out tonight. Emily clasped her hands together. “Who are you?”
He walked over to her and she shrank while coldness enveloped her as he said, “My name is unimportant. You’ll never see any of us again if you give me what I want.”
Her friends mattered more than Dane’s memory—he’d left her behind. Her hands reached for the necklace but her fingers trembled around the difficult clasp. The man took this as weakness and as he touched her bare arm, she immediately twirled and in a smooth move she held his arm behind his back just as her brother-in-law had taught her. “And you’ve underestimated me.”
The man growled an order and a gun popped off. Florencia screamed, “Maria!”
Emily turned back and saw one of her best friends now lying on the floor bleeding. The man tugged at his arm to be released as he said, “Your friend didn’t have your talent.”
Sweat formed on her forehead. The necklace wasn’t this important. She reached behind her neck with one hand as she shouted, “You won’t get away with this.”
The man pulled his arm free. “Just give me the necklace, Emily, and you can get her to the hospital.”
Her free fingers grasped the clasp as she said, “I-”
“The curly haired girl,” he ordered.
Another pop sounded in the air.
Emily’s entire body froze except for her heart that pumped faster than lightning flashes in a storm. “No. Leave Florencia!”
“She’s bleeding. Be faster, Ms. Mira.”
“Fine. I need ten seconds. It’s stuck.” She pushed away from him and her hands shook with nerves as she unclasped the latch.
“Back away, Emily.” Dane’s voice echoed through the night club. She turned toward the sound that came from the back of the shadowed space and met the gaze of her dark-haired rescuer who now had the bulging muscles of a man instead of the boy who’d given the necklace to her.
