Page 12 of Mine to Keep
She pushes a bedroom door open and we head inside. I take stock of it quickly, while helping Reveta to one of the doors near a bay window.
I face the window, looking out over the large expanse of land. I could sneak up from there instead, bypassing the main road. Peggy can get me some satellite images to make it work. I’ll probably have to trek on foot with my weapons, as my car would probably be spotted if someone were looking. I could?—
“Who are you and what are you doing up here?” a hard voice says from behind me.
I turn around, like I’m startled, and meet the eyes of Joyner Sands. He looks angry, his dark green eyes thunderous, his thin lips set in a slash. His eyebrows are dipped in a scowl over his high forehead, his salt and pepper hair spiked as if it was the early 2000s.
I point to the restroom. “Reveta asked me to?—”
At that moment, she opens the door, drying her hands on a towel. “He was escorting me to the restroom.”
Joyner’s eyes flick over to her, assuming a more friendly disposition. “Reveta, I told you?—”
“I don’t give a shit what youtoldme, Joyner. I wanted to use this fucking bathroom, so I did. Now get the fuck out of my way. Clive is taking me to get a drink. Clive?”
I hold out my arm to her and she takes it, giving Joyner a scathing look as we walk past.
As we walk down the stairs at a leisurely pace, I almost want to kiss Reveta for getting me this far and choosing to flirt with me instead of another young man on that terrace.
There will be no mistakes with this kill tonight.
four
the finer things in life
Joyner thinks he’s untouchable,so he doesn’t have guards or any security at his home. The cameras he has mounted everywhere route to a company that’s based about twenty miles away, and by the time they call for the local authorities to help Joyner, it’ll already be too late. The joker he hired for his wine tasting was just for the event.
All I have to do is jam the cameras, then jimmy the locks at his back door, and I’m in. He doesn’t even have an alarm here, so sure that no one can touch him.
On light feet, I take the stairs two at a time. Joyner’s bedroom door is opened a crack, so I slide through, the door opening wider on silent hinges. His blackout curtains make it nearly impossible to see any of my surroundings, but I remember the layout of the bedroom from my earlier visit. I inch towards Joyner’s bed, pulling out the syringe full of tranquilizer.
I slide into the space between his bed and nightstand, and jab the needle into Joyner’s neck. He hardly stirs as I depress the plunger. He’ll be in his drug-induced slumber for half an hour, time enough for me to get him ready.
After I click on the light, I pull the lengths of rope from inside the bag I brought with me, and tie his wrists and ankles to thefour posters. I check to make sure they’re tight enough to cut off circulation, ensuring he can’t escape.
Once I’m happy with the job, I roam around the lower floor of the mansion, looking for the bottle of three thousand dollar wine. This will probably be the only opportunity I get to taste it, since I would never spend that much money on wine.
I return to the bedroom, wine and glass in hand. I shut the light off and pull the curtains open, the moonlight streaming through the room, giving it an eerie glow.
I pop the bottle and pour some into the glass. It smells good, citrus and blackberries and…I take another whiff…mango. Not scents I think would complement each other, but they come together in a cohesive blend.
Lifting the glass to my lips, I take a small sip, and an involuntary groan leaves my lips. “Well, shit. This is good as fuck,” I whisper as I peer down at the glass of wine, taking a more hearty mouthful.
Just as I’m enjoying my second sip, Joyner stirs on the bed. Slowly at first, then with more urgency when he takes in his predicament. He pulls and tugs and thrashes on the bed, his wide eyes looking back and forth between his bound wrists.
After a few seconds, he notices me, his eyes bugging out. “Wha…who are you? What are you doing here?”
I hold the glass up to him in a toasting gesture. “I didn’t know this wine would taste this good. I mean, three stacks is steep. But, fuck, I think it’s worth it. Not that I would buy it myself, but it’s delicious. Did you come up with the recipe yourself or steal it from someone else?”
“The fuck? Let me out of these ropes!”
I swirl the wine in the glass, looking at the mini whirlpool it makes. “No, I don’t think I will. You’ve been a bad boy, Joyner. Real bad. You know how many people you’ve left withno income? How you left your wife and kids with bills and death threats for somethingyoudid? I think you deserve those ropes.”
He makes an irritated sound. “That’s what this is about? Thepoorpeople?” He says the word as if it disgusts him. “They should have had a backup plan, a better job just in case?—”
“Just in case some entitled billionaire asshole decided to rob them blind? Don’t piss me off.”
He sits up as much as he can, craning his neck to glare at me. “Fuck you. You don’t know how hard it is to?—”
