Page 149 of Guarding Grace
Feeling familiar with the weapon, I stuck it, along with a real pen, inmy shirt pocket. It made me look dorky, but my vengeance would be handy when I met the sick fuck who’d taken Marci.
The knot in my stomach tightened when I reached the door. “I’m at the door,” I said into the phone
“Come on in.” Mr. Evil made it sound like a simple invitation.
I took in a deep breath before pulling on the handle of the large metal door.
It didn’t budge.
I pulled harder, and it creaked open. Inside was a dark hallway, with light spilling from a doorway near the end.
The door closed behind me with an ominous clank. Then, strong arms closed around me. “I got her,” a male voice said. His breath stank of anchovies.
“Then bring her here already.” Mr. Evil’s voice came from down the hall.
I struggled, but it was useless as the goon lifted me off my feet and pinned my arms against my sides to carry me down the dank hallway. I kicked and got his shin. It was the best I could do.
“Bitch.” He slammed my head against the wall as he walked.
Lucky for me, the wall was plasterboard and not cinder block. But I saw stars for a moment, then felt intense pain. This asshole was going to pay. It was now a toss-up which of these guys was going to get my Taser treatment first, but for now, struggling wasn’t going to help me or Marci.
Anchovy Breath carried me around the corner into the brighter space that was definitely a warehouse. There were a few rooms to the left and shelves on the right all the way to the end of the building with a ton of car parts on them, everything from motors and transmissions to seats and doors.
“Goron, put her down,” Mr. Evil said. “I want to see what I’m getting.” The man fit the name I’d given him—partially balding, with one droopy eyelid and a scar down the other cheek.
Goron yanked my purse away.
Marci sobbed in a chair behind him. Two other thugs stood behind her.
Mr. Evil turned around. “I told you to shut up.”
I stood tall. “I’m here. Now you have to let her go.”
He shook his head. “I don’t have to do anything. And she’s been making me mad.”
Goron rummaged through my purse, located the encrypted cell phone Terry had given me, and held it up. “She has another phone. It’s off.”
“Fix it,” Mr. Evil barked.
Goron dropped the phone and stomped on it with a sickening crunch. “Fixed.” He laughed.
Mr. Evil advanced on me. “I should kill her. I told you to leave your phone in the taxi.”
“You told me to leave my phone. I did. That’s my boyfriend’s phone. He wanted me to get a new battery for it.”
“Give me your watch.”
I tossed it toward him, not wanting to get close enough to hand it over.
He caught it and threw the watch to Goron, who happily crunched it under his boot.
Mr. Evil’s grin turned wicked. “I like this one.”
“Enough talk, Marku.” A slim Asian man I hadn’t noticed stepped forward into the light. He wasn’t a smiler. “We need the plates. Make the call.”
“Hold on, Mr. Kim. You’ll get your merchandise soon enough.”
“You and your partner said that days ago.”Kimlabeled the Asian man as most likely Korean, and now I knew Mr. Evil was Marku, the Albanian gangster Elliot was supposed to deliver the case to.
