Page 60 of The Soul of Archer
“It’s not what I want, but rather what I have.”Ian replied, almost sounding joyful. That dread Lance had felt when the phone rang grew heavier. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. Ian chuckled and began speaking again.“I will say this; you and my son do have exquisite tastes. Ms. St. James is quiet a beautiful woman.”
“You fucking bastard. You touch her, and I’ll kill you.” Lance hissed, clutching his fist.
“Temper, temper. We wouldn’t want dear Alora to pay the price for your rudeness, now would we?”
Lance froze when he heard a slap followed by Alora crying out in pain. “STOP IT! WHAT DO YOU WANT?”
“Oh, so many things Mr. Archer. But what I want from you…that’s simple. You and your friends cost me quite a bit of money last week. I’m offering a simple trade. You bring my merchandise and I’ll give you the woman. Only you. Do you understand me? If I see or even SENSE you’re not alone, I’ll put a bullet in her brain and her blood will be on your hands.”
Lance was trembling in fear and rage. Knowing that Alora’s life was on the line helped balance out his decision. He caught Ethan pulling out his cell and knew that it had to be Krista. That was a relief knowing the Malconi’s hadn’t grabbed her too. “Where and when?”
“You bring my merchandise to the old Terrell State hospital. I’m not completely unreasonable, I understand the D.E.A. has my things, so I will give you till seven tomorrow morning. If you arrive even one minute late, all you’ll find is the bitch’s dead body. That gives you twelve hours to get my merchandise from A.D.A Jameson’s son and transport it here. Remember, you and only you. No D.E.A., no Feds, and NO BLACKOUT! You will also come unarmed. You only have one chance to save her Mr. Archer and the clock starts now.”
The line went dead. Lance was breathing heavily and on a scream of rage, threw the phone against the wall watching it shatter. “FUCK!”
“Lance, listen to me…” Grant began.
“He’s going to fucking kill her if I don’t bring what we took at the raid to him. He slapped her. He fucking TOUCHED HER!” Lance roared.
Danny stepped forward, grabbed the older man by his shoulders and turned him so they were eye-to-eye. “We’ll get her back. Okay? Listen to what I’m saying, we’ll bring Alora home safe and sound and throw everyone one of the Malconi’s behind bars.”
Lance stared into the cinnamon brown eyes of Krista’s brother. He felt himself beginning to calm down. He closed his eyes and took three slow deep breaths. “I have to go alone. Malconi said if he sees or senses I’m with anyone, he’ll kill her.”
“Where does he want to do the exchange?” Ethan asked.
“The Terrell State hospital. The abandoned one. I have until seven tomorrow morning to bring his stuff.” Lance answered.
“Danny, go to your boss and tell him what’s happened. I think I have an idea. Twelve hours isn’t a lot of time to pull off what I’m thinking, but we can do. Let’s roll.” Ethan ordered.
***
Alora tried to remain calm, and mostly succeeded. She looked around the crumbling lobby of the main building. She was currently in the center of the lobby just in front of the old reception desk, her wrists bound to a folding metal chair. The fading light of the day casting long shadows along the floor. She looked over at the woman who had grabbed her. “I don’t understand. I thought you said you were disowned by your family?”
Annabelle looked up from filing her nails. “Makes a nice sob story doesn’t it? Helped land a job at the D.A.’s office. Oh, I knew Jameson was after my family and what better way to prove my loyalty and protect them than by joining the office that was trying to take them down.”
“Nick trusted you. Blackout trusted you.” Alora spit out.
“And that just makes them all gullible. You see, unlike my idiot brother, I don’t make mistakes. I knew when my father told me about you when he first met you, you would be my brother’s downfall. Course, I should be thanking you. Because of you, old Sammy boy is no longer in charge. That honor is now mine. For years I’ve monitored everything the authorities were doing. All raids, or attempted raid were run by Jameson. I was in prime position to secure my place within my family’s legacy.”
“Lance will come for me and when he does, you better pray he gets to you before I do bitch.”
“Strong words, too bad you won’t get your chance.” Annabelle smirked.
Alora continued to glare at her while trying slowly to wiggle her wrists free. Yes, the ropes were tight, but she had tiny wrists. Ryan had told both her and Jacquie a few ways to get loose. Yet Annabelle had in fact made a mistake. When she had tied Alora up, she had only secured her wrists. That meant if Alora could get her hands free, she could possibly make a run for it or fight. She hoped that Lance and Blackout had a plan and she could just make a run for cover.
“And how is our guest behaving?” Ian asked.
“She seems pretty sure that her boy toy will save her and that she’ll take me down.” Annabelle chuckled.
Sam snorted. “You really are stupid.”
Alora said nothing. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of raising to their bait. No, she needed to conserve her energy. If Lance got here before she got free, it could be trouble. She figured the Malconi’s would use her as a human shield and take Lance out. No, she couldn’t let that happen. She had to get loose before Lance and his team got here. Taking a soothing breath, she continued her work.
***
“That’s all of it?” Lance asked, checking his watch.
“Yep. We confiscated eight crates and here’s eight crates.” Danny answered, closing the bed of the truck.
