Page 12 of Jase
“If you don’t want to walk to him, I’ll get you there myself.” Dark eyes came up. “Is this what you wanted?” Air exploded from her lungs as he kicked her ribs. The force sent her rolling in my direction. Although I was fuming, I knew better than to move. “How’d you do it? How’d you find me?”
“I’m smarter than you.”
“Smarter?” He laughed under his breath. “Is that why you’re wearing a mask? Because you’re smarter?”
“I’m not wearing it for you.” My heart was racing, but not because I was afraid. Quite the opposite. Here, tonight, I was free. Free from my company. Free from my status.Free from my own secrets.
“You’re wearing it for her? What for? You’re going to kill her anyway. That’s why you wanted her. That’s what you said.”
My gaze darted to the woman who was trying to right herself again. Kody wasn’t weak. She wasn’t going to lay down and die no matter how much she might wish for it. She was a fighter. From what I’d seen over the days, she was stronger than anyone I’d ever met. Maybe more broken too. Especially now.
“My need for her is no longer your concern. The bit is ready to transfer. I have the extra cash I mentioned in my trunk. Unmarked, like we discussed. If you so much as pull out the gun you have hidden at your back; your identity and location will go out to every branch of law enforcement so fast, you won’t make it home before they capture you.”
“How are you going to do that if you’re dead?”
I lifted my phone, hitting a button. His stare left mine, and he reached in his pocket, pulling out his buzzing cell to gaze at the screen.
“You’re not as stupid as you look, David, but you can’t risk being wrong about me. There are four camera feeds on your screen. The first is your dungeon. The second is the outside of your home. The third is your girlfriend’s land in Farmington, and the fourth is from the retirement community in Sonora where your mother currently resides. You cover your tracks well, but not good enough for someone like me. There’s no hiding who you really are.” Stepping closer, I felt my own weapon shift at my movement. “I know you. I know everything about you. How many bodies do you think they’ll find buried out on Desiree’s property? What about your mother’s old house? She has a few acres, doesn’t she? It’s on a hill. Am I close?”
His breath turned heavy with his anger. “This” he said, waving his phone, “is nothing. I could have found out information on you if I wanted.”
“You tried. You couldn’t.I watchedevery move of your mouse.”
I took another step forward.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
“Let’s get on with this, David. We won’t discuss what you look at when you’re not trying to track me down. I’ve seen enough to know your weakness. I also know you didn’t come here to give me the girl. You thought you’d kill me and dispose of her. Aren’t you curious what the timers are for?”
“No. You’re full of shit. What are you trying to get out of? Payment? Is that what this is?”
I smiled, licking my lips and brushing against the material from the black mask. It may have covered my entire head and face, but my lips and eyes weren’t concealed.
“Nothing about this is a bluff. The one over the dungeon is how long you have to bring me Kody. I want her here, at my side.Gently.” I glanced down to my phone. “I was generous on the time. You have two minutes left. If she’s not here, I don’t deactivate the timer. When that goes off, I leak breadcrumbs of your identity and…establishment.”
“You’re wasting your fucking breath. Tell me this.” He reached down, grabbing Kody’s arm to pull her to stand. “How do I know it ends at the exchange? What’s stopping you from doing this to me again?”
My head lowered the smallest amount as I took in the guarded expression on his scruffy face. He was older. Mid-fifties and starting to bald. The red flannel he wore wasn’t wrinkled. His jeans appeared clean.
“You’re going to have to trust me. If I wanted you arrested, I could have handed over your information to the FBI days ago. I just want the girl. I even told you I’d pay generously for her.” I looked down. “You have less than a minute.”
David hesitated. With a powerful step forward, he jerked Kody with him as he made his way to me.
“You better not be fucking with me. You said there’s more money in the trunk?”
I didn’t answer as he placed her at my feet. My hand lifted, and Kody whimpered and flinched as I traced my fingertips over her swollen cheek.
“You’re going to wait right here for me to get back.” I took the clip from my pocket, letting the thin rope that was attached fall to the ground. It was nothing more than a security measure on my part. I had the rope tied to my beltloop. If she ran, we were connected. I’d feel the jerk.
I spun her, fastening the clip through the hemp. “You’re not going to move. You’re not going to run. Do you understand?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Good. Stay.”
Only then did I turn back to David. He had the gun in his hand, watching me…waiting. I lifted my phone and hit the button over the dungeon, letting him see the window pop up for the passcode. I turned it back to me, putting it in to stop the timer. The time for the next screen was set at four-minutes-thirty-two-seconds. “I’ll turn the rest of these off when you’re gone. Fifty thousand unmarked bills for a security deposit, and when you’re out of sight, the Bit will go to your account. I don’t need your information; I already have it.” I took out my keys, popping the trunk of the rental as we headed to the back. The black duffle bag had his gaze cutting over to me.
“Generous? Do you know the risks involved in what I do? The time it took to find the perfect girl? She didn’t even get the worst of it. I could have made double this for her death.”
