Page 106 of Sleigh Bells and Snowstorms
“I’m sure it is. Doesn’t matter. I’m still getting paid.”
The windows looked like they were covered in a white sheet. How could he see where he was going? I felt the tires slip and wondered how he was managing to stay on the road.
“All we did is take something you had no right to in the first place,” I said. “That necklace wasn’t yours. You stole it.”
“So?”
“Why are you retaliating like this?”
“I’m not retaliating.”
“You grabbed me, hit me, tied me up, and shoved me in your car. How is that not retaliation?”
“I didn’t do it to get back at you. Although I should. You almost fucked me over more than you know.”
“Then why?”
“To fix what you screwed up.”
“What are you talking about?”
Shaking his head a little, he chuckled again. “The necklace wasn’t the prize, sweetheart. It was bait. I counted on Lakes coming for it. That’s why I was hired to steal it. What I didn’t count on was you. You’re not here because I’m pissed at you, although I am. Now, you’re the bait.”
My mind raced to put the pieces together—to make sense of it all. Julian had been hired to steal the necklace to trap Jensen? And it hadn’t worked, so now I was the bait?
“What were you going to do to him?”
“I wasn’t going to do anything to him except hand him over to the guy who hired me.”
“Who hired you?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“What is he going to do to me?”
“Hopefully nothing.”
I glanced up and caught his eyes in the rearview mirror.
“But don’t worry,” he said, his voice taking on a hard edge. “I’m not finished with you.”
“But…” The car swerved, and I almost rolled off the seat. “You can’t do this. It’s Christmas.”
“What?” he asked with a derisive laugh. “What does that have to do with anything?”
I wasn’t sure, but somehow it made my situation a thousand times worse. I couldn’t be abducted on Christmas Eve. I’d promised Annabel I’d be home. I’dpinkypromised.
His phone rang, and he answered. “Yeah.”
I strained to listen, but I couldn’t hear what the other person was saying.
“In case you didn’t notice, we’re in the middle of a snowstorm. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
He paused again.
“I told you the storm would be a problem… I know… If you say so.”
He ended the call.
