Page 13 of Nash Falls
“And the blindfold?”
The man looked at Rhett like he was an idiot. “Protecting the boss, sir.”
“I’ll take her back,” said Rhett.
“No can do,” said the man. “Our orders—”
“The ‘boss’ just told me to come down and see to this. Care to go upstairs and wake him up and ask him?”
None of the men looked remotely willing to do that.
Rhett gripped the woman’s arm. “Let’s go.”
She immediately started to struggle until he leaned in and whispered, “I’m getting you out of a tight situation. Trust me.”
He guided her to his Porsche, and got her settled and buckled in.
As he climbed in next to her he said, “What’s your name?”
“Can I take off the blindfold now? They said if I did it before I wouldn’t get paid.”
“When I get to where you’re going you can. What’s your name?”
“Laurel.”
“How did you come to be here tonight?”
“I work… for people.Theyset it up.”
“How much of your fee goes to thepeople?”
“Seventy percent, I keep the rest,” replied Laurel.
“You need to work a better deal.”
Frowning she said, “Just drop me off, okay?”
“Where?”
She gave him an address and he put it into the nav system.
He studied her. Shewasyoung. Maybe jailbait young. His father had to be slipping to play things that close to the edge. “Did he treat you okay?”
She shrugged. “I was thinking of other things. That’s what I do.”
“He pay well?”
“Yeah. Real good.”
“You mind my asking how much?”
“Two thousand,” she said in a tone that was full of both pride and wonder. “Two grand for ten minutes’ work,” she added, which made Rhett snort.
“I’m surprised he could satisfy you.”
“He couldn’t. But I satisfiedhim.”
It took Rhett a moment to understand what she meant. “Right. Well, he is pretty old.”
