Page 55 of Pucker Factor

“This feels like an up close and personal job,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, no one messes with what’s yours,” Red said, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “I say we go for knives.”

“It’s a shame Fox isn’t here,” Kavanaugh said. “Where is he, by the way? He always just shows up on jobs.”

“Anna’s pregnant. He’s probably annoying the hospital staff for her upcoming delivery.”

“Doesn’t she still have a few months?” Kavanaugh asked.

“What’s your point?” I asked sarcastically.

“Why doesn’t he just ply them with Funyuns? That always works.”

“Forget Fox,” I snapped. “We don’t need him. We’ll get a boat, slip onto the island, pretend to be tourists. Then, at nightfall, we’ll slip into their compound and tie them all up while they’re sleeping. Then, when we have them right where we want them, we’ll—”

“Or…” IKE said dramatically. “We could just walk in there and shoot them all.”

We all stared at him like he was an idiot.

“Well, sure,” IRIS snorted. “If you don’t want to have any fun.”

My phone rang again and I sighed when I saw Cash’s number. “Uh…this is a bad time.”

“A bad time because you’re in the air?”

“So, shoot to kill?” IKE asked.

“Shoot who?” Cash asked.

“Um…”

“I really want to use a bomb. It’s more efficient,” IRIS said a little too loudly.

“Do not let him use a bomb!” Cash shouted.

“You know, this isn’t the best time, boss.”

I hung up and winced, shutting off my phone. I was going to catch hell for that later.

15

SARAH

This really wasn’t my day. Or week. I probably should have listened to Eli when he told me there was danger, but he pissed me off so much. Technically, a person could see this as all my fault, but those people probably weren’t dragged onto a plane against their will. I had a bone to pick with a lot of people right now.

“Excuse me,” I said as kindly as possible. Again, my terrible reactions to bad situations were kicking in. I should probably be scared, but instead, a sense of calm washed over me as I sat in this cage, along with ten other women.

“Shut it, bitch!” one of them shouted, slamming his hand against the cage.

“That’s just so rude,” I muttered to myself as I stared at the men just on the other side.

The women around me were looking at me like I was an idiot. They were all terrified, trembling in the corner. But being scared wouldn’t get us out of here, and neither would having an attitude.

“I’m sorry, but if I could just have a quick chat with one of you,” I said, hoping there was at least one nice person in the bunch.

Most of them ignored me, but one guy in particular walked over. He looked young, maybe twenty-five. The way he kept glancing over his shoulder indicated that he wasn’t all that comfortable with this situation. It was like he didn’t want me to get in trouble.

“Lady, you need to keep it down.”

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