Chapter 2

ChapterTwo

MAXIM

“How long before your team arrives?” I ask the fed on the other end of the phone.

“Twenty minutes. Did you manage to leave anyone alive?”

I glance over at the little firecracker on the couch who is pretending not to listen to my conversation.

“Nope,” I say, knowing damn well I’m not about to give them anything extra. I already did their fucking jobs for them. I’m not going to gift wrap it too.

“Jesus, Maxim, could you do one mission for us where we’ve got a suspect we can prosecute?”

“Why?” I ask, genuinely confused. “The guys are off the street. The operation is shut down. Case closed.”

My lead contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation sighs dramatically, and I want to roll my eyes. “It’s a little something called due process.”

“Yeah, due to his process of running drugs and girls, he got shot.” Rue looks up at me when I say this, but I don’t have an apology for it. It’s the truth. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes. Vince Sledge was no exception. “You got the recording I sent you earlier?”

“Yeah, we got it. It’s enough to seize his assets and prosecute his known associates.” Even the fed has to admit it’s a win for the good guys. Although I’m not sure I’d ever mistake myself for one of those.

“Good. Then I’ll be in touch.” I go to hang up, but he stops me.

“Wait. You need to stay there. I’m going to need a statement from you.”

“Nah.” I can hear his protests through the other end of the phone as I end the call and tuck my phone in my pocket.

Barbra is one of his informants, and she’s been undercover in this building for years. She can answer all his stupid fucking questions. They hire me to do the dirty shit they can’t, and we both know it. Part of them hiring me means I don’t have to answer to them. I do the job and get the fuck out. The end.

“All right, firecracker, it’s time to go,” I tell her and reach into my back pocket to take out what I need.

“What? Go where?” She’s confused as I walk over and kneel down on the floor in front of where she’s seated.

“The feds are on their way.”

“What are you doing?”

Reaching out, I snag her bare ankle and pull it towards me.

“Hey, get your hands off me.”

“I’m guessing a girl like you doesn’t want to be around when they start asking questions.” She tries to tug her ankle away, but I’m too quick. Before she can move, I’ve got the tracker on her and locked into place. I let go of her the same time she yanks it away, and she knocks it against the couch.

“You can’t do this. Get this thing off me.” She tries to pull it off and then starts messing with the lock.

“Time is ticking, firecracker. Get your little ass in gear.”

“The size of my ass is none of your concern. Get your hands off me!” She squeals as I easily lift her off the couch.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

“If the hard way is me punching you in the dick, then let’s dance, copper.”

If I wasn’t in a hurry, I might laugh at the way she glances at my crotch. “Damn. It’s too bad that was the easy way.” At her look of confusion, I grab her around the waist and throw her over my shoulder.

“Put me down! Kidnapping is illegal!”

“So is murder, but you didn’t seem to mind that.”

“Good point,” she mumbles, more to herself, as the elevator doors open. “But you can’t put an ankle monitor on me like I’m some kind of criminal.”

“Do me a favor and don’t lie to the both of us. Because we both know how you ended up here today wasn’t because you were on a holy mission.”

When the elevator reaches the bottom floor, I can hear sirens in the distance. Thankfully there’s a car out front with the keys in the ignition. Vince Sledge won’t be needing this anytime soon.

“Being kidnapped in the same car twice in one day is a little cliché, don’t you think?” Rue spits at me while I toss her in the passenger seat and buckle her up.

“Beggars can’t be choosers, and the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get the hell away from those guys.” I nod down the street to the black armored trucks, and her eyes widen.

“Shit. Okay, let’s get out of here.”

“It’s like I’ve been talking to myself,” I say as I close her door and get in the driver’s seat.

I see Barbra standing in the entrance of the building smoking a cigarette as I pull away from the curb. With her telling the story, I know I don’t have to worry about loose ends.

“Where are we going?” Rue asks as I take a side street and we watch the armored trucks roll by with their sirens blaring.

“You like the beach?” I ask, and she blinks at me in surprise.

There’s something about her that I can’t seem to shake. It’s something familiar, like maybe we’ve met, but I know that’s not it. There’s no way I could’ve forgotten seeing her before. I’ve always lived a nomadic life, and maybe that’s what I see in her. She didn’t give me an outright reason to think she would try to escape, but I knew instinctively that I needed to put that ankle monitor on her.

Something tells me she’s going to run the first chance she gets. I’m not about to make it easy on her.