style="font-size:15px;"> Cora’s last conversation with her that morning at breakfast filtered in. She’d brought up retirement again. Roni shook it off just as she had that morning.
Every time Cora brought it up Roni would cover her ears and sing “You Are My Sunshine” out loud. It had been their song since the day Roni woke up in the hospital wrapped in gauze. Only then it had been Cora singing because it would be a long time before Roni felt well enough to sing, or talk, or even whisper.
The van took a sharp right and came to a screeching halt, jamming Roni against the side wall. There was nothing Cora could do for her now. These men were killers, and the only way she would survive would be to play by the rules until a ten-second window opened up. Ten seconds would be all she needed to make her getaway.
The rear van doors creaked open and harsh hands pulled her out, feetfirst. Her covering was lifted off her head, exposing the two main criminals from her garage.
Her gaze caught the baby blues, and she dismissed their owner with a turn of her head.
“Time to meet the Boss, chica,” said the short, vicious one. He whipped the gag out of her mouth. “Don’t bother screaming. No one will hear you out here.” He tossed a head to reference the thick black forest around her.
She’d been taken to the middle of nowhere. On a sigh, she nodded her acceptance to remain silent and Gunn untied her feet to allow her to walk. Compliance would lead her to that window of escape. Except when she came around the van, the sight before her halted her in her tracks.
“What’s the matter, chica? Never seen a castle before? This one comes complete with a dungeon.” He pushed her toward a solid stone structure and her hope threatened to wane.
So much for windows.
* * *
Ethan walked behind Roni Spencer, his senses on full alert. Were Pace and his backup crew far behind? Would they arrive before the trio entered this stone monstrosity? He listened for them, but the only sound he heard was Roni’s boots clicking on the cobblestones. His men would know something was up when Ethan’s tracker alerted them to his moving away from the racetrack and Norcastle. Without a phone call to say why, they would swoop in. Ethan braced for the deluge of FBI agents that he hoped would make their move before the towering entrance doors closed behind them. His hand flexed for the moment he would retrieve his gun from the holster at his ankle and join in. His heart raced with the anticipation of finally taking Guerra down. Ethan would make sure he missed the grass and hit the cobblestones when he did.
As soon as Pace saw Roni was here, he would go after her with cuffs. Ethan knew it even without a briefing. His handler didn’t like the woman and itched to take her down. If Ethan didn’t know better, he would think there was something personal between the two, but then, the woman was getting richer off the organization and Pace had been working this case for years. Ethan couldn’t fault his friend for being disgusted with the whole organization and anyone involved. But he also couldn’t allow the man to mistreat Roni when he took her in. She didn’t deserve that. She deserved...what? Fairness?
The evidence said otherwise.
But the idea of her face slammed up against the stone walkway beside Guerra’s had Ethan stepping up close behind her. And just like that he made the decision to let Pace take down Guerra instead. A year of anticipation of doing the job himself flitted away on the basis of protecting this woman. Pace would say he’d gone soft. Him, Ethan Rhodes, an ex-hoodlum from South LA whose absentee father had hardened him to granite, soft. He scoffed.
Franco whipped around. “Problem, Gunn?”
Ethan stretched his fingers to make a grab for his holstered weapon. Staying undercover was crucial until his men made their appearance. If he blew it now, he wouldn’t be the only one dead. There were others working this ring from other places. Corrupt nail salons, massage parlors, even country clubs. The message would be out that the investigation was compromised. The runners of the business fronts would retaliate, and the FBI agents working them would pay. Not to mention, the whole investigation would be botched and back to square one.
Ethan gave his uncaring shrug. “No problem. Just amazed at the elaborate digs the Boss has.”
Guerra’s snarl turned to an agreeing smile under the spotlights beaming down on them and most likely recording their every word. Ethan looked forward to confiscating the surveillance to see who else had come through these doors in the past. He wouldn’t stop until this whole outfit—and everyone a part of it—was disassembled. He looked at the back of Roni’s black leather coat, her long silky hair cascading down it, and thought whatever it took, he would deliver...even her.
The huge wooden door ahead of them opened slowly on silent hinges. A man dressed in a black suit with jet-black hair waited on the other side. He stood tall with his arms down in a relaxed pose. The cavernous room behind him displayed the heads of elk and bear. Ethan judged the bear to be a grizzly but didn’t dare take his eyes off the man to be sure.
“Bring her into the light,” the man ordered. Franco went to push Roni forward, but she stepped up willingly.
Too willingly, Ethan thought. Was there any fear in the woman at all?
Or maybe her involvement was more than opening her track to the organization. Maybe she’d been here before. Would he find her on the surveillance?
Ethan gave a last hooded search to the tree line. Anytime, boys, he thought. But no hint of backup didn’t mean they weren’t out there. He trusted his team to show up when he needed them most.
The man at the door said, “Veronica Spencer, is it?”
Ethan perked an ear for the direction of the conversation in front of him. It would determine his next move. If things went south his gun would be coming out with or without backup.
“Yes. I’m Veronica Spencer.” Roni lifted her chin, her voice clear of any hesitation.
“You’re very pretty.”
Ethan couldn’t see Roni’s face as he waited for her response...which didn’t come.
So, flattery was all it took to silence Roni Spencer’s tongue? Fancy that.
The man pressed in close to her, and Ethan moved up, as well. The guy lifted a hand to her hair. Ethan spread his fingers to make ready for a grab.
“I said, you’re very pretty. Has anyone ever told you that?”
She shrugged. “Sure, but I never believed it.”
The man smiled from one side of his mouth. “Let me assure you, you are.”
“Oh, well, if you assure me, then it must be true.”
Sarcasm. Thick as the wood beams holding this cavern up.
Ethan stifled a cough. Was the woman blind to the danger? Why would she throw the man’s compliment back in his face?
If this was the Boss, Roni could have just signed her death warrant. If the woman kept this up, Ethan figured saving sand from slipping through his fingers would be easier than keeping her alive.
The silence in the room thickened as the man studied her face. Her response confounded him just as much as it did Ethan.
Was
