LEO
If I was going to hurt her, I’d have done it already. She does not know she’s safer with me than she was on her own. Until I find the others
hunting for the chip, no one in this shitty little town is safe.
I don’t follow her into the bedroom because I know what’s going to happen if I go in there. She looks beautiful, even when she’s afraid.
Her face is lined with intelligence, the first person I’ve met in a long time who isn’t afraid to stand up to me. She isn’t standing up to me now, jabbering on the floor like she thinks I’m going to kill her. I don’t want to kill her. I want to fuck her. Shame I haven’t got time.
“Where’s my dog?” I ask, already getting distracted by her body.
She’s in pajama shorts that show off her legs, a top that’s tight to her skin with no bra underneath. Her nipples are visible through the fabric.
I want to grab onto them, tug them hard. Graze them with my teeth to see how her breathing changes. She’s looking at me and still saying nothing, so I ask her again. “Where’s my dog?”
“Get out of my house!” She doesn’t sound afraid anymore, just furious. Understandable since I came in her back door. She does not know a man was working the lock when I got here.
She’s no idea he’s now in the trunk of my car awaiting disposal. Bobby is already putting two and two together and working out where the chip’s gone.
“You need to do something about the security of your place,” I say, looking down at her. “Your locks are shit and that gun’s not loaded. You need to buy some bullets. Nasty shit’s going down around here and there’s no telling who might get caught up in it.”
She can’t help a nervous laugh. “Nasty shit? In Gordon’s Cove? Like what? Ted got his jeep stuck on the beach again? Clock tower needs winding more than once a week?”
“Three men are dead already,” I reply. “There’s two more out there somewhere. I haven’t got much time. Where is my dog?”
“Moira’s still got him at the surgery. Why?”
“Stay here. Put something against your doors in case they try to get in.”
“Get in? Who’s going to get in?”
I run back downstairs and look outside, glancing left and right down her street. Even as my mind gets into work mode, I can’t help but think of her back there. I planned to get in, get Rex, and get out. She wouldn’t even know I was there.
She got the chip. When this is all over, I’ll get it back. For now, it’s safe. Once I deal with the two who are left, I can get out of this pissant little town. Go back to the city where I belong.
That was the plan. Get Rex and then report back to the Don. Tell him the chip’s in a safe place. Except I turn up and one of them is already picking her lock, getting ready to torture her to find out where the chip is. The remaining two still might if I don’t find them first.
I need to make sure no one’s left who knows I met her. I’m already making a mistake. She’s seen my face. I shouldn’t let her live. I should do my job and tidy up all the remaining loose ends. That includes her and the sheriff, who might poke his nose in. No loose ends.
I can’t do it. I think about killing her and for the first time in years; I feel something in my gut, something that tells me not to do it. I think maybe it’s because I’ve not been laid for too long, but maybe it’s more than that.
It’s something about her. Maybe her innocence. She knows nothing about my world. She didn’t ask to be brought into it.
Maybe I can let her live. Maybe I can let her go get on with her life. She can keep the chip safe. Kill the others and no one will connect her to me.
It’ll stay here for as long as I need it to.
I remember what she said to me about the location of the vet. Moira on Sunside. I walk there, keeping to the shadows. I don’t want to risk driving yet. Too clear a target. That sheriff keeps sweeping the streets. If he picks me up, I’ll lose time I haven’t got to spare.
It would be terrible luck to get this far and get picked up by a local guy. Course, one phone call would get me back out, but that takes time and I haven’t got time. I need to deal with them before the news gets out.
Not for the first time, I’m glad Bobby Belucci doesn’t like phones or the internet. Talking in person keeps prying eyes and ears away, but means I’ve got time to get this done before he gets a message to the family. Calls for help.
I doubt he will. He’d have to admit he lost the chip, and he’d be dead the same day. No one gets a second chance about something that serious.
It was supposed to be so simple. We find a dumb local gambler who owes us money. Someone easy to manipulate. Give him a hint about a rigged roulette table. He goes in, bets big. Loses it all. Gets desperate.
We offer him a deal on his way out the door. One more bet. We’ll loan him the upfront and write off the rest. The dealer’s already in our pocket. Our guy wins and gets hold of the chip the dealer gives him. Bobby is none the wiser as the chip heads out the door.
Our fall guy walks out of there without cashing in the chip. That’s the key part of this. Gives the chip to me. I give him the money for it.
I haven’t broken the truce by going into a Belucci casino. Everyone’s happy and the family has got one hell of a negotiating position come the upcoming conference.
What happens instead? I’ve no idea Cam Oakley made a deal with one of Bobby’s men when he lost. Bet too much. Lost it all. Signed the paperwork that fucks it all up. They take the contract. Then he makes his bet. Wins this time, but the dumb fuck cashes in the chip he was supposed to give to me.
The desk notices it, and I’ve got to break cover to get hold of it. Run in and snatch it from them as they carry it out. Months of planning down the pan. They come chasing after me. Rex gets shot.
Bobby can find out all about this once me and Rex are out of here. We want him to know we’ve got it but not until I’m back safe. And I’m not leaving without Rex.
Only it’s not just Rex I want to take back with me. I want to bring her along too. Amelia Dooley. The desirable piece of ass I just left behind with the chip in her possession. She’s no idea how many people are fighting over it.
I need to focus. I need to stop thinking about how her legs looked in those pajama shorts. The shorts were thin white, so I could see a hint of what they hid inside them.
Stop thinking about that.
I shake my head and move faster, breaking into a run. Even with my lungs burning from sprinting through the silent town, I keep thinking about her.
The way her eyes sparkled when she looked from me to the dog, working out what to do and how to do it. The way her cheek had one dimple on the right, but none on the left.
The way her brow furrowed when I told her the gun wasn’t loaded. It was like she was trying to work me out despite her fear.
I have enough women who want me back in the city. No sense complicating my life by adding one from out here in the sticks. It would only make waves if news got out I was seeing someone in Bobby’s town.