Extreme Danger (McClouds & Friends #5)(37)

Becca gazed at him. “And the police?” she asked.

He chose his words carefully as he stepped on the gas. “This is the deal with the police,” he said. “If you tell them what you saw, they’re obliged to investigate. A lot of things might happen, all of them bad. Most likely some locals will be killed before they get wise to exactly what they’re dealing with. As in cold-blooded murder. Film at eleven. And no, I’m not being sarcastic.”

“But isn’t that just what we’re going to tell them?” Becca forced the words out from between her chattering teeth. “Exactly what they’re dealing with, I mean.”

“We can tell them anything we want,” he said. “Men and women with families will still get killed. It’s a statistical certainty.”

“Ah.” Her throat worked. She put her hand up to it, massaged it.

“And there’s another thing, too,” he went doggedly on. “Right now, he doesn’t know anything about you. Not your name, your address, your work, nothing. You have no idea how f*cking fortunate that is.”

“Oh, but I do,” she snapped. “Since you never miss an opportunity to remind me of my great good fortune.”

He was relieved to hear that snippity tone. A woman in shock would not be giving him hell. She was so much tougher than her sex bunny looks would suggest.

He found his train of thought. “What I’m saying is that if you blow the whistle on Zhoglo here, that gives him a place to start when he comes looking for you. And he will come looking for you. Count on it.”

“Is that his name?”

Nick slammed a hand into the steering wheel. “Yeah.”

“But the police would never give him my—”

“You have no idea how powerful this guy is,” he said. “He’s got a reach you cannot imagine. Info can be accessed on shared databases, Becca. It can be hacked, stolen, bought. Everything is for sale. He’s already corrupted the feds. He’d get around the local law.”

The bitterness in his voice silenced her, but only for a minute. “Why would he bother looking for me? I was just the cook, right?”

He made a derisive sound. “Where do I start? He didn’t get a chance to f*ck you, for one thing. That’s reason enough right there.”

“Never mind,” she whispered. “Sorry I asked.”

“And you saw him,” he went on relentlessly. “You saw his new business partner, too. You were scheduled to get snuffed the minute you got a good look at Zhoglo’s face, Becca. Let alone all the rest of it.”

She kneaded the silvery blanket with desperate, nervous strength. “Who is he?” she whispered.

“You don’t want to know. The other reason he’ll want you is because he’ll want me. He’s capable of chopping my dick off and feeding it to me piece by piece. Not exaggerating.”

She winced.

“Given what happened tonight, he’ll assume that you’re the path to me. And he’ll be coming for me. Like a freight train.”

She was quiet for a long time. He was almost lulled into thinking that she’d conked out into a swoon of exhaustion and would leave him in blessed peace. Then she cleared her throat. No such luck.

“Um, this is kind of a hard thing to say, so please don’t get mad at me, OK?”

He braced himself. “Have at.”

“Ah…you did what you did to those men to save me. To get me away from the island before that guy…before he could…”

“Yeah,” he broke in, impatient. “And?”

“Well, first off, thank you,” she said, in a breathless rush. “I don’t know why you did that for me, but thank you.”

The pause after those words begged the question, so he thought about it for a second. “I don’t know why I did it either.”

He got the sense that what he’d said was not the answer she had hoped for. This did not surprise him. The reality of Nick Ward always shocked the ladies, once they got a clue what they were dealing with. Usually, he fled the scene before that development.

“Well. Hmph,” she said, with a disapproving cough. “What I’m trying to say is that, ah, considering your work, and, um, the people you associate with, I understand why you don’t want to have anything to do with the police. But I’m very grateful to you for saving me, and therefore, when I make my statement, I won’t mention you. If you just take me to the station and let me go, I won’t say one word about you. If they have me look at pictures, and I see yours, I won’t ID you. It’s not like I know…hey, stop that! What’s so funny?”

So Becca thought he was one of Zhoglo’s goons. It was inevitable, but for some reason it struck him as funny. Dry laughter snorted out of him, racking his chest, making his throat hurt, his eyes sting.

“Oh, that’s good,” he said, wiping his eyes. “That’s great, Becca. Tell them you took out four armed mobsters and fled the island all by yourself. The naked girl commando. Sounds like a video game. They’ll be coming in their pants when they take your statement.”

“Do not make fun of me.” Her voice had gone chilly. “There’s nothing amusing about this. At all.”

“Oh, no,” he agreed. Laughter jolted his ribs. “Not at all.”