Rules of Survival(52)

Shaun pulled out a handful of change and dialed Patrick. After seven rings, it went to voice mail. “That’s weird.”

“That he didn’t answer? You keep saying that every time he doesn’t pick up, but honestly, he seems to never pick up…”

Shaun frowned and hung up the phone. “This is a new thing. Pat never lets his phone go to voice mail.”

“Well, maybe he’s still sleeping?”

Shaun glared at the phone. “No way. Pat has never slept past six. Not in all the years I’ve been with him.”

“You think something’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure…”

I glanced around the square. Signs of the lunch rush were beginning to surface here and there. There was a line out the door at the small coffeehouse a few storefronts down, and several people on the corner waiting for the bus. The paranoia in me didn’t like the growing crowd. “I don’t wanna hang out. I feel twitchy doing nothing.”

“You think there’s more information in that note back at the cabin? Something that might help us find the evidence?”

I closed my eyes for a moment and shook my head, wishing he hadn’t brought it up. “Don’t tempt me. I’ve already thought about it—but it’s a bad idea. Bad in the way Pompeii was bad… Going the first time was stupid. A second time would just be a death wish.”

“So, your mom’s friend then?”

I kicked at the large pebble by my feet. It skittered across the sidewalk, bouncing to a stop by the edge of the road. You’d think I’d learn. I’d done that once in a parking lot in California and the rock hit a shiny new Toyota. The driver screamed at Mom for half an hour before she handed him a hundred-dollar bill to cover the tiny ding in the side of his car.

“No,” I said with a sigh. “After what happened with Gerald, I don’t wanna chance it. Whoever this Jaffe is, he’s got money to throw around.” I ran my free hand through my hair. “Honestly, I’ve got no idea what to do next.”

“How about you come with me?” a voice said behind us. Deeds.

Shaun and I froze.

“Come on now, boy. Did you really think I was just going to walk away? Jaffe upped the price on this one’s head to a cool quarter mil.”

Of course. When Patrick started asking questions, Jaffe must have realized he wasn’t going to haul me in and made sure the word spread. That’s how Gerald knew to call him. Now we probably had every bounty hunter on the Eastern Seaboard on our asses.

“Quarter mil, huh?” I said as calmly as I could manage. “I guess I should be impressed? All that for little old me?”

“What makes you think that you’ll be able to walk off the street with us?” Shaun responded, voice deadly. He nodded across the square to where a police car was just pulling up alongside the coffee shop. The officer slipped from the car, tipping his hat to a group of businesswomen as he disappeared inside the building. Taking a page from my book, he said, “What’s to say we don’t scream our heads off?”

Deeds chuckled. “Go right ahead. I heard you talking. You’re trying to find evidence. I’m betting it has to do with who killed her mother, right? You scream now and the cops will nab her for the murder and she’ll never get it.”

Shit. He had a point.

“What about a deal?” I said, idea forming.

“What kind of deal? Unless you got a quarter million in your back pocket, we got nothing to bargain for.”

“No. Don’t have a quarter million,” I said. This was my area of expertise. Bullshit. “I do have a little less than a million, though.”

Grayson Deeds, all about the greed, perked up. A spark of hunger flashed in his eyes and the right-hand corner of his lip tilted skyward. “Is that right?”

Mom had one hell of reputation. It was greatly embellished—she’d said once that rumors were like giant snowballs rolling downhill—but I hoped I could use it to my advantage. At least long enough to buy us some time.

“Um, look who you’re talking to. Why do you think she’s been one of the top five most sought after criminals for the last ten years?”

“Bengali’s money,” he hissed. He stomped his foot and let out a shrill whistle.

“Exactly,” I said, nodding. I had no idea who—or what—Bengali was, but it seemed to have caught Deeds’s attention and that was good enough for me. His mouth was practically watering at the possibility of getting his greedy paws on it. I went full speed ahead. “I know where it is. If you agree to let us go, I’ll take you to it. You can have it all in exchange for leaving me alone.”

He smiled, revealing a large chip in one of his upper front teeth. It was the kind of thing that on someone else, might have given them character. On this guy, it looked trashy. “How do you know I won’t take the money and then turn you over anyway?”

Of course he would turn me over. It meant twice the payout. But he didn’t have to know I knew. “What choice do I have other than to trust you? Kinda got us over a barrel, and I’ve got nowhere left to run.”

He placed a meaty hand on Shaun’s right shoulder, and the other on my left. “Well then, kiddies. Let’s go. Car’s right around the corner.”

…