Rules of Survival(54)

A moment later, Deeds slid back behind the wheel and pulled the car around the side of the motel. A part of me had hoped there would be people—other cars, at least—that might provide some form of distraction and possibly present an opportunity, but there was nothing. Other than Deeds’s car, there was a red SUV with no license plates and a missing passenger’s side tier at the far end and that was it. The place was deserted. My eyes fell to the building. Spray-painted across several of the doors was Satan sees everything.

Deserted? I couldn’t imagine why…

“This is how it’s gonna work,” Deeds said, opening the back passenger’s door. “You’ll be quiet and cooperate, and then in the morning we’ll go and get my cash. I’ll let you go, and you can be on your way before lunch. Everyone’s happy.”

I wanted to call bullshit, but bit my tongue. Even the most unjaded person could see he was lying. The overdone, fake smile, the way his right eye kept twitching… He was like an evil version of an overgrown Oompa Loompa—and he had more tells than an amateur poker player.

My guess was that Grayson Deeds didn’t lie very often. He probably didn’t need to in his line of work. Or more to the point, didn’t bother. I’d never heard of a hunter apologizing to a mark, much less making up a story to put them at ease. They were more of the snatch-and-grab type.

Shaun and I both nodded, then extracted ourselves from the car. Deeds knew what he was doing and had gotten the corner room on the first floor. He walked behind us with a strong grip on both of our shoulders and handed the key to Shaun once we made it to the door.

“Go head. Unlock it.”

It was smart really, and a small part of me admired him for it. By having Shaun unlock the door, there was no chance he’d be distracted—even for a second. Because a second was all it took to lose control of the situation. And with that much money at stake, Deeds wasn’t taking any chances.

He locked the door behind us and glanced around the room. “What should I do with you two for the night?” he said to himself. He set his bag down by the door and scanned the room, eyes lingering on the bed.

“No idea,” I mumbled. “But I’ve got some thoughts about what you can do with yourself…”

Beside me, Shaun tensed and Deeds whirled around. His fingers dug into my shoulder and I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from yelping at the pressure. There’d be a serious bruise there in the morning. That is, if he didn’t squeeze my arm clean off. “What was that, missy?”

“Ya know, Deeds…” Shaun said quickly. “Pat isn’t going to be happy about this.”

He chuckled and let go of me. “Oh yeah? What’s that? Me infringing on his turf?”

“There is that, yeah. But I was talking about me.”

Deeds folded his arms and flashed us a smirk. “You?”

“Blood or not, I’m Pat’s family. You’re basically keeping his kid hostage.”

“Then let’s consider this payment for the two of you poaching Andrew Flynn in Texas.”

Shaun’s eyes widened. “Flynn? The two-bit con with the three-grand price on his head?”

“That’s the one. I was contracted for that job.”

“So were we,” Shaun countered. “Every hunter with half a brain knows most people double-and triple-book jobs. They’re covering their bases.” At his side, the pointer finger on his right hand flicked back and forth. “There were probably ten people contracted for that job.”

It took me a minute, but I finally realized what he was doing. Giving me a distraction. A chance to really look around without Deeds’s gaze on me. Get the lay of the room.

I took advantage. The room had one large window at the front—right by the single king-size bed. Not an option. It was a corner room, so there was the possibility of a small window in the bathroom, but that wouldn’t work. There’d never be enough time—or more likely, an opportunity. Unfortunately, as far as planning an escape went, I wasn’t seeing a ton of options. Hell, I wasn’t seeing any. And then I caught sight of his bag. He’d dropped it by the door when we’d come in. There were a couple cell phones peeking out. But it was too far away. We’d never be able to reach it.

A shadow loomed over my head, accompanied by a dark chuckle. “And what are you looking at?”

I didn’t answer.

“Thinking about making a run for the door, huh?” he prodded.

I breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t realize I’d been eyeing the bag. “Caught me,” I said lightly. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

Deeds grabbed both my shoulders and gave a slight shake. The shackle chains rattled and sharp pain shot up my arm. “I can—and will. Let’s get it straight. You try to make it out that door, and I’ll see to it you never walk again. Are we clear?”

I didn’t need Shaun’s warning to simply nod my head. The tone of Deeds’s voice was enough. He meant it. I had no doubt. If he caught us trying to escape, God only knew what he’d do…

We had to be very careful.





Chapter Eighteen


Around eight, Deeds decided it was time for dinner. For him—not us. Before he left, he’d used his own pair of handcuffs to secure us to the bed frame. One cuff on Shaun’s left hand, and the other on my right, he threaded it through one of the bars at the bottom of the bed. He even took it one step further than that. As an extra method of security, he also cuffed my right foot to the frame with another set. While he’d been setting the whole thing up, a part of me wanted to joke that he should add duct tape, too—just to be safe.