Attest (Centrifuge Duet Book 2)(22)
My call is answered on the first ring.
“Yeah?”
“Mark-Lee said you had a spare room for me?”
The man on the other end chuckles. “You could say that. What time do ya want me to pick up my guest?”
“Now would be good. He’s starting to get on my last nerve.” I state coldly. Jax has tilted his head so he can listen to my conversation better, shaking his head when he hears my declaration. Too bad, so sad. Evil doctor man doesn’t get a say in what happens tonight.
“Consider it done. Be there in ten.”
Jabbing the end call icon, I grin at Jax. “Your ride will be here soon. Let’s head out front to meet them.”
I approach him with a healthy wariness. Jax seems unimpressed by my caution, his sneering expression designed to mock me, until he proves me right by lunging at me. He tries to force his handcuffed wrists over my head, so he can choke me with the short length of chain that secures them together. My gun clatters to the floor as I attempt to fight him off.
For a prick who hasn’t done an honest day’s work in his life, he’s stronger than he looks.
I dig through my left jacket pocket until I find what I need. Uncapping the syringe with one hand, I hold the chain away from my throat with the other. A well-aimed elbow to his ribs gives me the opportunity I need. A quick twist of my torso and I’m in the right position to jam the needle into his shoulder. I press down on the end of the plunger as hard as I can, pushing the contents of the syringe into his body.
It takes a second, but eventually he sags and drops to his knees. I have time to catch him as he falls face first, but I don’t. The satisfaction I get from watching his smarmy face connect with the hardwood floor makes me smile. That’s going to hurt when he wakes up.
My phone beeps. I lost it in our scuffle and it takes me a second to locate it. When I do, it’s good news.
CASPER: Front drive
“Looks like your ride’s here, Dr. Ray,” I notify his unconscious form.
After stooping to pick up my gun, I use my foot to roll Jax onto his back. His head lolls to one side and an arm falls to the floor. I take hold of that arm and start dragging him to the front door. The journey leaves me breathing like an asthmatic in a perfume shop by the time I get him there.
“Fuck me. No one needs a house this bloody big,” I grumble, unlocking the door so my skinhead friends can take Jax the rest of the way. When they enter, I throw my hands up in the air. “Have at him. He’s all yours. I’ll let you know if I need him back.”
Mark-Lee’s Lieutenant on the outside, Casper, regards me like I’m an idiot. “Why would you need him back? Motherfucker stole your woman. Kill ‘im and be done with it.”
I shrug. “Long story. He’s worth more to me alive right now. Fuck him up if you want, just leave enough scraps for me to return if I need to.”
Casper gives me an army salute, then waves two of his men in to pick up Jax. “Whatever you say.”
I hold open the car door, slamming it shut once Jax has been thrown into the back seat of the—no doubt—stolen sedan. Job done, I wave them on their way.
Before they leave, Casper rolls down his window and jerks his head for me to come over to him.
I do as I’m asked, trepidation making my feet heavy as I move.
“What?”
“Mark-Lee told me to tell you that he’s smelt a rat and he needs you to stomp the fucker.”
And, there it is. The price I have to pay for tonight’s assistance.
No good deed goes unpunished—or unpaid.
“No worries,” I agree. “Tell him I just need to know where and when and I’ll get it done.”
Good,” Casper deadpans before he drives away. Like me, he knows that I wasn’t in a position to refuse. His vehicle moves smoothly down the driveway and turns left. When it’s out of sight, I head back inside. At the base of the stairs, I call out for Amber.
“It’s time to go.”
She appears from around the first curve of the stairs immediately. In one arm she has a sleeping baby, a heavy bag hanging from the shoulder. With her free hand, she’s guiding a suitcase on wheels. A little dark-haired boy stands next to it with his thumb in his mouth.
A gaping hole opens in my chest as the stakes of this game grow even bigger.
Reality is a bitch. Plans are all well and good until you’re staring into the face of the innocent victims caught in the middle.
I need to win this war, come Hell or high water.
If I fail, it’s going to be fatal.
PART TWO
FOURTEEN
Amber
Tiny rays of sunshine peak through the gaps in the ratty curtains that hang from the windows. Any minute now, my baby will wake and demand his morning feed. Most days, this is a moment I dread because it means that I have to face another day with Jax. Today is different. Xander lies in the narrow bed next to me, his soft, regular breaths and solid presence offering a balm to my shattered soul.
We are free.
Well, as free as four people can be when all of the wealth and power that the St. George and Ray families wield is about rain down on their heads.
Baby Charlie begins to snuffle noisily in his makeshift crib. I slide out of the bed and go to him before he becomes annoyed at my delay in responding to him and makes enough noise to wake up Xander. On the way, I pass JJ and stop to brush a lock of his black hair from his forehead. My eldest is the spitting image of his father, yet I love him with a fierceness I never thought possible.