Dylan (Bowen Boys, #3)(33)
“Duly noted. Will you say yes so I can make love to you again?” She shook her head, and his heart thudded. “You won’t say yes?”
“Oh no, I’m saying yes to that, but I want food before you make love to me. I told you, I’m starved.” He slipped the diamond on her finger and kissed her gently. “Let’s eat. I’m hungry for you again.”
~~~
Jack entered the house and looked at the ring on her finger again. When she’d asked him how he could have gotten her something so huge, he’d told her that he’d done well in the market and had bought up a few properties cheap. He told her that he worked because he loved to, not because he had to. She didn’t ask him anything else. Khan was sitting in the kitchen when she entered.
“Don’t you have a home?” He stood up slowly, and she knew something was wrong. “What is it? What’s happened? Are the babies and Monica all right?”
“They’re fine. Everyone is…sit down, Jack.” She shook her head. “I’d rather you sat, because when I tell you this, I don’t want to have to dodge bullets as I run for my life.”
She took the gun from the back of her pants and laid it on the table where he was. Then she reached down to her ankle, took the small one out from there, and put it with the other one. He looked at her after staring at the guns.
“That’s all the guns I have on me. You want my knives, you’re going to have to take them from me.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Spill it or I will you.”
Dylan came in then and stood beside her. He knew, she realized, and turned to him. He didn’t look any happier than Khan did. Before she could reach for the gun and shoot one of them, Khan spoke.
“Casey Snow’s body was found about an hour ago. They said she’d been murdered and—f*ck.” She didn’t mean to fall forward, but all the blood had rushed from her head and her legs gave out. She ended up sitting, after all, this time with her head between her legs.
“I have to see her body.” Neither man answered her, nor would they let her sit up. “It might not be her. I have to—”
“It’s her. They identified her with her dental records. Her body was burned, and she—”
“Who?” Jack demanded. Khan looked at Dylan, then at her. “Who was the dentist? I’m sure if you tell me a certain name that it’s not her. Tell me, damn it.”
“Carl Wilkins.” She put her head back between her legs and took several deep breaths before she sat up and looked at them.
“She’s in trouble. I have to go to her.” She stood up, picked up her guns, and started putting them back on her body. “We had it set up that she would go to the morgue and claim a body. Then she’d have it taken to a funeral home where this guy I know works. He’s one of my informants. He’s fixed things for me before when I had to get someone safe.”
“Where is she?” She turned to Dylan, knowing that he would try and go with her. She couldn’t let him. She was shaking her head as she answered him.
“She’s here. She never left. Better to hide in plain sight than out in unfamiliar territory. But you can’t go with me. She’ll spook and run.”
“Deal with it. I’m going. If you don’t take me, I’ll follow you. Either way, I’m there.” She looked at Khan, hoping for him to say he’d make his brother stay.
“I’m going, too. We’ll go as cats. No one will ever see us.” She shook her head again, and Khan grabbed her. “You aren’t leaving this house alone.”
She sat down and tried to think. She knew that if she left there they’d get killed trying to find her. If she took them, they’d get killed if it was a trap. She looked at them both. It was going to have to be both their ways.
“Can you leap from a moving truck as a cat?” Both nodded. “I know the old saying about cats landing on their feet, but you can’t bullshit me. Can you do it?”
“Yes. We can do it. We’ve done it before. Where are we headed?” She looked at Dylan and smiled. He grinned back.
“To hell and back.” She sat them both down and told them what had to happen. Then she let that sink in while she fixed herself a sandwich. She had no idea why she was eating so much lately, but she’d not gained a single pound, either. She was eating it when they looked ready for the rest.
“When I tell you to jump, you’ll have to do it then. There is no margin for error, nor can you hesitate. The place you have to go is between a rock and a fast-moving river. Either one will take you away if you don’t do this right.”
“There’s some terrain there that had some large timber on it. Is that still out there, or do you know if it’s been sold off? It would make good cover for us when we come in behind you.” She shook her head at Dylan’s question.
“The timber is still there. I won’t sell it off. But there is a house back there. A log cabin that I built when I first got into college. My name isn’t on the paper work, but it’s still mine.” Dylan sat down.
“You outbid me,” Dylan said. She looked at him, confused. “You remember, Khan, a few years ago when the property came up for auction? I told you that I was going to get it and you made fun of me for weeks when I didn’t. Christ, I wanted that place.”