They’d inadvertently given him an opening.
“I can help with that!”
When the thieves turned his way, he nodded. “I’m a doctor! I can stitch up your head.” He looked first at Brady and then turned his eyes on Fin. “And I can set your broken nose.”
There was hesitation in Head Honcho’s gaze. But that was better than the flat-out suspicion Doc saw in Jace’s. Of their four captors, Jace was the one Doc was most worried about. He seemed the most volatile.
“Please, Will,” Fin begged Head Honcho. “My nose is killin’ me. If he can…”
Again, the sound of the wind swallowed the end of his sentence.
Head Honcho’s name is Will, huh? The final piece of the puzzle falls into place.
Except, that wasn’t the final piece, was it? The answer to the question of how Will and his three pals learned the Deep Six crew had pulled up the treasure remained unanswered.
“My medical bag is upstairs,” Doc added, wincing when his raised voice made the ringing in his ears increase by about ten decibels. “If you untie me, I can go grab it and—”
“No!” Will barked. “Tell us where it is, and we’ll bring it down.”
Damnit!
Doc quickly changed gears and pasted on what he hoped was a convincing expression of desperation. “Look, man, I have to piss like a Russian racehorse. Let me hit the head and after I’m done, I can doctor up your friends. They can take turns keeping their pistols pointed at me, and you and Hercules there”—he hitched his chin toward Jace—“can stay down here and cover everyone else.”
Will continued to look hesitant, but when Fin whispered something to him, Doc knew the group’s leader was going to give in. The indecision in the man’s eyes turned to resignation.
Doc was careful to keep the elation off his face when Jace pulled a pocketknife from the front of his jeans and stalked over to Doc. The man leaned close to Doc’s face. “Ya make one wrong move, bub, and I’ll gut ya like a fish.” Doc could smell the sour stench of stress on Jace’s breath.
“I’m just trying to help your friends,” Doc told him. And even though he didn’t have Olivia’s skills when it came to the art of deception, he thought he sounded convincing.
Apparently it worked, because Jace nodded and bent toward his ankles. Doc’s feet were attacked by pins and needles when Jace sliced through the restraints. But the true relief came when the zip ties keeping his elbows pinned to the back of the chair were cut loose.
Once Doc’s hands were free, Jace was quick to tuck his knife away and re-palm his Glock. He leveled the end of the weapon between Doc’s eyes. “No funny business. Or I swear to god I’ll—”
“I know. I know.” Doc slowly stood, rubbing the raw skin around his wrists. “You’ll gut me like a fish.”
“Nope.” Jace gave a quick shake of his head. “I’ll put one right between your eyes, ayuh?”
By way of answer, Doc simply lifted his hands and nodded at Brady to lead the way upstairs. He’d barely taken a step when Cami’s voice stopped him. “Dalton?”
Once again, his name hit his ears and swirled around inside like a caress. He saw the concern…thefear…in her eyes.
He hadn’t intended to lean down and press a kiss to the corner of her succulent mouth. But that’s exactly what he did. Because she’d bewitched him. And he wasconstantlydoing and saying things he never set out to do or say.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he whispered. “You’re going to be okay.”
I’m going to make sure of it, he silently added.
“Hey!” Will yelled. “That’s enough of that! We didn’t untie ya so ya could make out. Get your ass upstairs and help my friends, or I’ll start takin’ out my piss-poor mood onyourfriends.”
Doc chucked Cami on the chin and gave her a reassuring wink before following Brady up the stairs. Fin brought up the caboose, keeping his pistol shoved into the center of Doc’s back the whole way.
When they got to the restroom, Doc decided his early inclusion in organized sports and the locker rooms associated with them, as well as his subsequent stint in the Navy and the extreme lack of privacy associated with that, worked to his advantage. After he lit the three-wick candle on the windowsill, he had no problem dropping his zipper and relieving himself while two grown men watched his every move.
Thankfully, his bladder was full enough that his earlierRussian racehorsecomment didn’t come off as total bullshit.
Once he was done, he washed his hands and hitched his chin toward the hallway. “My medical kit is in my room.”
Fin wiggled his Ruger, telling Doc without words to take the lead and show them the way. As Doc headed down the hall, his mind raced through his upcoming moves.
