That was fair. I ground the heels of my palms into both of my eyes, not caring if I smeared my mascara. “Considering you’ve brought me here, what’s the business about? You’ve already kidnapped me, so it’s not like I won’t have worse things to say about you, and you’ll have a new identity, so talk.” This was assuming he wasn’t planning to shoot me and dump my body in one of the abandoned cabins.
He chuckled. “You really are a curious one, aren’t you? You know about cats.”
“So I’ve heard,” I said wearily, my whole body starting to ache. It was amazing what a blow to the head could do to the entire central nervous system.
He looked around. “We smuggle converter sets into the states and alter Glocks into automatic weapons. We also manufacture and distribute illegal weapons, and we’re not picky who we sell them to. It’s kinda illegal.” He laughed at his own joke. “But very lucrative.”
I shook my head and instantly regretted it as streaks of pain slashed behind my eyeballs. “The Lordes had a distribution system in place for drugs and were busted. Is the system still in place?”
“Somewhat but it’s been modified,” he said, then laughing at yet another joke. “We modify things. For now, the Lordes are involved as the investors because they had a whole boatload of cash the cops didn’t find when they were busted for drugs. They also provide a good share of protection to us and the entire organization.” He looked at me. “Aiden isn’t who you think he is. If we need somebody to disappear, he’s the one I call.”
Right now, I needed to disappear. I’d deal with Aiden and my feelings for him later.
Pucci’s phone buzzed and he lifted it to his ear. “Pucci.” Then he glanced at me. “Are you sure about that? I may have somebody here at the camp who’d disagree. She put up a struggle, but it didn’t last long.” He handed over the phone.
“Hello?” I asked, already knowing who was probably there.
Quiet reined for a heartbeat. “Angel. Are you all right?” Aiden’s voice was soothing and low.
“Not really,” I admitted.
“How bad are you hurt?” The thread of calm command remained in place.
I couldn’t stand him being nice right now. “Possible concussion and definite broken heart. I’m going to take you down, Devlin.”
“It’s a date. Give the phone back to Pucci.”
I did so and then turned to eye the best route of escape. Probably along the river with the heavy underbrush. If I could get across it, they’d have a harder time tracking me.
“I want half the money for half of the shipment,” Pucci was saying. “When I get set up again, we can continue.” He looked at me. “Jesus, Devlin. She’s fine. I won’t hurt her so long as you bring what I want. We’re good business partners and I don’t want to ruin that. I just had to keep her from notifying the cops that I was going to run, and I also knew she’d be decent incentive for you in case you decided to cut bait here. This is a good business, and we can get through this.”
I opened the glovebox in one smooth move, and papers fell out. No gun. I sighed.
Pucci looked at the papers. “In fact, I kind of like her. She has a lot more guts to her than that bitch I was dating. I’m gonna have to find somebody to replace her pretty fast.”
I leaned back against the door again, ready to kick for his face if necessary.
Pucci rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I know. Yours.” He shook his head. “Just be here in an hour with the cash.” He paused. “Fine. I’ll give you the extra hours, but we’re leaving at first dawn. And Devlin? If you don’t show up, I’m taking the lady lawyer with me.” He clicked off.
I satat the campfire next to Pucci and ate my steak, wanting to keep my strength up. A full moon illuminated the entire camp, although the floodlights set all around didn’t need any help. It might as well be daylight. I’d been there for three hours and had tried to escape twice, until Pucci just up and tied me to a porch. Now that had gotten boring. He’d finally fetched me for a very late dinner.
“I like your spunk,” he said, eating his steak with a plastic fork.
“Gee. Thanks,” I muttered, taking a sip of my soda. My balance wasn’t quite back, but my headache was now only a dull throb. “I have to ask. Aren’t you even a bit sad to be leaving Krissy? She really loves you.”
He snorted. “She’s not half the person I thought she was, and I’ll replace her easy enough. Well, not easy. But I’m better off without her. Never hitch yourself to a weak link.”
Great. More philosophical advice from Rich Pucci. I took another sip. “Did Danny figure out you were running guns? Is that why you killed him?”
Rich paused with a beer almost to his mouth. “Kill Danny? He was my cousin. I didn’t kill him.” He scratched at a mosquito bite on his hand. “Danny was all in on the business and ready to make his fortune. I think his plan was to woo your sister with his millions.” He shook his head. “Oh, I will find out who killed him, and when I do, they’re dead.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Aiden is a suspect, you know.”
Pucci scoffed. “I’m aware of that, but believe me, if Devlin had killed Danny, he wouldn’t be a suspect. Chances are we wouldn’t even have a body.”
Ug. All right. The boulder-sized pit that landed in my gut hurt as badly as my head. I wasn’t so sure, but since Aiden seemed to be my last chance for getting out of this at the moment, causing tension between him and Pucci was a bad idea.
The moronic twins from before sat across the fire, both staring at me. In the moonlight, the red dye in their hair looked like blood. Rhino smiled at me. “What do you say, lady? Want a night you’ll never forget with me and Spark?”
