Jessie looked up and instantly placed the man speaking to her. The guy from the diner. The one Dakota was working with all those months ago. The one who grabbed her ass and wouldn’t take no for an answer. They were at the shop before too…Mack and…
“Well, hey there, little mama. Looks like you’ve been a busy girl since the last time I saw you.” His eyes lingered on her belly. When his tongue came out and licked at his lower lip, Jessie shuddered. “Why don’t you come join the party out here?”
“Please don’t call me that.” Jessie pushed herself to her feet and tried to reach for her cell before the guy could catch her. But twisting and walking at the same time apparently wasn’t something she was going to be able to swing, and Mack just laughed as she swiped the phone, watching it tumble to the ground at her feet.
“Yeah, I’d tell you not to pick that up, but I’m pretty sure you would tip over trying. Come on. You’ve got something we need, and we’re running out of time.”
She stepped in front of the guy, the smell of cigarette smoke turning her stomach. Shit. Her nausea had been so good lately. Trying to ignore the churning deep inside, Jessie made her way out into the garage. She walked over to Lachlan’s side, not failing to notice the large wrench that his fingers were wrapped tightly around dangling down by his side. The restored car was in the air, and Jessie’s nerves went into overdrive as she walked onto the shop floor. “What seems to be the issue? I heard my brother explain that the shop is closed today. We can help you if you stop back tomorrow.”
“See, that is the problem. My friend and I won’t be in town tomorrow. And what you have, well, we really need.”
“A car part? We haven’t kept spares here in years,” Jessie answered. “If it’s something other than a basic air or oilfilter, we’ll need to order it in. And I was just looking over the orders. There’s nothing here that isn’t already accounted for.”
“Not a car part, honey. We have a very particular client who won’t be very happy with us when he learns we’ve misplaced something valuable of his.”
“I’m not following how we can help.” Lachlan shrugged, his feet inching closer to Jessie. She could feel the apprehension rolling off his body.
“Not you. Her. We need to know where it is.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jess shook her head as she ran her hand over her belly. Bee was rolling, the sensation comforting. Everything inside of her was screaming to get out of there.
“The thumb drive. He said he gave it to you. That you had it. We’re not leaving here before we figure it out.”
“I don’t?—”
“Call him, Boss.” The guy whose name she couldn’t remember said to Mack. “Tell him he needs to show his face. This is his fucking mess and we shouldn’t be here doing his dirty work.”
Silence filled the space, but Lachlan was shuffling slowly, very, very, slowly, in front of her.
“Get behind me,” he whispered, so quiet she barely heard him. And that’s when she started moving too.
“Get your ass in here. They’re not fucking talking.”
A minute later, a man covered from head to toe in black, strolled into the shop. Oh, god. She was going to be sick. Because there in his hand, was a baseball bat. Her eyes dropped to Lach’s hand, where the large adjustable wrench was beginning to bounce up and down.
“Now. Where is the thumb drive?” Mack was staring right at her, but it had to be some sort of misunderstanding. She didn’t have a clue what they were talking about.
“I-I don’t have anything. I don’t have a thumb drive. Youcan go into that office and look. The laptop we had before was stolen and the replacement one we’ve been using is so old, the ports stopped working years ago!” A tear slipped down her face as the masked man took a step closer to them. Lachlan moved his hand out in front of Jess and tucked her into his back.
“That’s where you’re wrong, little mama. You’ve had it all along.” Mack flicked his finger towards the guy in the mask. “He told us so. And since this place was meant to be empty today so we could tear it apart and find the fucking thing, I think it’s the universe’s way of helping us out… putting your pretty little self right in our path so we don’t have to go through the hassle.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Lachlan spit at the guy in the mask. He used his free hand to roll up the sleeve of his shirt. All the color drained from her brother’s face as he stared down at the dragon tattoo on the man’s arm.
The taller guy looked at Mack, laughing, before turning back to Lachlan. “Look, man. We don’t have time to tell you all the fucked up details. We just need to know what you did with the thumb drive.”
Lach’s hand rested on her arm. “Jess?”
“I swear, I don’t know anything about a thumb drive. We store all of your business stuff right on the laptop in the office. After the first one was stolen from my room, I’ve only restored a few things digitally. You know before that, we kept things on the computer or printed out in the file cabinet. I haven’t used a thumb drive in years.”
Lachlan nodded. “You heard my sister. We don’t have what you’re looking for.”
Mack lunged, his hands wrapping tightly around Jess’s arms. She screamed, trying to pull away as Lachlan swung the wrench in his hand at the second man. Her belly bumped intothe tool cart and she cried out as the pain spread across her side, silently praying that Bee was okay.
“Come on. Stop fighting me and just tell us where it is. We know you found it. We know you have it.”
“I didn’t. Please. Please. Why would I risk my baby’s life over this? I wouldn’t. Just go! We don’t have any drive here. I didn’t see or take it.”
“He said it was in the?—”
