“We’re not handling anyone’s tomatoes!” I snapped.
“When the job is completed to Mr. Zhirov’s satisfaction, we will discuss the rest of his incentive. By then,” Kat said, gesturing to Ike, “I’m sure this man’s employer will be eager to speak with you.”
The chain-link fence rattled as a fourth member of their group came through the gate. The woman wore a pair of black driving gloves and carried a heavy black case. She nodded once at Kat, then began emptying the contents, placing a neatly folded plastic tarp and a roll of duct tape on the ground. One of the men climbed into the crane.
Kat checked her watch. “Shall I tell Mr. Zhirov we have an agreement?”
“No,” I protested. “We do not have an agree—”
“May I have a moment to confer with my client?” Vero asked, dragging me aside. “Think about this, Finlay,” she hissed.
“We are not putting ourselves further in debt to that man!” I whispered.
“If we say no, they will leave us here alone with the dead dude, and I do not know how to drive one of those,” she said, thrusting a finger toward the crane.
“We have YouTube!”
Vero’s head tilted. For a moment I think she actually considered it. “Even if we could move that stack of cars, do you really want to see what’s under it?” I grimaced. “What that woman is offering is a lot more appealing than a ride in the back of a police car. And I amnottalking about the back seat of Nick’s!”
The thought of Nick finding out about this made my stomach turn. In a matter of days, Marco would start looking for his lost muscle and probably track him here. Once he did, what was to stop the loan shark from tipping off the cops to Ike’s last known whereabouts?
“Nick said it himself,” Vero pleaded, gesturing to the corpse. “Feliks can make almost anyone disappear, and I’m betting Flat Stanley here is no exception. You heard Kat. Feliks needs you to findEasyCleanbefore his trial, and he isn’t going to let the police or anyone else get in the way of that.”
“So we findEasyCleanand then what? Murder him, too?”
“We didnotmurder anyone,” she said, pointing at Ike. “That man died at the hands of god. Or maybe gravity. Anddefinitelytoo many trips through the late-night Wendy’s drive-through. Whatever the reason, it was his own damn fault.”
“So we’re just going to cross our fingers and hopeEasyCleanchases us into a salvage yard?”
“I swear, I have a solution to theEasyCleanproblem. Just trust me.” The plea in her eyes felt like a test of my faith in her. And I hated that because it didn’t leave me any choice. “Please,” she begged, “if we agree to Feliks’s terms and leave right now, we can find Javi, make sure he’s okay, and get him out of here before Kat’s people do.”
All my arguments died at the look on her face. Vero was right. If Kat’s men found Javi here, Feliks would only see him as a witness to clean up. I didn’t want to think about what Kat’s methods might entail, but I was guessing the woman with the tarp and the duct tape would probably be involved.
With a quiet swear, I strode back to Kat’s entourage. “Fine. I agreeto your terms,” I said, gesticulating around me. “If you make all this disappearandensure that no one ever knows what happened here tonight,” I added, parroting her own words back to her, “then I will figure out whoEasyCleanis. That’s all—”
“All part of the deal,” Vero finished for me as I gritted my teeth at her. “Yep, we’ll handleEasyClean. No problem.”
Kat nodded. The crane rumbled to life. Vero and I walked out the gate as a tarp snapped open behind us.
Vero and I jogged around the side of the garage, searching the parking lot for Javi’s van.
“There!” I said over the hum of the crane. We rushed toward the white panel van at the far side of the lot. Vero wrestled with the driver’s door as I tried the passenger side, both of us cursing when we found them all locked. I pounded on the window, calling Javi’s name. Vero jerked the handle of the cargo door, stumbling backward when it flew open and she found Javi sprawled inside.
She climbed in and crouched beside him, shaking out her hands as if she wasn’t sure where to touch him.
“Check his pulse,” I suggested, keeping my eyes peeled for Feliks’s goons as Vero placed two fingers on his neck.
Javi groaned. “Damn, your hands are cold.”
“He’s fine. Help me get him up.” Vero slung one of his arms over her shoulder. I climbed in and took his other side, hauling him upright. He winced, running tentative fingers over the back of his head as we urged him out of the van onto his feet.
“What’s your friend doing here?” Javi’s head wobbled as he struggled to focus on me. “Were we drinking?” He glanced down at the button on his jeans, then back and forth between us. “Wait. Did we…?”
“You wish you were that lucky,” Vero said through a grunt as we ushered him toward my minivan.
“Do you remember anything?” I asked, breathing hard under his weight. Javi was nowhere near as big as Ike, but he was remarkably solid through his clothes.
He squinted. “All I remember is getting Vero’s text. I was on my way to meet her. I opened the back of my van to grab a flashlight, and then… nothing.”
