Sanchez had gagged her, handcuffed her, and tied her feet at the ankles. He hitched a brow at his associate. “Not taking any chances, are you?”
“I don’t trust anyone who wants to sell their baby.” Sanchez handed him the keys before hurrying around to the passenger seat.
Sin drove down the street, his gaze cemented on the dark road made bright by the high beams of the Continental. And that’s when he spotted her again. The beautiful brunette who had made him sped past and a burst of energy pounded through him.
The young woman in the back seat cleared her throat and he threw a quick glance over his shoulder. “If we remove the gag, will you behave,Bethany?”
She answered in a series of garbled, unintelligible utterances. As soon as Sanchez removed the gag, Bethany shuddered in a deep breath. “Are you taking me to this Uncle Charlie guy?”
“No,” Sin replied. “We’re taking you home.”
“Oh, God, no.”
“Your parents hired me tofixthis situation.”
“I was giving my child a chance at freedom. Something I never had.”
“You were selling your child for profit. Not only is it against the law, it’s heinous. What kind of mother are you?”
“The kind who doesn’t want a stinking kid tying her down. I’m not even twenty.”
“Your parents want to raise your daughter.”
As he gained speed on the entrance ramp for I-95 south toward D.C., Bethany groaned. “They are so damn controlling.”
“Call it what you want.”
“I was two seconds from making an easy ten grand.”
Sinclair’s blood ran cold. He gritted his teeth to keep from telling her what hereallythought of her. “I made a mistake,” he bit out, then glanced over at Sanchez. “Gag her. We don’t need to listen to her ungrateful drivel.”
“Gladly.” Sanchez shoved the cloth back into Bethany’s mouth.
After a brief silence, he said, “That scumbag was going to kill you. With you dead, he stood to double his profit. You’ve got a lot of growing up to do Bethany Applegate.”
Her groan was her only response.
Who would sell her own child?Sin had never met anyone so bone-chillingly cold and he hoped he never would, ever again.
* * *
Evangeline Worthington had been made.
“Son of a bitch,” she muttered as she hurried out of the apartment building. The residential street was quiet as she made her way up the block toward her vehicle.
Before closing the blinds and shutting her out, Sinclair Develin had locked eyes with her from across the alley. Her heart had jumped to triple digits, but she had stayed focused on her task.I’ll deal with him later.
Her stakeout was the culmination of months of hard work. She had worked all the angles, made as many inroads as possible, and followed up on each and every lead. Her informant was positive the girl was selling her baby to someone working for Uncle Charlie. She had been so stoked, she’d barely slept the night before.
Since she had no Plan B, she had to create one on the fly. Even though this toady guy had pulled a gun, she had every confidence Sinclair would outsmart him. When Sinclair Develin was involved, Sinclair Develin won. It was that simple. And that meant he’d end up with the baby.
Armed with that deduction, she’d bring her car around to the front of the building and tail him. What she couldn’t piece together was why he had managed to insert himself into her case.
As she rounded the corner, two guys were meandering in her direction.Oh, this is great.
“Hey there, beautiful.”
If she bolted, they’d catch her before she got to her car, so she pulled her Glock from her handbag and dropped her arm behind her back.
