her hastily formed plan. What had Con called it earlier? Improvise, modify, adapt, overcome. And pray it worked. She whirled inside and pointed the gun at DiMarco. “Freeze. Drop the weapon.”
Con’s startled gaze locked on her. His eyes widened and he swore.
DiMarco froze for an instant, then turned his head to stare at her. He grinned and kept the gun pointed at Con’s temple. “Look who it is. Charlie’s Angel. This isn’t the movies, cupcake.”
“I’m not acting. Drop it.”
“Sure thing. I’m gonna drop my gun for a broad who doesn’t even have the heart to kill a spider.” DiMarco peered at her. “What the hell is that in your hand?” He squinted. “A toy? A friggin’ water gun?” He started to laugh. “What are you gonna do, cupcake, dribble me to death?”
The real gun was tucked into her front waistband, under her sweatshirt. She didn’t know how to aim or shoot it, and Con was safer with her bearing the squirt gun. At least if she accidentally shot him with acetic acid, he wouldn’t die. He’d left the pack containing the weapons stashed behind a life-size cutout of Tom Cruise at the end of the hallway. Thus, his “pleasure cruise” hint. She knew how his mind worked. He meant for her to take the weapons, hole up with Letty and Mike and hide.
“Are you so sure it’s a toy?” Bailey risked a glanced at Con. Once Tony got him outside, he’d kill him. DiMarco would go psycho when he found out the chopper was a decoy and he wasn’t escaping with his precious money. He and Rico had claimed the snipers couldn’t shoot in this weather. Con was unarmed and unprotected. At the mercy of a madman who would gladly die before surrendering to the police. As Con had said, SBC—suicide by cop.
“Give me a break. I was Black Ops for years. That sorry imitation doesn’t fool me.”
The gun might not, but she was about to. Good thing Tony didn’t know about her and Con. A huge advantage. In his wildest dreams, DiMarco would never have guessed she’d come back for Con. He had another think coming.
She’d be damned if she’d hide and cower while her man died.
“Maybe it’s loaded with deadly poison.”
“Yeah, right. And I wear women’s underwear for thrills.”
“What you do for jollies doesn’t concern me.” Her hands were shaking like leaves in a windstorm, and she sucked in a breath. “Let the officer go and we all walk away with what we want. Your chopper is here, you’ve got your money. Grab it and leave.”
Tony’s eyes gleamed with avarice. “Wrong, cupcake. I don’t have my satisfaction.”
Whatever twisted philosophy he followed, he followed it to the max. A zealot. Her throat had turned into the Sahara, and she tried to moisten her mouth. Zealots did not hesitate to die for their beliefs. And take innocents with them. “If you kill a police officer, they will hunt you to the ends of the earth. You’ll never get a chance to spend one dollar of your haul.” She attempted to swallow. “Is your satisfaction worth that?”
“Yeah. It is.” His obsidian gaze crawled over her body, making her long for a shower. With Lysol bodywash. “You’re a real hot number, aren’t you?” DiMarco nodded. “Yeah. You really do remind me of that special someone. Instead of killing you both, cupcake and I will get better acquainted.”
“Don’t touch her, maggot,” Con snapped, drawing Tony’s attention back to him.
“So, it’s like that is it?” Tony smirked. “I’ve already touched her, and she liked it.”
A low growl rumbled in Con’s throat, and Tony winked at Bailey, clearly enjoying Con’s anger. “You know what kind of piddly ass wages cops make, cupcake? We could have a lot of fun. Bet you’ve never partied on a tropical island with a rich man.”
Con’s entire body tensed, and Bailey’s heart galloped in her chest. She could not look at him with that big, lethal gun pointed at his head and consider the possibility that he would again put himself between her and the bad guy. There was no Kevlar between the bullets and his brain.
“I’m sorry, Tony. I cannot let you walk out of this theater with him.”
“Damn, you are cute when you’re riled.” Tony’s words were playful, his demeanor dead serious. “Okay. I’ll shoot him now. I only need one hostage, and you’ll be a hell of a lot more fun.” She didn’t doubt him. He meant to murder Con in cold blood.