life had come to this.
Dusting off his favorite slacks, he ventured deeper into the house just to make sure she wasn’t home. Apparently she didn’t have an alarm system. Stupid, trusting woman.
There weren’t any photographs of Franco. No sign Franco had ever been in the house. Lorenzo was going through a desk drawer when the phone rang, making him jump.
He checked caller ID and recognized the number. One of Valencia’s other thugs, Jolly. So Valencia had put him on the task of finding Franco’s girlfriend. Lorenzo wondered how Valencia had latched on to Rose Garcia’s number so fast without Franco’s cell phone. Valencia must have supplied Franco with the phone.
Lorenzo couldn’t help feeling relieved he’d gotten here when he had. Now if the chick would just get her butt home…
He’d barely had the thought when he heard footfalls on the porch. He flattened himself against the hall wall and waited as he heard the sound of a key in the lock. A gust of cool damp air brushed past him as he heard her open, close and lock the door.
If he’d guessed right, she would come walking by him at any moment. He waited. And waited. Then, straining, he heard what seemed to be her taking off her shoes at the door and cursing softly. He didn’t have all day.
He peeked around the corner to see her stripping out of her wet clothing, and was shocked to realize that she was the runner he’d almost clipped with his car.
If only he’d known, he could have saved himself a lot of time and trouble. But then again, it would be better if she just disappeared. That would make it more believable that she’d talked Franco into taking off with the duffel bag of money.
She’d stripped down to a gray jogging bra and a pair of hot-pink bikini panties by the next time he stole another peek around the corner.
She wasn’t what he’d expected, but he could definitely see why Franco had been interested in her. She was hot, late twenties–early thirties, in great shape.
She looked up as if sensing his presence. He jerked back, but realized he couldn’t wait for her to come to him. Not now. Pulling his gun from behind him, he stepped around the corner of the wall.
“Hello,” he said, pointing the barrel at her heart. “I’m a friend of Franco’s. Scream and I’ll kill you. Keep quiet and you get to live. Put your clothes back on. You and I are going for a little drive.”
To his surprise, she didn’t scream. She didn’t move. She glanced at the gun, then at his face. “I’m not putting those wet clothes back on.”
Why couldn’t he for once find a woman who just did what she was told? No, he always had to find one that put up an argument.
It was his last cognizant thought before she took a tentative step, seemed to wobble as if tired from her run, and flew at him. He never saw her foot coming until it slammed into the side of his head. He dimly felt her painfully twist the gun from his hand an instant before her other foot caught him in the groin.
But by then he couldn’t isolate the pain, and he was already headed for the floor and unconsciousness, anyway.
ROSE BALANCED ON the balls of her feet, hopping back, poised to kick him again if necessary. She had the barrel of the gun trained on a kill spot just in case he was still conscious and lunged for her.
She waited a few seconds, then nudged him hard with her bare foot. Out cold.
She released the breath she’d been holding.
Lorenzo Dante. She’d recognized him right off. Until recently, he had been Raymond Valencia’s top lieutenant. She’d heard he was planning to skip the country, and thought he’d already gone. She wondered what he was still doing here. More to the point, what he was doing flat on his back in her living room.
Her mind worked up several scenarios before going with the one that seemed most likely. Only one person could have led him to her: Franco. And if that was the case, then Franco was dead.
She felt sick to her stomach as she stared down at the man on the floor. She’d known what she was getting into, but that didn’t make it any easier now.
Whatever she did, she had to move fast. Had Valencia sent Lorenzo to take care of her, as well?
The phone rang, startling her. She edged around