Burnout_ A Legal Heat Novella - Sarah Castille Page 0,49
glare with her free hand. “Jason?”
She took a step forward only to fall back when a hand clamped on her shoulder.
“You come alone?”
Deep and rich with a hint of prairie twang, the voice behind her was not what she had expected from a member of the Red Dragons.
“Yes.”
He tugged the duffel bag from her grasp. “Money’s all here?”
Sophie nodded. “Two hundred thousand dollars in unmarked hundred-dollar bills.”
“Wired?”
Her breath caught in her throat, but before she could lie, his hand slid through her hair, and he deftly plucked the receiver from her ear.
“Not very discreet.” He dropped the device and crunched it under his shoe on the concrete floor, sending bile rising up her throat. “Transmitter in the phone?”
Unwilling to give out even the tiniest bit of information, she stiffened and clamped her lips shut.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Hand it to me.” Sophie shuddered and dug the phone out of the duffel bag, then moved to hand it to him.
“Don’t turn around.” He plucked the phone from her hand, and suddenly she was totally and utterly alone.
Sophie’s heart thudded so hard she feared she would break a rib. Worse was the deafening rush of blood through her ears that signalled her fear was getting out of check. For a moment, she wondered what would have happened if she’d let the Rogue Riders handle everything. No doubt she would be home now baking pies and watching television. The police, however, had no qualms about using her as bait since her connection to Jason had convinced the Red Dragons her offer to ransom him was legitimate.
Feet thudded over concrete and she heard the scrape of gravel. Oh God. More gang members. Two, maybe three, behind her and not just one as she had hoped.
She heard the click of the phone’s plastic casing and then a laugh. “Lookit this piece-of-shit transmitter. It’s from the dark ages. I’ll bet it doesn’t have a range more than fifty meters. I think they musta been trying to get rid of her.”
Puzzled at the hint of concern laced with the anger in his voice, Sophie looked over her shoulder.
“What did I say about turning around, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart?
“We’re gonna pat you down now to make sure we don’t have any accidents. Unless you want to tell me if you’ve got another wire or any weapons on you.”
“Go to hell.”
The man chuckled. “He did tell us you were a bit of a firebrand. Arms out. You know the drill.”
Sophie didn’t move. “I’ve done everything you asked. Now I want to see Jason.”
His voice dropped low in warning. “You aren’t in a position to make demands.”
She pressed her lips together. Resisting was pointless at this stage, and yet she couldn’t go down without a fight, fruitless as it might be. “You touch anything you’re not supposed to touch and I’ll slice off your balls.” Ace’s threat had sounded pretty damn effective when they’d been at the beer store. She hoped it sounded as menacing coming from her, despite the lack of expletives.
“Harsh words for a pretty girl.” He positioned her arms out to the sides. “I promise to be good.”
And he was. The pat down was perfunctory at best, but he did find her weapon and the knives she had hidden up her sleeves in contravention of police policy. But after seeing how effective they could be in taking even someone as strong as Ace down, she’d made her illegal purchases at a pawn shop on Granville Street and been back in time to be wired. Good cop Sophie had become a little bit bad.
“Did you check the money?” The second voice was familiar, slightly higher in tone, younger. Her fear-fuzzed brain struggled to place it and came up blank.
“Into the light while we count the cash.” The hand on her shoulder directed her forward, and she walked toward the man in the chair, trying to make out his features. Was Jason hurt? Alive? But the light was too bright, and all she could see was the barest outline of a man surrounded by darkness. Unmoving.
Chapter Thirteen
She was terrified.
He could see her face, white in the darkness, her eyes luminescent as she tried to make him out. And yet she walked resolutely toward him. Unarmed, unwired. Nothing but courage and determination to drive her forward.
And love for her brother.
How would it feel to be loved like that? To know there was someone on the earth who would give up everything to save you? A lifetime of foster homes meant he’d