Page 49 of Guarding Grace

Terry’s advice to not go quietly had been spot on, and dammit, Pete would have been proud of me.

Peyton rushed toward me, while my other dozen employees kept their distance.

While I brandished my dart at Maria, Zane zip-tied Lorenzo and dragged him over to join us. “Damn, girl, that was a badass move. I like your aim with those things.”

“Terry told me to not go quietly.”

“I’ll make you hurt,” Maria snarled.

I waved my dart and kicked her again. “Shut up, you worthless piece of shit.”

Zane grabbed my leg before I could kick her again. “That’s enough, Xena.”

I backed up. Xena, Warrior Princess—I kinda liked that.

He pulled one dart out of Maria’s ass, and then the second. The woman squealed each time. He handed them back. “Are these the poison-tipped ones?” he asked with a straight face.

Maria went pale.

I could see we made a good team. “Nope.” I waved my third dart. “But this one is.”

Zane smirked and shook a finger at Maria. “Better not move.”

The beet-red anger in her face drained away.

Peyton drew back. “I’ll call the?—”

“No,” Zane barked. “Nobody…” He looked around the room. “Nobody calls anybody. Absolutely no calls until my team arrives.” He pulled his phone out.

If Terry was Rambo, what was Zane? He’d labeled me Xena, like the TV show? Yes. I took in a deep breath. They could call me Xena, the Dart Princess.

While Zane was on the phone, his eyes tracked Peyton.

I leaned over Maria. “If you come near me or my people again, you’ll get a lot more than two darts in the ass.”

As Zane spoke on the phone, he wandered closer to Peyton.Interesting.

Terry

As I satat the stoplight on the way back to Grace’s firm, I contemplated what we’d learned. It wasn’t a lot.

Elliot had already told Grace this had to do with a delivery. If it fit in a briefcase, it couldn’t be drugs, not at a value of ten-million dollars. So what the hell was Russo selling, and who was on the other end of the transaction that he and his family would be so afraid of?

Gold would be too heavy, and that much cash wouldn’t fit in a briefcase, which probably left precious gems. I couldn’t think of anything else that made sense.

According to Grace, Elliot said the delivery had gone bad. He hadn’t said he’d been robbed or mugged, so how else would it go bad? The Russos weren’t stupid enough to have Elliot exchange a case for five-million dollars, so it hadn’t been a rip-off at the delivery point.

As the light turned green, I accelerated with a laugh. One thing was for sure, Elliot hadn’t known what was in the case, or its value. Otherwise, he’d be long gone by now.

It still wasn’t making sense to me when my phone rang through the car speakers. The display said Jordy.

I accepted the call just as a jerk cut in front of me. “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” Jordy asked.

“Nothing, just an idiot driver. What’s up?”

“There’s been an incident with Grace.”