Page 38 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

Grace

I huddled behind an SUV in the parking lot behind our old dentist, which Elliot had nicknamed the dentinator. With five thousand in hundreds in a giant wad in my purse, I felt much more vulnerable than I should have. I mean, how could a robber look at me and know that I carried that kind of cash?

He couldn’t, right?

Still, I kept an eagle eye out for bad-looking dudes because logic wasn’t working for me today.

Elliot must have parked down the street, because he appeared on foot, coming from the west. He had on the same clothes as the other day, only dirtier.

I stood up and waved when he looked my direction.

He shifted toward me, and I ducked down again.

He rounded the SUV and looked around. “You come alone?”

“You see anybody else?”

He hunched down to my level. “You got the money?”

“First, you tell me the whole story. What’s going on?”

He checked around again. “I told you, a shipment got messed up.”

“The whole story,” I repeated. “All of it.”

“Uh…I got ripped off.”

“Somebody stole the case from you? Who? ”

“Rudi.”

“Your roommate, Rudi?”

He nodded.

“Hey there.” It was Duke’s voice.

Elliot spun. “You promised you’d come alone.”

I stood, and there was Duke, large as life, blocking Elliot’s way out.

“She kept her promise,” Terry said from behind me. “We invited ourselves.”

Elliot tried to run past Duke. He failed.

Elliot squirmed, but it was no use against Duke’s strength. “You’re coming with us.”

“We’re all going to get this sorted out,” I assured Elliot.

“It can’t be sorted out. They’re killers,” he whined.

“And what the fuck do you think we are?” Duke sneered. “We eat pussies like that for breakfast.”

Terry wrapped an arm around me. “Elliot, you’re coming with us. We’re going to fix this so nobody gets killed.”

I walked with Terry. “He doesn’t have the case anymore.”

A couple came around the corner and stopped, staring at Elliot, still struggling against Duke.

Terry noticed them too. “The car’s this way.”

“Hey,” Elliot squealed when Duke muscled him to follow.

Terry whispered into my ear as we reached the Cayenne. “He doesn’t deserve it, but we’ll keep him in one piece.” He opened the door for me. “For you.”

Terry

Duke drove with Grace up front, while I kept Elliot company in the backseat.

“You missed the turn,” Grace complained. “Go right up here. I have to get back to work. Then you guys can go do your thing.”

Duke wasn’t moved. “We’re taking him to Hawk for a little chat.”

“No,” Grace insisted. “You’re taking me back to work first. I have a customer meeting I can’t miss.” Her determination when it came to her company hadn’t diminished one bit.

She was my woman, all right. I smiled, finding her determination endearing. “Duke, she’s right. We go to her building first. ”

Duke grumbled, but made the turn at the next intersection. He then decided against waiting until we had Elliot back at Hawk Central and started the interrogation. “Who’s got the case?”

Elliot shrank. “I dunno.”

“His roommate Rudi took it,” Grace countered.

“Strike one,” I said, as I grabbed Elliot’s scrawny arm and squeezed hard.

“That hurts,” he whined.

I increased the pressure. “Listen to me very carefully, you little weasel. One more wrong answer, and we drive you straight to Russo and collect the reward.”

“You can’t,” Grace screeched.

She’d already forgotten what I’d whispered to her. Lucky for me, she was in the front seat and couldn’t interfere. “I can, and I will. This little creep put you in danger, and that is utterly and completely unfuckingacceptable.”

Elliot cowered at my yell.

“Do you hear me?” I asked, calming my voice.

The twerp nodded vigorously.

I upped the volume. “Do you hear me?”

“Yes, sir. Yes, sir.”

“Keep in mind, this is not fucking baseball. You do not get three strikes. Now, one more time,” I intoned slowly. “And if you lie to me, I’ll cut off one of your balls.”

“Make it two,” Duke said.

“Okay. Both balls.”

Elliot blanched.

“Think carefully. Who has the case?” I asked slowly.

“Rudi.”

“What’s Rudi’s last name?”

“Sanchez.”

I let up on my grip. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

His eyes remained wide with fear. “But he skipped out.”

In the rearview mirror, I saw Duke’s brows rise. “Skipped out on you?”

The weasel nodded. “Yeah.”

I couldn’t believe how short of functioning brain cells this little idiot was. “You planned on stealing from Tony Russo? You’re a moron.”

Grace swiveled in her seat. “You mean this entire shitshow is because you decided to rip off the mob?”

“It’s ten million in cash,” he said, like that was a reason to risk his life— and Grace’s as well. “Rudi has this place down on the beach in Colombia. We were gonna?—”

Duke cut him off. “You know the cases are rigged to blow if you open them, right?”

Elliot’s eyes darted back and forth. “Yeah, I saw inside one once.” He fidgeted.

“But Rudi did the math and said we could try out all the combinations in a little over two weeks, and that way we wouldn’t get us blowed up—cuz that would like ruin the money, and ten million would go a long way in Colombia. ”

I didn’t bother telling him that ten million in cash wouldn’t possibly fit in the little metal briefcase or that it was probably counterfeit. “So where is he…Rudi? While he tries to open this case without getting his ass blown to smithereens?” I squeezed his arm harder when he didn’t answer.

“I dunno,” he squeaked.

“You’re pathetic,” I told him and let go. “And you have shit for brains.” Looking at Grace, I could tell she was furious as well.

As we neared Grace’s building, the twerp spoke up again. “I gotta pee.”

“You pee in my car,” Duke said ominously, “and I’ll make you lick it up. Then I’ll wring your scrawny neck.”

Elliot shrank toward the door, looking like shitting his pants was a real possibility.

“He can come inside,” Grace said, “and use our facilities before you take him off to the dungeon or whatever.”

As soon as Duke parked, I exited the Porsche and dragged Elliot with me.

Grace opened her door and climbed out on my side as well.

“Hurry back,” Duke said as he shut down the motor. “I’ll wait here.”

Then two shots rang out.

The glass of the neighboring car shattered.

Duke threw his door open.

I let go of Elliot and took Grace to the ground.

Another shot, and glass shards rained down on top of us.