He didn’t answer, just looked at me for a few seconds, then took my hands. “Listen to me, this is not negotiable. This is the rule. Whatever I do, you stick to the story we agreed on.”
His tone was so sure, so confident, as if I were an employee and he were the head of operations for Theresa and Antonio Inc., I got a little ruffled.
“I’m not agreeing to anything until you tell me what you’ve got on your mind.”
He put his finger up. Tightening his voice like a rubber band wrapped twice around something just a little too big, he got his tone down to a low, tight-jawed growl. “We don’t have time for this. Just do what I say.”
I put my hands on my hips, more to give my body a message from my mind, because my physical self wanted to do whatever he said, almost as a reaction. But my mind was infuriated. “Tell me first.”
The clack of the lock echoed in the empty space, and he let go of me.
“Do not defy me,” he said.
I didn’t have a second to tell him I didn’t want to defy him, only know what he had planned.
The back door lifted, clattering open as it slid up.
There wasn’t much like the squawk of a police bandwidth, both urgent and incomprehensible. Like the scrawl on a prescription pad, it was only clear to the initiated. I tingled from between my shoulders to my fingertips, as if my central nervous system demanded I do something violent.
We were supposed to be dropped by Sequoia in a building Antonio’s company owned. Had the cops infiltrated it? This was bad. So bad. My skin got tight around me, cutting my ability to breathe, to think, to see a foot in front of me.
The muscles of my hand tightened and the skin…
No. That was Antonio. He was holding my hand. I took a short breath, all my lungs would hold, and looked at him. He oozed a type of awareness and alertness that made me feel safe next to him.
I exhaled, and my chest opened. It would be all right. Whatever it was, I could handle it.
Half a second later, with my every nerve ending on fire, the front cab doors slammed shut, and the man pulling up the truck door was revealed.
It was Daniel. The squawk was from two cops passing behind him.
“What the—?” I gasped, realizing we were in a loading dock in the First Street police precinct.
“I knew it!” Daniel cried, pumping his fist. “God! You!” He pointed at me. “You’re just… sight for sore eyes doesn’t even begin.”
He took two steps into the truck and put his arms around me, invoking God and Jesus in a litany of gratitude I didn’t feel I deserved. He rocked back and forth, squeezing me until I thought I’d suffocate. I turned my head just enough to see Antonio. His face was impassive, but the clenched fists at his side told me how he was reacting to the hug.
“Dan, I can’t breathe.”
Daniel pulled away but held my shoulders. “Are you hurt?”
“She’s fine,” Antonio said, putting his hand on my shoulder.
Daniel didn’t seem the least bit threatened. He was so close to me, I could see the white rings around his blue eyes. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” I said.
“We thought you were dead.”
“I know. I… we escaped. They were after him. They had Paulie lure him into the Carriage House and—”
“Slow down, Theresa,” Antonio said. We’d gone over the story and who would tell it.
“No! I won’t!” Was I being too petulant? Did the lady protest too much? To hell with that. I had to sell it and sell it fast. “It was the Bortolusis. They were afraid Antonio was going to make a marriage that would compete with them, so they planted a car bomb at the shop then tried to do the same at their own wedding. Those people are nuts, Dan. They won’t leave him alone. He needs protection.”
“And you ran,” Daniel said, crossing his arms.
“Damn right we did,” I said.
Daniel looked over my shoulder at Antonio, who held up his hands. He’d slept sitting up and had a day and a half of growth on his face, but the sparkle in his eyes made him look as if he’d just stepped out of the shower.