My nerves felt electrified, prickles surging through my body. “I’ve made too many deals.”
“I know you have. Did you know you’re running with a fugitive? Did you know there are some pretty bad people out there looking for him? I mean, I’m not putting myself down here but goodness, angel, they seem worse than I am. You know the types. Liars with no remorse.”
I heard Sophia cry out in the background. The grip on the phone tightened. “Get to the point!”
“Oh, now you’re seeing the hurry. Good, good. We’re always best when we’re on the same page, you and I. Now, your Camden. Is he your Camden now? We’ll see about that soon. But I digress. Your Camden is in some very bad trouble with some very bad people. He stole a bunch of their money. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The men want it back. They’d kill to get it back. But don’t worry, I took care of it.”
I hesitated. “How?”
“I paid them off. I gave them the money they wanted, and in exchange they gave me Sophia here and…Ben? Was it? You know I never did ask Camden, and Sophia here, well she can’t exactly talk.” I could almost hear him smile. He called into the background, “Hey son, can you tell me your name?”
Ben started crying in response. I wanted nothing more than to reach through the phone and strangle the life out of Javier. “You asshole,” I seethed.
“Back to the name calling, are we? No matter,” he said. “I have them now. I will return both of them to Camden, if Camden gives me you. Why, I’ll even pay him the reward money. That’s not a bad deal you know. Fifty thousand dollars and his ex-wife and child back? That’s like winning the lottery in some countries.”
“How can I trust you?” I asked.
“I guess you can’t,” he said. “But you know I never break my promises.”
“And you promise that everything will go as planned? Nothing funny?”
He laughed. It struck a nerve somewhere, a feeling I didn’t ever want to feel again. “You know I’m not very good at being funny. I promise. I don’t care about this whore here and her fat little kid. I certainly don’t care about the walking tattoo. I just care about you. I want you, angel, and I won’t rest, won’t leave you alone, until I have you. You do understand, don’t you? You do realize how fucking long I’ve been looking for you!” He screamed those last words causing my heart to race and the phone to come away from ear. He rarely got this mad, and when he did…everyone was in danger. I had to make sure Sophia and Ben were okay.
“I do, I understand. I’ll do it,” I told him. At that moment Camden grabbed my arm and whipped me around, yelling, “What the fuck are you doing, Ellie!?”
But it was too late. The plan was already in motion. The deal had been made.
Javier spoke quickly as I kept the phone to me, fighting off Camden. “Remember, if he messes this up, he loses both of them. And then he’ll lose you. Meet me at his tattoo shop in three hours.”
I eyed the time on the phone. It was noon. We could be there in two and a half. “How do you know I’ll make it there on time?”
“I know you’ll figure out a way. And I know you’re close. I can feel you. I always have.”
The phone went dead. The fuzziness rang in my ear. I gingerly hung it up and stuck it in my pocket. I raised my head, shoulders back, and looked Camden in the eye. He was about to kill someone.
“What the hell did you do, Ellie?” he cried out.
“I’m getting your son and ex-wife back,” I said. “You want to pretend like it wasn’t going to happen?”
“We have to get the cops. I have to call my dad,” he said, pacing again.
“No. We can’t involve them. You know we can’t. He didn’t have to whisper ‘and come alone’ on the phone for me to know how serious he is. We have to go now, and you’ll get them back. I promise you.”
He grabbed me by the arm, more harshly than he probably meant to. He was on the verge of freaking out. “I can’t let you go with him.”
“I won’t go with him,” I said. “He just wants to see me, to talk to me, that’s all.”
“They’re going to take you away,” he said.
I looked him straight in the eye. “I won’t let them.” I grabbed his hand and held it, hard. “But we have to focus on Ben right now, okay? Let’s make sure he and his mom are safe first. Then we’ll deal with me.”
I let go and started packing. “Come on, we can’t argue about it. If we’re not there in three hours…” I wasn’t about to finish that sentence. I didn’t need to.
In three hours we’d be back in Palm Valley, dust returning to dust.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE