He was working for Petty. Petty, who had called her half an hour before Michael Evans had kidnapped her. He’d told her he was bringing Alex home.
Petty, who had known where she was and how many guards were watching her. He’d selected them himself.
Petty, who knew their house as well as his own. She’d always wondered how they had known exactly which windows to go through and how to move through the house.
There was a knock on the door. Jesse straightened up and took a long breath. “Now you’ll see. That’s Special Agent Petty. He’s going to clear this up, and you’re going to find out your husband has been lying to you.”
The truth was almost too much to bear, but she couldn’t question it now. She couldn’t come up with a reason for Jesse to lie. But she could come up with one reason for Petty to lie. Carmen Garcia.
How far had their old friend gone?
“Does he know I’m here?” She practically hissed the question. He’d set Jesse on them, ordered the hit on Alex. “Does he know Alex isn’t dead?”
He looked toward the door. “He knows I brought you in. I wasn’t going to lie. He knows I was going to try to take McKay out earlier. I have to tell him now. I’ll make him see reason about you.”
“Don’t answer that door, Jesse. He’s done with you. He’s about to have everything he wants and he won’t need you anymore. Please don’t answer it.”
He shook his head as he approached the door. “We’re the good guys.”
The door opened, and Warren walked through. She hadn’t seen him in years, had thought he was out of her life. “I just got your message. You didn’t kill the woman?”
Jesse shook his head, moving deeper into the loft. “No, sir. I wanted to talk to you about that.”
All of his attention was focused on Jesse. He didn’t bother to look at her. Warren followed Jesse’s every move. “But you carried out the attack on McKay? And now you have his woman prisoner?”
“Yes,” Jesse began.
“Excellent.” Petty reached into his coat and pulled out a nasty-looking gun. “Then your job is done, son.”
“What?” The question came out on a shout. Jesse’s hand went to his coat pocket, but he wasn’t fast enough.
A little ping rang through the air, the silencer on the end of the gun doing its job. Jesse’s big body jerked and then he looked over at her, his eyes going so sad as he fell to his knees and then forward. He hit the ground with a little quake.
“Eve, you really should have left well enough alone.” Warren Petty finally turned his attention to her, stepping around Jesse’s body. “Oh, well, at least I can now pay a debt that’s been hanging over my head for years. Evans still wants you, dear. I think it’s time he had you again.”
He raised the gun, pointing it right at Jesse’s head. A bullet to the heart obviously wasn’t enough for Warren. Before he could fire, Eve ran at him, knocking him off guard. They tumbled together against the wall.
Eve jerked her body up. She had to get out the door.
“Not so fast.” Warren put the gun to her head. “We’re going to play this my way. Move. We’re getting out of here.”
She had no choice but to move along and pray Alex could find her in time.
Chapter Seventeen
Alex stepped up to the doors of Cuffs knowing damn well he was very likely a marked man. Whoever had taken that potshot at him today had to have reported back to Chazz. And that didn’t mean a damn thing because he wasn’t going down today. He was going to find his wife and get her back.
He gripped the doors and growled when he discovered they were locked.
He heard a lock slinking back and then the door opened. One of the big bouncers stood in the doorway, his massive shoulders blocking the way. Alex couldn’t remember what his name was so he just thought of him as Massive Asshole.
Massive Asshole frowned. His Neanderthal-like looks didn’t aid in his attractiveness. He looked like what he was—a hired killer. “You got fired. Chazz just called two minutes ago and said I’m not supposed to let you in.”
Not supposed to let him in? What kind of pussy was Chazz? If it had been Alex, he would have had a kill-on-sight order out, not a “Hey, he got fired.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let the whole employment situation here stand. I need to talk to Chazz.”
Massive Asshole’s eyes tightened. His hand twitched to his side as though he was trying to make the decision on how to act. Maybe Chazz’s orders had been a bit harsher, but MA wasn’t a hardened killer. Not yet. Alex would use that to his advantage.
He kicked the door, shoving it against MA’s enormous, very likely steroided-out chest. Alex would bet all of his strength had been gained in a gym.