Shade deftly caught it. “How did it go? I was getting worried. You’re an hour late.”
“I stopped for a hamburger. Jonas checked the phone out. There’re a couple of pictures of Kane and several of the women at the massage parlor. He must have paid extra to let them take it. Sick fuck likes to strangle them as he fucks them. When you talk to Yates, tell him he should check and see if there are any unsolved murders in town. He gets off on it too much for there not to be a skeleton in his closet.”
“If not more.”
Hammer’s sickened agreement had Shade’s discerning gaze moving from one to the other.
“You have any problem finding the jewelry?” Hammer asked.
“No. You could have warned me about the guard dog, though.”
“I couldn’t make it too easy for you. A little dog shouldn’t have been a problem for you.”
Shade’s gaze settled on Hammer. “There wasn’t anything little about that Doberman. He ripped my favorite pair of jeans. It was a trained attack dog. If I hadn’t worked with them in the military, it would have had me for lunch.”
“Couldn’t have been too bad; I don’t see a mark on you.” Hammer drew Shade’s gaze back to him as it had once again wandered to Killyama.
“We were best friends by the time I left him tied to a tree outside.” His eyes cut back to Killyama. “I’ve never seen you with a scarf. Maybe you should get a thicker jacket.”
Killyama shrugged. “I’m cold-natured. You should know that by now. If we’re done here, I’m ready to head back to Jamestown … unless you need me to dig you fuckers the rest of the way out of the hole you dug for yourselves?”
“No, I think we have it.” Shade’s eyes were like blue lasers as she turned to walk back to the Escalade.
Killyama counted the steps, breaking out in a cold sweat. “Is he still watching?” she whispered hoarsely so Shade couldn’t hear. The son of a bitch hadn’t started his motor. He was waiting for them to leave.
“Yes.”
She didn’t know what she wanted to do more: faint or vomit.
Jonas hurried to open the door for her, blocking Killyama from sight, and Hammer climbed in beside her.
She watched as Jonas waved at Shade as he got inside to start the SUV. Jonas slowly drove past The Last Riders’ clubhouse, maintaining the speed limit until he turned down a dark street where he accelerated, the streets passing in a blur.
Dropping her head onto Hammer’s shoulder, she unzipped the tight leather jacket and let him help her out of it before sinking against him, seeking comfort she would never accept if she weren’t hurting so badly.
“Get me to the hospital.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Do you think we fooled him?” She weakly tried to reach for the blood-soaked bandage that was wound around her neck, but Hammer pulled her hand away, holding it tightly in his hand.
“He bought it, hook, line, and sinker. Now, will you quit worrying about Shade and let us take care of you?”
She didn’t talk the rest of the way to the hospital.
When Jonas brought the SUV to a screeching halt, Hammer was already jumping out, reaching inside to lift her out then carrying her into the emergency room. Thankfully, she passed out before the electronic door could close behind them.
She awoke in the dark, not remembering where she was. She tried to speak, but the fire in her throat prevented anything but a guttural sound to escape.
Feverish, she imagined Train was in bed with her and sleeping, so he couldn’t hear her. She had to wake him up. She needed his help.
Afraid she was being held down by mysterious hands in the dark, she needed him to get them off so she could breathe.
“Tr-Train … help me.”
The light came on, but Train wasn’t staring down at her.
It was Hammer who drew her out of the nightmare.
“Jonas and I are here. Go back to sleep.”
“It wasn’t a nightmare, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t a nightmare.”
The plan had gone to shit when they had been sneaked into the massage parlor by the mama-san through the back door.
“You have my money?” the woman had asked.
Killyama had felt a tingling warning at the back of her neck as Hammer had given the mama-san the envelope of cash.
“This isn’t what we agreed.” She shoved the envelope back at him. “You go.”
“You get half now and the other half when we leave.” Hammer pulled the cash out of the envelope, letting her see the amount of money she was walking away from.
“How do I know you’re not the cops?”
Killyama pretended to give her an embarrassed look. “We only want to watch. My boyfriend wants me to learn how you make your customers so happy.”
The mama-san’s doubts didn’t vanish, but her greed won out.
“Kane only pays for thirty minutes. He cheats me out of fifteen minutes. If he goes happiness-ess longer, you pay?”