B008DKAYYQ EBOK (37 page)

“I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily the case,” Payne said, his tone dry.

Ramsey barked out a laugh. “The old guy still has a sense of humor even though he knows it’s over for him.”

“Seems to me it’s over for you, too, Mr. Ramsey,” Payne said. “How do you think you’re going to get out of here? Shoot your way out?”

“I’ve got, let’s see, one, two, three, four …
four
hostages. And I figure I only really need one.”

“My security team will take you down.”

“Well, you see, that’s where you’re wrong. Because they’re
my
security team now. A damned competent bunch, too. Who do you think’s keeping the feds from busting down the door? And who do you think tipped me off that your precious little Bailey was at the front gate?”
 

“You traitorous son of a bitch,” Payne said.

“You should talk,” Bailey said.

Ramsey grinned. “Oh, goody, here we go.”

Payne looked at her, his expression troubled. “You can’t imagine how much I regret what has happened.”

“I loved you. Trusted you. You were like a father to me.”

“I never did anything to purposely hurt you. In fact, I’ve done much to protect you. Tell her, James.”

James stayed silent.

“We wouldn’t be here now if you hadn’t pulled my brother into your world.”

“She’s got you there, boss,” Ramsey said.

“Shut up,” Payne snapped.

“Why?” Bailey asked, as if Ramsey hadn’t spoken. “Why did you do it?”

Payne smiled sadly. “Believe it or not, this all started because your father asked me for a favor. He asked me to give James a job, so I did.”

“You didn’t have to give him a job doing something illegal.”

“I didn’t. He stumbled into the illegal part of my business by accident.”

“And then … what? You threw money at him to keep him quiet?”

“Bailey, honey, you’d be shocked what people will do for a little money. Everything in this world is about money.”

“Not everything. The people you love matter more than money, and you’re a small, pathetic man for not knowing that.”

Ramsey winked at James. “I bet you wish you’d known that a couple of years ago, huh, loser?”

She cut her gaze to Ramsey. “Go to hell.”

Ramsey grabbed his chest as if she’d wounded him, then shook his head. “You know what strikes me here? The chick is the only one with any balls. You,” he gestured at Payne with the gun, “you have no stomach for the job. Can’t stand to get your hands dirty, so you send guys like me to do it. If you had a spine, this pitiful asshole”—he indicated James—”would be dead and buried and out of your perfect hair for good. But, no, you couldn’t stand to have him killed. His family means something to you and they’ve already been through so much, blah, blah, blah. He
killed
your best buddy. You should have put him down then. It’s disgusting. And you know what? Now
I
have to kill him. Because I knew the first chance he got, he’d go running to the feds with stories of ‘hey, guys, I know how you can bust a bunch of smugglers.’ Looks like he already did that, doesn’t it? Think of all the trouble he could have saved himself if he’d had the balls to do that when the opportunity first presented itself five years ago.”

Ramsey waved the gun in the air. “Man, I had a plan. A perfect freaking plan. I was going to take care of both of you useless bastards at the same time. See,
this
guy,” he pointed at Payne, “has been pissed at this guy,” he pointed at James, “for quite a few years now.” He grinned at Bailey. “Have you noticed that? They’ve hated each other ever since your father kicked the bucket in that wreck.”

Bailey was struggling to keep up, trying to focus on what he was saying and concentrating on not throwing up or toppling into the very deep, dark hole that was yawning open before her.

“So my plan,” Ramsey went on, “was to make it look like Jamie here and the old guy had had it with each other. Naturally, they had a major blow-up, and the next thing you know, Kincaidy-Waidy is dead on the floor and Jamie-Wamie is putting a bullet in his own head because the thought of going back to prison is just too much. Once that was taken care of, I get Kincaid’s business and everybody’s happy … no, wait, make that,
I’m
happy. It was a good plan. But then
you
”—he pointed the gun at Bailey, and she felt both Payne and Cole flinch on either side of her—”had to show up at the front gate and screw it all up.”

“May I please have a towel?”

Bailey started at the sound of Cole’s voice, feeling as if it had jerked her back from the edge of the hole. What did he want with a towel? Glancing down, she saw blood red and glistening on his shirt and khakis. Her heart jumped in alarm. What the hell? Her head started to spin, and she fought off the dizziness before it could pitch her into the dark.

“There’s a first aid kit under the vanity in the bathroom down the hall,” Payne said. Everything about him screamed authority, even with his hands bound.

“Nobody’s moving,” Ramsey said.

“If she bleeds to death, you’re minus a hostage,” Cole replied.
 

“Nobody’s going to bleed to death,” James snapped.

“And, face it, Mr. Ramsey,” Payne said, “she’s your best ticket for walking out of here.”
 

“It’s a head wound,” Ramsey snapped. “Head wounds bleed like a bitch. She’s fine. Now let’s discuss how we’re going to wrap this up. In case you morons haven’t noticed, the cavalry ain’t coming. My people can hold them off all night.”

Payne stood. “Listen, Mr. Ramsey, I don’t know about the others, but you’re getting on my nerves.”

Ramsey leveled the gun at him. “Sit down.”

“What the hell are you doing?” James yelled at Payne.

“He’s challenging me,” Ramsey said. “Trying to intimidate me with his calm demeanor. He’s good, isn’t he, James? Scared the bejesus out of you with that façade for many years. Didn’t take much for him to make you his bitch. He tried it with me, too, but it didn’t work. ‘Cause I had other plans.”

“Yes, you’re very clever, Mr. Ramsey,” Payne said. “I’m impressed at how well you’ve handled this situation.” He glanced at James. “How many federal agents do you suppose are out there, James?”

James smiled slightly. “At least a hundred.”

Fear gripped Bailey as she realized he was lying. If there were really that many feds, they would have overpowered Ramsey’s renegades and busted in by now.
 

“Hmm,” Payne said, cradling his tied hands under his chin and thoughtfully scratching his razor stubble with one knuckle. “And how many bullets do you suppose Mr. Ramsey has in that gun?”

“I’m guessing it doesn’t come close to a hundred,” Cole said.

“I don’t need a hundred bullets. All I need is the wounded, delicate woman.” Ramsey turned the gun on Bailey. “Get up.”

Payne stepped to the side, putting himself between Ramsey and Bailey. “That would be a mistake,” Payne said.

Ramsey’s white teeth gleamed. “Actually,
that
was a mistake.”

He pulled the trigger. The shot was all but silent, but Payne twitched at the same time that Cole lunged across Bailey’s to shield her. Over Cole’s shoulder, she saw Payne sink to the floor and James rush at Ramsey from the side.

Ramsey turned and fired again, and James fell forward as if his legs had been kicked out from under him.

“Jamie!”

Cole scrambled up and tackled Ramsey around the knees. Both men grunted, and Bailey pushed herself off the sofa, ignoring the sickening whirl in her head, and searching frantically for a weapon, any weapon. She spotted the gun on the floor that James had dropped earlier and lunged for it.

She had it in her shaking hands when Ramsey said, “Bad idea, sweet cheeks. Very bad idea.”

She turned in dread.

Ramsey was on his back on the floor, Cole towering over him with the panther sculpture ready to smash down on him. Ramsey aimed his gun at Cole’s chest.

Behind Cole, James writhed on the floor, groaning, a bloody hand clamped to his upper thigh. Payne Kincaid lay still as death at the foot of the sofa.

“First things first,” Ramsey drawled, unperturbed. “Lose the cat, Hercules.”

Cole hesitated, as if knowing he would be giving up his only crack at Ramsey.

“Do it or I’ll shoot you and then I’ll shoot her,” Ramsey said.

Cole tossed the sculpture aside.

“Finally. A man who can follow orders. Your turn, sugar pants.”

Bailey tightened her sweaty hand on the butt of the gun, her head suddenly, surprisingly clear. James had gone still behind Cole. “If you kill him,” she said, “you’re down to one hostage.”

“You must have not been paying attention earlier when I said that you’re all the hostage I need.”

She aimed the pistol at her own head. “If you shoot, I shoot.”

Cole didn’t shout. He roared. “Don’t!”

Ramsey smiled slowly. “I’m with him, but for different reasons.”

“Then you should drop your gun.”

“I’m not doing the Mexican standoff with you, sweetie.”

“Technically, this isn’t a Mexican standoff because we’re not aiming at each other. That could be arranged, though.”

“Bailey, no.”

She heard the distress in Cole’s voice but kept her gaze steady on Ramsey, who wet his lips as if he’d scented a red, juicy steak after being forced to eat salad for a year. “If I shoot lover boy dead, there’s no freaking way you’ll pull that trigger. Want to know how I know?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “‘Cause your brother’s got the cutest little rugrat who’s going to go into a very messed-up child care system if he doesn’t have a guardian. You know what can happen to cute little boys when they’re taken in by dirty old men?”

“You can’t provoke me with that crap, Ramsey.”

He laughed. “Oh, ho, you’re a tough one. I love that in a woman.” He cut his gaze to Cole, who stood rigid at his feet, face nearly purple with rage. “How is she in bed?” Ramsey asked. “Does she scream when she comes?”

“Fuck you, Ramsey,” Cole said through gritted teeth.

“If she doesn’t scream when she comes, you’re probably doing it wrong. I’d be happy to show you how it’s done right now.”

“He’s baiting you, Cole,” Bailey said.

Cole swallowed carefully, his eyes shooting laser beams of hatred at Ramsey. “I picked up on that.”

Ramsey’s grin widened. “You people are no fun.” Then he shrugged. “All right then, guess I’ll just have to shake things up a bit.” He swung his gun toward Bailey.

At the exact moment that Cole lunged forward, Ramsey jerked his weapon back toward him and pulled the trigger.

Cole reeled back.

Bailey screamed. “No!”

Ramsey bolted to his knees and leveled the gun at her, braced with both hands. “Drop it or I drop you.”

She stared at Cole on the floor. Blood was soaking the front of his shirt. He wasn’t moving. White noise filled her head.

“Hey!” Ramsey shouted.

She focused on him. She’d never felt hate before, but she felt it now. Its poison slithered through her soul like a dangerous snake.
 

Ramsey wasn’t smiling anymore. He aimed at Cole’s forehead. “I’ll finish him, and then I’ll finish your brother.”

Her palm was slick on the butt of the pistol, her finger trembling on the trigger as she debated the chances that she could get off a deadly shot before he could. They weren’t good. He was a thug, and she had never pulled the trigger on a gun any more threatening than a water pistol.
 

“The thing about patience,” Ramsey said, “is that I don’t have a lot of it.”

She let the gun fall and stumbled toward Cole, falling to her knees beside him. She leaned over him, shook his shoulder. “Cole!” She felt the muscles in his arm bunch under her fingers just before Ramsey hooked a hand around her elbow and hauled her up.
 

“Sorry. No time for goodbyes. Let’s go.”

Bailey whirled and nailed him in the temple with her fist. The impact sang up her arm and drilled into her head, but she instantly swung out at him again, driving him back in surprise. He tripped over James’ foot and landed hard on his butt. His gun bounced out of his hand, landing just out of his reach.

Bailey scooped up the weapon she’d let go of and aimed it at his face. All she had to do was stall. Cole wasn’t dead. She’d felt him move. He wasn’t dead.
 

Ramsey stared up at her, looking stunned. Then his grin returned at full wattage. “You don’t know shit about guns, do you?”

“You just point and shoot. What’s to know?”

“Ever heard of a safety?”

She flipped the tiny lever near her thumb. “I’ve heard of it, yeah. Thanks for the reminder.”

His smile faltered. For the first time all night, anxiety wrinkled his forehead. “You don’t have the guts.”

Like hell. He’d just shot people she loved. Adding her to the list of casualties could mean a life of heartbreak and pain for Austin. If only her hands weren’t trembling so hard she could barely keep him in the gun’s sights. A black frame kept trying to crop her vision down to a small square, but she willed the weakness back and forced herself to focus on Ramsey.