ONE SMALL VICTORY (27 page)

She couldn’t see anyone, but she reached for
her gun.
No fucking way am I going to be robbed
.

Another rustle of movement and she pulled the
weapon free. Then Scott stepped out of the shadow.

“Geeze.” Jenny shoved the gun behind the
money belt, hoping Scott missed it in the darkness. “What the hell
are you doing here?”

“What are you doing, Mom?”

How had he found her? Was this some kind of
sign? Was God trying to tell her something with all these
complications?

Probably not. Why would God bother with a
person who’d long ago given up on believing?

But still she couldn’t formulate a response
and faced her son in this bizarre standoff for more minutes than
she could afford to spend. She had to get him out of the way.
“Scott. You have to go home. Now.”

He crossed his arms across his chest. “No
way. You talk. Then maybe I’ll leave.”

Jenny didn’t know whether to hit him or
laugh. He was trying so hard to be a tough guy, but compared to the
real tough guys, his stance was almost a cartoon.

She glanced at her watch. There wasn’t time
to laugh or to talk. “Just go,” she said in what she hoped was her
firmest ‘mom’ voice. “I’ll explain it all tomorrow.”

Scott didn’t move, but she was running out of
time. She turned and headed toward her car.

Now he moved, stepping toward her. “Talk to
me. Or I’ll just follow you.”

Jenny reached to open her car door, then
paused. His threat was without substance. How could he even think
he could follow on foot? It was ludicrous. But then, he’d been
resourceful enough to find her here. And she certainly didn’t want
him wandering through town and stumbling on her meet.

She checked her watch again. Shit! How late
could she be before Frank and Leon gave up on her.

“Okay. This is the deal, Scott. I’m going to
give you the condensed version of what’s going on. There’s not time
for more. No questions. No discussion until I come home later.
Agreed?”

After what seemed like forever, he
nodded.

“Part of what you’ve suspected is true. I
have been meeting with drug dealers.”

He opened his mouth to speak and Jenny held
up her hand to stop him. “I have exactly ten minutes before the
whole deal implodes. So shut up.”

He did.

“I’m working with the cops to bring down a
major distributor and it’s happening tonight.”

She stepped closer. “So I need for you to go
home. Stay there. And you can say whatever you need to when I get
back.”

“Is it dangerous?”

Her first instinct was to reassure him. But
her gut told her he wouldn’t buy one more lie. “Yes.”

“Then I’m going with—”

She stopped him with a wave of her hand.
“You. Are. Going. Home.”

“But what if you—”

She touched his lips. “I won’t. I’ll come
home tonight.”

It seemed to take forever, but he finally
nodded. She squeezed his arm. “Later.”

He didn’t move, but time was wasting. She ran
to the car, jumped in and started it. She could see him still
standing there as she pulled out of the parking lot.
Please God,
let me keep my promise
. Then she laughed.
Like He’s really
listening to you.

Jenny pushed the speed limit to the max as
she drove across town, but at least she didn’t have to worry about
a speeding ticket. The cops were all occupied elsewhere. But she
did have some concern for other traffic and pedestrians.

She checked her watch again. Five minutes
after eight. Would they wait? Perspiration trickled down her back
as she parked several blocks from the meeting place. Then she got
out, locked the car and hoofed it to the abandoned strip mall.

Relief flooded her when she saw figures at
the end of the block. At first she thought it was just Frank and
Leon, but then she saw another man lounging against the side of the
old Laundromat. She hadn’t expected a third man. Who was he and why
was he here?

For a moment panic seized her. Was this the
main man? Were they going to do the deal here and not at the
ranch?

Then the man stepped out of the shadows and
she realized he wasn’t ‘the man.’ Burroughs had said the ringleader
was Cuban. This guy was so white he almost glowed in the pale
illumination from the streetlamp.

Jenny put a little sashay into her walk as
she closed the distance and graced the men with a smile. Leon
smiled back, but the Day-Glo man didn’t. Neither did Frank.

“You’re late,” he said.

“I’m here now.” Jenny fought to keep the
smile in place and not dissolve under the intensity of his gaze.
His expression didn’t change. Just a flicker of something in his
eyes that told her nothing. I’m screwed.

The moment seemed to stretch forever, then a
hint of a smile touched his lips. She let out her breath and tried
not to drop in a faint. Then he made a vague hand gesture. “You got
the money?”

Jenny opened her jacket to reveal the money
belt. She didn’t miss the hesitation as his eyes traveled down her
chest to her waist. A shudder followed the path his eyes had taken,
but she ignored it. Just play the game. That’s all it is.

“What else you got there?”

She took off the jacket, letting him see
there was no room for anything between the tank top and her. Frank
motioned to the Day-Glo man with a nod and he stepped over. Another
shudder passed through her as he patted her down, lingering a
little too long on the insides of her thighs.

Swallowing some bile, she glared at him.
“Don’t worry. That doesn’t bother me a bit.”

The man took a half step back. “She’s
clean.”

“Check the belt.”

Jenny put one arm across her stomach. “Been
ripped off once. Not going to happen again.” She raised her chin.
“You get to count the money when I see the goods.”

They faced each other in silence, then Frank
gestured to the other man. “Look, but don’t touch.”

Jenny unzipped the belt and held it open so
he could clearly see the money. She held her breath for the entire
time it took him to step close and glance inside.
If he touches
it and feels the gun, I’m dead
.

His expression reflected a desire to disobey
Frank and she forced herself not to look away in panic. “Nice
stack,” he said.

A mixture of relief and revulsion washed over
her as he again let his eyes linger on her breasts.

“Pick your dick up off the ground and let’s
move.” Frank stepped away from the building and headed toward the
corner.

Jenny pulled her jacket closed and followed
Leon and the other man. Frank stopped at a black Lexus and opened
the door on the driver’s side. “Get in the back with Leon,” he said
to Jenny, then turned to the other man. “You ride shotgun.”

After they were settled, Frank started the
car and eased into the street. Traffic was no problem. A battered
white pickup was the only vehicle in sight, and it turned off a
block before it reached them.

Main Street looked lonely in its emptiness as
they drove slowly east. Jenny found some security in knowing that
the deputies posted at the intersection of Main and the loop to 720
couldn’t miss the car.

The other little niggle of worry she pushed
back into the recesses of her mind. She had to trust that Scott had
obeyed her and gone home.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Steve hunched by the rear tire of the car
that was pulled to the side of Highway 720; a spare rested on the
ground next to him. Linda sat in the passenger seat, playing the
role of the patient wife. With the lug-wrench in hand, the charade
of a flat tire was complete. Traffic was so light, they’d been here
close to an hour and only had to wave off one car whose driver
slowed to offer help.

“Anything yet?” The question crackled through
his two-way radio, but he recognized the voice of Burroughs who was
stationed with two of his men near the gate of the ranch.

Steve clicked back. “Nothing.”

A few minutes later another voice came over
the radio. “Coming your way. Black Lexus.”

“Roger.”

Steve stared into the darkness until a glow
of headlights approached from the Loop. He keyed his connection to
Burroughs. “I think we have action.”

The light grew brighter as a vehicle
approached and paused at the stop sign. The glare from the lights
prevented Steve from seeing what kind of car it was, but an
instinct told him this was it. That instinct was proven right as
the car crossed 720 and slid past him like some great dark beast,
heading down the road in the direction of the ranch.

Steve activated his radio. “We have contact.
ETA fifteen minutes.”

“Roger.”

As soon as the car was far enough down the
other road, Steve quickly threw the spare tire and tools into the
yawning cavern of the trunk and slammed it closed. Then he slid
into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Ready to rock and
roll?”

Linda snapped her seatbelt. “Let’s go.”

~*~

As the car turned off the highway onto the
sweeping gravel drive, the ornate iron gates swung open and they
passed under the large metal arch. Jenny wondered if Frank had some
kind of remote that had opened the gates. She also wondered where
the DEA guys were but kept her eyes straight ahead, lest some move
on her part create suspicion.

The car rolled slowly down the drive, the
crunch of tires on stone abnormally loud in the still night. But
maybe it just sounded that way because all her nerves were on high
alert.

Finally they pulled into the half circle in
front of the house and stopped. When Frank turned off the engine,
the silence was so complete Jenny could hear the rasp of her own
breathing. Frank tapped the horn twice and turned on the interior
light. Not expecting the flash of light, Jenny was momentarily
blinded. What the...?

She focused on the window facing the house,
hoping some of her night vision would return. Vaguely she saw what
looked like two men step out on the porch and flank the door. They
each held something dark and heavy looking that she suspected were
guns. A third man, taller than the others, walked to the car. When
he was close enough, their eyes met briefly, and Jenny was
surprised to see an expression colder and harder than Frank’s.
I’m gonna fuckin’ die
.

A chill swept through her as the man headed
around the back of the car. She shuddered and clutched her jacket
tight across her chest.

Leon shifted beside her. “You cold?”

The concern for her comfort was so out of
place, Jenny almost broke into manic laughter. It also made her
take a second look at Leon. At that moment he looked like any
ordinary young man, not some evil monster corrupting society. She
wondered if he’d been in school with Michael. He was almost young
enough. Could have even played football with him.

Something hardened in his eyes, and that
image of innocent youth vanished. Jenny shook her head in response
to his question, then turned to face forward. Don’t forget for one
minute that he’s one of the bad guys.

She heard a light tap on the window next to
Frank. He rolled his window down and there was a whispered
exchange. Then Frank motioned to the Day-Glo man to get out. He did
and opened Jenny’s door. “Come on.”

She slid out, and he put a hand on her arm.
“Wait.”

Frank and Leon and the third man formed a
human triangle around Jenny and the Day-Glo man and started walking
toward the steps to the house.

Jenny repressed a shudder as they neared the
two men by the door. Except for the slight movement of eyes
sweeping the area, they could have been statues. The tall man at
the point of the triangle opened both of the heavy, wooden doors,
then stepped in and motioned the others to follow.

Under any other circumstances, Jenny would
have gawked like some tourist as they walked through an entry that
was magnificent. The paintings on the wall were probably the
originals of some that Jenny had only seen pictures of, and they
passed a Louis XIV marble-inlaid table that had to be worth more
than her house.

The man gestured toward an arched doorway
that opened into a spacious room that had one wall entirely of
glass. As advertised in the briefing, the curtain had been pulled
all the way back, allowing Jenny a glimpse of a pale blue
illumination she guessed was from a swimming pool. Otherwise, the
glass was as black as the night sky beyond the patio. She hoped the
feds could see in better than she could see out.

She glanced around, noting that the room was
sparsely furnished. One corner hosted a built-in bar cordoned off
with a serving counter. The wall opposite the windows had
floor-to-ceiling shelves of random sizes and she caught a quick
glimpse of museum-quality sculptures. A small table with a marble
chess set sat in front of that wall, two chairs positioned for
players. A few other occasional chairs were scattered throughout,
but the focal point was a dark table in the middle of the room that
was nearly as large as the Oriental rug it rested on. There was a
doorway slightly to the left of the table and a large sideboard
directly behind it.

A man sat in a chair perfectly centered at
one side of the table. He had thick black hair and wore a stony
expression with his silk shirt and gold chains. Jenny figured him
for the Cuban. Had to be. Even seated he commanded the room without
movement or sound.

Two men flanked him. Much like the men who’d
guarded the front door, they neither moved nor appeared to even
breathe, and for a wild moment Jenny wondered if they cloned guards
here.

The Cuban motioned her forward. “You the
little lady who wants to do business?”

Afraid her voice would come out in a squeak,
Jenny nodded.

“You have the money?”

She opened her jacket and tapped the money
belt. “In here.”