Whiplash: A Sports Romance (44 page)

“Don’t scream,”
he growls, “or I’ll fuck up the rest of your pretty face.”

I freeze, terrified of the sharp edge digging into my other cheek.

Mercer studies me. “You know, I’m a big fan of yours…” he whispers. “Not at first — I thought you were a bit too cutesy — but now that I’ve seen you up close… I get it. I get what Fox sees in you.” He runs his free hand over my head. “Maybe it’s the new hair…”

I cower from his touch as bile rises in my throat. “Are you going to kill me now?”

He smiles, holding back a bit of laughter in his throat. “Maybe,” he answers with complete truth in his tone. “But that’s up to you.”

“What do you mean?”

He releases me and stands up, sliding his knife back into his belt. “I wanted to get some time alone with you,” he says. “No funny business. I just want to chat.”

I sit up. “Chat about what?”

Mercer crosses the room and grabs the chair from the writing desk in the corner. “The weakness of my enemy is my strength.” He carries the chair back and sets it next to the bed. As he sits down, he reaches for his handgun, slides it free, and balances it on his knee. I look at it, cringing as he keeps his finger resting against the trigger. “I am a man that likes to know my strengths, so… How are you, Dani? Do you mind if I call you Dani? Or do you prefer that adorable stage name of yours?”

I stare at him in silence, dumbfounded by his friendly tone.

“Dani it is, then.” He gestures to the bed. “Please, relax. I’m not going to hurt you.”

My muscles burn from their tense grip on my body but I try to do as he says. I slide back against the headboard and my hand touches hard metal beneath my pillow.
My gun.
Of course. I forgot I put it there before I fell asleep.

I take a breath and drop my stiff shoulders to show that I’m relaxed.

Mercer smiles, satisfied by my apparent attempt. “Dani, did Fox tell you about our organization? About Snake Eyes?” He pauses for a moment.
“Answer, please.”

“Yes.”

“Then you know who I am? You know what I am capable of?” I nod and he blinks twice. “Good, good. But do you know who
he
is?”

I furrow my brow. “Who?”

“Fox.” He shifts in his chair but keeps his piece pointed forward. “I don’t pick just anybody to join my squad, Dani. Fox Fitzpatrick was chosen for a reason. I saw a potential in him and potential like that… it’s not the kind I let go to waste, you know what I mean?”

“Not really.”

He leans forward. “Fox is a killer, Dani. I usually don’t like slapping labels on everything but in his case, there’s no better word.” A chill rolls down my spine as he grins at me. “You remember Senator Lamb. We put two bullets through his eyes. It usually takes two men to pull off a kill like that, but
Fox
… He can shoot a man through his eye from a thousand yards and take out the other eye before his body even hit the ground. Truly a legend in every way.”

I cringe, trying to force the image from my mind.

“But…
something
was holding him back,” he continues. “Fox was quiet, reserved. Which is not at all uncommon in our line of work, obviously, but it was different with him. Turns out, there was a girl.” He raises his brow. “That’s
you
.”

“You think?”

He chuckles. “He didn’t say much — just that you were
forbidden
.”

I slide my fingers around the butt of my gun.

“When Fox went dark, I was devastated to lose such a valuable item in my toolbox…” He bites his cheek. “Until we discovered the little
security breach
. Someone helped themselves to our master file — two copies, to be exact. Now, Dani… you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“No.”

He tilts his head. “For an actor, you’re a terrible liar. But that’s okay. I would be a special kind of fool if I expected trust between the two of us, but if I may… I would like to try and connect with you if you’ll let me.”

My fingers tighten around the trigger. “I don’t understand…”

“I’m going to tell you the truth, Dani. I imagine a young woman of your status doesn’t experience that often from those around her. Am I correct in my assumption? I will not be offended if you tell me otherwise — we come from two very different worlds.”

I nod.

“I’m going to tell you the truth,” he repeats, “and for the next few minutes, I will expect the same from you. It’s only fair. Do you agree? Don’t nod. I want you to say it.”

“I agree,” I say, my voice cracking.

He smiles again. “My boss sent me to come out here and take care of Fox. When I say
take care of Fox
, you know what she means, yes?”

“Yes.”

“But given what you know now about Fox’s talent, you can imagine that I don’t really want to do that. In fact, I want to bring Fox home with me and put him back to work doing what he was born to do.”

“No one is born to be a killer,” I argue.

“Maybe not in the City of Angels, Dani,” he says. “But where he and I come from, things are quite different. Fox is coming back to Snake Eyes and he will do so by his own will.”

My eyes swell. “No. He’ll never go back.”

“Look at what he’s done so far to protect you,” he notes. “If I put this gun to your head and ask him then, what do you think he will do? No, the reality is this: If I let you live and offer the promise that no harm will ever come to you again, he will come back with me in order to protect you. However, if I were to shoot you dead right now, I think that he would still come back because then he would have nowhere else to go.”

I let a tear tumble down my cheek. His eyes flick downward, following it as it travels towards my collarbone.

“Tell me, Dani — if you were in my position, which option would be easiest? The living, breathing reminder of his humanity, constantly in his head, holding him back from true greatness? Or the dead, forgotten, tabloid fodder?” He raises an eyebrow. “Tell the
truth
.”

I say nothing as my fingers quiver against the gun.

“It’s all right,” he says with a soothing tone. “You don’t have to answer. It’s written all over your face. Everything about you is there; your fear of me, your love of him.” He shrugs. “Even the gun you hold in your hand.” I twitch as a laugh escapes his throat. “Go ahead. You can pull it out.”

I slide it from beneath the pillow and point it at him. He stares at the barrel with steady, amused eyes. “I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt me,” I whisper.

He licks his lips. “I lied.”

Chapter 13

Fox

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” I lay the bottle against my lips and pour the last few drops of beer down my throat. Boxcar stares at me from his chair, occasionally glancing at his laptop screen as I speak. “He had a parachute, though, so he survived…
I think
.”

“I wish my life were as interesting as yours, man,” he says.

“No, you don’t,” I chuckle.

“Well, you have to admit
I shoved a mobster out of a plane
is vastly superior to
I leaked a naughty politician’s emails.”

“Depends on who you’re talking to,” I point out. “You’ve done some good in the world, Box. Don’t forget about that. Me, not so much.”

“I’m sure the people that met your bullet had it coming, Fox,” he says. “You don’t find yourself in Snake Eyes’ crosshairs without having a good reason for it.”

“Dani doesn’t have a good reason. No, Boxcar…” I pause, tilting the empty bottle in my hand, wishing for it to refill. “I have some atoning to do.”

He falls silent and turns back to his computer. His hands move across the keys. “Well…” He pulls the flash drive from the USB port and holds it out to me. “This should be a pretty good start.”

I take it from him and it feels warm to the touch. “It’s all there?”

“Everything and more,” he says. “Cracked wide open.”

“Thanks.” I roll it in my palm before sliding it into my pocket.

“Whatever you end up doing with it… think it through first, all right?”

“I always do.”

Boxcar’s phone buzzes with life. Rapid beeping blares through the small speakers and his eyes go wide as he jumps up to grab it. “Well, this isn’t good.”

“What is it?”

“My security system. It monitors all possible law enforcement or military activity within a few miles of me at all times.” He talks quickly as he rushes back to his computer. “Comes in handy more often than not.”

My heart pulses with impatience. “And?”

“And there’s a slight increase in our area—” He leans over his computer and his fingers fly across the keyboard. Windows pop open and close so fast on the screen I barely have a chance to read a word of it. “Oh…
no no no
.”

“Box, what’s going on?”

“Aw,
fuck
.” He stands up taller with his eyes still glued to the screen. “I missed it.”

“Missed
what
?”

“The file is chipped.”

“Chipped?”

“Yeah, like a puppy. Micro-chipped.”

I grit my teeth and glance over his shoulder to see the hotel’s security footage. “What’s it mean, Box?!”

“It means they started tracking our location the second I plugged the damn thing in!”

I rush to the window and I hear the buzz of a helicopter above. “How far out are they?”

“They’re already here,” he says, eying the security cameras. “If you’ve got an escape route, I suggest you take it thirty seconds ago.”

“Dani—”
I reach behind me and pull my revolver from my belt.

Boxcar blinks. “Is that Caleb’s Smith and Wesson?” he asks, staring at it.

“Yep.”

“How the hell did you convince her to lend that out?”

My fingers tingle with warmth as I inspect the loaded chamber and flick the safety off. “Get out of here, Box.”

He reaches into his suitcase and pulls out his own pistol. “Fox, I can help you.”

“No—”
I shake my head. “If I get you killed tonight, she’ll never let me hear the end of it.” He opens his mouth to argue. “
Go.
Now!”

Boxcar slips his gun into his belt behind his back and leans over his laptop again. “They have a chopper on the roof — wouldn’t surprise me if they’re in the lobby, too—”

“Box, what are you—”

The fire alarm cries out and he slams his laptop closed. “That should buy you some time.”

“‘A’ plus, Boxcar,” I grin.

He throws the laptop into this briefcase and shuts it tight. “And my father told me I’d never amount to anything.”

I throw the door open and step out into the hallway. Others already linger in the halls, their faces full of confusion amid the flashing lights. We rush towards the stairwell down the hall and I shove the door open. Voices echo from floors above and below as people run downward. “Sneak down with the others and get out of town.”

“You kidding?” he quips. “After tonight, I’m getting out of the
country
.”

“Even better.” I shake his hand. “Take care of yourself, Box.”

“Go get her.”

I smirk. “You, too.”

He scoffs. “You just had to get in
one more
—”

“Go.”
I lay a hand on his shoulder and push away. He takes off down the stairs, following a line of scared people, as I move in the opposite direction. I have eleven flights to climb.

Dani, don’t move.

I push up the stairs, ignoring the thumping in my chest telling me to slow down and breathe as I ascend higher and higher. People press themselves against the wall to let me pass, some faster than others depending on whether or not they notice the gun in my hand. I bite down in frustration.

Dani, I’m almost there.

“Move!”

They fire angry glances at me but I don’t care. I push them out of the way until I reach the twenty-sixth floor.

I throw open the door and freeze in the doorway. “Dani—”

Fear bleeds from her eyes, falling down her cheeks as tears. Mercer presses the barrel of his gun harder against her head and she cringes in his arms.

“Hello, Fox,” he greets me from the center of the hall. “I suppose we have you to thank for this light and sound show. Pretty brilliant, I’ll say… it’ll take ages for what’s left of my squad to get up here now.”

I let the door close behind me and I take a few more steps into the hall. “Dani, it’s going to be okay—”

“I think all of us know
that’s
not true, Fox,” he says. “No point in lying to her now.”

I look into her frightened eyes. There’s a fresh bruise above her cheek that wasn’t there before, along with a few purple marks coming through her neck. I take a deep, angry breath. “Let her go.”

“I have to hand it to her…” Mercer says. “She put up a good fight. Not as dainty as she appears.”

“Let her go.”

“I think she might be growing on me…” he continues, ignoring the demand. He takes a whiff of her hair. “Tell you what, Fox… You come back with me and I won’t kill her. We can even bring her along and share her with the rest of the squad. I think that’s fair, don’t you?” I grit my teeth. “Put the gun down, Fox. Let’s get this over with.”