Zero at the Bone (22 page)

swooping in and rescuing him to get him out of said distress, he’d gladly suffer the blow to his masculine pride.

But for all he knew, D didn’t even know that he was gone. He had no idea how long it had been since he’d been so efficiently removed from the cabin. And even if D did know, he might not know where Jack was, or how to find him.

Or he might just be saying “good riddance” and going on his merry way.

Jack didn’t really think that was true… but he was still afraid it was.

Focus. Think.

His first thought was that the brothers had found him, but that didn’t make much sense. If they’d found him, they would have killed him. Why keep him here, and make sure he didn’t know where he was or who had him? The brothers would want him to know.

The only other explanation was that these people had some beef with D. Jack was still a little confused about the labyrinthine connections that led from D to the shadowy figures pursuing them, but he knew that D suspected that it wasn’t the Dominguez brothers who’d blackmailed him into taking the contract on Jack’s life, but someone else entirely. Maybe this someone else had decided to swipe Jack and use him to put the screws to D.

96 | Jane Seville

But that assumed that whoever-it-was knew that D would care what happened to Jack. Why would anyone think that? Unless they’d been watching them….

That was a disturbing thought. Jack put it out of his mind.

Either they know that D and I have made some kind of… connection… or they think
that D would try and save me no matter what. But why would they think that a man like
D, who kills for a living, would care if I lived or died? They’d have to know him. They’d
have to—

Jack was suddenly struck across the face, hard. The blow drove the wind from his lungs with surprise; his head rocked to the side. He could hear, very faintly, the rumble of someone talking, but he couldn’t make out any words.

Oh Jesus God please just get me out of here I don’t care who’s got me or what they
want or who they’re after or what they know I just don’t wanna die yet, please.

A WATCHED pot never boils. A watched phone never fuckin’ rings.

D had been sitting on the couch with his phone in his lap for more than an hour.

Since hanging up with X, he had been doing as he’d been bidden: waiting by the phone.

He didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how he felt. Didn’t know what to think.

He was putting off trying to figure anything out until he knew Jack was safe, and who had him, and what they wanted. They had to want something, or they would have just killed him.

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

His eyes drifted shut, and right away it started. Images of Jack, of him and Jack, of what he was really trying not to think about. Every time he closed his eyes he saw it. D

sighed and let his head fall backwards to rest against the couch cushions and gave in, letting the memory of Jack’s skin and his body and how it had felt with him to wash over him like the surf, hard and pounding on the rocky shore and obscuring its rough breakers and jagged edges.

Jesus, Jack. Don’t fuckin’ do this ta me. Don’t dig up all that shit I locked away
.

D got up and paced. It was pointless, but at least it made him feel like he wasn’t losing it completely. Had been a time, though it seemed like a mirage now, that nothing affected him. He was goddamned bedrock, and everything rolled right off without leaving any trace. But Jack Francisco was like a million years of rain, carving channels and caverns all through him, sinkholes down into the dark depths that he never thought would see the light of day again. Right now he felt about as rock-solid as Swiss cheese.

They can’t know that when they call. You gotta be cold as a fuckin’ glacier. Cain’t
give it away that ya give a rat’s ass what happens ta him cuz that’ll jus give ’em more
leverage
.

The phone rang. D jumped, then immediately cursed what was left of his nerves. He picked up the phone, took a few breaths, and answered it. “D here.”

“Ten miles west of here on Highway 267 there’s an old gravel access road that splits off just past Harlan Creek Road. It’ll lead you over the Truckee Gorge Dam. Be on the east end of the dam in one hour.”

D cleared his throat. “And, uh… what’s s’posed ta happen there?”

“Do you want Francisco back alive or not?”

“You think I give a shit?”

Zero at the Bone | 97

“You do, or you’d already be a hundred miles away.” D sighed. They had him there.

“What d’ya want?”

“Just you.”

“Me for Francisco?”

“That’s right.”

D bit his lip. “What ya want me for?”

“Does it matter?”

“How do I know he ain’t already dead?”

“He isn’t.”

“Lemme talk ta him.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“I ain’t comin’ unless I know Jack’s alive.”

“He’s fine. And even if he isn’t, you’ll come anyway just in case he is.”
Fuck. And I thought I had ice water in my veins
. “I guess you think ya got me all figgered out, don’tcha?”

“I don’t know any more than what you’re telling me, D. I had heard you were smart and cautious. My informant must have been thinking of someone else.” D ground his jaw tight and somehow managed not to unleash a comeback. “One hour. I’ll be there.” He hung up and sank down onto the couch, already dialing X.

He (she?) must have been waiting for his call, because he picked up on the first ring. “What’d they say?”

D repeated the instructions he’d been given. “Not much ta go on.”

“No. Jack could be dead, and they could be planning to just shoot you when you show up.”

“Seems like an awful lotta trouble ta go to just ta shoot me.”

“Agreed. They’re probably going ahead with a trade, which means they’d need Jack alive and walking so you could switch places. They know you wouldn’t give yourself up until you saw him.”

“So? What do we do?”

“All you do is get there on time. Leave it to me.” D blinked. “I cain’t jus’ leave it ta you.”

“Isn’t that why you called me?”

“I ain’t that guy.”

“Which guy?”

“The guy who goes along with the plan. I’m the guy with the plan.”

“Fine. Let’s hear your plan.” D’s mouth opened but no sound came out. “Yeah, I thought so. Besides, you shouldn’t be calling the shots here. Your judgment isn’t trustworthy right now.”

D’s temper flared. “Why the hell’s that, then? Was good enough for you in the past!”

“You’re emotionally involved. You can’t make rational decisions in this state.”

“My decision-makin’ saved yer life, as you’ve told me a million times, or didja forget?” D snapped. There was a pause, just long enough for him to wonder if he’d crossed the line.

“I haven’t forgotten,” X said, and D thought he heard a little sadness coming through the synthesized voice-masking. “Which is why I want this to go right for you.”

“I’m sorry,” D mumbled.

98 | Jane Seville

“Don’t apologize. Just do as I say.”

“Okay,” D said, half to himself. “Okay.”

“Go ahead with the trade however they want you to do it. I’ll take care of the rest.

Be ready to move fast.”

“Always am.” He frowned, a thought occurring. “How’s it that yer close enough ta get ta the site in an hour?”

“I’m in Tahoe, D. Have been for a week.”

D was blindsided. “You watchin’ me?”

“Not directly. I just… want to make sure that you do what you’re trying to do. I’ve been waiting a long time for you to want out of the business, and this is your way out.” An electronically distorted sigh. “One thing you should probably know, though.”

“What’s that?”

“I wouldn’t have let you kill Francisco.” The line went dead. D stared at it, his mind and expression blank, trying and failing not to pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

ONCE they were in the car and moving, Jack’s blindfold and earplugs were removed. He hissed at the sudden assault on his retinas. Everything seemed very loud. He squinted out the windows at the passing trees but didn’t recognize anything. “Where are you taking me?” he asked, hoping he sounded confident and defiant instead of terrified, which he was.

“Letting you go now,” one of the two men in the front seat said.

“Just like that. Sure.”

“Well, we’re getting something in return.”

Jack swallowed hard. “D?”

The henchman (as Jack could only assume these men were) chuckled. “Heard he was such a hard-ass, but he rolled over like a puppy and gave himself up.”

“Wh… what are you going to do to him?”

“That isn’t any of your concern,” the driver said, speaking for the first time and glancing at Jack in the rearview mirror. Jack shrank back against the seat, his mind racing. There had to be something he could do. He couldn’t just let D trade himself.

Why not? Might be a fitting end for him. A chance to redeem himself.

Jack’s jaw clenched as he thought about D taken, beaten, hurt, killed.
I don’t care if
he’s never redeemed; I just want him safe with me.

D PULLED up to the dam right on time. There was a nondescript black car parked on the other side. “Motherfucker,” he muttered.

He couldn’t see Jack in the other car. He turned off the motor and sat there gripping the wheel for a moment, hating everything about this but most of all the fact that he didn’t know exactly how X was planning to handle this. He could guess that it probably involved a sniper rifle and a couple of dead henchmen, but there was just too much wiggle room in that scenario for his liking.

He got out of the car and stood by the hood. The doors of the other car opened and two men in suits got out. “Lemme see Jack!” D yelled.

“Step away from the car,” the driver said.

Zero at the Bone | 99

D took a few steps forward. “I ain’t comin’ no further ‘til I see Jack,” D said.

The driver nodded at the other henchman, who opened the rear door of the car and drew Jack out. D felt relief rush through him as he saw Jack, alive and apparently unharmed. Their eyes locked like they’d found magnetic north. The henchman undid Jack’s cuffs and shoved him forward. Jack started walking, not taking his eyes off D’s.

The driver pulled out a gun and aimed it at Jack. “Don’t try anything, D,” he said. “I can still kill him.”

D nodded and started forward. Jack’s eyes were full of questions
. How are we
getting out of this? You’ve got a plan, right? I’m ready to go along. Just let me know.

You’ve got it all under control, right?
D tried not to let his own uncertainty show as they drew nearer.

“Get in the car,” D hissed at Jack when he got close enough to hear. “Anythin’

happens ta me you jus’ drive. All our stuff’s in the trunk. Got it?”

“What’s going on?” Jack stage-whispered. “What do I do?”

“Jus’ get in the fuckin’ car and get outta here.”

“You’re not really going to….” They were passing each other now. D saw Jack’s arm twitch as if to reach out to him, but he didn’t. The urge to just grab Jack and hit the deck was strong, but he resisted.

“Don’t worry about me, jus’ do as I say.” D kept walking, not allowing himself to look back. He took slow, deliberate steps, watching the driver’s gun aimed past him, keeping a bead on Jack’s retreating back.

“That’s right,” the driver said. “Don’t be a hero.”

“I ain’t no hero,” D growled. Behind him, he heard the car door open and then shut again. The driver swiveled his gun toward D.

“Okay. Now get in the car.”

D actually felt the breeze past his ear before he heard the faraway, faint spit sound.

A circular hole appeared in the driver’s forehead, drilled with laser precision. He went stiff and D saw the life leave his eyes; it was a familiar sight. He glanced at the other man, who didn’t even yet realize what had happened, just in time to see an identical hole appear in his forehead.

Both men fell in heaps. D ran forward and grabbed the driver’s gun. He tucked it into his waistband, reached inside the car, and popped the trunk. All at once Jack was there, ducking and covering his head. “What’s happening? Who’s shooting?” D seized the driver under the shoulders. “Grab his feet. Let’s get these guys into the trunk.”

Jack picked up the driver’s legs and tucked them under his arm. They hauled him off the ground, Jack looking a little green. “Oh, God… he’s still twitching.”

“You okay?”

“Shut up and let’s just get him in the trunk,” Jack said through gritted teeth, red-faced. They carried him around the back and put him in the trunk.

“Other one now,” D said, glancing at Jack to see if he could take it.

Jack nodded. “Let’s get it over with.”

D had just shut the trunk when his phone rang. “Yeah?”

“I’ll dispose of the car. You guys get lost.”

“You sure?”

“You’ve got less than an hour before somebody realizes they aren’t coming back with you. How far away can you be by then?”

“Right.” D took a breath. “Thanks.”

100 | Jane Seville

“Watch your back.”

“Are you still going to be watching it?”

Pause. “I’ll let you wonder about that.” The line went dead.

D stared at the phone for a moment, and then slipped it into his pocket. “Come on,” he said to Jack.

“We’re just leaving their car? With bodies in it?”

“It’s bein’ taken care of. We gotta get outta here.” They ran back to the car. “Where are we going? Redding?” Jack asked as he buckled his seat belt.

“Yeah.” D shook his head. Was it really only five o’clock in the afternoon? This day was never going to end. He backed off the dam, did a Y-turn and headed back to the highway. He glanced over at Jack, who was sitting stiffly in the passenger seat with his arms crossed over his chest. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“They didn’t… hurt ya or nothin’?”

Jack shrugged. “Hit me in the face a couple of times.” D frowned. “Lemme see.”

“I’m fine.”

“Get a black eye or anythin’? Did they—”

“I said I’m fine,” Jack snapped, tossing a glare at him. D let it go and kept his eyes on the road.
Trade yerself fer a guy and get yer head bit off fer yer trouble, I guess
.