Tipsy (25 page)

“
Dom,” I answered. “What’s
up?”

“
What are you doing right
now?” he asked.

“
Cruising the
streets.”

“
It’s time to move the
shipment. Get here so I can take you to the stuff.”

I agreed and then hung up. I couldn’t
help but wonder about the timing of this. Yeah, I’d been on standby
for days now for the call to deliver the drugs. But the cop in me
wondered if it wasn’t a coincidence. Did he know the cops found the
stash? Did the owner of the salon call him and brag she’d turned
him in?

No. That would just be stupid. Susan
Highland might be in bed with drug dealers, but she wasn’t stupid.
Hell, if she’d set up anyone besides Julie to take the fall for
those drugs, it probably would have worked without an
issue.

But she did set up Julie.

And Julie was more involved in this
than people realized.

It didn’t matter anyway. It didn’t
matter if Dom suspected anything because this was my shot, my clear
shot at getting these guys. I was going in. I’d keep my eyes open,
but I wasn’t backing down.

I drove to the back street where the
Mustang was parked. After sitting in a vacant lot across the street
and watching the traffic (or lack thereof) and making certain there
was no suspicious activity near my car, I steered the truck to the
very end of the street and parked it beneath a broken
streetlight.

I decided not to carry the Ford’s keys
with me. It would seem odd if someone in the crew saw me with more
than one set of car keys. Instead of jamming them on my person or
stashing them in the glove compartment of my car, I reached up
under the wheel well of the back tire and found a small area to
place the keys.

Yeah, it was crazy.

Crazy enough to work.

I mean, who in their right mind would
leave the keys to a truck secretly stashed with millions of dollars
worth of drugs in the back?

Me.

Without a backward glance, I drove
away, heading straight for Dom’s place.

His house had an attached one-car
garage that was on the side of the house. When I pulled in, I
noticed the garage door was open so I figured I’d just go in that
way.

A few steps up to the garage and I
realized my mistake.

My muscles tensed as my brain
registered I wasn’t alone.

The first hit came out of the darkness.
His fist slammed into the back of my head, sending me stumbling
forward into another punch that knocked my head back on my
shoulders. Pain radiated from one side of my head to the other as I
stumbled to catch my balance.

Three guys stepped out of the darkness,
forming a triangle around me, closing in. Three against one. They
weren’t great odds. But I was pissed. I was tired and a fight
didn’t sound like a half-bad idea.

Shaking off the pain as best I could,
my feet planted solidly on the concrete floor of the garage and I
reached out, grabbing the front of a man’s shirt with a great yank.
I pulled him off balance and sent him flying into the bumper of the
car parked in the garage. The man hit and I saw his back bow
against the metal frame. He made a groaning sound as one of the
others punched me in the jaw.

I struck out, my fist connecting with
his gut, and he doubled over and I brought my knee up into his
face. The sound of crunching bone gave me satisfaction. Using my
leg, I swept out the broken man’s feet and he fell back on the
ground.

Preparing to knock him out completely,
I yanked my arm back to throw down a punch, but someone caught it
and spun me from behind.

The darkness swayed a little as I spun,
and my stomach lurched. I caught another fist to the ribs and all
my breath whooshed out of my body. Pain lanced through my chest and
I bent over at the waist, fighting the urge to hurl.

Arms caught me from behind, linking
through my biceps and twisting my arms back so I was rendered
useless. The second man approached, and I kicked him. The kick
didn’t keep him down and he came back to deliver a series of blows
that caused blackness to swim before my eyes.

I felt the warm ooze of blood as it
trickled down my face, tracking a single line over my cheekbone
like a tear. I twisted, catching the guy pinning me off guard, and
fell to the side out of his embrace. I hit the floor, my knees
taking the brunt of the fall, but I pushed up, not allowing myself
to feel the sting of pain.

I grabbed the guy looming behind me and
slammed his face into the side window of Dom’s car. The glass
didn’t break, but the guy crumpled to a heap on the
floor.

I squared off, facing the two remaining
men. I knew they were both hurting, but so was I. This wasn’t a
fight I was going to win. We started at each other, throwing fists,
taking hits, and I felt my skin swell as blood gushed from cuts on
my face.

Several minutes later, the overhead
light clicked on and the three of us drew back, blinking as our
eyes adjusted to the new harsh lighting.

The sound of footsteps behind me caused
my feet to move quickly, twirling my body around to see who was
there.

It was Dom. “Maybe I should have sent
more than three guys out here.”

“
Do I not looked fucked up
enough for you?” I asked, squinting through the dripping blood and
swelling facial features.

“
You’re still standing,” he
said, flat.

“
It’s gonna take a hell of a
lot more than three guys to put me down and keep me
there.”

“
I saw something today that
was very unsettling,” he said, ignoring my remarks.

I swiped at the mess on my face. “You
look in the mirror?”

He lunged, snapping out his arm,
connecting with my face, and then composing himself like he hadn’t
moved at all.

The insult was worth it. He disgusted
me so much that I knew if I was packing heat, I would already be
holding him at gunpoint.

“
You should have told me the
hot little piece you like to keep to yourself worked for one of my
employees.”

“
What hot little piece are
you referring to?”

“
The one you so kindly let
me know was off-limits.”

I wiped at the blood on my lip. “You
telling me you keep a hair stylist on your payroll? Do you not like
making appointments like everyone else?” I snapped.

“
You want the beating to
continue?” he threatened.

“
If you wanted me
unconscious, I already would be.”

He stared at me for long moments.
Finally, the silence broke. “I want an explanation.”

“
Am I supposed to know what
the hell you’re talking about?” I crossed my arms over my chest and
glared at him.

“
Don’t play stupid with me!”
Dom yelled, some of his composure slipping a bit. “What are you,
some kind of narc?”

I stiffened, like the term offended me.
Then I lunged at him, hammering my ready fist into the side of his
jaw. “I’m no narc!” I yelled.

“
You might not be a narc,”
he said, dabbing at the corner of his busted lip, “but you are a
traitor.”

“
How do you
figure?”

“
You trying to cozy up?
Ingratiate yourself to me and the crew so you can edge me out and
take over my neighborhood?”

“
You invited me into the
crew. I didn’t come looking for you.” I reminded him.

“
Doesn’t mean you won’t take
an opportunity when one is presented.”

I didn’t reply because he was
right.

“
So what? You have your
bitch spying on me? On my business?”

My back teeth came together when he
spoke of Julie like that. My body was stiff and sore, my face
burned, and I was getting really, really cranky.

“
I don’t have time for
this,” I spat. “I did what you asked. I stole you a transport
vehicle. I agreed to make the delivery. I went out on the street to
deal. You even got my credits from LeBraun himself, and that ain’t
good enough.”

I shook my head.

“
Fuck this shit. I’m out.” I
turned to walk away.

“
You’re not out ‘til I say
you’re out,” he said quietly from behind.

The two men jumped me again and forced
me to my knees. Anger burned through my veins, so hot and so putrid
I wondered if perhaps it would burn holes right through my
skin.

The door to the house opened and Slater
came out behind Dom. He assessed the situation quickly, barely
giving me a second glance. Before I knew what he was doing, he
strode across the room, around Dom, and belted me in the
face.

It was a low blow considering I was
being forced down by two men already.

“
What was that for?” I
spat.

“
For messing with
Dom.”

Dom clapped Slater on the back and
stepped forward. He shoved his face close to mine, so close that I
could smell the warm beer on his breath. “Do you know what happened
to the last guy who tried to edge me out?”

I knew Slater was listening
carefully.

“
Why don’t you tell me?” I
invited.

“
He also tried to use his
woman to screw me out of millions of dollars.” I stayed silent,
looking straight into his eyes. “So I killed him.”

Slater slipped, his body going
completely rigid as the news—the confession—he’d been waiting for
all this time was handed to him. Dom must have noticed the change
in him and began to turn, but I couldn’t let that
happen.

“
How do I know you aren’t
just bluffing?”

Dom swung back around, pinning me with
a cold stare. It was the first time I saw the lack of conscience in
his eyes. “You’ll know for sure once I kill you and dump your body
where I dumped his.”

“
I’m flattered you took the
time to plan my burial.”

Dom grunted. “No plan. Just taking out
the trash.”

I didn’t dare look at Slater, but I
hoped he got the message. Dom dumped Milo’s body at one of the
local trash yards.

From somewhere on his person, Dom
pulled out a black Glock. It didn’t appear so threatening, but I
knew that one well-placed shot would end my life here and
now.

I thought about Julie. About how my
last moments with her would be at the police station, where she was
dragged because of her involvement with me. I wanted to make it up
to her… but now I wouldn’t get the chance.

The gun leveled at me.

Then I remembered.

“
Go ahead.” I challenged.
“Kill me. You’ll never see your shipment again.”

The gun jerked in Dom’s hand. “What did
you say?”

“
I said I’ve got your drugs.
All of them. You ever want to see them and your millions, you
better not pull that trigger.”

I could see him measuring my words.
Weighing them against truth and bluff.

“
Pretty genius idea
disguising them as women’s hair color and stashing them at a local
salon. It’s the last place anyone would think of.”

His nostrils flared when he realized I
really wasn’t bluffing. A series of foul language dripped from his
lips.

I smiled.

A phone started ringing. Dom lowered
the gun, still keeping his eyes keen on my face, and answered his
phone. “What?” he demanded.

His eyes turned cold and a calculating
glint came across his features. I didn’t like that look. I didn’t
like the calmness that came over him.

“
Wait for my word,” he
instructed and then disconnected the call. “It appears we both have
something the other wants.”

“
You ain’t got nothing I
want,” I spat, my shoulders burning from being held
down.

“
Oh, I think you do. My men
say she fought like a little hellcat and screamed until she was
hoarse.”

Julie.

Cold fury washed over my body. My
reaction was so physical that I surged to my feet. Not even the two
men holding me could keep me down. “What the hell have you done?” I
spat.

“
It seems I found your
weakness and my bargaining chip to get back what belongs to
me.”

27

Julie

Dee and Craig pulled up in his black
Hummer just a few minutes after I left Watson’s office. The tail
lights glowed in the dark as I pushed open the glass doors of the
station and trudged wearily toward the curb.

The passenger-side window rolled down
to reveal my best friend in all her pajama glory. They were blue
with white clouds all over them. Her hair was pulled back in a
messy bun and her eyes were alert.

“
I’ve officially seen
everything there is to see in life,” she announced. “The least
likely person on earth to be arrested has gone and been arrested.
It’s a sure sign the apocalypse is coming. Craig, better swing by
Sam’s Club on the way home so we can stock up on beans and
SPAM.”