“Besides, she wants me, you heard her. She sees one of you, she’ll kill him. And I don’t doubt it for a minute.”
“If you think you can do this, I trust you,” Van finally said. “But we need to play this very carefully. She not working alone. We don’t know what you’ll be walking in to.”
I nodded. “My mother is like any other bully—deep down, she’s a coward. No way would she try something like this without backup.”
Jude’s meaty hand landed on my shoulder again and he tugged me in, giving me a quick squeeze. “Right, let’s get you kitted up and we can go over how this is gonna go down.”
A lot of different emotions were battling for dominance inside me at that moment, but I refused to let anything but determination win out.
Neco’s life depended on it.
* * *
A youngish-looking guy in a blue truck pulled up beside me in the Walmart parking lot. I knew he was there for me instantly. When Valery texted with the location, we guessed it wasn’t where the exchange would take place. Too exposed, too out in the open.
The truck door opened and slammed shut.
Show time.
Van and Hunter, who had arrived back at the agency not long after Valery called, were in a people mover across the lot, and Jude was on his bike somewhere as well, both ready and waiting to follow. I wasn’t wired because they were pretty sure I’d be searched before moving to the next location. The GPS tracking was activated on my phone as backup, if for some reason they lost me. This was highly unlikely. These guys knew what they were doing. I trusted them.
I stayed where I was, watching the guy round the hood of my car. He was blond, young, like Scott had been, Valery’s type. He looked like he spent a lot of time at them gym, and I’d take a wild guess and say he partook in the consumption of steroids to maintain those ridiculous muscles. He looked like someone had overinflated him and there was risk of him popping at any moment.
He stopped by my door, looking at me with a sneer on his face.
I shoved my door open, forcing him back a step, and concentrated on ignoring the nerves going crazy in my belly. I could do this.
I had no choice but to go in weaponless. Still, I had a blade shoved down the side of my boot, but I assumed this could be confiscated if steroid boy did his job properly.
“Ruby?” he said as he looked down at me.
The guy looked tweaked. After living with Scott, I was an expert at spotting the signs. Fucking awesome.
I stared back. “So what does she have over you?” I asked casually. “We both know she’s a raging bitch. You can’t be her errand boy because of her winning personality. She supply your drugs? You need cash? What is it?”
He looked surprised by my questions, his tough guy front dropping for a split second, then he shook his head and scowled. “How about you shut the fuck up.” Then wrapped his fingers around my bicep and towed me toward his truck.
I shrugged, trying to loosen his hold at the same time. “You can’t blame me for asking. You’re a good-looking guy. She’s a nasty skank. I assume you have the same kind of relationship with Valery as she did with Scott?”
He shoved me against the truck. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You didn’t know?” I faked a sympathetic look. “That she was fucking Scott? Which is seriously gross, since she was old enough to be his mother.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, bitch.”
I lifted my brows. “Shit, sorry, man.” I winced for effect. “I thought you knew.”
“She’d never do that, she’d never cheat on me,” he spat, literally.
I forced myself not to wipe it away. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Scott was one sicko perv, he had video footage . . .”
He shook me hard and I winced, but I saw the doubt in his eyes.
“You need money? Maybe I can help you out. Maybe you and me can work together? You don’t owe her anything, she was cheating on you, she was . . .”
He got in my face. “I said shut the fuck up.” Then his hands started patting me down, roughly, before he reached around me, yanked the door open and shoved me in.
At least I’d rattled him enough that he hadn’t searched me properly.
Van was pretty sure whoever she was working with, the drugged up douche sitting beside me, was there due to loyalty. She still had steroid boy at her disposal, and my job was to assess the situation and use it to my advantage if there was an opening. I’d seen the opening as soon as he got out of his truck. Big, blond, and young had always been Valery’s type.
This guy was obviously on drugs. I’d done what I could, offered him money and put doubt about my stepmother’s loyalty in his mind. All I could do now was hope some of what I said penetrated his drug-addled brain.
We started driving, and I glanced at the side mirror. No sign of Van, but I got a quick flash of a big black Harley, then it was gone. Jude was behind us.
“You know . . .” I said, keeping my tone light. “If anything happens to me or Neco, you will die, painfully.”
He glanced at me. “If someone’s following us, you’ll die painfully.”
“I said I’d come alone. I wouldn’t do anything to risk Neco.” I looked over at him again. “But when this is done, no matter where you go, no matter how long it takes, they will find you, and they will end you.” I could see sweat beading on his forehead and upper lip. “Is she really worth risking your life for?” I shrugged. “Just something to think about.”
He swiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand then gripped the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip. “You keep talking, I’ll gag you.”
I stayed quiet after that, and the farther we drove out of the city, the more concerned I got. I had a feeling I knew where we were going, and my gut tightened with every mile we covered. I also hadn’t seen any sign of Jude on his bike or the burgundy people mover behind us for some time.
We pulled into my old street, the same street Neco’s mother still lived on, the same neighborhood Van and Hunter, Jude and, later, Zeke had all grown up on. The only time I came here anymore was to see Celeste, Neco’s mom, and I never even cast a glance at the house that remained the center of all my nightmares. It’d been empty a long time, but I’d assumed Valery still owned it since no one else had moved in.
She’d been hiding in plain sight.
Steroid boy climbed out, came around, and yanked me out of the passenger side then towed me toward the house. I’d been ready to take on anything. I’d locked it down. Now, walking back into this house, about to come face to face with my tormentor, my abuser—I didn’t feel so brave.
As he dragged me down the hall toward the living room, I momentarily reverted to that scared, deeply sad little girl all over again.
Then we rounded the corner and I saw Neco. He was tied to a chair in the middle of the living room, gagged, face bruised and busted. No doubt after steroid boy had at him while he wasn’t able to defend himself.
And just like that, the little girl evaporated.
Neco’s eyes locked with mine and I could see the panic in them, the fear, for me. Seeing him like that was killing me, so I forced myself to look away, to look at the smirking bitch behind him, gun in her hand, down at her side.
“If you shoot him, you don’t get out of here alive,” I said, voice deadly calm.
She chuckled. “You got funny. You never used to be funny. You were a whiny little bitch the way I remember it.” Her eyes were red and she looked like she hadn’t slept in a long time. She glanced at Neco. I refused to. “This piece of shit always was your weakness. You risked your life coming here for him. There has to be more, right? What’s your plan, little girl? Cause I know you ain’t this stupid.”
I tilted my head to the side, looking her over, her trashy clothes, her now bleach blond hair, making sure she knew I found her lacking in every way possible. “Wow, coming from you, that was almost a compliment.�
�� I held her stare, kept mine hard, hate filled. “You know, I took a walk down memory lane myself today, after you called. I thought about the way you treated me. All the awful things you did and said, and I decided I’d blow your head off then spit on your worthless corpse. Pretty sure that was my plan coming here.”
Neco made a rough sound, but I still didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes locked with my stepmother, the way hers widened before she covered her surprise.
“I’m the one holding the gun, you little idiot,” she hissed.
I shrugged. “So how did you meet Scott?” I was trying to throw her off, keep her talking, hoping like hell the guys weren’t far behind me. “Turned out he was a shit roommate. Putting cameras in my room, well, it kinda put a strain on our relationship.”
“Scott was my stepson. I started seeing his father after you left.”
Huh. I wasn’t expecting that. “How much money do you actually get, selling footage of your stepdaughter out to a bunch of perverts?”
“I did all right,” she said, smirking again.
“I can only imagine.” Steroid boy was still standing close, so for now my only option was to keep her talking. If I could somehow get the attention off me and Neco for even a split second, I might be able to get my hands on the blade in my boot, or better yet, the gun tucked in the back of steroid boy’s jeans. “How did Scott’s dad feel about you screwing his son? I mean, that’s fucking sick, even for you.”
She flinched, eyes darting to the overinflated idiot behind me then back. “You lying little bitch.”
“I had the extreme misfortune of stumbling over your sex tape—one of them at least. There seemed like a lot.”
“Don’t listen to her, David,” she said to steroid boy. “She’s always been a dirty liar.”
I turned to David. “I have the footage at home if you want to see it.”
“She’s lying!” Valery screeched.
“I’m not lying,” I said to David. “She’s been playing you, using you. Are you going to let her get away with that?”
David roared like a wounded animal, then jerked the gun from the back of his jeans and started flailing it around. Shit. Not what I was hoping would happen, unless he shot Valery then ran. I’d be okay with that. But the way he was waving that thing around, he could shoot anyone.
“She’s lying, baby,” Valery crooned. “I only love you. Only you.”
David was breathing heavily, then he roared again and charged. His gun went off . . . then so did Valery’s.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Ruby
I stared at the bullet hole in the opposite wall.
Jesus Christ.
David had missed Valery by mere inches. Her shot, however, had found a target. I gaped down at David in stunned silence. He lay on his side, one of his arms at an odd angle, his legs splayed out in front of him. There was also a hole in the center of his chest, hemorrhaging blood.
She’d killed him.
I spun to Neco to make sure he was all right. His eyes were wild and full of rage. My stepmother still stood behind him. She looked stunned herself, but then I watched her shake it off, eyes sliding from her now dead lover, back to me.
I’d recently seen two dead bodies, but I’d never seen anyone shot and killed in front of me before. It was as awful as you’d imagine.
“You have to know you won’t get away with this,” I said, gaping at her.
She shrugged. “I already got away with it twice.”
Shit. “Scott and Jimmy?”
The gun in her hand was still extended, aimed at me now. Neco hadn’t taken his eyes off it, nostrils flaring with each breath.
“I had help with Scott . . .” She glanced at David’s dead body. “I wanted him to suffer a little first, for betraying me. For choosing you over me.”
That explained Scott’s broken legs. Jesus.
She waved the gun around when she started talking. “Scott’s father was a good-looking man, my type. You remember, Ruby? Your type, too. You made damn sure they took notice of you. You were a little slut, even back then.”
My belly rolled. She’d been jealous of an innocent child, had been jealous of the attention some of her disgusting boyfriends turned my way. She was warped, sick, a twisted, ugly human being. “You should have protected me. I was just a child.”
“You were an attention-seeking little whore.” She sneered. “This time it was only me, you were gone, and for once, I had all the attention. I met Scott and we had a connection. When his dad walked out, Scott stayed. He was all mine. But we had expenses; we needed cash. We owed a few people money and had no means to pay. Scott knew about the site, and I offered you up as our first recruit. All he had to do was chase off your roommate and take her place.”
“But that wasn’t enough, was it?”
She shrugged. “What can I say, I was offered a lot of money for you.”
“So that’s why I’m here?”
She snorted. “What did you think this is? A happy reunion?”
“Why did you kill Scott?” I asked, still trying to buy time.
“The night he attacked you, he was supposed to bring you in, the buyer was all set, but at the last minute, he decided he couldn’t do it.” Her expression turned bitter. “He’d developed feelings for you and decided to save you by running away with you instead. When you didn’t cooperate, he tried to force you. You turned his head, like the slut you are. You spent too much time with this piece of shit.” She shoved Neco’s head. “And his whore mother.”
I hated the woman in front of me in a way that went far beyond that word. “Celeste was more of a mother to me than you ever were.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she carried on, like I hadn’t even spoken. “Then Scott started hacking into my email and phone accounts and found out we were still negotiating with Edwards. He tried to stop me, warn you, but I got to him first.”
Neco, who had been sitting quietly through all this, moved suddenly. His hand shot out, grabbing for Valery, knocking her back. She collided with the wall, hard. Neco’s ankles were still tied to the chair and he only had one hand free, but Valery rolled out of the way before he could get a better hold on her.
She shot to her feet, gun aimed at me, screaming, telling me not to move, as she came at me. Grabbing my arm, she pointed the gun to my head.
Neco yanked the gag from his mouth, then held up his free hand in surrender. “Ruby was right, Valery. You won’t get away with this.” His eyes slid to mine then back to her. “There’s not even a buyer for Ruby anymore. He’s dead. Taking her is pointless.”
She stilled. “You’re lying.”
“I put the bullet in his brain myself.”
“I don’t believe you,” she screamed.
I checked out the windows. Nothing. It felt like we’d been in this living room for hours, but it could only have been minutes. I knew the guys were out there somewhere, or at least I hoped they were.
“We’re going to leave now,” Valery said. She was freaking out, sweating and shaking. “And I’m going to make sure you don’t follow.”
I knew exactly what she planned to do. “No,” I whispered. “Stop this now, before you make things worse for yourself. Put the gun down and walk away. I won’t try and stop you. Neither will you, right, Neco?”
He nodded. “Put it down, Valery.” His eyes slid back to mine, and I knew what he was telling me.
We both knew she wasn’t going to put down the gun. It was up to me.
She shook her head, crazy-eyed and desperate. “I can’t do that.” Then she aimed for Neco.
She was going to shoot.
My training kicked in, all the things Zeke had taught me. I lunged, latching onto her wrist, and shoved the gun toward the ceiling as she squeezed the trigger. She fired two rounds into the plaster, dust raining down on us. Spinning, I jerked her back, twisting her arm until she hit the wall and the gun fell from her fingers. Then, jamming her arm up her back, I kicked her legs out from under her
and took her to the ground, going down with her and pressing my knee into her back. She screamed and spat and cursed, but I ignored her, holding her down.
Neco quickly freed himself and strode over, using some of the rope they’d tied him with to secure her arms behind her back, then he dragged me to my feet and, cupping my head in his big hand, shoved my face against his throat.
I jerked back and grabbed his arm. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s just a graze.”
The door flew open and Van followed by Hunter barreled through the front door, Jude shouldering open the back. They took in the scene then looked at us.
“Well, shit,” Jude said, then pulled out his phone, and a second later was talking to the police.
Neco and I didn’t talk much after that, just held each other until the police arrived. Valery was towed away soon after, for once quiet and subdued.
We all gave our statements, then Neco took my hand, and I walked out of that house for the last time.
* * *
Neco’s hand was still wrapped around mine as he led me into his apartment, then over to the couch. He gently sat me down then paced away, hands running over his head. Then he paced back, stopping in front of me.
I couldn’t read his expression.
There was so much going on behind his eyes, so damn much. I had no idea what he was about to say, and it wasn’t a stretch to assume it wasn’t going to be good. But right then, I was finding it hard to feel much of anything except relief. He was okay.
“Ruby . . .” He shook his head. “Fuck.”
I braced.
A rough breath shook past his lips. “You were amazing tonight,” he said, voice husky. “You scared the ever-loving shit out of me, but Jesus . . . baby, you were amazing.”
I sat there, stunned. That I had not expected. Not at all. “What?” I whispered.
He lowered to his knees in front of me, his large, rough-skinned hands taking mine. “Don’t get me wrong, I hated it, every fucking minute, but I’m so damn proud of you.” He leaned in and kissed my knuckles. “I held on too tight, I know that. I knew it when I was doing it, but I didn’t know how to stop. I’ve always known you were capable, that you could do this job, but the thought of losing you, of anything happening to you . . . it was . . . is, too much to bare. I love you, Ruby, I can’t live without you, which means I have to let you be you.” He lifted his head, eyes locking with mine. “To get out of your way and let you do what you need to make you happy.”
Broken Rebel: A Lawless Kings Novel Page 27