“He’s dumb as a post, but don’t ever suggest that to his face.” Kaylee reached over and gripped Catherine’s thigh as if to underscore the importance of her warning. “I really don’t think he’s naturally mean, but I’ve seen him stomp bruisers the size of pickup trucks into paste for making fun of his stupidity.”
“Then it’s just as well that I told him he was smarter than Sanchez. And he said he’d always liked you, Kaylee. Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”
“That and the fact he thinks civilization ends at the Florida border. There’s gotta be something we can do with that.”
They fell silent when they saw Chains come out of the office. He climbed into the car a moment later and drove them around to a unit at the back of the motel. “Everybody out,” he commanded tersely.
They were barely inside the room when he grinned at them, clearly pleased with himself. “Hey, I just figured out how to tell y’all apart,” he said. “Drop your pants.”
“Excuse me?” Catherine demanded icily.
“Drop your drawers, girly-girl. Kaylee’s got a tattoo on her butt.”
“We both have a tattoo on our butt.”
“Yeah, right,” he scoffed. “Drop ’em.”
She rolled her eyes but complied, easing her shorts down one cheek. More than that was unnecessary, since all Kaylee’s panties had thong backs. Looking over her shoulder, she watched Chains’ eyes light up.
“Hot damn! I knew it!”
“Uh, Jimmy?” Kaylee said. While he’d been busy looking at Catherine, she’d bared her own butt. He left off congratulating himself long enough to glance over at her.
“Shit!”
“We’re twins, Jimmy,” Catherine said gently while she and Kaylee straightened their clothing.
“I know you’re twins,” he snarled. “But why the hell wouldja wanna get the same friggin’ tattoo?”
She shrugged. “It was a teenage rebellion against our mama.”
He swore again and jammed his fingers through his hair. “I was hopin’ to avoid this, but I guess I gotta call the boss.”
“Ooh, Jimmy.” Kaylee shook her head at him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea at all.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because it’s really not in your own best interests. Hector arranged this whole thing so that you’d take the fall if things went wrong.”
“Hector wouldn’t do that—he’s my friend.”
“Or so he’d love you to believe.” She reached out to give his arm a compassionate little pat. “But Hector’s only friend is Hector.”
“Things are kind of falling apart here, Chains,” Catherine contributed in a sympathetic voice and he swung around to stare at her. She stepped a little farther away from Kaylee. “Are you prepared to kill both of us?”
“If I have to.”
“Here, in this room? The desk clerk saw your face. Won’t he connect you?”
“Uh…”
“And what about Bobby and Sam?” Kaylee queried, and Chains swung back. “They’re witnesses now, too. You can’t kill everybody. And you know what Hector will say? He’ll claim to know nothing about it. He’ll leave you twisting in the wind when all you did was try your very best to help him out. Worse, he’s going to say something mean about your intelligence.”
“The hell he will! You’re full of shit and I’m gonna prove it right now!” He stepped away from both of them and picked up the telephone. Glaring from one to the other, he punched out the number of the Tropicana Club.
“Dammit, LaBon, would you take a little care? That’s the tenth time you’ve jabbed me.”
“Hey, I’m sorry, but these aren’t the most ideal circumstances, ya know? I’m doin’ the best I can.”
“Well, try to do it without letting any more of my blood, huh?”
“Believe it or not, McKade, that’s my goal. You keep bleeding all over the place, and I’m not gonna be able to keep a grip on these stupid little scissors.”
Sam snorted. That hadn’t exactly been his primary concern.
He and Bobby had set to work on their bindings as soon as the door closed behind Chains and the twins. The cords around their ankles had been fairly simple. They’d managed to keep a good deal of space between their feet when Kaylee tied them up; she was lousy with knots; and Chains hadn’t checked her work. The bindings on their wrists were a different story. Catherine had left them as much slack as she’d dared, but it wasn’t enough to work their hands free. So, they’d maneuvered themselves to an upright position and now sat back-to-back on the bed, while Bobby blindly and clumsily manipulated the manicure scissors between them, snipping away at the cords that bound their wrists.
Sam strained with impatience. It was all he could do to sit still and keep his mouth shut, when what he really wanted was to bellow his rage and assign blame. Nevertheless, when the implement slipped and once again stabbed into the underside of his wrist, he gritted his teeth and kept his complaint to himself.
“There!”
The exclamation was unnecessary, as Sam felt the thin ropes loosen, then sag over their wrists. Awkwardly, they fought their way free and then leaned against each other for an instant, as they painfully straightened their stiff shoulder joints to rotate their arms back to a more natural position.
Finally free, Sam found himself strangely paralyzed. He looked down at his nicked wrists. “Will he kill them?” he demanded rawly.
“Not if they’re careful, I don’t think.”
“Great.” A hoarse bark of laughter escaped his throat. “Catherine’s never careful.”
Bobby craned his neck around. “According to Kaylee she is. And smart, too.”
“Yeah. She’s damn smart.”
“So’s Kaylee, but Jimmy Chains isn’t. They’ll be okay.” Bobby straightened his back away from the support of Sam’s. “I’m going to call Scott.” He climbed off the bed and turned to look down at him. “You’d better clean those cuts. By the time you’re finished, I’ll be done with the phone and you can call the cops.”
Sam felt a fierce compulsion to be the one to rescue Catherine, but pushed it down as he climbed to his feet. To reject the help of either Bobby or the police would be irresponsible.
And while he was beginning to understand that at times his need to be fully accountable and play by the book was a bit obsessive, today it was crucial. This was no time to start running around half-cocked like some steroid-fed hotdogger.
Besides, it wasn’t his sense of responsibility that Red had questioned—it was taking on the entire burden of responsibility when things went wrong. But nothing would go wrong this time.
It couldn’t.
Jesus, God, please, don’t let it.
For he had this sick, tangled feeling deep in his gut that told him if anything happened to Catherine, he would never recover.
As Chains punched out numbers on the phone, Catherine caught Kaylee’s eyes. Using sign language, she quickly explained the basics of Sam’s flanking maneuver and mapped out a possible use for it.
Kaylee’s right hand, palm up and fingers bent, moved up and over to touch her fingertips to her left palm. Again.
Catherine repeated the plan.
“Why the hell are you flapping your hands around?” Chains suddenly demanded, looking up from the phone.
“Sorry, I’m nervous,” she retorted, and shook them out before bringing one up to rub the back of her neck. “It calms me.” She watched Kaylee take advantage of having his diverted attention to sign back that she understood. But then she added a variation.
Catherine mouthed No! but then forced the contours of her mouth into a sickly smile when Chains frowned at her.
“Well, knock it off, ’cuz it annoys me. Hi, Hector?” Jimmy dismissed the women as his attention was drawn back to the phone. “It’s me, Chains.”
“I trust you’re calling to report satisfactory results on the Kaylee situation,” came the cool reply.
“Well, about that, boss”�
�he cleared his throat—“I’ve got a slight problem.”
There was an instant of silence. “What problem?” Hector demanded coldly.
“Did you know she’s got a twin?”
“What!”
“A twin. And she’s here.”
“So, what’s the problem,” Hector snapped. “Take care of both of them.”
Jimmy Chains straightened away from the wall he’d been leaning against. “I can’t just kill some innocent woman,” he protested. “Besides, there’s the matter of LaBon and the bounty hunter. They know I got the girls, boss. If I start killing everyone involved, there’s gonna be bodies stacked up like cord-wood. It’s gettin’ kinda complicated.”
“Listen, you fucking idiot, I sent you there to—”
“What did you call me?” Chains interrupted, a mist of red rage starting to rise behind his eyes.
“A fucking idiot,” Hector yelled. “I gave you an assignment Simple Simon could’ve handled, and what’d you do? You turned it into a goddamn circus! Well, listen to me good, Chains, because I’m not taking the heat on this—”
Chains slammed down the receiver and stood, chest heaving and eyes blindly staring, trying to suck air into his lungs.
“I’m sorry, Jimmy,” Kaylee said softly, and his eyes slowly focused to find her watching him with what he took to be pity. “He’s going to leave you holding the bag, isn’t he?”
He took a step forward. In the same motion, he drew his gun and pointed it at straight at her heart. “Not if I take care of the situation the way I’m s’posta.”
“That will certainly work well for Sanchez,” Catherine said, and he swung around to aim the gun at her. “Inevitably you’ll be connected to one of the bodies, and he’ll simply claim you went off on a rampage.”
“Shaking his head in sorrow that any employee of his could do such a dreadful deed,” Kaylee added. When he swung back to cover her, it seemed she was farther to his right than she’d been a moment ago.
“I’ll fuckin’ bring him down with me!”
“Who’s gonna believe you, Jimmy, if it’s only your word against his? He’s a respected businessman in the community, and you’re just a bouncer. I’m the only one who could back up your story, but then I’ll be dead, won’t I?” She took a step closer to him. “And you know what the worst part is? They’re gonna stick you in a prison right here in Palookaville, and you’ll never see Miami again.”
Chains blanched.
“You could turn state’s evidence, though,” Catherine said, and, gun sagging at his side, he whipped around to see that she’d somehow drifted all the way behind him. “If you turned yourself in, you could cut a deal in exchange for your testimony.”
“Even if you had to do time, it would be in Florida, Jimmy,” Kaylee said, and he turned around yet again. She was standing directly in front of him. “You’re an intelligent guy. Think about it. I bet they’d reduce the sentence down to practically nothing if you cooperated.”
“Ya think?”
“Oh, yeah, I do. And why should Hector get off scot-free while you do the time?”
“Yeah,” Chains agreed belligerently. “That don’t seem fair.”
“It’s not.” She extended her hand. “Can I have the gun, Chains?”
He stiffened up. “Hell, no.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, because I was really hoping for a little dignity here. But I guess we’re reduced to the Three Stooges routine.”
He felt a corner of his mouth kick up. He’d always loved the Three Stooges. “What the hell you talkin’ about, girl?”
“This.”
And thrusting his gun hand wide of his body, she gave him a hard shove. Simultaneously, Catherine kicked his feet out from under him. He went over like a toppled tree, the gun spinning across the room when his hand cracked against a chair leg on his way down.
Roaring with rage, he started to roll up onto one hip so he could grab the spare gun in the small of his back. A high-heeled shoe clamped down on his crotch, the leather sole pressed firmly to his dick, the spike grazing his scrotum with unmistakable threat.
He froze, staring up a long white leg, past thrusting breasts, to Kaylee’s face peering solemnly back at him. He barely breathed, knowing the least amount of weight could drive that spike deep.
Turning him into a permanent soprano in an instant.
25
“PLEASE,” KAYLEE SAID gently. “Don’t move. I truly don’t wanna hurt you, Jimmy. But I will, if you push it.”
With exaggerated, nonthreatening slowness, he spread his hands to either side of his head. “I ain’t movin’. See here? I’m just lyin’ here nice an’ quiet.”
Catherine squatted by his side and slid her hand beneath his back to relieve him of his weapons. Setting them aside, she scowled up at her sister. “Dammit, Kaylee, you weren’t supposed to keep diverting his attention away from me like that. He could have shot you!”
“Fish out the handcuffs, so we can tie him up, Sis, and grab a rope for his ankles. I told you there would be a slight variation on your big plan. This was my mess, so why should you be the one put in danger? Jayzus Jean, Cat, you’ve been whining forever about—”
“I do not whine!”
“—me taking responsibility for my actions. Well, I took responsibility, but now that doesn’t suit you either. Make up your damn mind.”
Catherine snapped a cuff on one of Chains’s wrists and eased it down by his side. She tapped his shoulder. “Put your other hand behind you and roll over a bit so I can fasten them together.” Then she looked up at her sister. “You’re right, you’re right; I’m sorry. I’m beginning to sound just like Sam, and that’s not what I want.” She smiled. “You did really well, Kaylee. I’m proud as punch of you.”
“That’s more like it.”
Sliding her fingers gingerly into Chains’s front pocket, she extracted his knife. Then she looked at the three-inch-heeled shoe that rendered him very, very docile and grinned up at her sister. “Now there’s a piece of anatomy you just gotta love, huh, Kaylee? It’s simply one of those delicious little ironies that makes life so very rewarding, don’t you think?”
“What the hell are you babbling about, little ironies?”
She gave her sister’s threatening foot a gentle pat. “Why, sugar, how man’s greatest asset can turn into his biggest liability in the blink of an eye, of course.”
Kaylee grinned down at her. “Oh. Yeah. That delicious little irony. That is a peach, isn’t it?”
Catherine cut the drapery cords and firmly bound Chains’s feet. Kaylee slowly withdrew her spiked heel and watched as he took his first truly deep breath. “How y’doin’, Jimmy—you want to sit up or anything?”
“Nah. I’ll just stay right here, if it’s all the same to you.”
“Sure enough. You know, we weren’t just jerkin’ your chain earlier. You really should try to cut yourself some kind of deal in return for testifying against Hector. Don’t let him get away with treating you like a fool, because you’re a whole lot smarter than he gives you credit for.”
“Yeah, I’ll think on that.”
“I called the police,” Catherine said softly from over by the bed. “And I’m going to try the room at the Inn.” She hung up a moment later and joined her sister. “There’s no answer, so I talked to the front desk. They’ll notify security and send someone up.” Leading Kaylee away, she said in a low voice, “You do know, don’t you, that you’re going to have to turn yourself in now, as well?”
Kaylee blew out a breath, and, gripping the hem of her spandex skirt, gave a thoughtful little full-body undulation to distribute the material evenly over the lush landscape of her curves. “Yeah. I know. I guess I’ll let your bounty hunter take me back.” She cocked her head and observed her sister with speculative eyes. “Speaking of which, Sis…”
“I bet we can get those auto-theft charges dropped,” Catherine said.
“Oh, I’m counting on it. What you shouldn’t count
on is changing the subject. What’s the story between you and Tall, Dark, and Dangerous?”
Catherine looked left, right, and sideways. Finally, she met her sister’s eyes. “Oh, God, Kaylee, I think I’m in love. No.” She shook her head impatiently. “There’s no think about it; I know I am, and isn’t that crazy? It’s only been—what?—five or six days? I’ve lost all track of time. At first, when he snatched me from home, I just wanted to make him pay for turning my nice, orderly world upside down. Then I tried to hinder his progress in any way I could, to make it cost him in both time and money. But, God, he’s so damn sexy, and he’s sweet to little old ladies, and can be depended on way beyond good sense to be accountable for his actions—”
“Which would make him your soul mate for sure.”
“And now I want to have his babies, and I don’t have a clue how he feels about me or what he wants out of this relationship. What if it’s merely to screw my brains out until we hit Miami?”
“Is he any good at that?”
Catherine’s eyes glazed. “Oh, God, yeah.”
“And from the looks of him when he looks at you, I’d say you are, too. Which I gotta tell ya, Sis—even if you are my twin—kinda surprises me.” Her shoulders hitched in a little shrug. “Still, that’s good news. Guys are a lot like kitchen floors—lay ’em right the first time and you can walk all over them for years.” She gave her sister a grin and a companionable bump of her hip. “Trust me, Cat, you’ve got nothing to worry about. This one’s in the bag.”
Catherine’s bark of laughter was tinged with hysteria. “I think you’ve got that backwards. I mean, I never knew it could be like that.”
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