by Sarah Hegger
Sid was going to brain him if that carried on. “Please?” Tiffany whispered to Patrick. “Stop him.”
“If you take another step, I will have no hesitation in shooting your brother,” Patrick said. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t talking to her. Fucking Luke had edged even closer.
“I won’t kill him,” Patrick said. “That would be self-defeating. No, but I can make it hurt. I can also make sure he has a reminder to last him the rest of his life.”
Luke stilled and raised his arms like Thomas.
“Good,” Patrick said. “Step back, please.”
Luke did as he was told. His gaze drifted to Dakota. God, she hoped good sense won, because one of them could end up dead otherwise. She clenched her fists by her side.
Thomas stared at her, sending reassurance with his look.
Tiffany appreciated the effort. Sweat dripped down her sides. Her nails bit into her palms. Her gaze drifted over to her purse. She must have dropped it when Patrick grabbed her. Her purse. She almost laughed out loud. “I have your money.” All heads swung in her direction. “At least, most of it.”
“Tiffany.” Thomas’s voice held a heavy warning.
“No.” She shook her head at him. Over her shoulder she kept her words directed at Patrick. “I have a little under four thousand dollars in my purse, right now. You could take it and leave.”
“That would leave me a whole thousand short,” Patrick said, but he sounded a little intrigued. “Minus the interest, of course.”
“It would leave you one thousand and twenty-five dollars short,” she said. “That’s seventy-nine percent of your five thousand.”
“You forget, Tiffany, that I have you and Dakota, and that guarantees me one hundred percent of my total.”
Numbers. It all came down to numbers. Her brain slowed from panic mode and started to cypher. “I have some other numbers for you. Did you know the average crime rate in the US last year was two hundred and fourteen point zero one per hundred thousand people?”
Silence greeted her. Patrick went still at her back. “No, I did not.”
“There are no figures yet for this year, or I would have them,” she said.
“You have crime rates in your head?” Patrick grunted.
All of them, including Dakota, looked at her as if she’s just lost the plot. “No,” she said to Patrick. “I have a head full of all sorts of numbers, because I like numbers and I’m always looking up statistics.”
“Jesus.” Sid shoved Dakota and made him wince. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“You could do that.” Tiffany leaped in before Patrick could answer. “But before you do, you should know that Chicago has a crime rate of almost six hundred crimes per hundred thousand people, and Canyons is below two hundred. Compare that to national average of around three hundred.”
Luke shook his head, as if to clear it.
Thomas gave her a tiny nod. He got it.
She rushed on before she could get scared and back out. “Combine that with the fact that the FBI reports a five point four percent decrease in violent crime for the first quarter of this year … Okay, those statistics are preliminary, but I think you get the picture.”
“I don’t,” Sid said. “I haven’t a clue what the fuck she’s talking about.”
“She’s telling you that you screw with her and you’re fucked,” said Thomas.
“I don’t think so,” Patrick responded with a smile in his voice. “I hate to sound obvious, but I have the gun.”
“And the police force of two cities on your ass if you use it. One with very little else to do but hunt you down, and the other with the manpower and knowledge to help them do it well.” Thomas slammed the point home.
“That’s bullshit.” Sid loosened his grip on Dakota slightly.
“I’m with Sid,” Patrick said. “None of this adds up.” He laughed softly at his own joke.
“You clearly know Dakota.” She stared at Thomas. He sent her silent encouragement. “You trashed my motel room, so you also know, if not who I am, what I am.”
“A princess?” Luke looked confused, but still trying to play along.
“Exactly.” Tiffany swallowed as the pressure from Patrick’s gun increased. “A rich, spoiled, pampered, and adored princess whose daddy will rip this country upside down and inside out if anything happens to her. A daddy with the kind of clout to make me a number one priority of not just those two police forces but the FBI as well.”
“Yeah.” Sid broke the silence. “But we’ve still got the fucking guns.”
“And if you use them, you’ll make a mess for yourselves that there will be no getting out of,” Thomas said. “It would mean murder. Quadruple murder—three of us and a princess.”
“Murder is such an ugly word,” murmured Luke.
Patrick moved the gun and jammed it into her ribs so hard Tiffany whimpered.
Thomas lurched forward.
“Don’t.” Patrick’s voice got ugly.
Thomas bunched his hands into fists. “How many of those violent crimes were murders?”
“Five hundred in Chicago,” she said. “One in Canyons.”
“Really?” Thomas nodded as if they were discussing the weather.
“We don’t need to kill anyone,” Patrick said, but the confidence in his tone faltered. “We will take Dakota with us, and that will give us enough insurance for your numbers to be meaningless.”
“Kidnappings?” Thomas asked her.
“Hard to say,” she answered immediately. “The FBI deals with those, but they say it’s on the rise.”
Sid sneered. “You see, you don’t know everything.”
Thomas nodded his head slowly. “Who was it in the FBI that your daddy knows?”
“James Comey,” Tiffany said. “Some people call him the director. I call him Uncle Jimmy. Kidnapping is a serious federal offense and a felony, and on average prison sentences are around twenty years, depending on prior convictions and case specifics.”
Sid glanced from her to Thomas and back to Patrick. “What the fuck are they talking about?”
“So, here’s the deal.” Tiffany got in quick before they could sort out the bullshit from the facts. “I give you the money in my purse and forget I even saw you. That puts the odds in your favor.”
“Don’t listen to her.” Sid shoved the gun at Dakota’s head. “As soon as our backs are turned, the bitch will go to the police.”
“I have another two hundred with me,” Thomas said.
“That takes you to eighty three point five percent,” she said.
“Hey.” Luke finally got with the program. “I can add another four to that.”
“Ninety one and a half percent,” she said to Patrick. “With the odds in your favor of getting away free and clear.”
“I just want Ronnie’s five thousand dollars.” Sid looked a little sick.
“There is a risk factor that we will call the police immediately.” Tiffany rushed in again. “But consider that the average police response time to a nine-one-one call is ten minutes, with a best of four minutes and a worst of one hour. The average interaction time with a criminal being just ninety seconds. It means we have to wait another two and a half minutes for the police to arrive.”
“What the fuck is she saying?” Sid got a bit whiny.
“She’s saying we’ve got twelve minutes to get away.” Patrick’s grip on her tightened painfully.
“And I’m going to sweeten the deal and give you all of our cell phones,” Tiffany said. “That should give you a little longer, given that the nearest house is a little way down the road and, being the middle of the day, there might be nobody at home.” She held out her phone, and Patrick snatched it and hurled it against the wall. It shattered on impact, making them all jump.
The silence stretched out until it made her want to scream.
“Give me the fucking money,” Patrick said.
“It’s over there.” Tiffany motione
d her purse.
Patrick prodded her toward the purse.
“Get their money,” he said to Sid. “Break their phones, make sure you get the kid’s at the same time.”
“I have sixty.” Dakota hauled the twenties out of his pocket.
Sid snatched them. He made Dakota collect the money from Luke and Thomas and then returned to Patrick’s side.
Tiffany used the time to pull out her cash and count. “I have a little more than three thousand nine hundred and seventy-five,” she said. “With Dakota’s sixty and my extra forty-five, you now have four thousand six hundred and eighty, that’s ninety-three point six percent, and over twelve minutes to disappear. If you lock us in, you stretch that window.”
Luke made a noise of protest, his eyes huge in his face.
Thomas looked at her calmly. He trusted her, and Tiffany’s confidence grew.
“I like how you think,” Patrick said. “Get in here.” He motioned to Luke and Thomas. “Over there by the wall.” The two men shuffled into place. He gave her a shove with his gun. “Now you, Princess.”
Tiffany had trouble walking on her rubber legs. She reached the wall and sagged against it. Dakota’s hand found hers and squeezed. She returned the pressure.
“Nice going,” Luke whispered. “Lock us in?”
“Shut up,” Thomas muttered back.
Sid moved to stand by Patrick. Both of them kept their guns trained on the group.
“I hate fucking rich people,” Sid said.
Luke muttered beneath his breath and Tiffany gave him a hard pinch. He jumped a little, but shut up.
The two men backed away from them, guns still raised.
“I will return if Ronnie is not satisfied,” Patrick said.
“Make sure he is,” Thomas said. “Because this is a one-off deal. Next time I see you, I’m calling the police.”
Patrick looked wounded and shook his head. “So unpleasant.”
Nobody moved as Patrick and Sid slid the garage door closed. The lock clanked into place and the garage closed hot and dark around them. Car doors opened and closed outside. An engine coughed into life. Tires squealed in protest as Sid and Patrick wasted no time in taking advantage of their twelve minutes.
Luke broke the silence. “Now what?”
“Now we open the door.” Tiffany’s throat closed and her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
“We’re locked in.” Luke slammed his fist against the wall.
“But I have the key.” Her hand shook so badly she almost dropped it as she handed it over. “And that lock opens from both sides.”
“Babe?” Thomas’s voice broke her trance.
Tiffany turned, pushed past Luke, and walked straight into his arms. Only when she had her cheek against the solid bulk of Thomas’s chest did she relax. She sucked in a lungful of that unique Thomas scent. Her arms locked around his waist and she let him support her weight.
“You okay, baby?”
“No.”
“You will be.” He tightened his hold on her.
Tiffany nodded. She would be. If he held her for another few minutes, she would be fine.
His lips pressed the top of her head. “A fucking genius.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Tiffany stumbled through the next couple of hours in a haze of Luke, Dakota, the police, and even Luke’s angry girlfriend. Tiffany still hadn’t caught her name, and right now, she didn’t give a shit.
Thomas stayed glued to her side the entire time. His hand—on her back, around her shoulders, or just holding hers—anchored her as the world dipped and swirled around her. It was late into the night when she and Thomas finally climbed into his truck. Dakota and Luke followed them back to the motel to pick up Dakota’s stuff.
“Fuck,” Thomas said as they started driving.
Tiffany nodded. Fuck indeed.
The motel looked strangely normal as they drew up and parked. The rest of the world had a perfectly normal day, while she got held up at gunpoint.
“Get your stuff,” Luke said to his brother. They would spend a couple of days in Utah, let Luke get himself organized, and then go to Chicago together.
Dakota went straight to his room.
She and Thomas stood clustered with Luke around his car. There must be something to say, after what they’d been through, but Tiffany had nothing.
“The drug thing.” Luke cleared his throat. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Good,” Thomas said. “Because next time, Tiffany won’t be here to save your asses.”
“There won’t be a next time.” Luke stiffened and shut up for a moment—not nearly long enough—then turned to her. “How long have you been like a walking calculator?”
She shrugged. “Pretty much always, but you know my father.”
“Yeah.” Luke snorted. “He still writing those books?”
“No.” Tiffany folded her arms. She’d almost forgotten about the books.
“What books?” Thomas glanced at her.
Luke gave a short bark of laughter and shook his head. “Do yourself a favor, read one some time. I think it will explain a lot.”
“Books?” Thomas turned to her.
She wanted to duck the question, but Thomas didn’t judge and they were way past the point of her giving a shit. “When I was little, my dad wrote a series of books. Sort of princess type things. He had a publisher friend and they were out there for a while.”
“Books about you?”
“Sort of.” Why had Luke brought up those awful books? “They were called The Pretty Princess Pearly Perfect.”
Luke shook his head. “Read one.”
Dakota reappeared with his backpack in hand, Beats dangling around his neck. He slouched over to Luke. “Take care.” Dakota jerked his chin at her. “That thing you did, way cool.”
Tiffany’s eyes pricked with tears. Coming from Dakota, it was the equivalent of a heartfelt hug and a bunch of roses. “Pay me back by not making me do it again.”
“You got it.” A shy grin tilted his mouth up. He looked exactly like Luke when he smiled. “So long … Barbie.”
“Bye, Tiff.” Luke bent and kissed her on the cheek.
She folded her arms around him. It hadn’t been all bad. And it was over now.
“When are you going to stop being Daddy’s Princess?” Luke said against her ear.
Good question. She pulled out of Luke’s arms. “Take care of Dakota.”
“Sure.” He followed his brother to his SUV and climbed inside.
“So long, big guy,” Dakota called to Thomas.
Thomas wrapped his arms around her from behind. Tiffany leaned into his weight and let the sheer awfulness of the day melt away. Her senses reacted to his nearness. Not a flash-fire reaction like before, but a slow burn of need that made her press into him.
His breathing hitched in her ear, and his erection hardened against her bottom.
They stood there as the red taillights of Luke’s SUV vanished down the road.
“Come.” He took her hand and led her into her room.
They touched each other with hands and mouths. Reverently and slowly he loved her, and Tiffany let herself flow with it. It wasn’t just about passion, but something deeper, an affirmation that they were together, and a celebration of life.
When they were done, Thomas tucked her into his front, his heavy arm over her waist.
Tiffany snuggled into his warmth and fell asleep. The last thing she remembered was feeling perfectly at peace.
They woke up late, made love again, and got ready for their day. By tacit agreement they didn’t talk about time running out, or going back to Chicago. First stop was breakfast. Tiffany went straight for the pancakes. Thomas lifted an eyebrow, but that was it. She ate the entire thing and then had to loosen the top button of her shorts and pull her top over it.
Next, the mall and new phones. Tiffany’s phone lit up with missed calls: Ryan, about ten, and her father, a few more. She carefully and tho
roughly deleted every one. They could wait until she was ready to deal with them.
Thomas didn’t bring up leaving, and Tiffany drifted along in their stolen moment of pretend. For once, they had nothing better to do than hang out, and she sucked up each moment and tucked it away. They went to a movie—the latest geek show, Thomas assured her it would be great—had a late lunch, and drove back to the motel.
“We should talk,” Thomas said.
The bubble in Tiffany’s belly burst. They couldn’t not talk about this much longer, no matter how much she wished it so. “Yeah, we should.”
“We can’t stay in Utah forever.” Thomas sounded wistful. “So, now what?”
“We go home.” The words hurt coming out. Tears stung and she blinked them away. Home. Such an alien word, meaning an empty condo and a job she hated.
“You could come with me.” Thomas broke into her thoughts.
“To Willow Park?”
“Wherever.” He shrugged. “I want to be with you, babe. I don’t give a crap where that is.”
“And when you go back to Africa, or wherever else you go? What then?”
Pushing his fingers through his hair, he stared at the ground. “I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers. This thing between us, it happened so fast. I’m not even sure where we go from here. I just know that wherever I go, I don’t want it to be without you.”
Until he said those words, she had no idea how much she wanted to hear them. And oh, God, she did want that. To go with Thomas. He made it sound so simple. Could it be that simple?
“Babe, I’m not leaving for another couple of weeks. Once I get the results back to my partners, I’m taking some time off. Being with my family. We could spend that time together, see where this thing leads.”
“I want to be with you, too.” But Ryan was back home, and Daddy. She didn’t know what she wanted to do about Ryan, but he did deserve an explanation. “I just don’t know …”
Thomas pulled into the motel parking lot beside an imported sedan.
“Fuck!” She wasn’t ready. Not like this.
Thomas glanced at her. “What?”
“Daddy.”
A silver-haired man waited inside the sedan. He caught sight of her and his face split into a beautiful smile. When she’d been a little girl, she’d thought her daddy was a movie star.