Razorback saw his plan start to fold beneath the weight of Clown’s gaze. He had brought the employees up to give them more leverage, not to kill more people. He knew there was only one way to stop this. He stepped forward and pressed the tip of his gun behind Clown’s ear. “Either you fucking settle down, or I make sure you do.”
Clown smiled, or rather smirked as he turned around, the gun now against his forehead. “You need me to finish this, and you fucking know it.”
“Razorback, are you there?” a voice asked over the radio Razorback had in his other hand.
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Maybe Clown was right. Maybe a few rounds had gotten the cops’ attention. “Yes. Are you ready to negotiate, or do we need make our demands a little clearer to you?”
“I’m not a cop,” the voice on the other end said before taking a deep breath. “This is Carson Royal.”
Razorback’s eyes widened at the words. The smile returned to Clown’s face as he stepped closer. “Really?” Razorback asked disbelievingly. “How do we know it’s you and not some fucking dickhead cop trying to pretend it’s you?”
The radio was silent for a moment before the voice spoke again. “Because I know who Jeanine Gibson is.”
The Clown nodded at Razorback. “It’s him. That connection was severed too long ago for anyone else to remember.”
Razorback grinned. “Hello, Carson Royal. Royal fucking ball you’ve got here tonight, don’t you think? A shame you’re hiding instead of joining the fun.”
“Quite a fucking heist you’ve got going, Razorback. I’ve been sneaking out hostages right under your fucking nose.”
Razorback cursed and turned to Clown. “How many are gone?”
“The Rabble say it’s about forty short from what we had initially.”
Razorback groaned before talking into the radio again. “You’re going to pay for that, you son of a bitch.” One of the guests that had been caught wandering the hallways sniffed behind Razorback. He hated the feeling of losing control, and knowing that Carson Royal was saving hostages from under his nose took away the illusion.
He ground his teeth over each other and turned towards the guest. He shot her, point-blank, before taking the radio again. “I’ll make you a deal. I won’t kill anyone else unless you surrender.”
Razorback saw Clown’s eyes brighten. “Tell him to bring Jeanine as well. She’s got to be with him because she was here an hour ago.”
“Oh, and no deal if you don’t have Jeanine Gibson with you.” Razorback laughed. It felt good to be back in control. With Carson Royal still alive, that meant a lot more money to negotiate with.
“Razorback.” Devilbunny skipped towards him with a sing-song voice. “I’ve just received confirmation that two of the ransoms are being paid. The transfers should start in the next few minutes. Then we can go.”
“No!” Razorback shouted at her. “We’re not leaving until I have Carson Royal.” For Razorback, it wasn’t about the money; it was about seeing one of the wealthiest men America brought to his knees by the infamous Razorback. After today, everyone would know who Razorback was. But he knew his team was driven by cash. “Think how much we could milk him for. Much more than these nitwits.”
“I vote we wait for Carson and that bitch Jeanine. I have a few choice words to part with before I blow her fucking brains out,” Clown said with a sly grin.
“Razorback,” Devilbunny whined.
His hand moved so fast, she didn’t even see it coming until she felt the bone-shattering pain as his knuckles connected with her jaw. “Do your fucking job and stop whining.”
She fell to the floor and crawled back to her laptop. Razorback enjoyed seeing her in pain; he would make sure he saw some more of it when this was done. He was tired of her anyway.
He picked up the radio and began to talk. “Carson, it’s me. You’ve got fifteen minutes, or I start shooting again. This time the blood will be on your hands.”
He waited a moment before Carson’s voice came onto the radio. “I’ll be there in ten, you son of a bitch.”
Razorback smiled as he tucked the radio back into his pocket. The highlight of his evening was about to come.
“Settle down, folks, the main attraction is on his way,” he called out to the hostages. “If he decides to play nice, you might all go home tonight.”
“You don’t really mean that, do you?” Clown asked, disappointed.
“I’ll let you hurt a few first,” Razorback laughed. Things might have been out of control for a short while, but he had control again, and this time he was going to make sure he used it to his advantage.
22
“Carson, what have you done?” Delilah asked as soon as Carson gave her the radio. “They’ll kill you.”
Carson looked into her natural green eyes and for the first time saw his future. But what kind of a future would that be if he had the blood of everyone attending his ball on his hands? “I have to do this, Delilah. Too many people have died already. If I can save them, I have no other choice but to try.”
“No one is expecting you to be the hero,” Delilah said a little desperately.
“You already saved us. If you go back …” a woman said, shaking her head. Carson vaguely recognized her as one of the elite Texan businesswomen he had invited to the ball.
“I have to go back,” Carson said, shaking his head. He didn’t like the idea either, but he had to at least try and save those people.
“I’m not going fucking anywhere,” Jeanine seethed from where she was tied against one of the steel pantry cabinets.
Delilah slammed her back against the cabinet hard enough to make her flinch. “You’re the reason we’re all in this shit storm. You do whatever we tell you to, or I kill you.”
Carson saw the steel in Delilah’s eyes, heard it in her voice, and knew she wasn’t kidding. “There’s no deal without you, Jeanine. You’re coming with me.”
“No!” Jeanine screamed, trying to get herself free.
Mac stood up and walked towards Jeanine. “You’re going, little lady, even if I have to drag you back there myself.”
While Mac was lecturing Jeanine, Carson and Delilah took the moment to speak in private. “I’ll be fine, but I have to do this, Delilah.”
“He’ll kill you.”
“Not if I keep him stalled long enough for the police to gain entry. I’ll stall the transfer; I can guarantee you that’s why he wants me.”
“He’ll see through it.”
“Delilah,” Carson whispered, brushing his thumb over her lips. “I can’t think of a future if I have this in my past. Tonight, for the first time, I’m thinking of a future. I’d like you in it. Let me do this.”
Delilah blinked furiously to try and hide the tears in her eyes. “I don’t want you too. I don’t understand. A few hours ago, I was ready to kill you, and now, the thought of you hurt …”
“I’ll be fine.”
“That’s my line,” Delilah laughed sadly. “Ever since Molly died, that has always been my answer to everything. I’ll be fine. I don’t feel fine about this, Carson.”
“You will. When all this is over and you’re back in my arms, then we’ll both be fine.” Carson pulled her against him; their mouths crushed together, the desperate greeting of having just found each other. “I’ll see you later.”
Delilah nodded, this time wiping at the tears she couldn’t stop from escaping. Mac had already released Jeanine from the cabinet; her hands were now tied behind her back. Carson took a deep breath, holding her by the shoulder with one hand and the gun aimed at her back with other. “Start walking.”
“Fuck you.”
Carson nudged the gun a little and luckily, it worked. He didn’t like the thought of forcing Jeanine to walk, but if he needed to, he would. He had never taken a hostage before and felt a little disoriented making his way towards the ballroom.
He had to make sure Jeanine didn’t escape, find his way, and keep his eyes open
for stray guests or some more of Razorback’s men. They reached the end of the passage leading from the kitchen and Jeanine started talking. “I didn’t mean for the experiment to go bad, Carson. You and I both thought the car was ready to be tested.”
“I had no idea what you were up to until I saw my fucking name on the news.”
“We didn’t tell you about the experiment, the test drive, but we knew you were pushing for it to be ready. We pushed a little harder, hoping to surprise you.”
“You could have tested it on a course somewhere. Fuck, if you’d asked, I would have built you a fucking course. But you didn’t. You chose to go ahead with your stupid experiment and risked the lives of innocent people.”
“I did what I thought was best,” Jeanine snapped back and came to a stop. “I did what I thought you wanted. You wanted to make history, and I was the instrument you needed to do it.”
“I wanted to invent something never invented before; I did not want to make history by killing someone with an invention that failed. An invention that failed because you didn’t make sure the programming was right.”
“Fuck you,” Jeanine seethed, pulling away from Carson. He aimed the gun at her, his finger on the trigger, ready to do something if she tried to escape. “That bitch, Delilah, she’s just screwed up. She made you feel sorry for being an inventor. Do you think no one was hurt during the invention of the plane, or the car, or even a fucking submarine? People die in the name of progress, Carson, they always have.”
“It was her sister,” Carson said, feeling the guilt push up again.
“Her sister was fucking stupid. She should have gotten out of the way.”
The next moment, Jeanine’s hands were free and she revealed the knife in her right hand. “Yeah, I’m not as stupid as you think.”
Carson couldn’t let her get away; without her, there was no deal. He moved closer, dropping the gun. There was no way he was going to shoot her; he’d just make sure she dropped the knife and then he would secure her again. She backed up, holding him at bay with the gun, when Carson heard something behind him.
Carson watched Jeanine’s eyes widen with fear as she glanced over his shoulder. Jeanine turned and started to run, and Carson had a split second to decide to follow her, but first he needed to see who was behind him.
Before he could turn around, he felt the cold steel tip of a gun against his neck. “Yeah, that’s right, you’re coming with me.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Name’s Ace,” the guy breathed against his ear. “Razorback’s going to be real glad I found you. He’s been looking for you.”
“You just let Jeanine escape!” Carson cursed under his breath. “Without her, there’s no deal.”
He heard the guy sigh before he nudged the gun even deeper. “Too bad. Come on, hot stuff, let’s go get my payday.”
Carson started walking; he had no other choice and vowed to catch up with Jeanine later. She wasn’t getting away with this, not like last time.
As he walked back to the ballroom, this time without the skull mask and without a weapon, Carson promised to make her pay for what she had done.
When this was all over—and he had to believe he’d survive it—he was going to see to it that she was stuck in the worst jail he could find. Then he was going to make love to Delilah, this time slow and tender. Even though she was the strongest woman he had ever met, he had a feeling she needed a little soft and sweet in her life.
He held that picture in his mind as they approached the ballroom. Things were going to get a lot uglier before they got better.
23
“You’ve got a private line,” Devilbunny said with a pout.
“Good.” Razorback started towards her. He was doing his negotiating with the Rabble and his team listening in. It was time to take things up a few notches. He sat down behind the laptop and clicked on the screen where the private communication would take place.
This is Razorback. You all ears?
This is Lieutenant Walters. All ears.
Good, because I’ve got a deal you can’t overlook. I’ll give you your goddamn hostages and my entire team, one condition …
Sounds good. What’s the condition?
You get me out of here. There’s a helipad on the roof. Have one waiting in one hour.
Three.
We’ll talk in an hour and I’ll decide if my finger twitches by then.
Razorback stepped away from the screen, making sure to delete the exchange before anyone but Devilbunny saw the deal. According to her, she was going with him; who knew, Razorback thought, maybe he’d take her.
A woman in a turquoise nightgown sobbed quietly beside them and Razorback walked over to her. He loved seeing the fear in her eyes as he touched her. “You’re ugly when you cry. Cut it out.”
“What the fuck!” Devilbunny screeched behind him. “Now you’re hitting on the fucking hostages. You prick.”
“Jealous?” Razorback laughed. He wasn’t an attractive man and loved it when she got jealous.
“You fucking touch her again and I’ll blow her head off.” Devilbunny picked up the small revolver that lay beside her laptop and aimed at the woman.
“Please, don’t!” the woman cried.
Razorback threw back his head laughing; maybe he would take Devilbunny after all, especially for entertaining him.
The doors to the ballroom flew open and Ace shoved Carson Royal inside with a flourish. “Here he is, boss, the big fish!” Ace called out with aplomb.
Razorback actually felt his cock stiffen at the sight of Carson Royal on his knees. “Well, well, well …”
“I caught up with him in the hallway, made sure he’s unarmed.” Ace gloated even more as Razorback approached.
“Good man …” A frown creased his brown as he looked over Ace’s shoulder. “Where the fuck is Jeanine Gibson?”
Carson chuckled. “Your man Ace here let her get away. She wasn’t real eager to join the party.”
Razorback turned on Ace with malice in his gaze. “You fucking let the bitch go?”
“I …” Ace retreated a few steps. “I thought you wanted Carson.”
“If you’d have bothered to listen to the fucking radio instead of fucking poor bitches in their rooms without their consent, you would have known that I need her as well. She can fucking name us all if she gets out.”
“Shit!” Ace cursed and shook his head. “Razor, I’m sorry. I didn’t know … I …”
Razorback aimed his gun at Ace, ready to kill him for the mistake, but he knew he needed his team to negotiate a deal for himself. “Bang!” he shouted, loud enough for Ace to jump back before sinking to his knees with relief. “Next time, you’re gone.”
“Got it. I’ll find her.”
“Go!” Razorback shouted. He wanted Ace out of his sight before he fucking lost his temper again. He looked at Carson, still on his knees with his hands in the air, and a smile returned to his face. “So, Carson Royal. I was thinking of a number that could end all of this. Want to know the number?”
Carson didn’t flinch, nod, or even plead, he simply held his stare. His eyes were the eyes of a man ready to die; Razorback knew it didn’t bode well for him. He aimed the gun at another guest and fingered the trigger playfully. “Want to hear the number? Or should I give you some fucking encouragement.”
“Give me the goddamn number,” Carson seethed.
Razorback named a number that didn’t even surprise Carson. He would pay it gladly if he knew the people would be saved who hadn’t yet been killed. What Razorback didn’t know was that the amount he’d named wasn’t even a tenth of Carson’s worth.
“Get me a phone and I’ll make the call.” Carson said, still holding his gaze.
Above them, Delilah held her breath. After Carson and Jeanine had left, she couldn’t just sit in the pantry and wait for help to come. With the guests armed and Mac in charge, she’d left the pantry and made her way back to the floor where the ballr
oom was. She’d climbed into an air vent and slowly crawled her way across the ballroom. Now she was lying flat, careful not to move and alert them to her whereabouts, holding her breath as Carson and Razorback negotiated. For a few moments, she considered the craziness of going after Carson, but she couldn’t just let him walk into the lion’s den.
Even though she had thought him to be ruthless, she had come to know a different man during the course of the night. Carson was a man that had made mistakes, mistakes he regretted, but underneath it, he was a kind man.
A man brave enough to risk his own life for others. A man that wouldn’t even flinch in the name of danger. Delilah had never loved anyone but family, and tonight she had found herself drawn to Carson. It couldn’t be possible for her to fall in love in a matter of hours, but something inside her had softened. Something inside her didn’t want to be the ruthless assassin anymore; she wanted more for herself.
For so many years, everything had been about being the best assassin she could be to avenge her sister, but not only had her anger been misdirected; it had stolen fifteen years of her life. It was time for Molly to rest in peace; it was time for Delilah to find a future for herself.
She knew it was foolish; it was probably even more misguided than her anger had been, but she couldn’t help but feel that somehow that future had something to do with Carson Royal. She wanted to help him even though she knew she was risking her own life to do so.
But it was like Carson had said; if he did nothing, he would regret it.
Delilah couldn’t help but feel the same.
How would she know if what she was feeling was real or simply the result of the situation they were in if she didn’t have the opportunity to get to know Carson afterwards?
She breathed quietly and started to develop a plan that would save Carson’s life.
24
Billionaire's Killer Page 9