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He was sure the two hadn’t gone far. They weren’t the sharpest crayons in the box, so how they escaped being caught was still a mystery.
Ugh. Enough. He was on a mission.
Martin fished out a crumpled piece of paper containing a phone number. He hoped Bobby still had the same phone. He stared at the number, his heart beating loudly. Martin looked around. He was on a busy street. He needed to find some place quiet to call. Right now, the stash was his, but once the call was made, he’d have to strike a deal if he wanted help, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t have to sell a part of his soul not only to retrieve the stash but to get out of this alive. Jinx was a real bastard when he wanted to be, especially when it concerned money.
He found a small coffee shop down a side street. The windows were fogged, the sign missing a letter, and only a few people were inside. When the door opened, the bell jingled, and after a quick glance, the customers returned to what they were doing. He ordered a cup of coffee and found a seat by the window where no one was sitting close by. Wiping a stain from the cup’s rim and almost gagging, he dialed the number.
After a couple of rings, a man’s voice answered. “Who’s this?”
“What? No ‘hello, how are you?’”
“Asshole,” growled Bobby. “Glad to hear your voice.”
Martin swallowed hard. He’d hoped never to hear Bobby or Jinx’s voice again, not after they threw him to the wolves and let him be the patsy. He hated he had to ask them for help, but there was no one else he trusted. Not trusted by a long shot, but at least he knew who he would be dealing with.
“We’ve been wondering where you were or if you’d contact us. Are you up for another job?”
Another job? Shit. He just got out of prison and didn’t even have in his possession what he stole, but if he were going to survive, he needed more money, especially if he couldn’t find the bear. “Maybe.”
“It’s a good one. Fantastic payout.”
“Let’s talk. I might need Jinx and your help with something else,” he said.
“Hmmm.” Bobby didn’t answer right away. “I’ll have to talk to Jinx. He’s casing something right now.”
Martin hung up. He felt a glimmer of hope that he wasn’t alone and could finally get what was his. What it would cost him was up in the air.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sam Knight lifted her glass of wine. “Here’s to vacation.”
“Hear, hear.”
Anne clinked glasses with her friends.
She loved the little ones in her class, but they were a handful. The fall break gave her a chance to reconnect with friends and especially herself.
Vacation was only one week long, but she planned on filling it with—nothing—no shopping, no plans other than eating when she wanted and sleeping as late as she liked. And reading. She had a shelf full of to-be-read books.
Anne chuckled to herself. That was a bunch of nonsense. She was a creature of habit—up at six, exercise, eat a sensible breakfast, get ready for school, come home, make dinner, watch an hour of TV, and go to bed. Repeat. Occasionally, she met up with her friends. Her life was boring, just the way she liked it.
“Do you have big plans for your vacation?” asked Marlee Burns. Marlee sipped her special-of-the-month frozen concoction, the Banana-Fana Mama, and waggled her brows at Anne. Anne couldn’t help but adore the small, slender woman. She always made the girls laugh, told it like it was, and got into trouble, much to the consternation of her husband, Ben Green, who worked at KnightGuard Security. “A big date, perhaps?” Marlee winked. “Maybe with a sexy, long drink of water? Hmmm?”
Anne coughed. “Geez, Marlee, I’m done with dating for a while.”
After the couple of dating disasters she had recently, Anne was in no way, shape or form going out with another man for a long time even if she found a sexy man to go out with. “Regarding your question about big plans, I have none. I’m going to chill, read, ponder life’s big questions from my sofa with a glass of wine, and that’s about it,” Anne replied.
“Dang.” Marlee pretend-pouted. “I hoped to live vicariously through you, at least for a couple of days.”
Anne giggled. “You’ll have to live vicariously through someone else. Sorry.”
The girls were at their favorite place, Neptune’s Navel Tiki Bar, on the Riverwalk, owned by Jake Summers.
Besides serving great food, he always had interesting drinks. Jake had renovated the tired-looking building after he bought it and did a spectacular job. He added a thatched roof over the bar, a fountain in one corner, and Petey the parrot in another. Petey’s favorite expression was “pretty girl,” which he screamed every time a woman walked by. Jake finally had to cover his cage so Petey could sleep and conversations weren’t interrupted.
Anne sat back in her chair and watched waves lap over the hulls of boats in the marina. Inside, a jazz band was enthusiastically playing. Fans around the patio provided a much-needed breeze, although it wasn’t muggy, just a tad warm.
She looked around the table at her friends. She’d known Sam Knight the longest. They met in high school after Anne’s parents moved to Black Pointe. Her parents had moved up north a couple of years ago to be closer to Anne’s sister, her husband, and their two adorable girls.
