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Gil waits for me at the door of his tenth-floor apartment. “Geez, boss. Why didn’t you take the elevator?”
Ignoring him, I sweep through the door, making him move aside. “Where’s the girl?”
“In bed. Why?”
“Bring her.”
Gil’s eyes flash with recognition. I’m sure he remembers telling me about the conversation he overheard of her trying to sell Emberly out to that cop. I walk into his living room, which he’s set up as the ultimate bachelor pad. A large flat-screen TV hangs on the wall with surround sound speakers above a fully stocked bar.
I walk past the pool table, pour myself a glass of whiskey and sit in the leather armchair, just as the blonde shuffles in wearing a silk number that barely covers her pussy.
Whatever.
Monica Bellucci, Sofia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, and Ornella Muti could walk in here naked and at the peak of their beauty, and I would still only have eyes for Emberly.
“Roman?” she murmurs and takes the seat closest to me on the sofa.
I toss a burner phone and a scrap of paper on the coffee table. “You’re going to call Jim Callahan and tell him you just heard from Emberly. When he asks where she is, you’ll say she’s staying at this address.”
The blonde reads the note and frowns. “You want me to lie to him?”
Leaning forward, I steeple my fingers and glare into her wide eyes. “I want you to do as I say.”
Gil places a hand on her shoulder and squeezes. I can’t tell if the touch is supposed to be reassuring or a threat. “Go on, sweetheart.”
As the girl picks up the phone with trembling fingers, Gil instructs her to take several calming breaths. He even kisses the top of her hair. I’m not so anxious to murder Callahan to appreciate Gil’s skill with the ladies.
I sit back and listen to the blonde’s conversation with Callahan. He’s naturally suspicious at first, but she improvises, saying she would like some cash to get her boobs done and a Brazilian butt lift. This makes the asshole chuckle, and he jots down the address.
When he hangs up, she asks, “What’s this all about?”
I rise off the armchair, pick up the phone and the scrap of paper, and remove the SIM card. “You two are with me.”
* * *
I don’t normally bring civilians to these things, especially outspoken ones who will betray their friends for cash.
This one approached us more concerned about the missing rent than Emberly’s safety. Any other time, I would put a bullet through her skull for attempting to hand Emberly to Callahan on a platter, but she serves another purpose.
The blonde’s presence provides Emberly with the illusion that she has ties to the outside world. Now, she’s going to lead that bastard into a trap. I’m aware of the hypocrisy of wanting Callahan dead for doing exactly what I’m doing to Emberly, but nobody fucks with her but me.
The blonde sits stock still in the back seat while Gil drives us across town to the address. At this time of the night, the traffic is thin, with only a smattering of cop cars.
My phone buzzes with a text to tell me that Callahan has taken the bait.
“He’s there,” I say to Gil.
He grunts. “That was fast.”
“Bastard probably used his siren.”
Callahan is the sort of coward to abduct a woman with backup, which is why I already have the house surrounded. Anyone who so much as sits in a parked car won’t live to help that asshole.
Moments later, I receive more messages from my team, confirming that they’ve surrounded a police car and are incapacitating its two occupants with their own vehicle’s exhaust fumes.
It’s still dark when we reach the address, a small, run-down house in a less-than-desirable part of Beaumont City. The few streetlamps that still work flicker, signifying a place where it’s wisest not to be out after dark.
After checking my weapon, I exit. Gil steps out and opens the door, letting out the blonde. She jerks forward, looking like she’s about to bolt, but Gil’s firm grip on her arm keeps her close.
