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“We’re in it,” Marc’s voice drifted from behind Future. There was the click. Future turned and I stepped to the side. Marc had a gun pointed at her. “For family,” he said.
My heart started to thunder harder, and the wriggly sparks ignited in my stomach. He’d slipped in so quietly, I was overwhelmed. More than that, Marc’s intensity was all over his face, in the way he narrowed his eyes on Future, the snarl on his lips. His arm was steady. He’d mow her down to save me.
“Who are you?” Future asked.
“I’m with her,” he said in a deeper tone. “Now lower your gun, or I make sure Future doesn’t have one.”
“You’re the one in the SUV?” Future pointed her gun to the ground and then stepped to the side. Marc followed her with the tip of the gun still pointed in her direction. Future slid her eyes down Marc’s body, stopping at his waist and then slowly drifted her gaze back up. “Hot. You should have been the one to come play with me.”
Marc smirked and then slowly lowered the gun but held on to it. “I don’t think I’d look as good in the skirt.”
“Honey, you’d look amazing. You should try it out. Are your eyes different colors? Are those contacts? You’ve got really pretty eyes.”
I swallowed, trying to smother the adrenaline. “Do you believe us now?” I asked.
“Maybe,” she said. She tucked a painted fingernail against the back of her ear and scratched there. “So you’re looking for this little girl? She a relation, then?”
“Yes,” Marc said before I could answer. “She’s family. We need to find her and her father before this gets too far.”
Future looked back at me. “You thought you could ask me about it?”
I nodded. “I didn’t mean to trick you, but I thought if I could get in with Henry about his cases, I could ask him. When you showed up, though, I thought maybe you might know, and would be easier to talk to.”
She smiled big. She flicked the safety on her gun and put it back in her purse. “You should have told me sooner.”
My heart lifted until I was nearly floating in the kitten heels. “So you’ll help?” I asked.
Future turned to me, smiling. Her voice picked back up into that feminine pitch. “Girl, if we’re going to cause Henry a whole hell of a lot of trouble, count me in.”
ONE HELL OF A PARTY
With the guns put away, Marc had us pile into the SUV.
“This is a badass SUV,” Future said from the passenger seat.
“I thought you liked the van,” I said. I took the back seat, sitting back, catching my breath.
“The van is bulky. What you need is a sweet SUV.” She put her hand on Marc’s shoulder. “So tell me the story, sweetie. What’s going on?”
I sat back, but kept my eyes on Marc. I wasn’t sure how I felt with Future pawing at him. In the saddest part of my heart, I really hoped Marc didn’t think Future was prettier than me.
In the twisted part, I was laughing that Marc was being hit on by a man.
Marc turned his head in reaction, glanced at the hand on his shoulder and then looked at me with a help me expression. He grimaced and then focused on the road. “We’re looking for Sara.”
“You’ve said that,” Future said and sat back, folding her arms under her breasts. “I want the whole story. From the beginning.”
Marc told her the summary. We were asked by Harry, the grandson, to check out the grandmother, then figured out Fred was missing.
“You broke into his house?” she asked.
“His apartment had all Sara’s things there,” I said, hoping she’d let the breaking and entering slide. “She was living there.”
Future tilted her head back and forth as if she was thinking. “What’s her name? The wife’s name?”
“Luanne,” Marc said. “Luanne Gunther. At least she’s still hanging on to that name.”
Future nodded. “And Fred and Sara Gunther.”
“Have you heard about them?”
“That’s the funny part,” she said. “I haven’t heard a damn thing. Usually these big cases, Henry likes to brag about. Either he’s bitching for his team to find the guy, or he caught him and he’s celebrating. He’s ornery like that.”
“Do you think he dropped the case?” I asked. “The grandmother paid off the bond, but later on Henry’s office called Fred’s apartment while we were there. We thought he was looking for him.”
“Not a lot of people can afford paying off a bounty hunter.” Future pursed her lips and then shook her head. She reached for her bag, fished out some lipstick and then started to apply it. “No, I think he’s keeping that off the books. It’s a double down.”
“A what?”
“Bond agencies don’t have the money to front all that cash,” she said. “There’s insurance companies that tell the court they will pay them money if the bondee skips. The only money they handle directly is the fee you pay for them accepting the bond. Otherwise, it’s all paperwork.”
“So you think Henry would still look for him?”
“If Fred escapes, I think it’s the insurance that pays, but the bondsman may have to pay the insurance company something. I’m just guessing, because that’s all the business end. I just find the bastards.”
“We can’t go on assumption,” Marc said. “We need to find Fred before he does. We need to figure out why he ran in the first place.”
Future put her lipstick back and then tugged at my arm. “How do you feel about double teaming Henry tomorrow?”
“At work?” I asked.
“It’ll give me time to get ready,” she said. “I’ve got a few friends. We can take him downtown, put a gun to his ear, and make him tell us the whole story.”
“Hang on,” Marc said. “We can’t kidnap him.”
“Then how do we get real information?” she asked.
“We should follow him, and see what he does. We need to check out this party that’s going on.”
“You don’t want to go to that party,” she said. “Henry hires a bunch of escorts for those parties. He gets them for his bounty hunters and a few policemen. It’s a disgusting frat house. It’s probably why he didn’t tell me. Those escorts can’t stand the competition.”
“It’s a good time to check out what’s going on,” Marc said. “Henry’s not going to give this secret up simply by talking to him.”
I groaned. I didn’t like the sound of this plan. “I don’t know if I want to go to a party.”
“At least we’re already dressed,” Future said. “Although if you’d told me we were going to crash a party, I would have found something in leather.”
??????
Marc stopped for some fast food and we took our time heading to the party. He sent in word to the others what was happening. Eventually, Marc rolled the SUV into a small suburban neighborhood. The sun had fallen, and while the sky was a mix of orange and purple, the street lamps were bright along the sidewalks. The house at the end of the block was lit up and crowded with parked cars. Palm trees surrounded the fenced property. The gate and the front door were wide open, and music spilled out onto the street.
“He’s celebrating,” Future said. She clicked her mouth and then shook her head. “Bigger than usual means he caught a whale. He didn’t tell me.”
“Does this mean he caught Fred?” I asked. “Are we too late?”
“We need to get in there,” Marc said. He pulled out his cell phone and started typing at it. “You and I should go in.”
“Nope,” I said.
“What?” Marc asked.
“I’ve already crashed one party for you guys. I’m not doing another. This is your turn. You can go.”
“There’s no crime to crashing a party, honey,” Future said. “Only not leaving if you’re asked to leave. One more hottie at the party is never turned away.”
Marc waved his hand through the air. “Just hang on a second.” He held the cell phone to his ear and then spoke into it. “Brandon? Yeah. Parked
out front. Come find us. Bring your party face.”
“I get Brandon,” I said after Marc put away his phone.
Marc’s eyes went wide on me. Don’t you dare.
“Ooo, there’s more of you guys?” Future asked. She slid her arm through Marc’s, trying to cling to it. “Yay, I get the cute one with the pretty eyes.”
Marc pulled his arm away. “Hey, now,” he said. He pointed at me. “I’m with her.”
“She wanted Brandon.”
Marc twisted his lips a little in a smirk. “Have you seen Brandon? He’s tall, surfer, blond.”
“It’s not totally blond,” I said. “It’s the light hair you get when you’re out in the sun a lot.”
“You mean like that frosted look?” Future asked. She stretched her fingers over her own hair and raked it a little. “I tried to pull that look off in my younger days. Had to go whole hog on the blond, though. It’s true what they say about blonds having more fun.”
There was a knock at the passenger door, and I jumped, turning.
Brandon waved at me and then reached for the handle. He stepped up, leaning against the car a little as he peered in. He smiled at me once and then his eyes rolled down my body. “Oh my god, you didn’t say she was wearing that.”
“Cute, isn’t it?” Marc said, smirking.
“Fucking cute is right,” Future said, leaning forward and then pressed her hand against my arm. “Holy shit, he is a hottie, too. No wonder you picked that one.”
Brandon smiled at first, like he won a prize. Then he looked at Future and blinked. “Uh…”
