“Didn’t Carlos mention something earlierabout the guy’s brother doing business near the city? That was howhe knew of him?”
“Yeah, some deal he’s working on with thelocals.”
“Find him. Ifthose Panamafucks still back out, I want a bullet in hishead along with every member of that shitty little cartel. Youdon’t strike a deal with me and back out, especially after I’vealready incurred the costs of delivery.”
“Got it,” Scott replied and picked up hisphone to carry out my orders. I texted Dan back on my phone tellinghim shit was probably about to go down and to be ready toexecute.
After ten minutes of pacing the room withScott making several phone calls, my phone finally rang withCarlos’s number. I answered on the first ring.
“Well? Do we have a deal or do I need torenegotiate the terms myself?” I asked him angrily.
“I’m sorry, amigo. I tried to convince him,but Juan is veryhot-headedandstubborn. He doesn’t trust anyone.”
Done deal, then.
“Well, good thing he won’t have to worryabout it anymore,” I said and hung up the phone.
Carlos knew better than to call back. Heknew what would happen next, and he knew better than tointerfere.
I dialed Dan back, and he answered on thefirst ring. “Yeah?”
“Deal’soff. You know what to do,” I said.
“Got it,” he replied and hung up.
Well, there goes my morning. I knew Dan wasmore than capable of handling this shit. His accuracy with a gunwas beyond precise, almost as good as my own. He never lost hisshit in a situation, remaining calm and cool as I’d taught him.He’d becomequite the littlemercenary since his first kill when he was twelve. Over the years,I had become proud of the man he’d become, and now that he wasabout to become a father, it had me rethinking his entire role inthis business.
I ran my hands through my hair and rubbed myface, my stubble scratching against my palms as I realized I hadforgotten to shave this morning. I was beginning to like thefeeling of rubbing my face against Jaden’s smooth skin, but myshadow would hinder that. I’d need to shave before I went to findher later.
I replied to some quick emails on my phonebefore Scott finally addressed me.
“Darren,” I heard him say from across theroom. I turned to look at him. “They got him. They’re bringing himin right now.”
“Good. Let’s go say hi then, shall we?” Isaid with enthusiasm, and we both left the security room and headedout to thedrivewayto meet ournew temporary guest.
It was barely even 9:00 a.m., and it wasalready turning out to be a very bloody morning.
~*~
I looked around as I sat on the bed, almostlost in a foreign country, but I could still feel him there. Eventhough he was gone, just sitting on his bed was enough to make mefeel like he really did own me. It wastotalforeign territory to be in his room, especiallywithout him.
It wasn’t until I got out of bed that Irealized how sore my ass was from last night. I walked over to thetall mirror hanging on the wall and examined my ass. There was afucking outline of ahandprintonmy left cheek. Son of a bitch! I also noticed an array of littlebruises everywhere; discoloration completely consumed my ass. Fuck.I was pissed, and I knew sitting down was going to hurt like hellfor a while. I guess I had more motivation to behave if I wantedthat shit to heal.
I walked over to the now wrinkled dressshirt in a heap on the floor, pulled my arms through it, wrappingthe ends around my body like a robe, and stalked down to my room.Slamming the door behind me, I headed into the bathroom, used thetoilet, brushed my hair and teeth, and changed into anotherskortand plain t-shirt beforeheading down the stairs to the patio.
When I got to thetable,I found a silver covered tray waiting for me witha mug, a thermos of coffee, hot water, bags of tea, and the littlecontainer for my vitamins. I didn’t even bother to sit down andlifted the lid to find a perfectly toasted bagel, cream cheese, anda bowl full of perfect red raspberries.
After making my tea, I slathered the creamcheese on my bagel and took my sweet-ass time eating my breakfast,just staring over the stone railing of the patio and admiring theocean view. The raspberries had the perfect combination of tart andsweet as I relished their flavor. Surprisingly, I finished theentire bowl, but there was stillone-halfof my bagel left. I was bordering on full, and Idid not want to work out with an overly packed stomach. I tookthree of the biggest bites I could muster and replaced the lidonthe tray.Hopefully,Darren would recognize my effort andleave it at that.
Letting myself digest for a few minutes, Irelaxed against the railing, sipped on my tea, and slugged back myvitamins hoping they might actually do some good. The sun was outinfullblaze and the ocean wasroaring just a few yards ahead of me. If I hadn't been a captive, Imighthave actually wanted to livehere. I honestly loved the water.
Growing up in Michigan, you were never farfrom a lake, and my cousin Mel had a nice little setup on LakeHuron. I missed the nights I would spend out there just drinkingand bullshitting with her while we tore the Jet Ski up until thesun set. When I got out of here, I was going to do a lot more ofthat.
Once I finished my tea, I pulled my hairback into aponytailand eagerlyheaded toward the gym.
And then I heard shouting coming fromoutside the front door. Cautiously, I walked over to the door andpeered through the glass to see Darren on the phone, waving hisarms and pacing back and forth. Scott was just standing there,watching Darren while he smoked a cigarette. Deciding againstgetting caught watching them, I turned away from the door andquickly headed to the gym. Thankfully, no one was in there thistime.
After doing some quick stretching, I hoppedon the treadmill and started with a warm-up run. After a few shortminutes, I found myself pumping my legs as hard and as fast as Icould as I ran my fucking heart out. Sweat was pouring down myface, and my heart was practically beating out of my chest as I ranas if my life depended on it. Maybe it was something deeper thanthat. I ran because it was the only time I would ever be allowedto. I wanted to run far from this place, and even if I ran to theother side of the world, it still wouldn't be far enough.
