“You kept it in your shop.”
“I didn’t know it was there at the time, idiot,” I snapped, my fear making me angry. “Once I knew what I had, I made sure I got it safe.”
I could take them to Zeno.
At least there, it would be two of us against two of them. And as skinny and calm as Zeno came off, I knew that at their core, every one of these Costa men was incredibly lethal.
These guys would underestimate Zeno.
That would be a fatal decision.
So as much as I hated the idea of bringing trouble to his door, it was a better option than letting it stay here, putting an innocent kid in danger.
“Where is it then, if it’s not here?” he asked, making a grab for my neck again. But I was a little faster this time, taking a step back and to the side, putting the couch between us.
The other guy was behind me somewhere. But I was focusing on the one I was relatively sure had killed Robin. He was the real threat.
“Not here. With a hacker friend,” I told him. “He’s working on breaking the password.”
The killer’s gaze cut across the apartment to the other guy, something silently passing between them.
“Where?”
“Not far. Ten-minute walk, maybe.”
It was longer.
But I could deal with their anger later. Outside of the apartment. Away from Liam.
The men shared another look, the other one coming closer.
“And we’re just supposed to trust you?”
“I don’t even know what’s on the stupid flash drive.” That had to land as honest. It was. What the hell was worth dying over? “It’s been more trouble than it’s worth.”
Another shared look.
I was so distracted by it that I didn’t see it coming when the killer grabbed the arm of the couch and shoved it forward with all his strength, using it to knock me into and pin me to the wall.
The leg of the couch caught my foot, sending white-hot pain shooting up the ankle that had just started to feel better.
My breath caught, sucking back the cry before it escaped me.
“She’s agreeing to help,” the other guy said, sounding frustrated at the whole situation. But not frustrated enough to step in. Had he just stood aside and watched this guy strangle the life out of Robin too?
It took a lot longer than the movies let you think to kill someone that way.
Sure, the fighting and wide-eyed panic of a person realizing they are about to die could be over in just a few seconds; it could take up tofiveminutes to cause death.
To be able to do that to someone is horrific.
To stand by and watch was just as cold-blooded.
There was no safety to be found in the other guy.
But I could appreciate him trying to be rational.
“Or she’s walking us into a trap. She’s not working alone. You saw those guys at the pawnshop.”
