“Like Martha taught me, you can’t take it personal. It’s business. You gotta sacrifice for the things you want in life.”
She kept feeling around for any sharp edge behind her. “And this is what you want? To do the dirty work while Martha and the rest of them get fat and rich? You’re going to kill innocent people for money?”
Owen balked. “I didn’t kill anyone.”
There was broken glass all over the ground, but nothing within reach.
“I’m not stupid, Owen. I know why you brought me out here. Kill me, leave my body to rot in the old trash heap so it will mask the scent?”
There. A sharp nail protruded from a wooden post just to her right. She cowered and moved in that direction.
Owen followed. “But I haven’t killed anyone. I swear. It’s the lack of oxygen that does it. And it’s not as bad as you think it is. You’ll get sleepy and drift off, nice and peaceful. I’m nothing if not humane.”
Lack of oxygen? What was he talking about? Either way…“Yeah, I’ll pass.” She reached the post and slid her arms down until she felt the tape catch on the nail. She tried to keep the movement small, but she didn’t like the way Owen was looking at her.
He chuckled. “I really am gonna miss having you in the office, Dani.” With his gun in one hand, he took off the lid to one of the oil drums. “Go ahead and get in.”
The oil drum. So that’s what he meant by lack of oxygen.
But if he thought she’d go down easy, he was mistaken. She hadn’t gotten through the tape yet. She needed more time. “How am I supposed to do that with my hands behind my back?”
“I’m not that stupid. And neither are you. Find a way.” He waved his Hi-Point in her face.
Riiiip. Finally.
Dani ducked to the side, swinging her torso out of the line of fire, and grabbed the barrel of the gun. With her other hand, she clamped down on the back of Owen’s Hi-Point, pulled down, and rotated it back on him.
He fell to his knees screaming, his trigger finger, probably broken now, clasped to his chest.
He looked at her, mouth open. “Who are you?”
“More than your ordinary accountant. Now toss me your keys and phone.” Once he complied, she made him take off his shoes and socks too. With the tape he still had in the car, she did a much better job securing him to a pole in the middle of the warehouse. If he got out before she sent the authorities to get him, he wouldn’t get far.
With Owen Rice immobilized, she sprinted for the car and used his phone to call Kumar.
“Hello?” the voice on the other line croaked.
“Kumar? It’s Dani Kim. Are you okay?” She set the phone on speaker and sped out between the open gates enclosing the compound.
“I’d be better if one of Martha’s security guys hadn’t bashed my head in with the butt of his gun and locked me in a closet. I’m almost out though. Where are you?”
Dani looked at the unfamiliar and incredibly dark landscape outside the windshield. “Not sure exactly, but I’m in the foothills outside of town at the old city dump. It’s gonna take me a while to get back. Where are Finn and Michael?”
“Don’t know. The last thing I heard Martha say through the bugs you planted was to send Michael to see Victor.”
“Uh, that’s not good. Victor Bellmont is dead. Either they tossed his remains in the middle of the ocean or stuffed him in a garbage truck and buried him.” Dani shivered as she took the sharp curve in the road.
“Great.” A grunt. “If you had to go with your gut, what do you think?”
“They won’t want a mess downtown while their fundraiser is going on. They’ll use their own transport companies to move Michael first. They have the trains that go all the way to the ocean and the garbage trucks here in town.”
“I’ll rescue Finn and check any of the trains that leave for the coast tonight.”
“Then I’ll call a couple friends and see if they can help me track down a middle-of-the-night trash pickup.”
“Call me as soon as you talk to them.”
“Got it, boss.” Dani ended the call and used the voice commands to call Ron. He’d passed her his number at O’Malleys—which she’d memorized within seconds—and told her to call if she ever needed anything.
