Page 121 of Angel

‘You robbed a narcotics dealer?’ I asked, my blood running cold. ‘Are you insane?’

‘I’m scared.’

She then began to giggle, which threw me.

I rocked back on my heels, hands crossed over my chest, staring at her, still trying to get my brain around her play.

‘You high?’ I gritted.

She stopped laughing and gave me a saucy smile, and I got my answer.

‘Tell me you didn’t also lift his stash along with his cash?’

‘I didn’t, but I used Maurice’s cash to get me a score soon as I landed in Nashville, met my local hookup outside the motel.’

I almost lost it.

‘How freakin’ much?’

‘A quarter of a key.’

‘Damn, Eva, why do you do this, and why do I keep getting sucked into your chaos?’

She blinked, conjuring up tears in her big blue eyes.

They once moved me, not now.

With a huff, I shook my head.

‘First things first, you’re exiting this dump right now,’ I growled. ‘But if I’m to take you, you’re leaving the dealer’s wallet with the front desk. Then we’re flushing down the snow in the bathroom.’

We faced off until, with a cry, she threw up her hands in surrender.

I made her walk to the bathrooms as she dug out the packet of coke from her jacket and washed it down the toilet.

After that, I frog-marched her to reception, where she handed in the billfold.

‘A man called Maurice is going to come by for it,’ I told Kenneth, the wary, spotty-faced concierge. ‘Steal a dollar from it or keep for yourself and you’re dead.’

The kid gulped and hid it in a drawer.

I had Evangeline send Maurice a final text with the location of his wallet, then block him.

Grabbing her suitcase, I bundled her into the passenger seat of my truck and drove across town through the deserted, rain-slicked corridors of downtown.

My tires flew over the wet asphalt as storm runoff filled the gutters.

When we pulled up to a sleek, modern eight-townhouse development.

Tapping my phone, I unlocked the central gate to the property via an electronic keycard. I parked, exited the Defender, and guided Evangeline to the ground floor.

I owned the development outright, and it ranked among my most lucrative investments.

This was no cheap Airbnb setup; the premises catered to wealthy music executives flying in and out of Nashville.

I carried Evangeline’s bags into the bedroom, then back into the lounge area.

‘You’re to remain inside this townhouse. Do not leave the building. Call my number if you need anything else.’