Page 87 of Nightfire

Nicole held her hand out as if knowing that her husband’s hand would find it, and it did. He lifted her out of the chair.

“Then we’ll find out what’s on this drive just as fast as humanly possible,” Nicole declared, holding her hand out for the drive. Her face had turned serious. “Harry, I’m confiscating your other computer.”

He nodded as Nicole sat down before a sleek laptop. She opened it and with a beep, it started up, the glow of the screen reflected on Nicole’s face. In a second, she was gone.

Nicole was deep into whatever she was doing, staring intently at the monitor, typing quickly, stopping, then starting again.

“Okay,” she said, sitting back, rubbing her belly. “I sent it off to my crazy cracker Russian. He took a look and said it shouldn’t take long. He called it ‘Mafiya’ encryption, he’s used to it. Do you have a clue as to what’s in it?”

“It’s got something important in it, that’s for sure,” Bolt replied. He nodded to Consuelo. “She took it off the guy who ordered the attack on Chloe. The guy who waterboarded her.”

“Waterboarded?” Nicole straightened, wincing. She held out her hand and her husband took it, gently helped her out of the chair.

Nicole walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. “You’re not going back to those horrible men.”

“That’s for damned sure,” her husband said. Bolt and Barney nodded.

Consuelo’s throat was tight, raw. She couldn’t speak, shook her head. “No.” Her voice came out like the sound a wounded animal would make. “Never.”

This was her opportunity. This is what she came for. But she couldn’t get the words out. All four of them watched her, three men, one woman, waiting with blank expressions for her to speak.

Consuelo had been trained in a hard school to repress her feelings, otherwise she couldn’t function in the Meteor. Some nights she repressed them so far down she thought they’d disappeared.

They hadn’t.

They’d compressed into a hard, black ball that was choking her.

The four continued watching her, waiting.

She had to do this. She had to, because there was no going back. She’d rather die.

“I—I hope there is something useful in that flash drive,” she said finally, voice thick and strained. “I hope there is something that will hurt the Russian, put him away. Because he is the one after Chloe. I brought it as—as payment. I didn’t know Mr. Bolt was Chloe’s brother. I just thought that maybe there might be something of value to—to pay for your services. Because they say—they say you can help women go away. Disappear. And never be found.” Please God, she prayed to the God she no longer believed in. “And I have money, too.” She hid the shaking in her hands as she pulled out a fat manila envelope. She watched Bolt’s eyes as she slid it across his desk. He was watching her, not the money. “Twenty thousand dollars,” she whispered. “To take me away.”

Was it enough? She had no idea. All she knew was that she might as well have pushed her beating heart across the table.

Harry Bolt placed one big hand on the envelope and paused. Did he want more? Could she get more? Not by working at the Meteor, of course. Maybe she could waitress, but where? Anywhere in San Diego and Nikitin and Sands and their men would find her.

Her heart nearly stopped when Bolt moved his hand with the envelope underneath it back across to the desk to her. “We can’t take your money, Consuelo.”

But of course, how could he accept the money of a puta? He was a respectable man in a respectable business. Rich and powerful, even. What had she been thinking? She’d been around rich men long enough. Her life savings was probably what he spent for Christmas presents for his wife, if he had one. Of course he had no use for her tainted money.

He’d just condemned her to death.

She should get up and walk out and go…where? Her legs wouldn’t hold her, she knew that. What could she do, where would she go? She couldn’t even think beyond the panic in her mind, flashing nightmare scenes of drowning.

Consuelo wheezed in a breath.

Bolt was saying something but she couldn’t hear over the noise in her head. “What?”

He repeated patiently. “We don’t take money from the women and children we help. Disappearing takes some time and preparation. For the next few days we’ll put you in a very safe place while we prepare some documents for you, for your new life. You’ll be safe, I promise. Barney will look out for you. Nobody will hurt you.”

Her eyes shot to Barney. He held her gaze and nodded his head, as if to confirm what Bolt had said.

No one will hurt you.

“Where would you like to go?”

A blank. A complete blank. She hadn’t even considered choosing a place. She just thought she’d run, like a piece of tumbleweed rolling in the wind, and stop when the wind stopped.