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I don’t have another choice. So, I lay it all out for him.
“My daughter has been taken,” I say quietly, staring straight ahead at the lawn. Almost the exact spot where the slave was murdered yesterday. I fantasize that I can still see the bloodstains, but I know that’s not true. The Cartel had cleanup crews out here for hours, touching up every blade of grass. “I don’t know where she is or who has her, and you are the only person I can think of who can help. I don’t have a phone or a weapon or any way to contact the outside world, but you’ve made your living getting around obstacles like that. For the right price, I think you could help me.”
Joel stares at me, eyes narrowed. “I can help you, but I have to wonder why, if your daughter is missing, you are at this auction.”
I pinch my lips together, hoping Joel won’t put the pieces together. Or, if he does, that he won’t care.
“I can’t tell you that right now. But I’ll pay you whatever you want,” I say, hoping to persuade him. “You’ll have to leave the auction, but I’ll make sure you are compensated.”
He stares at me and lifts his chin, looking down the nose of his mask at me. “You know, someone hired me to look into you before.”
My attention snaps to him, and he grins, amused by my reaction.
“The Irish hate you,” he laughs, shaking his head. “Whatever you did to piss them off, you fucked up. They hired me to look into your background. In the end, they weren’t paying enough for my services, but I did some perfunctory digging, and you know what I found?”
He leans towards me, one hand poised next to his mouth. His next words are said in a stage whisper: “A marriage license.”
I resist the urge to curse under my breath. This was a mistake. I know that now, but it is too late to take it back.
“You know what I think?” he asks, taking another puff of the cigarette and blowing the smoke directly in my face. “I think Number Seven is your wife. I think that brown-haired bombshell is yourEve.”
“How much do you want?” I ask. I need to get this conversation back on track. I’ve lost control, but I can get it back. “Like I said, I’ll pay you anything.”
He twists his mouth to the side and hums, but it is all for show. He isn’t really thinking, and we both know it. “With this information, I can have you killed. All I have to do is walk inside and tell the Cartel who you are, and you’ll be shot on sight. Then I can have what I really want, no?”
I snub out my cigarette and finish the last swig of wine in my glass. “And what is that?” I growl.
He laughs and moves past me, hand on the doorknob. “I want to fuck your wife.”
Before the words are even out of his mouth, I shatter the wineglass against the brick face of the building and stab the stem into his carotid artery.
I know I only have one try. If I miss, the stem is liable to break, and Joel will be wounded but not mortally.
Thankfully, I don’t miss.
The stem sticks from his neck, pulsing up and down with the weakening pumps of his dying heart.
Blood slicks down my arm, running underneath my suit jacket, and coats the front steps.
Joel falls backwards just behind a large bush growing next to the front steps, and I quickly step over him, move into the entryway, and hustle up the stairs.
I have to get rid of my clothes before anyone finds his body.
* * *
When I return to Eve’s side, I’m in a black suit that is similar to the one I had on before, though these lapels are silk. I pray to God no one will notice.
Rian is across the room getting a drink, but Eve still looks at me, eyes wide, and tries to push me away.
“Have you left this room since I’ve been gone?” I whisper.
Eve’s brow furrows. “No, I’ve been here.”
“You have lots of witnesses?”
She waves her arms around the room. “Everyone. Why? What is going on?”
I shake my head and wrap an arm around her waist. “Act casual.”
