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“Oh, yeah? Just what kind of conversations have you had? Not this kind, I bet, and remember, Moretti, your neck’s on the line too. If she or her friend knows shit they shouldn’t, we need to hear about it. You’ve got three seconds, girlie,” he warned, taking a step toward her.
“No, please,” she begged, her voice cracking as tears spilled down her cheeks. “Please don’t do this.”
“No? You don’t want me to shoot you? Then I’ll put holes in your boyfriend.”
“Are you nuts?” Marco growled. “You kill either of us and—”
“Shut the fuck up,” the man shouted. “They need to know how exposed they are more than they need you. Besides, we won’t kill you, we’ll just fuck you up. One—two—”
“Stop, stop, I’ll tell you,” Steph shrieked. “Please, I’ll tell you everything. My friend Max, he’s a detective, and he—”
“Get to the fuckin’ point!”
“Okay, okay. I started following Marco just to get a photo, but when Max found out he told me to stay away because Marco was doing some kind of deal with some really bad people and I’d be putting myself in danger, but I didn’t listen, and I thought maybe I could learn something while I was trying to get the picture.” The story had tumbled out of her in a breathless, urgent confession.
“What kind of deal?”
“He said it was smuggling, but he didn’t say what.”
“Do I have the word stupid written across my forehead?” the man snarled.
“I—uh—you’re wearing that m-mask thing, so I d-don’t know.”
As a shocked silence fell around them, she suddenly realized what she’d said.
“S-sorry,” she shouted. “I didn’t mean—”
“This is bullshit,” the man snapped, and abruptly lowering the gun, he shot the ground near Marco’s feet.
An explosion of concrete chips and powder blew up around his legs.
As he leapt backwards, Steph screamed, but managing to catch his balance, he grabbed her arm and jerked her against him.
“Last chance,” the man shouted. “Tell me what you know and tell me fucking now!”
“For fuck’s sake, Steph, just fucking tell him!” Marco thundered.
“He gave me a flash drive,” Steph admitted frantically. “He said if anything happened to him I should give it to the police.”
“What’s on it?” the man demanded. “Don’t fucking lie to me!”
“He made me promise not to look at it, and I haven’t. I swear, I haven’t.”
“Where is it?”
“In my apartment.”
“I tore that fuckin’ dump apart.”
“It’s inside the pole holding up the shower curtain.”
“You’ve got your answer,” Marco said, his voice stern, but calm. “Now get the hell out of here, and tell the brothers I’m not happy about this shit. I can still yank my money. Pull another stunt like this and I will.”
But the men were already running to the Mercedes. Leaping into the car, they burned rubber as they sped off.
Steph’s entire body shook, and as she sank against Marco’s chest, he wrapped his arms around her.
“It’s all right,” he murmured, hugging her tightly, then hastily moved her to his Rover and helped her into the front seat. “Sit here for a minute. We’ll go back into the club, but I need to do something first,” he said urgently, reaching into his pocket and retrieving his phone.
