Cheyenne McCray - Point Blank (Lawmen Book 4) (12 page)

“Okle told me you didn’t know, but gave me orders if anything was to happen.” Hector narrowed his gaze. “Now that you know what’s inside, you need to know a few other things.”

Natasha’s skin felt tight and her head buzzed.

“If you open your mouth, everyone you care about will die.” Hector’s words cut the air like knives, and Natasha felt as if they were slicing open her chest. “One person at a time.”

Terror made her entire body shake and she swallowed down a scream.

“I don’t know the details of who your family and friends are, but Okle does and that’s all that matters.” Hector narrowed his gaze. “I do know what will happen if you go to law enforcement. Wherever the people you care about live, they will be killed off one at a time.
You
will not die, at least not right away. Instead you will watch each of them as they suffer a slow, painful death.”

Tears burned at the back of Natasha’s eyes. The thought of any of those she loved being murdered was enough to tear her apart.

She heard laughter as someone entered her showroom. Hector straightened and changed his expression so that it was a pleasant one. His dark eyes remained cold. “Stand and smile.”

Her legs vibrated as she got to her feet, her gaze never leaving Hector’s. She forced a smile and her lips trembled.

“Greet your customers.” He maintained a pleasant expression. “Make sure they know the prints and statuettes are not available.”

Why did he care about the prints? She faced three women who had entered the showroom and were discussing Natasha’s display.

“Welcome to Precious Treasures.” Natasha heard the shakiness in her words as she projected her voice so the women would hear her. When she had their attention, she added, “The numbered prints and the resin statuettes are all sold. Everything else is available for purchase.”

One of the women said something polite but Natasha couldn’t hear because her ears were buzzing so loudly now.

The man continued to smile as she turned her gaze back to him. He kept his voice low enough that only she could hear, but the danger in his words was unmistakable. “Stay away from all law enforcement. Do not tell
anyone
. I have made it very clear what will happen if you do.”

“My family and friends will die,” she whispered, holding back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

He raised the receipt, almost looking friendly. “I will see you at our appointed time on closing day.”

Natasha said nothing. Just stared after him without seeing anything.

The letter.
The image of the mysterious note she had received in the mail came to her in a rush.

She realized one of the women was speaking to her. Natasha fixed a smile and somehow managed to reply automatically to whatever the question was.

When the woman returned to the others, Natasha reached below the table for her purse, careful to not bump her coat or the statue. She reached inside and her fingers touched the envelope containing the letter, and she drew it out of her purse.

She wondered if her hands would ever stop shaking. She slid the folded piece of paper out of the envelope. The paper shook, her fingers barely holding onto it as she read it over again.

Natasha,

I have no choice but to be cryptic in this message, in case the letter falls into the wrong hands.

No matter what happens, do as you are told. Do not involve law enforcement of any kind, including family members and friends.

This means especially Trace and Christie. If you tell them, their lives, and the life of their daughter, will be in danger.

This is not a prank or a joke. You are in a deadly serious situation, even though you do not know it. If something happens at one of your tradeshows, remember what I have told you.

Your life depends on it.

A friend

A friend. What friend would send a message like this?

Yet it was strangely comforting. Someone out there knew what Natasha was going through. That meant she wasn’t entirely alone.

She wished she knew who had written the letter. If it wasn’t for the paper in her hands, she might have thought she had just imagined everything that had happened in the last fifteen minutes.

Her throat hurt from swallowing so much. She closed her eyes. How was she going to survive this?

She opened her eyes again and stared out the showroom windows at the growing number of people.

Whatever it took to keep everyone safe, she would do it. She would stay away from anyone in law enforcement, including her cousin’s husband, Trace. She’d have to grow distant, but she couldn’t let anything happen to anyone she loved.

Tears bit at the backs of her eyes again. How could she stay away from people who meant more to her than anything?

That was it. They meant too much to put them in danger.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she saw the K9 officer walk by the showroom window with his canine companion. Panic caused her heart to slam in her chest. If they came into the showroom, the dog would no doubt sniff out the cocaine.

God, she prayed they wouldn’t come in.

The officer’s gaze met hers and she wondered if he could see the secrets and the lies she would have to tell for as long as Mark had this hold over her.

Which could be for the rest of her life.

The sound of chicken noodle soup being slurped by one of the retirees set Mark’s teeth on edge. He had the sudden desire to grab the bowl from Henry’s shaky hands and dump it on his fucking head.

Mark forced himself to calm his emotions as he swept his gaze over the elderly gathered around the long dinner table in the retirement center. Some residents took their meals in their rooms, but most liked the social aspect of eating a meal together.

In addition to the soup, today’s fare included the worst meatloaf Mark had ever remembered having, lumpy mashed potatoes, creamed corn, and canned fruit. At least the warm smells of a home cooked meal were good and the chocolate cake was decent.

With the money he earned from his lucrative side business, Mark intended to have someone prepare meals for him when he retired. Perhaps a live-in housekeeper who also cooked, once Mark reached an age where he couldn’t do those things for himself. He was not settling for bad meatloaf.

He looked across the table at Selena and his mother, Martha. Selena was so damned gorgeous that it made his chest ache. She was even more beautiful to him as she laughed and talked with Martha, who wiped her nose with a wrinkled tissue that she’d pulled out of the pocket of her flowered muumuu. It was obvious Selena cared for Martha, and that warmed his heart in a way that nothing else could or would.

He always found it fascinating how a killer like Selena could be so friendly and caring.

Guilt about getting his mother sick weighed heavy on his belly. Six of the center’s residents had come down with colds since he came last week, and two of them were having a hard time recovering.

At least it wasn’t the flu, he told himself. Although most of those at the center were immunized every fall, at least one or two residents came down with a case of influenza, which was dangerous to the elderly.

He covered his mouth with a napkin when he coughed. He was finally over the cold, but his cough had worsened. It had been a week since he came down with it, and even though he was still coughing, he was certain he wasn’t contagious any longer. At least he hoped not.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see a number with a Colorado area code. He pushed his chair back from the table and got to his feet. He gave his mother and Selena an apologetic smile, and held up his phone and five fingers to tell them to give him five minutes to take care of the phone call.

While he walked to the center’s lobby, where he wouldn’t be overheard, he answered the phone with a clipped, “Mark Okle speaking.”

“Mark.” A man with a semi-familiar suave voice spoke. “This is Hector Gonzales in Denver.”

“Hector. Hello.” Mark felt a sense of foreboding wash over him. There was no reason for one of his buyers to be calling him, unless something was wrong. “Did you purchase the shipment?”

“Yes,” Hector said. “I will take possession at the end of the show. It is an ingenious way to transport the product.”

“Great.” Mark blew out his breath.
Thank God.
This had been one of his biggest sales ever, almost double the amount of the previous shows. “What can I help you with?”

“We have a problem.”

The sensation that he was about to get very bad news squeezed Mark’s gut. “What is it?”

Hector had a knife-sharp edge to his words. “Your mule knows.”

Sweat broke out across Mark’s forehead. “How did Natasha find out?”

“She dropped one of the statuettes at the show.” Hector sounded like a man who was pissed to find himself in the middle of the situation. “The base broke and a bag of product fell out.”

“Fuck.”
Mark paced the empty lobby, staring at the floor as he moved. He rubbed his scalp with his palm. “What did you do?”

“Followed established protocol, of course.” Hector flung out the words. “I threatened her and told her harm would come to every person she loved if she didn’t stay away from law enforcement. I made it clear that she either cooperates or she loses people she cares about one by one.”

“Good, good.” Mark coughed into the napkin he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying.

“Will this be an issue?” Hector’s voice was hard, as if he might pull a gun any moment. Mark was glad they were in separate states, because the bastard might have done just that. “Do I need to have one of my employees take care of her?”

Mark had no problem being ruthless, even with women. But he liked Natasha enough that he didn’t want to hurt her. That would change if she didn’t do as she was told. Nothing interfered with his business and his own life. He’d worked hard to get where he was, and he wasn’t about to let anyone screw it up for him.

“I’ll deal with her.” Mark rubbed his hand over his head again.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He didn’t need this right now. “Nothing will change. She will continue to move product through her shows. She won’t have a choice.”

“When it is time to take possession of the product at the end of the show, I will have employees pick it up and deliver it to our warehouse.” The warehouse Hector mentioned was an enormous cave hidden in the mountains. “I do not plan to be anywhere close in case she does not behave.”

“She’ll behave.” Mark spat the statement. “Or else.”

He looked in the direction of the arched doorway that led from the living room into the lobby. Selena stood beneath the arch, her arms crossed over her chest, an unreadable expression on her beautiful features.

She was probably annoyed with him for being on the phone while he was supposed to be spending time with his mother. This was important, and he wouldn’t allow Selena or anyone else to make him feel guilty.

He waved her off. He was talking business and didn’t have time for her to scrutinize him. She didn’t leave, just watched him.

“Thank you for calling, Hector.” Mark struggled to keep his frustration out of his voice. Damn Natasha. “Please update me if anything unexpected happens.”

“Of that, you can be certain.” The phone went dead.

Mark nearly flung the phone across the room.

He stopped pacing and closed his eyes, lowered the phone, and stuffed it into his pocket. When he opened his eyes again, Selena was still standing in the entryway, watching him.

“I am sorry, my dear.” Mark went to her and rested his hands on her shoulders. She smelled of honey and blossoms. “Business. It seems that one of my customers had a problem with the shipment I sent to her in Denver. Nothing to worry about.”

“Something you would like me to deal with?” Selena tilted her head to the side as she traced the line of his jaw. The woman was so damn sensual. “You know how much I like to take care of your problems.”

He thought about it a moment. It was tempting to do away with Natasha, but she was a huge asset, and had opened up an entirely new way of moving product. “I’ve got it under control.” He rested his hand on Selena’s waist. “If Natasha doesn’t cooperate, I’ll have you do what you’re so good at.”

Selena gave him a slow, sexy smile. “I’d like that very much.” She ran her index finger from his collarbone down along the opening of his collared shirt. Her touch made him suck in his breath. “Your mother misses you and asked me to come find you.”

“I promise to be a good boy.” He slid his arm around Selena’s shoulders. “Let’s get back to Mother.”

“I like it when you are a good boy.” Selena gave him a sultry smile. “But I love it when you are a bad boy. A very bad boy.”

Mark’s dick went hard, and he brought her into the circle of his arms. “I think we should say goodbye to Mother now, and I will take you home and show you just what a bad boy I can be.”

“I have a better idea.” Her smile grew positively wicked. She nodded to the closet just off the lobby. “Let me show you what a naughty girl can do to a very bad boy.”

Mark’s dick ached and he felt like it would jab a hole through his slacks like a spear. He was already unbuttoning his slacks as she led him to the closet.

After Brooks checked his watch, he stuffed his cold hands into the pockets of his leather bomber jacket. He was on schedule for his meet with Jase Wright.

The icy air chilled his nose. He’d grown up with plenty of cold weather in Big Sky, Montana, but he’d gotten used to the pleasant year-round climate in Bisbee. His dad would say Brooks had grown soft. Brooks would say he didn’t give a damn because he preferred not to freeze his ass off a good portion of the year.

He walked up to Jase and his K9 partner at one corner of the tradeshow building, in a prearranged location. Brooks wasn’t worried about Natasha seeing them—he and Jase were in an out of the way location, and she would be busy with customers since she didn’t have an assistant with her.

“Brooks, meet Taz.” Jase rubbed the top of his K9 companion’s head. “This is one smart girl.”