Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“We haven’t gotten started yet. I was trying to bake a cake when you came in. I needed to work with my hands or something. I don’t know how many times I’ve run them through my hair, waiting for them to be ready for me.”
“Don’t be nervous. You’re going to do just fine.”
Alex came back into the room. “Hey, we’re heading out. Our team will be listening in on the call. Once we’re in place, we’ll contact you. You can do this, Hope.”
Savage and two other officers left the house to join the SWAT team for the arrest. Alex had no intention of missing the look on Cummings’s face.
An hour later…
“Okay. We’re set up, Ms. Cummings. We’re setting your location to New York City.”
Hope rubbed her hands together. “Game on.”
Chapter Fourteen
A little shiver ran up Cummings’s spine as he pulled up to Navarro’s mansion. A lot weighed on his meeting with the man he let down. His bitch of a daughter had betrayed him and ran. Now he was in a world of hurt and it was all her fault. His eyes scanned the vicinity as he exited his vehicle. Guards stood around the perimeter of the walled-in home while another two guards manned the entrance. Cummings swallowed the lump in his throat and yet it still sat there, nearly choking him. Sweat beaded on his neck, but he mentally chastised the sun for it.
Navarro called the meeting two days before, but Cummings stalled, claiming to have to dispose of a body. Although Jimmy’s body had to be dealt with, he had nothing to do with it. He knew things could go south in a heartbeat. Cummings killed two of his men in forty-eight hours because of this.
He was searched by a guard before he was allowed to enter the luxurious property. The treatment hadn’t been appreciated, but given the situation between them and his volatile reactions lately, Cummings had expected no less. With a nod from the guard, the well-dressed Navarro stepped out onto the front portico with a powerful stride that forced Cummings to adjust his shoulders and take a step back. Navarro stuck out his hand and Cummings eased just a bit, taking it as a slight tension breaker.
“Cummings, it’s good of you to accept my meeting,” Navarro greeted his guest with a crack of his lips that one wouldn’t call a smile, but not a grimace either. Still, the host led him into the house.
Baxter Cummings felt his entire body shiver, but he didn’t let it show. Instead, he took a deep breath and entered the large home at Navarro’s side. “Well, I understand that you’re a little upset with your prize missing. I will bring her to you.”
When they entered the study, Navarro waved his hand toward the two large leather chairs facing each other. “Please take a seat.” Cummings looked around the room, checking the exits and the number of guards Navarro placed around the room. “Relax. Do you want a drink?”
“Um…yes…please.” Navarro’s maid came over with two glasses of cognac on the rocks.
“That’s quick service.” Cummings grabbed the glass with shaky hands, staring at the glass with a quirked brow.
Navarro chuckled, unbuttoned his suit jacket, and said, “Well, she knew to be prepared. Something that you get with loyal employees.”
“I’ve already dealt with some of the disappointing ones.”
A glint in Cummings’s eye caused Navarro to tilt his head. The host didn’t ask because it was of no concern to him, but it gave him a second look into who Cummings really was.
Navarro took a drink from his glass then set it on the small table next to him. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, and added, “I want you to know the deal is off. It’s been a week since she left. She’s not worth the two million, and I’m glad she ran because I had a change of heart.”
“What?” His voice cracked as he straightened himself up in the chair. He sat the glass down and looked at Navarro pleadingly. Unbeknownst to the indebted man, he had nothing that Navarro wanted and was worthless. “I mean, would one million work?” Cummings needed the money, and he couldn’t wait a day longer to find the bitch who cost him so much. Her death played in his head as he pictured killing her over and over again. Different scenarios crossed his sick mind from a straight shot between the eyes to slow, painful torture.
Navarro tapped Cummings’s knee, then sat back to have another drink. “That’s if you find her in two days. Every day after that, it goes down a hundred thousand. Then I don’t want her at all.”
Biting his tongue and with a closed mouth, he said, “That’s fair. My men believe that she’s hiding up in Frisco.”
“Then you better find her soon. If she’s lost her cherry, then the deal is off.”