Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
“But how is that possible?” she asked as she placed her finger over the pad. Sure enough, a light turned green.
“He must have done it at some stage,” Slade said. “Maybe while you were asleep?"
God, she could just see that bastard doing that. For all she knew, he’d drugged her one night.
“What about the pin code?” Quaid said. “Any ideas?”
“It’s four digits, maybe his birthday?” she said.
“I don’t think so. Seems too obvious,” Slade said.
“My birthday? Hmm. What about the day we met? Not many people would know that. Only him and I. And Maggie.”
“Try it,” Quaid said.
She put the pin in, her fingers shaking. Then she waited a few seconds. Drat. Had it not worked?
Suddenly, the box opened to reveal a pen drive inside.
“What the hell? Why would he leave you this?” Slade asked. He’d come over to look at the contents.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“I think we should get Shepherd to check the pen drive on one of his secured computers,” Quaid said.
Slade nodded and walked back over to the desk to pick up his phone. He frowned as something caught his attention on his screen.
“Fuck! Who the hell are they? There are four guys at the door,” he said urgently. “Can’t see their faces, but they’re trying to get in. One of them . . . just opened the fucking door! How the hell did they have a code?” Slade grabbed his phone, speaking into it. “Shep, trouble. Four armed thugs. At the club. Go to camera. Get some guys on standby.” Slade immediately put the phone down as three men burst into the room.
Quaid had stepped in front of Indie, blocking her view. Her heart was racing so hard that she was going to be ill. All she saw when she looked at the men were the guns in their hands.
Then she really took them in.
Shit. It was the same guys that she’d run into outside the apartment she’d lived in with Billy. When she’d been searching through her handbag for her keys.
“Hello, don’t be alarmed,” one of them said. He was the one she’d bumped into. “We’re not here to harm you. Just to get back some property that belongs to us.” He nodded at the box that she’d set down on the coffee table.
Shit. He’d be able to see that it was open.
That didn’t seem like a good sign.
“And what could possibly belong to you that we’d have?” Slade asked. “Also, that you’d need to bring guns to collect?”
“It always pays to be careful. And the thing we want is that pen drive.”
If they wanted it so badly, they could have it. She went to hand it to them, but Quaid took it from her, stepping in front of her once more.
“Why would you want the pen drive?” Quaid asked. “And what happens to us once you get it?”
“We leave, of course,” the main guy said.
Would they just leave? They’d seen their faces. Weren’t they worried about them reporting these guys to the cops?
“Look, we’ve really got no interest in killing you all,” he said. “In fact, that could create quite a few issues for us considering who your families are. And the fact that we have connections to a business rival of yours.”
Huh? What business rival?
Slade stiffened. “Zodiac Construction?”
“Now, I didn’t say that. All we want is the box and we’ll leave peacefully. Do you really want to fight us over something from that slimeball, Billy?”
“What’s on the pen drive?” Quaid asked.
“Just some information that belongs to us.”
“Information worth killing him over?” Slade asked.
The guy smiled. But it wasn’t a nice smile. It looked mean and cold and she shivered.
Yep. This asshole had killed Billy.
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to,” he said.
Why did everything he say sound like a threat?
“There was no love lost between us and Billy,” Quaid said. “He hurt our girl. If you didn’t kill him, we would have.”
Wait. They would have?
Or was he just saying that?
“Yeah, Billy was a real peach. You’re a pretty girl, Indie. You deserved better than him. Of course, I didn’t think you were going to end up with four guys. One from one of the richest families in England. And another who is the heir to a dukedom.”
Spencer and Quaid, he meant.
Hearing him say her name was creepy.
“And another with a good head for business.” He smiled over at Slade. But it was a shark’s smile.
All teeth and bite.
She shuddered. “You’ll leave without hurting anyone? If we give you this pen drive?”
“Of course,” he said.
Slade and Quaid stared at each other silently. They were tense, neither of them wanted to give in.
“Of course, if you don’t give it to us, we’ll just have to take it. That way won’t be so pleasant. And I’m sure you’re wanting to get back to your baby.”