CHAPTER 2

Thug One nods his dark, closely cropped head. “Dandridge is coming with us,” he says in a deep voice that one would expect from someone his size.

Harry slowly lowers the bat and takes two steps in my direction. I keep my pepper spray trained on him because he’s still got the bat. The buckets of sweat dripping off Harry’s face are telling and there’s a good chance he might pee his pants any second. His willy is still hanging out and this is not something I care to see.

Harry has the nerve to whisper at me like we’re a team, “Get me out of here and there’s ten grand in it for you.” He takes another step in my direction. I have no idea why he thinks I can save either of us with a can of pepper spray.

I give a half-eye to Caddy-thug-dudes. Thug One steps closer, his gun turns fully to Harry. “Moon wants Dandridge and one way or another, he’s ours.”

Well shit. I can’t help feeling sympathy for Harry. Whatever he’s done, he’s pissed off the wrong person. I know who Moon is. If you’re a drug dealer, hooker, illegal gambler, or a cop you know who Moon is. Harry is in a shitload of trouble, and I have a feeling Mrs. Dandridge won’t need to worry about the pre-nup she signed.

“Twenty grand,” Harry says in desperation. His eyes jump around the garage most likely looking for an escape route that won’t get his ass blown off.

“Put down the bat,” I tell him in an even voice. He doesn’t hesitate. The bat slides through his fingers and clangs against the cement. Harry inches closer. Now my canister turns toward the men. Thug One gives a slight shake of his head like he can’t believe I’m this stupid. Seriously, I can’t believe it either.

I come back with my own chin nod and add some sheer bravado because it’s all I have. “I have no intention of allowing Mr. Dandridge to become part of a cement building foundation. You need to get into your cars and get lost.”

I would swear a grin tips the corners of Thug One’s lips. He lifts his left hand and places his palm toward me in a pacifying manner. “Moon wants a face-to-face with Dandridge to talk about a personal matter.” His lips scrunch together and now I’m sure it’s a grin he’s fighting. “Not,” he assures me, “as an ingredient for a cement foundation.”

I almost believe him. “Then why the guns?”

He takes another step closer, his hand still raised toward me and his other hand still aiming a gun at Harry. “You don’t bring muscle to a bat fight.”

Well, there you have it because Thug One has a solid point, along with plenty of muscle. You don’t bring pepper spray to a gun fight either, and I’ve just been put in my place. The dumbest thing I’ve done since acquiring my PI license is pulling pepper spray on Dandridge. I blink rapidly so I can see through a drop of sweat that’s just entered my right eye. “If that’s the case, you won’t mind if I tag along?” I have no intention of tagging along, I’m just trying to get a better read on the situation.

Before Thug One replies, Harry yells, “Stupid bitch,” and tackles me. I go down and my head connects with a concrete bumper-guard.

The world goes black.

The throb wakes me and the last thing I want is to open my eyes. Maybe someone set off explosives in my brain. I can hear the soft whir of a ceiling fan while the cool air cascades over me. My head actually thumps to the whir. While I’m contemplating opening my eyes, I use my other senses to give me a clue about what’s happened.

I’m not in my own bed. Mine has a lumpy mattress. The bed I’m lying on is firm and comfortable. The ceiling fan in my bedroom twirls with a loud, steady hum. This one is finely balanced and it’s only the generated wind that makes noise.

Like a remembered nightmare, I suddenly recall Dandridge’s hairy dick, a silver bat, and several men with guns. My eyes pop open. The room, thankfully, has muted light, though I still squint as I look around. I give a small scream when I see a man sitting in a large chair in the shadowed corner of the room. He’s watching me. My head objects to the scream, so I slam my jaw shut, roll to my side, and cover my face with my forearm. A soft moan caused by the pain escapes my throat. The man doesn’t make a sound. It’s a minute or two before I can peel my eyes open again.

He’s still there.

His arms are stretched along the armrests of the chair and his fingers wrapped over the ends. I can tell he’s tall because I can’t see the back of the chair behind the top of his shoulders and head. His legs are long and clad in suit pants similar to the ones the thugs wore. They must keep Thugs-R-Us in business.

“Miss Kinlock.” His smooth whiskey voice fills the room.

“Who…” I croak and try again, “Who are you and where am I?” A sudden ache travels behind my head and I wince.

“Lift up.” His voice startles me because it’s directly in my ear. I never heard him move. His hand slides beneath the pillow under my head and he helps me sit up slightly. The cool rim of a glass meets my lips. “I have something here for pain, but take a drink of water first.”

He smells good—in a musky, delicious cologne and man kind of way. It’s such a stupid thing to think about when my last memories are of Dandridge’s dick and thugs with guns. I take a sip of water and then have two pills slipped between my lips. There’s this strange jolt of pleasure at his touch. It throws me off balance, more than a blow to the head has, and like an idiot, I swallow. I have no idea what kind of pills I’ve just taken. My brain is quite slow on the uptake, and I decide if I swallowed illegal drugs, I’ll live with the consequences as long as they take away my damn headache.

I inhale slowly and open my eyes just in time to see the man lean his hip into the mattress and sit beside me. The sheet covering me stops just below my breasts, and his movement pulls it down a bit farther. He doesn’t so much as sneak a peek at my breasts. I’m impressed.

“You are?” I ask in a low voice that doesn’t distress my brain too much.

He has such an intense look of concentration on his face. I feel like a puzzle he’s attempting to put together. He moves a section of my hair off my cheek. His eyes follow the movement of his hand and I think he’s actually surprised at what he’s done. “Call me Moon.”

Damn. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I’m in a bad situation. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him. It’s the shadows of the room and the damage to my brain cells. Or, at least that’s the story I’m feeding myself. I’ve seen countless pictures of him. He’s usually escorting some woman to a ritzy fund-raising event, though he somehow manages to turn his face from the cameras. If not a public appearance, the pictures are taken with a telephoto lens trying to catch him in illegal activity.

His low voice fills the room when he says, “I’m turning on the light to check the dilation of your eyes.” He speaks in clipped, precise English. No heavy accent, but there’s something not quite American English about his voice. I grab his hand to stop him as he reaches for the lamp beside the bed. It feels like lightning meeting a body of water. The sizzling current skims across my flesh. When I glance up, I see he’s focused on our hands too. Even without the light, my white skin is offset by his darkness. I wonder if he felt the same jolt I did. The thought is silly; I must have imagined it. I relax my fingers and pull my hand away. He looks up and our eyes meet. His expression is impossible to identify. He gives nothing away. It’s as if the air is heavy and it’s pressing against my chest making it difficult to breathe.

This man is deadly and dangerous. Every part of me knows it.