Strip Tease (21 page)

Busting through the double doors, the cook
scurried out of the kitchen, a worried expression on his narrow
rat-like face. “Hell, I bet we’re getting busted!”

Janelle wanted to scream in frustration. The
restaurant was full of criminal activity too?

Billy exhaled sharply and Janelle wouldn’t
have been surprised if fire accompanied it, he appeared that
enraged. “Now your detective boyfriend has called out his buddies.
He leaves me no choice.”

Reaching into the dark brown suede jacket he
wore, he withdrew a handgun, aiming it right at Ginger’s forehead,
the muzzle pressed against her skin. A loud gasp sounded and
Janelle realized it came from her.

“Don’t hurt her,” she said, her words
tumbling over each other. Her heart beat wildly and the scared look
in Ginger’s eyes spurred her on. “Please, Billy. You love her. You
don’t really want to hurt her, do you?”

“If I can’t have her, no one can.” His lips
had thinned into a grim line and he nudged the gun against Ginger’s
temple. She whimpered and he stared down at her with sorrow-filled
eyes. “Sorry, sweetheart. You should’ve never left me. None of this
would’ve happened if you’d stuck by my side.”

Tears blackened by mascara streaked down
Ginger’s cheeks and she hiccupped. “Don’t do it, Billy. I won’t
tell anyone anything, I promise. Please don’t kill me.”

Ah God, this is not happening.
Janelle sat frozen in the booth, feeling like she was in a movie or
a nightmare. Things like this didn’t happen in real life.

“I promise. I’ll keep my mouth shut. Your
lawyer will get you out of jail like he always does and we’ll be
together again. Forever. Doesn’t that sound nice?” Ginger nodded
slightly and Janelle noticed he moved the gun away from Ginger’s
head a fraction of an inch.

“Billy Diaz, we know you’re in there. Come
out of the restaurant with your hands up.” A loud voice boomed from
outside, surely through a megaphone.

Janelle glanced out the window to see the
parking lot swarming with cars and cops. Men dressed in suits and
sunglasses, other men dressed in the black armor that SWAT teams
wore.

The waitress shrieked and dropped the empty
tray she’d been carrying. It clattered to the floor, making all
three of them in the booth jump. The cook shook his head, resting
his hands on his hips.

“At least they’re not after us,” the cook
said, the relief clear in his voice.

Billy closed his eyes, the gun starting to
tremble in his hand. Fear for her sister filled Janelle and she
watched him, her breath stalled in her throat. One wrong move and
he could put a bullet through Ginger’s skull.

“Come on, Billy.” Ginger reached out,
tentative as she went for Billy’s hand. She circled his wrist with
her fingers, the one that held the gun and she tugged on it,
pulling the gun away from her head. “Do it for me because I’m going
to help you. You don’t want to kill me. You love me. I know you
love me. We love each other. We want to be together. Forever.”

“I do love you,” he said, his voice ragged,
his eyes bright and crazy looking. “I love you so much, Ginger. I
hate that you ran away from me. Why’d you do it, baby?”

Ginger shook her head. “I was scared, Billy.
So scared. But now that we’re together again, I feel safe. Please
don’t hurt me. I love you.”

Janelle watched them, admiring the expert
way her sister handled him. She wondered if Ginger was sincere. Did
she really love Billy? Or was she saying that so he wouldn’t shoot
her?

“Aw baby, I hate to see you cry.” He reached
for her with his free hand, feathering his fingers across her
cheek.

“Then don’t do something stupid. You kill me
and you’ll get life in prison. You don’t want that. Let’s
surrender.” Ginger smiled brightly, but her eyes were still
dull.

He jerked his free hand away from her, the
gun nudging her temple once more. “Hell, no. I’m not going down.
Once I give myself up, I’ll never get out.”

“Yes, you will.” Ginger’s voice rang firm.
“Your lawyer is the best. You’ve always told me that. He’ll get you
off. He got you off before. Maybe you’ll spend a couple of months
in jail tops, but then you’re out. I’ll make sure you get out. And
then we can be together.”

“We can?” The gun moved away from her
temple.

Ginger nodded. “I’ll do anything for you,
Billy. So will everyone else. We’ve always been loyal to you,
haven’t we?”

“Yeah,” he said softly, his gaze jerking to
the window when they summoned him with the megaphone once again. He
ignored it. “Can I believe you, Ginger?”

“Yes,” she breathed, leaning into him. She
lifted her face, her mouth close to his. “Believe in me. Believe in
us.”

Their mouths fused in a passionate kiss and
Janelle looked away, not sure if she should be disgusted or
relieved.

“Everything is on you.” He cupped Ginger’s
cheek with his free hand, his fingers stroking downward. “If you
don’t come through with your promise, I’ll end up in jail for a
long time.”

“You can count on me. I love you,” she said
for what felt like the hundredth time.

Billy’s gaze slid toward Janelle, the gun
still wavering in his hand. For a moment, she thought he might
point it at her.

“I can’t fucking believe this. Your
detective is gonna love it.” With a sigh he stood, still carrying
the gun. He bent forward and pressed a fleeting kiss to Ginger’s
forehead before he turned toward the door. “You promise?”

He watched Ginger from over his shoulder,
his tall lean body taut, his expression grim.

Ginger gazed up at him and nodded slowly. “I
swear on everything I have, Billy. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

With a deep breath, he headed toward the
front door. The waitress and cook stood rooted in front of the cash
register, watching as he slowly opened the door and stepped outside
with his hands hanging by his sides, the gun dangling from his
fingers.

“Drop the weapon, Diaz!” someone yelled.

Billy didn’t drop it.

Ginger whimpered and Janelle went to her
sister’s side of the booth, sliding in next to her so she could
offer her comfort.

“Drop it, damn it! Put your hands up!”

Billy lifted his right hand, the gun’s metal
gleaming in the bright sunlight as he brought the muzzle to his
temple. Ginger shrieked, tried to leap out of the booth. Janelle
clamped her arm around her shoulders, keeping her still.

Her blood ran cold, her stomach bottomed out
as fear slithered through her.

“Don’t do it, Diaz! Drop the fucking weapon
now!”

Billy pressed the gun hard to his right
temple. “I can’t go to jail, Ginger. I love you, baby.”

And then he pulled the trigger.

* * * *

Janelle held her sister to her, running her
hand over her disheveled hair. Ginger pressed her face into
Janelle’s neck, her shoulders wracked with great big heaving sobs,
her tears soaking Janelle’s skin.

She figured they were both in shock, Ginger
far more so. Janelle still couldn’t believe Billy had shot himself
on the front step of the diner, right in front of everyone.

A horrible sight she’d never forget.

“Ginger Pearson?” A tall, thin man in a suit
stood in front of the booth where they still sat. Janelle looked up
to find him watching the both of them, his expression serious.

Ginger moved away from Janelle, sniffing
loudly. “I’m Ginger.”

“Ginger Pearson, I’m placing you under
arrest. Please stand up.” Another cop came up behind him, his
expression eager. He went for Ginger and grabbed her hand, pulling
her out of the booth seat. She swayed on her feet and he grabbed
both of her arms, turning her around so the other guy could cuff
her.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Janelle
scrambled out of the booth, hysteria filling her. After the shock
of everything that occurred, they were going to arrest her
sister?

“Stay out of it, miss. We have orders.” He
gestured to Ginger. “Relax.”

Ginger did as she was told, a solemn
expression on her tired, tear streaked face as the man slid the
handcuffs around her wrists. Janelle could only stare in horror,
dumbfounded. So afraid for Ginger and uncertain of what would
happen next.

The officer read Ginger her rights and
Janelle glanced around the restaurant. It was swarming with people,
a few uniformed cops, but mostly men in casual suits. Federal
agents, she could only assume.

Janelle released a shuddering breath and
shook her head. Where was Nate? Couldn’t he put a stop to this?

“I’ll call you when they set bail,” Ginger
told her as the two men began to escort her out of the
restaurant.

“Hold on, let me find Detective Banks. This
is a mistake. She shouldn’t be arrested,” Janelle pleaded with the
two stone-faced agents as she followed them. They led Ginger
through the kitchen and exited through the back door, no doubt to
keep their crime scene intact in the front, escorting Ginger toward
an unmarked car.

“Banks has nothing to do with this, ma’am.
This is out of his hands. It’s a federal case. She needs to be
brought in for questioning immediately,” one of the agents told
her.

Janelle stopped at the last step, watching
as they pushed Ginger into the cruiser and slammed the door. Ginger
shot her a quick smile from the window and settled into her seat,
fresh tears sliding down her cheeks.

Anger mounted inside Janelle as she strode
through the throng of onlookers and police officers, the many
federal agents who were laughing and slapping each other on the
backs. As if they caught a prize fish or something, rather than
watched a man kill himself. She caught sight of the various media
with their big, obvious white vans and she turned away.

Nate was nowhere to be found.

Finally, she spotted him the moment he
spotted her, and he sprinted toward her, the relief clearly visible
on his handsome face.

“Thank God you’re all right.” He drew her
into his arms but she remained stiff, still full of anger.
Withdrawing slightly, he peered down at her. “What’s wrong?”

Janelle pulled out of his grip. “You know
what’s wrong.”

His brows furrowed. “Why don’t you enlighten
me?”

“They arrested Ginger!” Janelle practically
shouted, then took a deep breath before she continued. Tears
started to form in her eyes. “Why, Nate?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his unruly
hair. “Procedure, Janelle. They have a warrant. They want to press
charges.”

“I thought you were going to try and help
get those charges dismissed.”

“This sort of thing takes time. And I don’t
know if I can, what with Diaz killing himself. Christ.” Nate shook
his head, agony written all over his face. “Thank God he didn’t
hurt you.”

Emotion made his voice crack but she ignored
it, ignored the surge of answering emotion within her chest. Damn
it, she needed to focus on Ginger.

“She would’ve gone willingly. She would’ve
answered every single one of their questions. Why did they have to
arrest her?” The tears came now, fat ones rolling down her cheeks
and she swiped at them furiously.

She hated to cry, hated to look vulnerable,
especially in front of a man.

A man who looked like wanted to do nothing
but yank her into his arms.

“Everything’s changed, Janelle. Billy’s
dead. They might be walking around with smiles on their faces, but
they’re pissed. They wanted to watch him go down. Damn it,
I
wanted to watch him go down.” Nate swallowed hard. “Are you all
right?” His voice turned gentle, his eyes full of concern.

She shook her head, shook off his sympathy.
The very last thing she wanted. “I’m fine. It’s my sister who’s the
emotional mess. The one who’s sitting in the back of a car with
handcuffs on.”

“Listen, I’ll do what I can to get her out
of there, but I can’t make any promises.”

Janelle threw her hands up in the air. “Of
course you can’t!”

“Janelle.” His voice was sharp, his
expression raw. “Please. I didn’t mean for it to happen this way,
no one did. But once the federal government became involved, I had
to wash my hands of this case.”

She knew what he said was true, but she was
still mad. And she had to take it out on someone.

Unfortunately, Nate was her target.

“If she has to go to prison, I don’t know
what she’ll do,” Janelle murmured.

Nate’s gaze softened. “I know, sweetheart.
You’re worried about your sister, I understand. I’ll do my best to
help her. I’ll talk to someone. I promise.”

Janelle lifted her chin. “I don’t know if I
can believe your promise.”

He flinched as if she hit him. “They’ll want
to talk to you too,” he reminded her, his voice cold. “You were in
there with them. You heard what they said.”

“Fine, so I’ll talk to them. But not
now.”

“Janelle, they won’t let you leave until you
talk to them, trust me.”

“Stop saying trust me! How can I trust you
when you didn’t protect my sister like you promised?”

Nate stared at her as if she lost her mind.
Tentatively he reached out and touched her forearm. “You’re angry
with me.”

“Yes!”
No.

She wasn’t angry at him, she was angry at
everyone. Angry at her sister, for getting into this mess, at Billy
for killing himself, at the cops, who didn’t seem to give a
shit.

“I can’t take this.” Janelle jerked from his
touch and turned away. “It’s too much.”

Billy’s earlier words rang through her head,
coupled with her own doubts. His accusations about Nate using her
to get to Ginger. She’d been able to ignore them, but now they
returned with a vengeance.

“Don’t do this.” Nate grabbed her again,
cupping her shoulders. Turning her around, he forced her to look up
at him with a little shake. “Don’t run away from me now.”