The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (32 page)

Andreas just shook his head and smiled ruefully.
Amateur.
He nodded his head at Gio who automatically turned and snapped open a case on a side table behind him. He began taking out much more sophisticated equipment.

“Fine. Your equipment is better.” Gio snickered and Andreas silenced him with a glance. She continued ignoring Gio’s inappropriate comment. “Anyway, he’s not very bright. Until Nikko showed up, I felt pretty confident I’d get him to talk, but now, I don’t know. He’s going to be suspicious. But, I’ve got to try. Before you take me back, I need to try one more time,” she rushed out. “I’ll do it your way. But, a trial is months away, and Gary will be in another country in just a few weeks. If I lose this chance, I lose my life. I am looking at years behind bars.”

Through her whole speech, Andreas watched her eyes. The girl was tough, and determined. He had gotten that same impression the moment he met her. Nikko definitely found himself a feisty one. There would be no controlling her. He quickly glanced at his other brothers. They were grim faced too. He needed to know just one thing if they were going to risk their license, their business, on her.

And when he spoke, it was like a punch to the gut for Ronnie. “Do you love my brother?” His eyes didn’t leave her face.

“I . . . I,” her pause got her glares from all three. Gio looked over her shoulder at Nikko questioningly.

“Of course, she loves me,” Nikko jumped in. He again reached for her and squeezed her shoulders taking a step closer to her. Her back was pressed against him.

Andreas made a face, his lips twisting into a curl. He grabbed the chair in front of him and pulled it out. “Sit,” he ordered.

Nikko gave her a reassuring push, and held a chair out for her. She sat, and he followed sitting beside her. He took her hand from her lap and held it. And then his other brothers eventually did the same each taking their seats on either side of the chair Andreas pulled out.

“Hmm. Okay.” He paused significantly before speaking again, but his expression showed his disappointment in his interrogation of her. “We’ll do it, but this is how it is going to go down. You’re going to call Gary and tell him you gave Nikko the slip late last night. You’re going to tell him that he’s going have to come get you because you don’t have transportation. You’re going to shack up in that abandoned warehouse we scoped out this morning.”

Andreas stood and began to pace as he talked. “Gio, go move the cars. Nikko give him your keys.” Gio got up and took Andreas’ keys first, then held out his hand to Nikko who passed keys to him over the table. He was already leaving before, Andreas spoke again. When he saw the confusion on Ronnie’s face, he clarified.

“In case your old lover boy decides to drive into town before you call him, we don’t want him seeing two rentals parked out front. Gio knows what to do. He’ll park one in the back by the employees parking area and one down the block.”

Ronnie nodded. “Makes sense,” she murmured. His look silenced her again, and he resumed his pacing.

“As I was saying, you’re going to ask Gary to come get you at that warehouse down the block, tell him that’s where you have been hiding. If he takes the bait, you are going to throw yourself at him. Kiss him, act your little heart out. Tell him you love him, and you’ll do whatever it takes for him to take you to Canada with him. Make it look good. Real good.”

“The hell she will!” Nikko jumped out of his seat, his chair flying backwards. He flew across the room to Andreas’ side of the table.

“Listen,” Andreas held up his hands to ward off his hot headed baby brother while taking a step forward as well. “We don’t have time for games. If we are going to get this guy fast, we have to make it look good. We can’t dick around.” He placed a pointed index finger in the middle of Nikko’s chest. “This girl, who loves you,” the words dripped sarcasm, “is a fugitive. Her lawyer is probably getting suspicious. The police in Hernando County may decide to do a drive by, and what the hell happens if they announce it on the news that she’s skipped. Gary boy, if he hasn’t already, will disappear off the radar. He’s fucking got the resources to do it too. We don’t have time for bullshit.”

“But,” Nikko started, his face red, and grim. He looked at Ronnie.

“If she’s got to stick her tongue down his throat, if she’s got to grab his cock, and moan to get this shit done today, she’s doing it.” Andreas was holding nothing back. They didn’t have the time, or the law on their side. They were aiding and abetting a fugitive.

Ronnie noticed Nikko’s fists clenched at his sides. She knew this was tearing him apart. What man would agree to allow the woman he loved to do this? She wouldn’t like it either if the tables were reversed. She had no choice but to take the decision out of his hands before this blew up.

“I’ll do it,” she jumped out of her seat. Nikko’s head whipped in her direction. His anger was now turned in her direction.

“I don’t want his fucking hands on you,” Nikko started for her, and Blaze stepped into his path.

She hadn’t even noticed the quietest of the four brothers getting up. She stepped between them.

“Nikko, please. If this can be over today, we can have a real chance. We won’t have this dark cloud looming over us. Over my mother, the baby.” Nikko’s face still looked grim, angry, and he was still trying to get around her to face Blaze and Andreas. She was desperate to get his approval on this plan. She needed this over so she stated the one thing she thought would make him get on board.

“Nikko, please,” she begged. “I know I haven’t said the words, but I do. And I can’t say them. Not until this is behind me. I won’t say them until my name is cleared and I can offer you me, all of me, without another dark cloud looming on the horizon. I have nothing to offer you until I know we can have a life together. I can’t say those words to you until I know for sure I can give you that. That’s why I haven’t told you I love you, because it wouldn’t be fair to you. To give you false hope when I’d be going to jail. I couldn’t do that to you.”

Her eyes began to tear during her pleading, and when she finally saw a hint of approval in Andrea’s eyes, she held back those tears with conviction. She squared her shoulders and waited for what would come next.

Nikko was finally able to twist out of Blaze’s grasp, and he rushed to her. He held her, to him, this woman he loved with his heart and soul.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. A strange voice called out that their order was being delivered. Their breakfast had arrived. Blaze went to the door, and Nikko turned Ronnie so she was hidden from any suspicious glances, but it hadn’t been necessary as Blaze stepped into the hall to tip the hotel wait staff. He brought the heavily laden cart in himself.

Ronnie managed to get her emotions under control, and when Nikko felt she was ready to face them all again, he pulled away from her just enough to see her expression. “I love you baby, I do. I am just a man, and the thought of someone touching what’s mine . . .” He couldn’t finish. He just shook his head.

“Please, Nikko. It won’t mean anything. I won’t let him take it farther than that. I promise.”

Pain flashed in his eyes, but he nodded bringing his hand up to his face to rub at the throbbing in his temples that started when Andreas described the new plan.

When they turned, Blaze and Andreas had the table all set and the platters of food all out within reach. They had given the two of them a little privacy for which they were both grateful.

Andreas gave her a nod, and a smile. “Let’s eat. And finish discussing the plan. Okay?” He asked this time. Maybe she had finally made an impression. His tone was softer and had a hint of grudging respect in it.

She returned his smile. “Okay. I’m starved actually,” she added as an afterthought. Then as if on cue, her stomach growled. Andreas’s eyes widened. Nikko smiled for the first time, and Blaze after an initial look of surprise burst out laughing just as Gio came in the door.

“What did I miss?” he asked when he found them all laughing. Even Andreas was smiling. They filled him in as they ate. And they finalized the plan.

*     *     *

Ronnie was nervous.
The men made her walk to the abandoned warehouse alone after they outfitted her. A little clip in her hair replaced her bulkier recording device. It had been one of many things Andreas had in his little bag of tricks. It was a simple unadorned barrette. She changed clothes, back in the ones she wore yesterday so Gary would assume she escaped sometime in the night and actually hid in the warehouse.

It was not quite ten, and cars were on the road. So she kept her face averted from the traffic just as she’d been told to in case she was recognized. Her cell phone in her pocket, and in her left boot, a small gun Andreas insisted she carry. She had been reluctant, but when Nikko chimed in saying he’d feel better if she had it, she agreed. It’s not like she’d never used a gun. She’d been hunting with her grandfather more times than she could count, but the thought that she’d need it with Gary was just something she didn’t think was necessary. But it made Nikko feel better, so she’d agreed. He and Gio had gone on ahead on point, twenty minutes earlier, to settle in and scout a good hiding place on the inside.

She stayed behind with Andreas and Blaze and they coached her on the call she would make as soon as she got to the abandoned warehouse a quarter mile from the hotel.

She heard a crackle in her ear. “Babe,” Nikko said.

“Mmm-hmm,” she responded to the question indicated by his tone. She didn’t want people to see her talking to herself, although she passed the intersection and there was no one on the road at the moment. Still, she wanted to be careful. The massive structure with the words, Buddy’s Inc. Storage in faded blue letters on the front was looming larger as she walked.

“We are in. The door on the left side is open. We’re up in the rafters. Great view. There is an office, across the expanse. A desk, chair, filing cabinets, and an old sofa. Good spot. We have a bird’s eye view.” He wanted to reassure her she had plenty of back up. She wasn’t in this alone.

“Okay,” she murmured softly. She could say she slept there, Ronnie thought.

She was getting closer. Another hundred yards. The length of a football field. She knew Andreas and Blaze would be behind her in the rental. They told her they would park in the rear where there were some old large, storage containers, and dumpsters near the wooded area off the side that didn’t face the road.

If Gary toured the parking lot first, he wouldn’t see the car unless he pulled up to the dumpsters and actually got out of his vehicle to peer behind them. They wanted to watch Gary enter, be sure he was alone, and then would approach the building once Gary was inside. And once she had the information she needed they would storm in. Nikko and Gio would also make their presence known at the same time.

The plan was good as far as she could tell. She was grateful to all of them for getting on board and helping her out, for believing in her. She’d thanked them all before they split up. Nikko briefly pulled her in for a quick hug, whispering he loved her and to be careful before he had to leave.

“Anything for family,” Blaze, expressionless, murmured. Gio smiled and patted Nikko on the back, while Andreas just curled his lip like he often did, and narrowed his eyes.

Once past the chain link fence that surrounded three-quarters of the property, she went to the left, and turned the corner. She saw the door Nikko mentioned and noticed it was slightly ajar. She quickly made her way to it, and slipped inside, shutting the door behind her. Then she was plunged into darkness. It was all up to her now.

Hooking the Bait

R
onnie took two
steps and stopped. Total darkness overwhelmed her as the door behind her closed completely. Her heart raced indicating her fear.

“Stay calm,” Nikko whispered. “You’ll see soon, there are a few cracks in the sheeting in the roof. Just breathe.”

She took his advice and took a few calming breaths. “Okay,” she whispered, as the darkness turned to gray, and shapes began to take form.

“Once you’re in the office, make the call,” he encouraged. He, too, wanted to get this over with.

Ronnie took her first step now that her eyes had adjusted somewhat. A pile of empty crates to her right. Some barrels in the corner. Then she saw a glimmer across the large expanse. Glass.
The office?
She tentatively began to walk towards it hearing the rustle of paper and sand under her hiking boots. The framed room began to appear as she continued to walk cautiously so as not to stumble on any debris. She saw the door frame emerge from the gray, then the door handle. She grasped the cool metal, and turned. It opened easily.

Taking out her cell, she illuminated the interior. It was exactly as Nikko described. She dropped onto the sofa directly beside her, and then hesitated just a moment, before she pulled up Gary’s number and hit dial.

“I love you,” Nikko whispered before the little bug went silent.

*     *     *