Page 79 of August

Rami twisted his face. “Nah, man. That’s not what I meant. Taschen wouldn’t want us sitting in the hospital when we could be doing something useful.”

August nodded. “That’s true.” Because it was. Taschen might be annoying and hardheaded sometimes, but he had a big heart. And he’d fight to protect Gigi if he were here.

“What’d Dana say?”

Rami massaged the tattoo over his eye. “Last I heard they took him into surgery. That was an hour ago. She said she’d let me know as soon as he’s out.”

“Good. Can you send one of the interns there? Take her some food or something? She probably won’t leave.”

Rami pulled out his phone. “Good idea. I’ll get one of the guys over there.” A ding sounded from Rami’s phone, and he smiled tentatively. “He’s in recovery. Stable.”

A small weight lifted from August’s chest. The anvil pressing on his windpipe was still there, but he couldn’t not be grateful Taschen might pull through. Rami left the room to tell Toth, and August brought his attention back to the man who’d started this whole mess.

“I didn’t mean to endanger Gigi,” Todd said pleadingly. “Believe it or not, I love her.”

August reared back and got to his feet. “Are you insane? You nearly had her killed, for fuck’s sake. She was in witness protection because of you. That’s not love.”

Todd straightened in his chair, his eyes sharpening. “I knew you had a thing for her.”

Hot breath blew from August’s nose as he took a step closer to Todd. The man cowered. “I’ve got more than a thing for her. And if you cared about her at all, you’d do whatever Alvarez wants.”

“He wants me dead,” Todd blustered.

“No shit. You stole money from a Mexican cartel. What’d you think would happen?”

Todd’s expression fell. “I had no choice. I’d been helping the Radcliffes for years. One thing led to another and I got in over my head.”

“And lined your pockets in the process.”

Rami entered the room and squeezed past August, clapping him on the shoulder as he went. “Move away, dude. If you mess up his face, Alvarez might not recognize him.”

“That’s the only reason I haven’t broken his jaw.” But August heeded Rami’s warning and retreated a few paces. “Does Toth have anything or what? I can’t sit here all day.”

“I know. Just have patience. Maybe if—”

August’s phone rang. He pulled out his device and stared at the screen: Unknown Caller.

“I think it’s Alvarez,” he hissed. Moving quickly toward the living room, he accepted the call and placed the phone to his ear. “August speaking.”

“It’s me.” The thick accent was confirmation enough. “I’ve come to a decision.”

“Go,” August commanded, not wanting to waste another damn second.

“We will meet you and make the trade.”

He expelled a tense breath. If Alvarez was willing to agree to the deal, Gigi was alive. August hit the speaker button so Rami could hear. “Good. Where and when?”

Alvarez rattled off the location of a lookout point. “7:30 p.m.” He hung up.

“Toth,” Rami called.

Satisfaction fissured through August’s veins. He couldn’t be too excited. Not yet. Not until Gigi was in his arms and this whole thing was over. August looked at the clock on the stove. They had two hours. Using Maps on his phone, he looked up the distance from Rami’s house to the location Alvarez had given. Thirty minutes.

That meant they had to leave soon.

Toth entered the room and Rami told him about the meeting. Toth rubbed his hands together. “Fucking right. Let’s get this over with.”

Doubt rolled in, forcing out some of the relief August had momentarily been given. “I didn’t get any visual or verbal confirmation that she’s okay. Hell, how do we know for sure he even has her?”

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