Page 65 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

“They want it tomorrow by noon. Want it delivered to that warehouse on fifth. The one we used to party in when we were kids.”

My stomach roiled. “I can’t get that kind of money that quickly.”

“Fuck you, Alex. Now is not the time to be selfish.”

My left hand fisted at my side, and I clenched the phone so hard I was surprised it didn’t crack, but I held my tongue because I knew Lee was freaking out. “I’m not being tight with my money, jackhole. The only way I can come up with that kind of money is to sell my condo and that will take a while.”

“Man, they’re going to kill her if you don’t get the money. You’ve got to have something else. Some savings account for the company or something?”

“If I had anything else, I’d give it up in a heartbeat,” I said. “Have you gone to the cops?”

“They said they’d kill her if we went to the cops.”

“How are they going to know? You think they’ve got surveillance on you twenty-four seven?”

“That and they’ve got friends at the precinct.”

I snorted. “Come on, Lee. Hunter and his crew are rough guys, but they aren’t the mafia.”

“They’ve grown since you lived here. They control the neighborhood and everyone who comes into it. Just get the money before noon or they’re going to kill her. They aren’t fucking around.”

I ran a hand through my hair and yanked hard, trying to think. “I’ll figure something out, Lee, but I need you to buy me more time. Can you do that?”

“Man, I already got them to extend the deadline by a day because we couldn’t find you. I don’t think they’re interested in waiting any longer. And if they don’t get their money, they aren’t going to stop with your sister. They’ll come after your dad and you and anyone you give a shit about.”

I thought of Jill, sleeping so soundly in the bed. She’d finally decided to trust me. If anything happened to her…If anyone tried to hurt her…It was unthinkable. “I get it, Lee. I do. I’ll head back to Atlanta now and I’ll…I’ll figure something out.”

“Hurry. I’m at your dad’s and he’s…He’s not handling this well, man. I just got him to go to bed, but…Just hurry.”

I hung up and crept back into the cottage. I was shaking with panic for my sister and my father, and there was Jill, sleeping so peacefully, not a trouble in the world.

I should leave her a note, but if I did that, she might call me, she might show up at my place…Okay, her randomly showing up at my place was less likely, but if there was a chance, any fucking chance that she could be tagged as someone important to me, she could get pulled into this cluster fuck my life had suddenly become.

I didn’t leave a note, fully knowing she’d think I’d finally gotten her to lower her walls and then bailed on her. I had to, it was the only way I knew to keep her safe.

***

I knocked on a door I hadn’t seen in years, a door I’d never thought I’d see again, and pushed down my panic and my fear. It was after seven, he should be home.

I turned and looked out at the front yard littered with kids’ toys and recently mowed grass.

“Alex?” I spun to see Reggie standing in the doorway, squinting at me. “What the hell you doing here, son?”

Reggie was only ten years older than me, but now that I wasn’t a seventeen-year-old punk who’d gotten himself locked up in juvie and he wasn’t my warden, the years between us seemed inconsequential.

“I want to be polite and ask you how the kids are and how you’re doing, but I’m in trouble and you’re the only person I could think of who might be able to help.”

He took a step back and narrowed his eyes, probably taking in my wrinkled t-shirt and worn sweatpants. I spent most of my income on clothes for work and work-related meetings, my casual clothes didn’t fare so well. “You gonna ask me to do something illegal?”

I forced a smile, trying to reassure him. “It’s the opposite. I’m hoping you’ve got some contacts on the police force or in the FBI who might be able to help me.”

He relaxed a bit. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to help, but why don’t you come on in and tell me what’s going on?”

I followed him inside, through an elegant, but comfortable, living room, and into a small office. In another room, children were laughing, and good smells were coming from another part of the house. Reggie shut the door on it all, took a seat behind his desk and gestured to the chair in front of it. “What’s going on, Alex?”

I told him everything I knew and everything I’d learned talking to Bert and Fin on the way there.

They hadn’t known much, but they’d confirmed that Hunter and his crew had upped their game in the past few years and shouldn’t be underestimated.

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