Page 136 of Bling

“Darren Gunn is dead.”

Isabelle jerked her head in Garrett’s direction. “What? When?”

“Tuesday night sometime.”

Carmen gulped from her water glass.

“Slow down, Carmen. Do you need to take a break?”

Her sister shook her head. “I’m fine. If Darren is dead, that means they’re cleaning up and I don’t have anything to lose. They’ll come after me again if they can.”

“I’ll park an army of armed guards around your bed if I need to,” Garrett said.

“Somehow I think you actually would,” Carmen said.

“Start with something simpler, who are they?”

“Max James, Darren’s… boss? I guess. He was the head of a small smuggling operation.”

“Did you ever meet Max?” Garrett asked.

Carmen shook her head. “I only ever dealt with Darren, but he made it clear that Mr. James would insist on my eternal gratitude and cooperation for not letting me go to jail for stealing. I talked to him on the phone once.”

“What did you do for Darren?”

Carmen shuddered and pulled the blanket higher up on her. Isabelle sat staring at her. Was she telling the truth? Had Garrett not been the one to get her out of jail, thus putting her in danger?

“A few weeks after he fired me, Darren approached me with threats to my family and said he had a job for me. At first, the jobs were minor. Deliver a package here, meet someone and pick up a bag of cash somewhere else. Then things escalated and he wanted me to drive a truck. I have a theory about that.”

Garrett leaned forward and patted her hand. “I would love to hear it but right now let’s just get through the basics.”

“Right. Sorry. Through all of this, I was digging into who he was and their operation. I discovered that both Helen Peters and Susan Arno had been arrested while driving a truck. I didn’t want to go back to jail, so I started looking for an escape plan. The goal was to see if I could assume another identity, so I started by taking credit cards in other people’s names. Izzy and the girls were just practice runs. It was stupid. Somehow Darren found out what I was doing. He brought me to the warehouse late one night and his boss, Max James, was on the phone. They both threatened me and said if I wanted to live, I would keep being cooperative and drive the damn truck. I told them to go to hell and walked out. I half expected to get shot in the back. Instead, the police showed up on my doorstep the next day and arrested me for credit card fraud and attempted identity theft.”

Isabelle closed her eyes. She felt like such a terrible person for the way she’d treated Garrett. Though she wasn’t sure she wanted to jump back into a relationship with him, she definitely owed him an apology.

Garrett stood. “I think I’ve heard enough for now. Thank you, Carmen. I might want to come back tomorrow, but I’ll call first this time.”

Turning, he faced Isabelle. “I’m ready to talk whenever you are, Doll.”

With that, he strode for the door.

“You better fuckin’ chase him, Izzy,” Carmen said.

Isabelle shoved out of her chair and jogged out of the room.

“Garrett, wait.”

He screeched to a halt and reversed course.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I don’t know if there’s a future for us or not, but I’m sorry.”

He closed the distance between them and cupped her cheek. “As am I, Isabelle. The only difference is, I’m quite certain about our future. I’ll be here when you come around.” He lowered his head and pressed the softest kiss to her lips before he turned and walked away.

Dazed, she watched him until he disappeared around a corner. Had that really just happened?

Back in Carmen’s room, a nurse arrived to discuss how soon she could be released.

“Wait, do you think I’ll have to go back to prison?”

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