Page 73 of Saltwater Promises
“Yeah, I’m sure I believe you.”
Not working. But maybe… “I used to make counterfeit money.”
He looked up. “For real?”
“Yeah,” she said, nodding eagerly. “I did it all the time. I can make you as much money as you want. I can make fake checks, anything.”
He set his phone down and leaned toward her. “No way.”
“I swear!” She was lying, of course. She didn’t have any of the supplies or resources she’d need, but Lenny didn’t need to know that. “That’s why I took the job. Art doesn’t really pay. You know that, you’re a smart guy.”
He smiled. “Yeah, yeah. But does crime pay?”
“If you play your cards right.”
He seemed to think on this for a moment before picking up his phone again. “Sounds like a nice party trick.”
“It’s not a trick. I really can make anything. Bank statements, mortgage documents. Passports.”
He looked up. “Passports?”
Lies. All lies. “Yeah. Drivers licenses and birth certificates, too. I used to do that stuff all the time. I know where the hidden watermarks and microprints go. Everything.”
He sat back and crossed his arms. “Why would I need that?”
“Well, if you’re not CIA, then you might not have someone with this many years of experience on your side. That’s all I’m saying. Is that why you kidnapped me? To make counterfeit stuff?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”
He went outside again to make a call.
Lynn sat there, her mind going a hundred miles an hour, trying to figure out where she could take this next. There was no use in appealing to Lenny’s humanity. When she had tried to talk about her daughter earlier, he hadn’t been interested in the least.
As soon as she started talking about counterfeit documents, however, his ears had perked up. Maybe he would decide that he needed her alive? That would give Mike more time to find her.
When he returned, however, his mood was dark. He came back in, pulling the fridge door open with force, then slamming it shut. He muttered something to himself and kicked a chair that got in his way.
Something happened on that phone call, and it wasn’t good. She tried to ask him a question, but he immediately got up and taped her mouth shut again.
She’d messed with his head, and he didn’t like it. Now what was she supposed to do?
Lynn sat there, watching him rage around until he sat down again and refocused on his phone. Since tears seemed to bother him before, she tried that again.
He kept looking at her, annoyed, before hastily grabbing her by the arm and shoving her into the bathroom.
Shoot. That backfired.
Lynn looked around. There was no window in the bathroom – there was nothing useful at all. She quietly pulled the tape off her mouth and looked at herself in the mirror.
Considering the kidnapping and the crying, she looked surprisingly okay. Somehow that made her feel better. Her makeup was just a touch smudged. She fixed that up, because she didn’t know what else to do, as her stomach let out a grumble.
Though she didn’t feel hungry, her stomach was still empty and protesting. The thought crossed her mind that there was no food in the fridge. Lenny didn’t seem to have a plan to keep her around for long…
And to think, she thought the worst thing that would happen today was that she’d feel overwhelmed at her gallery show.
Lynn almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.
But laughing would really annoy Lenny. She kept her mouth shut.
