Page 19 of Hart of Redemption
“I’m a big girl, and I have four-wheel drive on my truck. If the weather is bad by the time I leave, I can always stay at a hotel.” If he hired me, then my new home would be a short-term rental in Boston. I couldn’t stay at my current place, which was in my name and not far from the ATF field office.
Duke studied me, his reddish-brown—or rather, mahogany-colored—eyes appraising as if he’d made me.
“Is something wrong?” I flicked melted snow off my nose.
Lines dented his smooth forehead. “One thing has been bothering me about you since we met.”
I swallowed an elephant. “You’ve been thinking about me?” Shock wove through my words.
I was made. I was screwed. I was dead.
I held steady, hoping beyond hope that he hadn’t done a background check on me before my alias had been set up.
“You don’t look like a Joy. Is that your real name?”
I flipped my hair over my shoulder then rubbed the back of my neck. “Why would you ask me that?” Fear swished in my stomach.
“When we met, you could’ve given me an alias, since I was a stranger,” he said. “My sister does that as one way to protect herself.”
Grace Hart, twenty-six, youngest of the four siblings and a victim of sex trafficking. I could see how she would pull out all the stops to protect herself.
I relaxed under his scrutiny. “Do you want to see my driver’s license?” Yep, I was officially Joy Whitlock in the DMV system, and any background check would confirm my profile.
“I’ve already done a background check. I don’t need to see anything.”
One tick mark in the right column. Now he just needed to hire me.
The rumbling of an engine tore Duke’s gaze away as he tensed, his hand going to the small of his back, which was where his gun was, no doubt.
Without looking at me, he said in a lethal tone, “Joy, go inside the club. The door should be unlocked.”
I didn’t move as I followed his line of sight.
A black Hummer with tinted windows came toward us.
“Move now!” he practically shouted in a deep voice, removing his gun and angling it down at his side.
My curiosity kept my feet planted and my legs locked. I almost went for my piece that was in my boot but thought twice. Duke would surely become even more suspicious than he already was about my name if I drew a weapon.
He reached out and grabbed my wrist. “When I tell you to do something, you obey. Get your ass inside the club.” He tugged me behind him. “Go.”
Do as you’re told, Fallyn, or you’ll give yourself away.
I walked at a fast pace, my attention glued over my shoulder. I had to see who was in the Hummer that was now stopped behind Duke’s SUV, blocking my view.
“Oh, it’s you. Is this your new car?” Duke asked the driver.
I lingered by the entrance as I listened.
“New one that came in today at my dealership,” the man said. “You got a minute?”
I suspected it was Brian McCauley since he owned several car dealerships in the city.
“Any word from your camp about the stolen guns?” Duke asked.
“Nothing.”
“We’ll talk in my office,” Duke said.
