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.Thefootball player was onBert s other side.No oneheld a weapon on Ames.He twisted to face theRefrigerator and in a lowvoice said, Before we do any more talking, just letthe woman go, okay? Youwant to keep this wholething quiet, and thatmeans keeping out thelocals.This is a small town,and she s well known, so ifanything happens to her,there ll be big trouble. The Fridge paid noattention to him.He tuckedhis gun away but looked atBert and muttered, What the fuck? Windbreaker steppedaway from their little group.He held the Glock behindhis back.Nick wasthoroughly sick of guns. Bert! Windbreakerwaved with his free hand. Glad to see you.Didn tknow you were aroundthese parts. All friends here.Windbreaker stood in front of Nick but wasn t sotall that Nick couldn t seeBert wave back, a bigsmile on his bland, smoothface.Nick had seen thatcold shark s smile beforeand knew Bert was furious.Odd that the clashesbetween Bert and his oldman hadn t settled downby now.They had a lot oftypical dad-and-son issues with the bonus of extra menace.Then Nickremembered Bert wasn tthe hothead of the pair,and so the end of teenageyears wouldn t haveresolved power struggles.And here he and Amesstood, literally in themiddle.The other group of threecame to an abrupt haltnext to the big SUV.Bert sman, a guy with a shaved head and mashed noseNick couldn t recall if hisname was Ducky or Duffy stared over at them.There was enough light tosee that he andWindbreaker immediatelybegan a stare-down.Nickcould tell the rivalry wasnothing new. Yo, Phil. He nodded inthe general direction of Philthe Fridge s hidden gun. Bert slipped his hand intohis jacket pocket sending aclear message of I got onetoo.Bert continued. So,Phil, Les what the hellyou two doing here? Didn tmy father tell you I was onit? His voice was calm,interested rather thanangry. Hey, what do weknow? Les, aka Windbreaker, gave anylon-whispering shrug. Mr.Esposito is kindaworried about thissituation.He didn t likewhat was going on withpeople trying to push himaround, and the missingmaterial is Nick interrupted. Thanks for stopping by,Miss Peters, but I guessyou can go on and finish your walk.Nice morningfor it. I thought you said shewas Peterkins. Nick ignored Phil.Helooked into her pale face,willing her to turn and justwalk away.The situationhadn t gotten to thatsizzling point of no return.No one here would shoother without at leastshouting some kind of warning.He was almostsure of it.He spoke in a loud,deliberately aggressivevoice. Listen, you guysdon t need her.I foundwhat you want.It s inside.So how about we let hergo on and finish her stroll. Phil said, She can stickaround until we re done.I llleave Les to watch her. Les growled. Who the hell gets to decide thatone? She s not goinganywhere. Bert s smilestretched wider, showingthose too-white teeth, thistime aimed at Nick. Youforget, I saw Ms.Jensen sface on Facebook. Oh, shit.Nick had to keep hiscool.He returned Bert ssmile with warmth added. Can t blame me for trying.She has no idea what sgoing on, and I accidentallydragged her into thisidiocy. Idiocy, yeah, Bertagreed.The linebacker behindhim shifted his weight,crossed his arms.Good.Still no gun at Ames sback. Wait a fucking moment here.You called her Ms.Jensen.Like ElliotJensen? Phil startedtoward the SUV like hewas going after Ames.Nick tensed.Bertgrabbed Ames s arm andpulled her back so shestood next to the big baldDucky or Duffy whodidn t so much as glanceat her.The bald guy wasstill eyeball-to-eyeball with Les.Bert rested his hand onher shoulder in a cozy,possessive manner thatmade Nick s head spin. She s helping me with myinquiries.Mine.I don tknow what my father toldyou, but I m in chargehere.Why don t you givehim a call, Phil? Phil retreated and ranhis free hand over his dark, greasy head. Tooearly there.We can wait. No.We can t. Bert lostthe smile. I m sick of himpoking his nose intobusiness I said I d takecare of. Thing is, we work forhim.Understand? Philshifted from foot to foot,his black running shoescrunching on the gravel.Les sniffed and spat, then continued to stare atBert s bald enforcer.Nick couldn t stand thegrowing tension. You guysare working for the sameresult.You want to get thestuff back to the originalowner.I can give you atleast some of it. He raisedhis eyebrows and looked atAmes, hoping Bert wouldunderstand the point of hisvague talk.She doesn t know anything.Bert pulled his handfrom his jacket pocket, andNick could see Phil sshoulders relax a little.Les was still on highalert, staring at Bert s guyas if he was the onlydangerous thing in thelandscape. Okay.Let s get movingand find out what youhave. Bert rubbed his hands together as ifanticipating some kind oftreat. Les, you and Duffystay out here with MissJensen. Duffy, not Ducky,unfolded his arms.One goon from eachside, Nick thought.Thatshould keep her safe.Especially since grouchyLes seemed to be moreinterested in Duffy than in harassing Ames.He walked over to herand studied her face. Youokay? he asked.Hewanted to touch her, makeher smile, kiss her.But justapproaching her wasalready asking for trouble.The dark circles underher eyes pissed him off.These damned Espositosdidn t belong in her littletown and he d led them straight to her house. Rossi, what the fuckyou doing? Phil called.Asking for trouble wasthe answer.He trudgedback toward Phil and Les.Bert walked next to him,too close. Your friendJensen turned out to be areal smooth character, Bert said quietly. I know. Had me fooled and made me look really bad.Idon t like that.Not with myfather on my ass all thetime.I don t want to givePop any excuse andJensen just handed him agreat reason to give me aload of shit. Yeah.Elliot s turned outto be a pain in the ass forme too. Where exactly is thestuff we came for? Phil gestured to the house withhis gun, and Ames gave asmall cry of alarm.Shemust not have noticed thegun before.Nick turnedback.He wished he couldyell at her, This is why youshould have stayedhidden. We re fine.Noproblem, Nick called toher instead.Then hewalked into the house and away from her, one of thehardest things he d everdone
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