Taker - A Single Dad's New Baby Romance (Criminal Passions Book 4) Read online

  “We’re taking a detour,” I said. “You’re in serious trouble, Abbie.”

  She froze still as a statue back there.

  “What’s…what’s going to happen to me?”

  “I’ll tell you everything. But you need to promise me that you won’t try anything funny. You’ve gotten on the wrong side of some seriously bad people, but if you play this right, you’ll come out better on the other end.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Thinking quickly, I scanned the area. Nearby was a city block of old industrial warehouses, buildings that I recognized from back in the day when I worked for Marshall. We’d done deals in them before, and as far as I could tell, they were still abandoned.

  “We need to talk, okay? I need a little of your time to tell you what’s going on. And I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  “No. I want you to let me out right now.”

  I shook my head, turning the car toward the block with the warehouses. “It’s not going to work like that. You saw some shit you weren’t supposed to, and there’s only one way out of it—through me. If you want to stay safe, you need to do exactly what I say.”

  “What if I scream? What if I run away and get the attention of the nearest cop?”

  I winced at her mention of the police. “You don’t want to do that. Trust me.”

  “And why not?”

  “Just…trust me.”

  “You’re a stranger who’s in the process of kidnapping me. I’ve got no reason to trust you.”

  “It’s either that, or you take your chances out there. Those people you’re on the bad side of? They’re looking for you. And I’m their first effort at making things right for all of us. You tell me to screw off, and they’ll come right for you with some guys who aren’t nearly as concerned about your safety as I am.”

  I pulled between the warehouses, coming to a stop in the alley by the side entrance.

  “I’m not armed,” I said. “And I just want to talk. If you don’t like what I have to say, you’re free to leave. But trust me, after I tell you what I do, you’re not going to want to do that. Just hear me out.”

  She was quiet for a moment, her mouth a flat line as she weighed her options.

  “How do I know this isn’t some trick?” she asked. “You’ve already pulled one on me getting me in this damn car.”

  “I suppose you’ve got no reason to think otherwise. But all I can tell you is the truth.”

  I was still impressed at how together she was. Most people in her shoes would be on the verge of a breakdown.

  “Say I go in that warehouse,” she said, nodding toward the building. “What happens then?”

  “We talk. That’s it.”

  “Or maybe there’s a group of men in there ready to kill me.”

  “That’s not going to happen. It’s just you and me. And it’s not going to come to that.”

  She said nothing once more, just looking from me to the warehouse and back again.

  “Okay,” she said finally. “We go in there and talk.”

  Her resigning to the situation gave me the impression she knew she was in trouble, and that there was only so long she could run from it.

  “Great,” I said. “Just me and you. Ready? And don’t make me chase you down.”

  “…Fine.”

  I gave her one more look, seeing that she was still reasonably calm. Once I felt good about it, I opened the door, stepped over to hers, and opened that too.

  “Come on.”

  She stepped out, and being near her like that again made me extremely aware of how attracted to her I was. She was stunning, gorgeous beyond belief. But I did my best to put that out of my head and focus on the issue at hand.

  Together we headed to the side door, which was locked with a key code. I typed it in as I remembered it, and a green light illuminated above the numbers and the lock clicked open. I opened the door and let her in first.

  Moments later we were in the main room of the warehouse, the air stale and dust covering the bare shelves. A few chairs were in the middle of the room, and we both took a seat.

  “Is Tate your real name?” she said, her eyes still flicking around here and there as if expecting a squad of thugs to jump out any moment.

  “It is.”

  She regarded me for a long moment, trying to size me up. “So…what did you want to talk about?”

  I took a slow breath and began. “The other night you witnessed something that you weren’t supposed to. Good news for you is, my boss is convinced it was a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “And he doesn’t like witnesses running around,” Abbie added. “I’ve seen enough movies like this.”

  I allowed myself a small smile. “That’s right. You’re an unknown element. But lucky for you, he wants to get you onto his side.”

  “On his side? How’s he planning on doing that?”

  “The nice way. He wants to buy your silence.”

  The confused expression on her face let me know this was an answer she wasn’t expecting. “He wants to buy me off?”

  “That’s right. With witnesses, there’re two ways you can handle them—the nice way or the mean way. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what the mean way is.”

  “You don’t.”

  “So, because things are easier when everyone plays nice, he told me to come find you and explain the situation to you, to give you a chance to go along with him.”

  “Or,” she said. “I could go to the cops.”

  I winced again.

  “You don’t want to do that,” I said.

  “Tell me why.”

  “I can’t. Working with you on this is a matter of making sure you don’t know enough to make you dangerous to him. If I tell you too much, then he might decide you’re too much of a threat to…you know.”

  “But I want to know. Going to the cops is the most sensible option. Why shouldn’t I do it?”

  Abbie was headstrong, no doubt about it. It was admirable.

  “Because he is a cop.”

  Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “What?”

  “He’s a cop, working for the Denver PD, and he’s got more than a few other crooked officers working underneath him. You go to the cops and he’s going to find out about it before you leave the building. And you won’t like what happens when he does.”

  She was still trying to keep herself together, but I could tell she was scared. I couldn’t blame her—finding out the cops were not, in fact, someone you could count on in these situations would do that to a person.

  “This is insane,” she muttered. “Totally insane.”

  “I know. And you don’t deserve it. But I’m offering you a way out. You meet with him tonight and tell him you’re willing to play ball. He’ll pay you off—ten thousand is the usual amount. Once he has your silence, you’re off the hook. He’ll threaten you, let you know what’ll happen if you break the terms, but that’s it. You can take your money and put all this behind you.”

  “Ten thousand,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief at the number. “That seems…low.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Now you’re getting greedy?”

  “No, it’s not that. More like I witnessed someone get killed right in front of me. Ten thousand seems like a small amount to buy someone’s silence.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but paused as I realized what she’d said.

  Murder?

  “Wait, what?” I said.

  She was confused. “I saw someone get killed. This guy, whoever he is, really is going to give me a few thousand dollars and send me on my way?”

  This was something I hadn’t been ready to hear. Marshall had told me she’d witnessed a beating—he’d said nothing about a murder.

  “You’re telling me you saw someone get killed?”

  She nodded. “Isn’t that what this is all about?”

  It was at that moment I realized what was rea
lly happening.

  Marshall didn’t want me to bring her to him to bribe Abbie.

  He wanted me to bring her to her doom.

  Chapter 6

  Abbie

  The look on Tate’s face made me realize that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

  “Tate?” I asked. “What’s happening? Why do you look like that?”

  He took a series of slow breaths as he glanced away, trying to put something together in his head.

  “Tell me!” I said.

  He met my eyes. “I was wrong,” he said, his voice calm and even. “You are in danger.”

  Panic rushed through me.

  “You need to start talking right now,” I said. “Tell me everything.”

  He clenched and unclenched his fists. He looked furious.

  “I spoke with the man. His name’s Marshall. He hired me to bring you to him, like I said. But he didn’t tell me the full story—he said it was a weapons deal gone bad. That the worst of it was a beating. He didn’t say a damn thing about a murder.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “You work for him, right? Why would he lie to you about something like that?”

  “Because I don’t work for him—not anymore, at least. I broke ties with him a few months back, and he pulled me in for one last job.”

  I said nothing, letting him go on.

  “And he told me you were a witness he needed to deal with. But he had to know I wouldn’t take the job if I knew what really happened, if I knew he was planning on killing you.”

  I shifted in my seat, tears forming in my eyes. “Then that’s what this is all about, huh? He wanted you to bring me to him so he could kill me, like I thought?”

  Tate grimaced. “There’s no doubt. Not a chance Marshall would let the witness to a murder run around town. A weapons deal and a beating? Sure. But not a murder. It’s too risky.”

  I turned my eyes, wet with tears, to his. “Then…then please let me go. Tell this Marshall guy that you tried to kidnap me, but I got away. Please, tell him anything.”

  At that moment, I realized what was happening, that he held my fate in his hands. If he were to take me to Marshall, he’d be signing my death warrant himself.

  “It’s not just you he’s threatening,” Tate went on. “It’s me, too.”

  “How?”

  “Like I said, I broke ties with him, decided to go straight.” He opened his mouth as if ready to go into just why he’d gone straight, but shook his head, thinking better of it. “He brought me back for one job. And he’s not the kind of man you say no to.”

  “But what if you tell him I got away?” I said. “You don’t have to do anything. Just let me go and I’ll leave. You and him will never see me again. I’ll…I’ll leave Denver, go to Alaska or something. Anything. Please.”

  I hated how desperate I was being. But what else could I do? This man I barely knew held my life in his hands.

  He shook his head. “It won’t be good enough. If I tell him you got away, he’s going to put every man on it trying to track you down. And he will. This isn’t some corner drug dealer we’re talking about—this is a lieutenant in the Denver PD. He’s got men. He’s got resources. And if you go out there on your own, he will find you.”

  He took another slow breath and went on. “And…there’s more. I’ve got a kid.”

  “A kid?”

  “A son. He’s eight. If I go to Marshall with bad news, then it’s not just me that’s going to be in danger—it’ll be him, too.”

  I slumped in my seat, totally defeated. “Then you’re going to do it, aren’t you? You’re going to give me to him to keep your family safe.” Without thinking, I glanced down at his hand and saw there was no ring. He was a single father.

  Tate shook his head. “No. When I left that life behind, I swore I wouldn’t let another person come to harm because of me. If I were to give you to Marshall, I might as well pull the trigger myself. Not going to happen.”

  Relief hit me like a wave. But that didn’t mean we were in the clear.

  “Then what am I going to do?” I asked.

  “You’re not going to do anything. But we’re going to figure something out.”

  “Like what? Like leave the city?”

  “I don’t know yet. Marshall’s expecting me to bring you to him tomorrow at noon. That means we’ve got until then to figure out a plan.”

  “Any ideas?”

  “We can talk about it on the way. Right now, we need to get back to my place.”

  He rose, but I stayed in my seat.

  “I still don’t know if I can trust you,” I said, not moving an inch.

  “Trusting me is the only chance you’ve got. You go it on your own, and he’ll have you by this time tomorrow. I know you’ve got no reason to believe me, but I’m putting myself on the line just like you are.”

  “But why? Couldn’t you just give me up to him and not have to worry about anything else?”

  “No more death.” His tone was stern, making it clear the subject wasn’t up for debate.

  There was nothing else to do but trust him.

  Together, we left the warehouse. Moments later, we were back in the “taxi,” only this time I was in the front with him.

  “He let me borrow this car,” Tate said as we pulled onto the main road leading through downtown. “And you can bet he’s got a tracker on it.”

  “Then we should ditch the car, right?”

  He shook his head. “We do that and he’ll know something’s up. Right now he’s expecting me to take you to my place, then over to the meeting location tomorrow at noon. Any sort of break from that and he’s going to suspect something.”

  We continued on driving in silence, leaving the downtown area and, after twenty minutes or so, reaching a middle-class neighborhood of ranch homes and other modest houses. He pulled into the driveway of one, and I noticed there was a truck parked there, along with another car.

  “That’s not him, is it?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No, that’s the sitter.”

  Before we opened the doors to get out, Tate stopped. “If she asks, you’re a friend of the family.”

  “Sure,” I said. “And what about your kid?”

  A tense expression took hold of his face, and I could tell he hadn’t planned on this part—what would happen to his son should he fail to follow through with Marshall’s instructions.

  “He should be asleep. We’ll talk about this with him in the morning.”

  Right as we got out my phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and saw it was Jamie.

  Shit. I’d gotten so wrapped up in what had happened I’d forgotten that she was expecting me.

  “I need to take this,” I said. “My friend will be worried about me.”

  We stopped on the front lawn, and he gave me a hard look.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “But if I don’t answer, she’ll worry even more.”

  “Does she know about the murder?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Good. The less she knows, the better. Tell her you’re leaving town, give an excuse so she doesn’t worry about you. I’ll talk to the babysitter.”

  He gave me one more look, as if to make sure I wasn’t going to bolt, before heading into the house.

  The ringing had stopped by that point, and when I checked the screen, there was a series of texts, all from Jamie, all wondering where I was and what was happening.

  I called her right back.

  “Ab?” she asked. “Oh, thank God. I was so freaking worried about you. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  She let out a sigh of relief. “Please, please, don’t ever do that to me again. I don’t want to mommy you or anything, but this is kind of a screwed-up situation.”

  “I know, I know. And I’m sorry. But it got even more screwed up.”

  “Wait, what happened?”

  I went into it, telling her about Tate—
not using his actual name—and what had happened. But, like Tate had said, I didn’t tell her about the murder, nor about Marshall being a cop.

  “Holy shit,” she said. “Holy shit.”

  “I need to leave town,” I said. “But I have no idea where to go.”

  There was silence as Jamie thought about it.

  “Wait! My parents’ cabin! The one in the Black Hills.”

  “Are you serious? You want me to stay at your parents’ place?”

  “It’s totally perfect. No one’s there, it’s secluded, and they’ve paid up on gas and water and electricity. I bet there’s even still tons of frozen food in the freezer.”

  “But what if they, you know, want to visit?”

  “Whenever we talk, they’re always way too overshare-y with everything they’re planning on doing. If they decide on a last-minute trip to South Dakota, I’ll know about it. And I’ll be sure to tell you.”

  I paced back and forth, trying to decide if it was a good idea.

  “Trust me,” Jamie said. “It’s the perfect place to hide out.”

  “And you’re fine with me being there with this guy?”

  “I don’t like it, but what choice do I have? You think you can trust him?”

  “Not like I have any other options. And I don’t see any reason why he’d trick me into fleeing town with him.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She sighed again. “God, this is so crazy. But I’ll text you the address of the place right now. It’s near this town called Williamston, about eight hours’ drive from here. There’s one of those fake rocks out front with a key inside.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Jamie. I’ll let you know when I’m on the road. Should be in the morning.”

  “Good. And Ab, please be safe. If anything happens to you, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  “I will. And same to you. Don’t talk to anyone about what’s going on, even the cops.”

  “Even the cops?”

  “Just trust me. I’ll be in touch soon.”

  We said our goodbyes and hung up. Right as I put my phone back into my pocket, Tate’s front door opened and a woman about my age, with short blond hair, came out and started toward her car.

  She looked me up and down and smiled. “Lucky.”