Chapter 6
Sabrina
I paced the length of the bedroom for probably the hundredth time since leaving my marks door. I could try and bait him out with room service. Pretend to be a maid there to tidy up the suite and then surprise him?
I shook my head at that thought. I didn’t want to end up trapped in a confined space alone with him. Too risky. There had to be another way to draw him out but it had been pure luck that I’d run into him in the first place and had been able to follow him back to his room. What were the odds of that happening a second time? I was lucky, but not that lucky.
The toe of my boot caught on the corner of a rug, tripping me and I shot a glare at the damned thing as I continued to pace, kicking it out of my way as I went. I had glanced at the clock. It was around two in the afternoon that he’d left his room. I could camp out and see if it was a fluke or a repeat pattern.
It was the only time during the day when there weren’t guests in the dining room as they switched out lunch service with dinner. Maybe that’s why he was going downstairs at that time. So what, you’re just going to hide and hope that he leaves the room? I shrugged, trying to think at the problem from different angles, but at the moment that was the best idea that I had.
Finally, I threw my hands up with a sigh. This wasn’t getting me anywhere. I wasn’t going to figure this out on my own, and I knew exactly who to call to give me some words of wisdom.
Words of bullshit, more likely. I nodded to myself. It was probably true, but if anyone knew a way to get this guy, it was Robbie Crenshaw. I pulled my cell phone from the back pocket of my jeans and dialed the number I knew by heart.
There were a few moments of ringing as I waited impatiently, then the sound of someone answering.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Robbie, this is Sabrina. You got a minute?”
“For my number one girl? Always!” His gravelly voice hit me from the other end of the phone call and I snorted at his words. Robbie Crenshaw was sort of like a bookie. He had connections all over the place, had his finger on the pulse of any new job or bounty that came up.
He was the one who had tossed me this job, which I had thought would be a soft ball, but had ended up throwing me a curve. He helped find the bounties, and provide background intel, all for a small cut of the profit, of course.
“Your number one girl. Right.” I snorted again, just for good measure, continuing to pace as Robbie spoke again.
“Of course you are. You’re the best in the biz, but you already know that.”
“Damn right I am.” I just wished I could believe it as much as Robbie seemed to. The old coot was crazier than a rabid raccoon but he knew this business better than anyone. The good side, and the bad side. “How are you doing down there in St. Louis?”
“Oh, I’m just fine. Just fine. Got a lead on a case that was coming down the antique market. Landed myself a whole bunch of gold necklaces and rings and all that,” He let out a wheezing laugh, attesting to the decades of habitual chain smoking, “I had old Frank take a look at it. Turns out it was all fake! The whole thing. A bunch of fool’s gold!”
“That sucks, Robbie.”
“Eh, you know how it is. I let those folks at the auction know that they were trying to sell a bunch of fakes and wouldn’t you know, they gave me a big reward for, what did they call it? Oh, yeah, shedding light on the situation.”
“I’m sure they did.” I was also fairly sure that Robbie had planted the fake jewelry in the first place. Robbie saw a lot of grey area between what was legal and what was not. In fact, most of it was gray area, especially if it earned him an extra buck. But he really was the best in the business. No one knew more than him, or was craftier than him.
“As charming as I am I’m sure you didn’t call jus to chat with an old man. What do you need Sabrina?” His voice grew slightly more serious, as serious as it ever really was and I took a deep breath, finally saying out loud what had been on my mind since the conversation I’d overheard.
“Listen Robbie, are you sure you gave me the right intel for this bounty?”
“The Iowa case, right?” he asked, and I could hear in the background as filing cabinet drawers were opened and closed. One thing about Robbie, he never stored anything on a computer. He said it was too vulnerable, too easy for other people to get their hands on and I supposed he would know better than anyone. He’d made it his life’s work to dig up dirt on people.
“Yeah, that’s the one. Something feels off. Like there’s more going on than just some run of the mill corporate espionage. This guy doesn’t seem like a businessman.” I could still remember the tone in his voice when he talked about ‘taking her out’. Cold. Emotionless. “At least no businessman I’ve ever met before.”
“Well, to be fair Sabrina, how many businessmen have you met.” Robbie asked and I could hear him shuffling through papers now. I could just picture him with his stacks of manila envelopes.
“Not many.” I admitted with a shrug. But I had learned to trust my gut over the years, and my gut was telling me that something was wrong.
“Alright, here we go,” Robbie paused for a minute, clicking his tongue, “Looks like he took some money under the table and got caught. Then he didn’t show up for his court date. Sorry, Sabrina. It all looks pretty standard to me.”
“You sure there’s nothing else?” I couldn’t help but ask again, even though I knew there wouldn’t be a different answer. Robbie Crenshaw did his homework, and he was rarely wrong.
“I can keep digging for you if you want. What is this about.”
I fought for a moment, trying to decide how much to tell him. How much to reveal. “It’s nothing really. Probably just being paranoid. You know how it can be. I’m at the same bed and breakfast that the mark checked into. I should have him soon.”
“Good. Hurry up and bag this bounty. I’ve got a big one for us down in Atlanta! Big banker case. Apparently he was laundering money with his girlfriend and filtering into off shore accounts. Lots of money. And then his wife found out and turned him in.” Robbie cackled on the other end of the phone and despite everything it drew a small smile of my own but it was tinged with sadness at the thought of leaving. Atlanta was a world away from this place. And from Jonah.
“Where did you end up, anyway? Must be spotty reception out there because you haven’t tried to call and check in yet.”
“You know I don’t need to check in,” I said with an irritated edge to my voice but I didn’t really mean it. “I’m in, uh, Coral Springs actually.”
“Oh, I see.” He said after a long moment, as I was terribly afraid he really did see. He had sent me on the last case that had brought me to Coral Springs and then when I’d stayed on months after I should have he had called over and over to try and get me to move on to the next one.
I never told him why I stayed, and he’d never asked, but a part of me knew. He’d known what was going on. And after I’d gotten back, heartsick and broken, he still hadn’t asked. But he’d given me softballs for a while until I’d gotten back on my feet.
I thought I’d gotten over Jonah Moore. The past few days had proven to me just how wrong I’d been. So wrong.
“Listen, I got to go.” I said hastily, not wanting to have to answer any questions Robbie might try and ask me now, “I’ll get the bounty and then we can talk about the next job.”
“It’s gonna be a big one, Sabrina. I might just retire after this.”
“You! Retire?” I laughed, shaking my head. He said that just before every job. And then there would another, and another. He wasn’t the type to retire. He lived for his work, and he was damn good at. But it had cost him two wives and any chance of a relationship with his daughter.
A sudden thought struck me. An image of myself at Robbie’s age. Hell, he must be nearing sixty five. Maybe seventy. And all he had was his job. He loved it, don’t get me wrong, but that was his whole life. No family, the friends he did have were through work. He was basically alone.
Sadness, and a pang of fear shot through me. I didn’t want to be alone. I had been alone basically my whole life, tossed from foster home to foster home, finally ending up in a shelter until I was old enough to find odd jobs to make enough money to get out of the system.
It had been hard but it had led me to meet Robbie and he’d trained me, taught me everything I know. But I don’t want to be like him. I don’t want to live that life. I want more than that. I want more than this.
“Alright, Sabrina, this old man has got to go too. Got a lead I have to follow up on.”
“I’m sure you do.” I said, “Bye, Robbie.”
“Bye, Sabrina. Watch your back.”
“Always.” With a sigh, I hung up the phone and let my arm drop to my side.
I stood there for a long time after Robbie had ended the call, just staring out of the bedroom window as his words echoed in my head. Watch your back.
For a moment, I wondered what it would like to live a life where I wouldn’t have to live by that motto. I knew it was just wishful thinking. For a while, with Jonah, I’d had that life. And the whole time I knew. I knew I would end up hurting him in the end. I always did. So I’d chosen to leave sooner, before either of them had gotten in too deep. It was too late for that. You were already in the deep end. Hell, you still are.
“Fuck,” The curse shot from lips as I turned around in frustration but I froze as my eyes fell on the shadow standing in the doorway of my room.
“Not very lady-like language,” the man said, not taking a step closer but still close enough for me to see who it was. It was him. My mark. According to Jonah’s records he’d checked in as Mr. and Mrs. Barron and I knew his real name was Pullman. Hank Pullman.
He didn’t look like a Hank. He was tall. Much taller than I was, though most people were, and heavily muscled with a shaved head and a scruff of a three-day beard.
“I’m not very lady-like.” I finally said, trying to get over my shock and hold back the fluttering panic.
He was holding a crumpled piece of paper in his hand and he waved it at.
“Sorry to have startled you. I think you must have dropped this, Mrs…” He trailed off, obviously waiting for me to fill in the blank and tell him my name. Well, he could just keep waiting.
“You must be mistaken,” I forced the words out through my suddenly bone dry throat, “That’s not mine.”
“Are you sure? I found it right outside my door. Me and my wife are staying here for our honeymoon, you see.”
“Uh huh, congratulations.” On instinct, I glanced at the ring finger of his left hand. No ring. Rooky mistake. I pasted a smile on my face, hoping he would underestimate me as I slowly walked sideways towards where my bag sat on the end of the bed. The bag where I kept my pepper spray. “Well, like I said, there must be a mistake.”
“There was no mistake. I saw you drop this. Here, take it,” He smiled at me then, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “I won’t bite. I promise.”
I still didn’t move to take it and he took a step forward. He opened his mouth to speak again but suddenly a new shadow entered the room and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding as my gaze met Jonah’s green.
“Is everything okay in here?”