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I glanced at her in surprise. That woman was back again—the tough, capable one. The one who had stabbed me and taped me to a chair. Her voice didn’t convey the shaking in her hand, and I could see she was putting on a brave front.
“Keep heading east for another two hours. I’ll call again when you’re closer.”
I listened hard for any clues. The accent was most definitely New York, Bronx, and the speaker clearly male, and I would guess to be older than me, in his forties. The accent and age made me think he was most likely associated with Vee’s father, and my mind started turning over possibilities.
“I want to know my sister is still alive,” she said, still with that cool, authoritative voice. “Put her on the phone.”
There was a pause and a shuffle and then Nickie’s voice came through. “Vee,” she said. “Please, just come—”
But she didn’t get the chance to say anything else.
I glanced at Vee’s face. She stared straight ahead, her eyes dry, her lips a thinned line. I realized I’d never seen her cry, and even now, she didn’t beg to speak to her sister again. I wanted to speak on her behalf, but I couldn’t give myself away.
“There,” said the man. “You got what you wanted, now do as you’re told.”
Vee didn’t flinch. “What’s your name?” she demanded.
He chuckled. “You don’t need to know that now. You’ll find out soon enough.” And the line went dead again.
Vee’s self control snapped. “Fuck!” she swore and slammed her small fists down onto the steering. “That fucking son-of-a-bitch. I’ll fucking kill him when I get close enough. I swear it with my life.”
She was panting in her vitriol, her fists clenched, her shoulders hunched. I had the feeling she would tear the truck to pieces with her bare hands if she was given the chance. I kept my mouth shut, certain the wrong word would cause her to pull the gun on me and shoot me in the chest. I didn’t think I’d ever met a woman who instilled that kind of caution in me. Unpredictable and definitely dangerous. Yet a strange part of me also admired her, and I was definitely drawn to her. Did I recognize something of myself in this woman?
I gave her a few minutes to calm down, though I knew her rage still simmered beneath the surface. That was good. She would need to call on it when needed. I’d already been told she was a killer, so I didn’t doubt her ability to pull the trigger when the time came, but she’d also need to do so with control and clarity. Being overly emotional caused mistakes, and mistakes meant death.
When the white vanished from her knuckles and her breathing slowed, I dared to speak. “He knew which direction we’re headed in.”
She twisted in the seat to face me. “How?”
“I don’t know. Someone told him?”
“Someone informed on us already? Deputy Kier, I bet.”
I bit my lower lip as I considered the options. “I thought the police would assume we were going in the other direction.”
“So someone has been following us?”
I couldn’t help looking back to the road behind us. I’d been keeping a close eye out as Vee had driven, or so I’d thought. “I haven’t seen anyone. If no one is following us, he just made a lucky guess.”
“That’s possible, right? We might have been reading too much into how he said it.”
“Yeah, it’s possible.”
“But your instincts tell you something different.”
She had focused those dark eyes on me, daring me to say anything other than the absolute truth.
“Yeah, they do,” I admitted.
She paused before she spoke again. “Do you know who has taken Nickie?”
“I have an idea. When your father was setting up this hit with me, he was ranting about if I did a good job on this one—meaning you—that he’d have me go after Tony the Hound next. Have you heard of him?”
She nodded. “Tony Mancini, right? He’s been trying to move in on my father’s business for a while now. I know my father has had a couple of meetings with him, but I’ve never met him myself.”
“Yeah, Tony Mancini, though Tony the Hound suits him better. Your dad is a ruthless son-of-a-bitch, but you know how Tony got his name?”
She shook her head.
