Page 25 of Ricochet

Somehow.

I should’ve been more frightened than I was, but getting handed off by psychopaths was a lot like a foster kid getting passed around, or playing a really messed up lottery, where the newbie might be less fucked up than the last guy.

I’d already been through hell and back and survived.

The charity ball should’ve been my chance for escape, with all the important guests that could’ve kept Michael distracted. I could’ve kicked myself for failing, for falling into another complication. Another house of horror that I’d have to navigate for an escape door.

The guy could’ve been some insane, leather-faced serial killer who collected the skin of his victims, but I was married to the mayor of Detroit, and no one trumped that asshole when it came to crazy.

In a fit, I tugged all four binds at once and screamed in frustration. “Hey! Hello?”

Silence.

I blew an exasperated breath. “Are you shitting me?” Tendrils of fear climbed my spine, as the questions swirling inside my head narrowed to one singular thought: what if he doesn’t come back at all?

CHAPTER 10

Nick

“Daddy?” In the black void, the voice whispers, and a slight shake wakes me. “Daddy, wake up.”

I open my eyes to bright, almost blinding light. I feel as if I’ve fallen onto a blank page, and smack in the middle is my son, James, holding his ragged rabbit, Mister Tims. “Jay?” The urge to scoop him up into my arms burns in my muscles as I run toward him, but my body is heavy, weighed down by gravity, and he remains out of my reach. I stand still, arms outstretched, and smile. “Come here, Jay. Come see me.”

His eyes study me from afar. Dubiously. Cautiously. “Did you do something bad, daddy? To that man?”

I bow my head, thinking of Marquise and the needle I’d stabbed in his throat. Only my son could incite the shame I’m suddenly feeling. “He hurt you and mommy, Jay. I had to hurt him. So he wouldn’t hurt anyone else again.” I frown when it occurs to me that one small detail is missing from all of this. “How did you know I hurt him?”

Jay tips his head and gives me a sidelong glance as he toys with a string hanging from Mister Tims. “Alec told me.”

“Alec?” Anger stirs in my stomach, completely overshadowing the big question—how did he discuss anything with Alec?

“I have to go, Daddy.”

“Jay! Wait!” I reach out for him, but I’m too far away to touch him. “Where? Where are you going? Let me come with you. Please.” Tears form in my eyes. “Show me where to find you and mommy.”

A smile stretches across his face. “That’s cheating. You have to wake up.” His voice morphs into the deep timbre of a man. He curls his lip and kicks me in the shin. “Wake up.”

My lids flipped open, blinking hard as blazing sunlight streamed through my opened bedroom drapes and damn near fried my eyeballs. An obscure figure stood leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, the smoky flavor of his cigar hitting my tongue at the same time a plume of smoke drifted upward from his mouth. I lowered my gaze to the surrounding floor, where I’d apparently spent the night with my boots on. “Fucking whiskey.” A film of sweat coated my skin when I rubbed a hand down my face. “Does it to me every time.”

“Fun night?” A sobering disappointment drifted on Alec’s words.

I scratched the back of my head. “Your girlfriend’s in the other room. D’you say hi?”

“Peeked inside. Sleeping like a baby.” He blew another cloud of smoke. “I forgot to congratulate you on your first kill the other night. Potassium chloride. Nice finale.”

“Thought you’d like that.” I rose to the edge of the bed and swiped up a bottle from the nightstand, sucking down the last of the whiskey, before holding it up like a toast to Alec’s stoic face. “Hair of the dog …”

“Speaking of which, perhaps you can train your mutt not to rub against my fucking two thousand dollar Armani suit.”

“Courtesy of the good folks at DigiCoin International.”

About six months earlier, Alec had hacked into DigiCoin, the world’s leading digital currency exchange site, stole eleven million dollars that’d been carelessly stored in a hot wallet, and transferred the cash to offshore bank accounts. Completely untraceable. In the deep net, the exchange site was famously associated with some of the most sickening kiddie porn sites in existence. After hacking DigiCoin, Alec had proceeded to shut down a half dozen affiliated sites featuring children for sale.

“I think you’ll agree, this is money well-spent, my friend,” he said.

“I’m waiting for you to support a third world country somewhere and dispel any myths I may have developed, that you’re a selfish prick.”

“Why deny the truth?” The cigar hung from his clenched teeth as he grinned around it. “Thought I’d find you in bed with her. Which can only mean you went out trolling for prostitutes last night.”