br /> “Was Josh always a tattletale?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she said. “Especially not about Josh.”
“Well, see, you should open up to me about him.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because, Jordie, your little brother just might save you and your saucy ass.”
Ignoring the remark, she pounced on the substance of what he’d said. “How?”
“At some point during our long, overnight drive—”
“You were going in circles the entire time, weren’t you?”
“Do you want to hear this or not?”
Subdued by his sharp tone, she fell silent and gave a small nod.
“Here’s where your life does become your business. Because somewhere between midnight and dawn, it occurred to me that you might be more valuable alive than dead.”
Her heart rate ticked up. She glanced at the pistol, which remained set aside on top of the crate. “You’re not going to kill me after all?”
“Depends. All you gotta do to prevent it is tell me where your brother is.”
Her flare of optimism flamed out. Slumping, she raised her arms to her sides and gave a dry laugh. “I don’t have any idea where Josh is.”
“Jordie,” he said, speaking softly, “what did I tell you about lying to me?”
“That’s the truth! When Josh turned informant, he was placed in protective custody. Even I don’t know where. I’m not allowed any contact with him. He’s being guarded around the clock by federal marshals.”
“Not anymore he’s not.”
Her stomach swooped. “What?”
“Your baby brother Josh eluded his guards and—” he made a whooshing sound and accompanied it with a hand gesture like an airplane taking off “—flew the coop.”
The words and what they signified were so outlandish that at first she couldn’t make sense of them. When the full meaning of what he’d said finally sank in, she was robbed of oxygen. Those scattered thoughts she’d tried to corral moments ago were swept away completely. “You’re lying.”
Slowly he shook his head.
She sucked in a breath. “Josh…”
“Skipped.”
“He left the government’s protection?”
“Sneaked away last Tuesday morning from wherever the feds had him sequestered.”
While she was still trying to assimilate this information, he stood and started walking toward her in a measured tread. “What I think? Panella doesn’t have the thirty million he and your brother stole. Worse for him, he doesn’t know where it’s stashed. Josh does.
“And now nobody, not the feds, nobody is protecting Josh from Billy Panella.” Having reached the hood of the car where she sat, he placed his hands flat on either side of her hips and leaned over her. “Except you.”
Chapter 10
From the moment Josh Bennett determined that his best option was to make a deal with the federal government, he’d begun preparing for the day he would renege on it.
He’d been whisked to the safe house with only the clothes on his back and a small duffel bag containing a few personal items. The bag and its contents had been searched, but not that thoroughly. Special Agent Joe Wiley and company had been concerned about his secreting objects with which he could do himself in. Finding none, his duffel was returned to him with a few trinkets undiscovered.