Along for the Ride
“Georgie?”
“She’s got the spare cardkey.” Cal stalked to the peephole. He groaned. “It’s Greg.”
“How the hell did he find us?”
“Perhaps we should’ve booked in under false names.”
“When we booked in, I thought he was in London!”
Cal shrugged. “Let’s just get rid of him, shall we?”
Jason nodded and braced himself.
Cal opened the door. “What the hell do you want?”
Greg looked past him at Jason. “Jason, ready to do business now?”
“Fuck off.”
“I think you’ll change your mind when you hear about the deal I have to offer.”
“No deal. Kelly has the photos. It’s over.”
“I know that already.” Greg tutted. “Your sister’s more on the case than you are. I should have gone to her in the first place! However, she’s now given the photos to Zoë.”
“She has?” Relief trickled through him. It was short-lived. Greg wasn’t done yet.
“In that case, why haven’t you crawled back under your rock? What the hell are you after?” Cal asked.
“May I come in?” Greg glanced along the corridor. “You’ll want to know, believe me.”
Cal put his hand on the back of Greg’s head and walked him through the doorway as if he were a toddler in need of guidance, then stalked away from the pair of them, shaking his head.
Greg swiped at his hair, glaring at Cal’s back with undisguised hatred. When he returned his attention to Jason, however, he gave a smug smile that made Jason’s guts churn. Why the hell did he look so cocksure? Something was very wrong here.
“I think you’ll work with me when you hear about my little investment. Let’s call it security.” Greg laughed at his own joke. “I’ve got the girl. Georgie.”
Georgie? Jason fought the rising nausea. He’s got Georgie?
Greg’s smug smile lasted the split second it took Cal to lurch back across the room and punch it right off his face.
Jason snatched at Cal, wrestling him back and hauling him away. “Leave it, Cal. Don’t make it any worse. Fuck knows, we don’t need that.”
“Let her go, you parasite.”
“You just made a big mistake.” Greg peeled himself from the wall where he’d landed, gesticulating wildly with one hand, clutching at his nose with the other, and backing toward the door. “I told you you’d regret it if you didn’t stay out of it!”
“What makes you think I won’t call the police?” Cal demanded.
“My men are with her. You wouldn’t want them to ... scare her, would you?”
Cal shrugged Jason off, glaring across the room, but he stayed his ground. “If you or your goons lay a finger on her, you’re dead.”
“Jason, get some material for me to work with; get something from Zoë if you have to. I’ve invested too much in this scoop to let it go now. If, within three hours, I have something worth publishing, I’ll let the woman go.” Blood darkened his hand, and he snatched into his pocket for a handkerchief to plug his nose.
“You bastard,” Jason muttered through clenched teeth.
“Just do it.” His hand was on the door handle, and then he was gone.