“What do you mean security? We’re dropping her off at that building,” Jerry said to him.
“Skip, what are you talking about?” Eve asked. She was in the backseat with Shelby, who was out cold.
“I mean that this envelope contains everything that went down and enough evidence to put Mickie and Blade in jail for life and then some. If he double-crosses us then when the cops find them they’ll pay for all of it.”
“And who is going to know about the envelope?”
“I made copies and I put someone in charge of calling the right people if our luck goes sour.”
“Who would that be?” Eve asked.
He looked at her. “One of them is you, Eve. This is where you get out and don’t look back.”
Eve shook her head. “No, no, Skip, I don’t want to leave you guys. I told you I was in it from the start.”
“I know that, Eve. Baby, you’ve been great and I’m not saying it’s over. I’m saying that you can’t come with us to make the delivery. Blade can’t be trusted. This is how it has to be.”
“He’s right, Eve. Let us do this. It was our mistake from the start. We owe him and once this delivery of Shelby is complete then we’re done. We take the money we have and the three of us get the hell out of here. If something happens to us, then you get that envelope to Shelby’s boyfriends. They’ll know what to do. Hell, they’ll probably come looking to find you and question you,” Jerry told her. The tears spilled from her eyes and Skip reached back and pulled her close.
He kissed her lips. “I’ve fucked up so many times in my life and then I meet you and it’s all different. Nothing matters but you, and Jerry. We’re a family, a team. Do this for us. Please.”
“But what if something happens to you?”
“Baby, we don’t plan on dying. We’re just saying if something goes wrong that we want this extra protection. It’s for you. You get it to the police, to her boyfriends.”
“Nothing is going to happen to us,” Jerry told her and kissed her next.
“Now take this and disappear. Go hide out at your aunt’s place in Yonkers or something. We’ll find a way to contact you when it’s clear and safe,” Skip said to her. She nodded and then looked at Shelby and then took her bag and the envelope and got out of the car. Skip watched her go toward the subway and knew she
would take that to catch a bus before heading to Yonkers.
“Let’s do this and be done with Blade once and for all,” Skip said.
Jerry held the gun on his waist. “We’re ready. We can handle him this time. It’s a simple drop-off and then our hands are clean of him,” Jerry said as Skip pulled back into traffic and headed into Manhattan.
But Skip knew it wasn’t going to be a simple drop-off. Blade didn’t trust anyone, and he was paranoid and mentally unstable, plus his obsession with Shelby made it all worse. He was glad he made copies of everything he had and all the evidence he could come up with. If he and Jerry were killed today, at least Blade and Mickie would go down for all of it. That was the smartest move he ever made, but it could wind up being his last.
His cell phone rang and he glanced at it and saw it was Blade.
“Are you in the city yet?”
“Yes,” he said into the cell phone.
“And my package?”
“Sleeping.”
“Good. Meet me at the building in fifteen minutes. That enough time?”
“Yes,” he said and then Blade disconnected the call.
He looked at the city streets, knowing he loved this place, and as it was getting dark he knew it was the city that never slept. There was always activity going on, always people walking down the streets, and traffic moving along. He often wondered how that was, but it also fed this love inside of him for the action of it all. He bought into the dream of making it in this city. Now here he was sending a woman, his ex-girlfriend, to a torture chamber and eventually to her death. He bought into the dream in the city all right. That dream turned into desperation to be free. He would never be free, and even if he lived tonight, he would always know he sent Shelby into her worse nightmare.
He swallowed hard and forced the guilty feeling aside. There was one thing he learned real fast in this city. You couldn’t count on anyone but yourself, and trust no one because even your best friend could be tempted to stab you in the back for the right price. He wasn’t a good man at all. He raped and beat a woman with Jerry and they paid off Mickie and Blade to get rid of her. There was no room for having a conscience, doing the right thing right now, and saving Shelby. What did it matter? Blade was not going to let them leave there alive. He just knew it.
* * * *
Blade laid his eyes upon her as she slept in the backseat with her arms tied behind her back. She looked so damn good. Sexy in her business attire and her long, wavy blonde hair cascading down her back and shoulders.