Blindfold

Toni laughed softly. “My dad's told us more than once that the only way he’ll leave that house for good is when they take him out in a body bag. It’s been in the family for over a century. It'll probably stay in the family even longer than that.” She reached over and stroked her fingers down the back of my hand. “How brave are you?”

“Is this a trick question?” I asked warily.

“Well, I already know you're stupid. I mean, we're here, right?”

From the corner of my eye, I could see her staring out the front of the windshield, a smile on her lips.

“But that's not what I mean. How brave are you?”

I frowned as I started forward again. “I've honestly never thought about it.”

“You might want to think about it. If you really want this thing between us to work, you need to.” She twined our fingers together, and I knew she was only half-teasing. “My parents are going to want to meet you...and my brothers have already told mom and dad about...what happened. Or, at least, the part that they know about. And since that includes me going to jail...” Her voice trailed off.

But I didn't need her to continue. I could only imagine what her parents thought of me.

A picture of my mother's face popped into my mind. "Whatever you do, Ash," she'd once told me. "Try hard not to make an enemy of the parents of the woman you fall in love with. Treat her right and they will treat you right. Treat her wrong…" She'd laughed softly then, and had looked over at my father.

Even though all four of my grandparents had died when I'd been young, I knew that there'd been animosity of some kind between my father and my maternal grandfather. I didn't know what, but my mom's statement had always made me wonder what had happened.

Now, my insides were twisting enough to make me want to puke. Suddenly, finding a kidnapper and possible killer didn't seem quite as nerve-wracking. “So,” I asked, striving for a normal tone of voice. “Are they big on holding grudges?”

“It depends,” Toni said as she glanced over at me, her eyes dancing. “If you impress my mom, you've got a chance because she has my dad wrapped around her finger. But if you screw up with her? It won't be pretty.”

“Great,” I muttered, nosing into an empty spot just down the street from where we needed to be. It wasn't exactly a legal parking spot, but I wasn't worried about getting a ticket since we weren't getting out of the car.

I didn’t have time to brood about Toni’s parents, though. There could be answers here. Answers to what happened to Isadora. To Lily. To my parents.

“Which one is it?” Toni asked, squeezing my hand.

“Bottom left.” I pointed with my free hand.

“So I guess we just sit here until...” Her voice trailed off and her hand tightened on mine until it was painful. “Ash.”

I followed her gaze.

My heart gave a hard, painful slam as I saw a light flickering through a gap in the windows. A shadow passed in front of it, paused. The curtain swayed slightly, and then the shadow moved away. For several long minutes, neither Toni nor I moved or spoke. We just watched.

Then Toni tugged on my arm. “Ash. Look.”

He was clad in a long, dull gray jacket, striding up the sidewalk casually. Nothing about him would draw attention. Not really. But as he looked right, then left, his movements almost deliberately lazy, his gaze zeroed in on me. His eyes slid past the black sedan we'd come in. It was a little too high dollar for this area, but it was the most sedate vehicle I owned. The dark tint kept him from seeing through the window, but I had a feeling he still knew who was inside.

Shit.

“It’s him?” Toni asked softly.

“Yeah.”

I watched as he glanced around once more, and then headed up the steps.

Toni let out a breath as she turned to me. “What do we do now?”

Chapter 12

Toni

I knew what I wanted to do, but I asked anyway. I couldn't expect him to take my thoughts and desires into consideration if I didn't do the same for him. So, I blew out a soft, steady breath, and counted to twenty while waiting for an answer. When none came, I offered my opinion. “I think this would be a good time to call the cops.”

Ash made a face, tapping his fist against the steering wheel, but he didn't discount it outright, so I gave him silence as he thought. He didn't speak for the next few minutes as the activity behind the window we were watching grew more agitated. Shadows moved and merged, making it impossible for us to know what was going on beyond the fact that it didn't seem to be good.

Ash said something under his breath, his soft words lost as my phone began to ring. It was Vic's ringtone, and I gave Ash an apologetic glance. “It's my brother.” I didn't bother to specify which one until I answered, “Hey, Vic, make it fast. I’m kinda busy.”

“Ah...yeeeahhhhh...” He drew the words out. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

The tone of his voice made a shiver go up my spine. “Spit it out, Victor.”

“It’s just...well, you wouldn’t by any chance be doing some...investigating of your own?” He hesitated, and then continued, “Because that might not be the best idea at the moment.” Off in the background, I heard my brother talking to somebody in a hurried tone. When he came back on the phone, his voice was stronger. And more concerned. “I’m serious now, Toni. You need to go. Shit is about to go down in all kinds of different ways.”

Adrenaline surged through me, followed quickly by a chill. “Trouble...”

“Yeah. Go!”

I shot a look over at Ash. He was still staring at the building, but I had a feeling he could hear the conversation clearly enough. Judging by his clenched jaw and the tense set of his shoulders, however, he wasn’t pla

Shit.

I'd known this was a bad idea.

I looked over at the building too. The activity behind the window had gone still. But there was a sudden tension that hadn't been there before. Now that I thought about it, things had been oddly quiet before. Throat strangely dry, I looked up the street, and then down, noticing things I’d missed earlier.

The plain car parked a few spaces up from ours. Nothing fancy, but still a bit out of place.

The couple that looked almost too casual at the bodega. They were together, except they weren't. No touching and no lingering looks. They smiled and leaned toward each other, and others might have been fooled, but to me, it looked fake, forced. And they kept watching things besides each other.

Something was off.

Something was really off.

Just as that thought came into my head, I heard a noise. Tires, squealing as they rounded the street.

Then, another sound. Sirens.

I tensed.

A black SUV slammed to a stop next to my side of the car, and Ash wrapped his arm around me, hauling me back against him. The driver was focused in the opposite direction, but the man in the back seat was looking at me.

And his gun was pointing in my direction.

Shit.

Vic’s voice shouted at me from the phone I still held clutched in my hand.

“I’m here,” I said without lifting the phone to my ear. Vic’s shouting ceased. “Somebody’s got a gun pointed at us.”

Vic’s furious cussing reached my ears much better than his ti

“It's going to be okay.” Ash's voice was low and steady in my ear.

My heart was racing. The body’s fight or flight response, I told myself. I knew which one I wanted to go with. Flight. Flight sounded really good. But I didn't have anywhere to go.