Free London Dusk (A Dawn to Dusk Novella) by Leigh K. Hunt Page B

snippets of them murmuring things like ‘Tijuana', and ‘distractions' and ‘running interference'. None of it sounded good.
    The American surfer bar-tender guy eventually disengaged from the conversation and sat down in the leather chair beside me, his eyes sparkling with mirth while he tried to keep a straight face. He looked out of place. He had longish unruly blond hair that curled slightly at the ends. "Well I think she would be perfect for the Mexico job. We've been looking for someone, haven't we? She's got the right look about her. I think we're all in agreement with that."
    The other two stopped and stared at me. My capt or had a calculating and assessing look upon his features, while the suave glasses guy looked almost bored. I had to get out of here. I didn't exactly know where ‘here' was, but I had to try.
    " Right, well." I sat forward and picked up my handbag, with my other hand resting on the money-loaded laptop case. "If that's all, I think I'll go now."
    My original captor firmly put his hand on my shoulder a nd pushed me back into my seat, "We're not finished yet," he said quietly. He turned to the glasses guy. "Gabe's right. She would be perfect for Mexico, and that's precisely why I brought her back with me. Just look at her."
    I sat deathly still as they watched me. Mexico? What the fuck were they talking about bloody Mexico for?
    " She's a prostitute – Darren was her client."
    I didn 't know what I was more outraged about – the fact that he knew what I was doing there, or the assumption that I was ‘just a prostitute'. "Hardly a fucking prostitute," I muttered.
    My captive turned on me . "Well if you weren't there to shag Darren, what were you doing?"
    I shrugged. He kind of had me there , but I still felt like I had to clarify the issue. "I have never, ever had sex with anyone for money. Darren was my first client, if you must know. And then you shot him. And I'm not a ‘prostitute'. Had I actually managed to do my job tonight, I would have been a ‘high class escort'."
    He laughed . "Darling, call it what you like. I did you a favour."
    " A favour? You call that a favour? " I huffed, and shook my head. "You've got to be joking. A hundred people saw me with Darren tonight, and now he's dead in his hotel room. And you call that a favour?"
    " Yes, and now your fingerprints are all over the weapon that killed him, as well as the safe."
    He was right. My thoughts went straight to when he asked me to hold his gun , and I silently berated myself for being so damn stupid . Instantly, I no longer cared about the money. I had to get out of there, preferably alive. These people were crazy. And I was in the middle of a nightmare. I should just go straight to the police and tell them everything, and clear my name. Annalise would back me up, I'm sure. And Jax.
    But then again , maybe Annalise wouldn't. Doubt crept into my mind as I processed this. Darren was her businesses client, and the woman hardly knew me. She'd taken me in based on Jax's recommendation… and in all honesty, she didn't know me from a bar of soap. She could, in reality, hold me accountable for his death. I swallowed.
    None of this , no matter which way I looked at it, looked good.
    ***
     

Chapter 1 0

    The surfer guy moved away from me and joined back in the conversation and I found my opportunity. I just had to make it through the door to the elevator, or perhaps there was some sort of fire escape on the outside of the building somewhere. I clasped my handbag tightly, making little movement as I lifted the strap up and over my shoulder.
    I moved quietly forward , so that I was sitting on the edge of my seat and kept my eyes firmly on my captives. None of them were paying me a lick of attention. I couldn't have hoped for better. I stood up quickly, moving as fast as I could across the wooden floors in my high heels. If I'd had any bloody common sense during my planning stage, I would have taken them off.
    Some one grabbed me, and I