Chapter 3
The glow in the sky only got brighter as Piper stared out the window. A fucking volcano. That’s what had screwed everything up. A fucking volcano. It was unbelievable. Truly. She shifted her weight, trying to keep her ass from falling asleep.
She studied the back of the strip mall. A convenience store, a t-shirt shop, a sandwich place, two empty stores, and a bank. The only thing open was the convenience store, not that she could see it from there. Smart people were getting out of Dodge. Not only was it nighttime but there was a fucking volcano erupting not that far away.
Come on, come on.What the fuck were they doing in there that was taking so long? She was only here on a scouting mission. Nothing more tonight. The plan wasn’t to do anything until tomorrow. This was just supposed to be them casing the place.
She glanced around but the back of the strip mall was blocked from view by palm tree foliage. Damn good thing, since her sitting in the van stick out like a sore thumb. It had been okay while traffic was snarled to a stop. But then it cleared up. Now, anyone with any sense was inside away from all the ash, not hanging out in their vehicle like a sitting duck. She adjusted her mask and looked across the van through the passenger side window at the steel door that was sealed up tighter than Fort Knox.
She’d been here too long. They were supposed to go in and spend ten maybe fifteen minutes. She glanced at her watch. Thirty-eight minutes. They just had to make sure they knew where to set everything up for tomorrow. That’s it. What the hell was taking them so long? Shit. Every sense she had was on alert…this situation was fucked beyond repair.
Hang on!Signs of life had surfaced.
The steel door to one of the vacant stores opened and four men filed out. One was stumbling. Not good. Denlo had his ball cap pulled down low over his face and his jacket collar pulled up. The other two were half-carrying, half-dragging the third guy. He pulled open the back door. “We need to get water at the convenience store.” He gestured to her to get out of the van.
“What the fuck?” she mumbled as she got out. Getting water didn’t require two of them. She just wanted to be out of there. There’d been a huge issue with traffic before. She’d barely made it into the lot before the whole intersection became gridlocked.
They walked around to the front of the convenience store and Piper pulled the door open. She started in and almost walked straight into the man coming out. She looked up and cursed.
Raider?
Why was her ex-husband here? Standing right in front of her. She froze and Denlo plowed into her.
Raider reached out to catch her, but she jerked her arm away and gave him the tiniest head shake. He’d always been good at reading her body language, so he dropped his hand. She hurried down an aisle toward the fridge units in the back. She pulled open one of the doors and started to pull out the water. The coolness felt great on her over-heated face.
What the fuck was Raider doing here in Hawaii? Of all the times to show up. She hadn’t seen him in five years. Not since she’d broken his heart and kicked him to the curb after her world had been turned upside down in a stupid accident on the job. When she’d… when she hadn’t told him her reason, to keep his heart from breaking as much as hers had been…
She blinked hard and swallowed convulsively. She couldn’t think about that now. She needed to focus on the mission from hell.
She closed the door and started back toward the front of the store. Denlo was talking in a low voice to the guy at the cash register. They both shut up as she approached. What the heck? Did these two know each other? The store attendant was an older guy with short blond hair and mean dark eyes. His long-sleeved shirt gave off weird vibes, especially given how warm it was outside. She could just see the tip of a tattoo on his right arm. His hands had some scars on them like he’d worked construction or some other labor job.
“Got your shit?” Denlo demanded.
She nodded and grabbed the water off the counter, then turned and headed out the door. Raider was standing on the sidewalk just outside of the driveway. He was watching her but making it look like he was drinking water. She gave him another tiny shake of her head. Then she turned the corner and went to the van.
After getting into the driver’s seat, she turned and handed out the bottles of water to the guys in the back. She glanced at Vardis, the man the others had carried out. Ashen, sweaty, and not looking in the least healthy. He needed help or he might not make it.
Denlo got into the passenger seat and snarled, “Drive.”
She glanced back and watched as Wells and Baker tried to get Vardis to drink some water. He wasn’t doing it.
“Drive,” Denlo demanded again.
She put the van in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. Heading back towards the hotel seemed like the plan. She wasn’t going to ask. Denlo wasn’t much of a conversationalist, and he seemed even more terse than usual.
How the hell had she gotten here? Sharing airspace with her ex?
Raider here on the Big Island. Her stomach rolled. He’d seen her. Now he’d be wondering what the hell was going on. Join the club.
The weight of Denlo’s stare made the side of her face itch. She sent him a sidelong glance.
“You knew that guy in the store,” he accused.
Piper’s first instinct was to deny it. Tell him she had no idea what he was talking about but she’s been so obvious that she didn’t think he’d believe her. The last thing she needed was Denlo trusting her even less than he already did. “I..um…we…hooked up a while back. I was just surprised is all.”
“What does he know?” Denlo’s fingers closed around the butt of the gun tucked into the front of his belt. Another damn idiot who’ll probably shoot his balls off someday.
Piper looked in the rearview mirror. Baker and Wells were listening. Vardis was out of it. “He doesn’t know much. Like I said we hooked up a while back. There wasn’t a lot of talking going on, ya know? I didn’t know he was on the island. I thought he was back in San Diego.” That was the truth. Or more likely if she allowed herself to think about him at all, she’d think he was in some war-torn country or another.
“Why’s he here?”
Piper glanced over to Denlo and shrugged. “I dunno. I didn’t talk to him or anything. I was just surprised to see him. I got the water and we left. It’s not a big deal. He’s just a guy I knew for a couple of weeks like a hundred years ago, okay?” she made her voice sound frustrated and annoyed. Please let it go.
“Turn up there,” Denlo growled as he pointed to a street on her right.
She made the turn and glanced in the rearview mirror. They weren’t being followed. Thanks to the chaos of the evacuation, she doubted anyone had noticed them. The only reason to be thankful for the unexpected volcanic eruption. They could fly under everyone’s radars.
Except… Raider had noticed. No doubt about that. She tried to even out her breathing and stop her stomach from rolling but it was no use. Raider was close by and that was all she was going to be able to think about for a while.
She glanced over at the windows of the homes they were passing. Many were dark. People trying to outrun the lava flow. The volcano was the only thing anyone was talking about. It was all over the news twenty-four-seven. It was why she wasn’t so worried about being spotted. But she was worried about what was going on in the back of the van. Vardis’s breathing was labored. He sounded like Darth Vader.
She asked in a low voice. “Should we take Vardis to a doctor?” She didn’t want to push Denlo, but she had to at least try to get Vardis some help.
Denlo glowered at her but didn’t say a word.
Swearing silently, Piper drove on. Sweat broke out on her palms, making her grip slip on the steering wheel. Something bad was about to go down. Being the realist she was, she knew she was powerless to stop it. Denlo was a stone-cold killer. She had no doubts if she asked too many questions, he would have no issue with getting rid of her. They didn’t really need a driver for this job.
She glanced in the rearview mirror again only this time she was looking at Vardis. He looked gray in the ambient light coming in as she passed under streetlights. His close-cropped blond hair looked white, making him all together look about seventy instead of in his mid-thirties. His eyes were closed and his breathing was raspy and intermittent, each respiration coming slower and more infrequently. The man’s asthma had been made worse as ash accumulated in the air. She knew he’d been using an inhaler, but for the most part, it had been ineffective.
“Turn here,” Denlo directed again, and Piper made a right onto a small dirt road that led into the trees. The foliage was thick and scraping on the sides of the van. Finally, they couldn’t go any further. Denlo opened his door and got out. He opened the back door and gestured to Baker and Wells.
Wells nudged Vardis but the other man didn’t move. Wells had a black mask pulled up over his nose. He was wearing dark jeans, a dark windbreaker, and black sneakers. His hair was black and so were his eyes, but he looked more like a hamster than a killer. His eyes just didn’t have the same lethal look that Denlo’s had. Wells nudged him again but Vardis didn’t move. Baker leaned over and shook Vardis hard, but the other man didn’t open his eyes.
“Get him,” Denlo directed. The two men dragged Vardis out of the van and the three of them disappeared off into the trees.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” What the hell was she supposed to do now? She didn’t have a cell she could use. Denlo had taken them all. And who the hell would she call? She’d known as soon as she’d stepped onto that plane, there’d be no backup for her. No one was coming to help her. At the time, it had seemed like she’d had no choice, like this was the only path forward if she wanted to get the Snake. Now, she wasn’t sure. Maybe she’d finally taken it a step too far.
She stared into the trees. There were few things in life she regretted. She could live with almost all her actions but, one or two events still haunted her. There wasn’t much she could do about getting Marta killed. That was on her. But, there was one thing that she could do. She owed Raider an explanation for so much. She owed him the truth about why she threw him out, even knowing his reaction, the loss and devastation he’d feel. The same emotions she had felt. Those memories still haunted her. Seeing him brought it all back. If she got out of this, she’d explain the whole thing and if he hated her well, that was his right. But she would need to get out of this mess first. Unfortunately, the odds of her escape weren’t looking so good.
After fifteen interminable minutes, Denlo, Wells, and Baker all climbed back in the van. They weren’t dragging Vardis with them. She wanted to ask but decided to keep her stupid mouth shut until she figured out where the hell they were, and also, how the hell she was going to reverse down the sorry excuse for a road they’d driven in on.
An hour later, they were all holed up in a motel on the outskirts of Hilo. Denlo had his own room. Baker and Wells, who seemed to know each other from before. shared a room. She’d shared with Vardis. Now, she was praying Denlo didn’t decide to move in. Vardis had been easy to handle. He’d been polite but kept his distance since she’d arrived yesterday. Once the volcano erupted, he’d gone downhill fast.
The shocking bang on her door made her jump. She cursed under her breath and bit her lip. Get it together. Keep it together. She took a beat and then opened the door. The three of them were standing outside holding bags from which greasy, fried smells were emanating. Stepping back, she let them into the room and then closed the door after them.
Denlo sat at the table in the corner and the other two joined him. Piper stood back and waited until Baker handed her a burger and some fries. She sat down on the bed. Food wasn’t on the list of things she really wanted, but it would look funny if she didn’t eat so she took a bite of the burger.
“We have a problem,” Denlo said. He wasn’t eating. As far as she could tell, they hadn’t brought food for him. Odd, yeah, but she wasn’t going to question his abstention. Questions would get her killed. Denlo was rail-thin to begin with. Maybe he had stomach issues. His pale blue eyes were in sharp contrast to his bright red skin. He’d been out in the sun at some point before she’d arrived. His close-cropped gray hair made him look like he was in his fifties but then again if he was sick, he could actually be much younger and just didn’t look good.
She popped a fry in her mouth and waited.
Denlo continued. “Vardis was our explosives guy. We can’t do this job without an explosives expert. We need to find a new one.”
Piper stayed silent.
“I know a guy,” Baker said as he wiped his greasy fingers on his faded jeans. “He might be available. I’ve worked with him before.”
Baker looked to her to be in his late thirties. He kept his head shaved but wore baggy clothes, barely disguising that he was a mountain of a man with tree trunks for legs. She only knew him as Baker. No one had offered a first name. Slug must have told them her name because they all called her Piper, but no one asked her last name.
Denlo watched Baker eat. “Is he here on the island?”
Baker shook his head. “Nah. He works out of Nashville.”
“Won’t work then. We need someone here ASAP. Nashville is too far. The boss is trying to locate someone in L.A. We don’t have a lot of time. The volcano erupting has moved up the timeline for the job. We go in tomorrow night.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Wells groused. “We need more time to plan. I don’t like rushing. You said we had a couple of weeks. Now we’re doing it tomorrow night?” He played with the plastic cutlery in front of him.
Denlo glared. “I told you we go when the boss says so. The volcano is a distraction. We don’t need as much time to plan because the cops are all busy elsewhere.”
“Still,” Wells began. “Rushing during a job is always a big fucking mistake. That’s how a plan falls apart.”
“You better make sure no mistakes happen, or you won’t live to complain about it.” Denlo fingered the gun at his waist and Wells immediately shut up. He went back to eating his burger.
“Wells has a point,” Baker said.
Piper wanted to tell him to shut up. No need to piss Denlo off any further.
“What I mean is,” Baker continued cautiously, “we don’t have an explosives guy. The plans you gave me don’t match the store, which means I can’t guarantee where we’re gonna come through. And,” he pointed at Wells, “he needs time to crack the vault door. He hasn’t had enough time to practice. Cracking a safe like that can take hours. It’s an all night job and that’s if everything goes right.”
Denlo leaned forward. “Let me let you in on a little secret. Wells is gonna be able to do it in the time we have. We’re doing this now because the volcano erupted and the whole world is busy with that. The risk is lower than if we waited. The boss doesn’t give a shit about the details. He just wants it done, so if any of you think you can’t do it, now is the time to tell me.” He pulled his gun out of his waistband and put it on the table.
No one said a word. Piper glanced down at her food. The little she’d consumed had turned to stone in her stomach. What the fuck had she been thinking of, getting on that plane? She was in way over her head and the chances of finding a way out didn’t look good.
Denlo got up, picked up his weapon, and waved it around negligently. “So if you bitches are through with your belly aching then we’re done. I’ll be in my room. I suggest you do the same. Don’t even think about leaving.” He gestured with his gun again. “I’ll hear it if your room doors open or close. I’m between both rooms. The walls are thin so don’t think of trying anything.” He waved the gun around one more time and left. They stayed silent. They heard his room door open and then bang closed. The sound of Denlo’s voice came through the walls. Piper heard the rumble of Denlo’s voice through the wall but couldn’t make out the words.
Baker and Wells stared at their food without saying a word. Piper got up and tossed her food into the garbage can. She started back toward the bed when Baker jerked his head at her. He pointed with his chin to the other chair.
Piper swallowed hard as she claimed the seat as directed. She glanced at Wells and then Baker and waited them out.
“I don’t fucking like this one bit,” Baker whispered.
Wells nodded. “Me either. This isn’t the job Slick said it would be. He said it would be professional. This is…a fucking mess.”
Hmm.Slug recruited them too. Interesting. She filed away that little tidbit.
“Not much we can do about it,” she murmured.
Wells shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. If we don’t find an explosives expert then the job is off. None of us can blow the floor.”
“Then why did you offer your guy?” Piper whispered to Baker.
Baker shrugged. “I was trying to buy us more time. Because it would take him a while to get here. Besides, it’s always better to have someone you know and trust on board.”
“What do you think we should do?” Piper asked.
Wells glanced at Baker and leaned forward. “I think we need to stall until it’s too late.”
Baker shook his head. “I don’t know, man. I don’t think Denlo is gonna let us stall. If this job goes south, I think he’s gonna kill us when the boss says do it, and then start over with a more agreeable crew.”
Icy fingers clutched at Piper’s heart. She’d been thinking the same thing. If they didn’t do this job soon, Denlo would just kill them all and find new people. She decided to take a gamble. “Do either of you know who the boss is?”
They both shook their heads. “Whoever it is, has lots of juice and money,” Wells offered. “He got all that equipment no problem and none of it comes cheap.”
“You guys have seen it?” Piper was surprised.
Baker nodded. “Yesterday, Denlo took us to a warehouse where the equipment is stored before we picked you up. We’ve been here longer than you. We’re supposed to be working on the plan for the next couple of weeks but when the volcano went, Denlo said everything was moving up and then we went to get you at the airport.” He eyed her speculatively.
“Why are you here?” Wells asked straight out.
“Slu…ick said he needed a driver for a job. I said yes and then suddenly I was on a plane.” She shrugged. “Not sure why Denlo needs a driver really… but whatever. If I’d known about all this, I never would’ve gotten on the plane.”
“Me either,” Baker agreed.
Wells cocked his head and listened. They all did the same. Piper didn’t hear anything unusual. The TV in Denlo’s room had gone on. It wasn’t overly loud but audible enough. He wasn’t talking any longer either. Did that mean he would be checking on them?
“I think whoever the boss is, he’s here on the island,” Wells said conspiratorially. “Denlo was talking to him on the phone when he said that we needed a ladder and some rope. The guy told him to get it at HPM Building Supply. I’ve never heard of the place. It’s local. He told Denlo to ask for Bruce and that the stuff would be ready when he got there.”
Baker shrugged. “Could be that the guy just knows the area well. Doesn’t mean he’s on the island.”
“Maybe,” Wells conceded, “but it seems like he’s here when they talk.”
It was food for thought. There was no question that Piper wanted to get the Snake. His presence on the island would make catching his ass easier. But first, she had to survive this job.
“What happened with Vardis?” The words ripped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
Baker shook his head. “You’re better off not knowing.”
“Did you…” She left the question open-ended.
Wells looked offended. “His heart was still beating when we left. I ain’t that cold-hearted.”
Shit, this was bad. They’d left him to suffocate to death. Not a way she’d ever choose to go. “What do you think we should do?” she asked.
Wells glanced at Baker. “I think we do what we’re told for now. It’s better if we get an explosives guy and then get the job done. If we don’t, it’s a sure bet Denlo is going to kill us.”
Baker shrugged. “I think he’s gonna kill us either way. I think we’re royally screwed.