Chapter 30 #2
Jack needs to show up in the next few minutes, because whatever she hopes to find, it isn’t in that bag.
Hasty hands unclasp the buckles, and the wheels of a housekeeping cart squeak in the hallway while Bonnie kneels on the speckled carpet, turning the bag inside out.
I grimace, hating the way Marigold is being treated.
Yes, it’s just a backpack. But I’d hoped to bring her home with me and give her a new purpose after the journey we endured together.
That plan seems unlikely once Bonnie pulls out a pocketknife.
As if my backpack hasn’t suffered enough, Bonnie slashes at the thick seam connecting one of the straps, adding to Marigold’s battle scars.
The knife swishes closed, and she squeezes the seam like someone trying to get the last drops of ketchup out of a packet.
My curiosity draws me in closer—the same curiosity that landed me as the suspect in a murder.
Something shiny pops out of the rip, and Bonnie casts Marigold to the side as she stands, holding a large diamond between her thumb and forefinger.
“That was in there this whole time?” I frown.
“What a beaut,” she whispers, pulling out a small cloth bag and dropping the gem inside before whipping her gaze to me.
“Don’t trust a man to do what we women do best.” She smirks, typing out a quick text before retrieving the gun from her back pocket.
A minute later, there’s a tap and two short knocks on the door.
Bonnie peeks through the peephole before swinging the door open.
“Brandon didn’t know about the diamond, did he? Otherwise, he would have taken it that first night he slashed Marigold.” I say robotically, processing the unfolding evidence out loud. Bonnie ignores me.
A burst of cool air hits me as I stare past her at the lone cleaning cart with a messy pile of towels on top. Bonnie smushes the diamond between the top two towels before closing the door.
My goodness, no wonder this group keeps losing its loot. What in the world was that little bait and switch?
My eyes flick back up to Bonnie, and it suddenly dawns on me that she’s not fazed at my being witness to everything.
I’ve watched enough crime movies to know what happens to the person who can identify the bad guy.
Well, one of the bad guys, at least. I still don’t know who else is involved in the corridor outside, and I don’t think I’ll get the chance to find out.
Jack, I really hope you got my message.
My only option is to stall.
“So why leave the backpack in the reject box? Why abandon it if it had all this inside?”
“Hell if I know. It was Brandon’s job to transport the goods across the canyon.
He made up some excuse that he needed to hide it after he suspected he was being followed.
He got a bit too paranoid for my liking.
Should’ve gotten someone else to do the job, but he had charm, and he was willing.
He’d actually started out okay, until he got greedy.
” Her expression sours before a frown overtakes her face, and she meets my gaze.
“And I guess I just got caught in the crosshairs,” I mutter quietly.
Her eyes run over me again. “Look, I’m a thief.
I’m not gonna kill you, as long as you keep cooperating, but I am going to stash you somewhere that’ll take them a while to find you.
By the time your precious park ranger finds you, I’ll be long gone.
So you…ah, might wanna change into something warmer.
” A tinge of guilt seeps into her voice before that angry, I’ve-been-wronged scowl replaces it. “You’ve got two minutes.”
The sound of a door slamming shut in the hallway makes me flinch, and when I look back, Bonnie’s staring at me like she’s waiting to take my food order. “Tick tock, darlin’.”
Right. My captor is giving me time to change before dragging me against my will to a remote location. I grab my coral sweatpants and matching sweatshirt, moving toward the bathroom, but Bonnie stops me and clicks her tongue. “Gotta stay where I can see you, Princess.”
I really don’t like it when anyone but Jack calls me that.
The pants are easy enough to shimmy on beneath my dress, and the fruity notes of the wine splashed on the front of the bodice fill my nose as I pull the dress up over my head, being careful not to snag my stitches.
Bonnie stares impatiently when I turn around and hurry into Jack’s T-shirt and my sweatshirt.
I swap my sandals for my dirty hiking shoes, praying Jack is close.
“You’re the one who shot at us? In the canyon?” I ask, grimacing at the pain in my arm.
“Guilty.” She raises her hand with a twisted sense of pride in her eyes. “I tried getting you away from the backpack. Didn’t work out the way I planned, though.”
“Why aren’t you worried that we were seen together tonight? What about when Jack starts asking questions and finds out you were with me?”
“Oh, I’ll be very sympathetic when he tells me you’ve disappeared.” Her mouth dips in a pout. “I’ll even put my best effort into helping find you, before I disappear, that is. Ken and I are getting out of here.”
She sniffs, pushing her shoulders back while she raises the gun to motion for me to head toward the door.
My hands slide into the pockets in the front of my hoodie. “Ken is your husband? So you’re doing all this for him? Or it at least started out that way, I’m guessing.”
Her mouth pinches as her eyes flare with contempt.
“One slip up, and they fired him. After twenty years of service to the state, all his benefits, retirement, just gone, ‘cause the man made one stupid mistake.” She draws in a slow, steady breath, her nostrils flaring with the effort to calm herself down. “And I had to bust my ass working while everyone looked at me like I was dirt. Well, not anymore.” She shakes her head, a humorless chuckle tumbling from her throat. “It was a victimless crime, until Brandon decided he didn’t like his cut of the money. The nerve of that little punk, threatening to find his own buyer. Hah!” She scoffs, gripping my arm and assuming the same fake pose to usher me toward my isolated fate.
She glances through the peephole before looking at me, but I interrupt whatever she was going to say.
“I know. No funny business,” I drawl.
I’ll try any business if it keeps me from ending up alone in a place where nobody can find me.
Well, Jack. I really tried.
“Put the gun down, Bonnie.”