Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
H arlow tapped her finger against the door, eager to get to Fisherman’s Wharf. She hoped they could find Daniel Brewer. The place was always packed with tourists.
Saxon pulled out of the parking garage, then called Vander to let them know. “Got Harlow with me. She wanted to come.”
“What?”
Harlow winced. Vander’s unhappy vibe came through the line, loud and clear.
“I have to do this, Vander. I can’t just keep organizing your office. I need to help.”
“Fine.” A long-suffering note in his voice. “Bring her back safe.”
Saxon drove to Fisherman’s Wharf and found a parking spot. They strolled along the restaurants and shops, and she fought the urge to hurry.
“Relax.” Saxon grabbed her hand. He pulled her close, like they were a couple out for a stroll. “Try not to look like you’re on a mission.”
Harlow took a few deep breaths.
“Good,” Saxon said. “You don’t want to scare the kid off.”
Saxon’s phone pinged. “Message from Ace. Brewer’s at Pier 39.”
She nodded. They walked down to the crowded pier. The popular tourist attraction and shopping area was busy. Lots of tourists were heading to see the sea lions.
“There.” Saxon pulled her close. “Don’t turn too quickly.”
She spotted the kid by a shop window. A group of tourists walked past, laughing. She watched as the boy ducked out and picked their pockets.
“Wow, he’s good.”
Saxon grunted.
Together, they strolled closer. She sensed Daniel move in behind them.
Saxon spun, and pushed the boy up against a railing.
“Hey!”
“It’s okay.” Harlow held her hands out. “We just want to talk.”
“And we want the knife you stole,” Saxon growled.
The kid bristled. “I didn’t steal nothin’.”
Harlow stepped closer, a smile pinned to her face. “Settle down.”
“Who are you?” Suspicion creased his forehead.
“I’m the daughter of the man you stole the knife from. It was already stolen. Now my dad and I are in trouble.”
Saxon started scowling. “He doesn’t need the details.”
“I’ve got this.” She looked back at Daniel. “Can we talk?” She waved at a sub shop nearby. “We could grab something to eat.”
Something flared in the boy’s eyes. “I could eat. Especially with a hot babe like you.”
She frowned at him. “What are you, like—” she figured boys were much like men, so she added a few years to her estimate of his age “—thirteen?”
He puffed his chest up. “Eleven.”
“Too young to be calling women babes.”
He grinned at her.
Shaking her head, she looked at Saxon. “You’re buying, since I ran out without my purse.”
Saxon raised a brow and shook his head. He held the door open and they moved into the restaurant, and found a table.
Daniel sat across from them and fidgeted, eyeing them warily.
A server bounced to a stop beside the table. “I’m Becky. What can I get you?”
“I’ll have a meatball sub,” Daniel said. “And fries. Chocolate shake. Large. And two cookies.”
Harlow raised her eyebrows.
“Coffee. Black,” Saxon said.
“Nothing for me,” Harlow said.
“You sure, Blondie?” Daniel asked. “Chicken sub looks good.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. The boy looked too thin. “I’ll have the chicken sub. Extra cheese.”
The boy nodded approvingly.
“Drink?” Becky asked.
“You probably want a soda,” Daniel said.
Saxon muttered under his breath.
“I’ll have a soda,” Harlow said. “Mountain Dew. Extra-large.”
Becky bounced away.
“Give us the dagger,” Saxon said.
Daniel’s chin jutted at them.
Harlow pressed a hand to Saxon’s arm. “Daniel, like I said, I’m in trouble.”
The boy fiddled with some sugar packets from the bowl on the table. “Sucks to be in trouble.”
“It sure does. It all started with my dad.” She launched into her tale of woe. Their food arrived, and Daniel started mowing through his at an alarming rate while he listened.
“Armand.” The boy shook his head. “Bad news.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Sucks that you had to have dinner with him.” The boy eyed Saxon. “Bet your man was pissed.”
“He was. Oh, Saxon’s not my man. He works with my…man’s brother.” It felt so weird to call Easton her man.
Daniel grunted and sipped some shake.
She finished the story. “So, I really need the dagger.”
“That’s some story, Blondie.” The boy eyed her untouched sub. “You going to eat that?”
She pushed it toward him and watched him tear into it.
“You can’t unload the dagger,” she said. “I know you tried.”
His brown eyes narrowed.
“We’ll pay you,” she said.
Saxon made an unhappy noise.
“A thousand dollars,” she said.
Saxon choked.
“It’s worth more than that,” Daniel said.
“Sure, but you’ll never sell it. It belongs to Rhoda Pierce.”
“Fuck.” His nose wrinkled.
“You shouldn’t curse, Daniel.” She shoved her soda at him.
He eyed her and took the cup. “Two thousand.”
“Done. Saxon will pay you.”
Saxon cursed under his breath.
She smiled at him. “You shouldn’t curse, either.”
“I want my money first,” Daniel said.
Saxon pulled his wallet out. “I don’t carry two G around with me. I’ve got five hundred.” He slapped a wad of cash on the table. “Consider it a down payment.”
“Wow.” Harlow never had cash. “Who carries cash around like that?”
“Me. When I have to pay informants, or bribe young extortionists.”
Daniel leaned forward, and the money disappeared.
“The knife,” Harlow said. “Then we’ll go and get the rest of your money.”
The boy pulled a wrapped object out of his pocket, and set it on the table.
Her heart tripped. Her father’s initials were embroidered on the handkerchief. This was one step toward fixing the chaos in her life.
She flipped open the cloth and saw the jewels in the knife’s hilt gleam. There were scratch marks on it, so she guessed Daniel must have tried to pry them free.
“Does your mom know you’re out picking pockets?” she asked.
His chin jutted again. “She’s dead.”
Her chest squeezed. “Your father?”
“Never knew him. Just have a step. He’s an asshole, and no one can make me go back to him.”
The ugly look in Daniel’s eyes made Harlow feel sick. She wanted to hug him.
After Saxon paid for their meal, they left the shop, the dagger tucked into the inside pocket of Saxon’s jacket. They stopped at a bank, and Saxon paid the boy the rest of his money.
“Thanks, Daniel. Wait.” She turned to Saxon. “Do you have a pen and paper?”
He pulled out a pen and an old receipt.
She scribbled on it. “Daniel, this is my number. And the number of my…man. You need anything, you call us. Anything at all.”
The boy’s stony look said he’d never call, but he took the paper and pocketed it. “Stay safe, Blondie.”
“Wait,” Saxon said.
Daniel froze.
“He took your watch,” Saxon said dryly.
Harlow gasped. Her silver watch was gone. “Daniel!” Damn, the kid was good.
With a rueful shrug, he handed it back.
Then in a blink, he disappeared into the crowd.
Harlow felt a sharp pain under her heart. “I hate leaving him alone.”
“You can’t save everyone, Harlow.” Saxon touched her arm. “Let’s get back to the office.”
* * *
Harlow looked at Ace’s screens.
Surveillance work was boring with a capital B . Ace was tapping on his keyboard, running some sort of search.
Saxon had locked the dagger in the office safe, and told her that Vander would organize a meeting with Rhoda Pierce. The plan was to return to dagger and ask her for some time to pay back her dad’s debt.
Then Saxon had dumped Harlow back with Ace. She was pretty sure he was still mad about the two thousand dollars.
She tapped her nails on the desk and glanced at the screens. One feed came from directly outside the Norcross Security office. A man hurrying down the sidewalk caught her eye.
Wait, she knew that walk.
“Oh my God, that’s my dad.” She shot to her feet.
Suddenly, a car screeched to a stop in the street. Harlow stiffened.
The windows opened, and a pair of gun barrels appeared.
“Dad!”
They opened fire. Her dad jerked and fell.
“No!” There were no thoughts in Harlow’s head, just a wave of pure panic.
She raced for the door and heard Ace shouting. He grabbed her arm, but she slipped free, and sprinted through the office toward the front doors.
She heard more shouting behind her, but she had to get to her father.
He was shot. He was hurt.
She’d just made it through the front door when someone tackled her, and she hit the ground with a heavy weight on top of her.
“Don’t move.”
Vander’s voice.
People ran out of the Norcross office. There was more gunfire, then the sound of a car speeding away.
Dad . Oh, God . “My dad.”
“Stay down until it’s safe,” Vander growled.
“Clear.” Rhys’ voice.
Vander leaped off her and pulled her to her feet. “Ace, stay with her.”
Ace wrapped an arm around her waist. Frantically, she peered ahead. Her father was sprawled on the pavement.
“Dad.” She pushed against Ace’s arm, but he was strong and held her in place.
“Just wait, querida .”
Vander and Rhys knelt by her father. Then Rhys rose, cell phone pressed to his ear.
“Ace.” Her voice trembled.
“Hold on.”
She bit her lip, tears burning her eyes. Then, with a rough jolt, she broke free and ran.
Ace’s Portuguese curses echoed behind her.
Vander saw her coming and intercepted her. He caught her against his hard body.
“Vander.” She met his dark gaze. “Let me help him.”
Vander stared at her for a beat, then nodded.
They crouched beside her father. Together, they rolled him over, and bile rose in her throat. There was so much blood.
“Put pressure on his wounds,” Vander ordered.
Vander pulled her dad’s jacket off. She wadded it up and pressed it over the horrible wounds in his chest.
Harlow fought back tears. His blood was warm on her hands. “Hang on, Dad. It’s going to be okay.”
“Ambulance is on the way,” Rhys said.
Vander touched Harlow’s arm. “We’re going to get him to the hospital, Harlow.”
She nodded. “He’s going to be okay, right?”
Vander’s mouth flattened, and a sob caught in her throat.
“I’ll call Easton,” Vander said quietly. “Tell him to meet us at Saint Francis.”
She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks.
Then Vander gripped the back of her neck and squeezed.
She sniffed, holding on by a thread. She couldn’t lose it.
“Damn glad my brother found a woman with beauty, smarts, and strength,” Vander said.
She bit her lip and nodded.
It wasn’t long before she heard the wail of sirens. She kept the pressure on, and then heard the paramedics talking to Vander, and the rattle of a gurney.
“Move back, Harlow,” Vander said.
She swallowed. “I can’t.” She felt frozen, ice sliding through her veins. She was worried that if she let go, she’d lose her dad.
Vander gripped her shoulders. “Let go, babe. Let them help him.”
She lifted her hands off her father. The paramedics moved in, working fast, and Vander pulled her against his chest.
“I don’t want to fall apart,” she said.
“Then just hold on.”
“I’ll get blood on your shirt.”
“Won’t be the first time I’ve had blood on me.” He stroked a hand down her back. “Come on. Let’s get to the hospital.”