Chapter 35
Rodney looked over his shoulder like she was talking to somebody else. "Me? Are you telling me to fuck off? Woman, you’re out of your goddamn mind!"
I flashed my badge. "Coconut County. Stop right there. Don't move. Put your hands in the air.”
Rodney stopped where he was and looked at me like I was the crazy one. With my gun aimed at him, he got the idea I meant business. "This don't involve you."
"I'm afraid it does."
"I got business with Brandi."
"I don't care who you’ve got business with.”
Rodney scowled at me. He was a short guy whose ego and attitude towered over him. Mouthy and loud. "Brandi, did you forget about our arrangement? Whatever money you come into, I’m due a commission.”
"You're fired, Rodney. I don't need you anymore.”
Rodney's face reddened, and the veins in his forehead bulged. "Oh, you don't need me anymore!?”
"You heard me. Get lost."
"It's time for you to go, Rodney," I said. "Otherwise, I'm going to arrest you for obstruction."
"Obstruction of what?”
"Rodney, I'm going to give you five seconds to turn around and get out of here.”
"Man, I didn’t do nothing. This is a public place. You can't tell me what to do."
"Beat it, loser," Brandi quipped.
Rodney was about to explode, but he contained himself. "You talk tough now. But I’m gonna catch up with your ass.”
"Five… Four… Three…”
"Alright, alright. I'm going.” He took a few steps back. "This ain't the last you’ve seen of me, Brandi.”
Rodney spun around and stomped back down the hallway, swinging his arms like a child who'd just had a temper tantrum.
"See what I've had to put up with for the last four years," Brandi said. "I get a little sympathy for that, right?"
Rodney reached the end of the hallway and disappeared around the corner. The elevator doors opened, and it sounded like Rodney stepped aboard.
The doors closed, and the level went silent.
“Looks like Tabitha ratted you out,” I said to Brandi.
She frowned. “Bitch!”
Shane zipped up the duffel bags of cash and picked two of them up. Judging by the size of them, there was about $1.5 million per duffel bag. A lot of money, but just like Shane had said… Chump change compared to the jewel. "Jack, grab the other two bags. Let's get out of here."
"Don't get any funny ideas about keeping that money," I warned.
"I just want my sister back.”
Technically, we should have counted the money, called it in, and logged it as evidence. But playing by the rules wasn't going to get Riley back.
JD picked up two bags.
I kept an eye on the hallway.
Rodney returned with two friends as we stepped out of the storage unit. They hovered at the end of the hallway with weapons aimed at us.
I shouted, "Rodney, whatever you're thinking, it's a bad idea."
"Walk away, pig! Leave the girl and the money, and nobody gets hurt."
"It’s not gonna work like that. Put your weapons down. Get on the ground, face down.”
Rodney blasted a few shots in our direction.
I ducked for cover in the storage unit as the bullets whizzed down the hallway, pelting the door at the far end. The deafening echo of gunfire bounced off the concrete walls.
"That was a stupid decision, Rodney!” I shouted.
"He's not the sharpest tool in the shed," Brandi said.
"I see that.”
More gunfire erupted, rocketing down the hallway.
"Rodney, you’re just digging the hole deeper for yourself.”
Footsteps echoed, and I had no doubt Rodney had sent his minions around to flank us.
It wasn't long before one appeared at the opposite end of the hallway. He fired a slew of bullets in our direction.
Molten copper rounds smacked the concrete jamb, sending chips of debris in all directions. Some of the bullets made their way into the storage unit and pierced the corrugated metal walls that separated the spaces.
Jack angled his pistol around the corner to the right and fired down the hall, while I fired at Rodney to the left.
The thug to the right wasn't that far away—four units down, tops.
This was not a good place to be.