I shoved my hands into the pockets of the coat and tilted my head forward to block the falling ash. Her stride widened with each second that ticked by. She peered over her shoulder in the direction of the alley, then faced forward.
“You know, we could probably slip away. Find a ride and get the hell out of Salt Lake before they could track us down,” Anna said. “At the end of the day, this isn’t our problem, and I doubt they’d invest the resources to come after us. They have bigger issues at the moment with Domingo and his crew.”
“And screw over Cindy and her son?” I shot back. “We might be their only chance to get out of this. I can’t just cut them loose and bail.”
“They’re going to kill us either way. You do know that, right? Regardless if we manage to get their shit back and kill Domingo, they’ll put a bullet in both our heads without much thought. I don’t give a shit what that blond prick says.”
I nodded in agreement. A crazy, outlandish notion spawned in my head and wouldn’t leave me be. The more I thought about it, the more it took shape and offered a possible way out of our situation.
“So, you’ve got a pretty good relationship with this Domingo character, right?” I asked.
Anna shrugged. “Like I said earlier, it’s not great. We had a falling out on a job I did that went sideways. He’s probably not going to be happy to see me. Why?”
“Well, we don’t have much of a choice. What if we struck a deal with him? Some sort of arrangement that would benefit us both,” I answered, removing my hand from the warmth of the coat’s pocket and waving it around.
“A deal?” Anna glanced up at me, confused. “What sort of deal? We’re kind of short on any sort of leverage or anything else for that matter. Not sure trying to bargain with the devil without having anything of value is wise. Just dropping in here unannounced is going to be hard to spin, all things considered.”
My hand worked in front of me, fingers moving as I laid out my thought process to Anna. “But we do. McCone and his operation. That’s what we’re offering.”
“Yes, because we certainly have that on lockdown and are able to offer up his territory and business on a silver platter.” Her snide remark and condescending tone grew more cynical the closer we got. She grabbed the edge of the hood and pulled it forward to shield her from the cold and ash. “Our only two options here are cut and run, my choice, or continue on and risk dying whether we succeed or not.”
“Just listen,” I said, ignoring her less than helpful rebuttal. “Domingo hates the McCones and has been trying to find a way to rub them out, right?”
Anna nodded, then pointed at the large brick building on the far side of the road. “His place is right up there. Get to the point fast.”
“We tell Domingo to give us the data, take it back to McCone, and tell them it’s taken care of. Then, Domingo and his crew can show up and hit McCone hard and with everything he has since they’ll think he’s dead. They shouldn’t suspect anything other than that since we’ll have the data and they think we’re in a no-win situation. They’re too full of themselves to think otherwise.”
Anna shook her head. “I think the plane crash, getting tossed around on that yacht, and everything else you’ve been through has messed up your head, Lawson. This is a dangerous game you’re wanting to play.”
“This is our best shot at everyone getting out of this alive,” I replied. “Besides, these aren’t the worst individuals I’ve ever had to deal with. Case in point, the hit men who are hunting me down and well, you.”
“And you think you can convince Domingo to go along with this?” Anna asked, skeptically. “He doesn’t know you at all and will be pissed at me for showing up out of the blue.”
I nudged Anna’s elbow with mine. “That’s why you’re going to sell him on the idea.”
“I’m really not liking you right now.”
“I know.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CORY
Anna stopped at the curb, then peered over to the sprawling building across the street that took up a large chunk of real estate. She skimmed over it, then looked to the roof top.
“He doesn’t have any of his men out patrolling that I can see.” Anna pointed at the front entrance. It had no windows of any kind located on the first or second floor. The others sat dark and void of any lights shining or flickering behind the glass. “I say we make our way around the corner of the building. At the far end, he has a roll-up door and another entrance that I’ve used a number of times.”
“Sounds good to me,” I replied, nodding.
“Hopefully, he won’t shoot us in the face just for showing up.” Anna stepped off the curb and walked across the street.
I followed after her. “Yeah, I’d prefer him not to do that as well.”
We crossed the street and stepped up onto the curb in front of the cream-colored building. Anna bypassed the dark-tinted glass door and continued down the walkway.
“It’s been a bit since I’ve spoken to him. Maybe a year or more,” Anna replied, walking around the corner of the building. “He’s always reached out to me when he’s needed some help on a job. I’ve never just shown up on his doorstep like this, so stay alert. We may not get the chance to pitch him your brilliant scheme considering we’re not on good terms at the moment. This could turn ugly
