“Yeah, I know. I’ll handle things on my end. You finish up down there and we will meet as planned.”
“Looking forward to it and I will have a special gift for you when I arrive.”
“Will she be wrapped?”
“Unwrapping her will be the fun part.”
A lascivious groan could be heard through the phone. “I can’t wait.”
“Patience.”
“Not one of my virtues.”
“You have no virtues, that’s why we make such a good pair.”
37
Sin woke up, her clothes clung to her with sweat. Again, her head felt like someone had used her skull as a base drum. Her eyelids felt as if they were glued shut as she pried them open. The pain in her joints let her know that her ankles and wrists were cuffed.
The last thing she remembered was being given some water to drink. That prick drugged me again.
Her vision was slow to focus, but when it did, she was glad to see Tia still in the room with her. Sin groaned while trying to sit up, and Tia came to help.
“Are we alone?” Sin whispered.
Tia nodded.
“When was the last time anyone came down here?”
“Mr. Humberto was down here a few minutes ago.”
“Humberto, huh,” Sin smiled. “Did he tell you his name?”
Tia shook her head. “No, I heard another other man call him by that name.”
Sin squeezed her eyes closed trying to abate the headache. “You’re just full of useful information. What else can you tell me?”
Tia looked around the room as if to make sure no one could see or hear them and then pulled the leg of Sin’s jeans up.
Sin jerked away. “What are you doing?”
Tia put her finger over her lips. Sin mouthed she was sorry and let Tia raise the leg of her jeans above her boot. Tia reached into her boot and pulled out Sin’s lighter.
Sin’s eyes lit up when she saw what Tia had done. She leaned forward and kissed the girl on the top of her head. “Good girl,” she breathed.
Voices and footsteps could be heard getting closer to the cabin.
“Put it back in my boot and straighten my jeans,” Sin said.
She sat up and watched Humberto enter the cabin with another man. “Is he the boss?” Sin goaded. “He’s bigger and better looking than you.”
Humberto’s upper lip quivered involuntarily as he plopped his muscle-bound body in to the leather chair. “There is nothing you can say that will anger me,” he said.
“I doubt that,” Sin disagreed. “I’m pretty good at pissing people off.”
“I have been promised a fortune for your capture. It seems there is a price on the head of the ‘Perla Angel de la Muerte.’ ”
Sin rolled her eyes. “You really are stupid, Humberto.”
His lip quivered again.
“Yeah, I know your name, but I think I’ll call you Hummer for short. Like it?”
He shot up and slapped her face as he walked by her. “No, I don’t like it, Angel. For now on, I am El Diablo.”
Sin licked her lips and tasted a tinge of blood. Let’s see how far I can push this asshole, she thought. “Sucker, Diablo, Hummer. They are all the same thing,” she said. “They all describe how you will be spending the rest of your days in prison.”
Humberto reached down and grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her toward him. “You think you’re so funny,” he bellowed. “If you weren’t worth so much money, I would fuck you and kill you now.” He shoved her away and she landed hard on the wood floor.
“Damn,” Sin groaned, as she twisted into a seated position. “So, just for a minute, let’s assume you’re correct, and you are the new boss.” Sin wanted to diffuse the situation—stoke his ego a bit. “When do I get to meet your employer?”
“Ah,” Humberto replied, “that is why I have come on this trip. We will be docking in six hours.” He motioned the other man over. “The two of you are very important. I can’t risk you trying anything stupid, so I came to deliver you myself.” He pointed at Sin and snarled, “The money on your head is ‘dead or alive,’ so if you try anything, I will kill you.”
Another guard entered with food and water. Humberto reached for one of the water bottles, took a swig, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and gave it back to the guard.
Sin watched the guard place the bottles on the table, her eyes following the one Humberto drank from. As much as she disliked the idea of drinking after him, she knew that one wasn’t tainted. These bastards aren’t knocking me out again.
“Eat,” the guard said.
“I don’t have much of an appetite,” Sin responded.
Humberto shrugged. “No matter. You’ll be dead by tomorrow.” He faced the guard and pointed to Tia. “Take the girl.”
38
The shit had hit the fan all around Tumbleboat and the Lower Keys when Heap and Miller found out the girls in the orphanage were missing.
They had all boarded a bus as planned to go to the Miami Seaquarium, but they never went. Charlie pulled a double switch at a rest stop, loaded everyone in two delivery vans and drove them back towards Tumbleboat.
York and his men had been so busy trying to find Sin, they paid no attention to the girls. Now they were scrambling―searching house to house looking for any sign of the girls and Rosa. Troy had notified his superiors of the girls’ disappearance and the state police were also involved in the investigation. He also mentioned that he thought York might have had something to do with the missing girls, so the state police were keeping a close eye on York and his crew.
The entire situation was like a scene out of a Keystone cop movie—everyone blaming everyone else, no one having any idea what was going on.
From the outside looking in, it was all a bit ludicrous. Troy knew exactly where the girls were. Charlie, being the conspiracy theorist he was, decided he couldn’t trust anyone, so instead
