Page 79 of Westin

“Bring her here!”

Petey’s voice reverberated around the building. She saw him wave to the men behind her. She turned just in time to find the driver approaching, a ring of keys in his hand. He undid the cuff from the ATV, but didn’t bother to take the other half off her wrist. Instead, he used it to force her up onto her feet.

“I can’t!” she cried when he tried to get her to stand. “My ankle!”

He frowned, glancing down. When he did, she slammed her elbow into his nose. It broke, blood immediately gushing on her, on him, sending him reeling backward as much from shock as the blow. She pushed away from the bike and tried to put her weight on that ankle, but it crumpled under her and she landed face-first on the ground.

“Fucking bitch!” a voice cried right before a foot slammed into her ribs, sending even more pain cascading through her.

“Stop!”

Petey was suddenly there, squatting beside her as he eased her over onto her back. “You okay?” he asked, looking down at the fresh splash of blood on the front of her shirt. “They hurt you?”

“My ankle,” she muttered, angry with herself.

Petey turned his attention to her legs, running his hand down the length of her calf before lifting her leg to touch the ankle. She cried out when he touched a tender spot.

“Yeah, it’s dislocated,” he said, glancing at her. “I can pop it back into place, but it’s going to hurt like a son of a bitch.”

“I don’t suppose it matters. Whatever you have in mind for me probably won’t feel too good, either.”

He nodded. “You’re probably right about that.” Suddenly, the worst pain she’d ever felt burst through her body as he manipulated her ankle, forcing the bone back into place. She screamed, the world growing dark around the edges. She fought it, refused to pass out, but that pain… it was almost unbearable.

“There,” Petey said, turning on the balls of his feet to look at her. “All fixed.”

She nodded, biting down so hard on her bottom lip she could taste blood. “Thanks.”

He laughed. “Damn, look at this one! I’ve seen grown men pass out with something like that! You’re quite the woman!”

“Thanks,” she said again, reaching up to wipe tears from her eyes. “Are you impressed enough to let me go now?”

“Sorry.” He sighed. “If it was up to me, I might. But it’s not. Unfortunately.”

“Who’s it up to?”

He smiled. “Fishing for information, are we? Can’t tell you that, either. Just in case.”

“In case of what? You’re not going to let me go—right?” She pulled herself up to a sitting position, wiping her hands on her jeans. “You big, brave boys who are weeding out the weak in society have balls so big you’re not at all worried about killing a federal agent.”

“It’s one of those things you have to learn how to deal with when you get into this business.” Petey stood and offered her a hand, all polite and gentlemanly, like they were just two people having a conversation. He pulled her up, allowed her to balance on one foot while resting most of her weight against him. “If there was a way around it, believe me, I’d do it. But there isn’t. You didn’t leave us much choice.”

“You do realize that everything I know, I sent to my boss back in Seattle—right?”

“That’s possible. It’s a chance we have to take.” He slipped his arm around her and began walking toward the back of the room, going slow so she could keep up. “Will assured us, however, that there was nothing on Fang’s computer that would incriminate him. And you didn’t have access to any other information. Just suspicion—and that doesn’t hold up in a court of law.”

“You’re right about that. There wasn’t much on Fang’s computer that I could use against you and your friends. And I didn’t even get all the files because he came back too soon.”

“Yeah, we told him to wait until you came out of the building, but he got in a hurry.”

“He had other plans for me that I doubt he told you about.”

“I kind of figured that was what happened.”

Lee glanced at him, wondering if this felt as odd to him as it did to her. “Just a few phone calls. And, you’re right; they don’t convict anyone but Fang and Will, and they’re both dead now.”

“Exactly.”

“Will’s computer, on the other hand, had a few other things on it.”