Nate’s glare hardened even more. “You could have done this the easy way.”
“Dude is obsessed with easy,” Constantine said with a shake of his head. “Weird as hell. I already told him I wanted to do things the hard way.” He pointed at the other guy. “Are you the brains of the operation or is it Nate?”
“I don’t think either of them have brains,” Remy announced, keeping his gun steady. “If they did, they wouldn’t have shot intomycabin. That’s attempted murder, dumbasses. In case you didn’t notice, you’re not in New Orleans anymore. Maybe the fact that we’re in the mountains and not, I don’t know, below sea level, didn’t tip you off, but you’re not on Preston’s turf. Your asses are going to jail.”
“No! No!” It was the man with the buzzcut and the black-framed glasses. The glasses sat slightly askew on his nose. “I didn’t shoot—that was Nate—”
“Tim, shut the hell up,” Nate snapped. “These guys aren’t the cops. Don’t you get it? They’re just like Preston.”
Just like Preston.Oh, he was so wrong. Remy wasn’t some criminal pretending to be an upstanding citizen.
“Thanks for the helpful info,Tim,” Remy said. “Good to know that you put your real first name on that fake ID of yours. Though, within about two or three hours, once I get some government agents I know to do a few favors for me, we’ll have run your prints and we’ll know everything there is to know about you. For your sake, I do hope those prints haven’t turned up at the locations of any unsolved crimes.”
“Oh, God.” Tim’s head sagged forward.
“Shut the fuck up,” Nate snarled at him.
Remy sidled closer to Nate. He slapped his left hand on Nate’s right shoulder. “Did you fire that shot?”
“Didn’t hit anyone,” Nate sniffed. “So what the hell does it matter?”
Jacqueline swallowed at the look on Remy’s face. He lowered his head and put his mouth near Nate’s ear. “It matters a fucking hell of a lot. You could have hit my friend. You could have hither.”
“Wasn’t aiming for the woman!” Nate cried out. “We only get paid if she comes back alive! Why the hell would I shoot her?”
Her heart seemed to squeeze in her chest. These two men were spilling everything to Remy and Constantine.
“I thought—thought it was you in the window!” Sweat dampened the hair near Nate’s brow. “Didn’t know anyone else was here! Just trying to get you out of the way.”
“Sorry, you failed in that endeavor. I can assure you, I will be very muchinyour way from here on out. Your boss’s way, too.Because no one is taking Jacqueline from me. She doesn’t get delivered anywhere, you understand?”
Apparently, Nate didn’t understand. He chose that moment to try and headbutt Remy. Remy jerked to the side and back, so the attack failed, but Nate let out a guttural roar and sprang to his feet. His frantic gaze flew around the room, locked on Jacqueline, and he charged for her.
“No.”Remy’s growl. He slammed into Nate, and they hit the floor with a bone-jarring thud. He grabbed for Nate’s cuffed hands, and Nate screamed.
“Oh, sorry,” Remy said, not sounding even mildly apologetic. “Did you break something? Or, did I? Did I just break your hand?”
Nate screamed again.
Remy rose and stared down at him as the other man twisted on the floor. “I had a gun,” Remy informed him. “I could have just shot your crazy ass. Consider yourself lucky to just get a few broken fingers.”
Jacqueline felt rooted to the spot.
“Because I guess I didn’t make myself clear before…” Remy’s voice still held that dangerous, intense edge.
Nate gagged and twisted.
“So I will say it one final time. Listen carefully, would you? You don’t threaten Jacqueline. You try, and I will make youhurt.Understand?”
Nate lifted his head. Tears filled his eyes.
“Do we understand each other?” Remy repeated.
Nate bobbed his head in agreement.
“I think he gets it.” Constantine hadn’t moved from his position. “I also think they might be in the mood to talk even more now.”
“Yes! Yes!” Tim inched away from Nate’s body. “What do you want to know? I’ll tell you, you can let us go, and we can all never, ever see each other again. Good plan, right?”