“Waylay, honey sweetie pie, are you okay? I’m so sorry this is all happening. It’s all my fault probably because I’m so snobby and act like I’m better than everyone,” Tina said, flopping down on the torn ottoman next to her daughter. Her knees spread wide, and I could see straight up my—er, her—skirt.
Waylay rolled her eyes.
Behind me, I heard Duncan get to his feet. I was startled by a stinging slap on my butt. “That ass is lookin’ mighty fine in those jeans tonight, Teen,” he said before shotgunning the rest of his beer. He threw the can over his shoulder and belched.
“I have the best taste in men,” I said, glaring at Tina.
“Heh. Your sister has the same thong as you,” Duncan said, pointing at Tina’s exposed crotch. “You guys really are twins.”
The man was an idiot. Unfortunately, he was an idiot with a gun. And I had no better options than Tina’s plan.
“Ti—I mean, Naomi and I were talking,” I began.
“She didn’t get period all over the place in there, did she?”
I gritted my teeth. “No. It’s just the usual bodily fluids all over the floor and walls.”
Tina cleared her throat pointedly. Poor Waylon was looking back and forth between her and me like he was trying to puzzle out what was going on.
“Anyway, your aunt who loves you very much and I talked, Waylay. We agreed that it’s safe for you to tell Duncan where you hid the flash drive,” I said.
“Yeah. You can tell me, kid. I’m trustworthy as shit,” Duncan said, apparently forgetting that he’d just threatened the lives of her mother and aunt only minutes ago.
“Just tell him where you absconded it, and he’ll send his men to go get it,” Tina said, enunciating slowly.
That was definitely not the right use of the word absconded.
Duncan nudged me with his elbow. “Go take the tape off her mouth.”
I approached Waylay and leaned in. “It’s me, Naomi,” I whispered.
She crossed her eyes as if to say “Duh.” Waylon stood up and licked my shin.
“Oh, now he likes you,” Duncan said. “Dogs are as fickle as bitches. An hour ago, he couldn’t stop growlin’ at you, now he wants to hump your leg.”
I peeled back the corner of the tape.
“Sorry, kiddo,” I whispered and yanked the tape free.
“Son of a goddamn bitch, ow!” Waylay yelled.
I suddenly missed Knox from the depths of my soul.
“Tell me where the drive is, kid,” Duncan said. The gun appeared in my peripheral vision as he advanced on us.
Waylay took what looked like a heroic breath. “I hid it at the library in Knockemout. I taped it under a shelf in the historical fiction section.”
Smart, smart girl. If Duncan sent his men to break into the library, they’d essentially be breaking into a police station.
“Thank you for telling us. I’m very proud of you for your honesty and integrity,” Tina said in what I assumed was her impression of me. She sounded British.
“You’ll probably want to go get that now while the library’s closed,” I said to Duncan.
“Yeah maybe,” he said, but his eyes were on Tina, and he looked thoughtful.
“I guess I’ll go get that chicken,” I said, edging toward the door.
“Not so fast.”
I felt cold metal at the base of my neck and froze. Tina’s plan officially sucked.
Waylon growled low. And that, too, made me miss Knox. Even if the man didn’t love me, I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to turn Duncan’s face into an abstract painting.
“My whole life, everyone’s underestimated me,” Duncan said conversationally. “Called me an idiot. Said I was stupid and dumb. So I went with it. Played the moron. People don’t watch what they’re saying around a moron. And they don’t try as hard to hide what they’re doing, Naomi.”
Crap.
“You two are the morons here. You actually think I’d fall for the ol’ switcheroo?” he scoffed.
“How did you know?” I asked, stalling for time.
“Your tits aren’t crooked.”
“You mean Tina’s aren’t.”
“No, dumbass. Tina’s are crooked. Yours aren’t. Who’s the idiot now?” He said this while gesturing with the gun.
Since it wasn’t trained on me, I turned to face him.
Tina was frantically trying to work Waylay’s bonds free.
Knee. Balls. Nose.
Knox’s instructions came back to me almost as if he were standing next to me.