Troublemaker Read online

  “Yes. Feed him and do his laundry, too, because he sure as hell isn’t up to it.”

  She could feel her blood pressure rising and was seized by the urge to bang her head against something. Axel had always affected her that way. “What makes you think I would ever do you a favor?” she asked furiously.

  “I don’t. That’s why I’m offering you a hundred thousand smackeroos, tax free, to do this. All you have to do is say the word and the money is yours.”

  She stilled. Her heart rate, her breathing—everything seemed to slow. A hundred thousand—a hundred thousand. It wasn’t a fortune, but it was a great big turnaround in her financial situation. Though that amount wouldn’t pay off the house, it would knock a sizable hole in the loan, give her more breathing room, and relieve a great deal of stress. She was making do now, her head was above water, but she’d like better than simply making do.

  Then she took a deep breath and forced herself back into the real world, rather than jumping headlong at what seemed like a great deal. She no longer leaped before she looked. “Uh huh. Exactly how would it be tax free? Paid under the counter? You do know the IRS tracks every deposit that’s more than ten grand, right? Whatever crooked thing you’re into, I don’t want any part of it. And is it true he got shot?” Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t reacted to that tidbit of information when Morgan Yancy had said that. Only now was the outlandishness of it hitting her.

  “Yeah,” the stranger said wearily from the front seat of the Tahoe. “I got shot.” At least that proved he was still conscious.

  “In the chest,” Axel said in her ear. “Damn near killed him. He coded twice. Look, he can’t go back to his place because we don’t know who targeted him or why. He isn’t in any shape to look after himself right now anyway, but I had to get him out of the system in a hurry and to a place where no one will look for him. On the other hand, I’d like to keep him fairly close by. Your place is perfect on both counts.”

  Bo shook her head, in denial of everything he was saying. “You do know you’re on a cell phone, right? And that it’s likely being monitored?”

  “These cells aren’t. They’re encrypted, the calls were bounced around and they’re burner phones anyway.” He paused, then said, “You’ll actually be paid enough to cover the income tax on the hundred thou. Don’t worry, you won’t be audited because of it. Come on, yes or no.”

  She didn’t want to make an immediate decision. The worst financial mistake of her life had come from her leaping before she looked. “I need to think it over.”

  “Sorry. It’s now or never. Like I said, these phones won’t be used again, and it’s too dangerous to contact me by normal means.”

  The day was long past when she could be railroaded into making decisions before she had answers. “Hmmm. Point one: I don’t like being pushed. Point two: I don’t trust you, which makes me think you’re afraid I’ll see what’s off about this if you give me time to think about it. So, okay, here’s your answer—”

  “All right, all right!” He sounded grumpy, which she enjoyed. Given the age difference between them, in their admittedly juvenile arguments during the brief time their parents had been married, she had never gotten the best of him. But she wasn’t thirteen now, and she knew her own mind. “A hundred and fifty thousand.”

  “I’m not bargaining for more money, but thank you. I’ll keep that number in mind if I agree,” she said coolly.

  “Look.” For the first time in her memory, there was a tone in Axel’s voice as if he were addressing her without mockery, with dead seriousness. “I know this is an unusual situation. Your particular circumstances make it ideal for my purposes, though. No one would tie us together—”

  “Thank God,” she said, unable to resist the admittedly juvenile verbal jab.

  “Ditto. But you have resources, you’re isolated without having to move him too far away in case I need him, and most of all, you need the money.”

  There was that. Since her colossal career misjudgment seven years ago, money—or the lack of it—had been behind every decision she’d made. She’d learned how to make smart choices financially, to be an adult and do what had to be done, which was work two jobs. Occasionally part of her still yearned for the heady feeling of taking risks and coming out on top, but at the same time she was mostly happy where she was. It was a learned happiness, but happiness nevertheless.

  She wasn’t embarrassed by her financial situation. It was much better now than it had been, and she’d dug herself out the pit. Still, how did Axel know anything about her life at all, much less her finances?

  As if he’d read her mind, he said, “I did some deep digging on you.”

  “If you’re so anxious to hide him, wouldn’t that leave a trail?”

  “If one knew where to look, yes, but I went through intermediaries, in-person and verbal instruction only. There are a lot of layers between us. I made sure you’re protected and anonymous.”

  It wasn’t like Axel to be conciliatory or even agreeable, which told her how important this was to him. Being safe would definitely be important to Morgan Yancy, at least while he was in his current condition. She wasn’t a bleeding-heart-type person, but neither was she callous, and she already knew she couldn’t send him away for the simple reason that he wasn’t in any shape to drive. He’d be spending the night here, regardless. Whether or not he was any stronger tomorrow remained to be seen.

  A hundred and fifty thousand dollars . . .

  Then she sighed. No matter how much money he was offering, she had other people to consider. “It won’t work,” she said flatly. “If he has a killer stalking him, I won’t endanger the people around here. I just won’t.”

  “You won’t be,” Axel assured her. “There’s no connection to make, no way of tracing him to you. Just give him a place to hide out. I guess I could send him to a safe house, but security has been breached so none of those would be safe—and that’s why I’m contacting you out of network. The problem is internal.”

  The dilemma was immediate, and maddening. She needed the money, but she didn’t trust Axel. She didn’t want a strange man—and a wounded one, at that—staying with her, but he wasn’t capable of leaving. So he was staying for at least a short while, whether she wanted him to or not, unless she called Jesse or an ambulance and had him hauled . . . where? There was a local doctor, but as far as she could tell, Morgan Yancy didn’t need medical care, he needed time to heal and regain his strength. If she had him taken to a hospital, he’d be in the computer system, which meant that if she believed Axel even a little bit, she’d be endangering the man’s life.

  Okay. She didn’t trust Axel, though to be truthful she didn’t know if that was because he truly wasn’t trustworthy or if it was simply because she disliked him so much. He evidently had some kind of government job but, considering the government, that wasn’t really much of a recommendation.

  She said, “Hold on,” and held the phone down against her thigh to cover up the speaker so Axel couldn’t hear. Approaching the SUV, she said, “Yancy?”

  He opened his eyes halfway, a gleam of blue in the grayness of his face, and muttered, “Yeah?”

  “Axel said there’s no way to trace you to me.”

  He took a deep breath, or tried to. She caught the sudden hitch, as if his chest muscles protested. His throat worked as he swallowed, then he said, “That’s why I drove. No record, and the Tahoe is clean, can’t be linked back.”

  “Drove from where?”

  He gave a small shake of his head, meaning he wasn’t going to tell her. Given his condition, he had probably come a fair distance, either that or—Damn it! “Exactly when did you get out of the hospital?”

  “This morning,” he said, and let his eyes close again.

  Double damn it.

  She might regret it, almost probably she would regret it, but a hundred and fifty thousand was a lot of money and even though she didn’t trust Axel, she could see for h