Page 77 of Wicked Shadows
“It’s a good thing I don’t need your protection, isn’t it?” He nodded to Bone, who stepped out of the room and got Shadow.
When Shadow walked in and realized who sat beside Spider, his skin pricked, knowing the case was unraveling quickly.
“Doorman, take Spider out and get rid of him. I have other plans for Uncle Barry.” Headbanger mocked Barry, emphasizing his name with a blatant sneer.
Bone slid a pair of zip-tie handcuffs over Spider’s wrists and tied a gag around his mouth. Shadow drew Spider to his feet and shoved him through the door with Spider’s grunts begging for his uncle’s safety.
“Now, Barry, how much do you think the studio will pay for your safe return? Bet they’d pay a pretty penny if we return all their talent at once, wouldn’t they?”
Shadow couldn’t delay his departure any longer without drawing attention to himself. Once outside, he put Spider in the club’s truck and slid behind the wheel. Spider glanced over at Shadow and grunted when he tried to speak. Shadow shook his head and sighed loudly. He should be in that room, preventing them from killing the studio executive, but he was with Spider instead.
“Barry Jacobson is your uncle?” Shadow verified.
Spider nodded, grief covering his features.
“You screwed over your uncle, didn’t you?”
Spider nodded.
“And it never occurred to you they’d suspect he was in on it after you disappeared? Or that they’d take it out on him because he’s your uncle?”
Spider shook his head, understanding of what he’d done beginning to sink in.
Shadow dialed Nick to give him the news. After he’d explained what had happened and what he was doing, Nick advised him to take Spider to Jack’s place.
“He’s been tracing the fake companies and offshore account. He’d just uncovered the discrepancies in the accounts today. What Headbanger doesn’t know yet is there’s a third account. The full balance of both accounts under Bobby Blalock’s name is scheduled to transfer to the third account one week from today.”
“Whose name is that one in?”
“Barry Jacobson.”
Shadow looked over at Spider. “You don’t say.”
“Yeah. Great family, huh? I’m heading to the clubhouse now to try to keep them from killing Barry. If they find out Barry has double-crossed them all, there’ll be a long line of people who want to kill him.”
Shadow parked at Jack’s apartment and marched Spider inside, where two DEA agents waited to take him into custody. With fake blood and a staged scene, Shadow took pictures of Spider’s “dead” body as proof for Headbanger.
“You’re undercover DEA?” Spider finally asked, still dumbfounded with the turn of events.
“No, I’m not DEA at all. But I did just save your life,” Shadow replied. “So, you’re going to tell me everything.”
Over the next hour, Shadow questioned Spider and listened to his rendition of the kidnapping scheme.
“It was my uncle’s idea. He’s a big-time executive, but he’d spent too much of the money that was earmarked to go to movie production on himself. He couldn’t finalize the movie without being found out, so he wanted us to take the girls until he fixed his money problems. Once he got more funding, we were supposed to let them go, and he’d pay us for grabbing them.
“But it took a lot longer than he thought it would, and another movie was wrapping up before he had the money to finish. Then another. It just kept adding up on him, so Boss decided to sell the girls. The cartels gave us the spray to knock them out, and they got it from a guy in Hong Kong. They arranged a deal for us, with the cartel getting a cut, of course. The girls are supposed to be moved through Mexico to the port in the next few days. That’s why I moved them from Barry’s house.”
“Selling them to whom?”
“The cartel’s contact in Hong Kong.”
Shadow cut his gaze to the DEA agents. One spoke up. “We’ll cast a wide net across the border—land and sea. They won’t leave the States.”
Shadow nodded and stood to leave. Spider had lost all his bravado when he searched Shadow’s face. “Are you going to save my uncle’s life too?”
“I’ll try,” he replied after a few seconds. “No promises. I have no idea what those two are doing to him since we left.” He turned to leave when Spider stopped him again.
“Bone suspects you, ya know? He told Boss this morning. He thinks there’s something up with you and that actress. He swears he heard the two of you talking the night you brought the new girl in. But when he moved to the door to listen, she’d quit talking. Since then, she’s avoided you. He wants to off both of you.”
