Fearless: Complicated Creatures Part Three Read Online Free PDF Page B

her breath. She wasn’t anticipating a call. There was no way she’d be able to fake Michael’s voice. But if she didn’t answer, that would be just as bad. She could try to run the trace again, but she needed to keep him on the line somehow to do it.
    Rox released a breath and hit “accept.”
    “Where are you?” came Lightner’s impatient rasp. “I don’t see you.”
    Rox said nothing, counting the seconds out in her mind.
    “Where are you?” Lightner repeated, his question clipped and irritated.
    She cleared her throat, a gruff sound, then she rubbed the phone against her jacket, making a rustling sound.
    “Michael?”
    Another tense three seconds and Lightner hung up. The jig was up.
    Rox peered out from her hiding place, wondering where Lightner was in the dark. It could just be fanciful thinking, but she could have sworn he was close. She glanced behind her, wondering if she was sensing him or having a premonition.
    She had his money and his passports. He was injured. He couldn’t get far.
    The phone vibrated again in her hand.
    Rox didn’t wait this time. She answered immediately.
    “Where is my son?”
    “The hospital, I imagine,” Rox drawled, leaning against the container as her eyes tracked across the shipyard, looking for a sign.
    “Roxanne de Soto,” Lightner murmured. “You’re a persistent one, I’ll give you that.”
    “What can I say? I have a weakness for unavailable men.”
    “You’ve got that right.” He paused. “What did you do to Michael?”
    “I’d be more worried about what I intend to do to you, Lightner,” Rox answered. “I’ve decided to make my life’s mission nailing your ass to the wall. And I’m not the kind of woman you like to piss off. I’ve got a mean temper, güero . And I’m a little crazy—ask your boy the next time you see him. He wears my scars,” she taunted.
    “I’ll pay you double whatever Samantha Wyatt is paying you to hunt me.”
    Rox laughed at that. “How, man? I’ve got your money. I’ve drained you drier than your soon-to-be ex-wife. Jack Roman has taken over your business, and you can’t touch your assets with MI-5 on your ass, so really—you’re in no position to negotiate, are you?”
    “You really think I’d put all my eggs in one basket?” Lightner taunted.
    “I think you’re somewhere nearby and you’re desperate enough to risk me finding you in order to get ahold of your party favors,” Rox replied. “Come out and play, Lightner. Who knows? I might even do you in fast.”
    A deep, resonate wail pierced the night air as one of the freightliner’s cables were detached from the crane as it finished loading the last of the containers onto the hull. The ship’s massive engines rumbled, churning the black waters surrounding it as it slowly disengaged from the dock. She’d heard the sound echo through the phone. Lightner was close. Hell, he might actually be on the departing ship.
    “Last call, Lightner,” she called out over the noise.
    “Keep the money, Roxanne. I’ll find you and come back for it.” And with that, Lightner hung up, leaving her standing in the dark by the dock. A million bucks in her hands when all she wanted was his head.
    “Fuck,” she muttered, frustrated. She’d bet all the money in the duffel that he was on one of these ships, but she wouldn’t be able the check all of them. So goddamn close—but so far away. It was beyond frustrating.
    She tossed Michael’s phone into the duffel and grabbed her own, dialing quickly. She heard the pulse of the foreign dial tone ring a handful of times before her brother picked up the call.
    “Hey, manita —” 7
    “Alejo, you better tell me you’re in Germany. I’ve had a fucking shitty day, and I need to know you’ve got Sammy’s back.”
    “I took leave as soon as you called,” he assured her. “I’m on a plane now. I’ll be there by morning, though I don’t think Wyatt wants to see me.”
    Rox sighed, touching the tender skin around her