Sleepwalker Read Online Free PDF Page B

to.”
    Jelly grunted, clearly unimpressed. The cop seemed unimpressed, too. When she didn’t move despite the fact that he was now looming over her threateningly, Jason, wary of any countermoves, started to grab her arm to spin her around and facilitate the process of getting her underway. The rattling of the handcuff still dangling from his left wrist distracted him before he touched her. Reminded of its presence, glancing down at it in disgust, he discovered that his glove—both gloves—were missing, probably ripped to shreds and lost in the fight. Not that fingerprints were much of a concern any longer: both the camera and the cop had gotten real good looks at his face. The whole anonymous robbery thing was out the window, at least as far as he was concerned.
    Shit
.
    Their eyes met.
    “Unlock the cuff,” he ordered her. This was taking too long, and her intransigence wasn’t helping. Of course, it was probably deliberate: anything to slow them down. Cutting their losses and running with the remaining two suitcases was an option, but the cop had to be dealt with or she’d be screaming for backup and chasing after them before they got ten feet. Anyway, for both him and Jelly, a cool five hundred grand was a lot to just leave lying on the floor. In fact, he wasn’t prepared to do it.
    “Now,” he added, meaning it.
    Pursing her lips, the cop complied.
    “She can ID you,” Jelly pointed out.
    “Yeah, well. I’ll take my chances.” Jason pocketed the handcuffs and made a gesture that ordered the cop to start walking. “Head for the safe.”
    His voice brooked no opposition. She did as he told her, moving as slowly as she dared.
    He’d been meaning to tie her up with whatever restraints he could come up with and leave her there, but the handcuffs were actually going to work in his favor, he realized now that he thought about it: he would cuff her to one of the metal shelf supports inside the safe and stick his cap in her mouth by way of a gag. She wouldn’t be going anywhere, or yelling out for help, anytime soon.
    “Make things easy on yourself. Surrender to me now, and I’ll protect you from the security guards,” she said, glancing back over her shoulder at him.
    “Keep your mouth shut and I’ll protect
you
from my partner. Maybe.” Put her in the safe, grab the money, go. As a Plan B it sucked, but it was pretty much all they had. The property was eleven acres, the guardhouse was clear out by the road, and the goons manning it—who might very well be asleep or inattentive or drunk off their asses, because it
was
New Year’s Eve, after all—would be on foot if they were coming. And there was a hell of a lot of snow to plow through, plus gates and locked doors and a whole slew of other obstacles to navigate. Even if somebody had been watching the monitor during the brief time they’d been visible, all that would slow them down. Still, either way, time wasn’t on his and Jelly’s side.
    “She’s going to be a problem,” Jelly warned.
    “Damn right I am. Your asses are going
down
.
”
    “You just don’t know when to shut up, do you?” Jason said to the cop. It was becoming increasingly obvious that she was the type to hunt them down to the ends of the earth. If she’d been holding a gun on him instead of the other way around, he would have been getting nervous about now, knowing that the smartest thing she could do was kill him. But she—she hadn’t turned a hair as far as he could tell. Either she had
cojones
of steel, or she had guessed that he had a weak spot where women were concerned.
    “
You
just don’t know when somebody’s trying to do you a favor,” she retorted.
    “A favor.” Jason’s tone was skeptical.
    The door to the safe was only a couple of steps away. He’d blown the lock to gain access, but the opening itself was unimpeded. Take care of her, grab the suitcases, and he and Jelly were out of there. Thirty seconds to get out of the house, another minute and a half