"Get that Neanderthal off Kate!" Reed ordered.
"You're hardly in a position to give orders," Darcy said smugly, like a player who held all the aces. She turned to Denim. "Hold on to her."
Denim looked distressed. "I work in private. What the hell's goin' on?"
"Darcy, let the women go! I'll comply, but let them go," Reed demanded, but Darcy ignored him.
Zack glared at Darcy, a mounting fury on his face. "You never discussed any kidnapping with me! Are you crazy?"
"It's not just Reed that poses a danger. Laura does, too," Darcy explained to Zack, her tone patronizing. "I discovered she had a tail on her. We didn't put it there. He did. He still has a thing for her. Look at them here together. They're partners, and that's not good for us. She's as dangerous as he is."
"You and Ken planned this thing and left me out?" Zack sounded injured, as if he, the insider, were suddenly—shockingly—tossed out, just when he thought he'd reached the preeminent place to ply his trade. "I don't get it, Darcy!"
"I get it," Reed said to Zack. "You and Darcy were supposed to leave me here tied to the lamppost, so the kidnapper could swing by and grab me, too. You two were supposed to leave here before the hitman arrived, so you'd never see Darcy's real partner. Then, later on, you'd learn that Laura coincidentally disappeared, also. Then, she and I would never be heard from again. That would surely raise your suspicions, Zack. You'd know that something more was done than you were privy to. But to allay your conscience—what little of it there is—Darcy would spin it for you, so you could evade the fact that you were an accessory to murder."
Zack looked indignant. "What the hell were you thinking, Darcy? We have nothing on Laura. She's not our accomplice. She's committed no crime like he has. Why on earth would we take her? And now we have the other sister being kidnapped to add to our crimes? Are you stupid or what, Darcy?" Zack's face reddened with rage.
Denim, ignored in the heat of their argument, was growing impatient. "What the hell's goin' on?" Denim looked at Darcy, then Zack, searching for an answer.
Darcy spoke soothingly as if confronting a beast that might bite her. "Nothing to worry about, Denim. Tie the three of them up and take them away in the truck bed." There was a cap with dark tinted windows on the bed of the truck, convenient for concealing the contents. "We'll hold them at gunpoint until you're finished. Go on! . . . Denim?" She glared at the big man, who hesitated.
"I'm gettin' paid to do two. Not fer nothin' more," said Denim. "Not fer no crowd observin' my work."
"But you've already done something else, remember?" said Darcy. "We have that on you, so you'd better comply."
Becoming more agitated and out-of-control, Denim blurted out: "That wuz an accident 'cause the dude fought back. That wuz self-defense."
Zack shot an angry look at Darcy and said, "You told me we were just going to rough Spenser up, to scare him into keeping his mouth shut!"
"I was surprised it went that far, too," Darcy admitted. "But I've learned to appreciate the benefits. If there's no person, then the problem he posed is suddenly gone, too."
"You were spying on Spenser, weren't you?" Laura posed the question to Zack and Darcy. "You knew Spenser had found out something, and he was meeting me to reveal it. You sent him," she looked at Denim with disgust, "to beat up Spenser, which led to his death." She turned to the kidnapper. "Do you know we have a witness? When you killed Spenser, someone saw you jump the fence and got a good look at your tattoo. We'll nail you for that unless you let your hostage go and make a run for it now."
A profusion of sweat dripped down Denim's face.
"We can lean on the mayor, Denim. You see they've been soft on the Spenser investigation," Darcy coaxed.
"But now there's more evidence and more crimes," said Reed. "The police won't play politics with what I have, big man." Reed slowly pointed to his vest pocket. "I have pictures of the kidnapping on my phone. I'll show you."
"Shut up, Reed!" Darcy demanded.
"You shut up!" Denim overrode her. He momentary swiveled the gun to point at her. With a new coat of worry shellacking his leather face, he turned to Reed and demanded, "Let's see wut you got."
Gingerly, Reed reached for his phone and held it up to the kidnapper. Denim squinted to see the images. "Here you are shoving the woman into your car at gunpoint. Your face is in full view. So is your gun and your tattoo." He scrolled down to another image. "Here's a shot showing the license plate of your truck. Once the police magnify that plate, they'll identify you. Once they catch you, they'll match your gun to the bullet they recovered when you killed Spenser—"
"Shut up, Reed!" Darcy ordered.
"The private eye you knocked down took these pictures, and he's transmitting them to the police right now!" Reed added.
Panic gripped the big man's face.
Darcy softened her voice to plead with him, saying, "Now Denim, let's remain calm and focused. Do what I told you to do. We'll kick in extra for the sister. All you have to do is tie the three of them up and take them away in the truck bed."
"It's going to be a little hard to claim self-defense four times," Reed said.
"Your only chance is to run now!" Laura added.
Denim was shaking. His eyes bulged as if they were envisioning a scenario he had to avoid at all costs. Suddenly, he shoved Kate away roughly. With a cry, she fell to the ground. He ran to his truck and backed out of the alley at high speed, his wheels kicking up plumes of dust. Soon there was silence. Denim vanished behind the powdery cloud, like a monster retreating in the face of an attack.
But two guns still pointed at Reed, Laura, and Kate.