Read Online Taken Hostage by Ranae Rose - Free Book Online Page B

‘hand it over.’
    The police officer obliged reluctantly,
relinquishing the small arsenal that held pepper spray, a radio and
a nightstick, among other items.
    ‘In the cruiser,’ James said as the officer
dropped his belt into the gravel, indicating the police car with a
toss of his head that sent his forelock of golden-brown hair
cascading into his eyes. ‘Rolando! Get in the car with him. Take
his gun.’
    Rolando scrambled from the Saturn’s backseat,
still looking faintly sick. He obeyed, grabbing the cop’s gun and
belt from the gravel before sliding into the cruiser after him.
‘We’ll follow you to the hospital,’ James said.
    Tiffany swallowed a lump in her throat as she
settled into the Saturn’s passenger seat, finally alone with James
again. ‘Why didn’t you tell me about … this,’ she asked, making a
gesture to indicate Rolando’s presence and the complications it’d
caused.
    James shrugged. ‘I don’t know, I just wasn’t
thinking. I’ve gotten really used to keeping quiet about
everything, you know?’
    Tiffany frowned at him.
    ‘I didn’t think it would turn into such a
catastrophe,’ he said. ‘Rolando was supposed to meet me at the
turn-around a couple hours after dawn with the rest of the money,
ready to go.’
    ‘Who is Rolando?’ Tiffany asked. ‘And
what do you mean ‘the rest of the money’? Have you robbed other
banks?’ She braced herself for a confession of relentless criminal
activity.
    ‘Just one,’ he replied. ‘Rolando and I robbed
a bank in Connecticut a couple months ago. We hid the money here
and laid low for a while. Then I took care of the bank in New York.
I did it alone, took you hostage and stole a car. Basically, I did
everything differently so they wouldn’t make any connections
between the two robberies.’
    Tiffany was silent as she let his words sink
in.
    ‘Rolando and I used to work together on the
same construction crew,’ he added. ‘We planned this together.’
    ‘So he’s coming to Mexico with us?’
    James nodded. ‘While I robbed the bank in New
York, he took care of things at the border. He used some of the
cash from the first robbery to bribe a shift of customs agents.
They know to let him and whoever’s in the car with him pass without
question, regardless of any alerts from the police. Of course,
we’ll give them the rest of the cash he promised them as we pass
through. All we have to do is make sure we get there in time,
before the bribed agents’ shift ends.’
    ‘Wow,’ Tiffany said quietly. Talk about
planning – their plot was about as complex as any of the stories in
the crime dramas she liked to watch on TV.
    ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about
Rolando.’
    Tiffany tried to glare at James but couldn’t.
How did he manage to look so sweet and awkwardly repentant when
she’d seen him perfectly poised as he commanded a police officer at
gun point only minutes ago? She repressed the sudden urge to kiss
him and settled for another question instead. ‘Are there any other
secrets I should know about? Any other stops?’
    James shook his head. ‘No, it’s straight to
Texas and then into Mexico as soon as we get rid of this pain in
the ass cop.’
    The hospital loomed ahead, and James slowed
the car, following the police cruiser into the parking lot. He
brought the Saturn to a halt a few spaces away from the cruiser as
Rolando and the cop emerged.
    ‘Everything OK?’ James asked when Rolando and
the cop approached the car. The outline of the policeman’s handgun
bulged beneath Rolando’s T-shirt, tucked into the waistband of his
jeans. ‘Yeah,’ Rolando replied.
    ‘Alright. Both of you get into the back seat
then. Rolando, make sure that he doesn’t try anything funny.’
    They obeyed. ‘Hey,’ James said, casting a
glance into the rearview mirror at the police officer. ‘Take off
your uniform shirt.’ The cop obeyed, stripping to the white T-shirt
he wore beneath and stuffing his brown uniform top