Read Chapter 1 of Stroke of Luck
Chapter 1
Fiona
As Alex sped down the highway, Fiona turned around in her seat to check on Lucy.�� ���She���s back out again,��� she said, unsure if Lucy was going to make it.
���Turn around and put your seatbelt on,��� said Alex as he shifted. ���She���s going to be fine.���
Fiona spun around and reached for the belt. ���What were you doing there?���
���My job.���
���Bullshit!��� Fiona shoved his shoulder. ���Tell me why you were there! You looked awfully chummy with them.���
���You wouldn���t understand.���
He had that right. She wasn���t sure she would, but that didn���t quench her curiosity. ���Try me. Explain it.���
He turned his eyes from the road for a quick glance in her direction. ���I don���t have to explain anything to you. You just have to trust me.���
He really had some nerve. ���I don���t have to do anything! And I don���t trust you, just so we���re clear.���
���Noted.��� He didn���t even seem to be out of breath. ���I can understand that.���
He was so calm it put her on edge. Why wasn���t he worried? Because he was the one in control.��
���Where are you taking us?��� she demanded. ���You forced me in your car with Lucy and gave my car to those thugs. How do I know you���re not going to kill me?���
���Because the sex is too good.��� He shrugged, giving her a smile.
The words were designed to get under her skin. ���Oh, that���s never going to happen again,��� she said.
���We���ll see,��� he said with a slight lift of his shoulder. ���You know, you should be thanking me, Fiona. I saved your ass back there.���
���You���re an asshole.��� She settled back in her seat and contemplated jumping out of the car. Things had happened so quickly it was all a blur. She took a deep breath and tried to sort it out.
She had only gone down to the warehouse to snoop around and hadn���t expected the others to show up. After being trapped in the warehouse, unable to leave, she���d been forced to sit and listen to the events as they unfolded, missing parts here and there.
And when she was caught, she knew her life was over.
She could still hear the sound of the gun going off. For a split second, the entire world slowed on its axis and ceased to turn. In that brief moment, she found herself both happy and horrified at the thought of Jack getting shot. Had she really turned into that kind of person?
But when Rona hit the ground with a terrible thud that probably cracked the woman���s skull, panic overtook Fiona.
Was Enzo Juarez going to keep firing and kill them all? What had she walked into?
���What the fuck?��� said Jack in the silence that followed. His eyes were ringed red though the rest of him had gone a ghostly pale. ���You shot my fucking runner!���
���Your runner? Bad choice.��� Juarez huffed. ���It doesn���t matter. You owed me a girl.���
���You could have taken her,��� said Connor. ���You didn���t have to kill her.��� He looked down at Rona with a hard expression, as if her death were a waste. It was the closest to sympathy Fiona had ever seen from him.
���She���s better off. Believe me. Besides, she was trouble. She���s already burned me once. I won���t have that happen again. You should watch who you trust, Jack.���
���I���ll keep it under control. Fiona will listen to me.���
���The hell I will,��� she said.
Juarez smiled. ���I don���t think you should mess with her anymore. As a matter of fact, I forbid it.���
���But we have an arrangement, and I���m her family.���
���And I just vetoed your arrangement with my own. I���ll handle my business with your sister from now on.���
Fiona didn���t like the sound of that, but when she saw how Jack���s anger was eating him up inside, she felt a certain satisfaction.
���Fine,��� said Jack as Juarez spoke to his men.
As Fiona stood there with her heartbeat thrumming in her ears, not knowing what would happen next, she couldn���t help but be scared.
After a brief exchange with Juarez, Alex scooped Lucy up like a sack of potatoes and threw her over his shoulder. He grabbed Fiona and made her follow as Juarez and his men wrapped Rona up in the plastic. The last Fiona saw of the woman, she was being carried away like a package.
Three of the men grabbed Jack and Connor and escorted them to their cars as Juarez gave Jack one more warning. ���I���ll be in touch,��� he said. ���With all of you.���
Fiona panicked as Alex slowed down the car to make a turn. Had he meant her too? ���He���s going to kill me, isn���t he?���
���Who? Juarez?��� Alex narrowed his eyes. ���If he wanted to, he would have already. And besides, he told Jack to leave you alone. You should be thankful.���
���Thankful? Listen to you. And of course, I���m scared. He said he would be in touch.���
���He���s trying to keep your stupid brother in line, Fiona. Don���t worry about it. He liked you.���
���Liked?��� She felt a wave of nausea roll through her. ���Well, I guess I should be relieved. But now I���m in business with the mafia thanks to you.���
Alex laughed. ���He���s not mafia, Fiona.���
���Whatever. He shot someone. Or didn���t you see that happen right in front of you? You���re a cop. Shouldn���t you have arrested him? Is he just going to get away with it?���
���Rona Rockland���s problems don���t have to be yours. And as for doing something about it, as I said, you wouldn���t understand. I���ve had something in the works for a while now, but you don���t make it easy, not listening.���
���I understand all right. You���re a bad man, Alex. You���re not who I thought you were.���
���Damn, Fiona. What the hell do you think I did for your father all of those years?���
���You were his bodyguard.���
���I was his hitman before he sent me to the police academy. Hell, he hired me from Juarez���s father. That���s how I know him.���
���So you���ve been in it all along? It figures. I can���t trust anyone. Rick said you were corrupt. I just didn���t think it went this deep.���
���Oh, you���re listening to Rick now? Using first names and all that, too, I guess. You just don���t listen, do you?���
���How can you act like it doesn���t even bother you? A person is dead, Lucy is strung out and practically a zombie in your backseat, and now I���m stuck in the middle of some drug war.���
���It���s not a war. Juarez can just be a little unpredictable, is all. He���s obviously had it out for Rona for a long time.���
���Oh, you don���t say? I caught that when he shot her.��� She didn���t know what was worse, remembering the gunfire or her hitting the ground.
���She did him wrong a long time ago. Your brother should have known better than to involve her again.���
���Sounds like you know all about it.���
���It���s hard to explain, but just know when it comes to you, I���m not the bad guy. But sometimes, things get a little sticky.���
���Sticky? That���s an understatement. I feel like I���m sinking in quicksand.���
���You���re going to be okay, Fiona.��� He was still brushing it off like she was overreacting. Since he had come back into her life, she couldn���t think of another time she wished she���d never met him. But she had to worry about herself now.
���I���m going to find a way out of this,��� she said. ���I can���t be involved.���
���You already are. But if you listened to me, you wouldn���t be. You could have messed up everything.���
���Are you really going to go there right now, with an ���I told you so��� moment?��� She was at the end of her rope, trying to sort it all out, and he wanted to play the blame game.
���It���s the truth. I told you not to go down there. I had everything under control.��� His tone was a little harder than before. ���But you just didn���t listen. So you have yourself to thank for the consequences.���
���Are you saying it���s all my fault?���
���Not all of it. You didn���t have anything to do with Rona, if that���s what you���re worried about. There���s no blood on your hands, Fiona.���
It didn���t make her feel any better. ���Do you think they���ll kill Jack and Connor too?���
���Nope. Juarez just likes to assert his authority. But you don���t need to worry about all of that.���
���Oh, I���d disagree. Jack is going to have it out for me now.��� She could see him coming after her and having to keep one eye open for the rest of her life.
Alex laughed. ���Fiona, you don���t get it. If Juarez tells Jack to leave you alone, he���s going to leave you alone.���
���That only makes me wonder who he���ll move on to next. No one is safe with Jack still around. And what about Lucy? Why would he try and get rid of her? He just hired her. Did she get too close? Did she learn something?���
Alex shrugged. ���I don���t know. But I have a feeling you wanted Juarez to shoot Jack. Didn���t you?���
A wave of shame and guilt washed over her. ���It crossed my mind he might, but I���m not a monster. I don���t want anyone to die. I just want to be rid of him.���
He didn���t seem to buy it. ���It���s okay. I had hoped it, too, for a brief moment, but that would have taken away the pleasure of me doing it myself.���
Fiona figured he was just talking nonsense. If Alex had wanted to kill Jack, he had more than one opportunity. ���You know, I���ve often wondered why you don���t. I wondered if the only thing stopping you was your morality, but now I know you don���t have any, so I guess I���m missing something. Must be you really are on his side. Probably have been all along.��� She folded her arms. ���Was there ever blackmail on your end?���
���Yes.��� He kept his answer blunt as if he were sick of talking about it. ���All of that was real. And for the record, I���m not proud of how I handled it. I tried to make up for that, and one day, I will.���
���You need to explain everything to me so I can understand why you���re there with them. They���re into human trafficking, Alex.���
���Yeah, I know. And I���m handling it.���
���You���re out of your mind,��� she said. ���Letting them nearly sell off Lucy to God knows where? That���s you���re idea of handling it?���
Lucy stirred in the backseat, and Fiona glanced back to see she was waking up, but Alex adjusted his mirror as if using it to take a peek.��
���She���s still groggy,��� he said.
���Someone beat the hell out of her,��� said Fiona.
���She���ll be fine. You���ll get her fixed up, I���m sure. You know, you should be proud. You saved her life.���
���And you should be ashamed. But I guess it���s a good thing I didn���t listen to you.���
���Yeah,��� he said. ���I suppose you���re right about that.���
���And if I hadn���t shown up, you���d have let them take her away.���
���I wasn���t there when he turned her over. I had no idea.���
���Still, it���s horrible. And what happened to all of those girls Rona had been recruiting? Maybe you should have listened to me sooner. God knows how many women Jack has sold to slavery.���
Things went quiet for a minute as Fiona undid her seatbelt and leaned back to try and give Lucy some water from a bottle Alex had in his car. She felt Lucy���s forehead. ���She���s broken out in a cold sweat.���
���She���s coming down. She���s probably going to be sick before she gets better. Keep her on her side just in case she vomits.���
���Oh, Lucy, what did you get yourself into?��� Seeing her old friend like that was almost too much to handle.
Alex pulled into Fiona���s drive and shut off the car just outside of the guest house. He quickly got out and came around to help Fiona.
���I���ve got her!��� she snapped. ���You���ve done enough.���
���I���ll help you get her inside.��� He gave her a look that said he wasn���t going to take no for an answer.
They brought her inside, and Alex carried her to the bedroom. Fiona went to the bathroom to get a cool rag and went to Lucy���s side and put it on her head.
���She���s probably going to be sleeping for a while. Just let her sleep. When she wakes up, she���ll most likely be sick, but feed her, give her plenty of fluids, and let her rest. I���ll want to talk to her, but I can come by later and do that. You can let me know when she���s up for it.���
���I can���t believe this is happening,��� she said as she walked him to the door. ���I don���t know how I ended up in the middle of all this. All I wanted was for you to help me figure out who killed my father and why the cards were missing. Now look at what���s happened.���
He opened the door and stepped out on the stoop. ���It���s going to be all right. Call me when she wakes up.���
���No,��� she said. ���You can contact her on your own if you want, but we���re done. Stay away from me. It���s over.���
Alex didn���t blink. He didn���t put up any sort of fuss like she figured he would. Instead, he nodded. ���Be safe,��� he said.
Fiona���s chest rose and fell as the emotions built up inside her. She shut the door and leaned against it, wondering if she could trust anything he���d said. Was she safe? She knew she wasn���t. How could she be?
She glanced back across the room where she could see Lucy through the open door. She was still out, and Fiona wondered if she was going to get better at all. It was time to toughen up and take back control. The first thing she needed to do was get out of the arrangement with Enzo Juarez.
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