Homecoming by Denise Grover Swank Read Free Book Online

beers in front of them, James pointed his thumb at Will. “He’s paying.”
    The bartender’s eyes drooped, and he looked like he was about to pass out any second. He gave a half shrug and walked away.
    Will placed a twenty on the counter and checked his watch. 8:50. They were early, but not too early. That was good. Sipping his beer, he scanned the room and found the woman from the photos sitting at table by herself in the corner, a half-finished drink in front of her. There weren’t any other drinks, which meant his guy hadn’t shown up yet.
    He had to take this guy to the warehouse, but what had the guy done? And what would happen to him at the warehouse? Maybe he’d cheated on his wife with the woman in the corner, and he’d been busted. Maybe he owed these people money.
    Will turned to James. “And you never knew why you had to take those people?”
    James pursed his mouth. “It wasn’t my place to ask, but I admit, it ate at me sometimes. What had they done? In the end, I couldn’t deal with the guilt, so I quit.”
    The door opened and a cold wind blew in. The man from the photos stood in the doorway, his eyes darting around the room. What was he nervous about? Will’s gaze followed him from the corner of his eye as he walked across the room and took a seat across from the woman.
    “Fuck,” James growled, glancing over his shoulder. “He’s your job.”
    Will’s breath froze.
    “At least show me enough respect to tell me the truth in this.”
    “James….”
    “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” James leaned his elbows on the bar and rested his palm into his hands. “You don’t know what you’re supposed to do, do you? Hence all the questions.”
    “James.”
    “ Son of a bitch .” James chugged his beer and signaled the bartender for another. “What do you know?”
    “They sent me pictures of that guy, one of them with that woman, and the message to deliver the package to a warehouse on Cumberton.”
    The bartender brought James’s beer and James waited until he walked away. “Did they say package or packages? Was it plural?”
    “No.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You need to deliver the guy to the warehouse. You’ll have to get him outside and into a car. You should use his.” James took another long drink. “Damn it. I can’t believe I’m helping you with this.”
    “And after I get him to the warehouse?”
    “You take him inside and they’ll deposit your money into your account.”
    Will looked down at his barely touched beer. “That there’s the problem.”
    “They don’t have your bank account number?”
    “No, I suspect they have yours.”
    James lowered his head and grunted. “What the fuck are you talking about Will?”
    “They called you, James, and I took the job. But they thought it was you.”
    Closing his eyes, James leaned his head back and exhaled in a whoosh of air. “Gee, thanks.”
    “I’m sorry.” Will felt some guilt over it, but James had gotten mixed up with them long before Will ever came into the picture.
    “Too late for that shit now. They’re going to be pissed when you show up and not me. I’m going to have to go with you and explain.”
    Will did feel badly about that. Especially if they didn’t like the outside help. “James…”
    “Save it. We need a plan to get him out. Usually I hire a girl to string them along and get them in the back and then when their pants are down, I zip-tie them and take them away. It’s hard to fight back with your pants at your ankles.”
    That was brilliant. “Yeah, I can see that.”
    “The key is not to draw attention. But he’s with that woman and even if he could be persuaded to leave her, there’s no other woman here that could get him to drop his drawers. We need to hope he has to go to the bathroom, then get him out the back door.”
    “That might not ever happen.”
    “He’s already on his second drink. It’ll happen before you know it. When we get him out back, we’ll get his keys, I get