Hustlers by Claire Chilton Read Free Book Online

her father. She faced Starling, who leveled the gun at them both.
    “Get up!” Starling kicked his son in the side. “Tie that bitch up.”
    Matt groaned before pushing himself up off the ground
    Matt hurried over to her, grabbing a roll of duct tape off a nearby table along the way. He grabbed her ankle and taped it to the chair, warily glancing up as he knelt beside her. It was reassuring to see the look of fear in his eyes. She scowled down at him.
I’m not finished with you yet.
    “So,” her father said. “What’s the plan for this evening?”
    Starling narrowed his eyes. “You really do think you’re untouchable, don’t you?”
    Her father smiled. “Now, now, there’s no need to be hostile. I just don’t think our kids are a good match.” He turned to face Ellie. “Next time I tell you that you can’t go on a date, I expect you to listen to me.”
    She sighed. It was painful to admit, but he was right. The sparkle of mischief in his eyes made her instantly feel safe.
    “Sorry, dad.” She flashed him a smile, hiding her fear over what would happen next. It was a relief that he was safe beside her, no matter how screwed they were.
    “Do you think this is a joke?” Starling snapped.
    Ellie peered at him. His face was red with anger.
    “Let’s see how amusing you find it when your daughter is lying next to you with a bullet in her fucking brain!” Starling aimed the gun at her.
    “How will you find your missing hard drive if you shoot her,” her father asked quietly. There was a chilling darkness in his voice.
    “Maybe I’ll shoot you instead?” Starling snapped, pointing the gun toward her father.
    “Maybe you will.” Her dad looked him straight in the eye.
    Starling faltered under her father’s glare. He shook his head and lowered the gun. “No, that’s what you want. I’m not that stupid, Phillips.”
    Ellie frowned. She knew her father well enough to know that the last thing he wanted was to be shot in the face.
How much of a number did he do on this guy to convince him that shooting him was a bad idea?
    “Where’s the hard drive?” Starling asked her. “Tell me, and I’ll let you both go.”
    “Do I have your word on that?” Ellie asked, tilting her head to the side.
    “Yeah, you have my word,” Starling said as Matt finished binding her to the chair and then stood up, walking over to stand beside his father.
    “Oh, okay then. There’s this secret place, where I left it with this guy. You have to follow some specific instructions to get there and get hold of it though,” she said.
    “Fine. Give me the instructions.” Starling waved the gun at her.
    “I have your word that you’ll let us go, right?”
    “Yeah, you have my fucking word. Now tell me!”
    “You cross your heart and hope to die?” She forced herself not to grin.
    “Yeah, whatever. Tell me!”
    “Okay, so you need to go to Button Moon.” She glanced down at her feet, concealing the smile that had appeared on her face.
    “What is that? Is it a bar or something?” Starling sounded confused.
    “To get there…” She interrupted. “You need to follow Mr. Spoon.”
    “Who?” He glanced at his son.
    “I’m trying to tell you,” she said as earnestly as she could without laughing. “Maybe you should write it down?”
    She peered up through her dark fringe of hair to see Matt hold up her phone and start tapping onto the screen while mumbling to himself as he wrote out her instructions on the phone.
    “Go to Button Moon and follow Mr. Spoon…” He trailed off as he stared at the screen. Then he narrowed his eyes and glared at her.
    “Then,” she said. “You need to go fuck yourself.”
    Her father choked out a laugh beside her. She glanced over at him. His shoulders were shaking in silent laughter.
    “Gimme that fucking thing.” Starling ripped her phone out of Matt’s hands. He pressed a few buttons, and then studied the phone. “Maybe
Jimmy
will know where the hard drive is.” He shot her