Page 90 of Down & Dirty: Reaper

Somehow they needed to turn what happened tonight into a positive by getting the Chens to strike back at the Russos.

Once her sobbing waned and her tears began to dry up, she unburied her face and turned it enough to see Indie finishing up with the high-powered spray wand.

“We need to get out of here.” Her voice was raspy and her throat tight.

“I agree.”

“We need to head back to the motel first.” They needed to remove all identifiable evidence from his room.

“No, we don’t. I kept my duffel in the trunk because I had checked out and was planning on moving to another motel tonight.”

“Where’s the rental?”

“I assume it’s still where I parked it in the city.”

“Fuck.” She sighed. “Do you have anything that identifies you in your duffel?”

“No. It’s just some clothes and toiletries.”

“Can you let that shit go?”

“Yeah. It’s all easily replaceable. What isn’t is my AXMC. I was getting ready to set up when they grabbed me.”

Oh fuck. That was a huge loss. “Now what?”

“I doubt they left it there. My guess is it’s a complete loss.”

A costly one.

What good was a sniper without his rifle? And growing up around Brick—a retired Navy SEAL sniper—she knew how they had a close “relationship” with their weapons. To the outside world that might come off as strange, but their rifle was an extension of them.

“Okay, we’ll figure something out about that. In the meantime, we’ll let the city tow the rental. Since it’ll most likely cause an investigation if we try to pick up our cage without returning the rental, we’ll let that piece of shit go and get the guys at the body shop to give us another beater car.” Luckily, the rental had been paid for through a fake corporation with a throwaway credit card and the beater they were leaving behind had a fake registration plate and altered VIN numbers. It not only wouldn’t be traceable back to them, it wouldn’t be a major loss like his AXMC.

“Good idea.”

Having access to Shadow Valley Body Works was a huge benefit for her business. When customers didn’t want to pay the price for extensive repairs, they abandoned their vehicles. Then the shop manager Crash, also a DAMC OG, had the guys fix it up enough to be reliable. They were due to swap out vehicles soon anyway and crush their previous undercover cages for scrap metal.

She tipped her head up to see his tipped down, his eyes intense.

“Let it go, Vi. None of this was your fault. I’m safe. You and Indie are safe. The rest is replaceable. The Terradyne may need a visit to the body shop but at least it’s still in working order. In a few hours we’ll be home and can figure out where we go from here.”

She sniffed. “Don’t you dare tell anyone I cried. Or I’ll kill you myself.”

His low, warm chuckle engulfed her. “Crying doesn’t change the fact you’re a badass bitch, boss.”

“Good. I can’t tarnish my reputation.”

“You two saved my life. You should be proud of that.” With that, he captured her lips and his tongue swept through her mouth. She sagged into him and kissed him back.

“Yo! We need to get the hell out of here!”

They reluctantly parted but stood staring at each other for a little too long.

“Let’s go home.” He stepped beside her, threw an arm over her shoulders, and walked her back toward the now clean, but slightly damaged TAV.

Tonight was another good example of what a great investment the Terradyne was. It continued to be worth its weight in gold and at sixteen thousand pounds, that was a fuck of a lot of money.

However, Reaper’s life was priceless.