“Of course,” Eli said neutrally. “You’recertainGlory knows she’s supposed to meet you here?”
“I’m told Francone managed to convey the particulars of this meeting to her. Justin found the time in my schedule, after considerable juggling, I might add.”
Justin nodded vigorously.
“And now that son of a bitch Franco is lounging on my estate while I’m sitting here waiting for the flaky MissGreenleaf.” Congdon sounded amused by this. Clearly he was fond of Francone, and God only knew why.
“Fifteen minutes, Mr.Congdon,” Eli repeated. And now his heart was racing. “She is not a flake.”
Congdon stared at him curiously. “Listen... Deputy?” Congdon issued the title gingerly, as if Eli was yet another actor playing a part. “I didn’t really have the ten minutes I just wasted waiting for this person. I don’t have the two minutes I’m using now to discuss this with you. When you see Glory Greenleaf, you can tell her she fucked up her shot, and well, when you fuck up your shot...”
Congdon didn’t need to tell Eli about fucking up a shot. He was about to fuck up his own, if he didn’t leave for Sacramento in the next hour.
“Mr.Congdon, this woman is unforgettable,” he said swiftly.
It might have been a tactical mistake. He’d failed to keep all of the emotion from his voice.
And even as he said it he knew precisely how it sounded: some rube was deigning to offer an opinion to Wyatt “King” Congdon. Like some rube who was probably doing the woman in question.
“I won’t forget that she wasted my time, if that’s what you mean.” Congdon said this with a sinister sort of vagueness. His thoughts were already somewhere else entirely.
And then Congdon put his hands on his chair arms and leaned forward, preparing to get up out of his chair.
Like a mirror reflection, Chen did the same thing.
In one swift movement Eli whipped his handcuffs out and slapped one of them on Congdon and the other to the chair.Click.
Justin Chen sat back down hard in shock.
“What. Thefuck...” Congdon yanked his arm upward. He wasn’t going anywhere.
He turned to Eli, his face white with the kind of fury that could curl and blacken the leaves on the trees for miles around.
Didn’t even singe Eli, however. He was made of stronger stuff.
“You’ll thank me later” was all he said.
Chapter19
Before he got in his car, he’d dragged the cement planter outside and pushed it up against the door, then darted around back and did the same thing. Congdon and his assistant weren’t going anywhere.
“False alarm at the Misty Cat,” he calmly radioed Owen. “No need to respond to any other calls from there. I repeat: no need to respond to any calls there.”
Owen was quiet a moment. “Um... Eli? Everything okay?”
“I’ve got this, Owen,” he said tersely. “Just assume that I’ve got this.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Okeydoke, chief,” Owen said. “Good luck.”
Bases covered, Eli actually switched the siren on.
It occurred to him that what he’d just done was as melodramatically asinine as anything out ofBlood Brothers. Irony of ironies. He could lose his job over this. He could lose his whole career over this.
There were a lot ofcoulds.
They were unimportant at the moment. Becausehissuperpower was staring straight into the heart of a situation. If he’d let Congdon walk away, he’d have to live out his life with the knowledge that he hadn’t done a thing to make sure Glory didn’t miss this moment. And that was inconceivable.