A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones

Levi hadn’t moved, but even Sun sensed the tension coiled in his muscles.

He motioned for Levi to get closer to the group. He did, strategically maneuvering in front of Adam as Carver scissor-walked toward the opening on the west wall, putting some distance between them.

“Look at you two. Willing to risk your lives all noble-like.”

“What is this about, Carver?” Sun asked.

“See,” he said, getting frustrated. “That’s what I mean. You call yourself a sheriff, but you can’t even figure out what’s right in front of your face. There’s a little thief among us.” He leaned over and looked past her to Elliot, who’d eased his brother a little farther back. “Isn’t that right?”

Sun took another step sideways, keeping her body between the gun and Elliot about the same time she realized Carver was shaking. Adrenaline tended to do that, but this seemed like more. He seemed paler than usual. Shinier, his skin caked with sweat and oil, like he was on something. That fact raised the stakes even higher. Negotiating with a perpetrator on drugs was always volatile.

“Your father is very upset with you,” he said to Elliot, jabbing the gun in his direction. “But Seabright wouldn’t let him near you when he got out of jail. Had no idea where the soldier was keeping you, so he sent me in to find out.”

“Elliot’s father sent you here?” Sun asked.

“Mmm,” he said in answer. “I figured if I got Seabright out of the way, I could get to the kid.”

“You hired those men at the bar?” Levi asked, his tone razor-sharp.

“I did.”

“Sorry I had to kill one of them.”

“No worries. I killed the other two.”

“You killed them?” Sun asked, getting an answer to her immediate questions on how far was he willing to go. Rojas had called it. Man was a sociopath. “You tried to have Seabright killed because he wouldn’t let his father near Elliot? But why? Why go to all that trouble?”

If looks could kill, he would’ve done her in as well. “Because somebody moved the money! Pay attention, Sunshine!” He looked around her again. “And there was only one person on the planet who knew where that money was, right Eli?”

“The money from the Ponzi scheme,” Sun said as though confirming her suspicions. In reality, she was simply trying to keep him talking so she could come up with a plan. “His father had it the entire time.”

“Little shit was only five, so his dad didn’t expect him to understand what he was seeing when he buried that money. Much less remember where it was. But you did, didn’t you?”

Sun glanced to the side and could see Elliot in her periphery. The color had drained from his face. Adam’s as well. But both boys knew enough to stay quiet and absolutely still. Elliot reached out, took Adam’s hand, and pulled him closer. At the same time, Levi closed the distance between Sun and himself to keep Adam covered.

Without taking his hands off the rifle, Carver lifted a shoulder and mopped his brow with his shirt sleeve.

“Are you okay, Carver?” Maybe she could appeal to his drug-addled side. “You don’t look well.”

“I’ll be fine as soon as I get out of this fucking hole in the ground.”

He was claustrophobic? Unfortunately, Sun didn’t know if that would work for or against her. “You don’t like confined spaces?” she asked him, pretending to care.

He didn’t answer.

“Then I’m assuming you’re not really in pest control, what with all the creeping under houses and squeezing into crawl spaces. On the count of three,” she said as nonchalantly as possible.

“No,” Levi said.

Carver was starting to panic. The whites of his eyes shined in the low light. His brows snapped together as he volleyed the gun between them.

“He’ll take me out,” she said. “I could very well survive the hit, especially this close. Through and through. You know that. Either way, it’ll give you an opportunity to rush him.”

A waxy grin slid across Carver’s face. “This is going to be fun.”

Levi shook his head. “Not on your life, beautiful. I’ll rush him.”

He mopped his brow with a sleeve again. “Shut. The. Fuck. Up.”

“When I do, you put every round you have into his chest.”

“I can’t risk hitting you.”

“Are you guys inbred?” Carver asked, astonished that they’d kept talking.

They both watched him like hawks waiting for their prey to flinch. To weaken. To lose focus for that tenth of a second it would take for them to make their move.

“You’re stronger than I am,” she said. “You’ll have a better chance at overpowering him.”

“That’s it.” He pointed the barrel at Levi’s chest, and the world tilted under her feet. “How ’bout I just take him out of the equation altogether?”

Sun risked a glance. Adam had taken hold of Levi’s T-shirt with his free hand, the fear on his face palpable. Elliot stood close behind her, but he was also almost as tall as she was. She wasn’t as much of a barrier for him as Levi would have been. If she rushed Carver, Elliot could be shot instead of her. Or, more likely, the bullet would go right through her and into him.