Blood Money

25

The bouncer leads the girls over to a sofa that holds some very interesting people. "Jamie? Jamie!" Danielle smiles brightly at the man sitting next to the one she would happily slit his throat. She tries throwing herself on him, but is held back by the bouncer.

The man in question looks at Danielle with confusion evident in his eyes. "Do I know you miss?"

Danielle notices Trevor look at her with narrowed eyes. She should have taken better aim. A flesh wound isn't going to put him out of action. She watches him slide his hand to his weapon.

Danielle pouts, "You don't remember me baby? You just left me before I woke up. I thought we had something special." Danielle cues the tears, "I see now that I was just another notch on your fucking belt." Trevor relaxes and moves his hand away from his weapon.

Daniel surreptitiously takes out one of her weapons. She missteps with those damn heels and falls down. She feels herself being picked up, "Are you okay Miss?" Trevor's voice makes the pain hard to hide.

She doesn't have to hide the next part. "No, I hurt my ankle. Could one of you call a taxi so I can go home?"

"Wouldn't hear of it. Come sit down and we'll get some ice for that ankle. Let me buy you a drink as well." Chet says smoothly moving over to make room on the couch.

By now the pain is intense. She really hates heels, but this is the first time she's ever misstepped in one before. The men clear off the table so she can set her foot up on it. The girl that came up with her is pulled onto the guards lap. Immediately he starts kissing her neck. From the sounds she's making she's very much enjoying it.

Soon a waiter is handing her a dishcloth filled with ice. She gingerly sets it on her ankle. She doesn't bother hiding the wince of pain. Almost all the players are here, dammit, where is auntie dearest?

"Sorry I'm late darling. What's this?" The nasty voice of her aunt says coming up to the group.

Danielle is glad that she invested in some cheek enhancers, and made use of some other specialty items that change the shape of the face. She could be taken for her aunt's twin if it weren't for the age difference. But even that difference is hard to see.

"One of the men wanted to invite these ladies to join us. This young lady was upset and twisted her ankle when she tried to leave."

Danielle is handed a drink and she goes to drink from it and is jostled causing most of the drink to land on her aunt. It hadn't been planned but it's hard to hold in her smirk and instead start crying.

"I'm sorry, I can't do anything right tonight. Please, let me pay for it?"

"No, that's alright, I'm the one that jostled you." Her aunt says barely moving her lips. Danielle can tell that she furious.

"Please, I'm just causing trouble here tonight. Would someone call me a cab?" Danielle is ready to get out of there.  She managed to drop in some poison tablets in a couple of drinks. One of them being Trevor's.

"I'll take you. This place just isn't as fun as I'd hoped it'd be." Danielle can see lines of pain on his forehead although he's otherwise hiding it fairly well.

"Thank you, but I don't want to ruin your night even more." Danielle says allowing her pain to show completely.

"It's not going to make a difference for my night. Let me get you back home as safe and sound as you can be now."

Danielle is glad that she didn't check out of the other hotel. She'll just have to figure out how to get to her hotel with Trevor watching.

Danielle reluctantly agrees, "If you are sure, sir. Thank you."

Once she is settled in his car she tells him the name of her hotel and then refuses to look at him. "Dammit, Danielle, what the hell was that in there?"

"What the hell was that? That was my improv when I saw you sitting calm as you please with my enemies. I should have known to not trust you."

"You're the one that shot me, aren't you?" Trevor demands.

"Danielle?" Trevor asks gently. Danielle wipes the tears away. "Why didn't you kill me when you saw me there?"

"I need you to kill me. But I did miss the shot, if I had hit what I was aiming at you'd still be in bed." Danielle says bitterly.

"Danielle I haven't betrayed you. Chet found me before I made it home. It was either come with him or be killed." Trevor says softly trying, begging for her to understand.

"It doesn't matter Trevor. It'll be over shortly. Tell them where I am."

"I'm not going to do that." Trevor says stoutly.

"You'll have no choice. Two of them will be dying shortly. You were lucky that you didn't drink your drink. They'll be after me. Tell them."

"You aren't staying here are you?"
"Like I'm going to tell you that." Danielle spits out. She believes him, more or less.

"Stay out of the line of fire or you will be killed. Jeremiah is here. He saw and recognized me."

"Shit! Just what this fu-"
"Goodbye, Trevor." Danielle says and injects something into Trevor. She'll be long gone before he wakes up. The whole mess might be over before he wakes up. If he wakes up. It's the only thing she can do to protect him and herself at this time.

Danielle dials a cab and as soon as it comes she slides into it and doesn't look back at the man she's come to love as much as Max.

She hobbles into the hotel lobby and the receptionist assures her that they can send up a first aid kit so that she can wrap her ankle. She'll have to get to a pharmacy and buy a brace for her ankle before she can do much else against her enemies.

She makes her painful way to her room. Shortly after she gets there there's a knock on the door. She opens and allows the man to set the bucket of ice, towel, and ace bandage on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Thank you." Danielle hands him a tip and the man happily leaves her room. For the next hour Daniel indulges in tears as she deals with her ankle. Only a fraction of the tears come from the pain from the ankle.