Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six (54 page)

“Barb? You’re involved with this?” Andie’s gut fell to the floor, feeling sick and nauseous.

“Hush, child. Give me the purse.”

“Sure, take it.” Andie handed her the purse. “But why? Don’t you know how worried Cade’s been? He’s tearing himself to pieces looking for you.”

“Sorry, Andie. You’re a good kid. Don’t mention that you saw me. With this money, I’ll be far, far away by the time you get back to Hollywood.” Barbara tucked the purse inside her sweatshirt and walked away.

Hot and cold chills flooded Andie’s body, and she felt dizzy and light headed. At least Barbara was safe, but Cade would be so hurt and disappointed. First, Rob, his agent had betrayed him, and now his mother.

Had they no conscience?

Now that she no longer had the chips, she was free to go, except where? She could no longer trust Owen or anyone else. Cade was nowhere to be found. What if Owen had had him neutralized? After all, in the movies, the person least suspected was the guilty one. Ack! She was up shit’s creek without a paddle.

Her heartbeat popping like radioactive popcorn, she wandered back to the lobby. Maybe she should go back to her room and grab the rest of her clothes and that prepaid cell phone. Yes, that was it. She could contact Cade with it. She’d slipped it between the mattress and box spring, so it should still be there. She had no keycard and no identification, but maybe she could get another one at the front desk.

“May I help you?” one of the clerks at the front desk asked.

“Yes, I’m checked in to room twenty-nine, but I lost my purse. Can you let me into the room?”

“Sure, what is your name?”

“Patty. I’m Owen Williams’s wife.”

“Okay, not a problem.” The clerk typed into a computer. “Can I verify your zip code?”

Andie gave the Hollywood one, hoping for a match.

“Great, I’ll make you another card.”

Well, that was easy. Andie thanked the clerk and made her way down the hallway. Every voice in her head screamed for Cade. Where was he? Did he know his mother was involved in the gambling scam? What would he do? Or should she not tell him?

Andie crept along the corridor to her room, her feet wobbly in the oversized stilettos. No one was around, but she still felt on edge. She rubbed her bare arms but only managed to raise more goose pimples.

She slid the keycard to open the door.

“Stop. Don’t go in there.” A man approached her from behind.

She’d never met him before, but there was something familiar about him.

“Why?”

“It’s a trap.” He held his hand out to shake. “I’m Cade’s brother, Devon. He sent me to make sure you’re safe.”

“Where is he? I was looking for him.” Andie shook the man’s hand. His grip was firm and warm, just like Cade’s.

“He got held up. Casino security. Kind of caused a ruckus, but we’re trying to find a lawyer to get him out.”

“Oh, no. Why would they hold him?” If things were bad before, everything had just taken a turn to sheer disaster. Owen had to be behind this. After all, wasn’t he the one who caused all the ruckus?

“Not to worry,” Devon said. “He’s at the county jail if you want to see him.”

“Not to worry? Of course I’m worried. I have to see him. I have to get my things. I mean, I can’t go to the jail dressed like this.” Andie crossed her arms, feeling exposed in front of this man who resembled Cade, but wasn’t.

“Forget your things. The guy who told you to come here? He’s got men in there. They’ll want the chips, and as I can see, you don’t have them.”

“Someone grabbed my purse when I was on the way over. Do you think I’m in trouble?” Andie couldn’t help her lower lip from wobbling. Some secret agent she turned out to be.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” Cade’s brother said, pulling her down the corridor. “Let’s get away before they hear you. Hopefully they don’t look out the peephole and start shooting.”

Andie shivered. If Owen was in there waiting and he was part of the gang, he’d be really pissed off that she’d lost the chips. She trotted along after Devon’s long legs. He opened the door to the stairs and looked up and down before signaling that the coast was clear.

“Where are we going?” Andie followed him up the stairs. “I thought we were going to find Cade.”

“We are, but I have to bring Cade a change of clothes to the jail.”

“Hopefully he has a large T-shirt for me to wear,” Andie said. “The desert gets kind of chilly at night, even in summer.”

“It sure does,” Devon said with a grin that seemed overly friendly. “Real chilly.”

# # #

“Unbelievable.” Cade slammed his palms on the bar after the last play of the game was replayed and analyzed by the sports commentators. “That was so obvious.”

“No kidding,” Owen agreed. “No one misses a field goal that close.”

“There’s something fishy about the kicker.” Cade wiggled his almost-healed finger. It was still stiff, but he no longer wore the splint. “He’s friends with Todd Irvin.”

Owen knocked back the last of the beer. “So he breaks your finger and Todd gets the starting job, and now, he misses an easy field goal. I’ll bet Andie was told about this. She should be finished by now and have delivered the dough. We’re supposed to meet in the room and continue our fake honeymoon.”

“Over my dead body.” Cade hopped off the barstool. “So, basically, Andie pulls off the tip to the bookies, then she collects the chips and hands them to the crooks, the FBI swoop in, and she goes back to your room?”

“Yep, everything went off without a hitch since I haven’t heard any distress calls from the FBI listeners.” Owen glanced at his watch. “Game’s over already, so they would have paid off.”

“I’m still pissed at her for doing this, getting herself in danger,” Cade grumbled, tightening his fists. She’d better be okay. After this, he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.

“It’s over. We pick up the pieces and go home. If you want to take her home, go ahead.” Owen handed him his keycard. “Might be nice to surprise her.”

“Sure will.” Cade grabbed the card. “Maybe I’ll let you live.”

“You’ll thank me. Right about now, the Feds should be moving in on the contact person out on the field. Who do you think it is?”

“I always thought it was Dick, but he’s no longer on the field. Hard to believe that the owner would want his own team to lose.”

“True, but he needed more money than he could siphon off his wife. Okay, good luck with Andie.” Owen swiveled on the bar stool and ordered another beer.

Cade took the keycard and consulted a map. He strode quickly through the lobby. Every step he took cranked up his heartrate. Andie was in danger. Didn’t matter how complacent Owen seemed to be. If she at all identified the perp, they’d want to eliminate her. Even worse, what if her cover had been blown because he’d showed up when he was supposed to be at the game with the team?

He rounded the corner to her room.

# # #

Devon slid the keycard into room four hundred and forty-four, still holding on to Andie’s arm with one hand. Strange. Wasn’t this the original meeting place? The one Joanie had told her, all fours? Table four, room four hundred forty-four.

Something wasn’t right. Andie heard a thump before she felt the pain exploding in her head. Images flashed left and right. A dog barked, and another one whined. Gollie. Gollie and Red. And then Cade was in and out, fading away. They were in a cemetery, a pet cemetery with scary cats and dogs coming out of graves.

She was lying on a cold, frozen slab and someone was shoveling dirt over her. Her fingers scrabbled to get out, painful and bleeding, but the more she scratched and clawed, the more dirt filled her mouth. She screamed and screamed for Cade. But he was running down a staircase and through rows and rows of bookshelves.

“Andie, Andie,” he called, frantically throwing books off the shelves. “Hold on, Andie, I’ll get you out.”

Her chest was crushed under the dirt, and she could no longer breathe. Everything was fast forwarding, her mother and her father, her elementary school teacher, her best friend from high school, college parties and pretending to be Michal, Queen of Israel. Now she was getting married, so in love with Declan. He was funny and so cute, dragging her to the Elvis Presley chapel. He donned an Elvis wig and she dressed in a flowery hippie dress with love beads around her neck, and then she was in the library and a big hunk of a man took a book away from her. Her heart went pitter-patter and she almost wet herself. But he disappeared, and she was pulling her dog, Gollie, away from a male Irish setter. The dog, Red, belonged to Cade. Cade who went snow biking with her and fell off a mountain. She blushed and tingled all over. She and Cade were making love at the snow lodge, and then he was gone because a woman showed up wearing furs.

No way. She wanted him back, still loving him as she jogged up a spiral staircase into a room of black velvet. Handcuffs, a blindfold, the soundtrack to
Fifty Shades of Grey
, and Cade. Her vision sped up, so fast she could barely catch a glimpse: food trucks, dogs, Sylvia’s half and half jackets, Leroy in Hasidic garb, Ronaldo kissing her over two-hundred dollar burgers, and baby Bret, Barbara, Roxanne, Declan and the divorce papers. He signed it, and she filed the papers, then the cameraman got in the way and pow! White airbags punched and socked her and she was turning over and over and over. Her screams were silenced, and she was back in the sand again. The dusty, dry desert, and her throat stuck on the word, ‘Cade.’

Cade slipped the keycard into Andie and Owen’s room. His nose perked to the scent of her perfume, passion flower and vanilla. She was here. Finally, he could take her home away from all the sordid sin and crime.

“Andie? You in there?” He opened the door and startled.

Muffled moans combined with the coppery smell of blood assaulted him.

“Andie!” He flipped on the light and barged in.

A man and a woman lay on the floor, bloodied and tied up. The man had his back turned, but the woman faced him. She opened her eyes wide and wiggled her head, entreating him to untie them. The man was out cold with blood poured over his head. Ronaldo?

“Who are you?” Cade asked the woman. “What happened here? Where’s Andie?”

He grabbed Ronaldo’s wrist to check his pulse. Good, he was still alive. If Ronaldo was hurt, Andie could be in worse shape. Where was she?

The woman moaned and wriggled, so he loosened the gag over the woman’s mouth.

She let out a gasp and sucked in air. “Thank God you’re here. I’m agent Natasha Henry and my partner Fernando Silver.”

“Fernando Silver?” Cade squeezed the man’s cheeks together. He looked just like Ronaldo. “You guys better explain what you’re doing here. Where’s Andie?”

“Can you untie us? Fernando was hit hard and bleeding. I need to call in and get help.”

“Tell me where Andie is,” Cade demanded. He wasn’t about to untie someone who might be harmful, but at the same time, he needed information. “How do I know you guys are real agents?”

“We have badges,” she said. “But you need to untie us. I heard Andie by the door and some guy took her away. He’s the one we’re after. I swear.”

“I’ll call an ambulance. Tell me where they took Andie,” Cade said. “I’m not untying you in case you’re not who you say you are.”

“Room four hundred forty-four. Let me call my backup. Don’t go up there by yourself.”

Cade bolted out of the room. He dialed nine-one-one and ran for the elevators. He’d no time to stick around and get held up by the police. Andie was running out of time, and she was in the hands of some dangerous criminals.

He punched the button over and over again and swore under his breath as a middle-aged couple took their time getting out. When the nine-one-one operator answered, he reported the two injured people in room twenty-nine, then hung up before they could ask more questions. They’d send the police to investigate. Meanwhile, he needed to rescue Andie.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Cade raced out and ran down the hall, slamming into a caterer delivering room service. The man’s trays tottered and splattered, spilling food all over the carpet.

“Sorry, bud.” Cade bent over and pulled the guy to his feet. “May I borrow this?”

He hastily assembled the covered platter and put it on the tray while the stunned man stood there. “Wait, you have to pay for this.”

“Charge it to room four hundred forty-four,” he yelled over his shoulder, then slowed down as he approached the room.

He took a deep breath to calm himself before knocking. “Room service.”

“Room service? Who called room service?” someone said from behind the door.

Cade couldn’t hear the reply, but the door knob turned and he was staring into the face of his half-brother, Devon.

Devon reached for a gun, but Cade smashed the tray over his head and kicked him in the gut, knocking him back.

Behind him a woman screamed. It was his mother. She was tied to a chair, and Andie was out, stone cold on the bed.

He charged toward Andie, but Devon slammed a chair over Cade’s head with a loud crack. The pain radiated from his head down his neck to his shoulder. He swung and right hooked Devon in the jaw, then tackled him, slamming him into the mirrored closet door.

Pain sliced at him as the glass shattered and sprayed over them. Devon was stronger than Cade had expected. They rolled over the broken glass, punching and wrestling.

“Stop it, you two. Stop fighting,” his mother yelled, but Cade wasn’t about to let Devon off the hook. Andie was hurt and every second counted, especially since she lay as still as the dead.

A shot rang out and then another one. Cade whipped his head back, straight into the muzzle of a nine millimeter silencer.

“Hands up.” Dick Davis ordered. “Both of you.”

“No way.” Devon threw his weight at his father’s arm and turned the gun. It went off, and blood spread over his father’s chest.

“No, what have you done?” Cade’s mother screamed, while Cade shuffled back over the broken glass and got to his feet.

Devon was wildly swinging the gun from Cade to his mother and back.

“Devon, put the gun down,” Cade said stretching his hand out.

“No, never.”

“You shot your father already. We need to call nine-one-one.”

“Not unless you tell me what you did with the money.” Devon pointed the gun at Cade’s mother.

“Cade, Andie needs help,” his mother said. “He injected her with heroin. She’s overdosing right now. You see how she’s turning blue? We need to call nine-one-one.”

“Tell him where the money is,” Cade said. “For God’s sake, tell him.”

“Yeah, that’s right, bitch. Where’s the money?”

“Put the gun down and let Cade help Andie,” Barb argued. “You don’t need her.”

“Yes, I do.” He crossed over to the bed and placed the muzzle on Andie’s forehead. “Tell me where the money is, or she dies.”

“Mom, just tell him.” Cade couldn’t believe he had to plead with her. What was wrong with her? Wasn’t Andie’s life worth more than money?

“I will, but how do I know he’ll like the answer?” his mother replied.

“Tell me, bitch. Or I kill Cade.” The gun swung toward Cade. “He was always Dad’s favorite. Always, and you controlled Dad. You ripped my mother off. All of you. Then you ruined Dad. You owe me.”

“Seems like you’re the one who shot him.” Cade’s mother sneered. “We only ripped him off. You’ll kill him if you don’t call the ambulance.”

“Run, Devon,” Cade added. “It’s only a matter of time. You know those FBI agents? I freed them. They’re on their way.”

“Liar. You’re lying.”

“I just wonder what’s taking them so long.”

“Then I’ll kill you. All my life I had to live under your shadow. Dad paid for your operations. Dad sent money for your summer camps. Dad picked you first round draft. You were the quarterback, you were the role model, you, you, you. I hate you.” He pointed the muzzle at Cade then at Andie. “Even better. I’ll take her away from you.”

“Shoot me, Devon. Shoot me now.” Cade said held up his hands. “Go ahead. I dare you.”

“So you can be the hero? No way.”

Behind him, Cade’s mother had wiggled out of the chair. Cade kept his eyes steadily on Devon to not give away any hint of what was going on.

“Your bitch dies.” Devon steadied the gun.

“No!” Cade jumped to protect Andie as the bullet whined from the silencer.

Another shot was fired and Devon fell back. Police charged the room.

“Mom, Mom!” Cade pulled his mother off Andie as her blood spread on her back.

Below her, Andie was cold and turning blue. Overdosed. Cade slapped his pocket and reached for the Narcan.

“Hands up!” a policeman said, pointing his revolver at Cade.

“Sir, this woman OD’ed. I’m reaching for the Narcan kit.”

The policeman’s gun wobbled but he held it at Cade. “I said hand’s up.”

“Sir, please reach into my pocket and take out the kit. Then administer it to her before she dies.” Cade was surprised at how calm his voice was.

“Hands all the way up.” The policeman nodded at his partner. “Secure the suspects.”

The officers marched in and swarmed around Dick and Devon while another one called for ambulances. Behind him, Owen and an unbloodied Ronaldo appeared.

“He’s okay,” Ronaldo said, flashing a badge. “We need to call for medical assistance.”

The officer kept his gun on Cade. “Move nice and slow.”

Cade turned his back on the policeman and slowly extracted the Narcan syringes—two intramuscular and one nasal spray.

“Andie, darling, can you hear me?” He pinched her cheeks. She lay there with her mouth gaped open, not responding.

He shoved the nasal spray up her nose and administered the dose. Leaning over her, he locked his mouth to hers and breathed into her lungs. Nothing else mattered but pumping air into the woman he loved. He compressed her chest, then took a syringe and pushed it into her buttocks.

“Andie, sweetheart, come back to me. Please don’t leave me. I’m waiting for that bun you’re going to bake for me, and I’m going to take you to all the food trucks of LA. We’ll have lobster rolls and kim chee quesadillas.” He kissed her and his tears dripped over her face.

She was still cool to the touch. Was she already dead? He slid the second syringe from the packet. He should try to find a vein, get it into her bloodstream, but how? He didn’t know how to shoot drugs. God help him.

Lifting Andie’s hand, he threaded the needle into the large vein on the wrist.