Broken Ties (2 page)

Clutching her purse tightly in her hands, she turned away, intent on hurrying toward the diner. She lifted her hand as if waving to someone on the other side of the window as she stepped away from him.

Without warning, his large body pressed against her back, a cloth covered her mouth and nose, and she spiraled into chloroform-induced darkness.

“Wave good-bye, Princess,” he whispered as she fell against him.

****

Levi watched Sidra hurry across the square, her caramel-blond curls blowing about her face as she pulled the collar of her coat up to block out the cold. The belt hugged her waist, accentuating her soft curves and the gentle sway of her hips, and he could almost hear the no-nonsense clip of her shoes as she quickened her pace, fleeing the Christmas pageantry like the hounds of hell were on her heels. He lifted his glass to his own hyperbole. Sidra had far too much dignity to flee anything. She would walk as sedately as possible, spine straight, head held high as if she were scared of nothing.

That’s how she’d entered his life four years ago, when she followed Teddy into his office as if she already had the position he hadn’t even known they were trying to fill.

Dressed in a brown plaid skirt, turtleneck sweater, and boots, she sat in the waiting area as he and Teddy argued over hiring her, their voices loud enough for the whole office to hear through the door of his office. And while they argued and she did her very best not to look their way, he watched her through the glass wall that separated his office from the rest.

She sat, legs crossed demurely, no sign she heard them other than the pink that crept up her cheeks as they continued. She was dressed conservatively, with not an inch of unnecessary flesh showing, yet the longer he watched her, the more attracted he became to her. Though that made him that much more determined not to hire her, in the end Teddy wore him down, and he gave in if for no other reason than to silence his younger brother’s whining.

In the four years since that day, his attraction to her had never waned. She was efficient, classy and poised, but above everything else, Sidra Martin was a beautiful woman.

He took a long slow sip of whiskey, hoping the slow burn of it would dampen his desire and dilute the painful memories and loneliness that haunted him tonight.

He knew he’d been too harsh with Sidra, but he couldn’t bear the sympathy in her deep brown eyes, the soft touch of her hand on his arm. He didn’t deserve her kindness or her pity. No matter how badly she might want to, she couldn’t fix him. She could never bridge the gap and ask his brother to forgive what was unforgivable.

Now, a movement behind her caught his eye and he pressed his face closer to the cold glass of the window. Something about the way the man slipped from the shadows as Sidra passed him made the hairs on the back of Levi’s neck stand on end. When she disappeared around the far corner, and the man darted a look around him before slinking down the street behind her, Levi knew he had to follow them.

He reached for the drawer where he kept his gun, pausing only a moment before jerking it open and cupping the familiar weight of his pistol in his palm. Jamming it into his waistband, he rushed from the building and through the town square. He might be overly cautious, but better that than sorry. He had learned that lesson the hard way, and the experience had cost him and Teddy dearly. He wouldn’t risk Sidra by playing it too safe this time around.

The street past the town square was empty when he turned the corner, and he picked up his pace. He was running by the time he took the left at the next block, and the bus station came into view. Sidra’s back was to him as she spoke to the stranger, and Levi could almost feel her unease when the man stepped toward her. He wanted to yell out a warning as she turned away from the man, lifting her hand toward the diner as if she were waving at someone there, but before he could make a sound, the man closed the space between them. His arm snaked around her shoulder, his hand covering her face with a rag as her body crumpled against him.

“Sidra!” Levi yelled, drawing his gun and running toward them.

Without sparing him a glance, her assailant hoisted Sidra over his shoulder and ran toward the back of the platform.

Frightened he’d hit her if he shot at the man, Levi continued his pursuit, firing into the air as he closed in on them. The man stumbled, the weight of his burden throwing him off balance so that he landed on his knees on the platform.

Mere yards away, Levi commanded him to put her down, while the man struggled to stand with Sidra still over his shoulder. Finally, with a vicious curse, he let her slip to the ground and darted away.

Levi reached the edge of the platform just as a dark sedan peeled from the alleyway behind the station and sped down the street.

A soft curse escaped him as he turned back to Sidra. He knelt beside her, feeling for a pulse and breathing a sigh of relief when his fingers felt the steady beating at the base of her neck. A glimmer of gold near her hair caught his attention, and he picked the coin up, to study the design with sickening recognition.

“Is she all right?” a woman called to him, and he looked up.

A group of people hurried toward them from the diner.

“We thought we heard shots,” one of the men said. “The police are on their way.”

As if on cue, a siren sounded in the distance.

“She’s just fainted. She’ll be fine,” Levi answered before slipping the coin into his pocket, scooping Sidra up in his arms and hurrying away.

Chapter Two

Sidra’s eyes fluttered open, and she sat up with a cry of alarm.

“Steady, Sweetheart.”

Relief at hearing Levi’s low, soothing voice instead of the accented voice of the stranger made her weak with relief, and tears sprang to her eyes. Without warning, she threw her arms around him.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, his arms coming around her, holding her shaking body against him as she savored the warmth and strength of his embrace.

Levi could be demanding, exasperating and abrasive, but he was also handsome, caring and gentle. She had been half in love with him since the day Teddy brought her to the office, introduced her to Levi, and announced he was hiring her. Levi had protested mightily, but Teddy stood firm. In the end, she thought, even Levi was glad he had. After all, she was all that remained in the aftermath of their final blow-up and those dreadful moments when everything had changed.

She pulled away from him, sitting back against the brown suede sofa as her eyes roamed the room around her. They were in the loft apartment where he lived above the Tanner & Tanner Investigations office, a space she had been in only a handful of times, and never when he was here. She’d been sent up to get coffee when they ran out downstairs, retrieve a sandwich or some other item he’d forgotten to bring down, or use the telephone while they waited for a repairman to fix the one in the office.

“I need you to tell me exactly what happened tonight.” Although Levi spoke in the quiet, coaxing tone he used with the most nervous of witnesses, she knew it was more command than request.

The pale glow of the Christmas lights once again reflected in his dark eyes, and a sudden chill shook her. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them protectively.

“A man came up to me. I tried to tell him someone was waiting in the diner for me, but he grabbed me and put a rag over my face. I don’t know what happened then. I don’t know what he did after that.” An edge of hysteria crept into her voice, and she took a shuddering breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

“Nothing else happened,” he said, his dark gaze softening when she looked at him. “I saw him follow you around the corner. I was worried, so I went after you. I was almost to you when I saw him grab you. He picked you up and tried to run, but he dropped you. You’ll probably be sore as hell tomorrow. But that’s it. He didn’t have time to do anything else.”

She couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat, so she nodded her head in understanding. Thank God Levi had decided to follow her. She hated to think what could have happened if he hadn’t.

“The two of you were talking when I came around the corner. What were you saying?”

“He asked if I was waiting for the bus to Reynolds Park, and I told him yes.”

“Reynolds Park? How did he know that’s where you were going?”

“I figured it was a lucky guess. I’d just missed the bus to Barrington Station, so the next logical guess would be Reynolds Park.”

“That makes sense.” He paused. “Have you ever seen him before?”

“No.”

“Did he say anything to make you think you were more than just a random victim?”

“You mean, some proof he wouldn’t have taken just any girl who happened to be there?”

“Yes.”

“No, I don’t think so. Why? Do you think he wanted me specifically?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m leaning that way.”

“What? Why?”

“Because there was a car waiting for him, and he wasn’t the driver. They pulled away too fast for him to have been the driver. It had to have been waiting out of sight for him to bring you there.”

“Why in the world would someone target me, of all people?” That was the craziest idea she had ever heard, but she could tell he believed it, at least partly.

“I don’t know. Do you?”

She shook her head. “No. But I’m not even sure I believe that’s the case. I think he was probably just some sicko looking for a victim.”

“No, something’s off in that scenario. He didn’t look like someone looking for a victim.”

“What did he look like, then?”

“He looked like an assassin looking for a target.”

She laughed nervously. “You’ve been watching too many action movies.”

“I’m telling you, there was something too calculated and well-rehearsed about it all for me to think it was a chance abduction.”

“Because he had a car waiting for him? Maybe he’s just some rich guy with a driver who helps him get his kicks.”

“How often are you alone there at the bus stop this time of night?”

“I’m usually there earlier, but I’ve been late every night this week. I’ve taken the bus to Barrington Station instead of Reynolds Park, where I live.”

“If he’s been watching you, he would know that.”

She shivered with fear. Had someone been watching her?

“Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary at home or anywhere else?”

“No.” She gasped as something came to mind. “Yes. Just last week, a car was parked outside my house for a while. It was a dark four-door sedan with tinted windows. I thought it was someone doing surveillance on my neighbor. He’s in the middle of a lawsuit, and his attorney warned him it might happen. He knows where I work and that you do that sort of thing, so he asked me about it. I confirmed it, and two days later the car was there in the road. Do you think that could it have been the same man?”

“Anything’s possible, and we aren’t taking any chances. If this guy has been stalking you, he knows where you live and work. He probably even knows where you spend your spare time.”

“Stalking me?” she squeaked.

“Yes. I’d say he’s probably been doing it for a while and knew you would be at the bus station tonight. If not in time for the early bus, then the late one. He didn’t just guess where you were going. He already knew.”

She felt the blood drain from her face. Was that why he’d seemed so familiar? Why his voice alone sent shivers of fear through her?

“He’ll never get that close to you again, Sid. I promise you that.”

“I told him my husband was in the diner, that I was meeting him there. No wonder he laughed. If he’s been following me, he knows I don’t have a husband or anyone else waiting for me. He must know I’m all alone.”

“You aren’t all alone.” His voice was gruff as he moved to kneel in front of her. He cupped her face in his hands and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “I’m right here with you, and I’m not letting anyone hurt you.”

“He knew me,” she whispered. “And I think I knew him.”

“What do you mean? You know who he is?”

She shook her head. “No, not him. But something about him. It was familiar.”

A chill swept through her, and she closed her eyes against the terror it brought.

“Tell me what you think you know about him.”

“He had a very thick accent.”

“What kind of accent? Spanish? French?”

She shook her head as he ran through a list of the most common languages. “No. Closer to French, maybe, but I’m not sure.”

“Did he say anything in another language? Maybe we could have a translator tell us what language it was.”

“Good-bye, Princess.
Adieu, princesse.”
The foreign words formed on the tip of her tongue, and she closed her eyes tightly as they spilled from her of their own accord. When she opened her eyes, her heart was pounding and she was shaking like a leaf. She had not only just spoken a language she’d never heard before tonight, she’d understood it when the stranger spoke it. How had she only just realized that he hadn’t spoken English at all?

“I have to go home.” Panic made her speak in short, quick breaths as she surged to her feet, and her eyes searched the room for her coat and purse. “Where are my things?”

“You aren’t going home.” His tone brooked no argument, but she ignored that fact as she caught sight of her belongings.

Her hands shook so badly she could barely grasp the strap of her purse, but she somehow managed to loop it over her shoulder and head for the door.

“Good-bye, Levi. Thank you for your help.”

At his bark of laughter, she looked back to find him shoving his arms into the sleeves of his coat, dark eyes burning with fury.

“I hope you don’t really think I’d let you leave here alone. If you’re going home, I’m going with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean just what I said. You aren’t leaving here alone. I’m staying the night with you, tonight and every night, until I’m certain no one is after you.”

Although she knew she should protest, she remained silent as her knees went weak with relief. Thankfully, he placed a hand at her elbow and led her back to the sofa before she could crumple into a helpless, quivering heap.