Confer, Lorelei - Deadly Deception (Siren Publishing Classic) (16 page)

Stunned. Speechless. A feeling of betrayal traveled through her heart. She felt as if she listened to the proceeding with a surreal feeling of detached anxiety. While getting to her feet she asked incredulously, her voice cracking, “You mean you’re a cop? You lied to me.”

“I worked with Dave as his partner years ago, yes.”

They stared at each other but neither said anything. She tried to wrap her head around this bombardment of information. She couldn’t believe it. Wyatt had been a cop years ago. She wanted nothing to do with cops. People died when they were around cops, she knew that as a fact. Up close and personal.

“Is that it? Is that all you’re going to say?” Dave asked Wyatt.

“Yes, that about does it,” Wyatt said as he nodded.

“Now that everything’s out in the open, Isabella, I think you should consider coming into the federal protective custody program. You’ll have the entire police department at your dis—”

“No, no, no,” she screamed at him, waving her hands. “I don’t trust a bunch of cops to babysit me, or protect me, as you may call it. People die when they’re around cops!”

Wyatt and Dave exchanged puzzled looks. Wyatt grabbed a soon-to-be-out-of-control Isabella by the arms, walked her back to the couch, and forced her to sit.

She shook all over from anger and fear. She couldn’t breathe, a great feeling of hopelessness washed over her as she felt the familiar ache of loss deep within her heart.

“Why?” he said softly. “Why don’t you trust cops, especially to help you?”

She was quiet for a moment. Then, when she finally spoke, it was in bursts and her voice cracked, brittle with anger. “My father,” she faltered, “died, was sh-shot while in your so-called protective custody program.” She pursed her lips in anger and fisted her hands. “So I know firsthand how well
it
doesn’t
work,” she managed to spit out.

“What happened?” Wyatt asked, gently.

“He-he-he was shot,” she whispered as she hung her head.

“By whom? Start at the beginning and tell me everything. Maybe there’s a connection to what’s happened to you,” Wyatt offered in a soft, calm voice.

“First, he was stalked by someone no one ever was able to identify. Then he was assaulted and mugged. And when he tried to force an investigation with the local police department to be able to press charges, other things started happening.”

“What kind of things?”

“Ohh, things like bricks with notes attached saying, ‘Give up, old man’ thrown into our front window. Somebody threw something at his car breaking the windshield
with him inside
almost killing him. He ended up with a fractured skull from that little ‘incident.’ But Dad persisted, wouldn’t give up. Finally, the police suggested Dad enter Witness Protection or at least accept additional police protection so they could ‘protect him’ and ‘keep him safe.’ Well, it didn’t work. He was shot on our front porch, standing right beside me while being ‘protected.’ Within two days he died.”

Dave and Wyatt looked at each other, disgust written on their faces. “Listen to me”—he gave her a gentle shake—“it’s not going to happen like that, not here. I will personally guarantee it with my life.”

Dave offered support as well. “That’s right. It’s not going to happen here. We have great officers with specific training for just such cases. They know what to look for, who to look for, and all the ins and outs of your particular circumstances. They’ll ensure your safety with their lives if necessary. No harm will come to you. Wyatt and I can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to but if you come with me now I’ll do everything I can to make sure you have the best protection available.”

Isabella glanced at Wyatt and then at Dave. They both looked ready to fight, to battle anyone in their way to keep her safe. Confusion, fear, and dread raced in her veins. She did feel safe with Wyatt. He made her feel safe, safer than she’d ever felt with anyone. He had kept her safe so far, had believed her, and had gotten her help. He followed all of Dave’s suggestions. Also, his training as a police officer would be an asset, not to mention his street smarts. He should know what to do to protect her.

Timid, not able to look him directly in the eye, she stared at her clenched hands in her lap. “Wyatt, can I stay here with you?”

Dave and Wyatt looked at each other, incredulous. Wyatt nodded.

“Wyatt, you can’t keep her here alone. I’ll see if Olivia Winters is available. Besides, with all these doors and windows all over the place you’d be target practice. And you’re only one person. Especially since the killer already thinks she might be here. He’s going to start searching for her again. Probably why he was at the park today and why he came here earlier today.”

Wyatt paced, back and forth, back and forth, one hand on his hip, the other playing drums on his lips, his head down, deep in thought.

“You’re right, Dave. I can’t keep her safe here. But you know where I can, don’t you?”

Dave nodded and stood. “Yes, but Wyatt, think about i...” Wyatt interrupted.

“I have, Dave, and that’s where you come in. You of all people know how to keep anyone from coming after either one of us.”

Wyatt looked sternly at Dave’s face. He knew from working with Dave for years that Dave knew arguing with Wyatt would be futile once he had made up his mind. Maybe removing Isabella from the immediate search area would actually make their job easier. “Okay, when?”

“How about three a.m.? I take the Jeep, go out the side, and take the scenic route.”

“To where?” Isabella asked with fear pasted on her face.

“A safer place,” Wyatt and Dave said simultaneously.

“Okay, three a.m., no patrols.”

“Don’t worry. You have my back, remember?”

They shook hands and headed toward the stairs and the front door. Dave looked back at Isabella, who had not moved from the couch but sat staring at both of them as if in shock, full of questions.

“Be careful now, okay?” Dave said as he waved to her, continued up the stairs with Wyatt following close behind.

She heard the deep rumbling of male voices at the top of the stairs but couldn’t make out any of their words. Scared and confused though she was, there was no way she’d ever trust a cop again. A chill chased over her, raising goose bumps on her arms. She didn’t want to depend on anyone. But Wyatt wasn’t a cop. He
had
been
a cop. He was a very smart, non-judgmental, compassionate, caring businessman. And he would be able to keep her safe, right?

She needed to get control of her life again. She needed to take care of herself. She needed a plan.

Chapter 28

A small-time mobster like Spike dealt mainly in prostitution, money laundering, and car theft. Every now and then, for a large purse, he would buy and sell some people. He usually didn’t mess with people anymore, not since his last stint in prison and not in the
United States
either, but he had a buyer for a blonde girl who would pay a large sum. And right now, he needed all the money he could get his hands on.

He wanted the other girl for himself for a while. He liked petite girls with big tits, and he wanted this girl particularly. He had wanted her ever since he saw her for the first time. She was walking out of a little coffee shop near an elementary school somewhere on the outskirts of
Denver
.

Unfortunately, he had to leave
Denver
but left a few men in there to clean up, finish collecting some debts, and they should be arriving any day now. Then they would move the entire operation somewhere new. He didn’t quite know where to go yet but had some great ideas and was leaning toward
Peru
and
Central America
. There was so much more opportunity there. He wanted to talk to Dan, before he made a decision. He considered Dan his right-hand man and had left him in charge in
Denver
.

Sam, though, could quickly replace Dan. Sam always seemed to be on the lookout for his best interests while Dan had gotten a little lazy and selfish. He wouldn’t tolerate a mutiny in an organization with only one boss, him.

He explained to Sam how the cops had started snooping around in his business and made it necessary for him to move his operation from
Denver
to the current location in
Norfolk
. Sam just looked at him without expression. Spike rolled his eyes, thinking Sam didn’t understand a word he said let alone how he worked. And he could see similarities with Sam and Joe already. Spike walked around his desk while rolling his special gold-tipped pen up and down in his short fat hand. He looked at Sam again and sighed loudly.

“I got a job for you, and I need you to make sure you get it done right the first time, you hear me?” Spike waited for a response from Sam before continuing.

Sam nodded. “Yeah, boss, I understand.”

“There’s no room for mistakes with this job. I need you to make a little trip to meet up with Joe. He’s in Stoney Creek, just outside of
Suffolk
. He’s already screwed up this job and let one of the girls escape. How that happens when you’re guarding someone, I don’t know. Anyway, we need some damage control. You need to find the girl. I don’t care, don’t even want to know of the how's or what-for's, just find the girl and get her back to me by midnight tomorrow night. Then you have to make absolute certain Joe isn’t around to tell anybody about it. I’ll pay you the same amount I planned to pay Joe for the girl plus a little extra for making sure Joe don’t talk anymore.
But
—and this is a big but—
no screwups
. And I mean no, nada, zero, zilch.” His voice rose until he was shouting and a vein in his forehead throbbed violently. “Do you understand what I’m saying, Sam?”

Sam nodded his head and muttered, “Yeah, Boss.”

He continued, quieter. “Let’s go over this one more time so there won’t be any misunderstandings. Joe is in
Stoney Creek
looking for the girl right now. You need to find Joe. Here’s his cell phone number.” He handed Sam a piece a paper with a handwritten number on it. “And make sure you find the girl. Then get rid of Joe. I don’t care how. I don’t even want to know how. Bring the girl back to me by midnight Tuesday night. You can’t be late either. We have to leave by then. Understand? You know what happens if you slip up, don’t you? I’ll send Dan after both you and Joe, and
neither
of you’ll be talkin’ to anybody. There’s no place you can run fast enough to keep Dan from finding you both. Understand?”

With his eyes, Sam followed Boss as he paced around the room, primarily in front of his oversized desk. He shrugged and looked at Boss. “You can count on me, Boss.”

Spike scrutinized Sam and then yelled, “What the fuck are you waiting for then? Get your ass outta here and bring back that girl.”

Sam scrambled for the door. Spike sat in his chair thinking about how he got the name boss. Why not ‘godfather’ or even Spike but most of his employees often referred to him as Boss, short for Boss Hogg, the character from
The Dukes of Hazzard
, due to their similar builds. He knew they had to get out of
Norfolk
soon because the cops had already started snooping around and asking questions. He didn’t want to give them enough time to set up another sting. Attorney’s fees were drying up his reserves rather quickly.

“Mel,” he bellowed, “get the supplies loaded on board the boat and fueled up. We’ll be moving out at midnight tomorrow.”

Chapter 29

Joe drove by the park, barely able to get through the traffic jam. He knew he would have to hide the cruiser until he found the girl. He’d been in the back seat of a cruiser so many times he knew where and how to use all the extra controls. He brazenly turned on the flashing blue and red lights to get quickly through the traffic at the park. He waved to another cop he passed going the other way.

He turned off the flashing lights and continued driving toward the outskirts of town to find a vacant or deserted house. He stayed within the speed limit so he wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention. He hoped he could hide the car and spend the night too. He had gotten tired of all the city noises anyway.

A short distance out of town Joe found an unused dirt road on the right leading off the main road. He decided to take it and see where it would lead him. He drove about a mile, up down, and around on the curvy, grass-covered road. It would be getting dark soon.

He could hear the overgrown bushes and brambles scrapping the sides and the bottom of the car, but he didn’t care. It didn’t belong to him anyway. In fact, he had never owned a car. Since he was about nine years old, he’d taken advantage of his God-given ability to help himself to any kind of transportation available to him.

Car theft was the least of the crimes Joe committed, and now he had murder to add to his rap sheet, and not just murder of anybody but of a cop! He took a deep breath. He was proud of himself and felt himself better than his ol’ man any day.

His old man was in the joint somewhere for stealing cars, but only because he got caught. Joe had a two-part plan. Don’t be stupid, and don’t get caught. He would show his old man that he had turned out better than he ever said he would.