Deadly Interest (43 page)

Owen pulled out another cell phone. Not
Maya’s. He held the bright screen at arm’s length as he dialed.
Whoever he called must have been waiting. “Hey,” he said almost
immediately. With a glance at his watch, he added. “You got what we
need?” A smile shadowed his face for the briefest moment. “Good.
It’s all clear. Come on up.”

An accomplice. Lulinski had been right.

“
My office.” he said,
again into the phone. “Yeah. Both of them.” He stared at us as he
spoke, the blue ambient light giving his face a pale glow. He
nodded. “Take your time,” he said. “We’ll be here.”

When he ended the call, he lifted an eyebrow
at me. In that small gesture I read all the smug superiority,
echoing the fact that he stood on the right end of the gun and I
did not—that life wasn’t fair—that I’d lost. I moved, slightly,
wanting to beat his ugly face with both fists, but the weapon
pointed at my mid-section froze me in my tracks.

“
Sit,” he said, like he
was talking to dogs. I turned fast, to glance at Maya, then behind
us, stupidly looking for a chair. “On the floor,” he said, his
voice gaining intensity. “We’ve got work to do.”

Maya and I sat next to one another, our
backs to one set of unopened filing cabinets. Owen perched his butt
on the corner of a nearby desk, one foot on the ground, the other
suspended, swaying. His aim never wavered. “I could handle two of
you by myself,” he said with a shrug, “But there’s too much at
stake to take any shortcuts now.”

I was less interested in what he had to say,
than I was in figuring a way out. Whoever he’d spoken to on the
phone, and I had no doubt that it was Nina Takami, was apparently
en route. I knew she was small, but there’d be two of them and two
of us, plus the gun, diminishing our chances even further. If we
were going to move, we had to do it now.

Keeping my gaze on Owen, I snaked my right
hand toward Maya, using my pinky finger to tap hers, hoping she’d
understand. With a quick look toward the elevator corridor, Owen
stretched out his back, and I chanced a look at Maya. I saw in her
eyes a determination that matched mine.

I cleared my throat. “How much longer?”

“
Shut up.”

Maya shifted. “I have to go to the
bathroom.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “What, do you think
I’m stupid? You gotta piss, be my guest. Piss all over
yourself.”

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to push
the cold sweat out of my face, and he sat up, both feet hitting the
ground, his eyes flashing with ready vigilance.

We couldn’t try to stand without alerting
him. His position was too far for me to reach with either my hands
or my feet; so any wild thoughts about disarming him with some
heretofore undiscovered superhero strength on my part was out of
the question. My mind, fueled by the fear of that gun going off
before I’d had a chance to really live, raced with crazed
possibilities

I still had my flashlight. If I could ease
it out of my pocket and manage to toss it without him seeing my
movement, it might create a momentary distraction. Enough for us to
move.

A very long shot. But choices grew more slim
every moment—I decided I would make this work. I had to.

I counted on the fact that Owen couldn’t see
into the darkest corners where the filing cabinets met the floor. I
pushed my fingers into the split where my pocket opened, tugging at
the flashlight by its rubber end—inching it up, into my palm with a
slow, ferocious terror that released sweat at my hairline to
trickle down my face.

It stuck.

I tugged harder, trying my best not to show
any outward sign of movement. My fingers dug in deeper, but the
wetness that gathered between them made the rubber-coated light
slippery and hard to move. I wanted desperately to blow my bangs
off my forehead, but didn’t want to risk any undue attention.

As it was, Owen’s unwavering gaze had begun
to shift. He would watch us for long moments before chancing a
quick look down the elevator corridor. We wouldn’t have much time
before Nina Takami joined us.

The next time he looked away, I leaned hard
on my left palm, lifting my back end slightly off the floor—just
enough to give the flashlight wiggle room. The fingers of my right
hand got a solid grip and I had it in my palm.

At that very moment, my phone buzzed,
shooting its vibration into the other pocket on my backside with a
suddenness that made me jump.

“
What?” Owen started,
stood, came a half-step closer now, the gun that much closer to my
face.

The phone vibrated again. This time I didn’t
move. “Cramp,” I said.

“
Bullshit.” Owen stared
hard at my right side, his eyes flicking to mine as though he’d
find an answer there. I remained as still as I could, hoping the
vibration wasn’t loud enough for him to pick up. When it buzzed a
third time, I coughed.

“
What’s behind
you?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

He looked at me, as if trying to read my
eyes. As if he’d find some answer there. “Show me your hand.
Slow.”

“
Okay,” I said, opening my
fingers before pulling my hand forward. The flashlight dropped to
the floor behind me with an almost inaudible thump. I held my empty
hand out for his inspection.

Satisfied, he nodded, then looked toward the
elevators and down at his watch. He must have had a hard time
reading it because he leaned ever so slightly toward the cold night
windows, adjusting the angle of the watch’s face to catch the
light.

I gripped the flashlight in a fast snatch,
and threw it hard in an overhand arc, pulling my hand back behind
me, fast—trying to look as though I hadn’t moved. The tiny tool hit
a far wall with a small, but noticeable bump.

He leaped up, shouting, “What was that?”

I scrambled to my feet,
reaching for his arm, hoping to either grab the gun from him, or to
force his hand back toward his own face. I
would
pull that trigger. It was kill
or be killed, and I had no intention of going down.

“
What the—” He twisted his
body, but I’d latched on tight.

“
Run,” I said to Maya, but
she’d grabbed him from behind, helping me.

Women don’t have upper
body strength
. The adage flashed through
my mind and I fought the despair accompanying it. In my case, it
was too true, and Maya’s skinny arms couldn’t be much stronger than
mine.

Damn it. Every muscle strained to keep from
losing, but his superior power was killing me. Hampered by my
slippery hands, the tight fabric of my leather jacket, and the fact
that we were slight women fighting a two-hundred pound man, I felt
my hold on him lessen with every slow-motion second.

His arms had gone high
over his head, both hands gripping the gun, and I fought to keep it
pointed upward, away from us. We three danced like this, a
vicious
ménage a trois
—his breath, coming in short pants across my face, souring my
stomach with every hot blast. If I could jam his eyeballs, I might
have a chance, but that meant dropping my straining arms from their
protective perch—depending on Maya to keep that gun pointed
away.

A woman’s strength is in her legs.

I gritted my teeth—and shot a knee into his
balls with strength borne of fury and disgust.

With a whoof, he doubled, his arms jamming
down, an elbow grazing my head. Maya toppled to the floor behind
him, and I heard a solid crack that could have been her head
against the desk. I lunged for the gun, but he backed up fast,
extending his arm, aiming at me again. His left hand cradled his
private parts and the twisted expression on his face told me my
life was a trigger-pull away from ending. His arm shook, the gun’s
barrel wavered.

We both heard the sound at the same time.
The elevator.

I caught sight of Maya, behind Owen, still
on the floor. She tried to stand, but Owen pushed her down, backing
up as he did so, to keep us both in his sights at the same time.
He’d gotten out of my reach, and his voice came out hoarse,
cracked, as he screamed filthy names at me.

I took a small measure of satisfaction out
of the fact that I’d hurt him. Small satisfaction, because he was
ready to kill us both, now. Even in the dark, I could see the
intent in his eyes.

Crouching, I helped Maya up. She rubbed at
her left elbow.

The elevator doors opened with their cheery
ping, as Owen continued to curse, shouting epithets in a pained
rasp. Behind him, a shadow crossed the doorway, fast. She’d be here
any second.

With another gun, no doubt. We’d blown our
chance to get away.

Keeping a close eye on us, Owen half-turned
to greet the newcomer, but his weapon stayed trained on us.

But the voice from the darkness behind him
wasn’t Nina’s.

“
What now,
Owen?”

My stomach somersaulted downward to my feet
as David stepped through a slice of faint blue window light before
melting back into the far shadows again. For the briefest moment I
held onto hope that he’d come to save us, like a knight in shining
armor swooping for the rescue just in the nick of time.

“
I knew you’d screw this
up,” he said, his disembodied voice coming from the corner’s
depths. “Give me the gun. Do I always have to come in and clean up
after you?”

He emerged then, into our tiny section of
light, dressed down in a dark turtleneck and dark pants, his face
the only pale part of his body that I could see.

Owen handed the weapon over, then eased
backward, head down, till he managed to brace himself against a
nearby desk. Still cupping the family jewels, he ran his free hand
over his sparse hair and blew out an anguished breath. “That one,”
he said, pointing to me. “Do her first.”

“
Owen, please,” David
said, as though addressing a mischievous child, “your temper’s
gotten us into enough trouble here. Let’s handle this the smart way
for a change, shall we?” I could see his face, half-blue,
half-obscured when he turned to me. “Alex,” he said, in the same
soothing voice he’d used so many times since we’d met. “Are you all
right?”

My heart leapt at his words—an instinctive
response as my emotions reacted, holding fast to my last shred of
hope. “We’re okay,” I said, wary. I could hear fear in my voice; I
had no doubt he could, too. “What are you doing here?”

“
Everything’s gotten
screwed up,” he said. “I have to protect my assets.” He moved
closer, further into the light, as nonchalant as ever. It was his
manner that chilled me most. “And to make sure nothing happens to
you, of course.” He smiled. “Yet.”

All thoughts of a happy ending crashed
through my brain with a soulful clang sounding like a death knell.
Maya and I stood close to one another, arms touching. I couldn’t
tell which one of us shook more.

Owen’s breathing had returned to almost
normal. With his head up now, he glared our direction, then threw a
glance at David. “Now what?”

“
Let me think on this,” he
answered. “We have to plan well so it won’t come back on
us.”

With the look of suddenly remembering a
critical piece of information, Owen’s body jerked. “The guard guy
downstairs in the garage,” he said. “That Jared guy. He knows I’m
up here.”

David made a sound of weary displeasure.
“Taken care of,” he said.

The implication of his words exploded in my
brain.

Like a kid in trouble trying for an attaboy,
Owen lifted his chin Maya’s direction, “I got her cell phone, like
you told me.” Pointing to me, he added, “She didn’t have one.”

David rolled his eyes. “No wonder everything
has blown up. You just can’t do anything right, can you?”

“
Hey, I checked. I emptied
their purses, see? It wasn’t there.”

David moved toward the pile of purse debris
on the nearby desk. From the light hitting him from the side, I
could see him work his jaw. “Damn it, Owen. This is just another
loose end you created. How do we explain their belongings dropped
all over the place here?” He turned then, and I couldn’t see his
face, but I heard his hiss of frustration.

“
I’ll take care of it,”
Owen said, sullen. “But I had to make sure she didn’t have a
phone.”

Turning back to face us, David made a tsking
sound. “Of course she has one.”

Shit.

“
Maya,” David said, still
calm. “If you’d be so kind, would you please locate Alex’s cell
phone. I believe you’ll find it in her back pocket.”

When she didn’t move, his voice deepened.
“Maya. Now please.”

She whispered that she was sorry as she
pulled my phone out by its tiny antenna.

“
Now toss it to Owen,
would you?”

I took a small measure of pride in the fact
that he winced when he caught it. David collected both phones from
him and nodded. “You see, Alex,” he said, “I really did pay
attention to everything you told me. Everything. From your pride in
your sister’s musical prowess, to where you like to keep your
phone.”

I bit my lip. He’d conned me good.

“
We can kill them right
here,” Owen said, making an unsteady return to his feet. “Make it
look like Maya was about to be exposed, and so she killed her. Then
turned the gun on herself.” His eyes were like mad things trapped
in a frozen pond. “With records in her purse, it’ll look like she
knew she was caught.”

David nodded slowly, walking toward him.
“Actually, my thoughts were running along the same lines,” he
said.

He raised his arm so quickly, I didn’t even
see the gun in his hand until the flash exploded next to Owen’s
temple. He crumpled to the floor, the dark blood running out of the
side of his head, forming a puddle on the carpet. I winced
instinctively at the loud noise, my body turned away, my hands flew
to my ears.