Done With Love (33 page)

“You know what,
I am
the man.”

I opened my eyes to see him shrugging out of his suit jacket. He took the voice recorder from his pants pocket and handed it to me, and I asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to intimidate her. Like you said.” He dropped the jacket to the ground beside the black bag and knelt next to it. Riffling through the contents, he said, “It’s too bad you don’t have nunchucks.”

I was so glad we didn’t have nunchucks. He came up with a huge bottle of pepper spray and handed it to Roxanna.

She looked at the can in her hand. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“You know, aim it at her like you’re going to use it.” He shrugged. “Like wave it at the broad.”

Roxanna uncapped the can. “Okay, I can do that.”

Richard stepped toward Deborah, and I grabbed his arm. “You’re okay with…scaring her?” I hoped he was, because there was no way I’d ever pull it off.

His jaw was set in determination. “I was born for this.”

“Uh, yeah. Right.” I nodded because a confident interrogator was more effective, for sure. “You
were
born for this.”

When he turned to walk to Deborah’s chair, I looked at Roxanna who didn’t look as confident as she had all night. I shoved her toward Deborah and whispered, “You better pull it together. You’re the one who wanted to bring her here. Act like you’re going to use that pepper spray!”

She stumbled forward, the hem of her ball gown dragging against the dirty floor. “
Jeez,
yeah, okay.”

Richard’s sneered down at Deborah and paced in front of her chair. “You think you’re so tough, do you?” When she didn’t answer, he stopped pacing to stick his face in front of hers. “Do you?!”

Deborah’s head jerked back, and for the first time, she looked worried. Richard’s transformation was so convincing, I’d jumped at his raised voice.

“Well, let me tell you something, you crazy broad.” Richard paused for dramatic effect. “
You’re not leaving here in one piece.”

“Holy shit,” Roxanna muttered.

Richard looked over his shoulder at us and winked. He turned back to Deborah. “We’re going to torture you first. And then we’re going to get that confession.” He motioned at Roxanna.

“Yeah,” Roxanna said, and waved the can.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Deborah said, but her lips trembled.

“Oh, I dare, lady.
I dare
.” Then Richard made a loud screechy yell and whipped his arm out in a karate punch right next to Deborah’s head. My knees wobbled. The point of this was to scare her into a confession, but his fist had come too close for comfort. She looked a little worried.

Oh my God, it’s working!

My hope died when Deborah said, “I’ll never confess. You’ll have to
kill me.
”

Richard turned around, his gaze pressing me on what to do now. I had no idea. I had never kidnapped anyone before. I’d never had to physically intimidate someone into a confession. We couldn’t lay a hand on her. No way. Roxanna leaned to look at Deborah from around Richard and waved the pepper spray at her.

“So help me God, I’m going to pepper spray you if you don’t confess, you evil bitch!” Roxanna waved the can again, but she didn’t look menacing. She looked scared.

Deborah laughed maniacally. “You might as well call the police and turn yourselves in.”

Richard spun around and screamed, “
Wa-cha!”
making Deborah jerk in her seat again. His neck muscles constricted, and his face contorted as he drew his fist back. Lifting his left foot in slow motion, he groaned, “
Ooohhh.”
And then he kicked out with his right leg in a sloppy roundhouse, screaming, “
Hi-ya!”

His right foot connected with the side of Deborah’s chair, knocking it over. It landed on its side. All I could do was stare in horrified wonder, but Roxanna screamed, “What the
hell
, Richard!”

Richard’s shoulders shook violently, and he stuttered, “I—I didn’t—I was—I meant—I didn’t mean to kick the chair! I was only trying to scare her!”

I shoved him out of the way and knelt beside Deborah, whose eyes were closed. “She’s not moving,” I said, panicked. I looked up at him. “You didn’t actually touch her. I don’t know why she’s not moving!”

“Maybe she hit her head,” Roxanna whispered.

I blinked at the tears forming in my eyes. “I think she’s unconscious again.”

“Oh my God, we are so going to jail.” Roxanna grabbed Richard by the shoulders and shook him. “We are going to
jail!”

Grasping the top of the chair in both hands, I sat the chair upright. Deborah’s head hung forward.

“We need to call the police,” I whispered.

Richard shook his head. “I can’t go to jail. I can’t.” His eyes were watery with tears. “I can’t be somebody’s bitch! Look at me!” His jaw trembled. “I will get butt raped in prison!”

Roxanna nodded. “You would.”

“Roxanna! You are not
helping.”
I said, and we all turned to stand around Deborah’s still body. “We have to call the police. Explain what happened.”

Just then, Deborah’s head jerked back, her eyes wild, and she screamed. And I screamed. And Richard screamed.

And Roxanna’s finger jerked on the trigger of the pepper spray, and the fumes hit Richard right in the eyes. He coughed and choked, and I jumped away from the fumes.

“Oh my God,” Roxanna screeched, and Richard dropped to his knees.

“Oh God, my eyes, my eyes,” Richard moaned. He coughed, his nose dribbling snot.

“Richard, oh God, I’m so sorry.” Roxanna dropped the can of pepper spray, and it crashed to the floor. “Water. He needs water!”

“The sink,” I said, and we helped him to his feet.

“I can’t see! I’m blind!” He pressed his hands to his eyes and stumbled over his feet while we led him to the sink across the room.

Deborah laughed, and I whirled to glare at her.

“Why are you laughing?” I snapped.

“Because the three of you are a train wreck.” She sneered at me. “I haven’t been this entertained since the
Three Stooges.
”

She was toying with us. This was all just fun and games for her because the end result was me behind prison bars. I twisted on the faucet and pressed Richard’s head down closer to the sink. I was so upset, I couldn’t speak. I splashed water at Richard’s face, and he whimpered, rubbing at his eyes.

“What are we going to do?” Roxanna moaned.

“My eyes are burning,” Richard moaned.

“Hope you have an attorney,” Deborah sing-songed.

I pushed Richard out of the way and threw up in the sink.

We got Richard cleaned up after I washed the vomit down the sink. Roxanna’s hands shook as we pressed a cold washcloth to his eyes. “What are we going to do?” she asked.

My mind had been working like crazy while Deborah sat in the corner, quiet as a mouse, as if this were just another day at the office. Maybe she really was crazy. It made sense. She’d been like a dog with a bone ever since the wedding, so fixated on me. If she had left me alone, we all could have moved on with our lives. Instead, she was tied up above my boutique, and none of us would ever be the same.

I couldn’t stop apologizing to Richard, whose eyes were red-rimmed and watery. Yes, Roxanna had pulled the pepper spray trigger, but I was the reason he was here in the first place. I was the one who’d dragged them all into this stupid, stupid plan. I needed to fix this. I had to.

“I’m, uh, going down to use the bathroom,” Richard said, pocketing his phone in his pants pocket.

Roxanna dropped to the floor against the wall and hugged her knees to her chest. She muttered something I couldn’t hear, and I figured it best to leave her alone for awhile. We were all in shock.
What the hell were you thinking?

We already had trespassing, assault, and kidnapping against us, why not add a big, fat bluff to the list?

I picked up my cell phone from the counter near the sink and dialed Jeremy’s number. When he answered, I said simply, “I have your mother.”

“What?” he asked. “Lexie?”

I sighed, hoping this wasn’t going to be a long conversation in order to get to the point. “Are you alone?”

“Yes. Well, for the moment.”

“Good. You need to keep it that way.” I tapped my foot on the dusty wood boards. “I have your mother, and you aren’t getting her back until you bring me the contract she made me sign.”

His silence was deafening.

“Jeremy, did you hear what I said?”

“You’re serious?” he asked, and my eyes bulged.

“Yes, I’m freaking serious.” What I said sounded crazy, but he needed to catch up, and quick. I dropped my voice to a heated whisper, “She’s confessed everything, on a tape recorder, and unless I get that contract in one hour, I’m going to leak it to the media. And you don’t want that. Your dad doesn’t want that. Your mom sure as hell doesn’t want that. Because if the media gets ahold of this, you all can say goodbye to any political future you or your dad might have had. You’ll probably get disbarred. Someone might even go to jail.
Bring me the contract, Jeremy.
”

I sounded so much tougher than I felt after the disastrous events of the night, but I was tired. Tired of the Buchanans, tired of the mess I’d made—
so damn tired
.

“Let me talk to my mom.”

I glanced over to the corner where Deborah sat. Her head rested against the back of the chair, and her eyes were closed, but her fingers tapped the arm of the chair, so she wasn’t asleep. I turned my back to her and whispered. “No way in hell. You bring me what I want, and then you can talk to her.”

“Lexie, I don’t know what you’re doing, but this doesn’t sound like you,” he said.

My heart rate rose a notch, and then another. I was so worked up, I had a hard time breathing. “No, this
isn’t
like me. And you know it. And your mom knows it. And everyone freakin’ knows it. You people did this to me! Do you even understand what is
going on?
Get me that damn contract or I’m sending this recording to Channel 5,
I swear to God.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll get the contract.”

“Thank you,” I said on a sigh. “Because I’m on my last thin string of sanity, Jeremy, and I have had it with you people.” I unclenched my fist—my fingernails had left their mark on my palm. “We’ll make the exchange at my boutique. One hour.”

“One hour,” he repeated.

Before I ended the call, I said, “I’m going to trust you to do the right thing, Jeremy, and keep your word in this.”

“I’ll be there, Lex.” He sounded tired. He had no idea what tired was—he’d never kidnapped anyone before.

Richard appeared at the top of the stairs, and I opened my mouth to ask him if he was okay, but Gen stepped from around him and into the room.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, blinking.

“Richard called me. What the hell were you thinking?” she fumed, glancing over at Deborah, and then to Roxanna’s pale face where she still sat cross-legged on the dirty floor. “Are you crazy?”

“It got a little out of hand,” I admitted.

“You pepper sprayed Richard, you kidnapped Deborah, and this is not good,” Gen said.

“I don’t need a rehash of tonight’s events,” I whispered. “It’s under control.”

“Yeah, it is. Because I called Leo.”

My knees almost gave out. “What the hell did you do that for?”

Roxanna scrambled to her feet. “He is going to be so
pissed.
”

The sound of footsteps on the stairs had us all whirling to the doorway. In stormed Leo. He took one look at the dingy room, the toppled over chair with Deborah restrained to it, Roxanna muttering to herself, and Richard’s puffy, red eyes and growled, “What the fuck?”

The room smelled of dust, pepper spray, the sour stench of my vomit I’d washed down the sink, and sweat.

When his gaze connected with mine, he looked so mad, I averted my gaze. The wood floor creaked under his shoes, and when he stepped in front of me, I had no choice but to look him in the eyes.

His stare was hard, wordless, as if calculating what he would say. Finally, after an agonizing too-long minute, he said, “Gen, take your friend and Roxanna and wait for us down in the office.” He jerked his thumb toward the door. “And you,” he said to me, “we need to talk.”