Trust Me (30 page)

“I came to you because I thought you might have had
some problems too.  After all you did receive custody of Tom's papers, so it
occurred to me you might have the key they're looking for.”

“I can assure you my father never gave me anything,
let alone a key.”  She wasn't about to confide in Delia about how she had
also been a victim of a break-in, not to mention the attempt on her life. 
“Delia I strongly suggest you go to the proper authorities and report these
incidents, it's the only way you can protect yourself.” 

Alaina's instincts told her Delia knew a great deal
more than she was letting on. If there was one thing Alaina was sure of it was
that Delia couldn't be trusted.

Delia stared at her intently.  “Alaina are you
sure nothing out of the ordinary has happened to you?”

As she asked the question, Alaina had the distinct
impression Delia knew everything. “No Delia,” she lied smoothly, “everything
has been business as usual.”

“Really, I've tried to reach you at your house for
several weeks now and you're never there. I thought something must have
happened to keep you away.”

Alaina was beginning to feel like a witness on the stand
under Delia's scrutiny. “Nothing’s wrong.  I'm involved with a guy and
I’ve been spending a great deal of my spare time with him, which is why I
haven’t been home.  Sorry if you were worried, but it never occurred to me
you would be trying to contact me.”

Delia gave her a false smile. “Well what a relief, I
was beginning to wonder why you were never home.   I'm glad to hear
it’s because you have a new boyfriend.”

Alaina laughed. “You know, I’d never describe him as a
boy.”   She paused briefly before adding, “I'm sorry to hear you’re
being harassed. Would you like me to go to the police station with you to
report the incidents?  I'd be more than happy to help.”

Delia rose from her chair, preparing to leave. “No,
Alaina thanks for the offer, but like I told you before, I don't trust the
police.  If anything unusual happens to you please let me know, okay?”

“Sure Delia, and be careful.” Alaina rose too, and
picked up her briefcase.  “Come on I'll show you the way out.”  After
showing Delia out, Alaina remained in the office lobby.  For some reason
she didn't like the idea of following her into the parking lot.  She stood
in the reception area watching through the front window as Delia got in her car
and drove off. 

Returning to her office, Alaina plunked herself down
onto her soft leather chair and pondered the strange meeting she had just had
with her father's second wife. Delia gave her the creeps.  There was
something about the woman that sent off warning signals in Alaina's
brain.  Had Delia been here on some sort of fishing expedition for
information or had she too been a victim of harassment and threats from some
unknown assailant? Delia had spoken of notes asking for a key, but she'd never
produced any actual notes. That alone was enough to make Alaina suspicious of
her story.  Delia's refusal to go the police also made Alaina reluctant to
believe the woman.  Still, she conceded, it was possible Delia was telling
the truth.  Delia could be just as much of a victim of her father's manipulations
as Alaina was herself.

She was about to call Donovan, when her eye was caught
by her law degree hanging on the wall.  She looked at it hundred times a
day without ever noticing it, but now as she looked at it she remembered how her
father had insisted on getting it framed for her.  She walked over to her
degree with determination and
removed  it
from
its place on the wall. She placed it on her desk, face down.  Delia had
kept talking about a hidden key. Could it be hidden in this frame, Alaina
wondered? Could it be that simple?  She began to dismantle the frame,
wondering if the answer to her questions had been in her office all
along.  As she pulled the frame apart, she noticed that a piece of
cardboard had been placed between her degree and the back of frame. Taped to
the cardboard was a key. What
do you
know, she
thought, it was that simple.  Alaina's hands began to shake at the
excitement of her find. She held the key up to examine it. She thought it
resembled a safety deposit key, a perfect place to stash a couple of million
dollars.

Alaina tried calling Donovan's cell, anxious to tell
him about her discovery and her meeting with Delia, but the call went straight
to voice mail indicating he was on the phone.  She hung up, rather than
leaving a message.  She decided to hide the key underneath some aspirin in
a pill bottle in her purse. Maybe she was being a bit paranoid, but after
finding what she was sure everyone had been after, she felt nervous carrying it
around.  She was sure Donovan was still at his office, and deciding to
meet him there she left the building.

As she exited Alaina noticed the parking lot was
empty, the rest of the associates must have left while she had her impromptu
meeting with Delia.  She shrugged off her attack of nerves as she
approached the car, reminding herself she would be on her way to the FBI
headquarters in a matter of seconds.  Reaching her car, she fumbled for
her keys in her purse. It was then that she felt the knife at her throat. 
Her breath caught at the unexpected attack. 

An unfamiliar voice whispered in her ear. “Don't even
think about screaming.”

Alaina wasn't about to scream, not because he told her
not to but because she was so terrified she didn't think she could even produce
a whimper.  All women have nightmares about this kind of thing happening,
but Alaina decided they don't even come close to the terror of the reality.

The voice sounded again in her ear, “Open the car
door. We're going for a little drive.”  She opened the door as he
directed, and he shoved her into the front seat and he got in the backseat
directly behind her.  Somehow as he did this he managed not to remove the
knife from her throat.

“Now drive,” the odious voice ordered.

“Where do you want me to go?”  Alaina managed to
squeak out unable to believe she had finally found her voice.  The man's
voice was harsh and threatening as he began to direct her down winding and
unfamiliar streets.  She could see him in her rear view mirror, but he
wore a baseball hat and sunglasses making his features indistinguishable. 
The more she drove the more she became aware of the helplessness of her
situation.  Donovan would have no idea where to look for her, and it might
be hours before he even realized she was missing. By that time, she wondered,
would she even be alive?  She was on her own since no one knew where she
was and no one would be able to find her.  If she was going to live it was
up to her.

Donovan was impatient to speak to Alaina. He'd made a
major breakthrough in the investigation.  It appeared Delia Simmons had
been stupid enough to leave a fingerprint behind at Alaina's home.  It
must be Delia who was searching for the missing money, which made sense. She
and Tom, as husband and wife, had probably been embezzling together.  The
fingerprint gave them enough evidence to arrest Delia for breaking and
entering.  He was sure once they had her in custody, they would be able to
find out if anyone else was involved and confirm it was embezzled money they
were trying to find.  Finally, he was going to be able to put the Tom
Simmons case to rest.

Not wanting to wait for her at home he left the office
quickly, jumped in his car and headed toward Alaina's office.  He wanted to
share the news with her as soon as possible.  As his car was nearing the
office, he could see Alaina approaching her car in the parking lot.  He
smiled in relief at seeing her until he saw the man in a baseball cap come up
behind her, put a knife to her throat and push her into the car.  Donovan
was too far away to help Alaina without alerting her attacker. He knew at this
point he would have no choice but to follow them, hopefully
undetected.   He picked up his cell and called for backup.  He
was going to need it.  He was not concerned about losing the car in
traffic since the GPS tracker that had been part of her surveillance several
months ago was still installed underneath her car.  Thank God for small
miracles.

Alaina became aware that her assailant was having her
drive south toward the Mexican border.  He hadn't said a word to her
except to tell her what direction to take.  She had followed his commands
without question or comment, not willing to risk upsetting the man who could so
easily put an end to her life.  When they reached a small community close
to the border called San Ysidro, he guided her to a small dingy looking stucco
house. The front yard was littered with dirt and garbage.  She pulled into
the driveway of the house as he directed, turning off the ignition as she
waited for his next command.

“We're home sweetheart, I want you to get out of the
car slowly, don't try anything 'cause I’ve got a gun on you,” he laughed as he
told her about his other weapon. 

Alaina wondered why he had chosen to use the knife
before when he had a gun. 

As if reading her mind he said, “I like to use the
knife because it's much more personal, you actually have to touch a person to
kill them.”

His comment, as it was intended, heightened Alaina's
anxiety. She got out of the car as she tried desperately to ignore the fact
there was a gun aimed at her back.  She heard him get out of the car
behind her, and then he shoved her toward the house.
“Move!
You've got some questions to answer inside.”

Alaina stumbled through the front door. Entering the
house she noted the interior was as grim as the exterior. Her kidnapper stood
directly behind her pressing his gun to her back.  The inside of the small
house was dark, the blinds had been tightly closed, the room appeared dirty and
there were only a few kitchen chairs in the main living room.  Alaina
guessed she should have been surprised to see Delia standing in the middle of
the room, but she wasn't, she'd had a feeling Delia was involved. 

Delia looked past Alaina toward the man behind her.
“Michael, my dear brother, I see you've done a good job of bringing her
here.  I trust you didn't have any difficulties.”

The man behind Alaina answered in the hideous voice
she was becoming all too familiar with. “None at all, everything went
smoothly.” He pushed Alaina over to one of the chairs forcing her to sit. 

Delia stood over her looking down at her, the contempt
clearly written on her face.

Alaina smiled, refusing to show her fear as she asked
dryly, “Delia, it's so nice to see you again so soon.  To what to do I owe
this pleasure?”

Delia smirked at her.  “I'm tired of you getting
in my way, so I thought I'd put an end to it.”

Alaina appeared confused by Delia's statement. “How
have I gotten in your way?  We barely know each other.”

Delia practically sneered as she answered, “As if you
don't know.  First you’re given custody of Tom's papers containing all the
evidence of the bombings and the embezzled money and then you've got the key to
the safety deposit box holding all of my money.”

“I don't know anything about a key Delia or any
money,” Alaina insisted not about to give away her ace.  She was sure if
they found the key her life was over, if it wasn’t already.

Delia stepped forward and slapped Alaina hard across
the face.  “Do you think I'm stupid?” she demanded angrily, “I know you're
lying, just as I knew you were lying today at your office when you said you
hadn't been harassed or threatened.  It's been me all along, I'm the one
who shot at you, and I’m the one who broke into your house.”

Alaina refused to flinch at Delia's vicious
attack.  Giving her a hard look she said, “Why me?  I never knew
anything about my father's activities.”

Delia sneered contemptuously at her.  
“Your father's activities?
  Do you think he was the mastermind
behind all of those bombings? No, it was me who did all the careful planning.
Your father agreed to be the scapegoat because he was dying.  He was the
ideal lackey, doing whatever I told him to do, including using you as a
cover.  It was the perfect plan. There's no one to prosecute if the
offender dies of natural causes.”

“I guess it wasn't so perfect since my father left a
paper trail a mile long,” Alaina questioned her own wisdom at taunting Delia in
this situation, but she hadn't been able to resist.

“It was perfect until Tom decided to betray me. That's
why he placed the custody of those papers with you and that's why he gave you
the key to the safety deposit box.” Delia's voice was growing louder as she
became more incensed recounting her story.

“Delia I keep telling you I was completely in the dark
about everything and he never gave me any key.  Why were you worried about
those papers anyway?  There was nothing about you in them.”  Alaina
knew Delia had conveniently left something out of her story.

“You're such a fool! Those papers revealed the money
had been embezzled and that the money is in a safety deposit box with the
evidence linking me, not the OAS, to the bombings.  Your father has been
taunting me from beyond the grave.  He left all the evidence behind so I
would eventually end up in jail and without the money I had earned.”