Untraceable (23 page)

He didn’t need words at the moment.
His mind was moving at lightning pace as he considered her
statement. He had been helping D’Angelo bring in another family,
but he had no clue it would be the Moretti clan. If he could bring
D’Angelo back from the dead, he would kill him a second
time.

“
You see, when you took
out the structure under my father’s feet, I moved in as second in
command. The problem is he isn’t going to allow me to say in this
position. The stupid bastard is angry with me—called me greedy and
power hungry. But you are going to kill him for me Micah
and—”

“
You’ll have to do that
dirty work for yourself, Sharon,” he stated, glad at the moment he
promised Leese he wouldn’t kill anyone else. “I’m out of that game.
I don’t kill—”

“
Oh, now Micah, you know
no one ever
really
gets out of the mob. Besides, I think you’ll do anything I
ask since I have the power.”

He waited for the rest of the
statement, but she remained silent.

“
Power to do what?” He was
considering that he’d just hang up the phone. He was tired of
allowing her to toy with him.

“
The power to bring the
dead back to life,” she whispered into the receiver. “What would
you pay, Micah, to have her back? Huh? Would you trade your life
for hers?”

His pulse began to pound furiously as
wild possibilities ran through his mind, and that was when he heard
it. Tape was being pulled from skin as a choked sob came through
the phone.

“
No, Micah, no…don’t do
it, baby.”

If he hadn’t been in the pastor’s
chair, he would have hit the floor. “Le—Leese?” came his choked
voice.

“
Yeah,” Sharon responded
as Leese cried in the background, “now you have a choice, Micah.
You can have that funeral for real or you can do what I ask. Do you
understand me?”

“
Let me speak to her
again,” he commanded. The brief seconds of her voice weren’t enough
to placate his starving heart. He could hear her now in the
background begging him to refuse Sharon, begging him to just let
her go and not get involved in the hideous plans.

“
Shut her up,” Sharon
ordered.

“
Don’t hurt her,” he
quickly inserted. “We can discuss a deal, but I have to know why
me? I’m sure you have plenty of soldiers at your disposal because
if this is only for revenge then let someone else do your dirty
work and I’ll take her place.”

“
Oh, that is so gallant it
almost makes me—sick. Most of the soldiers in our family are
extremely loyal to my father. You killed my favorite two that were
willing to do whatever I needed done. But I need someone with
special skills, Micah—your special skills. It put me in a position
where I needed a little bit of leverage to assure your cooperation.
And, anyway, I planned all along for you to take her place, Micah,
just not until you finish rearranging the world for me.”

“
You let her go free and
I’ll do whatever you want, but only when she’s safe,” he growled.
He had no qualms about trading his life for Leese’s, but he would
never trust a snake like Sharon to honestly let his wife go. He was
certain she’d like to see them both dead, but he wasn’t going to
let that happen.

“
Don’t start making
demands. I could kill her right now and be happy enough to have
just caused you sufficient misery, but I’d rather be in charge of
my clan. The choice is up to you. You either do what I want or she
dies—and by the way, Micah, I’ll make sure it’s slow—baby
first.”

“
Bitch!” rolled off his
tongue before he could stop it.

“
Yes, darling, I am, but
I’m the bitch holding all the cards. Do we have a deal or do I end
this right now? I’ll be sure to set down the phone so you can
listen, if you like.”

“
Where do you want to
meet?”

“
Hilton Head, South
Carolina. I’ll meet you at the Crowne Plaza Hotel lobby. Let’s say
6 o’clock, tonight. And, by the way, I will be alone, but Giovanni…
Oh, that’s right, you think his name is Jonathan.”

Jonathan—damn it—he knew that there
was something wrong about him. He strung Leese along with his lies.
But she was just so trusting, so beautiful, and innocent, and now
she was in his hands and Micah could only pray that the bastard
wouldn’t molest her. Two lives to kill; his number was climbing
away from his promise.

“
Anyway,” Sharon
continued. “He is keeping an eye on her, so if I don’t call when he
expects me to, he’ll be more than glad to kill her—I’m sure he’ll
have a little fun with her first. He seems to find her rather
appealing, although I can’t imagine why with that fat little bulge.
Six o’clock, darling. Don’t be late.” And the receiver went
silent.

Micah wouldn’t be returning to the
church for the service and he certainly wasn’t going to alert
everyone as to what was really happening. The main problem he faced
at the moment was getting his hands on weapons. When he told Leese
that he wouldn’t kill anyone else, he had gotten rid of his guns,
but now he needed them. The only place he knew where to find a pair
in a hurry was to go back to Nadia’s and steal them from David’s
belongings. Once David returned to the house and found the guns and
Micah missing, he knew his brother would either think he was
planning the unthinkable or things regarding Leese’s accident had
come to light and he was after the killer. Either way, David would
try hard to find him.

His other worry was getting a plane
hired soon enough to make it to Hilton Head for his meeting with
Sharon. He would need to be in the air within two hours if he was
going to make it on time. It really didn’t leave him much room to
call the airport and hire someone.

He left the pastor’s office and headed
down the corridor for the exit doors. He didn’t need to get stopped
at this point and the service was to begin in a matter of minutes.
The corridor was empty as he moved quickly toward the double doors
leading to the parking lot. Just as he was passing the men’s room
door, feet away from the exit, the door opened and Ryan emerged. He
had evidently been overcome in the sanctuary and went to the
restroom to dry his eyes and collect his emotions.

Micah swallowed as Ryan looked at him
without speaking.

“
They’re getting ready to
start,” Ryan finally stated.

“
I—I know. Tell Pastor
Anderson to start and I’ll be there in a little while.” There were
no tears, no emotions, just a simple statement with a slight falter
at the start.

“
Where are you
going?”

“
I have to take care of
something.”

“
The hell you say. Don’t
go pulling something stupid, Micah.”

“
I’m not—I’ve just… I
can’t stand here and argue with you about it, there isn’t
time.”

“
You found something out,
didn’t you? You know who killed her. Is that what the phone call
was about?”

Micah didn’t realize that Ryan knew
why he left the sanctuary.

There was no time for arguing any
longer as Micah simply turned and started out the doors, but Ryan
wouldn’t give up.

“
Take me with you. I’ve
never killed anyone, but I swear I could do this no
problem.”

Micah considered knocking Ryan out. He
knew he could do it with one powerful punch, but he’d actually had
come to consider Ryan a close friend; a true friend was something
that he’d never had before, other than Leese. “Did you fly in for
the funeral?”

Ryan’s brow dropped low at the
puzzling statement, “Yeah, in my Cessna, but—”

“
All I need is a flight
out of here in a hurry. I can’t get you in any closer than that or
Leese would kill me.”

Now he really looked
confused, “What do you mean Leese
would
kill you? Just what did you…”
That was when Ryan realized why Micah’s expression was so devoid of
pain and sorrow, “Holy shit,” Ryan stated and then dropped down to
his haunches. He ran his hand through his hair as he attempted to
steady his suddenly light brain and then slowly returned upright,
“She’s alive, isn’t she?”

“
She won’t be if I don’t
get moving. Can you fly me out of here? You’re going to have to
leave with me now and you can’t go back inside and tell Candace or
anyone else for that matter.”

“
Let’s go,” Ryan simply
stated as the two men began heading for Micah’s car. Ryan reached
in his pocket and pulled the keys out for the rental car, unlocked
it, and tossed them on the seat so Candace wouldn’t be completely
stuck.

The Corvette was cranked as quietly as
possible and the two men slipped from the parking lot and headed
for Nadia’s.

CHAPTER fourteen

The last thing I remembered,
semi-clearly, was sitting on the porch swing saying I was heading
home. Right now, I was confused and groggy, but the bed was
comfortable and I wanted to drift back to sleep. I was sure I was
home; I just couldn’t remember how I’d gotten here. “Micah,” I said
just above a whisper, my eyelids refusing to open. I tried to slide
my hand to his side of the bed, but my arm felt heavy and unwilling
to move. I yawned deeply, cracking my eyelids barely open. The room
was hazy in my sight; it must have been close to nightfall. I
yawned again. “Micah,” I stated a little louder, forcing my
eyebrows to rise and help lift my eyelids.

“
Did you sleep well?” came
a male voice.

I recognized it was
Jonathan, but what was he doing at my house? And what jolted me to
consciousness was what was he doing in my bedroom? I jerked, still
fighting the cloak of sleep draped over my brain, and that was when
I felt restraints on my arms and legs. With my eyes now fully open,
I realized this wasn’t my bed—I didn’t know where I was! Fear
splashed over me as if I’d been dumped in ice water. No, no, no!
This had to be a nightmare.
Wake up,
Leese. Wake up!

“
Do not flail or you will
injure the baby.”

“
Let me go!” I screamed,
struggling to sit up. He was reaching for me telling me to be
quiet, telling me to stop thrashing, but I was so freaked out that
I was panicking.

A door opened and one of the men who
ran the airboat stepped inside. “Having a problem?” he sneered. “Is
a woman too much for the big shot to control?”

That was when I felt the sting of
being slapped in the face, twice. “Shut up and be still! Do you
hear me?” Jonathan snarled. He gripped my shoulders so firmly I
winced in pain. “You will lay here and be quiet or I will drug you;
do you understand me? I will drug your stupid, pregnant ass. Do you
want that for the baby?!”

I stopped fighting as my cries for
help reduced to unintelligible whimpers.

“
Good,” he growled at me.
“Do not make another sound or you will regret it!” He turned to the
man, “We will talk downstairs.” He rose and stalked out of the
room; the man followed.

“
Oh my God,” I cried
quietly. I recognized where I was now. I was in the upstairs
bedroom in the rancher’s retreat on the property. I could see the
lake out the window in the distance as the sun was setting.
What have I done? Micah was right about
Jonathan—why didn’t I listen to him?! Oh my God, Micah must be
going crazy; I should have been home hours ago. Were these men
planning to ambush Micah when he came to look for me?
I left Mom a note, so surely Micah was on the
property by now looking for clues as to my whereabouts. He’d find
the vehicles down by the lake and start searching—and he’d be
unarmed.

The voices downstairs were becoming
louder. Jonathan was arguing with them about something, but it
sounded as if there were more than two. I heard heavy footsteps
coming up the stairs. When the door opened, one of the boatmen
walked in.

“
Please,” I begged,
wondering if I could convince him to let me go. “I don’t know what
Jonathan told you, but you don’t want to do this. My husband is
very dangerous, and—”

“
I know how dangerous he
is, but he thinks you’re dead,” he stated flatly. “Matter-of-fact,
anyone who’s been watching the news for the last few hours thinks
you’re dead.”

I stared at him, completely
baffled.

He gave a small chuckle, “It was a
shame to destroy such a beautiful car though.”

“
My car?”

“
Uh-huh, and even though I
don’t like this asshole she brought in, I must admit it was the
best job rigging a car I’ve ever seen. And the line of shit he shot
the girl who drove it out of here,” he let out a low whistle. “That
son-of-a-bitch is the best damn liar I’ve ever heard. I mean, after
all, look at you: you fell for all the bullshit he told you,
too.”

“
She?”

He grinned, “She said you’d be so
pissed when you found out who was yanking your husband’s strings,
but said you owed her anyway for Jack and Ricky.”

“
Oh God,” I breathed, my
hand covering my mouth. Instantly, I was sick.

“
I told her not to fuck
with him; he’s one ruthless bastard, but with you as her leverage,
she’ll have him by the nuts—I just don’t know how long she can keep
him on a leash before he goes ballistic.”