Untraceable (25 page)

“
Can’t you stay?” I
whispered back, suddenly more fearful than when I discovered my
predicament.

“
No. Be quiet and
well-behaved. Understand?”

Tears filled my eyes again as I
nodded.

“
I will return in a few
hours. You are safe as long as you do not cause
any
problems.”

With those words spoken, he turned and
walked away.

I would heed his warning and be
silent, praying that whoever had been left behind as my guard
feared Jonathan enough to follow orders.

CHAPTER fifteen

Micah parked and mentally readied
himself to meet Sharon. The closest he had been to her was when he
blew her shoulder apart at the beach house; now they would be alone
together. The fact that she had Leese tucked away somewhere brought
a whole new element to this meeting. He’d never wanted to kill
someone so badly in his life. Even D’Angelo’s death paled in
comparison to what he’d like to do to Sharon. Evidently, the woman
was an excellent manipulator. She had worked Jack and Ricky for
years, and then Robert, and finally had D’Angelo ready to combine
families.

He lowered his arms to his sides as he
removed the key from the ignition of the rental car, feeling the
comfort of a pair of Glocks. He wouldn’t fail Leese, but he would
have to fight his urge to blow Sharon away with every passing
second.

The lobby of the Crowne Plaza was
quiet. It only took a moment to spot the lanky blonde seated at the
far end smiling serenely, but as he drew nearer her smile became
broader.

“
Finally, a face-to-face,”
she smoothly spoke.

It wasn’t hard to figure out how she
so easily used the men in her life. She was, with the exception of
the dyed blond hair, all Italian. She reminded Micah of a
thoroughbred. Her skin was a natural creamy tan and her legs were
long and muscled. Her hair was softly waved, resting gently on her
shoulders. Her face was angular with defined cheekbones and a chin
with a soft cleft, the kind of chin that reminded you that when she
set her mind to something, she had enough determination to make it
so. Her eyes were a shocking shade of amber honey so light that
they appeared to be illuminated. Her lips were full and pouty and
pulled into a seductive bow.

She looked as if she had dressed for
an elegant evening. She wore a snug, black skirt that hugged the
shape of her hips and a top that draped low and loose in the front,
easily revealing the edges of her taunt, high breast line. One
slight movement the right direction and she could allow someone to
see what was barely covered by the silky fabric.

At that moment, Micah knew she played
the seduction game very well.

“
Let’s have a drink, shall
we,” she stated, rising and tucking her small clutch under her left
arm. The limited movement of her arm reminded Micah that underneath
the shimmering silk was the damage he’d inflicted. This was one
time he was wishing his aim had been off; just a little lower and
to the center of her chest and none of this would be
happening—Leese would have been safe. His teeth ground
together.

“
I don’t drink,” he
managed to state while his blood was reaching a boiling point under
his skin.

She shrugged and gave him an annoyed
glance, “Then have a glass of water, but we can’t discuss business
out here. You did come here to take care of business, didn’t
you?”

A smile curled onto his face, “Yes, I
did.”

With a toss of her soft hair, she
walked ahead of him toward the lounge. She picked a table in the
most recessed portion and slid into the secluded booth. It was a
booth for two and there would be little he could do to keep from
getting close to her.

She smiled and then reached out and
felt his bicep under the cover of his light jacket.

He snatched his arm away from her
touch.

“
Oh, now let’s not be this
way, Micah. This is the first time I’ve gotten to handle my best
weapon.” She had a quality to her voice that made the words come
out as if her vocal cords were made of velvet.

“
I’m not your—”

“
Oh, but darling, you are.
You’ve been working for me for months, although I admit that I did
want you dead at first. How you and that idiot brother of yours
ever pulled off getting out of South America alive after I warned
Martinez, still amazes me,” she said with a tiny smile. “But you
did it, and got my drug supplier back to making regular deliveries.
You killed three capos, an underboss, and an associate for me. And
I have to especially thank you for killing that annoying D’Angelo.
He honestly thought he would become the boss and I’d be his second
in command—that was foolish, but you fixed that for me. So let’s
not be…” Her hand slipped easily back to his muscled arm, “…rude to
each other. Not only will I keep your wife alive, but I might prove
to be more fun than you expect.”

Her hand dropped from his arm and
moved under the table, sliding up his leg. He quickly stopped her,
knowing he could easily crush her hand with his own, but not now.
She had the advantage and he’d have to keep himself
restrained.

She smiled as his hand remained on
hers. Either way she got what she wanted; a chance to feel the
equipment or simply a chance to get him to touch her.

The waitress appeared, smiling
politely at the handsome couple, “What can I get you folks to drink
this evening?”

“
I’ll have Southern
Comfort on the rocks and he’ll have—”

“
I’ll have a club soda
with lime,” Micah interrupted her.

The waitress smiled and left them
alone.

“
You don’t like a woman
taking charge, do you, Micah?”

“
It’s just the company,”
he tersely replied.

“
Oh, I’m not that bad. A
little ambitious maybe, but I think you could come to like me if
you tried,” she said as she leaned slightly forward and twisted
just enough for the fabric to move and give him a view of her
exposed breast. “I’m sure I could begin to like you, as
well.”

Micah wasn’t going to take the bait
and divert his eyes to what she was exposing, but even without
moving his eyes, it was well within his peripheral vision. He
turned his head and watched the waitress across the barroom heading
their direction with the drinks they ordered. He could tell
immediately that Sharon didn’t like his refusal to take in the
sights she offered.

He was still holding her hand under
the table, knowing if he should release her, she would continue
further up his leg. She slipped her hand out from under his as the
waitress placed the drinks in front of them and gave them the
tab.

“
Be a darling and catch
that for me,” she said as she moved to feel his hair.

He leaned away and looked back into
her hungry eyes, “It’s your meeting. You can pick up the
check.”

Surprise was written all over the
waitresses face as she turned to Sharon.

Sharon gave a slow sigh and reached
for her clutch. “Men,” she stated as she handed the girl a ten.
“You can’t find a good one who isn’t either married, broke, stupid,
or stubborn. Keep the change. Now, where were we?” she continued as
the waitress walked away. “As I was saying, given an opportunity
you might actually find you like me.”

“
I didn’t come here to
sleep with you. I’m here to get my wife back and that’s
all.”

“
What if sleeping with me
becomes part of the deal? I’m starting to get the feeling you could
be an excellent lover, maybe even the best I’ve ever had.” She was
leaning into his arm now, allowing her breast to rub against his
thick muscles.

“
I hate to be the one to
break it to you, but you couldn’t arouse me if you
tried.”

“
Really? That’s okay,
darling, they make medication for that problem. I can make you
viable for hours of fun.”

Micah sighed and moved slightly away
from her, “There isn’t enough Viagra in all of South Carolina to
give me a hard on for you.”

“
Oh, but there is an
attraction; I can see it in your face, Micah.” Then she leaned
closer and whispered in his ear, “You would like to get me alone
somewhere, wouldn’t you?”

She was absolutely right. The more he
thought about it the more he’d like to take her somewhere private
and become the animal he kept well suppressed. He’d like to listen
to her scream in pain as he ripped her apart, and then to wrap his
fingers around her throat and apply every ounce of strength he
possessed.

A momentary flashback to when he was a
very young boy ran through is mind. He would play in the yard with
David and they would catch dragonflies and pull their heads off and
watch them flail around in a dismembered state. He realized now
that it had been horribly cruel, but at the time he felt no remorse
for the creatures. He wondered, as the smile rose to his lips, if
he could actually apply enough strength to pull her head from her
body?

In his momentary distraction, he
hadn’t realized that she was now pressed to his side and her hand
was rubbing firmly against his crotch.

“
See, you don’t need any
medical help,” she gave an easy laugh.

He pulled her away from his rock hard
body and applied enough pressure to her hand that her eyes grew
large.

“
No, no, no, Micah. You
don’t want to hurt the person who is keeping Annalisa
alive.”

Just the sound of her name caused him
to snap out of his need to kill. Sharon had been foolish enough to
believe that his arousal was due to her sex appeal, but she had no
clue the kind of arousal he was experiencing was deeply rooted in
his psyche—and it was linked to murder. “I want to see my
wife.”

“
Sure, how about we hop in
my car and I take you there right now? Please don’t even think of
me as being that foolish. If I took you to her, I know what would
happen, and you wouldn’t be aiming for shoulders,” she said with an
easy laugh.

She was right. If he could only get to
where Leese was being held, he’d kill Sharon, Giovanni, and anyone
else there in a matter of seconds.

“
But I did consider you’d
ask so I’ve made arrangements for you to see her,” she said as she
opened her clutch and pulled out a sleek touch screen
phone.

“
A video won’t do,” he
added. “You could have taken it hours ago.”

“
I had to get new phones
to make this work so don’t annoy me. You’ll be able to see her and
speak with her so you’ll know it wasn’t done prior—take it or leave
it, but it’s as close as I’ll allow you to get.”

Micah nodded as she put the phone to
her ear. He watched as she became agitated waiting for someone to
answer on the other end.

“
What the hell took you so
long?” she snapped. “Put her on video. I don’t care if she just
went to sleep or not, wake her up.”

Micah’s heart gave a heavy thump as he
almost told Sharon not to bother her if she was sleeping, but he
had to see her. He had to know she was still alive, but he also
knew how difficult sleep would be for her without him or Ryan to
comfort her. When he considered the added stress of her pregnancy,
he was certain she would be in bad shape and he’d have to get to
her as soon as possible or exhaustion would put her in dire
straits.

The video clicked on as the person
opened a door and entered a dim room. Suddenly the room was
illuminated and she was there, lying on the bed, eyes open but
seemingly in a trance. Her skin was ghostly pale, her eyes sunken
and sallow with dark purplish circles underneath.

“
Your husband is on the
phone and wants to see you.” Came a voice. “Sit up so he can see
that you are all right.”

Micah recognized the voice; Giovanni
was speaking to her.

Life seemed to reanimate her as she
rose and reached for the phone with a thin hand. That was when he
saw the handcuff on her other wrist clipped to a chain and the
chain appeared to be attached to the bed frame.

“
Micah?” she asked as she
stared into the display.

“
You cannot see him, yet,”
Jonathan told her. “This is video to him, but I can let you see him
in a minute. You can talk to each other, just—”

“
Leese,” Micah said
gently. “Are you okay, baby? Have they been taking care of you? Are
they feeding you enough?”

“
Yes—I’m just so tired, I
can’t—”

“
I know, baby, but you’ve
got to rest. You’re going to have to remember that I’m always with
you, no matter where you are—I love you, Annalisa.”

“
I want to see him,” she
mournfully pled, looking up to the person out of camera range. A
hand covered the phone for a brief moment and suddenly the video
feed stopped.

Sharon gave an annoyed sigh as she
reached over and touched the screen. Suddenly Micah was looking at
himself as the camera recorded. He heard Leese cry out.

“
What’s wrong? Are you
okay?” he demanded, thinking someone had done something to her now
that he could no longer see what was happening.