Wise Moves (13 page)

She only had seconds.

Saying a prayer of mercy, she climbed over the bedspread, wincing as a shard of glass cut into her knee. She swallowed the pain, knowing it would pass and was worth the price of freedom. She fell forward and tumbled to the ground five feet below. She hit the ground hard, wincing as her cut knee ground into the dirt.

She scrambled to her feet, again her eyes to the woods. To freedom.

“Kristen!” Dane shouted.

She made the mistake of glancing back just as Dane stared down at her. She scrambled to her feet. Her pants were torn, her knee sliced by the glass. Pain burned and she could feel warm blood rushing down her leg. But she ran.

She heard him vault out the window and run toward her. She made it fifteen feet before strong hands were on top of her shoulders, pulling her back.

Pain and frustration collided when he touched her. Her composure shattered.

“Let me go!” she screamed.

Dane wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her back against his chest. “Jesus, Kristen, what have you done to yourself? You’re bleeding.”

She saw the blood streaming down her leg but didn’t care. “Let go of me!”

“I can’t.” His voice cracked and the emotion she heard destroyed her. “I can’t.”

She started to weep. “Let go of me. You are the devil. Worse than Antonio.”

He turned her around lifted her into his arms. Her blood smeared his shirt, his face. But he didn’t release her.

“I beg you, please let me go.” The fight drained from her body.

“I can’t.” He lifted her into his arms and carried her inside and laid her on the couch. Her senses were on overload. She couldn’t think. Coherent thought had abandoned her.

She was aware of Lucian handing Dane a first-aid kit.

“It’s fully equipped,” Lucian said.

Dane pushed up the leg of her jeans. “She’s going to need stitches.”

“Don’t touch me, either of you.” She slapped their hands away as they tried to inspect the cut.

“I’ve got a tranquillizer.” Lucian prepared a needle and she started to scream in earnest.

“No! No drugs.” The pain in her leg was growing worse.

“Kristen, I’ve got to stitch you up. It will be better if you are asleep,” Dane said.

“Devil. You are the devil.”

The needle pricked her arm and in the next moments she started to feel herself floating.

The pain vanished.

And so did the concerned faces of the men staring down at her.

Kristen dreamed of devils, hands reaching up from the underworld trying to pull her down to hell.

A part of her wanted to surrender to the demons and let them take her. She was so tired of fighting. But deep in her core there was a drive that would not allow her to surrender.

So, she fought, flaying her arms, kicking. She wanted to live. Wanted to have a normal life away from the violence. And then out of the darkness, strong arms took ahold of her, pulling her into a warm, strong embrace.

“Shh,” a voice soothed. “It’s all right. I’m here for you. I won’t ever leave you.”

The rich, deep voice calmed her nerves and soothed her fears. Strong arms cradled her. She knew she shouldn’t trust. Trust equaled danger. But she wanted to feel protected so badly. If only for a few minutes, she wanted to feel safe and loved.

So she relaxed into the embrace, praying that tomorrow she’d have the strength to run.

When Kristen awoke, her brain was groggy and her reflexes slow. For a moment, she didn’t know where she was or what had happened.

Laying on her side, her arm brushed against hard muscle and she realized wherever she was, she was not alone.

She blinked, focused, turned her head. Dane. His eyes were closed, his hand draped over her waist. His scent enveloped her.

Her eyes closed again. Groggy, she smiled. Lord, but she loved it when he touched her. She rolled on her back, savoring the delicious warmth of his body. She stared at his proud, lean face and knew that she loved him.

She tried to sit up but when she bent her knee, pain rocketed up her leg. She glanced down and saw the bandage.
What had happened to her?

Worry started to chip away at the contentment that had been so complete moments ago. What had happened to her? She scrambled to remember. Through the haze, her memory tumbled into place like pieces of a puzzle. The tension in her body grew.

And then the picture was complete.

Dane had betrayed her.

The sense of loss was as fresh as if it had just happened.

She started to shift out of his hold.

“You’re awake,” Dane said. He was fully alert.

“Let go of me.”

He slowly withdrew his arm, letting his fingers brush her skin. “Take it easy with the leg. You’ve got seven stitches.”

She struggled to sit up, careful to keep her leg straight. Looking around the room, she saw the window she’d smashed had been boarded up. Her blood, which had stained the floor, had been cleaned.

But she was still trapped in this house.

“How long have I been out?” she said.

“Twelve hours.”

Twelve hours. “Sheridan will wonder where I am.”

“I called her. Told her we were going on a date.”

Resentment twisted her heart. “You’ve thought of everything.”

He didn’t answer.

Kristen shoved trembling hands through her hair and eased her leg over the side. It burned as if a poker had scorched her skin.

Dane sat up, his lips a flat grim line. Dark stubble blanketed his square jaw. “I can get you something for the pain.”

“No more drugs.”

“It will help.”

“Antonio tried to control me with drugs when I was a teenager. No drugs.”

“When did he do this?” Anger coated each word.

“It was after my parents died. I was crying a lot, so he started putting tranquilizers in my food. For almost a year, I wandered around in a haze before he weaned me off the drugs.”

He scowled as he listened. “All right. No more drugs.”

She wouldn’t beg him again to let her go. There was no point wasting her breath.

Dane’s wide shoulders rose and fell as he shoved out a breath. “I want to explain.”

“Explain why you lied to me?”

“Explain why I set this whole thing in motion.”

She thought about his sister Nancy. Nancy. “If you had come to me as who you are, I might have helped you.”

“You would have helped?” His doubt was clear.

She glanced at his dark, stern eyes filled with emotion and then looked away. “I would have.” It would have been her chance to avenge Nancy.

“I couldn’t take the chance that you wouldn’t help.”

Being this close to him was so hard. Even after all that had happened she wanted him to take her in his arms and hold her close.

Needing distance, she rose and limped to the door. She tried the knob. It was locked. “Now you can take a chance on me. I will help you catch my brother.”

He rose up off the bed. “Are you sure about this?”

“Never more sure.” The time to stop running had arrived.

Dane took a step toward her.

She held up her hand to stop him. “But know that when this is over, I want nothing to do with you again.”

Monday, May 21, 7:26 a.m.

T
he phone call came as Dane and Kristen stepped into the living room. Lucian looked up from the papers he was reading, which were splayed across the kitchen table.

Dane glanced at Kristen and then the number, and not recognizing it, flipped open the phone. “Cambia.”

“Mr. Cambia, you are quite a resourceful man.” Benito’s voice rang clear.

His gut tightened. He motioned to Kristen and Lucian, signaling it was Benito. “That so?”

Kristen tensed and folded her arms over her chest.

Immediately, Lucian went to his computer and started to trace the call.

“I have been looking for Elena for over a year and you and your friend Mr. Moss find her in under a week,” Benito said smoothly. “I am impressed and grateful.”

Dane held Kristen’s gaze. She wanted in on the capture of her brother and he wasn’t going to hide anything else from her. No more secrets between them ever again. “If you want her, she’s gonna cost you.”

Unflinching, Kristen held his gaze.

“Ah,” Benito crooned. “Nothing in life is free, is it, Mr. Cambia. How much do you want?”

Lucian clenched and unclenched his fingers. The rage had deepened the lines on his face.

“Ten million,” Cambia said.

“A lot of money for a woman.” Anger had stripped the silk from his voice.

Dane wanted to take Kristen in his arms. She deserved so much better than her brother, and yes, him.

Lucian studied his computer screen. He held up two fingers. He needed two more minutes to trace the call.

Dane needed to stretch the call out as long as he could. “If you want her back, then it’s going to cost you ten million.”

“And if I don’t pay?” Benito said.

“I put a bullet in her brain.”

Kristen dropped her gaze.

Saying the words in front of her made him feel as slimy as the man he was hunting. He prayed one day Kristen could forgive him. That he could forgive himself.

Dane could hear Benito taking a drag off of one of his signature Cuban cigars and then blowing out the smoke. He wasn’t thrown off by any of this. “I have a counteroffer, Mr. Cambia.”

Dane checked his watch. A minute thirty seconds to go. “I’m willing to hear what you have to say.”

Benito’s chuckle was filled with genuine mirth. Likely he knew Dane was trying to draw out the conversation. “We shall see. Have a listen.”

A young girl screamed. It was clear she was terrified.

Dane’s gaze locked with Lucian’s. He motioned for him to hurry his tracing program any way he could. Lucian shook his head, indicating he could not.

“Who is that?” Dane said. “What kind of game are you playing?”

“I have Elena’s little friend. Crystal is her name, I believe.” He sighed. “Elena was always fond of strays. Always begging me to let her keep this kitten, that puppy. Of course, I always said no. You never know what kinds of diseases the little scoundrels have.”

Dane’s mind reeled. Crystal was an angle he hadn’t considered. If he was going to save the girl he had to remain calm. “The girl means nothing to me.”

Kristen’s eyes narrowed when her gaze met his. Lucian started to walk toward her, motioning for her to be silent.

“Ah, but I hear otherwise,” Benito said. “The girl says she is a friend of Elena’s. She also tells me that you and my sister are quite close.”

Dane gripped the phone. “This transaction is only about the money as far as I’m concerned.”

“Strictly business,” Benito teased.

“Yes.”

“As a businessman you must appreciate that I must try to get the best price that I can.”

“What are you proposing?” It took extra effort for Dane to keep his voice even.

“I let Crystal keep her fingers and toes and you give me my sister. And because I am feeling generous, I will let you live.”

“What about the money?”

Benito laughed. “Dead men cannot spend money, Mr. Cambia.”

Kristen’s face had grown deadly pale. “And if I don’t deal.”

“I kill the girl and then I come after you and your friend, Mr. Moss.”

The goal wasn’t to get the money. The goal was to capture Benito. But if he relented on the money too easily, Benito would sniff a trap. “Toss in five million and you have a deal. And whatever you do to the girl I do to Kristen.”

Kristen swallowed. The panic in her eyes twisted his gut.

Benito laughed. “You don’t bluff very well, Mr. Cambia.”

Dane drew in a breath and then hung up the phone.

Kristen’s eyes widened with alarm. “What are you doing?”

“It is a calculated risk,” he said. “If I am going to save Crystal, I have to play hardball.”

Tears filled Kristen’s eyes. “He has Crystal.”

He nodded tersely. “Yes.”

She turned her face away from his so he didn’t see the tears fall.

Dane moved toward her when Lucian’s words stopped him. “Benito’s local—in the state—but you hung up too soon to get a hard fix on him. Why did you hang up?”

“He knew there was a tap on the line. He’d have hung up before the two minutes. This is the only way to keep him on the hook.”

Kristen pressed a trembling hand to her temple. “Crystal is just a child. This is not her fight.”

“I will get her back.” Dane never made promises lightly. He would move heaven and earth to make this right.

Anger brightened her brown eyes. “He will take his anger out on Crystal.”

Dane believed he’d made the right move. “I don’t think so. I think he wants you back
very
badly. I think he is the one who is bluffing. He doesn’t want you hurt.”

“He will kill her,” Kristen said.

“Not right away. Not until he knows he has you back safe and sound.”

Lucian cocked an eyebrow. “And if you are wrong?”

Kristen moved to the couch and sat down. Her eyes were bright with worry. “I should never have befriended her, but I felt sorry for her.”

Dane sat next to her, still careful not to touch. “I will get her back.”

“Your promises mean nothing to me.”

Dane was glad for her anger. He could handle it far better than he could the wounded look of betrayal in her eyes. Anger also signified that she still had fight left in her and she was going to need every ounce of it to get through this. “They will once this is over.”

“So what do we do?” Lucian said. He folded his arms over his chest.

“We wait for him to call,” Dane said.

Lucian shoved his hands in his pockets. “We
wait!
What makes you think he will call?” His voice was louder now, angry.

Instinct. It had gotten him through many undercover operations. “He will.”

Lucian shook his head. “I deal in facts, figures and computer programs. There I can control the variables, the outcome. I make educated guesses that pay off ninety-eight-point-seven percent of the time. You are dealing with an animal. And animals are unpredictable. You don’t have a damn idea what that bastard is going to do.”

“He will call,” Kristen said softly.

Both men looked at her.

“Dane is right. My brother wants me back in his house. And he will do whatever it takes.”

“Why does he want you so much?” Dane said. That question had plagued him since the beginning. Several sick and twisted scenarios had played in his mind that he hadn’t dared voice.

Kristen straightened her shoulders. “Antonio is a very superstitious man. He dabbles in the occult and has a team of seers and fortune-tellers who advise him on what to do each day. He believes they have kept him alive this long.” She picked at the edge of the white bandage neatly wrapped around her knee. “Antonio believes I bring him luck.”

“That’s it?” Lucian said. “You are his lucky charm?”

“In his mind, it’s more complicated than that. He believes I am his muse, his guardian against evil. Without my purity to guard him, he believes the forces of evil will devour him.”

“That’s insane,” Dane said.

“My brother is insane. Many times he was quite psychotic.”

“That’s why he kept you locked in his house.”

“Yes. He didn’t want me to leave, fearing the evil would destroy him.”

“Why were you with him the night of the murders?” Lucian said.

“I had tried to leave my brother. I was in love and wanted to run away and marry. Antonio caught me trying to leave. He wanted to teach me a lesson.”

Lucian crossed the room toward Kristen. “Murdering my uncle was just one of his lessons?” Fury dissolved into disbelief and pain.

Kristen met his gaze. “I’m afraid so. He was quite angry with your uncle for interfering with his drug trade. He wanted to set an example.”

Lucian crumbled into a seat beside Kristen. “Six good men. Dead because of one crazy, greedy bastard.”

Kristen laid her hand on Lucian’s shoulder. “I begged for his life, for the lives of his friends. I could not save them and that will haunt me for the rest of my days.”

Lucian swallowed. Strong emotions made it impossible for him to speak.

Dane’s cell phone rang, and all three of them froze. It rang a second time.

“Answer it!” Lucian said.

Dane held up a finger and waited for the third ring before he flipped it open. “Cambia.”

“Mr. Cambia, you drive a very hard bargain,” Benito said.

“I’m a stubborn bastard,” Dane said. “Don’t ever forget that.”

“I want my Elena,” Benito said. For the first time, Dane heard a hint of desperation.

“So what are you willing to do for me?” Dane could not show weakness now.

“I will pay you one million dollars and give you the girl.”

A smile tipped the edge of Dane’s lips. He had him. “Make it two million.”

“Don’t push me,” Benito warned. “I am being very generous.”

“I wouldn’t push your luck, Benito. Without Elena, you are quite vulnerable, aren’t you?” He thought about the money that Lucian had stolen from all Benito’s computer-based businesses. “How much of your business has been stripped clean since she vanished?”

Silence was his only answer for five long seconds and then, “You have a deal.”

“There’s an abandoned amusement park outside of town. Appletown. Meet me there in two hours.”

Benito was silent for a long moment. “Agreed. But I will expect you there in one hour.”

“I’ll need two.”

“One or no deal.”

Dane sensed he’d pushed Benito to the breaking point. “Deal.”

Benito hung up.

“He is drawing you into a trap.” The worry in Kristen’s voice gave him a measure of hope. Whether she liked it or not, she cared about him. Maybe after all this she could forgive him.

“I would expect nothing less.”

Dane’s cell phone rang again. Surprised, he flipped it open. “Cambia.”

“Mr. Cambia, this is Sheridan Taylor.” Steel coated each word. “I want to know where Kristen and Crystal are.”

“They’re just fine.”

“Really? Then why did I find Kristen’s backpack outside the shelter?”

He had no quick answer for that. “Would you like me to put her on the phone?”

“No. I want to see that she is fine with my own two eyes. Have her at the studio in twenty minutes or I am calling the cops.”