Wish You Were Here (22 page)

She should have called the police.

She looked at Piper, knowing she couldn’t live with herself if something she did left that child without her father.

Don
’t call the police.

She put her hand on her pile.
“Okay. Let’s keep going.”

Piper nodded, but didn
’t flip a card.

“
Piper?”

“
I’m sorry I took the plate from your hiding spot,” Piper said. “Is that why you’re mad?”

“
Oh, no,” Ruby said. “No, honey, I’m not mad about that at all.”

“
I just wanted to stay,” Piper said. “I wanted us to be a family, right here. All three of us.”

Ruby nodded.
“Me, too.”

Just then, the gate buzzed and Ruby looked up at the monitors. A black Lincoln Town Car was at the gate.

“You wait here,” Ruby said, pushing up from the desk. “And I mean it.
Wait here.
Do not go back to the house, no matter what happens, do you understand?”

Piper
’s eyebrows knit a bit, and she said, “Ruby, what’s going—?” and Ruby just said,
“
Wait here
,”
again, and Piper went still. Ruby gathered her old cardigan around her shoulders and left the office, walking around to the gate, where a tall man with silver hair and an expensive suit was stepping out of the car.

“
I’m looking for Freya Daly,” he said. “I need to see her now.”

Ruby cast a glance back toward the house, then turned and shook her head.
“She’s busy at the moment.”

“
I’m her father,” the man said. “Malcolm is waiting for me.”

Ruby stared at him for a moment.
“Oh, he’s waiting for
you,
is he? He’s got them both at gunpoint in there right now. Your daughter and my boy. Said he’d shoot Nate if I called the police.” She hesitated for a moment, then stamped her foot. “But it’s been too long. I’m calling.”

“
No,” Richard said. “Give me twenty minutes. I think I can handle all this without it getting too bad. Where are they? In the house?”

“
Yes.” She eyed him, wondering if she wanted to trust this stranger to get Nate and Freya out safely. “Are you sure you can fix this?”

Richard looked down at her, then nodded, his expression appropriately dour.
“He wants me. If he has that, I think he’ll let them go.”

Ruby watched him for a moment,
then made a decision. “You have fifteen minutes, and if they’re not out by then, I’m calling the cops. I hope you’ll forgive me for not giving a good goddamn if Malcolm shoots you or not; I want the kids safe.”

Daly nodded.
“Fair enough.”

“
Get good with whatever God you believe in, Mr. Daly, because if anything happens to either of them, that gun will not be the scariest thing you’ll face today.”

Then she walked over to the gate and punched in the code.

Twenty

Nate
kept looking at her, but Freya wouldn’t meet his eyes. She just stared at her empty glass, not seeming to listen anymore as Malcolm ranted on about her father, the plate, the murder of the security guard, her mother. She was so still that if her eyes hadn’t been open, Nate would have thought she’d just gone to sleep.

“
... am I right, or am I right?” Malcolm said, downing another glass and shoving it across the table to Nate to fill. Nate emptied the last of the bottle into it and shoved it back, and when he did, he noticed Malcolm’s reflexes in reaching for it had slowed.

Good,
he thought.
Drink so much that you pass out, asshole.

He watched Freya, waiting for her to look up so he could see if she was okay, but her head stayed down. Only this time her eyes were closed.

Not good.

“
Freya?” he said. “Are you okay?”

Freya raised her head, and tears were streaming down her face. Nate felt a stab in his chest and reached
out toward her, but then the butt of Malcolm’s gun came down hard on the table.

“
No. Sudden. Moves!” he said, banging the gun on the table on each word.

And then the gun went off.

***

The popping sound made Ruby jerk her head up from the game, her heart in her throat. She listened carefully, but there was only the distant sound of the Town Car as it crunched down the gravel lane to the house.

“What?” Piper said, her eyes widening at Ruby’s expression. “What’s going on?”

“
Tree branch,” Ruby said, her eyes watching as the Town Car disappeared behind the trees. She’d promised Richard Daly fifteen minutes.

Fuck Richard Daly. She picked up the phone and dialed.

“Go to the bathroom, you look like you need to pee,” she said to Piper as a woman said, “911, what’s your emergency?” on the other end of the line. Piper got up and went down the hall and Ruby waited until she heard the door close before speaking.

“
There’s a man holding two people hostage at gunpoint at the main residence at Brody’s Camp and RV, out off Route 8,” she said, her voice low. “He said he’d shoot them if I called the cops, so be quiet about it, but you get your asses over here.
Now
.”

“
Okay, can you tell me—?”

“
Now,”
Ruby said as the bathroom door opened and Piper came back out. She hung up and settled down in her office chair.

“
Ready for another round?” she asked, smiling brightly at Piper. She reached casually behind her and hit the remote button to open the gate for when the cops got there.

“
Yeah. Okay.” Piper sat down, her face grim as she eyed Ruby. She wasn’t buying the “nothing’s wrong” act, but she went along with it, and for that Ruby would always be grateful.

She was a hell of a kid, that Piper.

***

Nate kept his eyes on Freya, even as chunks of wall plaster fell to the floor behind him. Why wouldn
’t she look at him?

“
Would you get a load of that?” Malcolm said, laughing and staring at the hole in the wall. “Damn thing works after all.”

Nate wanted to lunge across the table and strangle his uncle, but the gun, now smoking from the tip, was once again pointed at Freya, who was still crying softly in her seat, her head bowed.

“
Freya,”
he said, his voice firm, hoping the tone would get her attention. “Look at me.”

She ignored him, just sniffled and swiped at her face.

“Come on, girl,” Malcolm said, patting her on the shoulder with his free hand. “Stop all that crying, now.”

“
She can’t help it,” Nate said. “She has this condition—”

“
Oh,
right
,”
Freya said, lifting her head. “It’s a condition.” She rolled her eyes. “Jesus. You just spent the last fifteen minutes telling your uncle how little I mean to you, and you want to blame my being upset on a
condition?”

Nate felt like the floor had just dropped out from under him.

“Wait,” he said. “Freya.” He couldn’t reassure her in front of Malcolm, who was crazy enough to shoot her if he knew how Nate really felt, but he didn’t want to hurt her any more than he already had, so he just went silent, listening to her cry quietly in her chair.

“
He was just using me, Malcolm,” she said. “I can’t believe it, but he was. How could I have been so stupid?”

“
Freya—” Nate said, but then Malcolm slowly pointed the gun at him.

“
Shut up and get the lady a tissue,” Malcolm said, turning cold eyes on Nate. “You’ve done enough to the poor girl, don’t you think?”

Nate stared at Malcolm, then let his eyes shift to Freya, who finally looked up.

And gave him a small wink before bursting out into even more dramatic tears.

She
’s playing him.

On the one hand, he was relieved he hadn
’t hurt her. On the other hand, she was playing a dangerous game, and if she got herself shot, he’d kill her.

“
I said,” Malcolm said, lifting the gun higher,
“get the lady a tissue.”

“
He doesn’t
care!
”
Freya said, wailing louder to get Malcolm’s attention. “He never cared about me. It was all lies to get what he wanted. And I fell for it. I made a mistake, Malcolm. I made the biggest mistake of my life. Just
lik
e my mom.” She sniffled and swiped at her face, tears falling from her eyes in fat drops.

Nate tensed, waiting for Malcolm to pick up on how obviously she was playing on his feelings for her mother. But Malcolm only watched her, his eyes softening.

Falling for it, hook, line, and sinker. Hell, watching her, knowing she was full of shit, Nate wanted to put his arms around her and comfort her, too.

She was
really good.

“
Oh, no, shhhh, sweetheart,” Malcolm said, patting his free hand around her shoulders, his grip on the gun loosening slightly. “You’re only human. You made a mistake. You loved the wrong man. It can happen to anyone.”

Nate watched Freya, wondering what, exactly, her endgame was. Was he supposed to dive for the gun while Malcolm was distracted? That was a crazy plan, and it was too risky for Freya. She was more calculating than that. No, it had to be something else.

Then Freya sniffled and looked up through wet lashes at Malcolm.

“
I don’t want him in my sight,” she said. “Malcolm, can you just make him leave? Please? You don’t need him. I’m the only one you really need.”

Nate felt his stomach drop as he realized what she was doing. He stared at her as she looked at his uncle with pleading eyes.

No,
he thought.

And then his uncle
’s gun hand rose, pointing at Nate.

“
You heard the lady, Nathan,” he said, his eyes turning coldly to Nate. “Get out.”

***

Freya kept up the weeping routine, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Nate. He was going to hate the shit out of this idea, but it was the only way. He had to leave. She wasn’t going to get anywhere with him there, not with Malcolm being so unpredictable and just as likely to shoot Nate as pour him another drink. Nate might not be in love with her, but she knew she loved him, and as long as she had something she wasn’t willing to lose, she wouldn’t be able to negotiate with Malcolm.

And she was done screwing up her negotiations.

“Fine.” Nate stood up, and Freya breathed a sigh of relief, until he spoke again.

“
Shoot me,” he said, his eyes locked on his uncle.

She raised her head in shock. He was staring down the barrel of Malcolm
’s gun like an idiot. A stupid, heroic, soon-to-be-dead idiot.

“
Goddamnit, Nate,” she said, slamming her hand on the table. “Just go!”

He looked at her, his face livid, and she knew his fury wasn
’t all for Malcolm. “No.”

“
I
will
shoot you, Nathan,” Malcolm said. “I won’t like it, but I’ll do it. The lady asked for you to leave.”

Panic overtook Freya and she pushed up from the table.

“Hey,” Malcolm said, standing as well.

“
Nate, go. You don’t have to prove you’re not your father, okay? We all know that. I don’t need you to be a hero, I need you to leave.”

“
I’m not trying to prove anything,” he said, “and I swear, I may kill you myself when this is all over, but I am
not
leaving you now.”

“
Nathan, the lady is upset, and she—” Malcolm stopped, looking at Freya, his eyes focusing slowly, but still focusing.

Crap.

“Those tears seem to have dried mighty fast,” Malcolm said, grabbing Freya’s upper arm so hard that pain shot all the way into her back. “You lied to me.”

Freya tried to work up more tears, but her anger got the best of her. She glared and said,
“Just make him go, and then you and I can talk.”

“
Veronica,” Malcolm said, his voice low and soft, but with an unmistakable edge of rage roiling underneath. “You are so like her, I can hardly tell the difference between you.”

Nate moved closer.
“Malcolm! Let her go.”

Malcolm didn
’t seem to hear him, just stared at Freya. “Risking your life to save a man. Throwing everything away. Lying to me. Just like her. And I fell for it. Again.” He yanked her around to face him, and her arm crunched under the force of his grip, sending pain shooting through her entire side. “Look at me when I’m talking to you,
you bitch!
”

Freya looked at him, and he pointed the gun at her head. She stared at the gun, shock overcoming her.

He’s really going to shoot me,
she thought.

“
No!” Nate darted between them, knocking Malcolm’s grip on Freya’s arm loose. Nate pulled her out of Malcolm’s reach, then shoved her behind him so hard she fell to the floor. When she looked up, he was standing with Malcolm facing him, holding out the gun.

“
Well, that’s no way to treat a lady,” Malcolm said, his speech slurring just a little.

“
If you’re gonna shoot me, just fucking shoot me,” Nate said, staring his uncle down, “but I’m not gonna let you hurt her.”

The seconds stretched, long and silent, as Malcolm, his eyes red and crazy from drink—
oh, hell was that ever a bad idea
—leveled the gun at Nate. Freya’s brain whirled in panic and grief and fury, and she kicked out her legs at the backs of Nate’s knees, bringing him down to the ground next to her, just as Malcolm pulled the trigger.

And it clicked.

“Son of a
bitch,”
Nate said, grabbing the back of his knee and looking at Freya.

Malcolm pulled the gun down and stared at it, his eyes wide. He pointed the gun at the
ceiling, pulled the trigger again, and it clicked again.

“
Nikkie, you cheap bitch,” he said, marveling at the gun. “She only put one bullet in.”

“
Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Nate muttered.

Freya pushed
herself up from the floor. Nate winced as he stood up, then shot Freya an angry glare, and Freya said, “Well, what did you expect? ‘Just fucking shoot me’? What the hell was that? Idiot.” Malcolm clicked the gun again, then held it up and popped out the empty magazine inside.

“
Oh,
I’m
the idiot?” Nate said, his eyes furious and locked on Freya. “You’re the one who wanted me to leave you alone with him!”

“
Only because I couldn’t negotiate with you in the room, you jerk! I could have had this thing over and done in a few minutes. God! I have half a mind to kick you again!”

“
Bitch only put one bullet in,” Malcolm said again. Then the front door opened and her father’s tall figure filled the doorway.

“
Malcolm,” Richard Daly said, stepping in. “This ends now.”

Malcolm
’s expression shifted instantly from dismay to fury. He threw the gun to the floor, where it slid harmlessly until it hit the wall, and launched himself across the room at Richard Daly.

***

Nate pulled Freya out of Malcolm’s path as he flew toward Richard, knocking the taller man out onto the porch with a thud. When Malcolm was out of the house, Nate realized he’d grabbed her by the same arm Malcolm had been abusing earlier.