by Lori Foster
The line went dead, and Robert let out an agonized groan. “Ohmigod. Think, think…” He continued to mutter to himself for a few moments, then the office door opened and closed, and the recording ended.
Clint waited, but when the line remained dead, he turned off the phone, dialed in a few numbers to set it to record again, and got up to put the phone away.
He didn’t want to look at Julie, but he couldn’t stop himself. As if she’d only been waiting for his attention, she stared right at him, her eyes enormous and bruised.
“Julie Rose—”
She lurched awkwardly to her feet. “I have to call Uncle Drew.”
Shaking his head, Clint blocked the phone. “No.”
She tried to step around him, but stumbled on her hurt ankle and gasped in pain. Clint caught her up against his chest. And damn, it felt good to hold her again. He’d been cold without her.
Not on the outside, but on the inside.
Her hands clutched his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin. “I have to call him, Clint. Please. You heard him. He’s afraid and worried sick. It’s cruel—”
“Shh.” Clint stroked her hair and in the process loosened the offensive, old-biddy bun. “Listen to me, baby.” He forgot that Mojo and Red were interested observers. He forgot everything he’d just told himself about keeping his distance.
“Please…”
He couldn’t bear to hear her beg. “We don’t yet know what’s going on. And until we do, you can’t talk to anyone.”
“But…”
Clint pressed a finger to her lips. “You heard him, Julie Rose. Someone hired those bastards to take you. Maybe Robert’s innocent, but maybe he’s not. Until I know for sure, I’m not trusting anyone.”
In a whisper, she said, “I can’t bear it.”
Clint held her closer, pressing his mouth to her forehead. “I know it’s rough, babe. But look at it this way. Robert asked me to keep you, right? He had to have a reason for that.”
“He wants you to keep me safe until he can find out who took me.”
“Maybe. But what if he set the whole thing up? If Drew finds out that Robert hired me, it could put him in danger.”
The motel room door opened and closed, and Clint looked up to see that his friends had gone out, giving him some privacy. And damn them both, they knew that privacy was the last thing he wanted right now.
He could feel Julie Rose shaking and scooped her up to set her on the bed. “Stay off that ankle while I clean up real quick. Then we’ll get on the road.”
Staring down at her hands, she whispered, “I hate this.”
Clint actually felt his heart hurting. “I know.” He saw her squeeze her eyes shut, and then she lifted her face, her expression once again impassive.
Somehow, that hurt him even more.
Backbone straight, she asked, “What are we going to do?”
Damn, but she was a trouper. “We need to head out. The longer we stay in one place, the riskier it is.” He leveled a look on her, trying to make her understand, hoping to alleviate some of her guilt. “I know it’s not easy, and believe me, we’ll tell your uncle everything as soon as we can. But until then, you’re going to have to trust me.”
Julie stared at him, unflinching, her eyes big and dark and accepting. “You really do have a problem paying attention, don’t you?”
Clint leaned against the bathroom door frame. “How’s that?”
She pushed to her feet and hobbled to the door. When she opened it, Clint saw Mojo and Red lounging there, waiting for them. “I already trust you, Clint Evans.” She stepped out into the sunshine. “More than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Robert felt ill. A sleepless night had brought no answers. Soon, Julie would return home—he couldn’t expect to keep her away forever. Then Drew would want his money back, leaving Robert between a rock and a hard place. The kidnapper would come after him, but he wouldn’t be the only one.
Somehow, his problems were piling up, higher and higher until they seemed insurmountable. If he didn’t start setting things right, and soon, he’d lose Marie forever. He’d lose everything.
He’d start with his most immediate threat. Asa.
Driven by new determination, Robert ran up the stairs to his bedroom, moved the heavy framed painting to the floor, and opened the wall safe. The thick envelope holding the money Drew had given him to pay Julie’s ransom was right where he’d left it. He’d hoped to keep it all for himself, but Clint had failed to kill Asa, damn him.
Once again, Robert had no choice.
Opening the envelope, he counted out half the bills—a sizeable amount, but not enough. Not enough to save Julie, not enough to save him.
But maybe, just maybe it’d buy him some time.
He stuck the folded bills inside his suit coat and grabbed the keys to his Jaguar off the top of the mahogany armoire. His mind buzzed with problems and probable solutions as he hurried to the garage. With the push of a button, the garage door rose, flooding the enormous, dim interior with sunlight that glinted off the silver hood of his car, nearly blinding him.
He unlocked the driver’s door and slid behind the wheel. He had just put the key in the ignition when a young man, dark and menacing, strode into the garage wearing a smile. While Robert sat mute with fear, the man opened the passenger door and seated himself.
“Drive.”
Robert swallowed down his terror. The inevitable had happened. He only hoped he had enough money to put off his own death. “I was going to see Asa.”
“Yeah? Well, how about I ride along, to make certain you get there safe and sound?”
Knowing he had no choice, Robert didn’t object. “Where to?”
“You know the Road Kill Saloon?”
Robert’s head throbbed. “It’s down by the river.”
“Yeah.” And with an evil grin, “Asa will see you there.”
Knowing what would happen, Robert whispered, “I don’t have all the money yet.”
“Your problem, buddy, not mine. Now drive. Asa doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
It took twenty minutes to reach the disreputable saloon. With each mile that drew them nearer, Robert’s uneasiness grew. He remembered Clint Evans, his unnatural calm, his forbidding confidence. If only he had a little of that man’s ability. But he hadn’t been raised as a thug. He was an educated man, genteel, polite, suave.
Even with the air conditioner on, sweat dampened Robert’s back and chest and palms. His hands felt slippery on the steering wheel. He couldn’t seem to get enough air into his lungs. Marie, I’m sorry.
“Park right there, next to that truck.”
Robert knew his fear was palpable, and he also knew the young man beside him enjoyed witnessing it. He turned off the engine, sat only a moment, then opened his door. Hot air, tainted with the stench of poverty and sour liquor, poured in, suffocating him all the more.
As they crossed the lot into the dank interior of the all-night, all-day bar, Robert fought to maintain a steady gait, to appear indifferent to the situation, rather than terrified.
Asa wasn’t in the front of the saloon, but then, he wouldn’t be. You couldn’t kill a man with a half dozen witnesses, never mind that they were all so boozed up they probably didn’t remember their own names.
He followed behind Asa’s man, across the room and through a warped wooden door half covered with peeling paint. A steep stairwell led to a cellar, lit only by one bare bulb.
Going down that stairway to hell, something strange happened to Robert.
His fear melted away.
His nervousness got replaced with indignation.
One mistake. One miserable, measly mistake he’d made, and he was supposed to pay for it with his future? No, by God.
Not anymore.
When he reached a closed door, Robert waited. Asa’s man stepped around him, pushed the door open, and motioned for him to go inside.
As was usually the case with Asa, his immediate surr
oundings had been improved to the point of absurdity in the rest of the squalor. Fluorescent lighting made the room bright, showcasing the heavy leather furniture, cheery paint, and plush carpeting.
Asa himself sat in a big easy chair, smoking a cigar and watching some sporting event on a large-screen TV.
“Robert. What a wonderful surprise.”
At the sound of that coarse voice, disdain filled Robert, but he merely nodded. “Asa.” He started to reach inside his suit coat for the money, and the cold prod of a gun barrel jabbed into his spine.
Slowly, Robert withdrew his hands and raised them. “I have money for you. Inside my jacket.”
Asa nodded to the man who’d ridden with Robert. “Take his money, Davy. But don’t shoot him. Yet.” He smiled at Robert.
Sick to death of the games, Robert smiled back.
That surprised Asa, as Robert had intended. If he could keep him off guard, maybe he could maneuver into the unexpected. “I don’t have it all. Not yet.”
“A pity,” Asa said, while counting the money.
“Where’s the rest?”
“I’m working on it.”
“How long?”
Robert shrugged. “A few weeks. Two, maybe three, tops.” By then he’d have Julie back, and perhaps he could extort more cash from Drew in the guise of comforting her.
Asa’s eyes widened, then he threw back his head and laughed and laughed. “Weeks? You think you have weeks?”
Knowing he didn’t, Robert simply shrugged again. “There’s no point in lying to you. If I could get it sooner than that, I would. But there haven’t been any big deals.”
All signs of humor disappeared from Asa’s face. “I had a deal, until you fucked it up.”
“I told you I’m sorry about that.”
“And I told you, I want what you cost me. You told me you could recoup that money within days. That was many, many days ago.”
“I have no excuses, at least none that you’d care to hear.” He’d invested every dime he had in his plans to extricate himself from Drew’s control, so he and Marie could start new somewhere else. “I’ve done all I can.” What an understatement. “But most of my money is tied up.”
“You better untie it, eh?”
“I’m working on it.” If he made too many financial moves, he had no doubt Drew would hear of it. Julie’s uncle was a suspicious sort, as well as an exceptional businessman. He’d cut Robert out in a heartbeat if he thought he wasn’t suitable for Julie. But Robert could hardly convince Marie to leave her brother if he was penniless, with no way to support her.
Robert was counting on Drew for the money. Drew owed him, whether he realized it or not. He just had to keep juggling the balls in the air long enough to let everything play out.
While staring at Robert as if in deep thought, Asa thumbed through the money again and again. Finally he smiled. “I’ll give you one more week.”
Robert still held his breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“But just so you don’t forget about me…” He nodded to Davy, who turned to Robert with a large, anticipatory grin. Yes, the man enjoyed hurting people. And he’d enjoy Robert now.
A massive fist smashed Robert’s face. He managed to turn a little to the side so that the blow hit his temple and cheekbone, rather than his nose.
Pain exploded, and Robert would have dropped to his knees except that Davy held him up by his dress shirt and tie, nearly strangling him. Another blow landed in his gut, then on his chin. Robert tasted his own blood, but still, the fear was gone.
Two more strikes, and Davy let him fall, but he wasn’t finished. No, he used his feet, kicking, stomping, until finally, after what seemed an eternity, Asa called a halt.
Robert couldn’t move. He couldn’t even moan.
No one looked up from their drinks as Davy dragged him back through the saloon and outside, where he deposited him in his car. Strangely enough, Robert’s thoughts were on the blood and how it might ruin his fine leather seats. He had to laugh at that. Maybe the stress had caused him to lose his mind.
Or maybe, just maybe, he was finally toughening up a bit.
Chapter Seven
They didn’t drive that long, but they turned so many corners, took so many back roads, that Julie lost track of time and place. Even though Clint sat in back with her, she refused to lean on him, and he ignored her.
She was lost enough in her own thoughts that she didn’t mind.
They’d stopped for a drive-thru breakfast, but she wanted real food, if only a cheese sandwich. When Clint noticed that she’d eaten only half of her ham and egg biscuit, he nudged her.
Julie spared him a glance, then looked away again.
“What are you thinking about?”
She shrugged. “My future.” What if they didn’t find the person who’d had her kidnapped? What if, after Clint’s designated time frame of a week, they were no closer to the truth than they were now? Would she be left on her own? It seemed likely, given that Clint wanted nothing more to do with her. He’d been very plain about that.
As he’d said, it wasn’t his job to “fix” her. He’d been more than generous, and she’d been pathetic long enough.
Clint stiffened beside her. His fingers caught her chin and turned her face toward him. Julie was surprised to again see anger in his eyes.
“You’re thinking about your next little seduction, is that it?”
Appalled that he’d say such a thing, and not in a whisper either, her gaze swung to the front of the van, to Mojo and Red. They already knew that Clint had rejected her. Wasn’t that humiliation enough?
“Oh, hell no.” Clint’s arm pulled her tight into his side and his face lowered to hers. “Do not even think it.”
Disgruntled, Julie shoved him away from her. “Think what?”
“Mojo and Red are off limits.”
She gasped hard and felt her face flaming. “I wasn’t thinking any such thing!”
“You were eyeballing them.”
If she were a violent person, she’d pop him right in the nose. Instead she sat perfectly erect and gazed at him with loathing. “I looked at them because you’re being rude and I don’t want them to hear.”
Glancing over his shoulder, Red assured her, “We’re not listening.”
Julie appreciated Red’s attempt at gallantry, but she felt compelled to point out the obvious. “Of course you are. If you weren’t listening, you wouldn’t have commented just now.”
Red said, “Hmmm,” and turned back to face forward.
Julie was so furious with Clint, she wished she had the option of walking away. Not for good, because she still wanted him, but at the moment she was afraid she’d say something she’d later regret. Being that he was so close, and still frowning at her, it wasn’t easy to maintain her composure.
In a lower voice, but not low enough, Clint growled, “So then, who are you thinking about?”
“I was thinking about me, actually, if you really have to know.”
Clint watched her suspiciously. “I have to know.”
“Fine. I was wondering what’ll happen if I don’t get this figured out. I’ve never had an enemy. I’ve never known of anyone disliking me so much that he’d want to do me harm. It’s not a very comfortable feeling.”
Clint’s expression softened; his hold became comforting. “We’ll find the bastard.” He caressed her shoulder. “I promise.”
Julie heaved a sigh. “You’ve given yourself a week to accomplish the impossible, but there are no guarantees that we’ll know anything concrete by then.”
For some reason, Clint looked insulted. “If it takes longer, it takes longer.”
“Damn right,” Mojo added.
Julie twisted to face the men in the front seat. “But you all have busy lives. You can’t—”
“I can,” Clint told her. “Now, quit worrying.”
As if that settled it, everyone fell silent, so Julie did, too. She wouldn’t talk if they di
dn’t want to hear her. She wouldn’t show her worry if that would make them worry, too. And she definitely wouldn’t ask Clint for anything more.
Another ten minutes passed before Clint put his lips near her ear. His breath was hot, his words more growled than otherwise. “So, do you have other prospects?”
The caress of his breath sent a shiver down her spine. Julie did her best to hide her reaction. “For teaching?” She was set on living in Visitation, and no stupid kidnapper would ruin those plans.
Clint shook his head. “I’m talking about this seduction business of yours.”
How dare he bring that up again. The nerve. He’d already rejected her, and everyone in the van knew it.
Julie slanted him a searing glance. But since Clint continued to watch her, waiting, she folded her hands in her lap and tried to look serene. “That’s really none of your business. Not now.”
“The hell it isn’t. Maybe you did flirt with the wrong guy, as Robert suggested. Maybe—”
Julie rounded on him. Fury brought her to her knees and within an inch of Clint’s startled face. She totally forgot about Mojo and Red. “I didn’t, all right? There was just you, Clint. But since you’re not interested, the matter no longer concerns you. Period.”
Very slowly, Clint’s expression cleared of anger, and instead, he looked sympathetic and understanding. His big hands cupped around her neck. He brought her closer still, until she was practically in his lap. “I’m trying to protect you, honey, like I promised. You don’t really want me. You just think you do because I saved you.”
“Don’t be absurd. Mojo and Red helped, and I don’t want either of them.”
Mojo laughed and Red coughed.
Julie glared at the backs of their heads. “Oh, be quiet, both of you. Since Clint insists on airing this where there’s not an ounce of privacy to be found, then fine. But I don’t need added comments that aren’t helpful.”
“Sorry,” Mojo said.
“My apologies,” Red added.
Julie didn’t have a single doubt that they were both grinning—at her expense. She took her frustration out on Clint. “You think I have some misplaced hero worship going on? You think you’re so big and strong and unique that my feeble little mind just can’t grasp it?”
