Anne Stuart's Out-of-Print Gems

by Anne Stuart

  He had to take care of Drago himself. He had no idea how he was going to manage it—although he still carried Helen’s loaded gun, he’d already ascertained that the weapon simply refused to work in his hands. That didn’t mean he couldn’t lure Drago into doing something to himself. The details were sketchy, but Rafferty’s determination was very clear. He alone could stop Drago. And he had to make sure Helen was safe while he did it.

  She looked scrubbed, pink cheeked and shy when she finally walked into the kitchen. She was wearing men’s clothes again, a black T-shirt that clung to her subtle curves, faded jeans that hugged her long legs. She’d pulled her brown hair behind her in a ponytail, probably trying to look businesslike. She only looked more luscious.

  “There’s soup and toast,” Rafferty said, stubbing out his cigarette. “And coffee. Unless you’d rather get something at the hospital.”

  She’d been carefully avoiding his gaze. “The hospital?” she said pouring tomato soup into a mug and bringing it over to the table.

  “I thought you wanted to visit Mary and Billy.”

  “I forgot.”

  “Well,” Rafferty drawled, “things have been distracting the past twenty-four hours.”

  She looked at him then, and he wanted to kiss the faint stain of color from her cheekbones. “I’d like to see the baby,” she said.

  “Eat your soup first.”

  “Are you going to leave me there?”

  He stalled for time, reaching for his cup of black coffee and taking a sip. She could see through him, much too clearly. After tailing her for the past thirty-six hours, how could she know he was planning to pass her on to Billy while he went after Drago himself?

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I know you.”

  “You’ve known me less than two days. That makes you an expert?” He kept his voice cool and mocking, the same tone he used to put pushy women in their place.

  It didn’t work with Ms. Emerson. “Yes,” she said. “Are you going to answer me?”

  “I’ve been beside you almost every moment since Billy told me you had a problem. Why should things change at this point?” He reached for his pack of cigarettes. One crumpled, one left. He put it back in his breast pocket with a sigh.

  “I don’t know, Rafferty. I just have a bad feeling about this.”

  “I’m not going to let Drago hurt you,” he said. “No matter what I have to do, I won’t let him get to you. I’ll protect you from the bad guys.”

  “But Rafferty,” she said patiently, “who’s going to protect me from you?”

  And to that he had no answer at all.

  SHE LET HIM DRIVE to the hospital. By this time she’d grown inured to the headlong speed with which he drove, and even if her pretty little Toyota was accumulating more than its share of scratches and dings, at least she’d have something to remember him by when he disappeared.

  She had no doubt whatsoever that he would be gone by tomorrow morning. She just didn’t believe in his stated destination. People didn’t return from the dead, year after year after year. And if they did, they weren’t gorgeous-looking gangsters who walked into a virginal state’s attorney’s life and proceeded to turn it upside down.

  Jamey Rafferty was just a man, either a crazy man, or a man with a twisted sense of humor. Although neither of those explanations rang true, the alternative was far too bizarre. She wasn’t going to ask any more questions, especially since she couldn’t believe the answers. She was simply going to take what was given her, up to and including every spare minute she had with Rafferty. Tomorrow would be soon enough for reality to intrude.

  There was no sign of that mysterious black sedan following them into the hospital parking lot. She had no doubt whatsoever that Morris, or Drago, or whatever his name was, wanted to kill her. She’d looked into those mad eyes, into the barrel of that lethal-looking gun, and known death.

  She had no doubt that Billy had asked Rafferty to watch over her, or that Rafferty had taken on that task unwillingly. And she knew that by tomorrow morning, Rafferty would be gone.

  She ought to call her family—if she had any sense of self-preservation that was exactly what she’d do. If she called her boss she’d have to come up with proof. If she called her father or brothers she’d have to listen to endless lectures, questions, demands about her personal life, and they’d forcibly remove Jamey Rafferty from her life before she even had a chance to say goodbye.

  Tomorrow was soon enough for that. When she woke up, alone, she’d reach for the phone and call her older brother Eddie. He’d be at her house with a cruiser and an armed guard within minutes. If Drago-Morris thought he could take on the assembled might of the Emerson branch of the Chicago police department he was in for a rude awakening.

  Until then, she’d take her chances with Rafferty. Because something told her that once he left, he’d be gone for good. And she needed to hoard and treasure every second she had left with him.

  Maternity was on the fifth floor. Rafferty put his hand on the small of her back as they entered the elevator, and she told herself the gesture was a protective one, not a romantic one. And still her skin tingled beneath the warmth of his flesh.

  “I thought only family was allowed,” she whispered to Rafferty as he moved her along the busy corridor, past eagle-eyed nurses and dewy-eyed new parents.

  “I told them you were Billy’s sister.”

  “And what does that make you?”

  “Your husband.”

  She wanted to hit him. She never would have guessed she’d have such an intense reaction to the thought, but it felt like a blow to her stomach. She wanted him to be her husband. She wanted to carry the baby he said was impossible. She wanted everything from him, but most especially she wanted all his tomorrows. And she wasn’t going to get even one more valentine.

  The hospital room was filled with flowers. Billy was sitting in a chair, holding his baby son, while Mary watched fondly. Some of the warmth in her expression faded into anxiety as she spotted Rafferty, but she managed to smile anyway. “We weren’t sure if you could make it tonight,” she greeted them softly.

  “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Helen said, skirting the bed, leaving Rafferty in the doorway as she peered over at the tiny, red-faced newborn.

  “Thanks for the flowers, Rafferty,” Mary said in her shy little voice. “They’re very pretty.”

  Helen threw a curious glance over her shoulder at Rafferty, standing still and silent. He must have called in an order for the bouquet, which was an obvious gesture, but if Rafferty was who he’d said he was, mastering the art of phoning in flowers and using credit would be beyond him.

  Who was she fooling? Of course he wasn’t who he said he was. He was just a man. An extraordinary man. A man she was fool enough to be in love with. But a man.

  “Can I hold the baby?” she asked Billy.

  Billy glanced over at Mary, who nodded permission. He placed him in Helen’s arms with a sure touch astonishing in so new a father, and as Helen settled into the chair he’d just vacated, the baby snuffled, shoving a tiny fist into his mouth.

  “He’s absolutely gorgeous,” Helen whispered, as a wave of longing swept over her. Rafferty had lied about so many things. Perhaps, if she were really lucky, he might have lied about the possibility of her getting pregnant.

  “I need to talk to you, Billy,” Rafferty said, still standing by the door.

  “What about?” It was Mary’s question, her voice disturbed.

  “Don’t worry, Mary, I’m not taking him anywhere. We’ll be right outside the door for a few moments.”

  Helen watched as Mary schooled her emotions, managing a tight smile. The door swung silently shut behind them, and Mary leaned back against the stack of pillows.

  “I know I’m being silly,” Mary said in a weepy tone of voice.

  “It’s hormones,” Helen said pragmatically, gently stroking the baby’s tiny hand.

  “So they tell me. I think I
’d be happier if I were home, but Billy has this bee in his bonnet. If it were up to him, I’d be here on my back for a full two weeks just as the women of his mother’s generation.”

  Helen looked down at the baby’s sleeping face as Mary’s words penetrated, and a disbelieving panic swept over her. “Billy would have been born in the sixties,” she said carefully. “Women didn’t spend more than a few days in the hospital back then.”

  Mary’s face turned pale. “Of course. I don’t know what I was talking about,” she said nervously, guiltily. “And besides, I ought to be grateful I have a few extra days of rest. I certainly could use it. Labor wasn’t that long, but it’s exhausting, and I—”

  “He was born in the 1960s, wasn’t he?” Helen broke through Mary’s babbling.

  There was dead silence in the room, broken only by the even, snuffling sound of baby Jamey’s breathing, as Mary stared at her. “I can’t believe he told you,” she said finally. “Billy said Rafferty had never told a living soul….”

  “Told me what, Mary?”

  Mary let out a nervous little moan, clapping her hands over her mouth. “Nothing.”

  “You don’t believe that story, do you?” Helen persevered, trying to hold on to her own sanity. “Did Billy tell you the same pack of lies, about being from the 1920s? You can’t have believed it!”

  “He didn’t…I mean, I don’t…” Her voice trailed off, as her big eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Helen stared at her, torn by guilt and exasperation and a very small trickle of fear. How could Mary have swallowed such a pack of lies? They had to be lies, didn’t they?

  The door opened, and Billy breezed back in, a calm, affable expression on his face that Helen didn’t believe for a moment. There was no sign of Rafferty.

  “Let me take this little bundle of joy from you, Ms. Emerson,” he said, scooping the tiny infant from Helen’s gentle hands. “Kind of makes you think about starting a family yourself, doesn’t it?” he said cheerfully. “Nothing like a baby to make a man realize what matters in this life.”

  “Where’s Rafferty?”

  “He had to check on a few things,” Billy said easily. “He said you had a little trouble with Willie Morris. I’m sorry about that—I should have warned you, but I didn’t know quite how dangerous he was. And I was a little worried about Mary and the baby. I have to thank you again for dropping the charges. I don’t know what I would have done if Mary had gone into labor and I’d been stuck in Joliet.”

  Helen watched as he tucked the baby back into the little bassinet. “Why don’t you tell me your version of the past,” she said evenly. “I’ve already heard Rafferty’s spin on things.”

  He looked just as shocked as Mary had. “Rafferty told you?” he echoed.

  “Of course I didn’t believe him. I’m not as gullible as I look.”

  “Of course,” Billy said vaguely, obviously trying to get his bearings. “That Rafferty’s a great kidder. I always told him he should’ve been a writer. For Buck Rogers or something.”

  “Buck Rogers?” Helen echoed.

  Billy suddenly looked very nervous. “I mean ‘Star Trek.’ Something like that. He’s got a great imagination, has Jamey. Though he shouldn’t oughta have pulled your leg, Ms. Emerson. I’ll tell him so, when he gets back.”

  The more Billy babbled, the worse it got. Helen sat in the chair as numb fear washed over her. “When was Rafferty born, Billy?”

  “November 4.”

  “What year?” she pushed it.

  “Eighteen ninety…I mean, nineteen…er…uh…Hell, I don’t know,” Billy said frantically. “I was never any good at math.”

  “I’ll make it easy on you. What year were you born?”

  “Nineteen sixty-seven,” he said quickly.

  “You memorized that one.”

  “Ms. Emerson,” he said earnestly, “don’t ask questions when you don’t want to know the answers. Or when you don’t want to believe the answers. Just leave things as they are, okay, and everything will be fine. Rafferty will take care of business, and you’ll be safe.”

  “What’s he planning on doing?” The fear that was trickling down her spine was now increasing to a rush of panic.

  “Look, just mellow out. Everything’s copacetic.” He didn’t even seem to realize how out of place his words were. “He’ll be back in no time.”

  “And if he’s not?”

  “Then we’ll have to think of another way to get you out of here,” Billy said.

  The day’s newspaper was lying folded on the table beside the visitor’s chair. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll just sit here and read the paper, until you decide to tell me the truth.”

  “Billy!” Mary’s voice was sharp with warning. The baby awoke with a shrill cry, just as Billy dove for the newspaper.

  Helen was too fast for him. She flipped it open, staring at the headlines, the grainy photos, with no recognition whatsoever.

  “Why don’t you want me to read the paper?” she asked calmly, holding it tightly. “Am I supposed to be surprised by the state of the economy or political corruption?”

  “It’s just bad news, Ms. Emerson,” Billy said. “Give it back to me and I’ll toss it.”

  “I’d rather find out what it is you don’t want me to see,” she said, flipping open the first page.

  It was there, right in front of her. A feature article about Chicago’s most famous Valentine’s Day, complete with police file photos. There was a grainy shot of a row of bodies, lined up on a cement floor. Beneath it were period photos of Al Capone and Bugs Moran. And a smaller photo of a man who could be none other than Willie Morris.

  “Oh, God,” Helen said in a quiet, horrified voice. She stared at the blurred photo of the dead bodies, and she could see one who looked eerily like the man standing across from her, misery on his young face.

  She looked up at him. “It can’t be true,” she said flatly, still fighting it.

  Billy moved to Mary’s bedside, taking his wife’s hand in his and squeezing tightly. “I don’t know what I can tell you, Ms. Emerson.”

  “Tell me where Rafferty is.”

  “He had a few errands…”

  “No,” she said sharply. “In the picture. I don’t see Rafferty’s body.”

  Billy swallowed. “He…didn’t die right away. He managed to crawl to the door of the garage. The police found him there.”

  “Oh, God,” Helen whispered, shoving her fist into her mouth to stifle the urge to scream.

  “Listen, no one knows why this happened to us,” Billy said earnestly. “Least of all Rafferty. He was the best of us—he kept away from the dirty parts of the business, said no when the rest of us didn’t dare. But we’ve all come through, all except for him. He must care about you, if he was able to tell you the truth.”

  “Where is he now?” She marveled at how calm she sounded. How rational.

  “He’s gone after Drago.”

  “No!” she cried, leaping from the chair and heading for the door.

  Billy was ahead of her, stopping her, and he was stronger than he’d seemed. “I promised I’d keep you here until he got back, Ms. Emerson. I’d never break my promise to a man like Rafferty. He’ll stop Drago. If he can’t, no one can, and you’re a dead woman. I don’t think Rafferty could handle that.”

  “I can’t let him…”

  “No one lets Rafferty do anything. He decides,” Billy overrode her, looking stubborn. “If he’s not back by eleven o’clock, you’re supposed to change into a nurse’s uniform he stole for you. Then you hide out under the bed until your family can come get you.”

  Helen was five feet nine, and slender. Billy was an inch taller, scrappy, a street fighter. Helen was no match for him, but she didn’t even hesitate.

  She shoved her fist into his belly, hard, surprising him more than hurting him, and he doubled over just enough for her to take him off guard, hauling him out of the way and racing into the corridor
. There was no sign of Rafferty’s tall, wiry body, no sign of anyone familiar. The door opened behind her, but she took off, speeding down the hallway with a blind disregard for new mothers taking an early constitutional.

  She could hear Billy thundering after her, but she ignored him, listening to her instincts, determined to find Rafferty before he could disappear, before he could make the ultimate sacrifice. The corridors were endless, crowded, anonymous, with no sign of him.

  She had her choice—the elevators or the stairs. She headed for the stairs, for the door that was left ajar, taking them two at a time, her sneakered feet thudding on the metal treads, her breath rasping in her throat as she climbed upward, upward, uncertain of what she would find, terrified that she would only face death. Following her instincts and her heart in her need to reach Jamey Rafferty.

  She reached the top floor, the landing dark and deserted, the light bulb burned out. She reached for the door, but it was locked, trapping her in the darkness. And behind her she could hear footsteps, slow, steady, deadly.

  She yanked again at the door to the top floor, panicked, and this time it opened. She fell into the corridor, and hands caught her, hard, painful hands, wrapped around her wrists like manacles in the darkness.

  “Damn it, Helen,” Rafferty cursed, hauling her upright. “What are you doing here?”

  The top floor of the hospital was deserted, the halls lined with storage, only a dim light illuminating the space. She stared up at him, at a man from another time and place, and her fear vanished. “I was looking for you.”

  He closed his eyes in brief exasperation, then shook her, hard. “I’m trying to save your life. I told Billy to keep you safe….”

  “He did his best. I punched him in the stomach.”

  “Helen,” he said, shaking his head in despair. “Mary’s not going to thank you for that. You’ve got to get out of here. Go back to Mary’s room and hide. I don’t know when Drago’s going to show up, I only know it’s going to be tonight. This isn’t a game we’re playing, even if you don’t want to believe me. I’ve known Drago for longer than you could believe possible, and he hates me almost as much as he hates you. He wants to kill you while I’m around, so that he can get the pleasure of watching my reaction.”