Hidden Deception: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  Finding that I was still too out of it to walk on my own, he put his arm around my waist and began half dragging me toward a door. I couldn’t see much in the dark, but it finally registered that I was in someone’s driveway and entering the house from the back.

  He pulled me up the steps and into the house, then through the kitchen and into the living room, where he lowered me into a cushioned easy chair. While the cobwebs receded from my addled brain, I managed to sit up straight and keep my eyes opened.

  Footsteps sounded from the kitchen. Then Yuri and Anton entered the room. They both stopped and looked at me like I was a parasite of some kind. Yuri wanted his money back. He was convinced that Uncle Joey didn’t have it, so that meant I did, and he couldn’t let me get away with it.

  Anton was thinking this had gotten out of hand, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. Not without Yuri torturing him within an inch of his life, and then riddling him with bullets. Damn that Marina. He needed to live through this, so he could take his time killing her. She’d ruined everything.

  Yuri pulled up a chair and sat in front of me, our knees almost touching, with both Anton and Dmitry standing like sentinels behind him. He pulled out a switch-blade and began flipping it opened and closed. Then he leaned forward, and I shrank back into the cushion.

  “You are here because Manetto will not listen to reason,” he began. “So I had to take things into my own hands.” He sat back in his chair and resumed playing with his knife, allowing me to breathe again.

  “He thinks you are blameless, but I have it on many accounts that you took my money from Zack and killed him. Zack knew you… and trusted you, so you are the only one who could do this. Why you would wish to double-cross your uncle makes no sense to me, but money sometimes makes people stupid.

  “Now I hear he has the diamonds, so… to him… our business is over, leaving me with no recourse, but to bring you here, where I can question you myself.

  “So… here is the deal. If you want to live, you will tell me where my money is, and I will let you go. No questions asked. I will not even tell Manetto that you gave the money back to me. It will be our little secret.” He had no intention of doing that, but he thought it sounded good enough that I would take him up on his offer.

  I opened my mouth to tell him to go to hell, but he held up his hand.

  “There is one more thing you should know. I have a man parked outside your house, just waiting for my call. I would hate to hurt your children if you make the wrong choice.”

  My heart slammed into my chest, and I gasped with outrage and pain. He’d meant every word he’d said. “No! Don’t hurt them. Please.” My eyes filled with tears, and I nearly broke down, especially with the image of Chris crumpling to the ground fresh in my mind.

  With wild desperation, I took a deep breath and pushed that memory away. Now was not the time to fall apart. I had to think of a way out of this. My children’s lives depended on it, and I didn’t think I could count on Ramos or Uncle Joey for help this time, so I had to do this myself.

  In order to accomplish that, I needed to stay calm and take charge. I had some leverage here, and I wasn’t totally helpless. I could read their minds, for Pete’s sake! So I needed to find a way to use my ability that would both placate Yuri and expose Anton.

  “Okay,” I began, trying to keep my heart from pounding out of my chest. “I promise that I will do everything in my power to see that you get your money back.”

  Yuri narrowed his eyes and nodded. “This is good.”

  “Right. Um… first of all… can I ask you a question?” He didn’t like the sound of that, so I hurried on. “Uh… I believe Dmitry saw a blond-haired woman driving away with the money, right? And she’d just left Zack dead on the sidewalk?”

  “Yes, so?” Dmitry said, stepping forward. “This is old news. Why you bring it up?”

  “Because the blond woman wasn’t me, that’s why. I wasn’t anywhere near there. If you’d just check my whereabouts, you’d know that.”

  Yuri’s eyes turned cold, and he pulled out his cell phone.

  “Wait! I know who has the money. Her name is Marina.” I swallowed, glancing between Yuri and Anton. “She and Anton planned this whole thing. You’ve seen her, Yuri. She was hanging around the hotel right before the exchange. She tried to stay out of your way, but you saw her the night you first got there. You even spoke with her for a minute. Don’t you remember?”

  I knew this was true because Anton had just thought about it. It was the one thing that could have ruined their deceptive plans. Anton stared at me like I’d grown two heads. How did I know that? It was impossible. His heart picked up speed, and he licked his lips.

  “There is no way you could know this,” Yuri said, playing it cool. “I talk to a lot of people.” But now that I’d mentioned it, he remembered her, because she’d seemed mortified to cross paths with him. She only mumbled something before rushing off. Most women wanted his attention, so her reaction seemed off. Then there was her hair. It was the same length and color as mine.

  Yuri glanced at Anton, then turned to me and shook his head. “Nice try. But if he did this, then why is he still here? Your Uncle said the same thing about Anton, but you are both wrong. Now, we’re wasting time. I want my money, and I want it now.”

  He held the switchblade to my cheek, right below my eye. “Such a beautiful woman. You would not look so good with only one eye.”

  “Okay, okay.” I pulled my head back into the cushion and squeezed my eyes shut. “Put it away. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

  He thought it was about time, and he let out a pent-up breath. Once I told him he would kill me, and it would give him great pleasure to leave my mutilated body on Manetto’s doorstep. He sat back in his chair and put the knife away, then raised his brows with expectation.

  “I know you’re planning to kill me and leave my mutilated body on Uncle Joey’s doorstep. I know that the same way I know the reason Anton is still here. It’s because Marina took off with the money and left him high and dry.

  “I know what happened. Dmitry caught a glimpse of Marina’s blond hair in the car. And after our little meeting where Dmitry met me, he told you he thought it was me who drove the car, killed Zack, and took the money. You believed his reasoning, deciding it made sense that I was using Zack to double-cross Uncle Joey.

  “What you don’t know is that this gave Anton the perfect out since Marina double-crossed him and took off with the money. The only thing I don’t understand is why Zack exchanged the real diamonds for the fake ones.” I waited for a moment to hear what Anton thought, then continued.

  “Oh… so Marina warned Zack that you might give him fake bills. I wonder… oh… I see.” I glanced at Yuri with widened eyes. “You have some counterfeit money you’ve been using. She must have shown some of the bills to Zack. That’s why he switched the diamonds.”

  Yuri inhaled sharply, surprised that I knew so much. How was this happening? How did I know his secrets?

  “Of course,” I continued. “She and Anton knew you’d never try to pass off fake bills to Joey “The Knife” Manetto. So it was the perfect way to dupe Zack into trusting her. Then she killed him and took off with the money.” I turned my gaze to Anton, hoping to break him. “Leaving you to take the fall. I’ll bet that really chaps your hide.”

  Yuri and Dmitry turned their gazes to Anton, and he took a step back. “It’s not true. I don’t know how she knows these things, but I am as innocent as you. I would never do something like that… you know this, Yuri. I am loyal to you.”

  Yuri pulled his gun and pointed it at Anton. “I remember her, this Marina, from that night. Shelby was right. I saw her in the hall and spoke to her. Did you know her?”

  “Yes,” Anton said, licking his lips. “I knew her, she was there, all right? But she was acting alone. I never knew any of this. I thought it was her.” He pointed at me. “It could still be, for all we know.”

  Yuri
dropped his arm and glanced back at me. “It’s not her, Anton. I think she is telling the truth. But there is something else…” He glanced back at Anton, raised his gun, and shot him in the leg.

  Anton screamed and staggered to one knee. As Yuri approached to shoot him again, Anton shot from the hip, where he’d concealed his gun, hitting Yuri in the upper arm. Several more shots rang out, this time from Dmitry. He kept shooting at Anton until he fell over, dead.

  I swallowed and closed my eyes against the grisly scene. Dmitry rushed to Yuri’s side and ushered him over to the couch where he could check his wound. They spoke in Russian, so I had no idea what they said. But I did pick up that Yuri was plenty mad.

  Without meaning to, I glanced at Anton’s body where he lay with open eyes in an expanding pool of blood. I swallowed and closed my eyes, hoping to keep from getting sick. Still, my stomach churned and I got a little light-headed.

  Dmitry left briefly, then came back into the room with a first aid kit. He helped Yuri take off his shirt and began to bandage Yuri’s bloody arm. While they were occupied, I shifted in my chair. Maybe now was a good time to sneak off? I made it to my feet and my vision went a little dark, but I still managed to take a step.

  “Sit down!” Dmitry yelled, scaring me half to death.

  I plopped back in my chair and laid my forehead on the arm rest, hoping not to pass out. Soon the buzzing stopped and I could see again. Breathing deeply, I sat up, finding Dmitry gone and Yuri slipping a shirt over his head.

  “We need to leave.”

  “You have to let me go,” I said. “Uncle Joey will kill you.”

  “Yes, I can understand that. You are very valuable to him, yes?” He didn’t know exactly what I did, but somehow I knew things, and it was worth the risk to find out how I did it.

  “Keeping me is not worth it. But I know something that is. I’ll tell you, but you have to let me go.”

  Now he was even more intrigued, but thought I had a point. He could always find me another time, and he wanted to know what I knew. “Fine. I’ll let you go if what you have to say is valuable to me.”

  I shrugged. “I know where Marina went with the money. Is that valuable enough?”

  His eyes narrowed. “How do you do it?” Naturally, I kept my mouth shut. “All right. Where is she?”

  The only idea I had was something I’d picked up from Anton, so it could be right and was certainly worth using as a bargaining chip. “She went to Chicago, to her mother’s people. They’re the Ivanovs. Do you know them?”

  Something in Russian burst from his mind, and he shook his head in disbelief. Just then Dmitry yelled at him that they needed to leave. He caught his breath, then hurried to the door. With a quick glance my way he said, “Goodbye Shelby. I won’t forget you.” I caught that he hoped to meet me again. Then he chucked my purse toward me and left.

  I listened to the sound of the van leaving, then sat there in shock, not sure what to do. Were they really gone? Had they actually left me alive? I grabbed my purse from the floor near my feet where it had fallen and dug through it for my phone, ready to call for help. I pulled it out, but it had no bars. Crap! Where the heck was I?

  The smell of blood drew my gaze to Anton’s dead body, and I knew I had to get out of there before I threw up. As I stood, dizziness overcame me, and I leaned forward, panting until it passed. I didn’t know if it was because of the drug they’d given me or the stress, but now that it seemed like I was safe, I could hardly think straight.

  Before I took a step, I heard the sound of a screeching car coming to a halt in front of the house. Fear that they’d come back caught in my throat. Why had I sat there like a dummy? I should have left before now! I took a step toward the kitchen, just as the front door burst open.

  I cringed away, then glanced up to find Ramos framed in the broken doorway with his gun drawn. He took in the dead body, then holstered his gun and rushed toward me. I fell into his arms, barely holding back the relieved sob that tightened my throat. After a moment, he stepped back to examine me.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, breathless.

  “Yeah… I’m okay.”

  “Here, let’s get this off you.” He pulled out a switchblade and flicked it open. I flinched a little, but managed to hold still. He pursed his lips in anger, then cut through the rope that held my hands together. Rubbing my wrists, he asked, “Can you walk? We need to get out of here.”

  “Yeah, I’m just a little woozy.” As his arms came around me, I held back the tears and leaned against his side, holding tight and walking as fast as my trembling legs could go.

  He helped me into his black sports car, then jumped into the driver’s side and pulled away before I could even take in my surroundings. After a moment, he slowed the car to the speed limit and let out his breath.

  “How did you find me?” I asked.

  “Your watch.” He glanced my way. “Remember when Geoff Parker came to the office and took your watch to look it over?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded.

  “I had him put in a tracker.”

  “Oh… now I get it.”

  “Yeah, but it didn’t do much good.” He berated himself that he’d been so caught up in keeping Miguel safe that he hadn’t even thought they’d come after me. How had I survived? Why had they left me there alive? What had I told them? Then he ran his hand through his hair, grateful I wasn’t dead. He thought for sure they’d killed me.

  “They grabbed me and took a shot at Chris,” I blurted.

  “Yeah. That’s what he said.”

  “He called you? Is he okay?”

  “Um… yeah. He’s fine.”

  My breath came out with a whoosh. He wasn’t dead? For the first time since I’d been taken, I could finally breathe again. I closed my eyes and let relief wash over me. “So he didn’t get shot?”

  “Uh… no. Is that what you thought?”

  “Yeah… I thought he was dead.”

  “Shit. You should probably call him. He was pretty upset.”

  “Okay.” I took out my phone, but paused. “There’s something I don’t understand. If he called you, and you could track me down with the watch, what took you so long to find me? Not that I’m not grateful, but…”

  He shook his head. “Uh… Chris didn’t have Manetto’s phone number in his cell phone. Or mine. I guess he had to track it down.”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  He glanced my way. “Nope.”

  I pushed the keypad for home and waited for Chris to pick up. He answered on the first ring.

  “Shelby?”

  “Chris!”

  “Thank God. Are you okay? Did Ramos find you?”

  “Yes. He found me, and we’re on our way home. What happened to you? I thought you got shot.”

  “Oh… no. There was a curb. I was trying to get to you and I didn’t see it. I tripped.”

  It was hard for me to reconcile what I’d seen with him tripping, especially since it happened at the same time as I heard the gunshot. But who knew? Maybe him tripping just then had saved his life?

  “I knew it was the Russians,” he continued. “So I tried to call Manetto, but the only number I had for him was his work number. I had to drive clear to my office to find it. It’s my fault Ramos didn’t get there sooner. Are you sure you’re okay? What happened to the Russians?”

  “Uh… they’re gone. Well, Anton’s dead, but Yuri and Dmitry left, so… yeah, I’m okay. Um… we should be there soon.” I glanced at Ramos and heard him thinking about forty-five minutes. “About an hour. I’ll tell you all about it when I get home, okay?” He said that was fine, then repeated how grateful he was that I was safe, and we disconnected.

  I put my phone away and sighed. “He tripped.”

  “Huh?” Ramos asked.

  “All this time I thought he’d been shot, but he’d just tripped.”

  “Oh… but that’s good, isn’t it?”

  “Yes… yes, it’s great.”

&n
bsp; “Then why do you sound so mad?” Did I want him to die?

  “Heavens no! I was just really scared. I thought he was dead because of me, and I was so worried I could hardly think straight.” Tears ran down my cheeks, and I angrily wiped them away.

  “It’s over,” he said. “You’re fine now.”

  I took a deep breath and swallowed, then closed my eyes against a wave of nausea. I held my breath hoping it would pass, but it just got worse and I groaned. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Ramos took one look at me and quickly swerved to the side of the road. As he skidded to a stop, I yanked on the door handle and pushed it open, leaning out just in the nick of time. I felt Ramos’ hand on my back, then he pulled my hair away from my face, holding it securely until I was done.

  Totally drained, I caught my breath, then slowly sat back in my seat. “Thanks.” I pulled the door closed. “Sorry about that, but I think I feel better now.” I rummaged through my purse and pulled out a tissue to wipe my nose and mouth.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “Did they use something to knock you out?”

  “Yeah… they held a stinky cloth over my face.”

  “That’s probably what made you sick, then.” He was thinking it was probably that and the dead body. Then he remembered how queasy I got at the sight of blood… oops. He glanced at me, knowing I’d probably heard that. “Uh… we should stop somewhere and get you some water.”

  “Yeah. I’d like that. Where are we, anyway?” I really did want to know, but I also wanted him to stop thinking about blood. Glancing out the window, I knew it was somewhere remote, since we were on a barren stretch of highway, with only a few houses along the side of the road.

  “About fifty miles east of the city, up the canyon road. I never would have found you without the tracker.” He was thinking that when he’d pulled up to the house and saw the van gone, he’d thought for sure they’d killed me before they left.