by Paige Tyler
“Did Zak leave?”
Daphne nodded. “He went back to the station.”
Walking over to the couch, Daphne sat down and folded her hands in her lap. Telling Zak everything had really made her feel better, but there was still one more person she owed an explanation to. And an apology.
“Claire, there’s something I have to confess to you,” she said softly. “This whole thing is my fault.”
The other girl looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Daphne lowered her gaze to look down at her hands. “I kind of have this habit of sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
Claire came over to sit down beside her. “I don’t understand.”
Daphne looked at her friend. “Do you remember the other day when you were dragging the trash can full of boxes out to the curb?” At the other woman’s nod, she continued. “Well, I couldn’t help but notice that the box on top was full of photo albums. I couldn’t understand how you could throw something like that out, so after you went inside, I took the box out of the garbage and brought it home.”
Claire frowned. “You took it out of the garbage?”
Daphne nodded. “When I looked at your wedding album, I noticed that the pictures had been taken near a beach somewhere. That got me even more curious, especially since you told me that you and John had gotten married in the Midwest. Then I found a receipt from the photographer that said your name was Fredericks. I thought that was even odder, so I called the photographer to ask about you.”
“Why would you do that?”
Daphne felt her face color. “Like I said, I’m really bad about snooping and sometimes I can’t control myself. Anyway, I told the woman at the photographers a long story and got your Miami address out of her. I decided I had to know why you had lied to us not only about where you were from, but also your name. So, I did some digging on the Internet and found several newspaper articles about you and John. As you can probably imagine, they didn’t have a lot of good things to say about the two of you.”
Claire frowned, but said nothing, and Daphne continued.
“I didn’t want to believe you and John had done any of those things the papers said, but I had to know.” She gave the other girl an embarrassed look. “So, I ended up calling Detective Thompson.”
Claire’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Oh, my God! You told him where we were?”
Daphne shook her head. “No! I would never have done that. I just told him that I was a reporter doing a story on drug cartels and mentioned that I had come across your names in my research. I made sure I was careful not to say anything about you and John at all. But Thompson must have gotten suspicious, I guess, and traced the call back to me. That’s probably how they found you.”
Though Claire said nothing, Daphne could see the hurt in the other girl’s eyes. She swallowed hard.
“You have every right to be mad at me, Claire, and I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to speak to me again, but I truly am sorry for what I did.” She paused. “Do you think you can you ever forgive me?”
Claire said nothing for a long moment and as the silence lengthened, Daphne felt her heart sink. While she had thought there was a good chance that the truth would cost her the other woman’s friendship, it didn’t make it hurt any less.
Deciding that Claire probably needed some time to think, Daphne started to get to her feet, but a gentle touch on her arm stopped her.
“I probably should be upset with you,” Claire said. “But when it comes right down to it, you risked your life to save mine this morning. It’s hard to be mad at you after that. But if we all make it out of this okay, I still reserve the right to wring your neck for this,” she added with a smile.
Daphne couldn’t help but laugh at that. Leaning forward, she gave the other woman a hug, only to jump when a knock sounded on the door. Startled, both she and Claire stared first at the door, then at each other before they both got up and went into the entryway. Peeking out the window, Daphne was relieved to see John standing on the doorstep.
Daphne smiled at Claire. “Why don’t I give you some time alone with John so that you can explain everything? I’ll go check out the kitchen and see what we can make for dinner.”
Claire nodded. “Thanks.”
Feeling much better now that Claire had forgiven her, Daphne couldn’t help but smile as she took her time looking through the cabinets in the kitchen. She didn’t envy Claire having to tell John about everything that had happened, but he would have to agree that involving Zak was a lot better than going on the run again.
A little while later, Claire and John came in as Daphne was putting the finishing touches on the casserole she was making. As they had dinner, the couple told her about their lives back in Miami. Daphne could see that Claire and John seemed a lot more relaxed now that they could be honest about who they really were.
Though Daphne said she would take care of cleaning up after dinner, Claire and John insisted they help. Once the table was cleared however, Daphne suggested the couple go into the living room while she put some water on for tea.
Setting the tea kettle on the stove a few minutes later, Daphne was about to turn it on when her cell phone rang. Reaching for her purse, she dug out her phone. Seeing Zak’s name on the call display, she eagerly held it to her ear.
“Hey!” she said. “Have you had any luck getting hold of the DA in Miami?”
“Yeah, I talked to him a while ago,” he said. “He’s very interested in what John and Claire have to say and has agreed to offer them witness protection in return for their testimony against the Meradino family and Detective Thompson. We probably won’t have all the details ironed out until morning, but I just wanted to call and make sure you were doing okay out there.”
Daphne’s lips curved into a smile. “Yeah, we’re fine. Do you think you’ll be able to come back out here tonight?”
As she spoke, she heard the sound of a car pull up in front of the house.
“Oh,” she added. “I think I hear a car. That should be those uniform cops you said you were going to send up here.”
“Good,” Zak said. “It took forever to get the captain to authorize the overtime. I’m surprised they were able to get up there as fast as they did.”
Realizing Zak hadn’t answered her earlier question, Daphne started to ask again when he would get there when she heard a loud noise coming from the direction of the front door. It sounded like someone had busted in the door. Her brow furrowing, she edged closer to the kitchen door, peeking out just in time to see four men storming into the house.
“Oh God,” she breathed.
“Daphne, what is it?” Zak asked.
She pulled back from the doorway. “They found us,” she whispered. “They’re in the living room with Claire and John.”
On the other end of the line, Zak swore. “Have they seen you?”
She pressed herself back against the wall. “No. I’m in the kitchen.”
Zak sighed. “Then get out of there. Go out the back door and get as far away from the house as you can.”
Daphne frowned. “But what about Claire and John?”
“You won’t be able to help them if you get caught, too. Just get out of there. I’m on my way there now with backup.”
She headed toward the back door, but then hesitated. It didn’t feel right leaving her friends. Maybe she could hide in the kitchen and keep an eye on what was going on. That way she could keep Zak informed.
“Daphne!” Zak’s voice was sharp in her ear. “Have you gotten out of the house yet?”
Her hand tightened on the phone. Zak would be really upset if she didn’t do what he told her. She started for the back door again. “I’m going now.”
But before she was even halfway across the kitchen, the back door flew open and a man stepped into the room.
He aimed his gun at her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Chapter 8
“Daphne!�
� Zak yelled into the phone, but on the other end of the line, silence met his words as the phone went dead.
Shit. Fear unlike anything he’d ever felt before gripped him. Couldn’t Daphne ever just do as she was told for once? If anything happened to her....
Swearing under his breath, Zak pushed back his chair and ran into his captain’s office. At his entrance, the older man looked up from what he’d been doing to give him a questioning look. Since his captain already knew about the case, Zak quickly explained the situation.
“I’ll get SWAT out there,” the other man said, reaching for the phone. “And notify the local PD, too.”
“Can you hold off on that, at least long enough to let me get out there and see if I can diffuse the situation?” Zak said. “If SWAT goes in, it’s going to be with guns blazing and if that happens, a lot of innocent people could get hurt.”
The other man’s mouth tightened and he looked like he wanted to argue, but after a moment, he nodded. “Okay, I’ll give you a thirty minute head start, but then I’m making that call to SWAT. And you’d better keep me informed every step of the way.”
Relieved his captain had agreed to hold off on calling in SWAT, at least for the time being, Zak assured him that he would keep him informed, then left the office. Once in the main squad room, he stopped only long enough to enlist the help of his fellow detectives and a handful of uniformed officers before quickly heading out. They had to move fast. He had no idea how long Daphne had before Meradino’s men would kill her.
Zak tried to console himself with the fact that he hadn’t heard gunfire when he’d been on the phone with Daphne, but he knew that didn’t mean anything. There were any number of reasons why Meradino’s men hadn’t opened fire. Hell, for all he knew, they could be using silencers. That thought did nothing to assuage his fears. What if he got there only to find Daphne lying in a pool of blood? The image that flashed into his head was so vivid that for a moment he couldn’t breathe. Stop it, he told himself harshly. Daphne was still alive, she had to be. Anything else was just unthinkable.
* * * *
Daphne stood rooted to the floor, trembling, her gaze fixed on the gun pointed at her. Oh God, why hadn’t she just listened to Zak and gotten out of the house when she’d had the chance?
“Didn’t think you’d be seeing me again, did you, bitch?”
The man’s gruff voice brought her head up sharply and she looked at him in confusion. He wasn’t much taller than she was, she noticed, but his solid build made him appear more intimidating.
“Don’t remember me, do you?” he went on, his lip curling into a sneer. “Well, I remember you, all right. And the knock on the head you gave me.” He lifted his free hand to rub the back of his head as if to emphasize his words. “I’m going to pay you back for that real good.”
Daphne felt her mouth go dry. He was the man who had been holding Claire at gunpoint that morning. He’d obviously gotten a good look at her before she’d knocked him out. Her gaze darted frantically toward the door. Could she manage to get past him?
“Don’t even think about it,” he snarled, obviously reading her thoughts. He gestured toward the living room with his gun. “In there. Move!”
She hesitated, her gaze going to the gun in his hand again as she weighed her options one more.
“I said move!” he ordered. “Unless you want me to just shoot you right now.”
That threat was enough to get her feet moving and she took a nervous step backward. Apparently, she wasn’t fast enough for Meradino’s henchman, however, because he grabbed her arm in his free hand and whirled her around to face the door. Shouldering it open, he shoved her out of the kitchen and into the living room. Daphne winced as he marched her across the room and forced her down into one of the overstuffed chairs. Biting her tongue to keep from saying something she knew she shouldn’t, she instead settled for glaring up at him as she pointedly rubbed her arm. Across from her, a frightened looking Claire and John were huddled together on the couch. Daphne tried to give the other woman what she hoped was a reassuring smile. It was a little difficult to do when there were five men holding guns on them, but when Claire offered her a small smile in return, she guessed she’d managed to pull it off after all.
“Mr. Meradino’s on his way.”
At the words, Daphne shifted her gaze from Claire and John to the man who had spoken. Tall and swarthy-skinned, he looked liked he’d just stepped out of some cheesy low-budget mob flick. Come to think of it, all of them men did. Only this wasn’t some movie, she reminded herself. She, Claire and John were in real trouble, and if Zak didn’t get there before Meradino did, they were as good as dead. Swallowing hard, she pushed the thought away. Zak would get there in time. He had to.
Thoughts of her handsome husband boosted her courage and she lifted her chin. “You can’t possibly think you’re going to get away with killing us,” she said. “My husband is a cop and he knows all about Meradino. If we turn up dead, he’s going to go after you and that piece of slime you work for, and he won’t rest until he gets every last one of you.”
Daphne had hoped her words would sound threatening, but to her chagrin, the men laughed.
“He can try,” the swarthy-skinned man said. “But it’s gonna be damn hard to pin anything on anyone, never mind some like Mr. Meradino, when he can’t find any bodies.”
Daphne felt her face drain of color, the little bit of bravado she’d felt disappearing at his words. She lowered her gaze to her clasped hands, turning her arm slightly so that she could see her watch. How long had it been since she’d talked to Zak? Ten minutes, maybe? That meant it would take at least another twenty minutes for him to get there. She could only hope that it took Meradino longer than that. When less than another ten minutes had gone by and she heard footsteps on the front porch, however, her heart sank. Meradino had arrived.
A moment later, the door opened and two men stepped into the entryway. While both were tall and dark-haired, it was easy to tell which of the men was Carlos Meradino. He was the one in the suit that must have cost ten-thousand dollars. As he walked into the living room, one of his men leaned over to say something in his ear. Though he spoke too softly for Daphne to hear what he was saying, she gathered from the way Meradino glanced her way that they were talking about her. She couldn’t suppress a shiver as his dark eyes settled on her. It was then that something frightening occurred to her. She meant nothing to Meradino. While the drug lord might be keeping Claire and John alive for whatever reason, he had no use for her. The only reason his men hadn’t shot her was because he hadn’t given the order yet. Even if Zak did manage to make it there in record time, there was nothing to stop Meradino from having one of his men kill her right now.
But to Daphne’s relief, Meradino didn’t appear interested in her, at least not yet. He merely regarded her with those cold, dark eyes for a moment before turning his attention to the couple seated on the couch.
“You two weren’t easy to track down,” he said as he came further into the room. “Though I probably wouldn’t have been so determined to find you if you hadn’t stolen my money. In fact, I wouldn’t have looked for you at all.”
Daphne’s brow furrowed, her gaze going to the couple on the couch. What did Meradino mean? Claire and John hadn’t stolen money from him? What hadn’t Claire told her?
“We only took the money to get back at you for what you did to us,” Claire said, her voice trembling. “After you blew up our boat and tried to kill us, I went into the company accounts and moved all of our money because I knew the Feds would freeze everything. All of your laundered funds were just sitting there, so I moved them, too. But we didn’t spend any of it, I swear. We’ll give it all back to you.”
Meradino’s dark eyes narrowed. “Oh, there was never any doubt of that. Now, where is it?”
Claire swallowed hard. “In an offshore account.”
“But we’ll only give you the account information if you give us your word that you’ll let
us go,” John added.
Meradino’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I can do that.”
Right, Daphne thought. She seriously hoped Claire and John didn’t believe Meradino was going to let any of them go. But if it kept them safe until Zak got there, then she was all for playing along.
“Is there a computer in this house?” Meradino asked.
He had addressed Claire, but since the other girl had no idea, she looked at Daphne.
“My parents have a laptop, but they took it with them on vacation,” Daphne said quietly.
The drug lord glanced at her. “What about an internet café or something like that, then?”
Daphne shook her head. “The closest one would be in Virginia Beach.”
“We could just give you the account number and password,” John suggested. “That’s all you really need.”
Meradino gave him a cold look. “I don’t think so. I’m not letting you go until the money has been wired to my account. Let’s go.”
As Claire and John reluctantly got to their feet, the man who had caught Daphne trying to sneak out of the kitchen earlier, gestured with his gun in her direction. “What about her, Mr. Meradino?”
The drug lord barely glanced at Daphne. “Kill her.”
Daphne’s heart began to pound so hard that she thought it might jump right out of her chest. She opened her mouth with every intention of begging for her life when Claire spoke.
“No,” the blonde. “I want your word that you’ll let her go, too, or there’s no deal.”
