She licked her suddenly dry lips. “I take it we’re here.”
“No, but this is as close as I intend to get. And in case of trouble, I know a shortcut back to this spot.”
“There’s not going to be any trouble,” she answered with a confidence she was far from feeling. Looking out onto the streets that represented every modern urban nightmare, she tried not to let Luke see that her hand was shaking as she tried to open the car door.
His hand on her arm, pulling her closer, stopped her. “Hell, Julia, there isn’t even a place in that outfit where we could put a wire. One more time, this isn’t necessary.” His voice, low and intimate, surrounded her in the darkness of the car. All she wanted was to melt into the safety of his arms, to turn her back on the deserted street outside the car window.
“I think it is, Luke.”
He sighed in the darkness. He was so close that she felt his breath stir her hair just above her ear. “You are one stubborn woman. And one brave one.” His voice softened. “I don’t know of another person who would have been willing to do this.”
The admiration in his voice made her throat thicken, but she tried to shrug off his praise. “It has to be done, and I don’t think you’d make a very good hooker.”
“Julia.”
He leaned forward, and she jumped backward and bumped her arm on the door. “Let’s get this show on the road.” If he kissed her now, or even touched her, she’d curl up into a ball in his arms and beg him to take her away from this place. So she opened the door and stepped outside.
It was a mild night, even for early May. At least she wouldn’t be standing on the corner shivering. Or at least not from the cold, she thought wryly. Luke materialized next to her, holding a dark plastic bag in his hand, and said, “The meeting place is a couple of blocks away. Let’s go.”
It was the shortest two blocks she’d ever walked. They didn’t meet a soul on the street, and only the occasional light shone out of a window along the way. It was as if the neighborhood was a ghost town, completely devoid of life.
As they turned another corner, Luke slowed down and pointed to a tall two-flat that had lights burning from the second floor. “That’s the place,” he whispered into her ear.
She stared at the building. The blaze of light made it seem like a welcoming oasis on the dark and quiet street. It was hard to believe that such an innocent-looking place could hide so much evil.
Turning to Luke, she resisted the impulse to move into his arms. The gangway where they’d stopped was too narrow to prevent their bodies from accidentally brushing together every time they moved. The contact was undermining her will, making her want to forget why she was here tonight. Biting her lip, she forced herself to look away from him again and concentrate on what she had to do.
“Where do you think I should stand?”
He looked around, his gaze assessing. “That corner over there, I think,” he said after a while.
Looking where he indicated, she saw that the streetlight above the sidewalk was burned-out. “Will I be able to see them in the dark?”
“You’ll see them better once your eyes are used to the dark, and they won’t be able to see you as well.”
“But wouldn’t a real hooker stand under the streetlight, where she could be seen?”
She could feel him scowl in the darkness. “Probably. But don’t worry about it. They’ll think you’re new to the neighborhood and you’re being careful not to encroach on someone else’s turf. Believe me, Julia, you’ll be much safer in the darkness. We don’t have to carry reality to that extreme.”
“I just want this to work.”
“It’s going to work.” There was grim determination in his voice, and she could almost believe that his will alone could prevent any mistakes. “Don’t forget, I’ll be close by. If anything starts to go down, just get away.”
“Nothing is going to go down, Luke,” she answered, trying to make her voice sound firm. “Nobody is going to pay any attention to me.”
“Not bloody likely,” he muttered. “Do you have the camera?”
“Right here in my purse.”
“And you know how to use it?”
“You were right there while I practiced! Everything is going to be fine, Luke. Don’t worry.”
“I can’t help it,” he whispered fiercely. “Do you know how it makes me feel, knowing the danger you’re going to be in?”
Slowly she shook her head. With a savage oath, he pulled her to him and kissed her, dragging his fingers through her hair to hold her mouth under his. When he finally let her go, she stumbled backward, her mouth tingling.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Julia. Remember that.”
He eased back into the shadows and disappeared, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. Adjusting the purse over her shoulder, she strolled out of the gangway primping her hair, as if she were getting ready for a night’s work.
Her legs were unsteady but she managed to sway over to the spot where Luke had told her to stand. Once there, she sagged against the lamppost and drew in a trembling breath. When nobody yelled at her or materialized out of the darkness to challenge her, she straightened and willed her shaking legs to stop their quivering.
After a while, she began to relax. Nothing had happened so far. And Luke was close by, even though she couldn’t see him. Comforted by that thought, she opened her purse and took a cigarette out of the brand-new pack. Placing it in her mouth, she got out the small camera that vaguely resembled a cigarette lighter and brought it up to her face. If she positioned it just right, she could get a clear shot of anyone who approached the entrance to the two-flat.
As she was fiddling with the lighter, a car that seemed to appear out of nowhere pulled up in front of the house. Fumbling with the camera, she got it into position just as a man stepped out of the car. It wasn’t anyone she recognized, and as she snapped a picture of him in the pool of light from a streetlamp, she felt a wave of massive disappointment.
Had Raul somehow gotten the wrong information? Was this the wrong house, and were she and Luke performing a ludicrous masquerade for nothing?
The man disappeared into the house, and she lowered the camera and leaned against the lamppost, trying to look bored. But another car pulled up a few minutes later, and she brightened. Maybe they were on the right track and the man whose picture she’d just taken was one of the Demons. She repeated her maneuver with the cigarette and camera, just getting a shot of another unknown man when a car stopped in front of her.
“Hey, baby, you interested in some action?”
A man leaned out of the window, and she could see that several other young men were laughing inside it. Fear slithered up her spine, but she forced herself to relax against the support of the lamppost. “I’m not into group things. Come back by yourself and we’ll talk.”
The men in the car hooted and shouted suggestions that made her face flame, but the car pulled away. She watched the red taillights fade into the distance, praying that the man in the car wouldn’t take her suggestion seriously and come back.
Another car pulling up across the street claimed her attention, and this time when she raised the camera as if to light her cigarette, she froze. The man getting out of the car was one of the policemen from Luke’s old precinct, someone on her list of suspects. She snapped several pictures, praying that the super-high-speed film they’d bought would be sensitive enough to give them good pictures.
She’d been right, she exulted as she slowly lowered the camera. The last several months of work and frustration had been worth it. She’d just nailed one of her suspects, and with any luck the rest of them would appear tonight.
Then she froze. What if Bobby showed up tonight? Luke was watching from somewhere. What if he saw Bobby and recognized him? What would she do?
When the next car appeared she almost didn’t raise her camera. She was too afraid it would be her brother who stepped out of the car. But it was another of the cops on
her list, and she dutifully snapped several pictures of him while waiting fearfully for the next car to arrive.
After another half hour she realized it had been a while since the last car arrived. Six of the suspects on her list were accounted for, but she hadn’t seen Eddie Timmons. Or her brother Bobby.
Maybe they weren’t going to show up tonight, she thought with a surge of hope. No one had arrived at the building now for at least fifteen minutes. Unless there was a back way into the place.
Suddenly she had to know if Eddie or her brother had managed to sneak in the back door. The only way to do that was to go around the building and see if there was a way in that couldn’t be seen from the street. Slipping the tiny camera back into her purse, she pushed away from the lamppost and walked across the street. She hoped she looked like what she was supposed to be, and for good measure tried to add a little more sway to her walk.
No one challenged her or even seemed to notice her. The two-flat was still a few houses away when she spotted a gangway between two buildings. Ducking into it, she emerged next to a garage that faced an alley. The gate hung open on broken hinges, and she stepped into the dark alley.
Pushing her fears aside, she moved toward the meeting site. Perhaps she could kill two birds with one stone. While she checked to make sure Bobby wasn’t in the building, she might be able to hear some of the group’s plans.
As she stepped into the yard of the two-flat building, someone emerged out of the shadows. Thinking it must be Luke, she moved toward him with relief.
She stopped abruptly when she came face-to-face with a teenager holding a gun in his hand. “What do you want?” he asked in a low, guttural voice.
Backing up, never taking her eyes off the gun, she said, “Obviously I’m in the wrong place.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw another darker shadow flit behind the boy with the gun. Bracing herself for another accusing face, she was surprised when no one emerged to stand next to him.
She saw the boy’s eyes travel slowly from her hair to her shoes and back again, and when he spoke there was an excitement in his eyes that made her stomach turn. “Maybe you’re not in the wrong place.”
“I think I am. This isn’t the kind of reception I was expecting. My…” she paused delicately “…customers don’t need guns.”
He shoved the gun into the waistband of his baggy pants and showed her his empty hands. “No gun. So how about it, honey? I could show you a real good time.”
What did she do now? she thought frantically. What would she do if she really was a hooker? She smiled what she hoped was a seductive smile. “Do you have what it takes?”
“I’ve never had any complaints, honey,” the boy said, leering at her.
“I’m sure you haven’t.” She let her eyes run down his body, and was horrified to see the bulge under his fly. “But money is what it takes to show me a good time.”
The kid’s smile faltered for just a moment, then he grinned at her. “I’ve got plenty of that. My car is in the alley. Let’s go.”
Panic rose in her chest and she wondered where Luke could be. What if this boy pulled that gun of his and insisted that she go with him? She had to stall. “We’re not going anywhere until I see the color of your money.”
“My money’s just as good as anyone else’s,” he said, stepping closer to her.
“Only if it’s in my hands.” She took a step backward and held out her hand. “Haven’t you ever heard of payment in advance?”
His hungry eyes stared at her for a moment, and for the space of a heartbeat she thought she was going to have to use one of the moves she’d learned in self-defense class years ago. She tensed her muscles in anticipation.
Finally he pulled out a wallet and removed a twenty-dollar bill. “This’ll be a down payment.”
She shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so. I don’t have a credit plan. And I don’t work for peanuts.”
He took another step forward, and she backed up again. She was almost in the alley. She couldn’t outrun him, not in the red high-heeled sandals she wore, but she might be able to outmaneuver him.
Just as she was poised to take off, a figure in black emerged from the darkness of the garage behind her and stepped close to her side. For a moment, she was afraid that one of the boy’s friends had decided to help his buddy out, and terror filled her mouth with the coppery taste of fear.
Then the figure slipped his arm around her shoulder, and she realized it was Luke. She glanced over at him, and had to stop herself from letting her mouth fall open in surprise.
He’d changed his clothes since she’d seen him last. The black T-shirt and jeans had been replaced by a flowing black silk shirt and baggy pants made out of some shimmery material. Four or five heavy gold chains hung from his neck. She could see them so easily, she realized, because his shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his chest. His longish dark hair had been slicked back and pulled into a ponytail at the base of his skull. He’d disguised his dark blue eyes with sunglasses that he now pulled off slowly, with menace in every movement.
“Is there a problem here, baby?” He spoke without looking at her, although his hand on her shoulder tightened reassuringly. He kept his gaze fixed on the boy in front of them, who now backed up a step.
She nodded at the boy. “He seemed to think I’d take twenty dollars as a down payment.”
Luke’s arm tightened around her, a silent comfort in the darkness. Then it dropped away as he advanced toward the boy. “Nobody messes with one of my girls.” His voice was so low she had to strain to hear him. She couldn’t miss the threat in his tone, however. Judging by the expression on the boy’s face, neither could he.
“I wasn’t messing with anyone.” The boy’s voice rose, and his hand hovered over the gun in his waistband. “It’s a free country. We were just negotiating.”
“Nobody negotiates with one of my girls, either. You want some action, let’s see your money.”
Luke took a step forward, but the boy stood his ground. “I don’t have to pay for it,” he blustered. “I can get it free any time I want.”
“Like you said, it’s a free country. As long as it’s not one of my girls, you’re welcome to get it free any time you can.”
For a tension-filled minute, Luke and the boy stared at each other. Finally, hearing a noise from the two-flat behind him, the boy turned and disappeared into the darkness of the backyard. Luke stood listening for a while, then turned back to her. “Come on, baby. There’s no action around here tonight.” His low voice was just loud enough for someone to hear if they were standing in the shadows and listening.
Draping an arm over her shoulder, he steered her out of the alley and around the corner from the two-flat. Staggering slightly beside him, she tried to remember that, until they were back in the car, she was a hooker and he was her pimp. What she wanted to do was throw herself into his arms and never let go.
They were in the car and blocks away from the two-flat before he spoke. “What the hell were you doing back there?”
“Trying to get a closer look,” she said defensively. “I was doing such a good job blending in that I figured I might as well try to see or hear more.”
“You almost got yourself raped in an alley.” She heard the fury in his voice. “Dammit, Julia, why did you do something that stupid?”
It wasn’t stupid to try to protect her brother, she told herself passionately. “It didn’t seem stupid at the time,” she finally murmured.
He shot her a look. “It was a damn good thing that I was there. Do you know what could have happened to you?”
“I know self-defense,” she answered, looking out the window. But remembering how she’d felt in the alley, she wasn’t sure she would have been able to use it. She’d been almost paralyzed with fear.
The car suddenly swerved into a deserted parking lot, and he threw the car into park and reached for her. The single streetlight cast an orange glow over the front of the car as he pulled her against h
im.
“Don’t ever do anything like that to me again, Julia,” he said into her hair. His hands roamed over her back, as if he were trying to assure himself that she was still in one piece. “I almost died when I saw the way that kid was looking at you.” His hands tightened, pulling her closer. “Another few seconds and I would have choked him with my bare hands.”
She let her arms settle around his neck and closed her eyes. “I’m glad you were there,” she admitted. Now that they were safe and the fear was slowly dissipating, she could tell him how scared she’d been. “I was getting a little nervous.”
She felt him smile against her hair. “You could have fooled me. And you sure as the devil fooled that kid.” Slowly he pulled back and looked down at her, still smiling. “You did a hell of a job tonight, Julia. And it took more guts than most people have to do it.” His smile faded, replaced by an oddly diffident look. “I realized, standing in the shadows watching you take those pictures, that you’re not the person I thought you were. I’m glad you asked me to do this job for you, Julia. I’m glad I got to know you.”
Slowly she brought her hand up to cup his face. His beard felt rough against her palm, and he went very still when she stroked her hand down his cheek.
“I’m glad I got to know you, too, Luke,” she whispered. “You’re not at all the person you want the world to think you are.”
His eyes shuttered and he turned to look out the windshield. “And what’s that?”
“You want the world to think you’re a real hard case, a man who doesn’t look back and never takes any prisoners. But I know now that’s not true. I’m glad I got to know the person underneath the surface.”
“You don’t know anything about the person below the surface, Julia. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you do.” He turned back to her, and his eyes were cold and bleak. “I told you before, don’t make me into something that I’m not.”
An Honorable Man Page 16
