Deadly Interpretations

by Andie Alexander

  “I told you before. You’re the type of woman I want to marry and I want kids. I don’t want you sick of kids so you’ll have a few dozen for me.”

  “A few dozen, like you said before? You can’t be serious. Are you crazy?”

  He laughed, the sound filling the car. “Probably. But at my stage in life, I need kids for entertainment.”

  “What makes you think I’d be good with kids or even be able to have any?”

  “You’ll be fine. I can see you pregnant and barefoot for years to come. That way, other men won’t look at you like my goons do.” He smiled, laughing again.

  “You’re insane.”

  “Yep.”

  I couldn’t let this go. “I still don’t get this. You don’t even love me but you want to marry me? What kind of marriage is that with no love?”

  “One of convenience. No strings attached; a contract only.”

  “Is that what you really want for your life?” I asked, leaning closer.

  “No, but it’s what you want. You made that perfectly clear.”

  I sat back and pondered his comment. What a strange thing for him to say, because it was true, I thought. “Did I ever say that to you?” I had to know if I talked in my sleep or something, because I couldn’t imagine I’d ever tell him that while awake.

  “No, you didn’t have to. You want so many things, but don’t want what goes with them.” He glanced over at me. “Does it bother you that I want to get married with no emotional strings attached?”

  “Yes it does. I’d never go into a marriage not loving someone.” I thought this over in my mind. “Besides, I can’t marry you.” This was just strange. “How can you marry someone without love?”

  “It happens all the time in arranged marriages,” he said. “When I was in India this last time, I saw young girls, maybe sixteen, marrying men much, much older that they’d never even met before. They were terrified, but it was expected. There was absolutely no love there and they were expected to have children, when they were children themselves.”

  “And you think that’s right?” I couldn’t believe this.

  He looked over at me. “No, it’s not right, but if that’s the only way I can get you to consider marriage, then so be it. I’ll adjust.”

  “You’ll adjust? Are you crazy?”

  He directed his gaze out the side window in thought. “Probably. Maybe I should make you fall in love with me. I wonder if that’ll work.”

  “How could you make me fall in love with you, when you don’t even love me yourself?”

  He pondered that comment for a few minutes. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he glanced over at me more than once. It was as if he was trying to decide if he was in love with me or not. From what I saw, the jury was still out. He still wanted me, though, which I found odd.

  “I have a few things up my sleeve to make you fall in love with me,” he finally said. “You’ll never see them coming, and you’ll be dying to marry me.” He reached over and touched my hair. “I’m learning your weaknesses, and when in battle, that’s the first step.”

  “You consider marriage battle?” What was I thinking, even considering dating this brute?

  “Yep. Have you ever seen a married couple fight? It’s definitely battle.” He caressed my cheek and trailed his finger down my neck. I stopped him from going farther.

  “Making up is the best part,” he whispered.

  I’d never met a crazier man. But if he was willing to play that game, so be it. I had to change the subject before he told me something else that was just as stupid.

  I threw his hand off my neck.

  He found it amusing, but I wasn’t impressed, until I remembered he was a doctor cop. Rotten hormones.

  Reality had to help with this problem. “What about Billy?” I asked. But the comment was more to remind myself than to jar him to reality.

  He stopped smiling and stared out the window. “Billy. I hadn’t even considered him. How attached are you to him?”

  “I was in love with him after I first met him.”

  “And now?”

  I stared out the side window. “He’s kind of scummy and controlling.” I couldn’t lie. Rotten morals.

  “Good. I’m glad you finally see that. He’s not for you. I’d love to prove it to you.”

  I spun my head toward him, wanting to see if he was teasing me, but he appeared to be serious. “How can you prove anything?”

  “You’ll see. We’re looking into his past and I’ll let you know.”

  I had to let that go for a moment. “What will happen to Ray’s baby? Will it be forced to grow up in that commune, or can the state walk in and save it?”

  “What are you asking me?” He drove the car into the store’s parking lot.

  I sighed, not sure if I wanted to walk into a hornet’s nest. “I want to know if anyone can save that poor defenseless child from his parents.”

  He parked the car and we both got out. “That baby could be your nephew, you know.”

  “Yeah. I’m worried it’ll grow up to be just like Squirt. They haven’t bathed in a long time and that can’t be healthy.”

  “That was another reason I needed to get you out of there. We’re going to buy them some clothes and get them cleaned up. I agree with you, but I have a feeling the commune’s very loving.”

  “Can they be investigated?”

  His puzzled expression indicated his surprise. He grabbed my hand and walked inside the store. “You want to turn your own brother in for neglect or something?”

  “Yep. I want that child to have the best. I know they won’t give it to him. He’s defenseless and has no say in what stupid parents he has. Possibly being his aunt, I can’t sit by and let him grow up eating tree bark, walking around naked all summer, and probably not going to school. It’s just not right.”

  He kissed my cheek. “You’re a great person and don’t ever forget that. Now, we don’t have a lot of time. I need you to guess what size clothes Ray wears, and I’m going to find something for Squirt. Then we’ll shop for the baby together.”

  It made me happy, knowing the baby would at least have clothes. “Good plan. Any idea what I should be looking for?”

  “Everything, from what I saw.” He gave my cheek a kiss and left for the men’s department.

  I walked around the women’s section, in search of a tent or something larger for Ray. I found an extra-extra large dress and some huge underwear for her, guessing at what size nursing bras the woman might wear, if she wore one at all. I didn’t even want to think about her being naked in my apartment, especially with all those men hanging around, so I picked out multiples of everything. I even found some shoes and socks, just guessing at sizes.

  As I turned to go back to Jim, I walked right into two huge Arabic men in the lingerie section that I recognized as guards from work.

  One of them grabbed my arm. “Come with us, Harley.”

  “What for?”

  The bigger one pulled me closer to him by my other arm, staring into my face with his big brown scary eyes. I saw evil when I looked into them, making the hair stand up on the back of my neck. “We’re going to protect you,” he said.

  “From whom?”

  “Boris and Mr. Wing.” They took a few steps closer to the front door, making me drop the items I was going to buy for Ray. I was being kidnapped—but why?

  Chapter 14

  Before I could say a word, Jim rounded a corner and aimed a gun at the men holding my arms. “Let her go,” he said in a very demanding voice.

  I didn’t know how he got there so fast. I could’ve sworn he’d been nowhere close to me.

  We all stood in the lingerie department. I looked all around me. The bras and underwear weren’t big enough for a distraction or heavy enough to even make a dent if I hit the bad guys over the head. If we’d only been in the winter coat department—but then again, it was springtime.

  An elderly blue-haired woman, who was shopping in
the area, turned and dropped her things. “He’s got a gun!” People fled from the aisles and screamed. Didn’t they know doctors helped people and usually didn’t kill people? But I guess they wouldn’t know Jim was a doctor, would they?

  Yes, I was out of my mind.

  One of the Arabic men pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed it at my head, wrapping his arm loosely around my neck. “If you shoot, she dies.”

  “What?” I shrieked. “I’m nobody. Why me?”

  The man holding me leaned down to my other ear. “You’re very valuable and you’re coming with us.”

  “Why am I valuable?”

  “You have more information than you know. Ali was supposed to get it from you, but got himself killed. I’ve taken over his job.”

  “Ali? The flirt?”

  Jim’s eyebrows rose and he mouthed the word ‘flirt’ as if he were asking a question. I nodded and he looked like he was ready to kill someone. So sue me…I didn’t tell him all the gossip yet.

  Jim aimed his gun closer to the man who had me in a headlock. “Look. We can work this out very easily if you just calm down and let her go. I’m sure we can sit down over a cup of Turkish coffee and talk about this.”

  Turkish coffee? Did he really think food would entice these men to let me live? Was he nuts? I already knew the answer to that question and it was a definite yes.

  I heard sirens stop suddenly outside the front door and knew someone had called the cops. Wonderful. I’d be front-page news and reporters would want my interview. That’s all I needed. Publicity. Now every crazy person in the city would be looking for me.

  “There’s no way I’m letting her go,” the man holding me said. “I’ve been ordered to take her with me to my boss.”

  In the past, I’d studied some hostage negotiation techniques. Well, sort of, because I’ve seen movies on things like that. If I could just turn it personal, this guy wouldn’t kill me.

  “What’s your name?” I yelled, just to get his attention.

  “Let it go, Harley,” Jim said. “Don’t mess with this.”

  “I just want to know his name.” I glanced at the side and saw that my captor’s gun handle was gold. “He’s kind of like the movie about The Man with the Golden Gun—”

  “Don’t say it or even think it,” Jim said.

  “Why? Because it was a James—”

  “No more,” Jim said.

  “Fine.” I glanced toward the man holding onto me, in as calm a voice as I could. “Just tell me your name.”

  “It’s Sami.” The man still held the golden-handled gun to my head. “And my coworker beside me is Yahya. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.” His tone was very cordial, and I could almost see his smile. How weird was this? “Now come with us and I promise you won’t get hurt.”

  Jim started to speak Arabic, but I only understood some of it. It sounded like they were talking about big fluffy teddy bears with bullets for ears. I guessed I needed a few more lessons in Arabic, and I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. But they were talking so quickly and so loudly that it was a little bit difficult to figure out what they were saying, especially with the gun to my head distracting me.

  The police surrounded us and I tried to concentrate on breathing. One thing at a time, I thought, and breathing seemed to be the most important thing to me.

  They were all yelling and saying what sounded like mean things. Jim was right. Why couldn’t these men just sit down with a cup of Turkish coffee and talk this over? If it were women, that’s what they’d do. They might even have some biscotti. Yumm…biscotti. Loved that stuff.

  I’d had enough of the shouting and my head was killing me. The nicotine patch wasn’t working as much as I wanted it to, and I needed a smoke. I reasoned out the entire situation and decided that if Sami really wanted me dead, he’d have done it by now and wouldn’t get the information he so badly wanted, which probably included the pen full of papers.

  That’s when it dawned on me. He didn’t want me dead at all. He was bluffing, just to get me alone.

  I counted to three, stomped on his foot, and grabbed his arm. Once I had him in a good position, I flipped him over, took the golden gun out of his hand, and put it in his face. He was now on the floor on his back, in obvious pain, but I wasn’t done yet. I slammed my high-heeled foot onto his chest. When I looked up, I realized Yahya didn’t seem to have a gun, which was a bonus.

  I leaned down to Sami in anger. “Enough. I’m tired of this game. You need to leave me alone.”

  Everyone in the area was quiet, and someone started to clap. One of the cops cuffed Yahya and helped Sami to his feet. Jim pocketed his own gun and headed to my side.

  He stared down at Sami as if surprised. He then pried the gun from my hand and gave it to one of the policemen. “Good job,” Jim said. “I don’t think I could’ve done as well myself.”

  I sighed, still angry at being bothered by these two men. “I have a baby to take care of back home and my head hurts because your patch isn’t working right. Let’s get our stuff and get out of here.”

  “We’d like a word, Miss,” one officer said. The other officers cuffed Sami.

  Jim handed the man his card and flashed his badge. “Call me. She has a baby waiting at home and the baby sitter isn’t reliable. A life may be in danger.”

  The man studied the card before he stared at Jim in surprise. “I understand.”

  After I picked up the things for Ray from the floor, we grabbed a few baby items, and took our things to the cash register while other customers just watched us. I tried to pay the bill, but Jim pushed my credit card away and paid for everything.

  “Why did you do that?” I asked as we headed for the door. “I’m able to buy these things.”

  “Someone needs to take care of you in your feeble state.”

  He chuckled as I rolled my eyes then crossed my arms. “Feeble state? Are you sure you have the right person?”

  “Yep.” He leaned up closer to me. “We’ll talk, but right now, we need to get to the car.”

  “Are we being followed?” I whispered.

  “Yep. R and C.”

  “R and C?”

  He leaned up to my ear. “Russians and the Chinese. Both sets.”

  I glanced behind him and saw some very familiar faces from both countries. Yes, he was right—this time.

  Once we got into the car, he spun out of the parking lot. He seemed to be in hyper-drive, taking detours and going the wrong way on one-way streets. I assumed the reason he was driving like this was to make sure we weren’t being followed. But knowing him, it could’ve been because he thought I enjoyed the risk. I slid down in my seat, closed my eyes, and tried not to get sick at how fast he was driving. The man was nuts—even more so than I was.

  He finally drove into the apartment’s garage. We both grabbed the bags and headed into the apartment. Jim locked the apartment door behind him and pulled out his cell phone while one of his goons ran a wand over us.

  “You’re clean,” the goon said.

  “Good.” Jim pushed a number on speed dial and walked out of the room, heading for the bathroom.

  I put all the bags on the couch and turned toward Chris, who was still holding the baby. “There are clothes and diapers in this bag. I’ll be right back to help you dress him.”

  “Good. He’s a mess, I think.”

  “Nice to hear. I can hardly wait.” I went into my bedroom just in time to see Squirt and Ray making out.

  “Oh brother,” I said. “You’d think you’d keep it in your pants or something.”

  “There’s nothing like sex after having a baby,” Ray said, panting. “It’s such a turn-on, and so naturally incredible.”

  I shook my head and pointed. “But on my bed?”

  “Don’t worry. We have a towel,” Squirt said. He still had his pants on, so at least I wasn’t interrupting anything…yet.

  “Yeah, my clean towel,” I muttered. I threw the bags into the room. “Here are s
ome clothes. Get a shower, get dressed, and make it snappy.” Then leave, I thought to myself. I shut the door behind me, then heard Ray start to moan. That was more than my brain could handle. I returned to the living room, took the baby from Chris, and laid him on the floor.

  “You’re Chris, right?” I asked the man.

  “Yes, and you’re Harley, the hottest woman around. When this is over, want to go out?”

  I looked up at him and snorted a chuckle. “Don’t get your hopes up.” I pulled out a diaper and wipes, then cleaned the child. He was a mess, and so was my new black towel. “Let’s get this poor thing dressed. I’m so sorry you had to hold him, but something happened at the store and I was kind of detained.” I put the disposable diaper over the baby so I wouldn’t be hosed down.

  Chris’ face went blank as I glanced up. “Detained?” he asked.

  “Yeah. At gunpoint by the Arabic guards, but I took care of it.”

  He stopped taking an outfit out of the plastic bag and stared at me. “You did? You took care of it, and not Jim?”

  “Yes, I did. All by myself. Jim had a gun on them, but I had the one with the gun on the floor. I really didn’t need Jim. I was tired of having that guy’s gun at my head. I really need a cigarette and a drink after that.”

  Chris still didn’t move. “Weren’t you worried about getting shot? I mean, you’re a civilian.”

  “Nah. Not at all. He wasn’t going to shoot me because he thought I had information. I don’t, but he doesn’t need to know that.”

  “Gosh, that’s really hot. Are you sure you can’t go out with me after this is over? I’m not allowed to date clients.”

  I stopped what I was doing and stared up at him. “You’re not?”

  “No, none of us are. Why?”

  I had to hide my surprise, but knew it wasn’t going to be easy. “No reason.” So Jim was playing with me the whole time? I shouldn’t have been as shocked as I was, but still, I’d fallen for it. I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been.

  Chapter 15

  I took the outfit from Chris and dressed the baby in warm clothing. After wrapping him in a blanket, I held him to my chest. We went for a little walk to the kitchen and threw out my new towel. With the baby still in my arms, I went back to the living room and sat on the couch away from where Ray had been sitting. I was sure it was still wet or something, but really didn’t want to know. This couch was headed for the dump, anyway. Since it was a present from the idiot Billy, it needed to go. Billy needed to go, too, and I’d known that since I’d met Jim, even though I didn’t trust him, either. No man was to be trusted. I’d been burned too much.