“Did you get a description?”
“I got better than that. I got a name. Aleksei Fyodorov.”
Quigg’s eyes widened at the mention of Viktor Landis’s henchmen. “Are you sure?”
“Very sure. And Grace withdrew it the same day it was deposited, the day of her accident.”
“How do you know who made the deposit? Did he sign the deposit slip?”
“Davine, the teller, remembered him. Seems our boy Aleksei was smitten by her, invited her for dinner. Splashed out for a real nice meal at an expensive restaurant.”
“Davine McLaughlin?”
Ray nodded.
“She the one with the salt-and-pepper hair? Kinda plain, kinda middle-aged?”
“That’s her.”
Quigg shrugged. “She must have been to Aleksei’s taste.”
“Not for long, apparently. Davine’s still waiting for the phone to ring again.”
They sat silently for a minute. Ray’s brain raced. One of Landis’s goons deposited the money to his and Grace’s joint savings account. Grace withdrew the money the very same day. This was not good. It meant Grace had to have known the deposit was going to be made, and when.
Could Landis be the bastard who lured her away?
No. Grace’d see through that superficial charm to his ruthless heart. Wouldn’t she?
Besides, Landis wasn’t going anywhere, not with the little empire he was building here. And Grace was so sure she’d been leaving the country....
Realization hit him with the force of a fist in the gut.
“Dammit, Quigg, she wasn’t running into some man’s arms. She was just running. That bastard has something on her.”
“Something on Grace?”
“Or maybe she has something on him. Something he didn’t want to come to light.”
“And Landis, being such a gentleman, just hands her the money to get out of Dodge?” Quigg’s expression was skeptical. “Excuse the indelicacy, but why wouldn’t he just whack her? The cost-benefit analysis doesn’t compute.”
Ray swore viciously.
“What?”
“It computes, all right. Christ, I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. It lets Landis kill two birds with one stone.”
“How so?”
“He has Aleksei put the money into my account, then makes damn good and sure the teller remembers him so she can recount the details for inquiring minds at IAD.”
“Okay, I’ll buy that. No better way to make a woman remember you than wine her, dine her, and drop her without explanation.”
“And he threatens Grace, giving her a powerful reason to take the money and run. Without which, the scheme wouldn’t have worked. Any other time, a deposit like that shows up in my account, I’m gonna march right down to the bank and sort it out. That would have led me to our man Aleksei, after which I’d be covering my ass six ways to Sunday.”
“Jesus.”
Ray barely heard Quigg’s expletive. “This way, they get Grace in a situation where she feels like she needs to take the money and split, and wham! They got me.” He slammed a fist into his palm. “In one move, he completely destroys my credibility, putting into question everything I’ve done.”
Quigg whistled. “Smooth. Landis gets rid of Grace, plus he finds a way to make the mud stick to you. Then he leaves a trail a blind man could follow.”
Ray massaged his throbbing temple. “Bastard’s probably still patting himself on the back for this one.”
“Except Grace didn’t leave town. She crashed her car, took a knock on the head and promptly forgot that she was supposed to be running.”
“Christ, Quigg, I really botched this. I shoulda figured it out days ago.” Ray dug his fingernails into his palms until it hurt. “I just wasn’t thinking straight. That damned story about a boyfriend ... I was sure this mystery man gave Grace the money. You know, to show her he could take care of her better than I could. Pathetic, huh?”
“Don’t beat yourself up.”
They were both silent for a moment. The radio crackled a TA at Dunsmuir and Main.
“So, what are you going to do now?” asked Quigg.
Ray blinked. “Find Grace and stop her before she puts a hole in someone with my service weapon.”
“Oh, Lord. Gracie is walking the streets with a loaded 9mm semi-auto in her purse? With no safety?”
“No, my other service weapon,” Ray growled.
“Hey, take it easy.”
Ray blew out a frustrated breath, then rubbed his temple. “Sorry. Yes, she’s got my gun.”
Quigg’s brow furrowed with worry. “I think we better call in the troops, Razor. We can find Grace faster, take her into protective custody before she does something crazy.”
“No, Grace’ll be okay,” he said, his mind racing. “I’ve got plenty of time to scoop her up. Remember, I’ve watched Landis for months now. He could be a bloody vampire, the hours he keeps. Grace’ll most likely be sitting on that night club he runs, waiting for him to show, which he’s not going to do for a couple of hours yet. I’ll have lots of time to round her up and take her back into hiding while we figure something out.”
“Let us help. You’ve got friends, Razor. Lots of them.”
Ray shook his head grimly. “Thanks, man, but I can’t take the chance. If Grace has something on Landis, you know he won’t let her live to testify. It’d just be a matter of how many of us he has to wade through before he can get to her.”
“We could slide her right into witness protection.”
“Can you guarantee you’ll be able to do that fast enough? Or that he won’t find her? He’s got eyes and ears everywhere. Man, he had my phone tapped, my house bugged.” Ray shoved a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more. “You’ve heard the rumors, too. I know you have. We talked about it way back when, remember? I didn’t really believe it then, but I do now. He’s already made three attempts to erase us.”
Quigg sighed. “So what are you going to do?”
Whatever I have to do to protect Gracie. “I think we’re both better off if I don’t answer that question.”
“Damn, I knew you’d say that. Okay, anything I can do?”
“Thanks, but you’ve done enough. I’ve already dragged you deeper than I should have. Suzannah’ll skin me, she finds out I involved you.”
“You must need wheels, at least till you catch up to Grace. I think my dad still has that old Ford....”
Of course! Ray clapped his friend on the back. “Quigg, I do believe you can help me after all, ol’ buddy.”
“It’s a an old Focus wagon, but it’ll get you around, I guess.”
“I don’t want the car. I want your Hog.”
“My Harley?”
Under other circumstances, Ray would have laughed at the way his friend blanched. “Still store it in your dad’s garage?”
“Well yeah, but....”
“Then let’s roll. Daylight’s burning.”
“Ray, that motorcycle is my baby.”
“I’ll treat her good.”
“You sure the Focus won’t do?” Quigg asked mournfully.
“Sorry. I need the bike.”
Quigg sighed. “Okay, buddy. Only for you.” He extracted a heavy ring of keys from his pocket and detached a set. “You’ll treat her right?”
Ray accepted the keys. “Like a princess. Can we roll now?”
Ray spotted the old Toyota less than a block from Landis’s club. Guiding the Harley into an adjacent parking space, he killed the bike’s motor and swung off it. His legs felt like rubber, but not from the unfamiliar vibration of the powerful machine between his thighs. No, his legs felt like rubber because, dammit, Grace wasn’t in the car.
She must be inside.
Cursing, he turned up the collar on the leather jacket Quigg had loaned him and checked his reflection in the bike’s mirror. Well, at least nobody would make him in this get-up, and they certainly wouldn’t approach him. Tooled out in leather,
do-rag tied over his hair and looking grim around the mouth, Biker Thug Ray looked like an infinitely scarier prospect than Rapper Thug Ray.
The interior of the club was cool and dark, creating an atmosphere of night for the early patrons, most of whom sat alone nursing drinks. Watered drinks, he knew, and the contents of the bottles probably not the premium brands claimed by their labels.
It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, and another few seconds to find Grace. She sat alone at a booth along the room’s east wall. While he watched, she lifted her glass with a quick, jerky motion, took a large gulp, then put it down again.
Christmas, she was screwing up her courage to pull a gun out and shoot a man in cold blood. And knowing Grace, the beverage probably wasn’t even alcoholic, on account of the baby.
The mix of emotions that lodged in his chest was too complicated to name. Incredulity. Fear. Helpless rage at the man who’d put her in this position. And yes, admiration.
Though he couldn’t sanction what he suspected she planned to do, it humbled him that she was prepared to do it. She could have just taken what remained of the money and run when her memory came back. Instead, she chose to do this for him.
Pushing the knot of emotion back down, he strode over to her table. She flicked a quick glance at him, then lowered her gaze to her drink again. Incredibly, she didn’t recognize him.
“You’re wasting your time,” she clipped. “I bat from the other side of the plate, if you take my meaning.”
Ray slid into the booth. “Coulda fooled me last night.”
Grace’s head snapped up to look at the owner of the voice she’d know anywhere. “Ray!”
“Sssh, keep it down.”
Grace shot a glance around the room. No one seemed to take particular notice of them.
Ray. Here.
For a moment, relief overwhelmed her. Then she remembered. “You have to get out of here.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is that all you can say after the trouble I took to track you down?”
Belatedly, she wondered how he had managed to do it. “How did you find me?”
“I followed the money. Nine times out of ten, it’ll lead you to the answer. This time it led me to Viktor Landis.”
Landis. The mere mention of his name sent a shiver through her. “But so fast ... how?”
He shrugged. “Wasn’t hard, now that we know the money went through our savings account. Our Russian friend left a trail a mile wide at our bank to make good and sure someone found it.”
Her tongue came out to wet her dry lips. “You don’t look surprised to find me here.”
“I’m not.”
She dropped her gaze to her drink. How much had he figured out? Could she convince him Landis was her lover? If so, he’d leave. Even after last night, he’d leave. If she could sell it. If she could make him believe that’s what she truly wanted.
“Don’t even think about it.”
She blinked rapidly. “Think about what?”
“You’re fabricating another story. Don’t bother to deny it; I can see it in your eyes. But I’m not buying this time, so you can just forget it. Besides, we have to get out of here.”
Her heart skipped a few beats. “Another story?”
“Yeah, another story. Like the first one.” He leaned toward her, a menacing stranger in black leather, but she didn’t flinch from him. He’d never looked dearer to her. “I know there wasn’t another man. I know you didn’t want to leave me.”
Lord, she couldn’t do this anymore. Tears stung her eyes.
“Come on.” He took her hand, pulling her out of the booth.
“I can’t see,” she said.
“Just follow my lead.”
A moment later, they stepped outside. The sun was sinking but it was still bright enough outside to make her blink after the darkness of the bar.
As Ray led her to the Toyota, she turned her head toward the west where the sunset had stained the sky a dusky pink over the tops of concrete buildings. The lump in her throat expanded. It was so beautiful and Ray was here, really here, and he knew she hadn’t cheated on him and it was all coming apart and they were both going to die.
“Why’d you have to find me?”
He glanced up from unlocking the Toyota. “To keep you from committing murder.”
Her mouth fell open. “How’d you know?”
“I followed the heart.” He opened the door and waited for her to get in.
Stunned, shaking, she slid behind the wheel.
“As soon as I learned where the money came from, I put it together,” he continued. “You ran because you had to, because you learned something Landis couldn’t afford to have you repeat. You took the money because you had to. And you concocted that boyfriend story to keep me from coming after you.”
With that he closed her door, circled the car and got in the passenger side. “Right so far?”
Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. She nodded blindly.
“And then you stole my gun and abandoned me again because you thought you had to take care of Landis by yourself.”
“Ray, I wish you hadn’t come. I’d have dealt with this.”
“They’d kill you, sweetheart.”
A shiver skated over her skin. “Maybe not.”
“Maybe not,” he agreed. “In which case the Crown Prosecutor would send you up for pre-meditated murder.”
“I wouldn’t care. I don’t care.” She flung the words out. “I can still do it!”
His response was equally fierce. “I won’t have it. You’re my wife, my pregnant wife. I won’t lose you.”
He grabbed her purse from the floor of the car where she’d deposited it and retrieved the 9mm, holstering it quickly.
“You’ll lose me anyway.” She laid a hand on his tensely corded forearm. She had to make him see sense. “I saw his eyes, Ray. He’s not going to let us live, either one of us.”
“You’re preaching to the converted, honey. But you don’t have to risk life or liberty. There’s a better way.”
“No!” Her voice was sharp with panic. “You were right all along, refusing to go in. The police can’t protect us, or not for long, anyway. He told me about other times, other witnesses. He said witnesses are easy to find, easy to kill, if you have enough money and if you inspire enough fear. That’s why he let me go.”
“That, and to give him a handy way to dirty me.”
“I’m sorry about that. I had to take the money.”
“I know.”
“But we can’t turn ourselves in to the police. You see that, don’t you?”
“Who said anything about going in?”
Her eyes widened. He meant to kill Landis himself! “No, Ray, you can’t. You’re a police officer. Your oath....”
“Relax. I’m not going kill him, much as I’d like to. I’m just going to get him to make that mistake we haven’t been able to get him to make.” He looked away to scan the area in front of the night club. “You know, maybe we should take this around the block, out of sight.” He turned concerned eyes back on her. “You okay to drive, or would you like me to?”
“I can do it.” She started the car, flipped on her signal light and moved into light early-evening traffic. She took the first right, then a left, and pulled into a parking space.
“Okay,” she said, killing the engine. “How are you going to get Landis?”
“We’ve got a ton of intelligence on him, but as long as we play by the rules, he’s too careful, too cagey to get caught. But the way he’s jammed us up, I got no trouble coloring outside the lines. I’ll make him so mad he’ll screw up and the boys’ll nail him.”
Grace’s jaw dropped. “You think you can convict him in a court of law? Who’s going to testify against him? I just told you what he said.”
“His own men will, to avoid deportation. According to Interpol, some of them could be facing pretty grim odds if we were to ship them back home. That’s the downside of exploiting your own people.
”
Another memory reached up to pull her down. “They’re using them like slaves.”
“Huh?”
“Illegal immigrants. Forced labor. Prostitution, too.”
She broke off, remembering the sea of surprised faces turned up from crowded workstations when she’d literally stumbled into the warehouse’s back room. Row upon row of women and children, bent over their labors as they turned out authentic hand-crafted ‘imports’. Here illegally, unable to speak English, terrified of discovery as they worked to pay off their ‘fares’.
Ray’s hand under her chin tipped her head toward him. Once again she saw his warm eyes, not the sea of frightened faces.
“You’ve seen this? You can show me where?”
She shook her head. “They’re gone. That’s the first place I stopped when I got back into town, the warehouse in Industrial Park. He must have moved shop after I blundered into it.”
He blanched. “Today? You went there by yourself? Did anyone see you?”
“No. And even if they did, they’d never recognize me as the woman who was there before.” She lifted a lock of red hair to emphasize her point.
“Don’t ever take a risk like that again. You hear me, Gracie?”
His words were harsh, but his voice vibrated with emotion. With fear. She covered his hand with hers.
“I had to. This was all my fault. I put us in this trouble and I wanted to get us out.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is. I was digging around for a story, something that would make Katie sit up and take notice.”
“Grace, honey, Katie loves you. Everybody loves you.”
“Yeah, like they love a three-year-old with ringlets.” She drew her hand back, closing it on the steering wheel. “They pat me on the head and give me those stupid fluff pieces to do. All I wanted was a crack at general assignments, but I couldn’t get anyone to take me seriously. The biggest thing they ever let me tackle was the court briefs, and then only because the regular guy was out with the flu.”
That’s how she’d met Ray, that week covering the courts. “I figured if I could turn in a really good story, they’d see me in a different light and throw more serious things my way.”
Saving Grace (Serve and Protect Series) Page 17
