He pulled out his phone and made sure it was on; Lorenzo’s contact should be calling soon. After securing his own seat belt, Joey drove out onto the road and headed toward the location where the van was found.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, he watched Donald’s head bounce slightly with the car’s movement. It looked like the corpse was nodding to some unheard music, chilled out and agreeable.
“I have to say,” Joey admitted, “I think I kind of like you better dead than alive.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Cocaine? Did you say they found drugs at the man’s house?” Kathy asked, feeling some of her wits return.
“Yep. It’s ugly, ain’t it?” Harry said. “Hard to believe things like this happen in our neck of the woods.”
Kathy held the puppy so tightly that it wiggled to get free. When she loosened her hold, the poor creature leaned back and tried to lick her face, but she arched her neck away. Luke glanced at her in the rearview mirror as if trying to send her a message. And if she read that unspoken message right, it was: Relax, I’ll explain it later.
He’d better explain. He’d better have a damn good explanation, too. Because she’d halfway agreed to be part of stealing a car, but she hadn’t said squat about being part of a drug deal. And, hey…she was picky about the crimes she wanted to commit.
Again she wondered, what if she was wrong about him? But then the mental image of Luke—as Stan—ruffling her son’s hair and helping him fix his bike’s tire played across her mind, and she knew she wasn’t wrong.
She inhaled, hoping fresh oxygen would reduce the panic building in her chest. The smell of puppy, shampoo, and yeah, just a hint of the stench they had left back in the Goodwill trailer filled her nose.
“So what do you think? Are we going to make a deal?” Harry asked Luke.
“Yes, I think we’re going to be negotiating, but there’s just one little problem.”
This was it, Kathy realized, and her heart pumped crazily.
“What’s that?” Harry asked.
Luke pulled over to the side of the road.
Oh, crap! This was definitely it, and with the tension forming in her belly, her need to pee grew more intense. She closed her eyes and concentrated on not wetting her pants, on keeping that fizzy feeling from taking over her mind.
“Why are we stopping?” the man asked.
Kathy took another gulp of oxygen, and her gasp echoed through the car. Her eyes popped open. She didn’t want to see Harry’s face when he learned what they were up to, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from looking.
“You got a cell phone, Harry?” Luke asked.
“Sure.” Harry pulled a phone from his pocket. “Why…?”
Luke reached over and took it. Harry’s jowls, dangling down on each side of his face, dangled just a bit lower with his frown.
“Here’s the deal.” Luke gazed back at Kathy for a brief second, as if he knew this was eating her alive. “How much are you asking for this car?”
“Eight thousand.” Harry’s voice had lost its previous enthusiasm. “You want to give me back my cell phone?”
“Why don’t we make it an even ten and I keep the phone.” Luke ran his palm over the steering wheel while holding Harry’s cell phone in his other hand. “I could even go as high as twelve if you play your cards right.”
“Eight is fine.” Harry’s eyes, almost as bug-eyed as the pug puppy’s, grew a tad bigger. “You’re shitting me, right?”
Luke shook his head. “Serious as a heart attack.”
Luke’s tone must have rung Harry’s warning bells, because the old man’s round face grew pale—with exception of his ears, which grew red. Kathy suddenly wished Luke hadn’t used the word heart attack.
“Why don’t we just head back to the lot?” Harry glanced back at her, and Kathy saw the question in his eyes. “Start the car,” he insisted. “I need to get back.”
“Can’t do that, Harry,” Luke said. “You see, here’s how this is going to play out. I’m going to pay you twelve thousand for this car, which is probably double what it’s really worth. But it’s going to be a few weeks before I can get you the money.”
“I don’t think so,” Harry said, and he turned around again and his bugged out eyes found Kathy’s. “He’s the one they’re talking about on the radio, right? You’re the gal who—”
“That’s enough.” Luke reached over and turned Harry’s face to him. “I’m the one you need to pay attention to. And here’s what I want you to do.”
“I’m not doing crap. You’re going to start this car right now and head back.”
“Harry, Harry,” Luke said. “You’re not listening to me. And you’ve got to listen. You want the extra four thousand dollars, don’t you?”
Harry, beer gut and all, dove over the gearshift, his fist swinging. His belly slammed into the steering wheel, and he looked like an angry Pillsbury Doughboy with his jowls jiggling.
“Noooo,” Kathy moaned. The puppy whimpered.
Luke managed to dodge the rotund man’s attack and pushed him back in his seat—but Harry came back for more. “Get out and run!” the guy screamed at her.
Luke grabbed the car salesman’s right fist and held it tight. “Don’t make this hard.”
Harry swung with his left.
Luke ducked, and the driver-side headrest took the blow. Kathy could tell that Luke was trying not to hurt the man, but when Harry’s fist hit Luke in the gut, she heard him groan and knew he was losing patience.
“Stop!” Kathy wasn’t sure which man she was talking to, but the one-word order seemed appropriate. Of course, neither guy listened to her. Harry shifted more of his weight off the seat and onto Luke’s, and they continued to tussle. Then Harry jerked back, and in his hands he had Luke’s gun.
“No!” Kathy screeched.
Luke didn’t waste a second. His face all seriousness, he grabbed Harry’s wrist and slammed it against the dashboard. The gun dropped, and Luke snatched it up.
Upon leaving the hospital, Jason Dodd drove Sue straight to Chase and Lacy’s. He’d spoken to Chase several times in the last few hours, and they’d decided to give their wives the news together. Neither Chase nor Jason looked forward to it, but both knew their wives would raise holy hell if they learned they’d been kept in the dark.
“Come in,” Lacy said, her gaze concerned as she opened the door. “Are you okay?” she asked, obviously having spoken with Sue previously. “I can’t believe what happened. And I still can’t get Kathy on the phone.”
“I’m fine,” Sue replied. “And yeah, it’s Kathy I’m worried about.” She cut her eyes to Jason, letting him know she didn’t appreciate him being so secretive. Whenever she’d asked about what he knew—which had been about ten times at this point; Sue was anything but patient—the only thing he’d tell her was that Chase was looking into it and that they were headed here now to find out. And in part that was true. He hoped Chase was here with more information.
He and Sue walked in and stood in the entryway, and Lacy shut the door. Jason moved to the living room, expecting to see Chase. His friend wasn’t there, and Jason knew he had about thirty seconds before both Sue and Lacy started demanding answers. And while he’d learned to deal with Sue’s plain and simple outbursts of emotion, Lacy scared him. The woman had once threatened to grind his male parts into sausage.
Where was Chase? Jason pulled out his phone. He’d spoken with his friend twice since he’d left the hospital—once when Chase arrived at Stan Bradley’s place and again when he’d shown up at the van—and found out that Cary Jenkins, a friend and Hoke’s Bluff police officer, had actually seen Kathy and the plumber. While they didn’t know what the hell was going on, the news that Kathy seemed well had provided a big sigh of relief, but there were still a hell of a lot of questions yet to be answered.
The blood found at the plumber’s place was right now being tested. Since Cary’s report, they didn’t think it was Kathy’s, but whose
was it? Cary swore Kathy looked fine, and other than a black eye, even Bradley didn’t appear hurt. Cary also said that Kathy had introduced Stan Bradley as her boyfriend. But was Kathy lying because she was frightened? Did Bradley have a gun on her?
Jason’s gut clenched again at how close his wife had come to the men who shot up the plumber’s house. He didn’t have a clue why one of those men had made Sue hide in the closet, but Jason was damn sure going to shake that man’s hand when they found him—right before he slapped a pair handcuffs on him if he had anything to do with Kathy’s disappearance.
Glancing back at the women still jabbering in the entryway, Jason dialed Chase’s number and waited for him to answer. He’d better not have stood him up with both their wives.
According to the last call from Chase, Stan Bradley’s neighbor and landlady had given a detailed description of all the men. This made Jason feel better about tweaking his report and leaving out the fact that Sue had been at Kathy’s. Especially when one of the guys described sounded just like the man who’d forced Sue into the closet: big, midthirties, thick sandy brown hair and light green eyes.
“Hey.” Chase’s voice sounded with the opening of the front door. Relief washed over Jason, and he shut his phone and swung around.
“What are you doing home?” Lacy leaned into her husband. “I tried to call you just a minute ago but—”
Chase kissed his wife, then met Jason’s gaze. “Let’s sit down.”
“Sit down? Why? What…? Oh, God, it’s Kathy, isn’t it?” Lacy’s tone shot from mildly concerned to grave. She gave her husband’s hand a tug. “Talk to me, Chase!”
“Let’s sit down first.” Chase nudged his wife forward.
Jason saw Sue’s eyes tear up as she pressed a hand over her mouth. He went to her and wrapped an arm around her waist and walked her to the sofa. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered.
He prayed he was right.
Luke kept the gun pointing away from Harry, but his scowl was aimed right at the used-car salesman. “Sit back!” he commanded.
Kathy watched Harry slam back into his seat, his face now the same beet red color as his ears and his gaze focused on the gun.
“That’s much better,” Luke said.
Harry raised his hands in the air.
“Now,” Luke continued, “you’re going to get out of the car and take your sweet time walking back. For every hour it takes you before you call and report this car missing, I’m going to throw in another thousand.”
Harry shook his head. His expression went cold, and he cut his gaze back to Kathy. She could see the concern in his light blue eyes, and that it was for her. “No,” he growled. “You can’t do this.”
“I’m going to pay for the car,” Luke insisted. “You have my word.”
“Your word is shit!” Harry spat out.
“You won’t say that when you get the money.”
“I don’t want your drug money.”
“Harry. Harry.” Luke talked the way one might to a misbehaving child. “Just get out of the car. I promise you, everything is going to turn out fine.”
“So you can shoot me in the back when I get out?”
“I’m not going—”
“He’s not going to shoot you,” Kathy interrupted.
“Let her go with me,” Harry said. “She hasn’t done anything to you.”
Kathy saw Luke glance in the rearview mirror. She knew he was getting inpatient.
“Luke,” she said, “Maybe you should just be honest. Tell him about—”
“I said get out!” Luke spoke to Harry but glared at her.
She ignored his warning. “Harry, he’s not going to hurt me. Really. I’m fine. Just do as he says.”
Harry puffed out his chest, as if wanting to be her hero, and guilt burned in Kathy’s empty stomach.
The used-car salesman pointed a chubby finger at Luke. “I’m not leaving unless you let her go, too. I won’t leave her with the likes of you.”
Luke glanced again at the side mirror. He turned around in his seat, faced her, and then winked. The little flutter of his eyelid seemed to imply something, but she didn’t have the slightest clue what.
Unfortunately, she found out.
“Get out, or the girl gets it,” Luke said, and while he didn’t point the gun at her, he held it closer.
Her heart stopped pumping. The wink hadn’t been nearly enough of a warning.
“Get out!” Luke ordered. “Or I’ll take it out on her.”
He didn’t say he was going to shoot her, but she knew that was what Harry thought. The poor old man looked horrified. And frankly, so was she. Not for one second did she think Luke would shoot her. But poor Harry didn’t know that. This was Luke’s ploy to get Harry to leave? He really didn’t think he could trust random citizens? While she understood his motive, she didn’t like his action.
Neither did Harry. His face got redder, his eyes wider.
“Don’t do this,” she snapped at Luke. Then, to Harry: “Don’t worry about me. He’s not going to hurt me. He’s not like that. Just get out.”
Harry didn’t look convinced. So Kathy reached over and thumped Luke on the ear. “See? He’s not going to hurt me.”
Harry’s gaze shot from Luke to her as if confused. Luke looked mildly affronted.
“He’s not a bad guy. He plays good with kids and everything.” Kathy grabbed a lock of Luke’s dark hair and gave it a tug, and Luke yelped. “Seriously. See? Don’t worry about me.” She pulled his hair again. “I’m fine. Would he let me do this if he was going to hurt me?” Then, to prove her point, she gave his ear another thump. A hard one.
Luke flinched and twisted in his seat, his frown deepening. He caught her by the wrist, but the whole time his gaze never left the used car salesman. “She’s really getting on my nerves, Harry. I suggest—”
“Don’t…don’t hurt her.” Harry held up his hands. He reached for the door handle, opened it and backed out of the seat as if he was really worried that Luke would shoot him. Before he pulled his head out of the car, he looked at her. “I’m sorry.”
“Wait!” Kathy said. “Here…” Pushing the puppy out of her lap, she snagged the water bottle he’d given her. “Take this with you. It’s a long walk back.”
He took it but kept staring.
Spotting Luke’s bottle of water in the cup holder, Kathy leaned over the car seat, her bottom hoisted in the air, and she offered it to Harry as well. “Take his, too. Just in case.”
Harry nodded, looked even more confused; then, armed with two bottles of water, he backed away from the car and swung the door closed.
Luke nudged her back into her seat and then took off. The tires squealed. The pug puppy climbed back into her lap, found his spot and curled up.
“You could have been nicer,” she accused. She ran her hand over Goodwill and glanced back to see Harry’s rotund figure growing smaller.
Luke’s dark blue eyes met hers. “I tried being nice. Didn’t work,” he said, suddenly digging around in the seat. Then he held his hand up, Harry’s cell phone in his grasp.
“You could have tried harder.”
“He snagged my gun,” Luke snapped. “I nearly got shot trying to be nice!” He glanced at the phone, then focused on Kathy again as he tugged off his tie. “You could have been nicer, too. You didn’t have to thump me. That took me back to the time my mom caught me…” He trailed off, almost smiling, tossed the necktie in the empty front seat, then hit some buttons on the phone. His expression fell back to serious.
Kathy held her breath and waited, praying he got in touch with whoever it was he needed. At the same time, her mind shot to him as a boy and she wondered what he’d been caught doing. What kind of kid had he been? Had he been outgoing? Or quiet and shy like Tommy?
The thought made her miss her son, and the air gushed out of her lungs. She wondered if he’d tried to call her. Did Tommy miss her? Or was he having too much fun with his dad and new elderly
stepmom? Kathy’s heart suffered a little tug-of-war.
She blinked away the beginning of her watery weakness and saw Luke clench his jaw.
“Calvin, damn it!” Luke spat. “Answer your freaking phone! Call me—at this number.”
“What do we do now?” she asked, when he tossed the phone on the empty seat beside him.
“We come up with a new plan,” he growled, shrugging out of the suit coat.
“What?” she asked.
He didn’t hesitate. “It’s called staying alive.”
Kathy closed her eyes and sighed. “Could ‘staying alive’ possibly include a bathroom stop? And how about an explanation of the drugs back at your place?”
Chapter Fifteen
Jason followed the others into Lacy’s living room. The moment Sue and Lacy were both sitting, Chase started talking. “As far as we know, Kathy is okay, so both of you can calm down.”
“Where is she?” Sue and Lacy chorused.
“We’re not sure.” Jason sat on the arm of the sofa beside his wife and ran his hand over her back. “We’re pretty sure she’s with Stan Bradley right now.”
“She went over to his house,” Lacy said. “But what does that have to do with what happened at Kathy’s? Is she in danger?”
Jason met Chase’s eyes, and his friend finally jumped in. “Kathy left with Bradley from his place.”
“And that’s bad because…?” Lacy guessed, staring at her husband.
“We’re not sure Kathy went willingly,” Jason explained.
“What?” Lacy said. “Why would you wonder that?” Her blue eyes found her husband. “What the hell is going on?”
Chase sat on the recliner close to Lacy, and Jason could see concern for his wife in his friend’s eyes. “Police were called to Bradley’s. Someone shot up the house. A neighbor saw Bradley with Kathy, and it appeared as if he forced her into her van.”
“Oh, God!” Sue’s eyes filled with tears.
Jason took her hand. If she needed to cry on him, that was okay. He’d given at least a dozen shirts to the crying-wife cause, and he’d give a hundred dozen if it made her feel better. Today, when he’d thought about losing her, he’d realized all over again how precious she was and how damn lucky he was that she loved him.
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