Her gaze held his as a magnet holds steel. “You’ll have twice the chance of getting away if I’m with you.” She shook her head. “Look, this might be your case—your vendetta, but it’s my evidence. Whether you like it or not, we’re in this together. I’m not going to walk away and let you take the heat alone just because things are starting to get dangerous. Taranto might not follow you if you leave alone.”
Joey began to shake again, violently this time, his legs stiffening as his heels jostled off the pillows and tapped a beat on the floor. Toni pulled from Nick’s restraining hands, disappeared into the bedroom and returned a second later with a blanket draped over her shoulders. She bent to pick up the gun her mother had dropped.
Kate got to her feet, wrapped Toni in her arms and squeezed. “You be careful—and take care of your Nicholas. I like him.”
“I love you, Mom.”
To his shock, Kate del Rio stepped away from her daughter and turned to fold him in a powerful embrace. “I’ll take care of Joseph. Don’t worry about him. And don’t keep questioning yourself. This seems the only way.”
Toni had to remain limp in his arms as he carried her through the corridors and into the chill concrete of the stairwell. She’d much rather have wound her arms around his neck and hidden her face against him. She felt a shiver of pure fear when she thought about what they were doing, yet she hadn’t been able to stay behind. She’d let her feelings for Nick grow too quickly. The thought of staying behind and allowing him to face this alone had been unacceptable. She hadn’t been able to consider it.
She told herself that it was because he’d done something so precious to her by making her see what drove her all this time. Recognizing that the emotion behind her recklessness had been guilt over her father’s suicide was a major step toward overcoming it. He’d opened the shutters, spilling brilliant light in the shadowy corners of her mind, and forcing her to see what was there. Now she could begin to sweep away the cobwebs and dust that had built up for so long. She owed him for that.
Still, there was more than gratitude in her heart. She recognized that he had some musty, sealed-off rooms in his mind, too. Rooms he rarely allowed himself to enter. She knew the wound in his soul he’d allowed to fester since his brother’s death. She knew that the abandonment by his parents had injured him deeply, and she knew he refused to admit that. She wanted to help him clean out those cluttered rooms and then fill them with warmth and happiness.
It was amazing how well she’d come to know Nick in such a short time. It hit her hardest whenever he looked into her eyes. It was palpable, whatever passed between them then—as if they were touching souls. She wondered if he felt it, too. He kept himself so closed off, it made it difficult to tell.
She felt his body tense, and shook herself. He’d come to the entrance to the parking garage. As he carried her through the doorway, she tensed, as well, but he moved quickly, lowering her into the front seat faster than she would have believed possible. She kept the blanket over her face, left her head limp and clutched the textured walnut grips of the huge handgun until her knuckles whitened. He was behind the wheel in an instant, gunning the motor and speeding away. She knew when they left the underground garage and turned onto the street.
“Is anyone following—” She began to sit up a little as she spoke and flipped the blanket away from her face. Nick’s hand pulled her down again. Her backside was on the seat, but her head was pressed to his rib cage. He held her for a moment, his arm around her like a steel band.
When it came away, she saw him adjust the rearview. “Oh, yeah. They’re coming, all right. Where the hell is Harry?”
Toni felt the car jerk and heard the squeal of the tires when he took a sharp corner, then another. She wished she could see his face. She heard the grim tone in his voice, though. “Harry isn’t here. I can’t believe this….” He took another corner, drew a breath. “Something must’ve happened to him before he could get back to HQ. I think we’re on our own.”
Toni tried to make her voice level. “What—what could’ve happened?”
“Don’t worry about it now. Listen, I’m going to take a few quick turns, see if I can lose them for a second. Just long enough for you to get out. Slide over by the door and get ready—”
“I told you we’re in this together, Nick.”
“That was when we thought we had backup.”
“And now I’m the only backup you have,” she countered. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He drove in stony silence then, never slowing down, his muscles tense. Suddenly he hit the brakes, and she heard him swear viciously. His thigh went rigid under her hand, and she lifted her head very slightly to see what had caused him to skid to a halt.
A car had pulled across the street in front of them. Nick shifted into reverse and slammed the pedal to the floor, turning the wheel sharply. He was crossways in the street when the van skidded to a stop behind them. They were trapped. The only way out was a narrow channel between the vehicles. It would take them over the sidewalk and smack into a mailbox, but—
Before she could complete the thought, the men were out of their vehicles. She saw two barrels pointing toward her from behind the car. A frantic glance to her right showed two more from the van. Lou Taranto’s voice came clearly. “Out of the car, Nicky. I don’t have time to play with you. I count three and put a bullet in the gas tank!”
Nick looked down at her, into her eyes, and again she felt that powerful surge of some unknown force linking them together. “Stay down low,” he instructed. His voice was deep and soft. “Count to ten, then shift into gear and put the pedal to the floor.” His eyes shifted, indicating the same escape route she’d just recognized.
She frowned. “I don’t under—” She stopped, eyes widened when she saw his hand close around the door handle. “No. Nick, you can’t—”
“He means it, Toni. He’ll blow us both to hell if I don’t.” He reached down, threading his fingers in her hair. “They think it’s Joey in here with me. They won’t be expecting it. Their attention will be on me. When I get far enough from the car, floor it. It’s your only chance.”
“No. I won’t do it, you can’t—”
“Manelli! I’m taking aim! Get out now or burn!”
Nick blinked. He leaned over and touched her face with his lips. “Do it. Don’t look back.” He forced a lopsided grin. “For what it’s worth, Gypsy, it meant something with you.”
He wrenched the door open and got out fast. Toni barely restrained herself from shrieking at him. She slid herself into his spot behind the wheel, still keeping her head lower than the seat.
“Move away from the car,” Taranto yelled.
Toni saw Nick walk slowly toward the rear of the car, then past it. He stood several yards to the rear of the vehicle, and as he’d predicted, every gun was trained on him. She swallowed hard. This couldn’t be happening. She blinked and when she opened her eyes, she saw a man coming toward the passenger side, his gun drawn and ready.
“If Salducci isn’t dead yet, finish him.” Taranto’s voice echoed in her mind. She turned herself in the seat so she faced that door. She pulled the blanket around her, leaving a crack she could see through and poking the six-inch nickel barrel through another. She thumbed the hammer back.
The car door opened, and the tall, dark outline of a man filled it. She watched in horror as the gun barrel lowered toward her. She tightened her finger on the trigger, and the big gun bucked violently in her hands. The roar of it was deafening in the car’s interior. The man reacted as if he’d been slammed in the chest with a hammer, jerking backward. His face went lax. The shock faded, and his body sunk limply to the ground.
She had to act quickly while the confusion lasted. At the moment, they must think his gun was the one they’d heard. She jammed her finger on the trunk-release button and shifted the car into reverse. She backed fast, hitting the brakes only when she was right at Nick’s side. She heard the shots being fired at her now.
The window to the left exploded, showering her with glass. The one at the right imitated it, seemingly at the same time. As soon as she felt the car sink with Nick’s weight, she sped away, hitting the mailbox hard enough to rattle her teeth, jumping the curb and squealing over a stretch of sidewalk. The car dropped back to the street again on the other side of the parked van, and Toni pushed the pedal to the floor.
The lights around her blended into a single blurred haze. The traffic sounds became a buzzing drone as the adrenaline surged. They must be chasing her. She couldn’t see them now, but they must be. Was Nick hit in all the shooting? Was he even now bleeding to death in the trunk? She’d killed a man. The weight of it dropped on her suddenly and powerfully. She’d taken a life. She hadn’t even known him and she’d killed him. Her stomach heaved, and she bit her lip until she drew blood to fight off the nausea.
Tears pooled in her eyes, and no amount of blinking prevented them spilling over. She’d never been so frightened in her life! Her hands shook, partly from the force with which she gripped the wheel and partly from the remnants of her terror. She could barely see where she drove now, but she kept the pressure on the accelerator all the same…
…until she careened into an intersection and heard the blast of an air horn. The impact snapped her head back. She heard grinding, bending metal and shattering glass. She smelled diesel smoke and hot rubber. She felt a warm trickle at her temple and then she felt nothing at all.
Chapter 11
The collision sent Nick sailing from the trunk of the car. He felt the queasy sensation of being airborne, then the force of the ground that rushed up to meet him. A knife seemed to twist in his shoulder. Every trace of air gusted from his lungs with the impact. For an instant he couldn’t move, paralyzed by the jolt. His head came up slowly. His gaze pinpointed the car, its front folded like an accordion, its windshield shattered. A diesel truck’s long nose stood embedded in the side of the car, just to the front of the driver’s door. The vehicles had met at the center of an intersection, where Toni had probably run a red light.
Nick struggled to his feet and shook his head to clear it. He had to get over there, had to see if Toni—
He sucked in a sharp breath when he saw her, slumped forward in the car, her wild hair obliterating the steering wheel. He moved forward at an uneven lope, not aware of the renewed bleeding in his unhealed thigh or the way his left arm hung limp at his side. He approached the car door, and a woman leapt to the pavement from the truck and hurried toward him.
“I never saw her. She ran the light—Oh, God, is she all right?”
He barely heard the woman’s words as he wrenched the door open and bent over her. He saw the thin rivulet of blood and pushed the hair away from her face, careful not to move her. A tiny cut, perhaps from flying glass, bled only slightly. In the dim glow of the truck’s marker lights, Nick searched for signs of injuries but saw none. Her skin was dusted thinly with a white powder that puzzled him at first.
He took her hand, felt her strong pulse thrumming beneath the skin of her wrist and breathed a sigh of relief. “Toni? Can you hear me?” Her eyelids flickered. “Toni? Come on, baby, talk to me.”
Her brows drew together, and her eyes opened slowly. “Nick?” She lifted her head from the wheel. “What happened?” She looked around her, saw the truck and stiffened. “Oh, God…are you okay?” Her gaze pored over him.
“Fine. You’re the one I’m worried about.”
She seemed to take stock for a moment, then looked at him, her eyes clearer, and nodded. “I bumped my head. Other than that, I’m okay….” She stopped and fingered the powder-coated material that hung from the center of the steering wheel into her lap.
“The air bag. Looks like it burst somehow. Sure did its job first, though.” He touched her face, studying her dark eyes. “You sure you’re all right, Gypsy? Do you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m okay,” she repeated. This time she leaned toward him, placing her feet on the pavement. Still sitting, she looked up suddenly. “Taranto. Where is he?”
“Not far, that’s sure.” She nodded, started to stand. Nick slipped his arms around her waist and helped her up. She took a moment to get her balance.
Behind him Nick heard the truck driver sigh. “She seems okay. Look, I’m going to find a phone, report this. Do you want me to call an ambulance?”
“No,” Toni answered quickly before Nick had a chance to say anything. She met his gaze, and he knew they were both thinking the same thing. She’d be a sitting duck in an ambulance.
The slender woman nodded. Nick saw her reach into the truck and remove some flares before she hurried away. He held Toni against him with his good arm and urged her away from the scene. A crowd was already forming. He moved quickly, keeping to the shadows, ducking between buildings and emerging in a parking lot that must have been filled to capacity. It took only a minute to find an unlocked car. A ’75 Mustang, with several rust spots forming in the cherry red paint. He reached under the dashboard, twisted the right wires together and smiled slightly when the motor came to life. He stepped back to help Toni slide into the car, but she shook her head fast.
“You said you were fine. Your leg is bleeding.”
“That’s not all that will be bleeding if we don’t get out of here.”
She shook her head, but got in and slid across the seat. Nick took the wheel and drove very slowly from the lot. As they gained the street, he glimpsed Lou Taranto’s car pulled up at the curb. He scanned the crowd, catching sight of Lou’s round body forcefully moving through toward the car in the intersection.
Toni pointed. “Nick, it’s him!”
“I know. Take it easy, he won’t be looking for a Mustang.” He continued to drive carefully, causally. In a moment the accident scene was behind them, and he drove faster.
Toni glanced up at him, shook her head. “You aren’t using your left arm.”
He felt the relief wash through him. Her speech wasn’t slightly slurred now, as it had been a few minutes ago. He looked at her. She sat back against the seat, brushing at the powdery residue from the air bag that clung to her. He had the absurd urge to pull off the road, take her into his arms and kiss her breathless. God, when he’d seen her in the car in those first moments after the collision, he thought he’d lost her. Again. The horrible feeling had hit him once before, earlier, when he’d seen Taranto’s thug walk toward the car and heard that single gunshot. For just one excruciating moment, he’d thought the man had killed her. The notion had nearly made him sink to his knees then and there.
This realization put a whole new light on things. He thought he’d prepared himself for the inevitable time when she’d leave him. Now he knew nothing could prepare him for that. He’d felt only pure anguish in those moments. Desolation like nothing he knew could exist had enveloped him in blackness.
“Nick?”
He snapped out of his ponderings at the sweet sound of her voice. He knew he’d have to reassess this thing…later. Right now all he could feel was elation that she was all right. He looked at her again, at her smooth dark skin, her thick-lashed ebony eyes. He could look at her forever and not get used to her stunning beauty, he thought vaguely.
“Nick, your arm. Is it broken?”
“My—no. I landed on my shoulder when I was launched from the trunk. It’s sore but not broken.” He was having a tough time keeping his eyes on the streets, making the right turns to take them to the highway and as far from the city as they could get.
“But it hurts…a lot. I can see that.” She shoved her hair back with one open hand. “Do you want me to drive?”
“You think I have a death wish? I will not ever be a passenger in a vehicle you’re operating again, lady. Not even if it’s a tricycle.”
A laugh escaped, but she stifled it quickly. “I owed you a ride in a trunk, the way I see it.” Her smile faded slowly, and worry clouded her hypnotic eyes. “Do you think Mom and Joey made it out of there?”
“Not a d
oubt in my mind,” he told her without pause. “Taranto was behind us the minute we left. Your plan worked like a charm. There was nothing to get in your mother’s way—not that I think it would have mattered.”
She looked up quickly. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I think you’re a lot like her,” Nick said. “Now I know where you get your brass.” She shook her head, but he went on. “As soon as we put a few miles between us and Lou, we’ll find a pay phone and check on them.”
“Good.” She studied her hands in her lap for a moment. “You’re wrong about the brass, Nick. I was terrified back there.”
“Only an idiot wouldn’t have been.” He signaled to turn and took them over the ramp to Route 95, heading east. “You could’ve left me there…should’ve. Instead, you backed the damn car right into the cross fire to pick me up.” He shook his head, recalling the shock he’d felt to see the car coming toward him as the trunk lifted. “Until then, I thought the son of a bitch had shot you.” He swallowed the lump that came into his throat when he said those words out loud.
She cleared her throat, and he saw her blink rapidly. “I never…thought I’d have to…kill someone.”
Idiot, he chided inwardly. He hadn’t even thought she might be feeling the effects of that. “You know it was him or you, Toni.”
She nodded. “I know…it’s just…”
He forced his throbbing shoulder into action, lifting his arm and taking the wheel with his left hand. He slid his right along the back of the seat, encircled her shoulders and pulled her to his side. “Go on, tell me. I’ve been there, too, you know.”
A tiny sob escaped, and she pressed her face to his shoulder. “I keep seeing his face. He looked so shocked at first, and then…then just nothing. Just dead.” Her voice thickened, and her hand gripped his upper arm. “Dead, and I watched the life leave that man…I caused it. It’s a horrible feeling. I took his life. He’s gone, forever, because of me.”
Reckless Angel Page 16
