by Jo Leigh
“You know what you can do with that shotgun, don’t you, Sal?” The idiot kid always had to have the biggest toys. John couldn’t believe he’d given Sal the time of day, let alone tried to help him get into community college. Sal took after his mother’s side. He was as thin as a rail and dressed like an extra on Miami Vice.
“Just do as I say.” Sal’s gaze went to the woman. So did the barrel of his shotgun. “Who the hell is she?”
“Put the fucking gun down before you shoot somebody.” Vince sounded exasperated, and to John’s surprise, Sal backed up a step and lowered the shotgun.
Which made John even more curious about Vince because the kid was too hotheaded to back down for anybody. Behind him, John heard the door opening, felt the cab rock heavily as Vince got out, then the door shut again. A moment later, his peripheral vision caught the hostage walking toward Sal. Handcuffs held her wrists behind her back and even in the puffy down coat, her arm was dwarfed by Vince’s burly grip.
“Johnny. I ain’t got all day.”
He should refuse. Dive down and get his other gun. Shoot and pray he didn’t hit the girl. But she hadn’t done anything except turn up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He really didn’t want to go to hell for killing her. Not that he wasn’t going anyway, but still. This was all his fault, not hers.
He put his hands on the cab’s roof and watched as Sal slyly inched the shotgun toward him. John stared him down, holding the kid’s hateful gaze. No way John would give him the satisfaction of showing that he gave a damn about the shotgun. But then Sal swung the barrel so it pointed at the woman. Not just pointed. Touched. John knew exactly what would happen to her if those two shells went off.
Vince came back to the cab and cuffed John’s wrists. John stood still as a statue as he was frisked, as his gun was pulled from his ankle holster. Vince snickered, and it took all John’s willpower not to knee the fat man in the groin.
Vince had everything now. John’s weapon, both cell phones, even the girl’s tote bag from the backseat. All neat and tidy. John had to wonder how this would have played out if she hadn’t been in the cab. Someone would have died, and it wouldn’t have been him.
“Let’s go,” Vince said, poking him in the back with his pistol.
“Va fungule sfacime.”
“Watch your mouth,” Sal said, snorting. “Remember your girlfriend here.”
“Let her go, Sal. She ain’t involved in this.”
“She is now, Johnny. Come on. We have things to discuss.”
“Like how you shot me?”
“Be careful,” Vince said, his voice lower, closer.
“What?”
Vince hissed at him. “Just shut up. It’ll be okay if you just shut your mouth for five minutes.”
The urge to mess up this gavone was so strong it made every muscle in John’s body tense. He kept his gaze on the shotgun, jerking forward when it met the woman’s coat.
Vince noticed and gave Sal a warning look. The whole thing made John nervous. Sal had been getting in trouble for a while, but mostly small stuff. Vince not only wasn’t from the neighborhood, but he sounded as if he was from the old country. If Sal had somehow gotten mixed up with the Mob, this wouldn’t end well.
And thanks to John, the woman was now in it up to her pretty little neck.
Sal pushed her inside, but not far. The door to the basement was open and he prodded her down. Vince did his own urging and soon they were in the basement of the Molinari family home, only things had changed since John had last been there.
For one, the new door at the base of the stairs. It looked weird. Not just because it was steel, but because it had a slot in the middle, as if it had been made for a psychiatric lock ward. It had to have cost a fortune, but Sal had probably gotten a deal from his uncle’s cousin Nick, who owned a place out in Jersey. Or maybe this was a new Family addition. “What’s with the door?”
Vince poked him on. “What did I say about keeping your mouth shut?”
“Be happy to help you with that there, Johnny,” Sal said, forcing all of them inside the room.
A brown velvet couch dominated the basement itself. The TV was gone, so was the table it used to sit on. No books. No radio. Only a dingy floor lamp. The place looked like a tomb.
“Sit down.”
Johnny stood his ground. “Take the cuffs off.”
“Yeah, right. Sit down.” Sal didn’t push at him, but he did push the girl. The fear on her face when she turned was enough to get John moving.
The couch was even bigger than he’d guessed. He sank into the lumpy cushion. “So, I’m sittin’.”
“You and me, Johnny, we have a deal to make.”
“The only deal I’m interested in is the one where you and your mook friend here end up doing five to ten.”
“Okay, so we won’t talk now. That’s cool. Sweat it out. I don’t give a shit.”
John heard movement upstairs, reminding him where he was. “Where’s Nonna?”
Sal shifted nervously. “Don’t worry about her.”
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Sal, you didn’t hurt her?”
Shock and then anger contorted Sal’s features. “Fuck you, Johnny. What do you think I am?”
“Good question. I don’t know anymore.”
Sal made a move toward him. Vince stopped him. “Enough already.”
“I want to talk to her.” John pushed himself forward on the couch. “Right now.”
Sal made a one-armed gesture. John hit him with curses that would make Nonna, who was ninety-two last San Gennero’s, light enough candles to torch the Bronx.
“Sal.” Vince motioned with his gun. “Get out.”
“The cuffs,” John said, preparing his posture to charge.
Sal didn’t answer. Instead, he walked backward, the shotgun still pointed at the woman, until he reached the door. The two men slipped outside and closed the door so hard the reinforced frame shook. A moment later, the slot opened, and Vince said, “The girl first.”
John stood, and so did she. He cocked his head toward the door. “It’ll be a lot more comfortable.”
“I’m not getting out of here anytime soon, am I?”
He winced at the fear in her eyes. “Not yet.”
She looked at him a few more seconds, then went to the door and turned to offer her wrists.
A minute later it was John’s turn. If he thought it would do a bit of good he’d grab Vince by his goddamn jacket and smash his face in the door. Instead, he decided to leave that option for later and concentrate on the woman.
BELLA STEPPED BACK AS John’s handcuffs were unlocked and the door slot closed. She still couldn’t believe this was happening. Of course she understood that the Mob existed, but even living in Manhattan she’d never dreamed she’d be in any way involved with them, especially not as a hostage. It should have been a good thing to have a detective with her, but he was the one who’d gotten her into this mess, so no points there.
No windows, a steel door, lunatics with guns, no phone. Her chance at stardom shot to hell. And she had to pee.“Look, I don’t know what to say.” John met her eyes. “Sorry obviously doesn’t cover it.”
Bella blinked at him, not sure how to respond. Especially since his GoodFellas accent had suddenly disappeared. She headed for the other side of the room, hoping against hope it had a bathroom. Thank goodness it did. A stall shower, a pedestal sink and god-awful wallpaper, but infinitely better than a bucket.
She closed the door behind her, then locked it and promptly fell apart. Leaning against the door she tried to breathe, but only managed a few labored gasps. She shook so hard her teeth chattered and for a long moment she thought she was going to faint for real. Finally, her heartbeat calmed enough for her to take off her coat and put it on the hook on the door. One look in the mirror at her pasty face and she straightened up. She might be an innocent victim, but she wasn’t going to lie down and wait to die. She focused on pulling herself together, using all her s
ense memories to project strength and calm. Thoughts of the audition almost derailed her. Just remembering how long it had taken her to dress, to make up, to do her hair this morning made her eyes well with tears. She’d been so excited. So certain that this was going to be her best New Year ever.
She all but had the part. The director had told her he just needed to convince the bean counters, and she’d be the lead. Nothing this big had ever happened to her before and now it was all going down the tubes. She couldn’t even call to let him know why she wasn’t there.
All she could hope for was to live to see January 1. She’d rarely thought about her own death, not seriously. To never have another audition. Never see her parents again. Or her best friend. She didn’t want to die. Not today. Not like this. The whole situation was impossibly unfair. A regular Greek tragedy, only no gods were going to swoop in and save the day.
As she washed her trembling hands she tried to find something to hold on to. He was a cop. A detective, although she didn’t know what kind. Killing a cop was huge. They wouldn’t do that, right? Vince had said she’d be fine. Sal had said they needed to talk. If the plan was to leave no witnesses, they’d be dead already.
She did a relaxation exercise she’d learned from yoga class. No Greek gods were going to save her, and more than likely the cop wasn’t, either. Which meant she’d better get on with it. Save herself.
First, she looked in the vanity drawers. Surprisingly, next to several unopened toothbrushes was a half-full box of condoms. A shudder stole through her at the thought. No guns or knives or even razor blades. She did find a hair brush that looked reasonably clean, a box of bandages and some superglue, but none of that would do her any good.
There was nothing in the trash, nothing in the shower but soap and shampoo. The towels might have helped to strangle someone, but they were awfully thick, besides, the only person she could get close to was the detective.
Finally, though, she had to leave the safety of the small room to face the reality out there. She opened the door and walked right smack into the detective. She yelped and he grabbed her by the shoulders. With her heart thudding like a bass drum, she looked into the man’s dark eyes, but he seemed as surprised as she was.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to—”
“What in hell are you doing?”
He licked his bottom lip, then glanced quickly to the toilet.
She felt herself blush and she looked away, her gaze landing on his chest. He let go of her shoulders and she realized just how tightly he’d held her. He was stronger than she’d imagined, which was a good thing. Now if he was half as capable.
He rushed inside the bathroom and closed the door behind him, making her blush deepen. If this were a play, he would clearly be her hero, but in real life, heroes were in short supply. She walked away from the door, rubbing her arm. It wasn’t sore, not really.
To her amazement, her stomach grumbled, and she looked at her watch. No wonder, it was after two. The auditions were still going on, and she had no doubt some other ingenue had caught the director’s eye. It had been too good to be true, anyway. As if to mock her, a wave of nausea hit hard and she pressed a hand to her belly.
Trying to take her mind off of the play, she wandered around the sparse room, wrinkling her nose at the layer of dust lining the baseboards. Thank goodness the bathroom had been clean because the rest of the place needed a good vacuuming and…
On the floor next to the couch was a dirty plate topped by a crumpled paper napkin. Her repugnance was cut short as she noticed a silver handle peeking out. A knife? Please, God. She hurried over and used the toe of her shoe to move the napkin. It was a fork. Better than nothing. She could keep it tucked in her waistband. She bent to pick it up.
“At least the towels are clean.”
Bella straightened and spun to face Detective Greco, and then quickly moved away from the fork. The sudden movement reminded her of the nasty bump she’d suffered in the cab. She didn’t think there was any real damage to her ribs, but it hurt.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Again.”
“I—” She forgot her snippy retort as it hit her how improbably handsome he was. Black hair, cut rather short on the sides, but longish on top. Thick black eyebrows that totally worked over dark brown eyes. His jaw, already peppered with a five o’clock shadow that didn’t hide his cleft chin, was square and strong. Her gaze moved down past a broad chest to narrow hips. His dark suit had been cut well, and his taste in ties wasn’t horrible, although wardrobe would have picked out something in red.
“Uh, ma’am?”
That brought her right back to snippy. “Just how old do you think I am?”
It was his turn to be startled. “I meant no offense.”
“I’m twenty-five. I’m not married. I’m not anything but trapped here with insane mobsters and…you.” Her voice cracked. “That guy, Sal…you seem to know him. Are we going to—” She cleared her throat. “I don’t want you sugar-coating anything.”
His lips curved in a sad smile. “Look, if I’d known you were in the back—”
“We had that discussion. I don’t accept your apology. Aside from losing my audition, I’m probably going to be killed in this stupid basement. With you. I don’t even know you.”
His jaw flexed. “What’s your name?”
“Bella.”
“Bella?”
She looked at him. “What’s wrong with Bella?”
“What’s your last name?”
She didn’t want to tell him. But she supposed he’d need it to notify her next of kin. “Lacarie. Why?”
“Listen to me, Bella Lacarie.” He took her hands in his then met her gaze, his dark eyes serious. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you, understand? I’m sorry about your audition, and for getting you involved in this mess. I’d change things if I could, but I can’t. What I can do is protect you here and now. You have my word, on my mother’s life, that you’re safe, and you’ll continue to be safe. Are we clear?”
Bella felt the knot in her stomach tighten, but not from fear. She stepped out of his grasp, paced to the other side of the room and thought about his promise. She wanted to believe him. She did believe that he meant what he said. Still, she’d grab the fork as soon as his back was turned.
3
JOHN STUDIED HER REACTION. He needed her to trust him. She was clever, he could already tell that, but he needed her to be quick, too. Terrified people often made bad choices at the worst times. Knowing Sal, he was terrified, too, and he made bonehead choices in the best of circumstances.
Bella folded her arms across her chest and continued staring at him. A little pink came to her cheeks, but she didn’t look away. Finally, she nodded. Once.Good. One problem solved. Bigger issues remained. Like how he was going to get them out of this.
“None of this makes sense,” she said. “Why would the Mafia want to make a deal with a detective? Why didn’t they just kill you when you went to get in your car? Or when we were in the garage?” She looked at the door. “Was that…?”
John followed her gaze, listened, but he didn’t hear anything.
When he turned back she was staring at him again, waiting for his answer. “Just because they’re Italian, it doesn’t mean they’re Mafia.”
“You’re right. The kidnapping and the guns mean they’re the Mafia.”
“Good point, but not accurate. Sal’s a wannabe. He watched The Sopranos when he should have been going to school.”
“Which reminds me. Who’s Nonna and how do you know she lives here?”
He shrugged. “She’s part of the neighborhood. Everybody knows everybody.”
“What about Vince?”
John hesitated. He owed her the truth. “He isn’t part of the neighborhood, and I don’t know what he’s doing here. My gut tells me he doesn’t want us dead, but I’m not certain.”
“Okay. Thanks for being honest.” With a calm he wasn’t buying, Bella headed towa
rd the couch. “Even if they’re not officially in the Mafia, they still have to deal with me. If they buy you off, I’m a witness. I was kidnapped at gunpoint. I leave here, go right to the cops and report it.” She sat on the ugly couch, almost lost on the cushions.
He hadn’t realized how tiny she was, probably because she was tall. But she was slender, small-boned. “I told you, they’re not going to hurt you.”
She sighed, looking miserable. “And you were doing so great in the honesty department.”
“I’m not trying to placate you. As long as we’re here, we’ll be okay. If they’d taken us to some deserted warehouse, I’d be sweating it.” A half-truth was better than scaring her out of her mind. He was still sweating it, all right, only because he didn’t remember who the hell Vince was. This had something to do with Sal, and as much as John wanted to kick the kid’s ass right now, deep down he knew Sal wouldn’t hurt Nonna. And he wouldn’t be stupid enough to pull anything in her basement. As far as Vince was concerned, he didn’t strike John as part of one of the local crews. Smarter than Sal, but then, who wasn’t?
He glanced over at Bella again, who was nervously licking her lips. “They leave any water for us?” he asked, glancing around the room.
“I didn’t see any,” she said quickly, stiffening.
He frowned at her odd reaction. Of course she was tense, but there was something else…Maybe not. Maybe he was just jumpy, considering she was his responsibility and anything that happened to her would be on his head.
Even with her strained smile, she was really pretty. “Maybe you could ask them for some?”
“Sure.” Fair enough request, but no, something was off with her. He left the couch and at the door, yelled for Sal. He didn’t get a response, but the steel was so thick he wasn’t surprised. His fist alone wasn’t going to be enough. He needed something to hit it with, something that would carry.
