He hailed the closest cab and again dialed the detective’s number.
“Griffin.”
“It’s about damn time,” Reilly said.
“I just got your message. You used some cryptic wording I haven’t heard since my days in the Corps. What’s up?”
By the time Reilly got to the front entrance of the hospital, he’d filled Jake in on what had happened today. The detective sent his partner to be with Margaret, got the department to get started on the delivery service, and was on his way to meet up with Reilly. His lecture on not speaking to Lily until he got there rang in Reilly’s ears as he shut off the phone per hospital rules and slipped into the chair next to Lily’s bed.
“Lily. Lily, can you hear me?”
He scooted closer. He leaned over and, mindful of the ribbons of tubing, took her hand in his. “Come on, Lily, wake up. Talk to me.”
Thankfully, the nurse had recognized him from his earlier visits with Cassandra and he had been able to get inside. She’d told him Lily was still groggy, but coherent. Waiting for the cops was out of the question. He needed to find Cassandra and instinct told him Lily could help.
“Cass…” Lily’s blue eyes, dulled by pain and medication, fluttered open.
“It’s Reilly.” He offered her hand a squeeze and watched as she tried to wet her dry lips with the tip of her tongue.
“Cass…need to talk to Cass…”
“Talk to me, sweetheart. I’m here to take care of Cassandra, remember? You can talk to me.”
“No.” Lily’s voice, hoarse from lack of use, grew stronger. “I need to talk—to tell Cass.”
Rising from the chair, Reilly leaned over the bed railing and stared into Lily’s eyes. “Lily, it’s Reilly. Come on, wake up. Can you understand me?”
Lily blinked several times. Reilly watched as she struggled to focus until he saw the recognition in her eyes. “Reilly?”
“That’s right, it’s me. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been run over by a freight train.” Lily groaned. “Damn, I need a drink.”
“Let me check to see if the nurse can give you water.”
“Add a shot of vodka and I might consider it.”
Reilly pressed the call button. The same nurse who had directed him to Lily’s room appeared.
“Miss James, it’s good to see you awake again.”
“She’s asking for water, is it okay?” Reilly asked.
“Just a little,” the nurse replied, checking the chart at the end of the bed. “I’ll let the doctor know she’s awake.”
Reilly knew as soon as the doctor arrived, he’d be kicked out. He waited until the nurse helped Lily and left the room again. “Lily, you’ve been asking for Cassandra. Why?”
Lily’s eyes took on a guarded expression. “I-I want to talk to her, face to face. I’ve got something to tell her.”
“Tell me.”
“Why are you—wait, what’s wrong? Where’s Cassandra?”
“Lily—”
“She would be here, the moment she knew I was asking for her, she’d come. What’s going on?”
Reilly took a deep breath. He hoped Lily was strong enough to hear this. He couldn’t wait on doctors or test results. “I can’t find her. I’ve looked everywhere and right now we think she might be in trouble—”
“It’s Willard,” Lily cried. “Willard’s got her!”
Reilly shook his head. “That’s not possible. When you were found unconscious three days ago Willard was there—”
“I know he was there!”
“Willard’s dead, Lily. His funeral was today.”
Lily’s eyes grew round as she tightened her hold on Reilly’s hand. “Ohmigod, she killed him!”
“You saw who killed Willard?”
“I can’t believe she’d do that.” Lily’s words came out in short gasps. “I mean, I always thought Willard was a creep, more than a creep, but for a woman to do that to her own son…”
Apprehension had filled Reilly as he’d watched the Bancroft limo drive away with Cassandra inside. It now turned into a chilled, black void. “Are you saying Elizabeth Bancroft played a hand in her son’s death?”
Lily’s eyelids closed and Reilly watched as a tear leaked past. “I’m not sure. I can’t remember…”
Reilly knew his time alone with Lily was fading fast. “What do you remember, Lily? Tell me.”
“I couldn’t sleep, there was paperwork at the store so I went in.” Lily’s eyes remained closed. “Then I heard voices…angry voices. Willard and his mother were fighting about a penthouse, a trust fund and Cassandra.”
“Willard’s penthouse? At the Breckenridge?”
“He was the one trying to hurt her, to scare her. Willard wanted Cass to fail so she’d turn to him. He confessed it all to his mother.” Lily’s eyes flew open and Reilly saw the tears gathering on the edges. “He was the one who attacked her. He tried to steal the necklace so she couldn’t auction it off, but she doesn’t need the money. Her and her mother thought they did, but all this time—that bastard, he never told her!”
The door opened. Reilly looked over his shoulder. The nurse was back and she had two doctors in tow. His time was up. “Lily, what didn’t Willard tell her?”
“There’s a bank account, somewhere in Europe. Cassandra’s father set it up. I tried to leave. I had to tell her, but they heard me and came after me. We struggled and I fell…”
“I’m sorry, sir, but you are going to have to leave.” The doctors took position on either side of Lily’s bed.
“Reilly, please!” Lily clutched at his arm. “Please, don’t let them hurt Cassandra! They want her money! They’ll do anything to get their hands on her money!”
“I promise,” Reilly vowed for the second time in less than an hour. He pulled free as the nurse inserted a syringe into one of the pieces of tubing hanging over Lily’s bed. Yanking open the door, he rushed out of the room. Cell phone in hand, he sprinted from the hospital.
Chapter Seventeen
“You really are beautiful, you know?”
Cassandra cringed, cradling the cheek Elizabeth had slapped. She ignored the comment and wondered how long they’d been here. Minutes? Hours? The leaden gray clouds visible through the glass walls didn’t help. Willard’s service had started before noontime. It must be late afternoon by now. Time had allowed her head to clear a bit, the effects of the drug wearing off as Elizabeth continued to slurp from the almost-empty bottle.
Even with all this craziness about a Swiss bank account, Cassandra now realized just how far over the edge Elizabeth had gone. But did the bank account exist? Her mother had said she’d found the package Elizabeth had insisted on. How could Willard have kept something like that from her?
Her gaze landed on the wall of pictures, and she had to look away, her stomach sickened at what her childhood friend had created. How did I not know? How could I have missed his obsession?
“You don’t like my compliment?” Elizabeth bent over, the bottle slipping from her hand to crash to the floor. She grabbed Cassandra’s chin and forced her to look up. “You could’ve had a good life together, you and Willard. Much more so than that latest boy toy you’ve been hanging around with.”
Cassandra wrenched her chin from Elizabeth’s fingers, thankful her head wasn’t as fuzzy as earlier. “Reilly is not my ‘boy toy’.”
“Reilly,” Elizabeth snorted. “What kind of name is that? Sounds more like a name for a dog than a man.”
Willing her mind and heart away from any thought of Reilly wasn’t working. Cassandra wondered if he knew she was missing. Was he looking for her? Did he care?
A knock at the door caused Elizabeth to stagger, knocking over the bottle at her feet as she tried to turn around. Everything inside of Cassandra told her to make a break for it, but her reaction time was still slow and she didn’t have time to move before Elizabeth grabbed her, wrenching her to her feet.
“Don’t make a sound,” Eliz
abeth warned, the gun pressed against her neck. “Who—who’s there?”
“Messenger service, ma’am.”
Elizabeth pushed her toward the door, jamming the gun into her back. “Answer the door. Take the package and close it again. Remember, I’m right behind you.”
Cassandra shuffled across the room and opened the door. She stared at the young man, her mind frantic with how she could relay her need for help. But he never looked at her. He simply apologized for the delay in the delivery, handed over the white envelope, then turned and walked away.
“Give that to me,” Elizabeth commanded, grabbing at the package. “Shut the door and back up. Slowly.”
Closing the door, Cassandra heard the lock latch. With no time to check, she prayed it remained unlocked. She had no idea what Elizabeth’s next step was in this crazy plan of hers, but she knew one thing. She needed to get away and this door was her only way out.
“Hurry up, get back to the center—what was that?” Elizabeth cried out, wrapping an arm around Cassandra’s neck, wrenching her backward.
“I-I didn’t hear anything.” Reeling from the sudden movement, she concentrated on getting her balance and grabbed at Elizabeth’s forearm. “Maybe it was a rat or something.”
“In this building? All right, who’s there?”
“Maybe it’s the messenger looking for a tip—”
“Shut up!” Elizabeth screamed, dropping the package to the ground and pressing the gun to Cassandra’s temple. “I know someone’s there. Come out or I’ll kill her! I swear it!”
The first thing Cassandra saw was the gun wrapped securely in strong hands.
Reilly’s hands.
She smothered a cry of joy as the rest of him slowly appeared from behind a drop cloth hanging over a stack of boxes.
“I should’ve known,” Elizabeth growled.
Reilly’s gaze darted around the room before it landed on her. Their eyes met and held. He’d come for her. He’d somehow figured out what this mad woman had done and he was here.
“It’s over, Elizabeth. Let her go.” Reilly focused his attention on Willard’s mother, his arms locked ramrod straight, his gun aimed directly at both of them.
Elizabeth backed into the middle of the room, dragging Cassandra with her. “Well, it seems you are more than a mere distraction for our lovely girl here. No matter. Whoever you are, did you really think it was going to be that simple?”
“The police are on their way.” He moved closer. “Your only way out is to end this peacefully.”
“I don’t see anyone else here but you, me and the lovely Miss Van Winter.” Elizabeth trailed the gun down over Cassandra’s cheek and along her neck. “So, I’m not quite sure I believe you. How’d you know where to find us?”
“Lily’s awake. She told me what happened in the shop, what she overheard from you and Willard. With your son dead, it wasn’t too hard to figure out who had Cassandra.”
“I should’ve killed her too when I had the chance.”
Elation over Lily’s recovery filled Cassandra, but it quickly mixed with horror. Elizabeth was the one responsible for putting her in the hospital and for something much worse. “It was you? You killed your own son?”
“It was an accident, dear. I was only trying to stop your friend from running off to tell what she’d overheard.” Her voice carried a chilling aristocratic air. “Willard, the poor fool, actually tried to stop me.”
“Don’t you think that’s enough killing?” Reilly’s eyes narrowed for a moment at the wall of pictures, before turning back to them. “You’re getting the money, let Cassandra go.”
“Ah, so you know about that, too. Well, I guess I should fill you in on my entire plan.” Elizabeth dragged the gun along the length of Cassandra’s neck. “I need to get myself to a warm, tropical island, but in order to do that I’ve got to have the money holed up in that bank account. So, I’m taking Cassandra with me. Not that I relish her company, but I do need her to verify the transfer of all that money to another account. My account.”
“You’re crazy!” Hatred poured through Cassandra’s veins and she twisted and struggled to get free. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“Stop!”
Elizabeth’s and Reilly’s voices blended together as they both yelled. Elizabeth again pressed the gun hard under Cassandra’s chin. She froze. The barrel of the gun trembled against her skin.
Oh God, is it going to go off?
“You will go with me or you will die,” Elizabeth said. “And your cowboy is going to drop his gun or your future is going to be decided in the next five seconds. Go on, Mr. Murdock, put the gun on the ground. Now.”
Reilly dropped his arms. Cassandra’s soul slipped away as he bent and slowly laid the gun on the floor. She wanted to cry out to him not to do it. If Elizabeth was capable of killing her own son, she wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to Reilly.
“Kick it over here.”
Reilly stood back to his full height and kept his hands visible while he pushed at the gun with his foot. It spun in circles, moving a few feet away from him.
“Not much of a kick.” Elizabeth eased the gun away from Cassandra and pointed it straight at Reilly’s chest. “But it’s sufficient. You know, I didn’t think you’d give up so easily. Obviously, your comment about the police was a bluff. You came riding to the rescue all alone, not very smart.”
Reilly kept his hands held wide. “Well, I’ve been known to do a few stupid things in my life.”
“Hmmm…me too.”
A scream burst from Cassandra as gunfire and the sound of shattering glass filled the air. She saw Reilly fall to the ground the same moment Elizabeth slammed into her from behind. Seconds later, she jerked upright. With the older woman’s arm still around her neck, Cassandra fought to keep her balance as they both staggered backward.
A rush of icy wind covered her. Elizabeth let go and screams rang in her head. Hers? Elizabeth’s?
Then an eerie silence filled her and Cassandra felt herself falling. She clawed for something, anything to hang onto. Nothing was in her reach except for the gray murky sky.
Reilly dived for the floor the moment he saw Elizabeth’s finger twitch. He landed hard, grabbed his gun and fired, the ricochet reverberating up his arm. He aimed for the older woman’s left side. Thanks to Cassandra’s struggling, he had more than enough room to at least disable her. But Elizabeth had found her mark, too. His leg was on fire. He guessed the bullet had gotten him somewhere on his upper thigh.
But his was the third shot. Jake Griffin’s SWAT team had arrived as promised. Elizabeth’s body lurched forward, first from the police sniper’s bullet and then, a split second later, his shot caused her to stagger backward. Her arm still around Cassandra’s neck, the two of them headed straight for the now-shattered glass wall.
“No!”
The cry tore at his throat. Reilly pitched forward, his arms reaching. He tried to stand, but his leg wouldn’t hold him. He fell again, only making it a few feet before both Elizabeth and Cassandra crashed through the glass.
“Cass!”
Their screams mixed with his. Reilly threw his gun to the side. He dragged himself across the floor, ignoring the glass shards cutting into his hands. The screams faded and only the rush of wind and the wail of police sirens filled his ears.
Horror choked off his breathing. He reached the window, punching at the remaining slices of glass still in the metal frame with the sleeve of his jacket. He could see a member of the SWAT team waving frantically at him, probably warning him to get back.
He ignored him. He had to know, had to see for himself.
Darkness closed in, but he fought it off. He knew he was losing blood and his ability to stay conscious. He pulled himself over the edge of the window, the wind rushing around his head. He forced himself to look.
Emerald-green eyes, wide with shock and filled with terror, returned his stare.
Joy expanded his heart with such force, Reil
ly was afraid it was going to burst from his chest. He quickly sized up the situation. His gaze moved from Cassandra, to Elizabeth’s prone body lying in a grotesque angle on the rooftop of a neighboring building several stories below, to the SWAT members on a parallel rooftop. He knew the police were mobilizing, but Cassandra’s fingers held a tenuous grip to an outcrop of metal on the side of the skyscraper, fifty stories from the ground.
He had to get to her.
“Cass.” Reaching out with his arm, he tried to keep his voice level, but he had to shout over the wind to hear his own voice. “I’m right here, Cass.”
“Reilly.”
“That’s right, honey, I’m right here.”
Damn! She was too far away. At least a foot separated his outstretched hand and hers. It might as well have been a mile. How in the hell was he going to reach her? “Look at me, Cass. That’s right, look at me.”
“I’m scared, Reilly. I’m so cold. My h-hands are c-cold.”
“Let’s get you back inside, okay? You’re going to have to help me, Cass. I need for you to put your right hand over—”
“No! No, I can’t!”
“Yes you can. I’m right here to catch you.”
His strength was ebbing. He knew his muscles would soon refuse to listen to his internal commands. He had to get her inside and it had to be now. “Inch closer to me, right over left, and grab my hand. Do it now.”
“Okay.”
She moved so fast, he didn’t have time to brace himself for her weight when she grabbed at his wrist. He latched onto her and they both dropped a fraction of an inch before he used his upper-body strength to pull her upward. He seized her arm the same moment her other hand grappled at his leather jacket.
Rolling onto his back, and with his last ounce of muscle, power and force, he got her back inside the building. She landed hard against his chest. He heard her sobs as her hair fanned out over his face. “Shhh, baby, it’s okay.”
“I-I was so s-scared.”
He pushed her hair away and leaned up to look at her. Cassandra suddenly blurred and split into two. Squeezing his eyes shut, Reilly willed back the nothingness reaching out to him and dropped his head back to the floor. “I know you were, honey, but you did it. You were strong enough to save yourself.”
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