Come Hell or High Desire

by Misty Dietz

  Zack slammed the elevator ceiling with his fist and looked at Morgan’s feverish eyes. “Where is she?”

  “Colette? How am I supposed to know?” She hooked her fingers in the waistband of his jeans. He tried to angle his body away from Morgan but the space was too cramped.

  Hold on, Goldie, I’m coming for you.

  None of this seemed to make any sense. “Why are you here?”

  “I promise I’ll tell you everything, but please, let’s just get out of here,” Morgan said.

  The elevator door opened, and he pushed back an iron gate to step into the dark passageway. Relieved to put some distance between Morgan and himself, he turned on the flashlight, its weak beam projecting onto rough-hewn concrete.

  Sloane was down here. He’d bet his life on it. “What do you mean you’ll tell me everything?”

  “I…I have a theory. But I won’t— What are we doing down here? I thought we were going to leave the building—”

  A low clang came from the passageway. He started jogging down the long tunnel, praying he’d know which turns to make to find Sloane.

  “Wait!” Morgan ran after him and grabbed his arm. “We have to leave! Please, Zack, I…I love you! Please, let’s go. I think Ross put a bomb down here.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I love you. I always have.” Her bottom lip trembled.

  “Not that. A bomb? Ross knew how to make a bomb? How could you know that?”

  “When he and Sloane were fighting, he said that’s how she was gonna go. It’s too late for her, but we can still make it. Please. We have to hurry.” She pulled on his arm, but he brushed her off.

  “I’m not leaving Sloane down here to die.”

  “You don’t have to be anybody’s damn hero!”

  He didn’t understand the look in her eyes. “I’m sorry. You’ll have to deal with the police, but they’ll realize you’re innocent.” He pushed her back inside the cramped elevator and slid the gate’s lock in place to prevent her from returning to the passageway. This might be their final goodbye.

  At least she would be safe. “Take care, Morgan.”

  Her pale fingers gripped the gate and rattled the metal until the sound reverberated up his spine. “You’ll regret this!”

  “Only if I die.” Then he sprinted away, hearing her cries and feeling her eyes on him until the elevator doors slid shut, enveloping him in a woolen darkness pierced only by the thin beam of his flashlight.

  Help me find you, Goldie.

  Again, a low clang. But farther away this time. Zack shucked his shirt, tore strips of fabric with his teeth, and changed directions, running through the maze, leaving pieces of his shirt to find his way out, until the clanging grew louder. He set the flashlight down before one of the doors and pressed his cupped his hands to the metal to project through the door. “Sloane?”

  “Zack!”

  He nearly dropped to his knees in relief. He stooped to grab the flashlight, panning for something to break the padlock. He ran down the passageway where he’d noticed a concrete block set on its side, overlaid by a small piece of wood in a makeshift stool. He grabbed the block and carried it back to the door.

  He hefted the concrete block over his head and crashed the corner edge against the lock. The sound was unbelievably loud in the soul-sucking shaft. Screw it. He could live without eardrums. But not without Sloane.

  He did it again.

  And again.

  Sweat stung his eyes as he raised the cinder block once more. This time the lock gave way. He put his lips near the spot the lock had been. “Stand back from the door, Goldie!”

  He backed up and kicked, heel first, extending his leg until the muscles jarred like a sledgehammer connecting with a locomotive. The door sprang open on the third try, and he had her in his arms in a heartbeat, his hands covering as much of her body as possible, searching for signs of injury. “My God, woman, you have no idea—”

  She wrenched back, nodding, and turned away to gather…

  Children.

  The girl had wide brown eyes in a face so expressionless his throat burned. “O’Neill’s?”

  Sloane nodded again, her arms tightening briefly around them before shuffling them toward the door. “They’re dehydrated. We have to hurry! Ann’s at the mall. I think on top of the Ferris wheel.”

  “The Ferris wheel?”

  “No time to explain. I know from the vision I had when Ross…he…”

  When she gasped, he examined the arm she was favoring. “I know. I know everything now,” he said. Satisfied her arm didn’t seem to be broken, he looked at her. “I left you with him. Sloane, I didn’t know. If he would have—”

  “But he didn’t.” She checked her watch and blanched. “We really have to hurry. If Ross wasn’t lying, Ann’s bomb is gonna blow at one-thirty.”

  He couldn’t have heard her right. “Wait. The bomb is on Ann?” But Morgan had said the bomb was down here…

  “In the vision she was on top of a Ferris Wheel. I heard the ticking of a bomb. I saw the brooch from before, too. Let’s go!”

  His gut plummeted. Less than ninety minutes before they’d have to scrape Ann’s remains off the mall’s eight story skylights. During business hours.

  When the amusement park was set to open.

  There’d be a huge line waiting at the entrance. Son of a bitch.

  He stepped back to hurry them out of the room when he saw pieces of duct tape scattered around. And what looked like old blood. “Colette tied you up?”

  Sloane had taken the flashlight and was already following his ripped shirt trail. When she looked back, her face was set in fierce lines. “No, Morgan did. She wanted you all to herself so she helped Ross get Ann out of the way! I thought you said you knew everything.”

  “Whoa. Whoa, whoa, wait!” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “You’re lying.” She had to be.

  “No, Zack. Your beloved Morgan’s in on the whole thing. She made hambu—” She glanced at the children cowering in the shadows and spoke softer. “She took care of Ross, then injected me with some drug and tied me up. She left me to die. With these children.”

  Morgan? No!

  The world shuddered. Literally. The ground and the walls around them. Shook so hard they stumbled into one another. He reached for Sloane after breaking the little girl’s fall. Sloane’s pupils dilated in the shadows. “Oh, Lord, was that what I think it was?”

  He nodded and saw a ripple of panic flow over her features. “We’re going to make it.” He squeezed her arm, watching her struggle to master her fear. She managed it as the little boy began to cry, his tears leaving a soft peach trail on his otherwise grimy face. Zack fought back fury as he hugged the boy and looked at Sloane over the child’s head. “Their names?”

  “Derek and Kate.”

  He set the boy in front of him, still holding his hand. “It’s going to be all right, Derek. We’re going to get you and your sister out of here, but we have to hurry. I need you to be brave for a while longer, okay?”

  Derek nodded, and Zack could see he was weak with hunger, so he scooped him into his arms and reached for the flashlight, wishing Ross was still breathing so he could skin him alive. They were nearly back at the elevator when Zack began seeing dust and small chunks of concrete on the shirt strips he’d left on the ground. A bad feeling rolled through his gut, but he didn’t want to believe it. Until he saw the rubble in front of them.

  The bomb had sealed the tunnel back to the elevator.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  If she made it out of this alive, she was never—ever—going into a basement again. Sloane’s lungs, legs, and arm burned from piggybacking Kate the last few minutes, but they were almost there. Wherever there was. “We’re almost out of here, right?”

  “Yes.” Zack wasn’t even breathing hard, and he’d carried Derek the whole way.

  She knew he’d come to get her out. A bone-deep sort of knowledge. He’d demonstrated he was kind, loving,
strong—so many qualities. Actions speak louder than words, and his had shouted. But…

  He’d worked with Ross. And did what with Morgan? Were they lovers? How had he not known they were conspiring against him? Could he really be so oblivious?

  Don’t judge until you have not only all the information, but knowledge of the situation as well. Another of mother’s pithy little sayings.

  Her head was gonna explode right along with her limbs any minute now. “Dammit!”

  When Zack turned to face her, she saw strain written on every contour of his face. He shifted Derek to one arm and reached for Kate with the other. “Here, let me take her. I can carry both.”

  “No. I’m fine. Just get us out of here.” When they finally reached a narrow wooden staircase, Zack set Derek down and looked at Sloane. “You need to stay here for a minute while I make sure the area’s safe. I’ll be back.”

  “No! I don’t want to stay down here—”

  “I can’t risk you and the kids getting shot if SWAT’s waiting for me beyond that door.” He stepped closer and looked like he wanted to touch her. Her muscles jumped in anticipation.

  “Trust me?” he asked.

  She nodded, but her stomach churned. If he’d only touch her, she would feel so much better.

  But he didn’t. He turned away, taking the flashlight from Kate to shine it on the combination lock to put in the series of numbers. A shaft of white light poured onto the stairs when he opened the door a crack. He peeked through it, then turned around to hand Sloane the flashlight. She couldn’t read his expression. Please don’t leave us.

  His fingers came up to feather over her cheekbone. “Trust, Goldie.”

  “Ann lost her baby in that tomb, you know. Morgan and Ross are gonna burn in Hell.”

  His jaw tightened, and he nodded, then slipped outside and shut the door, leaving her and the children behind in the silent darkness.

  …

  Zack arranged the large tablecloth over the hidden door, grateful none of the Chinese restaurant staff was in the supply room when he’d made his entrance. He nudged a stepstool to the wall to peer out a high window facing the alley. So far so good. No police that he could see. He exhaled, grabbed a Shanghai Surprise T-shirt from a stack on the shelves, and slipped it on since the one he’d had was now in shreds in the tunnel.

  Morgan. She had a mean streak, but never in a million years did he think she’d be vicious enough to kill an innocent adult, much less children. Why? He curled his sweaty palm around the supply room doorknob and twisted ever so slowly. Peered out. A slim, bent cook stood by the industrial sized dishwasher while two tiny waitresses bustled about, unloading bowls of food from a cart.

  He jammed the doorstop under the door, grabbed his phone out of his pocket, and speed dialed Archie, who picked up before Zack even heard it ring. “Where in the Sam Hell are you, man? Did you find Ross?”

  “Shhh. I found Sloane and the O’Neill kids.”

  “They okay?”

  “Yeah.” Zack pinched the bridge of his nose. “Christ, Arch. Morgan’s part of this.”

  “What?”

  “Long story, but Morgan offed Ross, then drugged and tied up Sloane in the underground with the kids.” Silence on the line. “She was going to leave them there to die.” More silence. “Did you hear?”

  “I can’t— You sure?”

  Archie’s disbelief nearly did him in. “It’s killing me, too.”

  “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know. She took off when I wouldn’t leave the building with her. I need you to pick up Sloane and the O’Neill kids at the corner of Broadway and Second Avenue North. ASAP. Take them to the hospital. Phone the cops on the way, tell them to get a bead on Morgan.”

  “She packin’?”

  “When isn’t she?”

  “Right. What else do you need?”

  Zack pressed his ear to the door, listening. “A bomb squad at the mall.”

  “What?”

  “Ann’s in the top car of the mall’s Ferris wheel wired with a bomb that’s set to go off at one-thirty.” He ground the phone’s speaker into his thigh to muffle Archie’s response. When it sounded quiet again, he put the phone back to his ear. “They’ll need a heavy law enforcement presence because the mall’s bound to be packed with the opening of the amusement park.”

  Archie exhaled loudly. “Fucking A. Someone in the universe hates you, brother.”

  “One last thing. I need you to have our buddy Peter cause a disturbance on the south side of the mall by the theater so I can get in Skinny Dipping’s back door unseen.”

  “Ah, shit, you oughtta let the police handle this, man.”

  “I can’t sit back and not help Ann. Besides, I have a bad feeling about Morgan showing up there. You know how she hates uniforms. But she might listen to me. I’ve gotta be there. Let’s just hope my gut isn’t right this time.”

  Archie’s heavy silence reinforced his instincts.

  Finally, “I’ve got you covered, buddy. I’m out.”

  Zack pushed the phone back in his pocket and opened the passage door again. He put his finger to his mouth to keep them silent, then reached out to Sloane. He brought his other hand on top of hers to chafe it while she looked around, obviously trying to figure out where they were.

  “Shanghai Surprise on First and Broadway,” he said quietly.

  She nodded, bringing the children in front of her. Almost like a shield between them. He frowned, grabbing two water bottles from the shelf for the children, and looked at Sloane. “I’m going to get everyone out onto the restaurant floor while you and the kids sneak out the back door into the alley. If anyone’s on break, ignore them and keep running north up the alley toward Toscana’s. My buddy Archie will pick you up in a blue Explorer. He’s bald and has a jaguar tattoo on his neck.”

  “Like yours,” Sloane said. Their eyes held for a moment. God, he wanted to hold her.

  Derek’s lips started quivering, and the sight of the beautiful children pressing close to Sloane put a lump in his throat. He wondered not for the first time why bad things happened to innocents. He smiled to give them confidence. “Archie’s kind of scary looking, but he’ll protect you and get you to the hospital.”

  “What about you?”

  He understood what she was asking. “You need to go with them. They need you right now.”

  She opened her mouth, but shut it again. It had been a safe gamble. She’d never leave the children alone. He needed her, too, but he wouldn’t tell her that. Besides, he couldn’t let her go to the mall with him. “I suppose you don’t have a key for the back door of your shop, do you?”

  “No, my purse is in the hallway of your office, but I keep a key duct taped to the underside of the dumpster nearby. If Carmen’s still there tell her I’ll let her have the Salvador Dali oil if she helps you.” She smiled slightly, then looked down at her hands. “I had to have a backup plan because Tori was notorious for losing keys, and I didn’t want to have to run to the store on my mornings off.”

  So much had happened. So much still had to happen before this nightmare was over. What if he never had another chance?

  Fuck this distance shit. He crushed Sloane in his arms, careful of her injury, and whispered in her hair. “You make me want to believe in happily ever after, Goldie.”

  He squeezed her reflexively, then turned and slipped out the door.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Drop that thing about happily ever after, then leave us again, why don’t you.

  Sloane squeezed the hands of the children on either side of her. Their terrified eyes would haunt her for a long time. She couldn’t carry both of them, so she slowed her pace as much as she dared. How was Colette taking their abduction? She’d faked her grief over Dallan. Could she be as heartless with her own children?

  They turned out of the alley onto the blister-hot sidewalk on Broadway. Clouds hugged the tops of the buildings, their gray underbellies a portent of yet more rain.
A scrolling digital display proclaimed ninety-five degrees and ninety percent humidity. Suffocating. Suddenly she didn’t want to live downtown anymore.

  Then she remembered she no longer had a home there, anyway.

  A slow rumble of thunder ricocheted around them, reverberating off the faded brick façades. Kate looked up blankly, and a new urgency lit up Sloane’s nerves. “Take another sip of water, sweetheart.”

  One more block to meet Archie. One block to decide if she was going to trust that he was who Zack thought he was.

  And not another whack job.

  So far Zack had a pretty pathetic record. Kasey. Ross. Morgan. They’d been in his life for years. He’d trusted them, and look what they’d done to him.

  Her pulse skittered when she spotted the blue SUV. She squinted, trying to feel something. Good guy or bad? Nothing. If she touched the truck, would that tell her what she needed to know? Her stomach somersaulted along with another roll of thunder.

  When the last two hundred feet separated them, a man got out of the SUV. He was bald.

  And intimidating as hell.

  Beads of sweat at her hairline slid down the side of her face. The man began weaving between a group of people who’d exited a shop when a police car turned the corner onto the strip.

  “Come!” She pulled the children off the sidewalk and hid them between two parked cars. “Kate, hang on to your brother. Stay down, I’ll be right back.” She dashed out into the street, waving her arms until the squad car stopped in the middle of the street.

  A salt and pepper-haired officer rolled down the window with a frown. “Ma’am, what—”

  “Sir! Those children over there are the missing O’Neill kids. They need immediate medical attention!” She raced over to the children, glancing to see where Archie was, but he’d hung back when he saw her interacting with the cop. She took the children by the hand and rushed back to the cruiser. People on the sidewalk were staring. The officer stood outside his vehicle. After halting traffic, he opened the back door for them. “I need your name and how you came by these children.”