Shivers danced down her body, and she almost dropped the spatula. “Keep that up, and no one will eat breakfast this morning.”
“Who needs food when—”
“Me-ow!” Familiar’s protest was loud and clear.
Michelle eased away from Lucas. “He needs food, and he needs it now.”
“He’s smart and all of that, but he’s sure a demanding little fella.” Lucas barely got the words from his mouth when Familiar darted across the floor and sank his teeth into Lucas’s shin.
Michelle couldn’t help herself. She laughed out loud as Lucas danced around, trying to dislodge the cat, who had now gotten his claws into the act.
“Okay, okay, you get breakfast. Anything you want!” Lucas finally stood still, and Familiar dropped to the floor and began to groom himself.
“I guess you see who’s running this show,” Michelle said as she kissed Lucas’s cheek. “And don’t mess with the boss man. He may be short of stature, but he’s got one heck of a set of choppers.”
“I got it this time.” Lucas got a stack of plates and began to help Michelle prepare the food.
THE MOOD AROUND THE KITCHEN is all lovey-dovey, which I’m glad to see, don’t get me wrong, but we’re a long way from the finish line on this case. If Lorry doesn’t call, or if Lucas doesn’t find her, then we’re in big, big trouble. Lucas, Michelle and Greg could be facing prison terms for kidnapping. If Antonio is freed, the Maxims will spare nothing to get even with Miss Shutterbug and Marshal West.
But it won’t hurt to have one good meal that’s relaxed and pleasant. And Lucas will make some calls to the Austin office and see if they’ve heard from Lorry. I’m worried about her, but I know she’s smart and a survivor.
I have to trust that she’s doing okay, watching and waiting for the right moment to reveal herself.
Lucas and Michelle are both forcing themselves to look on the bright side—that Lorry will see the ad and get in touch in time to get a flight to New York.
My concern is that she’s far away. Far enough gone that she can’t get back by tomorrow. I mean, her cover was blown, and people were shooting at her with automatic weapons. I think I’d take a powder, too.
But it’s only 7:00 a.m., and I’m not going to become anxious until noon. Right now, I’m going to eat that crisp bacon and enjoy a cheese and egg omelet.
I hear Greg stirring. The smell of the bacon must have awakened him. Robert is being a good boy. I just checked on him. In fact, he’s being really good. That makes me worry. But I’ll attend to him after breakfast. Maybe a thirty-minute session of staring at his shins. Or his inner thighs. Ye-ow! That’s a tender spot, and if I so much as look at him, he gets all nervous.
But right now, time for grub.
LUCAS PUSHED HIS PLATE back and sighed. “That was delicious, Michelle.”
“I second that.” Greg patted his stomach. “I may need a nap.”
“Thanks.” Michelle rose and began to stack the dishes, but Lucas stopped her. “The cook rests. Greg and I can do this.”
“Wow,” Michelle said, grinning. “A sensitive cowboy-marshal-kidnapper. And I thought that wasn’t possible.”
“Tease all you want,” Lucas said as he cleared the table. “My mom cooked for the family and twenty hands. We all pitched in to help her. Harry and I—” He broke off and cleared his throat.
“Harry spoke about the farm all the time,” Greg said softly. “I think he was about ready to give up law enforcement and go back to the land. He missed it a lot. He would be proud that you’re ranching, Lucas.”
“Yeah. I think he would,” Lucas concurred.
He was about to say something else when he heard the ringing of a phone. They all froze.
“It’s my cell phone,” Michelle said, rushing to grab it. She checked the caller ID. “I don’t know this number.”
“Answer it,” Lucas said.
She answered with a calm hello. Her face broke into the widest smile. “Kevin! Where are you?” She looked at Lucas. “He’s on a flight to Mobile. They’re about to take off.”
Lucas put a hand on her shoulder. “Good news.” His wide smile told her how happy he was that her friend was safe.
“Kevin, call us when you land. We’ll make arrangements to pick you up. Thank goodness you’re okay,” she said before she ended the conversation.
“That video you made worked,” Greg said. He, too, was smiling.
Lucas glanced at both of them. “Now to find Lorry. I’m going to make some calls to the Austin office to see if anyone there has heard anything from her.”
He picked up his cell phone and dialed Frank Holcomb’s number. If anyone had news of Lorry, it would be his old partner. But he also knew that Frank would have called him if there was news.
The phone rang and rang, and Lucas felt a sense of unease. When at last someone answered, he didn’t recognize the voice.
“Where’s Frank?” Lucas asked.
“Who’s asking?”
Lucas identified himself and then heard a muffled conversation on the other end. A different voice came back on. “Frank didn’t report in this morning. We’re trying to track him down.”
“Captain Wells?” Lucas asked.
“We’re worried about Frank, Lucas. He left work yesterday and headed to New York. He got a call from the NYPD, saying they had a lead. We were hoping the witness might show up there. I have to tell you. Frank said that whatever else happened, Antonio would not walk out of that courthouse a free man.”
Lucas didn’t have to ask what Frank had meant. He knew. The marshal was willing to destroy his future to make certain Antonio wasn’t out on the street to continue destroying young women. “Any word from the witness?” Lucas asked, though he knew the answer.
“Nothing. But the appeal has been postponed until tomorrow.”
“I’ll find her.”
“I sure hope you can,” Wells said. “Without Lorry, the state has nothing.”
MICHELLE CHECKED HER WATCH and paced some more. The morning had slipped away from them. The afternoon had crept by. It was nearly 4:00 p.m. They were due to pick up Kevin at the airport in another hour.
And no word from Lorry.
Throughout the day, Robert Maxim’s smile had widened and widened. Now he looked like a hungry carnivore. And she felt like steak. She’d retreated to the kitchen, where she could keep an eye on the telephone. If wishing something could make it true, the phone would ring and Lorry would be on the other end, safe and sound.
Lucas had been huddled with Greg outside, but he came in and put an arm around her. “We’ve done everything I know to do, Michelle.”
“When’s the last flight out of Mobile?” she asked.
“At eight tonight.”
“If you and Lorry miss that flight, Antonio will be a free man by this time tomorrow.” She sighed. “What will we do with Robert?”
“I don’t know.”
She could see that Lucas didn’t have any answers, either. “Where can Lorry be?” she asked.
“Me-ow!” Familiar leaped to the kitchen table and then to the window over the sink, which looked out on the sloping yard. “Me-ow!” He battered the window with his body.
“What’s wrong with him?” Michelle asked. She’d been staring out the window only a few minutes before, but the cat was acting as if someone were outside.
Lucas gripped the gun he’d taken from Robert Maxim and held it. He stepped in front of Michelle, protecting her.
She looked around him and couldn’t stop the sudden intake of breath. Someone was standing in the yard. A solitary person was there, staring at the house.
“Who the hell is that?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Lucas started toward the back door, but Familiar was out of it like a shot. The black cat rushed across the lawn, making a beeline for the solitary figure.
Michelle watched from the window, her heart pounding, as the cat and the man began to run toward th
e figure. She knew who it was. She knew.
As the woman stepped out of the shadows and into the sunlight, Michelle clearly saw Lorry Kennedy. She bent to sweep the cat into her arms, and in a moment Lucas had both of them in his.
Michelle gripped the sink and waited. This was a moment she’d never forget. She owed Lorry an apology. More than an apology. How was she ever going to make things right?
Lucas, Lorry and Familiar walked toward the house. Michelle dried her hands and turned to face the door. When Lorry stepped through, Michelle saw the worry etched into her face, the fear.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Lorry’s face softened, and Michelle could see the planes and angles that had made her wedding photograph so extraordinary. “Lucas explained how it happened. You couldn’t have known.”
Michelle blinked back the tears. “Where’s your husband?”
“Safe. We’re both going to be safe now.”
“We need to get to the airport,” Lucas said. “I have to get Lorry to New York.”
“I’m going, too,” Michelle said. There was no way she’d stay behind.
“Me-ow.”
Lucas looked from one to the other. “Greg can stay here with Robert Maxim.”
“Robert.” Lorry’s smile faltered. “He’s here.”
“The less you know, the better,” Lucas said. “We’ll grab some clothes and be ready to leave in five minutes. Let me talk to Greg. When Kevin gets here, he can help Greg with our…guest.”
“I’ll be ready in less than five minutes.” Michelle didn’t care about anything but getting on the airplane with Lucas and getting Lorry safely to the courtroom.
“They’ll be expecting us in New York,” Lucas said quietly. “My old partner is there. Frank will help us.”
“We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Lorry said. “If there was ever a time to bring out the big guns, it’s now.”
Chapter Twenty
Michelle leaned back in the seat as the plane rumbled down the runway. She clutched the armrest, remembering how haggard Kevin had looked. He’d stepped off the plane, lost and frightened. In the few minutes they’d had together in the Mobile airport, Kevin had assured her that he hadn’t been mistreated. He’d been fed and given water, and no one had struck him. But they had threatened him repeatedly.
All in all, though, he’d assured her he was fine, and he’d been more than willing to drive to Spanish Fort and help Greg watch over Robert Maxim.
He’d driven away into the night, leaving Michelle and Lucas and Lorry to board their flight to New York.
Although she was afraid of what would await them in the city, Michelle focused on the fact that both Kevin and Lorry were alive and unharmed. So far.
The Maxim organization would no doubt attempt to thwart Lorry from getting to the courthouse to testify. And so far, Lucas had been unable to contact his ex-partner, Frank Holcomb. It was as if the U.S. marshal had disappeared from the planet.
Lucas wasn’t saying anything, but Michelle knew him well enough to know that he was very worried. She slipped her hand into his, and he squeezed. He sat between her and Lorry and Familiar was in Lorry’s lap, looking out the window as the plane jetted through the night sky.
Michelle glanced at Lucas, glad to see that his eyes were shut. She hoped that he was sleeping. They’d made their plans, covering every angle possible. As soon as they disembarked at LaGuardia, they would maneuver through the airport until they were certain no one was tailing them. A hired limo would whisk them out of the airport.
Lucas had booked rooms under a different name at a hotel close to the courtroom where Antonio Maxim’s appeal would be heard.
In the morning, when they got inside the courtroom, the worst would be over.
She checked her watch. It was 8:45 p.m. Another three hours and they’d be in the Big Apple. Until then, all she could do was cling to Lucas’s hand and let him know that whatever happened, they were in it together.
I’VE GIVEN THIS A LOT of thought, and I think it should be mandatory that bad guys wear black hats. In all the westerns I’ve watched, it makes the criminals a lot easier to keep up with. While we know what Robert and Antonio Maxim look like, we have no idea who’s working for them. We can’t pick them out of a crowd or tell if one of them is the limo driver. They appear to be ordinary people. And that’s dangerous.
There’s no other way this could go down, but the idea of walking into LaGuardia, a sitting duck for one of the Maxim henchmen to use for target practice—that just doesn’t sit well with me.
But we have to get to the city, and Lorry has to testify. The plane was the only choice. There’s no other way to get there on time. The problem is, they’re bound to be watching the airports. Lucas thought about flying into Newark or some other close-by place and driving into the city, but time is against us, and there’s every chance the Maxims are watching every airport in the area.
We are traveling under assumed names. It was easy enough for Lucas’s old boss to arrange that small detail, but Lorry, Lucas and Michelle are all easily identifiable. Unlike the criminal humanoids.
I’ll just have to keep my eagle eyes open and protect Miss Shutterbug and Cowboy Marshal. And Lorry, too. She’s been through hell, but she’s determined to put Antonio away. I was afraid that after all that’s happened, she might not want to testify. I gravely misjudged her. She’s got character and inner strength.
I’m always giving bipeds a hard time, but then I meet someone like Lorry, who has given up so much to do the right thing. And Michelle. She’s done everything she can to make up for her mistake.
Ah, this is a hard case, but I have to say, I enjoy traveling in the company of two beautiful broads. Not even James Bond had it this good.
Now for a little shut-eye. We’ll be in the Big Apple before long, and there won’t be time for sleeping. I’m never at my best when I’m sleep deprived. No feline is. So I’ll snooze while the snoozing is good.
THE LANDING GEAR ENGAGED, and Lucas woke abruptly from his light sleep. It was almost midnight, a time he’d been terrified of as a young child. This was the hour between day and night, the time when monsters roamed. Those were childhood fears and fancies, and he’d put them behind him long ago. This midnight, though, was one of extreme danger. Not from monsters that hid beneath the bed, but from bad men with deadly guns. Men who would murder for money.
He glanced over at Familiar, who’d sprawled across Michelle’s lap. The cat stared deep into his eyes, and he felt as if the feline were offering reassurance.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
The cat nodded.
Lucas felt a surge of hope. With Familiar, it was possible they could avoid the Maxim organization and that Lorry would testify safely in less than ten hours.
He looked at the young woman who had willingly risked her life to bring his brother’s killer to justice. And at the red-haired photographer on his left. They were courageous. Not fearless, but truly brave. He’d learned long ago that courage was not the act of being fearless, but taking action even when one was afraid.
He silently vowed to keep them safe or die trying. Lorry had had a week of hell, moving from one low-rent motel to another, always in the South Alabama area, always checking the newspaper to see if she should make contact.
Always afraid that someone would recognize her and kill her or Charles.
At least she’d convinced her husband to stay in Spanish Fort and help Greg and Kevin guard Robert Maxim. Michelle should have stayed. God knows he’d tried to convince her, but along with her fiery temper, she was as hardheaded as a…well, as a West.
“Why are you grinning?” Michelle asked.
He didn’t know how long she’d been watching him, but his smile widened. “Thinking about how bullheaded you are. It occurred to me that I’ve got a young mare you need to meet. I think she can match you pound for pound in the area of stubbornness. I could take bets to see which one would last the longest.”
“Very funny.” She sat up and adjusted Familiar in her lap.
The captain’s voice came on, telling them that landing was imminent. Lorry, too, opened her eyes. “Lucas thinks he’s the only one who isn’t stubborn. In his head, he’s well reasoned or sensible or just plain right. He’s never stubborn.”
“No fair ganging up on me,” he protested.
Before he could add anything, Familiar put a paw on his mouth. “Me-ow.”
Both women laughed. “Even the cat is telling you that you’re stubborn,” Michelle said. “But it’s okay, Lucas. We love you, anyway.”
He saw the flush touch her cheeks as soon as the words were out of her mouth, and he leaned over and kissed her warm skin. “I love you, too,” he whispered.
The furious color deepened, and Lorry arched an eyebrow. “Lucas West, you devil. You’ve gone and fallen in love, haven’t you?”
Lucas felt his own skin flush. “No sense in denying it. I have.”
Lorry reached across him and grasped Michelle’s hand. She picked up one of Lucas’s calloused ones. “Something good has come from all this mess, Lucas. Remember that. We’ve all lost a lot to the Maxims. All of us. Especially you. But you’ve received something wonderful, too. Love is a gift.”
Lucas was spared an answer when the wheels touched down, and the roar of the plane increased as it braked and began to slow.
According to the plan, Lorry hurried out of her seat and pushed her way out the door first. Lucas reasoned that no one would expect her to slip out alone. Next, he sent Michelle and Familiar. Lucas was only a few people behind them.
A few slow people. An older man dropped his bag and got it stuck between the seats. Lucas tried to help him, but with the press of passengers behind, the area became more congested. At last, Lucas freed the bag, and the disembarking passengers flowed into the tunnel and then the gateway.
He saw Familiar instantly. The cat’s attention was locked down the concourse. And he saw why. Two men had taken up position on either side of Lorry. She put on a burst of speed, but they followed.
Familiar Vows Page 16
