As Good as Dead

by Patricia H. Rushford

  “Think about it. My brothers were picked up and escorted to Bobby Penghetti’s house in a limo. I’m thinking one of the Penghettis is Justin’s boss.”

  “All right, but that doesn’t equate—”

  “Justin probably told him that Luke was in Coeur d’Alene. Who knows what else he told him? Justin knew about my connection with Kinsey.”

  “Call her,” Callen suggested as he pulled up to the curb a block away. “You’ll be able to tell if something is wrong.”

  Angel dialed the number, and after several rings Kinsey answered. She was crying.

  “Who’s there with you?” Angel asked as soon as Kinsey said hello.

  “I’m sorry, Mom, I can’t talk right now. Um... an old friend of Thomas’s is here. He’s waiting for Thomas to come home.”

  “Callen and I are down the block. Is everything okay?”

  “No, of course not.”

  A band tightened around Angel’s heart. God, let them be all right. “Okay, stay calm. Are they holding you and Marie hostage?”

  “Yes. I’ll call you tomorrow, Mom. Bye.” The line went dead.

  Angel closed her eyes. “I was right. She and Marie are in trouble.” Taking a deep breath, she said, “I have to go in there.”

  “Absolutely not. We’ll get a SWAT team out here.”

  “No. Someone needs to get inside to negotiate them out of there. I might be able to get them to let Kinsey and Marie out in exchange for me. I can tell them I know where Luke is.”

  “Then what?” Callen drew in an exasperated breath. “When they realize you don’t know, they’ll kill you.”

  Better me than Kinsey and Marie. Angel didn’t say the words aloud, but Callen looked at her as though he’d heard them anyway. She was right, and he knew it. She’d been trained in negotiations, and she had to get Kinsey and Marie out as soon as possible.

  “I can’t let you do this, Angel. You are no longer on active duty.”

  “Since when has that stopped me?” She blew out a harsh breath. “Okay. I’m back on the job. I’ll call Joe right now and tell him to reinstate me.” She dialed the number for the Sunset Cove police department and asked for Joe.

  “This is out of your jurisdiction,” Callen argued. “I can’t let you do this.”

  Angel swallowed hard. “I know you love me and want to protect me, but you know I’m right.” She locked gazes with Callen. “Hi, Joe. I’ve thought over your offer, and I’m in. I just need you to tell me I’m reinstated.”

  “That’s great, Angel. Of course you’re in. When can you start?”

  “Right now.”

  “But... Angel, where are you?”

  “In Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. We have a hostage situation over here, and Callen’s splitting hairs. This has to do with bringing the guy who nearly killed Nick to justice. I’m the logical one to go in and negotiate.”

  “I see. I don’t like the sound of it, but since I’m not there and have no idea what’s going on, I’ll defer to you and Callen. Just be careful.”

  “Thanks, Chief.” Angel snapped the phone shut and tossed it into her purse.

  “I’m going, Callen.”

  “As OSP, I have the final say.” He got out of the car and glared at her over the roof.

  “I need to do this. You know I’m the one to do it. If it is the Penghettis, they’ll want to talk to me, and I’ll probably be able to get Kinsey and Marie out. A SWAT team will make matters worse. Callen, you know I’m right.”

  Callen raked a hand through his thick dark hair. “I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”

  “No. You stay here and alert the others. I’m going to drive into the driveway, just like I would have if I hadn’t suspected anything.”

  “Are you going to be this bossy when we get married?” Callen growled.

  Angel came around to him and slid her arms around his waist. “Probably.” Her hug was a thank-you for understanding.

  “Don’t make me regret this.” He kissed her, then let her go, shutting the door when she’d folded herself inside.

  Angel turned around and drove back to the house, adrenaline mingling with fear and creeping through her veins like some alien being.

  This could be the last time you see him. Angel sucked in more air than she needed, taking deep, slow, calming breaths. She would act as if she knew nothing of what was going on inside the house. “Please, God, let this work. Please let Marie and Kinsey get out of there alive.”

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  Cade hadn’t wanted Luke to realize who he was this soon, but in an odd moment of forgetfulness, he hadn’t removed his ring. As they were driving away from town, Luke caught a glimpse of it. Cade knew it was only a matter of time before he realized it had been the ring on the finger of the man who’d shot his witness and the guard. Then again, maybe not. How many people remembered a detail like that after six years?

  Too late to do anything about it now. Cade pulled into the tree-lined driveway of the isolated cabin on one of the many lakes in the area. The perplexed look on Luke’s face told Cade the recognition was still in process. His gaze kept wandering from the ring to the face, not believing, or not wanting to. The ring was the same, but the features were different. Cade popped the trunk. “What do you think of it?”

  “It’s a great place.” Luke looked around, uncertainty filling his eyes. “Quiet. No neighbors.”

  “None for miles. Truly a retreat.”

  “Must have cost a fortune.”

  “Not as much as you’d think. I needed a place to relax and work on my memoirs, do some fishing.”

  “Memoirs,” Luke repeated, looking grim.

  “I’m glad you decided to join me,” Cade told him.

  “Yes, well, I didn’t exactly decide, did I?” Luke glanced around again. “I really need to call my family. They’ll be worried.”

  “Sorry, my friend. There’s no service up here. One of the reasons I bought it. You might want to relax a bit. Two old friends out here enjoying nature at its finest. There’s a dock on the lake and an old fishing boat. Should be some good fishing out here.”

  “I’m not up to fishing just now. Why did you bring me out here?”

  Cade answered with a question of his own. “Why don’t you give me a hand with the luggage, and we’ll get settled in.”

  Luke lifted a single suitcase out of the white Lexus, noticing the Oregon plates on the rental car. What had he gotten himself into? So far, the man had been genial and kind, except for the brief moment when he’d shown Luke his gun and given him the option of coming with him peaceably or losing his little girl. Luke readily chose the first option.

  All the way up to the lake, Luke had been dredging his memory, trying to come up with one that fit the man and the ring. He remembered the ring, or one like it, from that day six years ago, but the face was not the same.

  “Are you planning on leaving me here?” Luke asked.

  “Alone? No. But we’ll talk about all that later. Let’s go inside and we’ll get a bite to eat.”

  Luke’s stomach curled. This had to be the same man who’d killed Stanton and the body guard. The hair and the face were different, but the build was the same and the ring—he’d never forget that ring.

  And now because Luke had foolishly broken his enforced exile, the hit man had come back to kill him. “How did you find me?” Luke asked.

  He smiled. “I have my ways. Enough with the questions, Luke. Inside you go.”

  The inside of the cabin was comfortable looking, and under different circumstances Luke might have enjoyed being here. The man had apparently been here before and had stocked the place, or paid someone to do it for him. There’d recently been a fire in the big stone fireplace.

  “That’s right. Just set the bag at the door. We’ll attend to it later.”

  After securing Luke to a chair with handcuffs, his captor made dinner—a salad and some trout pulled in from the lake that morning, no doubt.

  “I hope y
ou don’t mind the simplicity of our meals out here, Luke. A man my age has to watch what he eats.”

  The voice was different, Luke realized. There was no raspiness in it now, but that could have been a ruse as well.

  The man set dishes on the table along with the food, and after he released Luke, they ate. Luke didn’t expect to make it out of this wilderness alive, but he’d try. He vowed to run at the first opportunity. Maybe take the boat out when his captor had gone to sleep.

  Luke prayed over his meal as he’d been taught from childhood and as he had taught Marie. The man joined him in saying the amen. Luke glanced across the table. A hit man who wears a blood-red ring engraved with crosses and who prays. The man in the hotel room six years ago had given him an ultimatum—never to surface, or else. Luke had surfaced twice.

  How could the killer have known to look for him here? Had the killer followed him from Sunset Cove? And what about his family? Would this man go after them as he had Nick? Was he still working for the Penghetti brothers? Luke felt as though his mind might implode with all the factors warring in his head. Is this even the same man?

  “I’m sorry to have to do this to you, Luke,” Cade said, “but the truth is, I’m going to need some sleep. If I could be sure you would stay put, I’d be more than happy to put the handcuffs away. Unfortunately, I can’t trust you.”

  Luke didn’t argue. Before picking Luke up, Cade had purchased food supplies, packages of underwear, long johns, jeans, and two flannel shirts for Luke, along with two medium-weight jackets for the two of them.

  The clothing had surprised Luke. He wordlessly changed into the long johns and climbed into the bed, letting Cade apply the handcuffs and hook him up to the bed frame of the twin bed. He knew Luke well enough to know that this was a temporary truce, until Luke could come up with a plan of escape.

  Cade had no intention of letting him get the upper hand. He had a mission, and one way or another that mission would be accomplished. Luke was part of it whether he wanted to be or not. He’d opted not to discuss the details with Luke this evening. Truth be told, the drive up and all the preparations had worn him out.

  A second bed, where Cade would sleep, rested against the opposite wall of the small room. Cade used the facilities, cleaned up, and changed into his own long johns. Then, after taking his pain pills, his blood pressure medication, and a pill to lower his cholesterol, he climbed into bed.

  Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with Luke Delaney. For now, it was all he could do to take care of himself.

  THIRTY-NINE

  Alone now, Angel pulled into Luke and Kinsey’s driveway. Picking up her cell phone, she turned it on and called Callen. “I’m going in,” she said when he answered. “I’ll keep the phone open, and hopefully you’ll be able to hear what’s going on.”

  A curtain moved to one side, then dropped back. Angel carefully placed the phone in her bag and with unsteady breaths opened the car door and stepped out. She squared her shoulders and willed her legs to cooperate. You’re a police officer. A woman and a three-year-old child need you to negotiate them out of there.

  Angel rang the doorbell, then reached for the knob, turning it and pushing the door open. “Kinsey? It’s Angel. I’m back.” Her voice sounded much stronger than she’d expected it to. She stopped when she saw one man sitting on the couch and another standing near him, arms crossed. “Oh.” Angel smiled at Kinsey, who was sitting in an armchair holding Marie, her features drawn and her eyes shooting warnings Angel wouldn’t heed. “I didn’t know you had company.”

  “Come in, Angel.” The man on the couch got to his feet. “So, we finally meet face to face.”

  “Do I know you?” She shook his outstretched hand.

  “In a way.” He continued to hold her hand. “I’m well acquainted with your family.”

  She knew of his family too, but didn’t say so. Angel recognized the man from his photo in the Penghetti family portrait but couldn’t remember which Penghetti he was. Though he had the same dark hair and eyes, this man was far too young to be one of the infamous brothers. One of the sons, most likely. She guessed him to be in his forties. “You have me at a disadvantage then. You are...?”

  He smiled. “Bernard Penghetti. Bernie to my friends. You’ve no doubt heard of my father, Robert.”

  “Yes, I have. But what are you doing here?”

  “I’m on a mission to find your brother.” His gaze bore into hers. “His wife tells me he’s missing. I find that hard to believe, but perhaps you can enlighten us.”

  “Why would I do that? So you can k—” Angel stopped, not wanting Marie to hear.

  “I’m surprised that you would think such a thing.” Bernie looked offended.

  “Why else would you be here?” Angel stepped away as the hulking man she took to be a bodyguard moved behind her and closed the door. Bernie she could probably handle, but not this guy—he was built like a linebacker, and she could see the outline of his biceps under his jacket.

  “I have my reasons. I’d like a word with Luke. I’m sure you know the story of how he disappeared six years ago.” The smile came back as he gestured for Angel to sit down.

  Angel took a chair opposite Kinsey and Marie, briefly acknowledging them.

  Marie started wriggling in Kinsey’s arms. “Let me go, Mommy. I want to see Auntie Angel.” She wriggled away and got about halfway across the room before Kinsey grabbed her.

  “Please,” Kinsey pleaded. “Let me take her upstairs.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t just yet.” Bernie smiled. “Please sit down, Mrs. Delaney—Sinclair.”

  “I don’t want to sit,” she said. Marie squirmed even more, resisting her mother’s restraining arms. “Please.” Kinsey’s plea ended in a sob. “I told you I don’t know where my husband is. Please, just let us go.”

  Bernie sat back down on the sofa. “I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, but I have a job to do. I can’t leave here without Luke. That means I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

  “Maybe you’d better check with the people who work with you, Mr. Penghetti,” Angel said. “Luke’s been abducted.”

  Bernie’s narrow lips clamped together.

  “Seems as though you’ve come all this way for nothing,” Angel said.

  “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.” He draped an arm across the back of the sofa and rested his right ankle on his left knee. “Ms. Delaney, what will it take to convince you to work with me to find your brother?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You must realize that his life is in danger. Not from me, of course, but from this person you say abducted him. You see, I believe I know who that person is.”

  “Come on, Mr. Penghetti,” Angel said. “How can you sit there and tell me you don’t mean Luke any harm when you hired Justin Moore to...” She glanced at Marie. “To do away with him and Nick?”

  “Nick?” He raised a hand as if flicking away a fly. “Who is this Nick?”

  “The police officer Luke was with in Sunset Cove. Your guy shot him. I know all about it. You picked a real loser to run your errands. I just turned him over to the police.”

  “I have no idea who or what you’re talking about.” Bernie didn’t seem worried nor did he give the impression he was lying. Angel almost believed him. After all, hadn’t her brothers talked with the Penghetti family and come away unharmed?

  “How did you know where to find Luke?” Angel asked.

  Bernie smiled. “It wasn’t all that difficult, Angel.”

  Great. Had they followed her too? Or maybe they had been the ones to plant the listening device. “There’s only one reason the Penghetti brothers would want Luke, and that’s to finish the job that didn’t get done six years ago.”

  “I see.” Bernie frowned. “I’m sorry you have such a low opinion of us.”

  By this time, Marie’s protests had escalated and turned into a full-blown tantrum.

  “Look, guys. Let Kinsey and Marie
go. You don’t need them. I know more about this situation than Kinsey does.” Angel tossed a look in Kinsey’s direction. “In fact, I have an idea about where he might be.” She didn’t, of course, but she didn’t see any other way to get them to free Kinsey and Marie.

  “And you’d be willing to cooperate with us?”

  “I might be. You’d have to let them go. And you’ll have to promise me you won’t hurt Luke.”

  “Of course. I have no plans to hurt the man, I just want to talk with him.”

  “And you’ll give me the identity of the hit man who killed the witness and the guard in Florida?”

  “I can’t promise that, but I’ll try.” The man seemed reasonable and more a businessman than a killer. Bernie nodded toward Kinsey. “To assure your own safety, you will say nothing of our visit or why we are here.”

  Kinsey held tightly to Marie, who was now whimpering, arms wrapped around her mother’s neck. “Of course,” she said with surprising composure. “You were inquiring about a painting, weren’t you?”

  He smiled. “Yes. And about your husband’s health. I do hope he returns safely. It would be terrible for a family as lovely as yours to be separated.” Turning to Angel, he said. “If you’d be so kind as to accompany us, we’ll be on our way. While we’re driving, you can tell me about your hunch.”

  Angel walked out of the house, sandwiched between Bernard and his bodyguard. Bernie ushered her into the backseat, then said something to the big guy and climbed into the backseat next to her. The bodyguard apparently doubled as a driver.

  “Does he have a name?” Angel asked.

  “Dan.”

  Dan had a phone to his ear, but with the window between them closed, she couldn’t hear the conversation. They backed out and drove in the direction in which she’d come after leaving Callen. Callen was nowhere in sight, and Angel wondered if he’d circled around to the back of the house. The thought terrified her. If he hadn’t seen her leave, he wouldn’t be able to follow her. And how could he follow her when she had the keys to her car in her purse? She’d automatically taken them out of the ignition when she stopped the car. The phone. He’d have heard the conversation on the cell phone. Angel felt inside the purse, which she’d set on the seat beside her.