Hostage At Crystal Manor

by Heather Graham

  * * *

  KODY DIDN’T TRUST APPLEBY. She knew the man really didn’t care if people lived or died.

  She wondered with a terrible, sinking feeling if her parents weren’t already dead. If Appleby hadn’t come into the house, waited for them and shot them down in cold blood…

  “I want to talk to my mother,” she said.

  “What?”

  “I want to talk to my mother. I want to know that she’s alive. I don’t believe you and I don’t trust you. And this is sick and ridiculous, and if I’m going to continue to search and help you, I want to know that my mother is alive!” Kody said determinedly.

  “Do you know what I could do, little girl?” Appleby asked her. “Do you have any idea of what I could do to you? Let me describe a few possibilities. Your kneecaps. You can’t imagine the pain of having your kneecap shot out. I could shoot them both—and then leave you here. Eventually birds of prey and other creatures would come along and then the fun would really start. They would eat you alive. Slowly. They’re very fond of soft tissue, especially birds of prey. They love to pluck out eyes…you can’t begin to imagine. With any luck, you’d be dead by then.”

  Kody wasn’t about to be swayed. “I want to talk to my mother.”

  “You can’t talk to your mother.”

  “Why not? Is she dead? If she’s dead, I don’t give a damn what you do to me.”

  “She can’t talk because there isn’t anyone with her to hand her a phone!”

  “I thought she was being held on a boat by people who would kill her.”

  “She’s alive and well, Kody. Okay, maybe not so well, but she is alive. She’s just tied up at the moment.”

  “Tied up where?”

  “Does it matter? She can’t talk right now.” Appleby let out a growl of aggravation. “She can’t talk. I knocked them out, left them tied up. They’re alive, Kody.”

  “How do I trust you?”

  “How do you not? You don’t have a choice. Start moving. The longer you take, the more danger there is for your mom and dad.”

  “Maybe you’ve never even had them!” Kody said.

  Appleby grinned. “Mom. Her name is Elizabeth, nickname Beth. She’s about five feet, six inches. A pretty brunette with short, bobbed hair. Dad—Daniel. Six-two, blue eyes, graying dark hair. Yep, not to worry, Kody, dear, I do know the folks.”

  Kody managed to snap her shovel into working condition. For a moment she stared at Appleby, then she studied the ground and jumped back.

  “What?” Appleby demanded.

  “Snake.”

  “It will move.”

  “Yes, I’m trying to let it. It’s a very big snake.”

  “It’s just a ball python,” Appleby said. “Someone’s pet they let loose out here. Damn, but I hate that! People being so irresponsible. They’ve ruined the ecosystem.”

  Kody stared at him. He hadn’t minded shooting an accomplice at close range. But he was worried about the ecosystem.

  Thankfully, the snake at her feet was a non-native constrictor instead of a viper.

  She swallowed hard.

  The snake was gone.

  She started to dig.

  * * *

  “TELL ME YOU’VE got something!” Nick whispered to Craig.

  “Yes! We’ve got them. They were left under the bridge at the edge of the park. They couldn’t twist or turn a lot or they’d have been in a canal. But we have them. We have them both. Elizabeth and Daniel Cameron are safe.”

  “Roger that. Thank you,” Nick said. He clicked the phone closed, then inched through the grass and rose slightly, giving a signal to Jason Tiger to hold for his cue.

  Kody suddenly let out a little cry, stepping backward.

  “What?” Appleby demanded.

  “Another snake…it’s a coral snake. A little coral snake, but they can be really dangerous.”

  “No, that’s not a coral snake. It’s just a rat snake. Rat snakes are not poisonous.”

  “‘Red touch yellow, kill a fellow. Black touch yellow, friend of Jack,’” Kody said, quoting the age-old way children were taught to recognize coral snakes from their non-venomous cousins.

  “Yeah! Look, black on yellow!” Appleby said.

  “No, red is touching yellow!”

  “You want to get your nose down there and check?” he demanded.

  “I am not touching that snake!” Kody said.

  Appleby made a move. Nick could judge the man’s body motion, the way that he crouched. He was getting ready to strike out.

  And that was it.

  Nick went flying across the remaining distance between them.

  Appleby spun around, but he never knew Nick was coming, never saw what hit him. Nick head-butted the man, bringing him down to the ground.

  The man’s gun went flying.

  They could all hear the popping sound as it was sucked into the swamp.

  Appleby made no effort to struggle. Nick had raised a fist; Appleby just stared at him. He started to laugh. “You won’t do it, will you? Pansy lawman. You won’t do it. In fact…”

  Nick didn’t listen to the rest; he was already rising. Jason Tiger and his men were coming in to take the prisoner.

  He looked over at Kody, who was standing there, shaking. She hadn’t moved from her position; she was just staring at him.

  Then she flew at him, her fists banging against his chest. “Nick! You idiot, he has my mom and dad. He’s going to kill my mom and dad. He’ll never tell us—”

  “That’s right! They’ll die!” Appleby chortled.

  Nick caught Kody’s hands. He turned and glanced at Appleby. “No, actually, Dan and Beth are just fine. They’re being checked out at Mercy Hospital as we speak, but I imagine they’ll be home by the time Kody and I manage to get back in.”

  Kody went limp, falling against him. “Really?”

  “Really,” he said.

  He started to lead her back toward the police boat that had brought him to the hammock.

  “Thank you!” she whispered.

  “You did it, you know. Getting the call through. If you hadn’t managed that, no one would have known. You did it, Kody.”

  She looked up at him. “I called the right guy, huh?” she said softly.

  He kissed her lightly, holding her close, and heedless of who might see.

  Appleby let out a horrendous scream. “It got me! It got me! Son of a bitch, it got me! Help, you’ve got to get me help, fast. You have to slice it, suck the poison out… It got me. You bastards, do something!”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Jason Tiger said. “David, did you see the snake?”

  “Had to be a rat snake.”

  With Appleby supported between them, Jason Tiger and David Cypress walked by them. Jason Tiger winked. Rat snake, he mouthed to Nick.

  And Nick grinned.

  Yep…

  Let Appleby do a little wondering, after what he had done to others.

  The winter’s night was nearly over. Morning’s light was on the way. And with it, Nick felt, all good things.

  It was done. Case over, the way he liked it.

  Appleby would rot beyond bars.

  And Kody was safe, in his arms.

  * * *

  “‘HE HATH, MY LORD, of late made many tenders of his affection to me!’”

  Beyond a doubt, Dakota Cameron made the most stunning Ophelia that Nick had ever seen.

  The play was definitely different; not that, until now, he’d really been an expert on plays.

  He was learning.

  But even with what he knew, Hamlet Thus They Say was a different kind of show. Of course, Kody was beyond stupendous and Nick could hear the buzz among the people
around him.

  It was going to be a hit.

  There was no real curtain call; the play just continued for four hours each night. There was no intermission. It was “living theater.”

  And it was FBI night.

  Craig was there with Kieran. Mike, Craig’s partner, was there. Nick had been glad to learn that he would be repartnered with Sherri Haskell, and she was there with her New York City cop husband, Mo.

  Director Egan had even come out for the night.

  They waited in front of the theater for the last of the attendees to leave.

  “I can’t believe that they didn’t break character—not once!” Kieran said, smiling at Nick. “Okay, so, actually, I can’t believe you disappear, Kody goes home to settle some things, and you come back a duo, having caught a man who held a spot on the Ten Most Wanted list—and found a treasure that’s been missing for decades.”

  “Ah, but we didn’t find the treasure!” Nick told her.

  “I think you did.”

  Nick laughed softly, looking at Craig. “Poor Ophelia, going mad for love! I think Craig and I did a bit of the same. The county, the federal government and the Miccosukee Tribe all got together—and that’s when they found the treasure. None of us stayed because, as we know, the FBI is a commitment—and because the show must go on. That’s a commitment for Kody.

  “We stayed in Miami just long enough for her to spend a day with her parents. Then we all had to be back up here. But, yes, Kody’s research and logic led those forces to the stash. They had to dig pretty deep. I don’t think that Nathan Appleby would have managed to get it all out. He might have found some pieces, though. It had been buried in leather cases, and they were coming apart. But, yes, the stash was filled with gold pieces—South African—and emeralds, diamonds, you name it.”

  “What will happen with it all?” Kieran asked.

  “I understand some of the pieces will wind up in a museum. Some will go to the state and some will wind up helping to keep the Crystal Manor going. It will be part of the trust that runs the place—along with Kody’s family. And speaking of Kody’s family…” He paused, waving as Daniel and Beth Cameron exited the theater. Nick drew them over and introduced them to those in their group they hadn’t met already.

  Of course, on arrival in the city, they’d been brought to Finnegan’s and feted with stout from excellent taps and the world’s best shepherd’s pie.

  “Wow. And you’re FBI, too?” Daniel asked Sherri.

  “Yes, sir. I am.”

  “Well, our girl will be hanging around with a good crowd,” Daniel told his wife.

  “Yes, certainly,” Beth Cameron said, but she looked a little puzzled.

  “Is anything wrong?” Nick asked her.

  “No, no, of course not. I’m not so sure that I get it. I mean, living theater, or whatever it is. I’m used to the actors just…acting on stage. I’ve never talked with the actors before during a performance,” she said. “But, of course, Kody and Kevin were wonderful!”

  Kieran laughed. “Yes, they were. They were both wonderful.”

  “She talked to me—but as if she didn’t know me!” Daniel said.

  “Well, she doesn’t know you. Not as Ophelia,” Nick explained.

  “Yes, yes, of course. She’s playing a role. I guess. I mean, of course. It’s just strange,” Beth said. She sighed. “She has a beautiful voice. Maybe it will be a musical next. Oh, look!” she murmured, catching Nick by the hand. “There—do you know who that is?”

  Nick looked. No, he didn’t.

  “That’s Mayor Holden Burke. With his little boy, Adrian. And his wife, Monica.”

  The man, next to the boy who appeared to be about nine, noted Beth just as she was whispering about him.

  He waved and came over, catching the hands of his wife and son so they would join him. Adrian Burke was carrying a large bouquet of flowers.

  Beth introduced people all around.

  “We’re so grateful,” he said, and his wife nodded, looking around. “You’re the agents who were involved?”

  “Craig and I were down there,” Nick said. “But, like I said in my debriefing, in all honesty, Kody was the one who got Nathan Appleby to say where Adrian was being held. And an agent down in South Florida, Jason Tiger, got the information back to the city.”

  The cast door opened and the actors were all coming out. There was a round of applause that sounded up and down the street.

  Nick saw Kody, and saw that she was searching through the crowd.

  Looking for him, he thought. He waved and then watched her chat and smile with grace and courtesy as she spoke to fans and signed programs.

  “Excuse us,” Mayor Burke said.

  Nick realized, as the mayor and his family approached Kody, that she’d never actually met them.

  She took the flowers from Adrian, hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek. She was hugged by the mayor and his wife.

  The three left then, waving to the others.

  And, finally, the crowd around the performers had just about thinned out.

  He, Kody’s parents, the Finnegans and the extended FBI family made their way over to the group, congratulating the actors. Nick bypassed everyone, going directly to Kody and taking her in his arms.

  Her kiss was magnificent. Her eyes touched his with promise. She was filled with the excitement and adrenaline of opening night; she was also anxious, he knew, for their time together.

  But first, of course, they all made their way to Finnegan’s for a late-night supper and a phenomenal Irish band.

  And, at last, it was time for him and Kody to leave.

  In his company car they saw her parents to their hotel in midtown. Then they headed for his apartment.

  When they’d first returned to the city a few weeks ago, they’d kept both apartments. That had proved to be a total waste. They both worked, and worked hard, but their free time was spent together.

  When a night bartender at Finnegan’s was about to lose his lease—his apartments were being turned into condos—Kody offered her apartment to him, and so, just last week, she had made the official move into Nick’s place.

  It was simply the best accommodation: a full bedroom, an office, a parlor, two baths. Plus it was situated right on the subway line that connected Finnegan’s and the FBI offices and midtown.

  Kody, of course, had already made some changes, and Nick loved them.

  There were posters on the wall—show posters and band posters—and there was artwork, as well. Seascapes, mostly, from Florida, and paintings from New York City, too.

  One of his favorite pieces they had bought together down in the Village. It was a signed painting of the Brooklyn Bridge.

  “A new artist—who will be a famous artist one day,” Kody had said. “And if not, it’s still a brilliant painting and I love it.”

  She was, he thought, everything he needed.

  Life, as he saw it, was too often grim. But Kody looked for the best, always. And she saw the best that way. She showed it to him, as well.

  “So, what did you think of the play? What did you really think?” she asked when they stepped into the apartment, alone at last.

  “I loved it,” he said.

  “Really?”

  “I really did. But I do believe you have to have the right cast for that kind of theater. Your cast is truly amazing. Powerful performers—they all engaged the audience.”

  “I don’t think my mom saw it that way.”

  Nick laughed. “She admitted to a bit of confusion.”

  “But you really thought that it was good?” she asked.

  “I, like the critics, raved!”

  She flew into his arms, kissing him. “Are you a liar?” she asked.

  “No!�
�

  She laughed. “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “You were there for me, on FBI night.”

  “I’ll come to the show whenever I can.”

  “You don’t have to. It’s okay. We’ll settle in and we’ll figure it all out—the time, the FBI, the theater…”

  “I know we will,” he told her. And he kissed her again, shrugging out of his jacket as he did so. It had been a chilly night. Kody was in a heavy wool coat and it, too, hit the floor.

  She kicked off her shoes, their lips never parting.

  Nick suddenly dipped low and swept her off her feet. She laughed as she looked up at him.

  “It’s been a dramatic night. Thought I should be dramatic, too.”

  “You really are quite the actor. You know, down in Florida when I first saw you, I really thought you were a bad guy.”

  “But not really. You said you knew I wasn’t a killer.”

  “You played the part very well.”

  “Thank you. If the law-enforcement thing fails…”

  She touched his face gently, studying his eyes. “It won’t. You love what you do, and you’re very good, and I would never want anything different for you.”

  “Nor would I change a thing about you,” he told her huskily.

  She smiled.

  They headed into the bedroom and Nick laid Kody carefully upon the sheets, kneeling beside her. He kissed her lips again, but she was impatient and rose against him, crawling over him, straddling him, while she tore away her clothes.

  “Ah, my lady! Wait, I have a surprise for you,” he said.

  She laughed softly. “And I have a surprise for you! I can wait for nothing.” And she shoved him down. She lay against him, teased his shoulders, chest and abdomen with her kisses as she tugged at his clothing, entangled them both in it, and laughed as they finally managed to strip down completely. She whispered to him, touching him, making love to him with a combination of tenderness and fierceness that drove him wild.

  It was later, much later, when he lay sated and incredulous, cradling her to him, his chin atop her head, that she said, “You told me you had a surprise for me.”

  “Ah, yes!”

  He got out of bed and Kody sat up to watch him, curious as he left the room.

  He’d never been with an actress before.