Silence.
The hair on the back of her neck prickled. She lifted herself out of the bath, grabbed her robe and paused to listen as water dripped off of her body onto the floor.
Was she just hearing things? Where the hell was her gun? One was in the kitchen, and one in the bedroom. She had to get to one of them.
The house was silent as she tiptoed across the bathroom. She pressed her back up against the wall before peering into the bedroom.
She saw no one, and her gun was still on the bed stand.
Shit! The briefcase! She had to get to the kitchen.
She silently darted into the bedroom, grabbed her gun and made her way down the hall. The light from the kitchen barely lit the hallway as she paused to listen.
Aiming the gun ahead of her, she stepped forward and turned toward the kitchen.
Creak.
Her head snapped back as she was yanked backward by her hair. She tried to pull away but screamed in pain as she was hit in the back. The gun flew out of her hand as she tumbled to the floor, her head slamming against the hard wood. A bright light flashed in her eyes as pain shot through her skull.
A swift kick to the side sent her writhing in pain. She curled into a ball and forced herself to open her eyes.
Bewilderment and terror shot through her as she looked up at the intruder. Alek.
He towered over her, pointing a gun in her face. In a low, gravelly voice he asked, “Where’s the key, Victoria?”
When she didn’t answer, his boot slammed into her ribs and nausea overcame her as bile rose to her throat.
“Where’s the key, you bitch!” He started slowly circling her as a wolf would to its prey.
Curled up in the fetal position, the room spun around Victoria as she faded in and out on consciousness.
His voice became terrifyingly calm and confident as he spoke to her. “Are you in pain now, little Victoria?” He let out a menacing laugh. “I’ve been wanting to do that since the day I met you. You spoiled little rich bitch. Do you think I didn’t know how much you despise me? You think you’re so special, living in your mansion, looking down your nose at everyone. You make me sick.”
Tears filled her eyes as white hot pain radiated from her stomach.
He continued, “Well your life isn’t perfect, Victoria. I bet you’d find it really interesting to know your husband sent me here tonight, wouldn’t you? He doesn’t care about you. No one does. Do you know why he sent me here? To kill you. To get the key and to kill you. How does that feel?”
She opened her eyes and tried to focus. Keep him talking, Vee, keep him talking.
“Why?” She choked out the word as blood trickled down her chin.
He continued to circle around her, his beady eyes wild.
“Because he doesn’t care about you. Probably never has. He wants what the key is hiding and then to get the hell out of the country.”
He knelt down beside her. “And after you give me that key, I’ll show you how little I care for you, too.”
He bent lower and whispered in her ear, “And if you don’t tell me where the key is, I’ll make it much worse for you.”
She could feel his hot, rotted breath on her face.
He picked up her hand and unballed her fist, “I think I’ll start with breaking your fingers, one by one.”
Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked up at him.
Smiling, he lifted her finger.
WHACK! The front door flew open and Alek flew backward, slamming against the wall. Victoria lifted her head just in time to see Danny leap forward and tackle him.
She pushed herself off the floor and scurried down the hall as the two men wrestled to the floor. Glass shattered on the floor as a picture fell from the wall.
She grabbed her gun from the kitchen and ran back into the hall. Danny was on top of Alek, slamming his fist into the man’s face, over and over, until Alek went limp.
Covered in blood spatters, Danny pushed himself off the body and stepped to her. Breathing heavily, he asked, “Are you okay?”
She was shaking like a leaf. She opened her mouth but her words caught. He lightly put his hand on the side of her face. “Baby, are you okay?”
Grabbing her side, she nodded.
“No, you’re not.” He looked her over and she fell into his arms.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Oh, my God, Danny.” Tears filled her eyes again. “Danny, William hired him to come here and do this to me.” She felt Danny’s entire body tense.
Rage and determination filled him. “I know.”
He looked down at the limp body on the floor. “I need to get my bag from the truck, I’ll be right back.”
Seconds later he returned and bound Alek’s hands and legs with zip ties. He turned to Victoria. “The key was to a safety deposit box, wasn’t it?”
Victoria nodded and led him to the kitchen table, where the black briefcase lay in the center.
“We need to open it, now.”
She took a deep breath. She knew he was right. She gave him a nod, and he flipped open the double locks.
She held her breath as he lifted the lid. They both stepped closer and Victoria gasped as she peered inside.
“Oh, my God.” Victoria covered her mouth.
Tucked neatly into a velvet pouch in the center of the case was a sparkling, red Ruby.
Danny carefully picked it up and held it to the light. He shook his head, “I bet this is twelve carats, probably worth close to two or three million dollars.”
Breathless, Victoria gazed at the gem. “This has been sitting in a bank for over thirty years. I can’t believe it. Where did he get it? What was he doing with it?”
“My guess is it was payment for something he had, whether it was information or something more tangible.”
Her mouth dropped, her eyes saddened. “Probably for chemicals.”
Danny nodded, “Or access to them, at least.”
“So, this is what William wanted. But how the hell did he know about it?”
Danny stood silent for a moment, processing the information. “John Mortin…he worked with your dad, remember? I bet your dad and John were in this together, somehow, and all these years later, John eventually told William about the briefcase.” He paused, in deep thought, “Maybe threatened him to divulge his company’s dark past if he didn’t help him find the briefcase and split the profits of the Ruby.”
Danny’s phone rang.
“Dabrowski.”
“It’s Wilson. We confiscated Anthony’s, I mean Luis Cruz’s phone when he came in.”
“Hold just a sec.” He pulled the phone away from his. “Go thrown on some warm clothes,” he told Victoria. “We’re getting out of here.”
“Okay.” She nodded and hurried down the hallway to her bedroom, one arm wrapped around her ribs.
Danny gritted his teeth and returned to the phone. “Go ahead, Wilson.”
“You ager going to love this. I looked up the last number Luiz called, and guess what, it belongs to a landline at an apartment rented by a Lisa Green.”
Lisa. Williams’s mistress. A surge of adrenaline burst through Danny’s veins. “Text me the address, and send a squad car to the location. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Oh, and send another car to the lake house to pick up our friend Alek. He’s handcuffed on the hallway floor.”
“Will do.”
Danny clicked off the phone, his attention drawn to a low groan coming from the hallway. By now, Alek was awake but groggy, no doubt in a lot of pain.
Danny left the kitchen and knelt down by him. “There will be a black and white here to pick you up shortly. I’ll look forward to seeing you again at the station.” With that, he stood up and delivered one more kick to Alek’s body. Danny smiled as Alek screamed out in pain. “That one’s for Victoria.”
He grabbed the briefcase and Victoria’s hand as she came back down the hallway, and they ran to his truck. “I’m going to take you to the hospital, get you
looked over,” Danny said as they barreled down the driveway.
“The hell you are.”
He looked over at her, her eyes filled with anger and determination. “Then, I’ll take you to the station, and we’ll go to the hospital together later, after I’m done—”
“Bullshit, Danny,” she interrupted. “I’m staying with you.”
“Victoria, you can’t be involved in this. It’s not safe.”
“No. I’m going with you.”
Danny shook his head in frustration. “Then you’re waiting in the car. With a gun.” He handed Victoria his phone. “Read me the address Wilson just sent me.”
Danny keyed the address into his GPS as she read it and pressed down the accelerator.
When he looked at her again, Victoria was staring out the window.
* * * *
Thanks to Danny’s lead foot, it seemed like minutes later they pulled up to an old apartment complex. He turned off the engine and looked at Victoria. She was still staring out the window. He took her hand and she looked at him.
“We think this is the address where William is hiding out. I’m going to go get him. You should see a squad car pull up soon, for back up.”
He opened the glove box and pulled out a loaded revolver. “Keep this gun on your lap, and don’t get out of the car—for anyone or anything. Do you understand?”
Her heart was pounding. “Yes.”
His face softened and he reached out and touched her leg. “This will all be over soon. I’ll be back soon, okay?”
Just then a squad car rolled up behind his truck. Danny squeezed her leg and jumped out. She held her breath as she watched him stealthily jog up to the building and open the door. He disappeared into the darkness as he ascended the stairs.
Danny didn’t have to tell her. She knew this must be where William’s mistress lived. This was where the coward had been hiding out.
She watched two police officers follow Danny up the stairs.
Chapter 25
It seemed like less than five minutes later she watched William dragged down the stairs in handcuffs. Danny was on one side of him, a policeman on the other. The other cop had the young blonde in tow that Victoria had seen at the gallery. She stumbled down the steps, tears rolling down her face.
Victoria gripped the gun tighter and sank down in her seat as she watched Danny push William and his mistress into the back of the squad car.
Her stomach clenched. It was so surreal. She felt every emotion imaginable in that moment. Fear of what was to come, disgust and sadness for her husband, and hopefulness that everything would be over soon.
She was pulled from her thoughts when Danny returned to the truck. He started the ignition and paused to look her over for a moment. “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
They drove in silence to the station. As they pulled up, Danny put the car in park and turned to her. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”
Her stomach sank. “What?”
“Natasha was ran off the road last night. We’re sure it was Anthony; his real name is Luis Cruz. We’ve got him in custody.”
“What?”
“She’s be okay; she’s still in the hospital.”
“Oh, my God, Danny.”
She sat still and gazed out the window in disbelief. Her face grew red with anger as she pushed open the door. “Let’s go. I want to see what William has to say for himself.”
The air was electric when they walked through the doors. The station was abuzz with all the arrests.
Luis Cruz was being held in a jail cell while William and Lisa were booked and put in separate interview rooms. Shortly after, Alek joined the party.
Victoria impatiently waited in Danny’s office. As the hours dragged on—although she was physically in pain and emotionally exhausted—her mind raced as she thought about how this dramatic turn of events would change her life. Her husband would go to jail, and she would promptly deliver divorce papers. Then, she would have to deal with the backlash and everything that came with a high-profile divorce. The financial implications, the gossip, the embarrassment.
But, most challenging of all, she would need to heal. Heal herself from the past that had been dredged up and thrown in her face.
* * * *
The next few hours were packed with interviews. Danny and his team interviewed each person individually.
Being scared out of her mind, Lisa gave them the most information and confirmed all of Danny’s suspicious. John Mortin had come to William with information about a multi-million dollar jewel in a briefcase, and offered him a deal if he helped find it.
Thirty years ago, Victoria’s father paid John Mortin to assist him in an illegal chemical transfer. Charles Henry sold millions of dollars of chemicals, and various other information to the Charles Chavez Organization in exchange for a rare Ruby.
Fast forward thirty years—John Mortin was about to be forced into retirement by King Chemicals Inc, was dying of prostate cancer, and close to bankruptcy. Desperate, he opened the past he’d sworn to forget and decided he was entitled to the jewel in the briefcase. He just didn’t know where the briefcase was and assumed Victoria was the best place to start looking. William greedily gathered that information from John and had then ordered him killed.
And, sure enough, William and his company had been working with various groups, selling chemicals on the black market. One of those clients—Juan Martinez—met his death when William lit his own house on fire.
After playing back Lisa’s recorded interview to William, he confessed to everything.
It had been a hell of a few hours.
* * * *
Danny stepped inside his office and saw Victoria gazing out the window.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
He walked over to her and brushed her disheveled hair away from her face. She knew he was hyped from all the action, but his eyes were full of concern for her. He reached out and took her hand.
Exhausted, she looked up at him. “I’ve already been interviewed by Chief Mason. So, what now?”
“I have to meet with the Chief and debrief. But most importantly, I’d like you to get checked out at the hospital.” He ran his hand down her bruised face. “Then…I can meet you.”
“No, I need to be alone.”
He paused. “Where are you going to go?”
“To visit Natasha, and then to a hotel, I guess, until I figure out what to do.”
He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Victoria, I don’t want you to be alone tonight. I want to be with you.”
Her stomach twisted. “No.” She looked up at him. “Danny, we can’t see each other…like that…again. I’m in no shape for any kind of emotional entanglements right now. I need to get my life sorted out.”
His eyes widened as he stepped back.
“Danny, I need you in my office immediately.” Chief Mason had poked his head through the partially open door. “Mrs. Henry, hello.”
“Chief.”
Danny took one last look at Victoria, giving her a moment to retract the knife she’d just stabbed into through his heart.
She stood, frozen, staring back at him.
His expression turned hard, cold and turned and followed the Chief out of his office.
Her heart ached as she watched him walk away.
Chapter 26
One month later…
Danny zipped up his suitcase and dragged it into his living room.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” Bobby stood by the front door with his hands on his hips.
“Yeah, man, I am.” He looked around his old, dark apartment. “I sure won’t miss this hell hole.”
Bobby laughed. “Yeah, well, I’m going to miss you buddy.”
“I’ll miss your bald ass, too.”
He dragged the suitcase outside and Bobby followed.
“You’ve got everything taken care of, right?”
“Yeah. Turns o
ut I didn’t have too much to take care of.”
“Hey, what about that plant?” Bobby motioned to a half dead Arrowhead plant in the corner.
“Oh, well…” Danny hadn’t even thought about it. “You want it?”
“Yeah, I’ll put it in my office so I’ll never forget you.” Bobby gave a fake cry and then laughed as he retrieved the plant.
They walked down the steps of the apartment building and loaded up into Bobby’s car.
“Wilson loves your truck. I still don’t know why you sold it.”
Danny laughed. “I won’t need it there, I’ll live on the base. And, good, I’m glad he likes it, hopefully it will pick up more women for him than his Prius.”
“Speaking of women, I hear they’re hot in California. I’m going to come visit, you know. You SEALs have groupies, right?”
“I’m not a SEAL anymore.”
“Hell, a trainer is just as good, right?”
Danny didn’t respond.
“You know, being the Chief of Police might be better than a SEAL trainer, man. I can’t believe you turned it down.”
“Well. I was never meant to stay in Texas, anyway.”
“What time’s your flight?”
“Two hours.”
They merged onto the interstate, and rode in silence for a while. Finally, Bobby asked about the elephant in the room.
“Did you talk to her?”
Danny gazed out the window. “Nope.”
“Not even to tell her you’re leaving?”
“No.”
“So, you two still haven’t spoken since that night?”
“No.”
Bobby shook his head. “Probably for the best. That woman’s got emotional baggage written all over her.”
Danny was silent for a moment, and then responded. “Yeah.”
Two hours later he leaned his head back on the tiny blue headrest. He hated commercial airplanes. They were definitely not made for men over six feet tall. He’d lucked out and got an aisle seat, but was flanked on his left side by a man who probably needed to reserve two seats for himself.
He tuned out the flight attendant as she gave instructions on how to buckle a seatbelt. Minutes later, the engines roared as they lifted into the sky.
Lethal Legacy Page 19
