****
“I’m sure my wife has been calling me,” Sin told his abductor who was sitting in the back seat holding a gun on him and Hardman. The stranger had taken both their cell phones. “She’ll be worried and might contact the police.”
“I don’t care if she calls the President of the United States,” he barked. “Keep driving.”
The stranger had forced them into Sin’s luxury vehicle and the trio had driven out of the Peninsula, through San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge and into Marin County. They were now climbing Mount Tamalpais, through the dark, fog and mist. There were places in this mountainous terrain where people could easily vanish and never be found. No doubt, that was the stranger’s intention.
“I take it that we’re going someplace familiar to you?” Hardman asked, already knowing the answer. He was probably the only corpse who knew the location of his own burial ground.
“I told you a long time ago to shut up,” Ham hissed.
Their journey through the night had been a silent one, with the stranger snarling directions, refusing to engage in conversation. That was fine with Sin. The quiet was what he needed not only to concentrate on the man’s directions, but to make plans for his escape. If this joker thought that he was going down without a fight, he was sadly mistaken and Sin sensed the same determination in Hardman. They were both skilled survivalists. It was the stranger holding the gun who should be worried.
There was energy being generated in the car’s interior that Ham didn’t like. The sooner he got rid of these two the better. He followed the car’s headlights along the dark road until he saw what he was looking for— a crooked tree.
“Turn up there,” Ham ordered.
His nerves were frayed. This was the first time he had initiated a kill on his own. He was used to taking orders. Too bad he hadn’t had the time to plan this more carefully.
“Turn there?” Sin asked calmly. “If I do I’ll bump smack into the mountain and kill all three of us. There’s no road to turn into.”
“What do you mean?” Ham squinted trying to see past the headlights into the inky shadows. That has to be the place! Wasn’t that the right tree?
“I’m up here a lot and I’m telling you we’d better not turn there,” Sin told him with conviction.
The certainty in his voice increased Ham’s anxiety. Could he be wrong? It was dark.
“Then keep going until you find an opening, then turn!” he bellowed. “If your smart ass wasn’t driving I’d kill you right now!”
Sin carefully maneuvered the twist and turns of the empty road ahead, until he found a clearing—the one that he was looking for. He turned. The headlights glowed in the eerie darkness, guiding them along the narrow dirt path.”
“Stop!” Ham ordered.
Sin complied instantly, leaving the car idling. “Now what?”
Turning on the overhead light, Ham slid out of the backseat, keeping the gun aimed at Sin’s head. “Turn the car off. Keep the headlights on and you two get out, one at a time.”
He didn’t trust either of them. He knew Moody Lake was a ruthless bastard, but this other guy was a blank slate. Despite the fancy suit he wore, there was something sinister about him that he didn’t like.
Sin got out first. Hardman started to open the passenger door, but Ham stopped him.
“Slide over to the driver’s side and get out.”
Hardman did as told. He stood beside Sin and the two men watched as their potential executioner peered into the darkness trying to get a sense of their surroundings. The headlights and illumination from the interior revealed the rutted dirt road ahead and the silhouettes of towering trees surrounding them. The sound of waves crashing against a rocky shore could be heard in the distance. Listening carefully, Ham’s head whipped in that direction.
“We’re near the ocean. Good.” He addressed Sin. “Do you have a flashlight in the glove compartment?”
“Yes.”
“Get it.”
Retrieving the item, Sin started to hand it to Ham.
“Give it to him,” he indicated Hardman and then waved the gun toward the dirt road. “Lead the way.”
The trio walked forward, flanked by Ham. The glow from the head lights mapped their path, gradually fading until they became dependent on the flashlight alone. Sin broke the ominous silence.
“I want to thank you for not shooting us in my car. I wouldn’t want my family to see the blood on the seat.”
“Shut up!” Ham ordered. His strident voice reverberated through the darkness.
“He couldn’t shoot us in the car anyway,” Hardman sneered. “If the blood wasn’t cleaned up thoroughly, my DNA could be detected and how would that be explained?”
“That’s why he’s going to throw us in the ocean. Hear that sound?” Sin said dryly, sending Hardman a silent message to join him in trying to distract, confuse or annoy their abductor.
“Yes, it’s getting closer,” was Hardman’s coded reply to Sin’s unspoken message.
“Too close,” Sin countered.
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up!” Ham yelled. “Both of you got more mouth than brains.”
Grabbing Sin by the scruff of his collar, he jerked him backward, putting him in a strangle hold. “And I’m going to pop you first, pretty boy!” he hissed in his ear.
Hearing the scuffle behind him, Hardman turned, aiming the flashlight on them in time to see the stranger pointing a gun at Sin’s head.
Hardman’s tone was deadly. “Take your hands off my son.”
The unexpected declaration caught Ham off guard. He drew back, causing his grip on Sin to loosen slightly. That was exactly what Sin needed as in one swift move he deflected the gun with one hand and viciously elbowed Ham in his ribs, before rolling to the ground.
Blindsided, Ham stumbled. Hardman sprang into action. Grabbing Ham’s gun hand, the two men struggled for possession of the weapon. From the ground, Sin executed a ferocious kick to Ham’s knee cap. The blow buckled Ham’s leg, but somehow he remained on his feet.
Hardman struck at Ham’s head with the flashlight. Ham avoided the blow. The struggle for control of the gun raged. A shot rang out. The stray bullet vanished into the night. The flashlight was dropped to the ground, its rays capturing the desperate struggle to gain a hold of the weapon.
Scrambling to his feet, Sin joined the fracas. Ham was a powerful man, in both size and strength. It took both men to try and bring him down. Hardman kept a strong hold on the abductor’s gun hand, keeping the weapon pointed upward, working hard to wrestle it free from Ham. Shouts and curses filled the air.
Groping in the dark, Sin managed to circle behind Ham and administered a chokehold of his own. Grabbing Ham around the neck, he worked to drag the struggling giant backward. Hardman continued his assault from the front, keeping a vice grip on Ham’s gun hand. From behind, Sin forced a change in Ham’s position so that both of their backs were to the ocean where the thunderous breakers assaulted the jagged rocks below.
Sin jerked Ham backward trying to drag him to the ground. Still in possession of the gun, Ham fought to stay on his feet. His strength was impressive. Like his two victims, Ham was fighting for his life.
Unexpectedly, Sin released his hold on Ham and dropped to the ground. His lithe form curled into a human boulder. He roared at Hardman.
“Push! Push! Push!”
Releasing Ham’s arm, Hardman shoved him as hard as he could. Stumbling backward, Ham pointed the gun at Hardman, intent on taking him out before hitting the ground. He pulled the trigger just as he flipped over Sin’s back.
Shots rang out in the night, again and again, but to Ham’s surprise terra firma was nowhere to be found. Like a bird in flight he was soaring through the darkness, with the sound of the breaking waves drawing closer and closer until it drowned out his final agonizing screams.
A disheveled Sin picked up the flashlight and shined it toward Hardman. “Did he get you?”
“No, I’
m no worse for wear. How about you?”
“I’m dirty as hell, but at least there are no holes in my clothes. The shots missed.”
Turning toward the ocean, Sin shined the light to reveal the cliff over which their nemesis had fallen. Hardman walked over to stand next to him.
“Careful,” Sin warned. “We’re pretty close to the edge.”
Hardman could see that he was right. “You knew that was there.”
“Yes, I’ve hiked up here with friends many times. But, if we had taken that first turn off the road, I’m not sure where we would have ended up.”
Hardman peered over the edge into the inky darkness. “Do you think anybody will find his body?”
Sin gave a nonchalant shrug. “They might, then again they might not.”
Aided by the beams from the flashlight, they started back toward the car.
“Do you know his name?” Sin wondered if the man had been one of Hardman’s criminal cronies.
“No, I don’t.” They walked in silence for a while, until Hardman spoke again. “Let me ask you something.”
“Shoot.”
Hardman chuckled. “Bad choice of words.”
Sin tried not to smile. “Okay, then what do you want to know?”
“Do you plan on calling the police?”
Sin knew what was at stake if the authorities got involved. Too many questions would be asked. But, he could hear the doubt about Sin’s intentions in Hardman’s voice. He wasn’t sure that a case of guilt wouldn’t get the better of Sin. He alleviated any doubt he might have.
“No,” he assured Hardman quietly. What would be the point? Whatever the dead man’s name might be, he was an enforcer, a professional killer. Let his employers call the authorities and report him missing, but he very much doubted that they would.
The gunman’s appearance answered a lot of the questions that Sin might have wanted to ask Hardman. This evening’s tragic event was testimony to what Sin had feared most. Hardman’s past had caught up with him. He was a dangerous man to be around. His self-imposed exile was necessary, not only for his well being, but for everyone else. He’d warned Nedra this could happen. Yet, his encounter with the killer tonight confirmed all speculation as to why Colton Cameron had deserted his wife and child.
If the lives of Nedra and our kids were at stake I might do the same. The very thought was a major jolt. Sin stumbled on the dark path.
“Are you okay?” Hardman reached out to steady him.
A shaken Sin avoided his touch. “I’m fine.”
He refocused. He had to contact Nedra. He needed to hear her voice.
Reaching his vehicle, Sin used the car phone to call his wife as they drove down the mountain. The sound of her voice was like a healing balm. She was frantic with worry.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you, but I lost track of time,” he told her truthfully. “I’m with Hardman.” He knew that confession might bring a reprieve. His pardon was instant.
Her voice softened. “You spend all of the time you can with him. I’ll see you when you get home. I love you.”
“I love you more.” And he did. He would die for her. He glanced at Hardman. Maybe it was in his genes.
As they drove back to the Monterey Peninsula, conversation between the two men was tentative as they searched for common ground. It was when Hardman began telling Sin a little about his past that they found it. Both men had endured childhoods that had left scars on their souls.
“I’ve done things that I’m not proud of,” Hardman admitted. “If there really is a hell I’ve earned my place in it.”
“There are no guarantees I won’t see you there,” Sin confessed. “A man died tonight and neither of us seems bothered.”
Hardman studied Sin’s set profile before replying. “That’s probably true on my part, but not on yours. That’s the difference between us. You’re a good man, Sinclair. Something tells me that things like this don’t come as easily to you as they do to me. Plus, you’ve got a good woman beside you who makes you a better human being.”
Sin couldn’t argue with that. It was Nedra’s love that made him whole.
“My wife can never find out about what happened this evening.”
“Understood.”
“She’s already beating herself up because she brought you here.”
“I have no doubt about that.”
Sin glanced down at his torn, filthy attire. “I’m going to stop by my office, take a shower and change into some clothes I keep there. She can’t see me like this.”
“Good idea,” Hardman agreed, noting his own physical disarray. “But do me a favor and take me to the house in Pacific Grove first. I’ve got something I need to do that should remedy this whole situation.”
Sin didn’t ask what that was. He knew.
****
It was dawn when Sin dragged his sore, weary body up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with his wife. He wasn’t surprised to find her awake. Kicking off his shoes, he tossed his jacket aside and crawled into bed beside her, not bothering to undress. Nedra cradled him against her body, planting a kiss in his hair. She noticed the smell of shampoo and the dampness, but didn’t question it
“Is he gone?” she asked quietly, knowing there was no need to explain herself.
“Yes. He’s dead to everyone now.” Sin snuggled closer, savoring the feeling of being in her arms. “Mrs. Spencer was asleep, so he wrote her a note thanking her for her service and left enough bonus money to choke a horse.”
“How did he leave?”
“He hired a charter plane to take him to Los Angeles. He’ll fly home from there. I took him to the airport.”
Nedra nodded. “I’ll go by the house later to see about Mrs. Spencer.”
“I figured you would.” Sin allowed the love he felt for this extraordinary woman to soothe his injured spirit. Wrapped in her arms, nothing else mattered. Yet the sound of the tide in the distance was haunting. He sought to drown it out.
“There was a bit of drama in the neighborhood when we were leaving the house. An officer told us that somebody walking a dog heard sounds coming from a car trunk. The cops found a guy locked inside. He had been mugged.”
“Oh no! That’s a good area, but I guess no place is safe these days. How’s the man doing?”
“The cop said he was in pretty bad shape, but they think he’ll pull through.”
“He was lucky.”
“Yes, he was.”
They fell silent again. Sin remained quiet for so long that Nedra thought he had fallen asleep. She was curious about what Hardman and her husband talked about during their long visit. Hopefully, he’d tell her. Sin interrupted her thoughts.
“He called me his son tonight.”
“Did he?” The pain in his voice broke her heart. She could only imagine what the power of that single word must have meant to him.
“I’ve never had a man say that about me before.”
Nedra swallowed the lump in her throat. “And how did it make you feel?”
“Strange.” Sin paused to think about the truth of that statement. “He has no right to make a claim that he hasn’t earned.”
Nedra felt his body tense. She tightened her hold on him, but stayed silent.
“I don’t want him to be my father.” The words were said with quiet resolve.
She traced his furrowed brow. “There’s good and bad in everyone, and I got the best part of you. You’re-a wonderful man from a long line of people who endured and survived. Those two things, and your DNA, are the things you share with Thomas, nothing more.”
Sin gave a plaintive sigh. If only. After tonight, he now shared more than that with Hardman. He was in a pact with the devil and it felt surreal.
Seeing her husband in pain was killing her. She hovered over him, gently placing his face between the palms of her hands.
“I never meant to hurt you,” she whispered huskily. “All I have is love for you, and when I took you to Mexico…
With that said, Sin proceeded to prove those words to his wife until the sun rose in the sky.
EPILOGUE
Months later
With mail in one hand and groceries bags filling her arms, Nedra kicked the kitchen door closed behind her and hurried to place the bags on the counter.
Sin walked into the kitchen finishing a glass of juice. “You should have called me, I would have helped you.”
“Too late.” She tossed the mail on the counter and started unpacking the bags.
Setting the glass in the sink, Sin peeked into one of the bags “Did you get the pesto? I need it for the pasta sauce.”
“I got everything on the list.” She moved from the refrigerator to the cabinets, putting the food away. Sin started shifting through the mail.
“Ray and Bev are bringing the salad.” Nedra informed him recounting the plans for the family dinner that evening. “Dana and James are taking care of the dessert. Darnell swears that she helped bake the cake they’re bringing, but Thad says different.”
She looked over her shoulder at Sin expecting him to make a wise crack. Everyone who knew her was aware that Darnell couldn’t boil water. But, Sin was staring at something in his hand.
“What’s that?” Moving to his side, she saw what he was holding. “A postcard?”
“Yes. It was forwarded to our house in this envelope.” He handed it to her.
Nedra examined it closely. “Who’s it from?”
“It doesn’t say, but it was originally sent to our old house in Pacific Grove.”
“What?” Nedra chuckled. “We haven’t lived there since…”
She stopped short. Her eyes met those of her husband’s before both of them shifted their attention back to the card in his hand.
The picture on the front was of a nondescript cruise ship in the middle of a turquoise blue sea. The postmark’s date verified that the card had been mailed quite a while ago. Neither of them had heard of the postmark’s location.
Shadows of Love Page 18
