When I Find You: A Trust No One Novel

by Brown, Dixie Lee

  “If I untie you to eat, will you behave yourself?” Cooper set two bowls of soup on the table.

  She nodded and quickly concealed the contraband under the cuff of her sleeve again. He moved behind her, released her hands, and pulled the gag from her mouth.

  “I need to use the bathroom.” She stretched her arms above her head.

  “You can wait.”

  “No, I really can’t.”

  He glared at her for a moment. “Aw, shit. You’re more trouble than you’re worth. I’ll be glad to be rid of you.” Retrieving a knife from the kitchen counter, he severed the tape that held her legs in place. “There’s nowhere for you to go that I can’t find you.”

  “You won’t mind if I test that, will you?”

  “Go ahead. Let’s see what happens.” He sank the knife blade into the table with a vicious thrust and laughed as she shrank back. “Use the john down the hall, and I’ll be watching the front door. If you’d like to live through the night, don’t try anything.”

  Darcy almost skipped from the room and down the hallway. What a stroke of luck that he hadn’t thought it necessary to escort her. Thank goodness Walker had insisted she not tell Cooper about the safe room. At the bathroom door, she rested one hand on the knob, glanced toward the kitchen, then turned and bolted the twenty feet to the study. At the far wall, she drew up, slowly running her hand across and then up until she felt the squishy texture she remembered, and pushed as hard as she could.

  Nothing happened.

  Sweat ran down her back, and her breathing came quicker as her heart pounded out of control. Breathe—in slowly and out. She concentrated on just that until a semblance of calm returned. Fear and panic would not spoil the only opportunity she would have to escape. She could do this. The sound of Cooper pushing his chair back in the kitchen spiked her heart rate again. With another deep breath, she closed her eyes and envisioned Walker standing behind her, his fingers laced through hers, patiently waiting while she found the spot that would open the secret door. Eyes still closed, she raised her hand and began again.

  Footsteps echoed down the hall. She tried to block them out, her attention on the wall in front of her. Across, until the texture felt right, then up. Find the soft spot and press. Silently, the door slid open.

  “Darcy, time’s up.” Down the hall, Cooper knocked on the bathroom door before he pushed it open. “Goddamn it, I warned you.” His footsteps hesitated in the hallway before they moved quickly toward the study door.

  Darcy slipped through the opening and down the dark stairs, holding her breath until the door sealed shut behind her. Did he see her? Did the door close in time?

  Fifteen . . . sixteen . . . seventeen steps . . . the lights dispelled the darkness, and she pushed through the narrow corridor until the safe room opened up before her. She’d made it. What was more, she could watch to see what Cooper would do next from the safety of this room. She stepped to the bank of monitors and flicked them on.

  Her stomach tightened in dread as soon she saw Cooper in the study, moving slowly from wall to wall as he scrutinized the bookshelf, the fireplace and the pictures. He stayed the longest in front of the girl looking out at the ocean, a hand shielding her eyes from the sun—the painting that hung above the secret entrance. Finding nothing, he moved away only to return twice more.

  It was just a matter of time. He would have seen her if she’d left the house through a door, heard her if she’d broken a window. The bathroom, a small utility room, and the study were the only rooms in the corridor. Her heart sank as he began knocking on the walls. Would the empty space behind the secret door give her hiding place away? The gloating expression on his face answered her question, and she saw his lips move. She couldn’t hear what he said, but his meaning was quite clear.

  With growing fear, she watched him leave the room, then stared at the monitors until he appeared again, passed the stairs, and opened the door to the garage. He disappeared from one monitor, only to appear on another and stopped in front of a tool rack where he selected a vicious-looking axe.

  Her breath caught in her throat. He was going to break through the wall, and this time she was sure he would kill her. She’d already talked to Walker and proved she was alive. Cooper didn’t need her anymore. Fear clawed at her throat. Grappling for control, she took deep breaths, counted slowly to five, and pushed back against the panic. She wouldn’t give up without a fight.

  There had to be something here she could use as a weapon. Her Walther P22 was on the nightstand by her bed upstairs. She’d left it there in her haste to meet Johnny this morning. Was it only just this morning? Was it really last night she and Walker made love? She shook her head, dismissing the sensual images that flooded her mind.

  She flew to the gun cabinet and turned the handle. Locked. What was the combination Walker had given her? She tried two different sets of numbers before the first blow of the axe splintered wood at the top of the stairs. Frantically, her gaze raked the room and finally fell on the books on the headboard, held between heavy cast iron bookends shaped like dragons.

  The axe fell again.

  Hefting one of the figurines, she considered its weight and decided it would have to do. She flipped the monitors off, followed by the lights, except for the ones that lit up the stairwell. He would only see blackness beyond the stairs, but she’d be able to see him. It wasn’t much of an advantage, but she’d take whatever she could get. A strange calm settled over her as she pressed her back against the wall just inside the safe room and waited.

  The blows were coming quicker now, wood splintering and Cooper grunting. He’d be through the wall soon and down the stairs. Darcy would only get one chance, and she’d have to be right on top of him to make her blow count. She moved the dragon from one hand to the next, drying her sweaty palms.

  The axe stopped falling. She waited to hear his footsteps on the stairs, but the room was silent. Where was he? Why did he stop? She longed to rush to the monitors, turn them on, and find out where he was, but she couldn’t leave her hiding place now. He would come. She knew he would.

  Each minute stretched agonizingly to the next. Her arm muscles protested their long siege, holding the heavy bookend at the ready. When she could no longer stand the silence that suffocated her, she lifted her foot to take a step forward but stopped midstride. A loose board creaked. The shuffle of unseen feet. She stiffened, cocking her head to get a handle on where the sound came from.

  Abruptly, the twisting and tearing of splintering wood preceded heavy footfalls rushing down the stairs. With no time to think, Darcy raised her weapon. As soon as Cooper’s head and torso passed the entryway, she swung with all her strength. At the last second, his arm came up and deflected the blow.

  He staggered back but grabbed for her and missed as she scooted away and raised the dragon again. “Uh-oh, what are you going to do now, Darcy? You had surprise on your side, but you blew it. That hunk of metal won’t do you much good from over there. I’ve got a gun, so I don’t need to get close enough to give you another chance with that thing. I can kill you from here. The question is—do you want to live or not?”

  Light from the stairwell threw half shadows across his face while semidarkness swallowed the rest of the room. The silky tendrils of his evil words drifted across the intervening space and seemed to tighten around her throat, impeding her already labored breathing. God, she was so tired. How much longer could she fight to stay alive? She’d eventually lose anyway. For just a second, she wanted to give up—probably would have if he hadn’t picked that moment to rush her. She only had time to raise the bookend over her head and bring it down on his back as he tackled her and sent them both sprawling on the floor. The next instant, he sat on her. One hand held her arms down while the other drew back in a fist to punch her. Unable to move, she closed her eyes and braced herself.

  As if from somewhere far away, there were more footsteps. She must be losing it—dreaming, but the dream was better than her reality, so w
hy fight it? Abruptly, Cooper’s weight lifted off her and a strangled sound escaped his clenched teeth. She sat up and pushed herself against the wall, the bookend clutched to her chest. It took a couple of seconds to make sense of the scene before her.

  Walker flung Cooper against the adjacent wall, stripped the gun from his hand, and let it clatter to the floor, then grabbed him by the throat. Judging by the gurgling noises emitted by the fake deputy and the way his hands clawed ineffectually at the ones that pinned him, Walker was enraged and dead serious. He was going to kill Cooper. Joe stood a few feet away, but made no move to intervene. Fear for Walker overcame everything else. She dropped the bookend, scrambled to her feet, and stumbled toward them.

  “Walker, don’t . . .” Tugging on the back of his vest, she tried to get his attention without getting close to the man whose lips were now turning blue.

  Walker looked down, took a deep breath, and a second later, let go of Cooper, who slid to the floor gasping for air. “Joe, would you keep an eye on this scum for a minute?”

  “Happy to,” Joe drawled, walking forward until he stood directly in front of Cooper.

  Walker looked over his shoulder, grinned at Joe, then took Darcy by the arm and propelled her out of the safe room to the foot of the stairs leading to the study.

  “You found me.” Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at him.

  “Don’t I always?” With a hand on either side of her face, he pulled her against him and held her tightly, almost desperately, as he kissed her forehead.

  Darcy lifted her chin and his lips came down on hers, urgent yet gentle, and he coaxed a response from her until her lips opened for him. Her arms went around his neck and she pressed herself into his warmth and safety.

  He was here. She loved him. She had to tell him. When she opened her mouth to say the words, he kissed her once quickly and then pushed her away.

  “We don’t have much time. You’ve got to trust me—now more than ever. Will you?” The sadness in his voice puzzled her and sent tingles up her spine. Of course she trusted him. Surely he knew that.

  “How many times do you have to save my life before you know I’m going to trust you?” She gave a short laugh then twined her arms around his waist again and laid her head on his chest, breathing in his woodsy scent. This time, he held himself aloof and almost rigid. Confused, she drew back a step. If everything was all right, why did she need to trust him?

  “Walker, what . . .”

  He laid a finger on her lips. “Just trust me, okay?” Then he took her hand and pulled her back into the safe room.

  Cooper was on his feet, pacing and fuming. Joe leaned against the wall, an amused smile tugging at his lips as he watched the man rant and circle like a caged tiger. As soon as Walker reentered the room, Cooper went on the offensive. “How the hell did you get here? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter how you got here. Did you come prepared to hold up your end of the bargain, or are you going to kill me?”

  “Not that I wouldn’t like to kill you, but that won’t serve my purpose at the moment. So, hopefully that bullet you’re already packing doesn’t do the job.”

  “I’ll live.”

  “Let’s make sure we understand each other. You agreed to tell DeLuca that Darcy is out of this. She’s no threat to him because the only thing she witnessed was a botched job of staging Johnny’s death. As for you kidnapping her—that was simply a misunderstanding. If you didn’t hurt her, we’re willing to forget it.” Walker hesitated to let his words sink in. “Right, Darcy?” He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

  Darcy remained silent, dreading what she knew he would say next . . . what Walker’s part of the deal was.

  “And in return, I shoot Johnny for you.”

  Walker’s words dropped like stones into her heart.

  “No!” Darcy gasped and tried to pull her hand from his, but he held her securely. “Walker, no. You can’t. It’s murder. Johnny hasn’t done anything to hurt you. Nick and Eddy need their father. Please don’t do this.”

  Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded with him and tried to pry her hand away. Instead of releasing her, he gathered her under his arm and took both of her hands in one of his. She squirmed against his restraint and kicked his shin, but he only tightened his grip, staring into her eyes with steely determination.

  “If you do this . . .”

  “You’ll what? Hate me? That’s the best thing that could happen to you.” He looked over her head and nodded. “Get her out of here.”

  She swung around to see Joe coming toward her. Darcy’s heart skipped a beat when Johnny stepped from an opening in the back wall that hadn’t been there before, his hands bound in front of him.

  “Johnny, I’m so sorry.” Fresh tears rolled down her face as Joe grabbed her arm and thrust her past him.

  “This isn’t your fault, Darcy. You’ve been a good friend to me and my family. I won’t be less than that to you.” Johnny regarded her with serene eyes as though he’d accepted his fate, which made the anger roil up within her.

  Damned if she was going to go quietly. With all the strength she could muster, she wrenched free of Joe and started back toward Walker. Halfway there, Joe caught her arms.

  “I wish I could hate you, Walker.” She ground the words out. “It would be better than loving you and having you betray me like this. I’ll never forgive you.”

  Anguish filled Walker’s eyes for a moment before scorn took its place. “Get her out of here, Joe.” He turned toward Johnny.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  * * *

  THE TEARS FLOWING down her face tore Walker apart as she stopped and turned back to look at him. He willed her to trust him one last time but instead the despair in her eyes silently accused him of all kinds of wrong. A sob escaped her before she dropped her gaze and disappeared through the underground entrance. The emptiness she left behind coiled around him and squeezed mercilessly. What he’d told her was true. Hating him would be the best thing for her . . . but it might just be the end of him. He shrugged his personal feelings aside. She’d be safe and that was all that mattered. The plan the three of them had hatched, after they left Cara in the car at the bottom of the hill and started hiking, would guarantee that—as long as nothing went wrong.

  When Joe showed him the tunnel that led below ground and gave them a way into the safe room without being seen, Walker planned to use the monitors to locate Cooper and draw him away from Darcy. Johnny pointed out that if Cooper didn’t finish his job, DeLuca would send someone else, and they’d be back in the same position they were in now. Johnny’s death was the only thing that would change the equation enough to keep Darcy safe. In the end, it was he who presented an alternate plan. Too bad it wasn’t a foolproof plan.

  Walker’s gaze searched Johnny’s face, noting the tick of a muscle in his jaw and the resignation in his eyes. Grudging respect for the man, in spite of all he’d done to put Darcy’s life in jeopardy, left Walker straddling the fence. Johnny was a brave man, and it was obvious he cared about Darcy. Either way this went, Walker was probably screwed.

  “You’re Montgomery—right?” Johnny stared at the man they only knew as Cooper.

  Montgomery spread his arms wide. “You’ve got me . . . but you figured it out just a little too late. The hit on you was mine until that slimy Reggie Allen got in front of me. Didn’t take long to figure out it wasn’t your body they found in Chicago, but Reggie workin’ with the feds? I didn’t think he had the guts. The moron gave it away when he tried to kill the nanny.”

  Montgomery glanced at Walker and then smirked at Johnny. “He thought she knew what really happened in your house that night and was afraid I’d get it out of her. I know one thing—I was next on his list, so thanks for shooting the bastard, Walker.” His mocking salute was cut short as he grimaced in pain and reached for his side. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

  Montgomery stepped away before Walker raised his gun and aimed at Johnny’s chest
. “If I find out you reneged on your end of the bargain, there won’t be a hole deep enough for you to hide in.”

  Montgomery scowled. “Once you take care of Johnny, I don’t have any use for you or your girlfriend. I’ll be happy to tell DeLuca the nanny wasn’t even there. You’ll have enough to worry about, staying out of jail, when the marshals find out you killed Johnny and tried to kill Reggie Allen. You might want to find a hole of your own to crawl in.”

  “Let me worry about that.”

  “What are you waiting for? Do it.”

  Sirens wailed from somewhere down the hill. Walker cocked his head, but Montgomery didn’t seem to notice. Shit. This was harder than he thought it would be. He held the gun steady as he stared into Johnny’s eyes. Everything depended on the marshals now. Johnny glanced at Montgomery, his gaze slid back to Walker, and he nodded.

  Walker squeezed the trigger. The impact threw Johnny back against the wall, and he dropped to the floor. Blood spurted from the wound and soaked down the front of his shirt.

  “What the . . .?” Montgomery looked toward the stairs as the sound of tires crunching gravel and sirens screaming finally caught his attention. He started toward Johnny. “I’ll make sure he’s dead.”

  “No time.” Walker stepped in front of him. “You think I’m an amateur at this? He’s dead.” The sirens stopped abruptly, and the crunching and breaking of wood sounded as the marshals kicked in the front door. “You can stick around and check if you want to, but I’m getting out of here. We’ve got about five seconds before U.S. marshals are swarming down those stairs.” Walker crossed to the back entrance. “Come on. I’ll show you the way out.”

  Indecision flickered in Montgomery’s eyes as he glanced at Johnny’s body, then back at Walker. Heavy footsteps pounded on the floor above. He swore again and bent to pick up his weapon before he crossed to Walker and preceded him through the door. As Walker turned to look one more time toward the stairs, Montgomery brought the butt of his gun down on the back of Walker’s head.