Deceiving Bella: Book Eleven In The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series

by Beauman, Cate

  “You got the place?” Joe wanted to know.

  He leaned closer to Skylar’s side, scrutinizing the vehicle he could barely see with the chain-link fence and graffiti-riddled trailers scattered around the abandoned lot. “Looks like it.”

  “This place is huge. We need to wait for backup.”

  Reed shook his head. “No.”

  Skylar drove down another block and parked. “We can’t go in alone.”

  He opened the door, glancing at his watch. “Call it in, but I’m not waiting. I’m not sitting out here while they hurt her more.”

  “Let me know when you have her back,” Joe said. “You’ll get her back, Reed.”

  “Thanks.” He hung up.

  Skylar dialed and checked her gun as she got out. “I guess we’re going in together.”

  “Let’s finish this.” They started down the block at a steady pace when all he wanted to do was run.

  Chapter Sixty

  Bella whimpered as she opened her eyes and stared at the rusted metal desk across the dim, dusty room. Blinking, she glanced around at a wall of dirty interior windows and old papers littering the scarred wood floor. She moved to press her hand to the pounding in her head, but her hands were immobilized behind her back. Panic surged through her foggy brain as she tried to stand and quickly realized she was tied down to a chair. “What? Where am I?” And then she remembered, going instantly still. The man in the judge’s bathroom had hit her, and now she was here.

  “You’re up.”

  She whipped her head to her left, immediately regretting her fast movement when her vision blurred. She swallowed another rush of fear, staring at Matty Caparelli closing a door behind him.

  “Cousin Isabella.” He grinned as he approached her, wearing Italian loafers and a two-thousand-dollar suit.

  She tugged on her wrists and fought to move her legs, finding whatever was holding her in place to be too strong to budge.

  He stopped in front of her, crossing his arms and shaking his head. “What? You don’t have anything to say to your own family?”

  “Please let me go.”

  “A dreamer with a nasty head wound.” He bent close and gripped her chin between his fingers, holding her gaze. “You have his eyes. Caparelli eyes. Why didn’t I realize that sooner?” He gave her jaw another painful squeeze. “So where is Nicoli?”

  She blinked, fighting back tears, refusing to cry. “He passed away.”

  He smirked and let her go. “Your loyalty rests with the wrong people, cousin.”

  Her lips trembled, and she hated that a tear slipped down her cheek. “He died of cancer two-and-a-half weeks ago.”

  “Okay.” He gave her cheek a series of small, nasty slaps, making her head throb with each jarring movement. “My condolences, then. Uncle Nicky. Pop says I liked him.” He shrugged. “I liked you too, at Luisa’s party.” He walked away and took a seat behind the rusted desk. “But I don’t like you anymore, Isabella. You’re a rat just like your old man.”

  Another man walked into the room, and her eyes went huge.

  Matty chuckled. “Does he look familiar? I think you two bumped into each other at the grocery store, or maybe you remember him from your office. Tony, go ahead and cut her free. Isabella and I are gonna have ourselves a little sit-down.”

  The stocky man walked over and cut the zip tie from around her wrists, then her ankles. “Get up,” he said as he yanked her to her feet and dragged her more than guided her to the chair across from Matty’s.

  Matty sat back and laced his fingers on his stomach. “So, Cousin Isabella, tell me what it is you’re doing here in New York.”

  She lifted her chin. “I’m sightseeing.”

  He grinned. “Brave.”

  She swallowed, refusing to reply.

  “So you were sightseeing at the courthouse?” He pulled her cell phone out of his pocket. “With him.” He turned the screen so she could see one of her pictures of Reed.

  Again she said nothing as terror clogged her throat.

  He raised his brow, turned the phone, and swiped through the other images. “You and the cop have a thing. Got yourselves a big, ugly dog and an even uglier house.” He set the phone down with a slap. “I don’t like cops.” He shrugged. “Grew up that way, but I especially hate this cop.” He gestured to the phone. “You know he’s gonna pay, right? Cause he’s a nosy pig. Asking Bruno questions he had no business asking.”

  “I don’t know who Bruno is,” she said, watching his eyes glitter.

  “Bruno was a fucking rat and your boyfriend’s bitch.” He sat back again, lacing his fingers. “Bruno shared some interesting facts with me before he died from unfortunate circumstances. I was quite intrigued by Detective Reed McKinley’s fascination with Nicoli Caparelli and his inquiries into whether Uncle Nicky had a kid. Imagine my surprise when Tony did a little investigating and I realized that Detective McKinley’s neighbor was Isabella Colby—Luisa’s very good friend.”

  She swallowed. “Luisa doesn’t know anything. I don’t know anything.”

  “We’re keeping an eye on Luisa for a while. Her pops was loyal to the family, so she’ll probably live. I’m afraid I can’t say the same for you.”

  She narrowed her eyes even as her pulse quickened to a sickeningly fast beat.

  “You are fearless, aren’t you? A Caparelli trait.” He pulled a gun from the holster on his hip. “But fearlessness isn’t always smart. Sometimes fearlessness can be deadly.” He pointed the gun between her eyes. “You know what I mean?”

  Her breath hitched in and out as she trembled in her chair. She wanted to run or at least try to fight for her life, but there was nowhere to go—no one to help her overpower two men twice her size. “So you’re just going to kill me?”

  “I am.” He rested his finger on the trigger. “I don’t like liars. And you’re a liar, Beautiful Bella. Your story about sightseeing at the courthouse just isn’t adding up for me.”

  Bella closed her eyes as several tears fell, thinking of Reed while she waited for the end.

  Matty laughed. “You don’t think I’m going to make it that easy, do you? Usually it’s a pop to the back of the head. Quick. Painless. But that won’t be your fate.”

  She opened her eyes, staring into the nasty, hard depths of her cousin’s.

  “Your Uncle Alfeo wants your death to be painful.” He reached over and captured her hand, holding it in his. “Long and drawn out. Uncle Nicky’s gone, so you’re gonna have to take a little something for him too. Sins of the father, I think the saying goes.” In a quick move, he tugged her forward by the wrist and slammed the butt of the gun down on top of her hand.

  She cried out as heat and agony radiated through her bones. Whimpering, she yanked away and cradled her injury against her chest.

  “Hurts?” He reached across the table, snatching her by the arm and set her hand back on the table.

  She struggled, trying to pull away. “Please don’t. Please.”

  He gentled his grip. “What do you take me for, cousin, an animal?” He held her gaze and slammed the heavy weight down twice more, his lips pressing firm with the effort he put into the assault.

  She screamed, fighting to free herself as black spots filled her vision.

  “Ouch.” Matty sucked in a breath through his teeth and shook his head mournfully. “I think that might be broken. It’s unfortunate for you that your Uncle Alfeo insisted we draw this out. I’m gonna do something like that to your arms and legs, probably your knees. Maybe your ribs.” He stood, walked around the desk, and jerked her head back so she was forced to look up at him as he loomed over her. “Beautiful skin.” He stroked a finger along her cheek. “I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I had a few lustful thoughts about you when we sat down at Luisa’s shindig.” He grabbed a square of sandpaper off the dirty desk. “When you were there trying to gather information for the Feds.”

  She stared at the fine grit, terrified of what he would do with it. “I didn’
t know who you were.”

  He grinned. “You’re good. I almost believe you.” He rubbed the rough texture along her cheek in punishing circles. “Almost. Let’s exfoliate. That’s what they call it, right?”

  “Stop!” She tried to fight him off as the friction burned and scraped her skin. “Please stop!”

  “When I’m done with you, they’ll have no idea who you are—no fingerprints or identifying features. Just another Jane Doe in the morgue.” He added more pressure while she continued to do what she could to evade the worst of his abuse. “I don’t like feeling like a fool, Isabella. Sightseeing at the courthouse?” He stopped his scrubbing.

  More tears fell as she sobbed quietly.

  “Tell me what you were doing there today.”

  She looked down. “Taking a tour.” Telling the truth would spare her nothing, but maybe she could protect Reed to some degree.

  “She’s a tough one, Tony. Good thing Shawna was able to clue us in.”

  She blinked. “Shawna? The district attorney’s secretary?”

  Matty grinned. “And Tony’s girl.” He laughed. “Tony, you got your knife on you?”

  “I do.” Tony pulled it from his pocket and handed it over.

  “You turned on your Uncle Alfeo.” He flipped the blade up and traced the knife along her neck. “What did my pops ever do to you?”

  She shied away. “Please don’t.”

  He tilted her head farther back and brought the blade to her jaw.

  She gasped as she felt the nick and warmth.

  “Should I go all the way across now or later?”

  “You won’t get away with this,” she choked out over her tears.

  “I get away with everything. We own this city, Isabella. That’s the privilege and honor of being a Caparelli. That’s our legacy. You were robbed of family, of that honor, because your father was a vile, Fed-flipping pig. A snitch! The ultimate betrayal.” He nicked her again. “If Uncle Nicky had remembered his place, I would have made it my duty to defend you. To look after you. No one messes with Caparelli women. But that’s not how it worked out.” He smeared his palm in her blood, showing her his crimson fingers. “Your blood. My blood. Our blood. You’re an insult to—”

  There was a loud crash somewhere beyond the door.

  Matty came to attention as Tony did. “Go check it out.”

  Tony drew his gun and opened the door to the long, dark hallway and left.

  Minutes passed in silence as Bella stared at the knife Matty had set on the desk when he reached for his pistol.

  “Tony?” Matty called as his gaze darted around the room. “Hey, Tony,” he yelled again and moved to the door, opening it enough to peer out.

  Bella licked her lips and snagged the knife, settling it beneath her leg as her heart raced. The odds of wounding Matty and Tony enough to get away weren’t in her favor, especially when she had only one hand to work with. She glanced down at her swollen, bruised knuckles she kept elevated at her chest and tried to ignore the excruciating pain. Right now, she needed to focus on getting the heck out of there. She opened her mouth to get Matty’s attention and ideally make him come closer, but Tony came back.

  “Where the fuck have you been?”

  “We should go look around together. I think we got rats in the building.”

  Matty looked at Bella. “Tie her back up.”

  “I only got one tie left. One of the smaller ones.”

  “So use it!”

  Tony came over and yanked on her injured hand, securing it to the chair.

  She cried out as he fastened the thin plastic around her wrist and pulled on the tie until it bit into her skin. “It’s too tight.”

  Tony smiled cruelly. “Then we know you’ll stay put.”

  “Hurry up.” Matty pointed the gun at Bella. “This is your lucky day. You might end up with that pop to the back of the head after all.” He waited for Tony and shut the door behind them.

  She sat perfectly still, training her ears, listening for any noises in the hallway, but it was impossible to hear anything past the solid metal. Grabbing the knife with trembling fingers, she pushed the button on the handle and flinched when the nasty blade swung up into place. Wasting no time, she went after the plastic with firm downward strokes while she pulled and tugged on her trapped arm. Tears streamed down her face and she whimpered as true terror and agony spurred her closer to the finish line. “Come on. Come on,” she gasped out and yanked hard, snapping the stubborn tie.

  “Okay.” She rushed to her feet for a better look through the filthy windows and gripped the chair, blinking away another wave of dizziness as she stared out at the massive warehouse space one story below. Rows upon rows of sectioned-off twelve-foot-high pallets and huge garage doors at the back that had to lead outside. She trailed her gaze over the old metal staircase and access door located somewhere beyond the room she was currently stuck in and moved to the door Matty and Tony disappeared through.

  She pocketed the knife and took off her heels, leaving them behind, then twisted the doorknob, peeking out into the shadows. It was now or never. She could try to get away and possibly live or she could stand here and wait to die. Going for it, she hurried down the hall to the next door and opened it, never quite so happy to see a flight of stairs. Glancing over her shoulder one last time, she quietly closed herself in the enormous space and ran down the steps, making her way into the pallet stacks, hurrying left then right, hoping to get lost in the maze. She focused on the light shining in through the windows toward the back of the football-field-size room and kept going, stopping only when a door creaked open and footsteps echoed on the staircase behind her.

  “Isabella, get out here!” Matty hollered. “Tony, go check the offices.”

  She froze, backing up against one of the boards, fighting to steady her breathing so she could listen to the path of his approach but her heart pounded too hard.

  “Don’t draw this out, cousin.”

  She glanced right as his voice carried from that direction and moved left, keeping her focus on the windows ahead. She stopped abruptly, startled by several loud pops somewhere outside. Gunshots. She pressed her hand to her heaving chest as she struggled with a fresh wave of tears. Reed was here. They’d found her. Now she needed to survive long enough to make it to safety. Joey wasn’t going to have died in vain.

  She took a step and paused, ducking when Matty passed two rows to her right. Holding her breath, she watched him disappear through the thin slats in the old wood and counted to ten, then took off, moving farther away to the left. Her head throbbed as she constantly looked around, waiting for their paths to cross. Minutes ticked by in eerie silence—or maybe it was hours—as she made her way closer to the doors, zigzagging. She moved to change rows yet again and stopped dead when another movement farther ahead caught her attention. “Skylar,” she whispered, watching her disappear around another wall of pallets.

  Relief quickly vanished into horror when she realized Skylar was headed right into Matty’s path. “No. Oh, no.” She ran in the opposite direction—away from the promise of safety, frantic to save Reed’s friend. “I’m over here, you bastard!”

  He laughed and started back, the slap of his leather soles announcing that he wasn’t all that far away.

  Sprinting toward the stairs, she glanced over her shoulder and ducked into another row as he moved closer. She barely stifled a scream when an arm reached out and snagged her around the waist, yanking her into the next aisle. She met Reed’s bold blue eyes as he brought his finger to his lips, then pushed her behind him.

  There was no time for joy or hugs. Suddenly the room was silent again. The hunter still hunted.

  “You’re going to wish you’d kept heading toward the exit,” Matty yelled. “You know I’m going to find you eventually.”

  Reed nudged her backward with his shoulder, signaling for her to move behind the next wall as Matty inched his way closer. Reed raised his gun in two hands and rested his index f
inger on the trigger in a stance she’d seen a million times in the movies. He bumped her again, edging her to the middle of the stack. Their surroundings grew ominously quiet.

  They heard a noise to their right and Reed pivoted, firing twice.

  Bella screamed, covering her ears in reflex as she watched Matty jerk from the impact of the bullets hitting him in his chest and neck and the gun he’d aimed their way fly from his hand. She stared into his eyes—Caparelli eyes—before he stumbled back and crashed into the wall of pallets, then fell to the ground.

  Reed continued to hold him at gunpoint and kicked Matty’s pistol out of his reach, even as Matty stared blankly at the ceiling.

  Bella screamed again when another shot echoed somewhere in the room.

  “McKinley,” Skylar yelled.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m headed your way.” Skylar ran to them with her gun still ready to fire. “You’re okay?”

  He nodded. “Fine.”

  “I dropped one. Shot to the head.” She grabbed her phone and dialed a number. “Two down in the warehouse. Hostage recovered. Give us a minute to get out of here.” She gave Reed her attention again. “They’re sweeping the building now.”

  He nodded, keeping his weapon in hand as he turned, staring at Bella.

  She started crying and hurried into his arms.

  “Bella.” He held her tight, pressing a long kiss to her uninjured cheek. “God, Bella.” He kissed her again.

  She sobbed now, shaking uncontrollably. “I didn’t think I was going to see you again.”

  He stroked her hair and ran his arm up and down her back. “I’m right here.”

  “I’m so sorry about Joey.”

  “He’s okay.”

  She drew away enough to meet his gaze. “He’s okay?”

  “He’s got a concussion and broken ribs.”

  Her relief was huge, bringing on another wave of tears.

  “It’s all right. Everything’s all right now.” He tracked his gaze over her face with concern radiating in his eyes. “Look at you. Look what he did to you.”