“I thought you were rattling on just fine.” His dad sounded amused. “I knew you were taken with her the day she married Brady.”
“You did?” Jake couldn’t have been more surprised if the house had suddenly fallen on him.
“Oh hell yes. You came home from California for the wedding the same as you always were—you know, cheerful, controlled, glad to see us, looking forward to a week of your mother’s cooking. Then you put on your tux and went to the wedding. The next morning, you were a changed man.” His dad’s voice grew lower. “You had this horrified look on your face, and you were throwing clothes into your bag willy-nilly while you called the airline and demanded they save you a seat on the next flight out. You wouldn’t talk about it. You were so upset, you forgot to kiss your mother good-bye.”
Geez.
“Julie explained later.”
Of course. His sister had worked for the Marquettes back then. She’d been at the wedding. Shit, he’d probably made a spectacle of himself.
“Don’t worry, son, I know what you’re thinking. Julie’s just real intuitive that way.”
“Must’ve gotten it from you.”
“My radar must be off. I thought you were over her when you came home this time.”
“Me too.”
“So if she really is such a good person, what’s the problem?”
Jake sighed. “The problem is she’s my best friend’s widow.”
“So? You love her, right?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
“Son, Brady’s gone. He loved you like a brother. If this is what you really want, he’d want you to be happy, don’t you think?”
“But—”
“Wouldn’t you, if the shoe were on the other foot?”
“But—” Sure, it made sense coming from his dad, who had more distance and could be more logical about it. “Gotta go, Dad.” He had to go get Lilly.
“You think the feeling’s mutual?”
Jake laughed, remembering Friday evening on Lilly’s granite island, his heart lighter even as parts south grew heavier. “Oh yeah. She’s been after me since the day she came into the store.”
He raced through the rest of the installation, eager to see if Lilly was home yet. At ten, as he stepped through his back door, it was obvious she wasn’t. He grabbed the taxi keys off the hook and headed straight for Lilly.
Lilly lay sprawled on her back on the floor for a long while, knowing she was still alive, thinking the bracelet had finally zapped her into unconsciousness, how could Jake possibly deny any heavenly connection now, and what book would he choose to read to pay up on their bet? She doubted it’d be tarot or channeling, since he was strongly biased against those two.
As she slowly became more lucid, she realized all was not right. Jake never would’ve dumped her on the floor of Donna’s third-story attic office. After a while, and she had no conception of time, she remembered Drew had driven her here, they’d talked to Donna and—
Oh yeah, now she remembered. Even though she’d been moved, she was still at the Marquettes’. Brady’s old bedroom was on the floor below her. But not Brady, of course. She might feel weak and powerless and muddled, but at least her memory was unimpeded.
Had Brady known all of his immediate family were less than the fine, upstanding people they appeared to be? He knew about his father, of course; he’d laughed about how Frank always got what he wanted, one way or another.
Was her father-in-law behind this? Did he think Donna and Andrew could handle her and get the job done? Whatever the job was. She figured she was about to find out when she heard a key slip into the lock.
“Lilly, you awake yet?”
She lay very still, listening to Andrew’s soft footsteps across the attic floor, trying to determine whether he’d paused long enough to lock the door behind him. She didn’t think so. Surreptitiously, she slipped her feet out of her shoes; maybe without heels she’d be able to dart past him.
Did Jake wonder what she was doing this evening, whether she was enjoying dinner with her former in-laws? Did he miss her?
“I know you’re awake, I can tell by your breathing. Here, drink this, you’ll feel better.”
Drew knelt beside her, lifted her a little until she was semireclined against him, and held her woozy head. His hand was warm on her cheek, and she had all she could do not to spit in his face. Liquid poured into her mouth before she could refuse, but there was no way she was swallowing anything in this house ever again. That she did spit out, and oh dear, it sprayed all over Andrew’s face.
He whipped a handkerchief out of his jacket and dabbed his skin. “Come on, it’ll help you wake up.” He tipped the glass to her lips again.
She knocked it out of his hand.
“Sorry about your drink. I had no idea Mother was going to do that.”
“Right.”
“Seems like it’s wearing off anyway.”
“What time is it?”
“Nine-thirty, give or take.”
“I don’t suppose it’ll do any good to say I want to go home now.”
“ ‘Fraid not. Mother wants to talk to you first.”
Lilly’s eyebrows would’ve arched in response to such an outrageous proposition, but her face felt heavy, so she doubted anything moved at all.
Donna entered the office in her normal brisk pace. “Ah, Lilly dear, you’re awake. Goodness, I had no idea you were so sensitive, dear. Help her sit up, Andrew. Over by the desk.”
Andrew shifted position and slipped his hands beneath Lilly’s arms.
“I’m not—Leave me alone,” Lilly said. “Oh God, my head’s spinning, Drew, I have to sit down. No, not the chair.”
She was so woozy, she’d fall off it, which’d hurt like hell whether or not she broke any bones. Andrew aimed her for it anyway, but her knees buckled—she didn’t do anything to resist that, so there—and she ended up on the floor next to the chair, draping her arms and head across the needlepoint seat.
She closed her eyes, hoping that if she couldn’t see the room waver, it wouldn’t, but that didn’t work. If things didn’t settle down soon, she was going to be sick. Oh, and on the nice Oriental rug, too. Shucks.
“You were only supposed to get a little mellow,” Donna said, “so I could explain things to you, reason with you. You’re much too close to the situation to see it for what it really is. It’s not good to spend so much time with that Jake fellow. You’re under his control. Giving away all of Brady’s money doesn’t make sense, dear. You’ll see that when you’re away from that man for a while. When you think things through.”
“So—what? You’re going to keep me here?”
“Just until I convince you. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, you know that. This will be for your own good, you’ll see.”
Lilly snorted, at which she thought Donna frowned, but her facial features were still too distorted to tell. Didn’t matter. Lilly had already shifted her murky focus to planning a break for the door. That’s;/Andrew didn’t reach out, brush her with his pinky, and knock her flat on her face.
“You’ll be yourself again soon.”
“I am myself.” Giddy, Lilly laughed at that. “What the heck did you give me?”
“Oh,” Donna said, annoyed. “I can see it’s too soon for this discussion.”
Lilly spotted a pen on the desk. Hm, nice pointy end. Not a bad weapon. It looked even better when Donna leaned in, very close, very vulnerable. Was it possible to stab it all the way through her hand and plunge it into the wood desktop, anchoring her there? God, she hoped so. Maybe later, when it quit moving.
Lilly wasn’t sure how many minutes passed between the time they left her alone and when Elizabeth showed up. In her present condition, how could she even be sure Elizabeth was really there?
“Yes, I’m definitely here.”
“Did Brady know what a stinker his mother is?”
“Oh, I think so.”
“Jake’s family is nice, th
ough, right? A good place to raise our son?”
When Elizabeth smiled, there was a glow about her. “Yes, they’re very nice.”
“Are you here to help me?”
“I can only talk to you to keep you awake. I’m afraid you’ll have to get out of here on your own.”
Lilly was ready to jump into action right then.
Okay, jump might have been a little strong, as she immediately found herself on the floor on her butt again. She held her breath, waiting to see if Donna and Andrew had heard the thump, if they’d come back in and make another go at it. But they didn’t. They’d probably gone all the way back downstairs and wouldn’t hear her moving around. Time to search for a way out.
“Elizabeth?”
She was gone.
Lilly checked the door first. Securely locked. Hinges on the outside. Solid wood. She even checked whether it was old enough to have the type of lock where she could push the key out the other side and reel it in on a piece of paper; it was, but the key wasn’t in it.
There was no phone plugged into the jack, no alarm control pad—no surprise there, but Lilly looked anyway. She opened the curtains and flicked the desk lamp on and off, three short, three long, though she couldn’t remember which letter was which in Morse code, so she could be sending OSO for all she knew. And who knew if anyone would see it, if anyone would call the police, or if a neighbor would just call Donna and say something funny was going on up in her attic.
Better quit. Better find something better.
Hmm, she couldn’t call the police, but if she could make smoke, the alarm system would summon the fire department. Then she could hang out the window and scream her head off.
Jake sped through the dark streets to the Marquette mansion. He had no reason to think anything was wrong, not really. But he worried just the same.
He powered up his notebook computer, networked to the receiver mounted on the shelf behind the rear seat, and picked up the signal from the watch Lilly had donned that morning. Rachel had it made for her feminine side; sometimes she got hassled when she was out in drag at night. She thought a record could be useful.
Jake wouldn’t track Lilly or listen in under normal circumstances, but he knew the Marquette men were shady characters. With Lilly still not answering her phone, the worst-case scenario might be the very one he’d encounter, so he began an immediate download.
Meanwhile, he dialed the Marquettes’ number on his cell phone. This time, to his relief, Donna answered.
“I’d like to talk to Lilly,” he said.
“She’s not here right now. Who’s calling?”
“Jake Murdoch.”
“Oh. Jake.” Definitely a chill there. “Drew drove Lilly back to her house right after dinner. She remembered something in a closet that she thought he’d like. You know, something of Brady’s.”
Hair on the back of his neck stood up. Suspicious— call it experience, not intuition—he scanned the data scrolling across his screen.
Went back to her house, my ass. According to the GPS chip in the watch, Donna was lying through her teeth.
“I see.” Not wanting to alert Donna that he was on to her, he said he’d try Lilly’s phone and hung up.
His CATS (Converting Audio to Text Software) program began typing rapidly across the screen. He chose to read text rather than listen to old audio, because even with CATS’ language limitations and negotiating his way around other cars out on the road, he could skim it faster. Real-time conversation was too slow, filled with pauses and social niceties. He read nothing pertinent during the time she’d been in the Jag and jumped ahead to her arrival at the mansion.
Sorry we’re late.
He skimmed ahead and stuck a bud in his ear so he could listen to current audio as he neared his target. All he heard was a shrill shriek—could be an electronic malfunction, could be an alarm. He discarded the bud to give his ear a break and went back to old text to pick up a clue.
That’s sweet of you to say especially since I’ve gained five pounds recently.
If so, it was going to all the right places. He started sweating just thinking about those places.
I’m with you Mother Lilly looks just find to me wonderful in fact.
Jerk.
I’d like you to consider investing in the business.
Reading had its limitations, too; he couldn’t always tell who was speaking. Andrew? Donna? Hopefully not Frank. Frank was meaner’n a snake under a pile of bricks.
After an uh-oh, there was a bunch of gibberish, then, I’ll be okay really hay.
Junk typed on the screen spastically, random letters, which could only mean a lot of noise that the program thought should be words, but weren’t. He checked and found current audio still shrieking.
Drew Andrew this isn’t funny More spastic typing. Donna
Then more again. The receiver in the watch wasn’t able to pick up whatever was being said until let me out of here
Shit! He’d parked half a block away so they wouldn’t see the taxi, which stuck out like a sore thumb. He almost jumped out of the car at that point and ran and broke their door down, but when you had a system like this, you used it to its full capability. No sense going in blind.
It’ll help you wake up
What the hell had they done?
Sorry about your drink I had no idea Mother was going to do that
Right
Jake felt a tremendous sense of relief to see Lilly was talking again.
Nine thirty give or take
He checked his watch. Damn, almost an hour ago. Anything could’ve happened since then.
Oh God my heads spinning drew
Surely this was grounds to murder the bastard, right after he tortured him. If anything’d happened to Lilly—
He’d told his dad he felt guilty wanting his best friend’s wife. He’d been willing to buy into the theory that Brady wouldn’t mind because that’s what he hoped. Now he knew beyond all doubt that what Brady would’ve wanted didn’t matter. Time didn’t matter either, whether he’d been gone five days, five months, or five years. But Lilly did. Holding her again, telling her how much he loved her, spending the rest of his life with her—that’s what mattered.
This will be for your own good you’ll see
Well, of course.
There was little text after that, a couple of shits, and then Lilly was talking to herself again, or more correctly, she was talking to her invisible friend Elizabeth.
He inserted the bud again. He could barely hear Lilly with the shrieking, but it was enough to assure him that she was more lucid, up and moving around. Deep groans sounded like heavy furniture scooting across a wood floor. For a change, he wished she’d talk to herself some more, and louder, so he’d know what she was doing. Too bad he hadn’t told her that morning just what kind of changes he’d made to Rachel’s watch.
“There!”
Finally. She sounded upbeat, holding her own, giving him time to reach her.
He’d storm the Marquettes’ front door, but it was undoubtedly steel and impenetrable.
Maybe he could scale the side of the house. He scanned backward to check text—yep, he knew where Donna’s office was. He could climb through a second-story window and work his way up to it. That door was breakable.
A sharp noise blasted through his ear bud. A gunshot?
“Son of a bitch.”
He sprang out of the car and took off without looking back to see if he’d even closed the door, wondering as he ran if he’d be too late.
Time for 9-1-1 after all. Halfway to the house, he reached for his cell phone, checked his belt, checked his coat pocket, checked his jeans pocket, but damn he’d either dropped it or left it in the taxi.
Another blast came directly from the mansion looming ahead.
“Son of a bitch!”
He raced onward, thinking, Please don’t let me lose her.
14
It wasn’t the type of emergency Lilly had trained for
as a pilot, but discipline was discipline.
She pushed a heavy desk up against the doorframe, then knotted a drapery tieback around the knob, over the desktop, and wedged it into a drawer, effectively locking Andrew out, which really ticked him off. She couldn’t make out a lot of what he was yelling through the door, thanks to the screeching smoke alarm, but she wasn’t waiting around for an interpretation. Nice of them, though, to lock her in an office with a metal waste can, plenty of paper, and a handy lighter. Too bad she hadn’t searched through the trash first; she would’ve pulled out the aerosol cans before they exploded and scared her half to death.
She ripped curtains off the attic windows and knotted them together to fashion a makeshift rope.
Next she looted the attic’s crawl-in storage space. Each minute she spent preparing her escape would be another minute for her drugged, shaky muscles to regain strength. Normal would be nice, but she wasn’t in a position to be picky. She threw pillows and blankets and old clothes and anything else soft she could find out onto the roof a story below, to cushion her fall if the hastily constructed rope didn’t hold. Even with drugs in her system, her toes still hurt; a hard landing would immobilize her.
Andrew landed a couple good smacks on the door with something large and heavy.
I’m outta here. Good-bye, thanks for a wonderful evening, don’t bother walking me to the door, I’ll take the window.
A soft heaping pile waited on the second-story roof below, spilling off it, as it wasn’t much wider than a ledge. Falling definitely wasn’t part of her plan.
Unlike the morning at Cloud Nine, this time Lilly saw Jake running to her rescue, charging into the yard like a man possessed, his entire focus on reaching the front door. She leaned out the office window and yelled to him. He pulled up short, looking both relieved that she was okay and fearful that she wouldn’t be for long.
He seemed to divine her plan, as he threw both arms up in a commanding, Don’t move gesture and bellowed, “Stay there! I’m coming up!”
“No!”
No way she was putting his life at risk again. At the dildo shop, he was a stranger who’d taken a chance; this time, he was someone she cared for, and she had a say in how everything played out. The last thing she needed or wanted was Jake getting hurt again on her behalf.
A Date on Cloud Nine Page 17
