by Rickie Blair
Hari halted. “I was hired to look into a data theft at the Starlight, then things got … complicated.” He resumed picking his way across the field.
“How complicated?”
“Have you ever heard of Dragos Luca?”
“I don’t think so.”
By the time Hari filled him in, they had arrived at the storm drain entrance. Hari turned on his cellphone’s flashlight app and pointed it at the drain’s gray curved walls and the water that trickled down the center. The light dimmed. Hari rapped the phone against his other palm.
“Dammit. The battery must be dying.” He rapped it harder. The light steadied, brightening a bit, so he stepped over the threshold.
“If I remember correctly, a secondary drain branches off fifty feet up on the right. That’s where they were camped out.”
Sam wrinkled his nose.
“You couldn’t pay me to live in here.”
“Tell me about it.”
They got as far as the secondary drain before the cellphone flickered again and died. Hari slapped it against his palm without success. Damn. He extended his hand to feel for the opening.
“I don’t hear anybody,” he whispered over his shoulder. He moved ahead, turned right and took a few cautious steps into the secondary drain.
A sudden light flooded his face and he shielded his eyes with one hand. Squinting, he tried to make out the blurry figure in front of the light. He took another step and gasped.
Ruby sat on wooden packing pallets with her head slack over her chest. Her arms were pinned behind her and she was motionless.
“Oh, my God,” Hari said. Before he could take another step, two men appeared on either side of her. He reached for his Glock, but Sam had yanked it from his waistband.
Sam handed the gun to the smaller of the two men, who stepped in closer to take it from him. The second man stepped into the light.
“About time, Sam,” said Dragos Luca. “We thought you’d never get here.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Ruby groaned, opening her eyes and trying to focus on the mud-stained concrete floor. Her head pounded, her mouth was dry and her shoulders ached. Why was the light so bright? The memory of a sneering face flashed before her. Dragos Luca. Son of a bitch. She groaned again.
“Ruby?” someone whispered beside her.
She turned her head to look, then closed her eyes tight and shook her head. She blinked, and then looked again. Luca’s thug had hit her pretty hard on the head when she tried to get away that second time, but not hard enough to cause hallucinations.
“Hari?”
“Ruby, are you all right?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Saving you.”
She gave a snort of disgust to stem the tears that threatened to well up. “Typical. I don’t need you to save me.”
“You’re tied up in a storm drain.”
She ran her eyes over him.
“So are you.”
“Yes, but I have a plan.”
“Really?” she scoffed. “I hope your plan doesn’t involve Ana freakin’ Valenzuela, because—”
“Ruby?”
“What?” She glared at him.
“I’m sorry—”
“Don’t even start.”
“Can I explain?”
“No.”
“I never wanted to hurt you, please believe me. I was trying to make you angry so you would go back to Los Angeles and be safe. I couldn’t bear to think that something might happen to you. It was stupid. I’m sorry.”
“Shut up,” came a voice from the darkness. A short man, no more than five-two, stepped into view with a gun in his hand. It was the thug who had knocked her around. Ruby heaved a heavy sigh, fidgeting against the rope that fastened her arms to a wooden pallet.
“Next time you want to piss me off, Hari,” she whispered, “could you just whack me over the head? It would be less painful than listening to this nonsense.”
“Ruby, I’m so sorry. I’d give anything to take it back. Please forgive me.”
Luca walked into view, chuckling.
“Aren’t these two nauseating?” he said, glancing over his shoulder.
“They are indeed,” said a voice behind him in a Scottish burr.
Iain Oliver stepped up beside Luca and crossed his arms.
“You?” Hari sputtered. “Lads together in Glasgow, were you? You bastard.”
“Why so surprised, Bhatt? Aren’t you supposed to be smarter than that?”
Ruby gaped at Oliver. “Who the hell is this?”
Hari blew air out of his cheeks.
“Ruby, meet Iain Oliver, William Watson’s right-hand man.”
Oliver locked eyes with Hari, one eyelid twitching, then turned to Luca.
“You need anything else?”
“Nothing. But tell Sam to get in here.”
Oliver glanced at Hari and Ruby.
“See you later.” A corner of his mouth lifted. “Oh, wait. That’s not likely, is it?” With a nod at Luca, he walked out.
Luca gestured at the gunman.
“Roman, get over here.” Luca turned away to confer with him in low tones.
“Hari?” Ruby said, in her sweetest voice.
“Yes?”
“Tell me when that plan of yours starts. I want to be ready.”
“Oh, bloody hell.” He groaned, struggling against his bonds.
Luca turned to face them and laughed.
“I’m afraid that’s pointless. The auction’s going ahead as planned. The old woman’s son will not be around to mess it up, and Zeke Turner is as good as dead.”
A jolt of excitement ran through Ruby. So Luca hadn’t found Zeke yet.
“What are you planning to do with us?”
Luca ambled over and placed a hand on her throat, sliding it over her chest before squeezing her breast. He lowered his head to her ear.
“With you? Plenty.”
Ruby shuddered, turning her face away.
Hari’s pallet bounced as he struggled to get free.
“Leave her alone.”
At a gesture from Luca, Roman walked over to Hari and cuffed him across the face with the pistol. Hari’s head snapped to the side. He gasped, blinked several times, then straightened up to glare at Luca.
“And you, Hari,” Luca said with a slow smile, “can watch.”
Sam walked in. He avoided looking at Hari and Ruby.
“Iain said you wanted me.”
“Watch these two. I’m going to pick up our insurance.”
Luca left and Sam took up a spot twenty feet away. Roman stood next to Hari with his arms crossed.
Ruby glared at Sam.
“To think, I almost slept with that bastard,” she muttered.
Hari turned to look at her.
“You did what?”
“I said, ‘almost,’” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“When was this?”
She gave a grunt of exasperation.
“Seriously? You want to discuss that now? How is that relevant?”
“It’s clear you’re not willing to forgive me, yet it turns out that you were…” His voice trailed away and he gave her a wounded puppy look. “I think it’s relevant.”
She rolled her eyes, then turned to glare at Sam.
“Mitchell, you bastard, just tell me why you’re doing this.”
Sam pressed his lips together before turning his back on her.
“Sam, answer me. I think that deserve that much.”
He shuffled his feet, still not looking at her, and cleared his throat.
“I had no choice.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Luca knows things.”
“What things?”
Roman chuckled from across the drain, running a hand over his hair.
“Things Sam here doesn’t want his new business associates to know. Or his girlfriend.”
Sam glowered at him.
“
Shut up.”
Roman rocked on his heels.
“Your friend here was one of Luca’s enforcers. Until he tried to go legit. Big mistake, Sam.”
“Shut up!” Sam shouted.
Ruby ignored Roman’s laughter, concentrating on Sam.
“But Felicity knows about your past, Sam. She told me. I just didn’t realize at the time that she was talking about you.”
Her chest tightened at the look on his face and she drew a ragged breath.
“Sam, I’m so sorry.”
Their eyes met and in her mind she was back at the gym, circling her sparring partner with fists clenched, waiting for an opening.
Sam gave her a wistful look.
“You should be airborne,” he murmured.
Ruby bit her lip to quench the tears that fell now for real. She raised her chin.
“Sam, I have to pee.”
He exchanged glances with Roman, who shrugged.
“You’ll have to hold it,” Sam said.
“I can’t,” she whined, bouncing up and down on the pallet. “Please?”
Sam walked over, shaking his head. He untied Ruby, then gestured with the gun for her to stand. She shook out her cramped arms and rotated her shoulders, then raised her eyebrows at him. Sam gestured at the black tunnel behind them.
“You’ll have to do it there.” He flicked the gun. “Get going.”
Ruby walked past him, brushing up close. Without a word, she grabbed his gun arm and whirled around, pulling his arm behind him and wrenching it up to his shoulder.
Sam roared and the gun flew from his grip.
Ruby yanked Sam’s arm down, hooked her other arm around his neck and threw him onto his back. He fell and she straddled him.
Roman roared with laughter.
“Hey, Sam,” he called, brushing tears from his eyes, “is she too much for you?” He approached them, grinning broadly. “Do you want me to shoot her?”
Ruby gripped Sam’s neck with one hand and locked eyes with him. He gave her an almost imperceptible nod. She pulled her fist back before plowing it into his face. And again.
Sam’s head lolled to one side as his eyes fluttered and closed.
“Hey!” Roman stopped laughing.
Ruby leaned over Sam with her back to Roman.
“Come with us,” she whispered.
“No,” he muttered without opening his eyes.
Roman advanced a few paces toward Ruby. Hari anchored his feet on the ground and, when Roman passed him, he pivoted and slammed his pallet into the back of Roman’s legs. Roman fell on his back, sprawling with his arms spread.
Hari scuttled over, the pallet still tied behind him, to slam a foot into his head. Twice. Roman lay still. Hari hobbled over to Ruby as she slipped a knife from the scabbard on Sam’s calf. After she sliced the ropes that bound Hari’s arms to the pallet, he stood up, rubbing his wrists, before gesturing at Sam.
“Get his gun.”
Ruby bent to retrieve Sam’s weapon from the ground.
“Last chance,” she whispered.
Sam cracked open one eye.
“I’ll be fine. Go.”
Ruby handed the gun to Hari, who slid it into his waistband. Roman groaned and opened his eyes.
“We have to go now,” Hari said.
They ran down the secondary drain, stopping at the entrance to the main drain. Muffled voices came from the drain’s entrance on their left.
“Turn right,” Hari whispered.
They plunged into darkness.
* * *
Sam rubbed his burning jaw as Luca glared at him.
“I told you,” he sullenly said. “She clocked me before I could stop her.”
“Bullshit,” Luca replied, clenching his teeth while a vein throbbed on his temple. He walked to within inches of Sam’s face. “Bullshit!”
Sam winced as spit flew into his face.
“It’s the truth.”
Luca gestured to Roman, who pulled a spare gun from his waistband and handed it to him. Roman kept his own gun trained on Sam’s head from a foot away, his finger on the trigger.
Luca bounced the spare gun in his hand.
“Tell me where Zeke Turner is, and do it fast.”
“I have no idea.”
Luca pointed the gun at Sam’s foot and fired.
Sam screamed as his knee buckled under him and fire roared up his leg. He bent over, gasping for air. Blood filled his shoe and bubbled over the edges.
“I told you,” he gasped. “I don’t know where he is.”
Luca regarded him coldly.
“Okay, I believe you. But Bhatt knows where he is, and you let him go.”
Sam straightened up with his weight on one leg, struggling to breathe. He reached an arm out behind to steady himself on the concrete wall.
“I told you what happened.”
Luca aimed the gun at his other foot.
“No, don’t. Please. Okay. Maybe I did let him go.”
“Why?”
Sam stiffened against the waves of pain that gripped his leg. He had to think of something, reason with Luca.
“I figured he’d lead us to Turner.”
Luca cocked his head while considering this.
“Then why didn’t you follow him?”
“I was going to, but I had to help Roman. He was out cold.”
“That’s a lie,” Roman sputtered, his gun still leveled at Sam’s head.
Luca held up a hand to silence him without taking his gaze from Sam.
“So you were only trying to help.”
“That’s right.” His chest tightened as he tried to gulp air.
“And it had nothing to do with Ruby Delaney?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Luca slipped his phone from his pocket and held it up. Sam bent his head to look at the photo on the screen. He and Ruby, sharing a passionate kiss outside the Golden Nugget. He closed his eyes, breathing shallowly.
“That’s not what it looks like.”
Luca roared with laughter and slipped the phone back into his pocket, then leveled the gun at Sam’s chest.
“No, of course not.”
The muzzle of Luca’s gun loomed before Sam. As he stared at it, an image flashed through his mind of Felicity, ponytail swinging, striding across the studio lot. And Felicity, sitting across a table from him that morning, laughing at something he had said. He might never see that smile again. The back of his throat spasmed in a sudden stab of pain.
“You never told me Ruby was involved.”
“I told you to watch her.”
“But why hurt her? What did she ever do to you?”
“She interfered.”
“She had nothing to do with finding your auction site.”
Luca’s eyes widened.
“What do you know about that?”
Sam hesitated, a second too long.
“Nothing.”
Luca raised his foot, stepped on Sam’s shattered instep and pushed down. Sam screamed as a wall of red blocked out Luca’s face and his head slammed back against the wall. Luca lifted his foot and stepped back, with his gun raised.
“Shit!” Sam bowed his head, gasping.
Luca raised his foot again.
“No!” Sam raised a hand. “Bhatt knows about the auction. He told me.” His heart thudded as he stood up straight and glared at Luca. There was no way he was getting out of this. “You’re fucked, Luca.”
Luca’s face blanched with fury while his hand shook from gripping the gun so tightly.
“What did you say?”
Sam raised his voice.
“I said, you’re fucked. Didn’t you hear me?”
“Fucked?” Luca’s voice was cold. “No, Sam. Not even close. I’ll find Bhatt. There’s no way out. Not for him.” He raised the gun again. “And not for you.”
Sam sighed and closed his eyes. He was back on the studio lot, watching Felicity stride across the sunny pavement, her ponytail sw
inging.
“Just get it over with,” he snarled.
“With pleasure.”
Luca fired.
Sam slammed into the wall and gasped twice before sliding to the ground, leaving a ragged trail of red smeared on the concrete.
Chapter Forty-Six
Ruby and Hari hustled along an ancillary storm drain that branched off the main, kicking up water that splashed against the walls. Hari halted with the Maglite in his hand.
“There’s no way out. We have to go back and find another way.”
They retraced their steps. Hari turned off the flashlight when they approached the main drain. Then his hand grabbed her arm to hold her back. Crouching, he eased his head around the corner. Voices sounded at the entrance and he pulled back. A powerful flashlight beam flashed past them, searching the tunnel. More voices.
Ruby froze. Endless seconds passed as the light bounced off the walls. Then the light wicked off and they were in darkness again. Ruby tried to calm her pounding heart. Surely no one could see them in this blackness. But they couldn’t see anything, either. They couldn’t chance a dash for the exit. Luca and his men might be waiting for them at the entrance to the drain.
Hari squeezed her arm, pulling her back.
“Let’s go back. Maybe there’s a way out we didn’t see.”
They edged back about ten feet, then turned and hurried down the drain. The tunnel was in blackness except for occasional flashes of light from sewer grates, too small to allow an exit. The stench grew stronger and their shoes caught on the mud. Ruby raised an arm, wincing as her fingers scraped against the ceiling.
“Hari, stop.” When he stopped short, she bumped into him.
“Whoa, slow down.” He wrapped his arms around her, a comforting solid presence in the dark. “What’s wrong?”
Ruby huddled her head against his chest. What’s wrong? Other than the fact they were running for their lives? She tried to keep the panic from her voice.
“The tunnel’s getting smaller.”
He raised his hand to check the ceiling.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” he muttered.
“What should we do?”
“Keep going. No other choice.”
They trotted ahead, stopping every twenty yards or so to check the drain’s diameter. Eventually they had to stoop in order to continue.
