by Lakes, Lynde
Toni fixed her eyes on the patches of green and the paved strip below as they circled to land.
Upon touch-down, they rented a car and headed for downtown Auckland. Now that they weren’t arguing, she was comfortable with the silence between them. She was used to that in a man. When her dad was worried, he became the strong, silent type, too.
She studied Rad’s hands and the firm way they gripped the steering wheel. Tukaha had told her those powerful hands could shear three-hundred sheep a day and yet be gentle enough to birth a lamb the same night. What it would be like to be touched gently by such powerful hands? Her face grew warm. It was dangerous to daydream about Rad. With effort, she looked away.
The sun, brilliant and high in the sky, painted billowing clouds with a silvery outline. Gardens in the vast green parks were alive with snapdragons, granny’s bonnets and fuchsias with their purple flowers. Rivulets flowing in the canals beside the road glistened in the morning light. Why hadn’t she seen it before now? The loveliest part of Auckland was its parks and open spaces. The buildings and the excitement of the rushing crowds paled in comparison.
In the distance, Albert Park and Auckland University perched atop one of the area’s sixty-three extinct volcanoes. Maybe some of Rad’s ancestors had walked on one of those important Maori pa sites. Perhaps one of them was even a tribal chief or tohunga. Toni could easily see Rad as a great chief. He had all the qualities: wisdom, a powerful well-muscled body, a predatory instinct, a love of the land, a desire for peace and harmony, and a loyalty that was maddening. Too bad it was wasted on Tinihanga.
Traffic thickened as they passed the Victorian railway station and took Queen Street to the center of Auckland. Toni’s apartment and office were nearby. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel the least bit homesick.
Rad found a parking space right in front of the Pacific Management Corporation building. He took her arm firmly and guided her quickly up to the second floor and into the air-conditioned office.
Toni expected to see the manager right away. Instead, a brawny, dark-haired male secretary told them to wait. He returned to his work at the single station computer, but darted a few sullen, narrow-eyed looks in their direction. Toni rubbed her arms. This guy was an expert at sending out vibes that screamed, “Go away. You’re not welcome here.”
While Rad thumbed through a business magazine, Toni inspected the office. The plush furniture and expensive paintings told her the firm wasn’t a fly by night operation. The unpleasant male secretary was significant, too. He was in his early thirties and built more like a bodyguard than a secretary. Judging by his crooked nose, he might’ve been a boxer before becoming a desk-jockey.
The intercom buzzed. After the muscular ape hung up, he said, “The manager won’t be able to see you today.” He stood and swelled his expansive chest, apparently trying to look like an immovable wall. “But if you’d care to come back tomorrow, maybe around three?”
“Our business will only take a few moments. We’ll wait.”
“It won’t do any good.” Biting finality rode his words.
Rad looked up from his magazine. “The lady said we’d wait. And we will, for as long as it takes.” Her eyes met Rad’s, and she felt a sense of solidarity pass between them.
The strapping secretary glared at Rad for a moment then entered the manager’s office.
Toni and Rad smiled at each other. She didn’t really know what they were smiling about, but it felt good. Maybe it was the way he’d supported her a moment ago.
Rad returned to reading the article, and Toni wandered around the office. On the secretary’s desk, was a bowl of matchbooks with the name, address and phone number of the firm on the cover. She slipped one of the matchbooks into her purse and sat back down next to Rad.
The secretary returned to his computer and resumed typing, pounding the keys furiously. They had been waiting an hour when two men entered the foyer. With only a nod to the secretary, the men walked, unannounced, into the manager’s office.
Toni had seen only their backs as they went in. But when they came out, she got a good look at them. Both men were close to six feet tall and in their early forties. The man with a receding hairline had a round face, ruddy complexion and bushy sideburns. The other, huskier, had dark curly hair and a beer belly. And a fancy belt with a missing stone! “Rad, look!” she whispered.
By the time Rad looked up from his magazine the men were on their way out the door.
“A greenstone jewel is missing from the curly-haired guy’s belt,” she whispered. “We have to follow them.”
She stood. She felt the gentle pressure of Rad’s hand at the small of her back.
“The manager will see you now,” the secretary announced as they started to leave.
Toni glanced at the secretary, then at Rad. “What’ll we do?” She kept her voice low, so the secretary wouldn’t hear. “We can’t let those guys get away.”
“You talk to the manager,” Rad said in a hushed voice. “I’ll tail Curly
and his friend with the sideburns.”
“Be careful,” she whispered. “If they know you’re following, they may lead you into a trap.”
He nodded. “If I don’t get back before you come out, wait here for me.”
“No heroics, Rad. Just get the make of their car and the license number.”
He nodded.
Toni hesitated, then followed the secretary into the large, wood paneled executive office.
The statuesque blonde behind the desk stood. “What can I do for you, Miss Conners?” Her voice was clipped and self-assured.
The name plate on the clutter-free, highly polished desk introduced Jessi Ashley. Toni handed her a plat map. “Ms. Ashley, I need the name of the mortgage holder on the parcel outlined in red.” Toni pointed to Rad’s parcel.
“That’s easy,” the woman said. “It’s Orthodox Bell Tower Corporation.” She lifted her chin. “Mr. Murdoch owns the land, so what is your concern in the property?”
“I’m here on his behalf. We need the name and address of the corporate president.”
“You’ll have to get your information elsewhere. Our firm simply handles receivables and disbursements. The arrangements were made by mail. We draw checks payable to the corporation not to an individual.”
“The address will do.”
“It’s a post office box. And I can’t give it to you. We protect our client’s right to privacy.”
“Those men who were just in here – are they part of the Orthodox Bell Tower Corporation?”
“What men?” Her expression remained placid.
“It’d be faster if you cooperated, but I can find out what I want to know from the Bureau of Corporations.”
“Do what you think necessary, Miss Conners. But you’ll have to excuse me. I have an appointment on the other side of town.” Ms. Ashley strode to the door in her spiky heels and with a sweep of her arm, invited Toni to leave.
Toni wondered if Ms. Ashley’s appointment had anything to do with Bell Tower and the men who’d just left. Rad had told her to wait in the office lobby for him, but her suspicions were aroused; and she wouldn’t be satisfied until she knew what was going on. And that meant tailing the Ashley woman.
Too hyper to bother with the elevator, Toni took the stairs. The car she and Rad had rented was no longer in front of the building. That meant Rad was following those men. How could she tail Ms. Ashley to the mysterious appointment without a car? Quickly, she crossed the street. She walked in front of a muscular biker with a red paisley headband and dirty jeans. He revved his Harley motor then cut the engine. Toni glanced back. He sat there studying a map.
She slipped into the morning shadows of a jewelry store doorway and waited. The wait was short. Ms. Ashley and her brawny secretary came out of the building and headed in the direction of the building’s parking lot. It wouldn’t take them long to get there; it was only a quarter of a block away.
Toni looked up and down the street for a ta
xi. None in sight. If she didn’t do something quickly, Ms. Ashley and her secretary would reach their car, pull out of the parking lot, and disappear into traffic. The intrigue was adding up. The man with the missing jewel, Ms. Ashley’s hurried exit. Toni’s hunch told her they’d lead her to the headman. She had to tail them! She inhaled deeply for courage, then hurried to the curb where the biker was parked.
“Can you use an extra fifty?”
“Maybe. Whatcha have in mind?” The biker’s accent told her he was American. His dark brown hair was pulled back tight and rubber-banded into a two inch tail. With narrowed eyes, he puffed on the rolled cigarette held between his thumb and third finger. There was a small scar under his left eye.
Toni noted the bulged leather fender bags and the blanket behind his seat. A drifter. “I need to follow a car.”
He looked her up and down, then tossed his half smoked cigarette at her feet. “Dangerous?”
“Might be.” She stared into his steely blue eyes, trying to read him, wondering if he was dangerous.
He stroked his unshaven jaw. “If it takes longer than thirty minutes, I want another fifty. And if longer, I want a hundred an hour.”
“Done.” She took a step toward him.
“Not so fast.” He rubbed his thumb and two fingers together. “Let’s see the green.”
She handed him a twenty. “The rest when we get there.”
He shook his head. “Up front or no deal.”
The BMW eased out of the parking lot and headed in the opposite direction. She pulled more bills out of her wallet. He snatched them out of her hand and stuffed them into his inside pocket.
“Hop on.” He gestured with his head. “Who’s the mark?”
She hooked the strap of her purse over her head and shoulder, and straddled the seat behind him. “That BMW. But don’t get too close. We can’t let them see us.”
“Whatever you say.” His breath reeked of beer and garlic. “Press against my back and hold on.”
The cycle bucked as the rear tires laid a strip of rubber on the concrete. She clung to his waist and pressed her face against his jacket. It reeked of gasoline and sweat. Her hair and mint green scarf blew wildly in the wind.
She shuddered. What had she’d gotten herself into? Was she counting too heavily on her ability to read people?
Chapter Fourteen
The square-jawed biker kept the BMW in sight while remaining hidden behind other vehicles. Transient or not, he seemed to know the city. The adept way he tailed the mark told Toni he’d done this sort of thing before.
She clung to him, her hold tightening as they leaned into corners. He kept pace with the BMW, and soon they were on the outskirts of town. Suddenly, he veered off the main road and started up a hill. Signals went off in her brain. She didn’t like this. They headed up a dusty, dirt road into a remote hilly area away from the BMW. Hanging on with only one arm, she pulled her purse close and opened the clasp. Her hand gripped the cold steel of the gun inside. The brawny biker was expert at pursuing unseen, and she hoped he didn’t stop; she didn’t want to put a hole in his raunchy hide.
He pointed. “That’s your BMW behind the blue truck. We can follow unseen from up here without losing sight of them. This road rejoins the highway about a mile ahead.”
They reached the top of the hill and started down the other side. The sprawling city of Auckland and its two huge harbors spread out below like open butterfly wings. She relaxed and re-clasped her purse. “You’ve done this kind of thing before,” she shouted over the roaring engine and rushing air.
He turned his head to the side while looking straight ahead. “Yeah,” he said. “I worked for a P.I. in Arizona.”
“You’re good.”
He shrugged. “Is that guy in the BMW your old man?”
“No.” She didn’t feel the need to explain. The less strangers knew the better.
He glanced at his watch. “Ya owe me another fifty.”
“Trust me. You’ll get it.”
“I’m not worried. If ya don’t pay me…” His voice trailed away. Then he laughed boisterously.
“You’ll be paid!” She wondered how he’d like walking bowlegged.
When they joined the main road again, the biker pulled directly behind a white delivery truck and kept pace with it. The BMW turned, and so did the truck. They entered a run-down industrial area. The streets were almost deserted. Most of the buildings were boarded up. When the truck turned a corner, the biker swung into the BMW’s left rear blind spot briefly and then pulled his motorcycle up behind a pile of crushed wrecked cars that rested on three railway flat-beds. The BMW continued another half block, then stopped.
“What now?” the biker asked.
“We have to get closer.”
“Okay. Give’em a chance to get inside, and then I’ll take ya right to the door. Now, where’s my other fifty?”
She thrust the money into his waiting palm. He stuffed it into the breast pocket of his jacket and started walking his motorcycle to the end of the third flat bed. She followed.
They’d reached the far end of the last flat bed and moved closer to the BMW. Ashley’s secretary had parked it in front of a rust-corroded, corrugated steel warehouse. The building’s dented double doors extended high enough to allow a semi-truck to enter. Ashley and her husky secretary walked toward the pedestrian door and disappeared inside.
“Get on,” the biker said.Suddenly, a pick-up truck came around the corner on two wheels. Toni froze. The vehicle sped down the street and skidded to a stop in front of the warehouse. Three men got out. The curly-haired man with a beer belly held a gun to the ribs of the man in the center.
Toni gasped. Rad!
“Guns?” The biker’s eyes narrowed. “What’s coming down here?”
“I work for the man in the center. They’re going to kill him.”
The biker frowned and rubbed his unshaven face. “This is where I cut out!”
“You can’t go. We have to save him.”
He cleared his throat. “I’ll pass on this one.”
“Then call the constable. There’s too many of them for me to handle alone.”
“No way. Me and the pigs ain’t the best of friends.”
Toni put her hands on her hips and glared at him. From his oily black hair and piercing bloodshot eyes to his black scuffed boots, he was a Hell’s Angel type no one would want to meet in a dark alley. “You look tough, but you’re a wimp!”
“Yeah, a live wimp!” He started the motorcycle and slowly turned it around. Then he revved the engine. “Hope it works out for you.”
“Wait!” she shouted.
He looked back briefly. She coughed as he left her standing in the wake of exhaust fumes. Toni dug in her purse for her cell phone. It was missing. She looked up and down the street for a phone booth. There was none in sight.
She bit the corner of her lip. At this very minute, Rad’s captor’s might be beating him, maybe even getting ready to kill him. She inhaled deeply and headed for the rear of the building. All the windows were high transoms. Thinking ahead, she grabbed an oily rag dangling from the fence and then picked up scattered pieces of paper caught at the base. When she got to the rear door she put the rag and paper in a pile, jamming some of both under the space beneath the door. It only took a second to find the matches at the bottom of her purse. She lit two and dropped them at opposite corners of the paper. Flames broke out and licked at the door.
Without waiting, she ran to the front of the building. When she reached the door, she paused and listened. At first, she could hear only her own heavy breathing. Then she heard shouts at the rear of the warehouse. Ignoring her racing heart, she eased the door open, and with gun drawn, she slipped inside. There was a gunshot.
She froze. Then forced herself to keep going. She spied a razor cutter used to open cardboard boxes on a work bench. This might come in handy. She closed it and tucked it into her pocket. Staying behind the row of crates along the wall,
she followed the sound of voices until she reached a metal stairway leading to a scaffold that circled the warehouse. She removed her boots, tucked them under her arm and started silently up the steps.
From the top of the scaffold, she stared down at Rad and his four captors who stood in a semicircle only a few feet from him. Rad sat on a crate with his hands bound behind his back and a gag in his mouth. The right side of his face was swollen. The sleeve of his white sweater looked grayish, and his black slacks had a streak of dirt just below the knee; but there was no blood. Thank God.
“I put the fire out,” the man with the jeweled belt said. “Must’ve been vandals. My shot in the air oughtta keep the punks away.”
“Can’t take chances,” the balding man with bushy sideburns said. “I’ll circle outside the building to make sure they’re gone.”
When he stepped into the direct light Toni saw the blueberry birthmark on his right cheek. The driver of the semi! That side of his face had been away from her in the management office, but she could see it clearly now. She watched him until he was out of sight.
She shivered, remembering the heavy blow to her jaw when she’d tried to stop him from getting into the semi-truck. He was a bruiser with no compulsion about hitting a woman. Even if he were the only one she had to contend with, rescuing Rad would be difficult, but with all the others there it would be nearly impossible. She needed to plan her move carefully.
Toni slipped on her boots while she listened to what the others were saying.
“I don’t like this,” Jessi Ashley said. “What you do to Murdoch is your business. But I don’t want to know about it.”
“Duke said to bring you here,” the husky secretary said. “You’re in as deep as the rest of us now.”
“Damn him! Duke promised I wouldn’t be involved in the rough stuff.”
“Promises made in bed aren’t worth much, Jessi,” the secretary said. “You’re disgusting,” Jessi said. “I shouldn’t have let Duke talk me into hiring you.”
“Shut up! Both of you, or I’ll shut you up,” the man with the jeweled belt said. He looked at his watch. “Duke should be here any second with the paper he wants Murdoch to sign.”
