Jay Giles

by Blindsided (A Thriller)

  “Tell them to find him.”

  He took his hand off the receiver. “This is important. You better find him.”

  He looked up at me, his eyes wild. We waited. His head jerked. “Yeah, boss. Sorry to disturb you, but Seattle told me to call, said you grabbed one of his people.” He closed his eyes, clamped his jaw shut. “The thing of it is,” he said, opening his eyes. “He says he’ll turn himself over to you at the wedding if you release the woman.” He listened, looked up at me, shook his head.

  I grabbed the phone away from him. “Let her go. She doesn’t have anything to do with this. I’ll drive over to your place right now, if you agree to release her.”

  This brought amused laughter. “I don’t want you. Yet. You still have work to do for me. This woman is my insurance policy that you make sure this marriage happens. If it doesn’t, she will die. I haven’t decided about you yet. I may put you through a torturous ordeal. Or I may just let you die. How much pain you suffer depends on how you perform, Mr. Seattle.”

  “Let Rosemary go,” I said again. “I’m going to do what you want.”

  “I’m sure you will. I am not an unreasonable person. I will not hurt your friend before the wedding. But if things start to go wrong, do you know what I will do?”

  My throat closed. I could only imagine. I couldn’t speak.

  Chapter 45

  “I will start cutting her up, sending you pieces as reminders of how you have failed me. Perhaps a hand to start. An eye. The tongue, I am given to understand, is very painful.”

  “There won’t be any problems. Things will go smoothly.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Seattle. I thought you might see things my way.” He rang off.

  “I’m sorry, man,” Fish said from the couch. “I didn’t know anything like this was going down.”

  I needed air. I put the phone down, walked out on the deck, leaned over the railing. I felt sick.

  From inside, I heard a door open, close. Voices talking. Steps. “Are you okay?” Tory asked, leaning next to me on the rail.

  I was so low I didn’t know what to say even though my throat had relaxed a bit.

  “You can’t blame yourself. There was no way you could know this was going to happen.”

  But I should have. He’d even warned me that night at his house, the night he torched my offices.

  “They’ll find her. Raines will get her back. You can’t give up now, Matt. You have to keep your head in the game. That’s her only chance.”

  She didn’t have a chance. D’Onifrio wasn’t going to let her walk away, a witness to what he’d done.

  “C’mon, you’ve got to snap out of it. Let’s get moving.” She pulled my arm. We went back into the condo. “What did Raines have to say?”

  Fish was standing there watching us. Having her ask about Raines in front of him brought me back to attention. “Rosemary’s husband, you mean?”

  For a split second, her face showed confusion. Her mouth opened as if to say something, closed quickly. “Yeah. Isn’t that his name?”

  I nodded. “He just wants her back. He’s frightened. He doesn’t have any idea what’s behind this.”

  Fish was still standing there. He looked uncomfortable. “Guys, if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. You know I’ll do it for you. I feel awful about this.”

  I went over, patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks. What we need you to do is get married. Make sure Janet doesn’t do something goofy to delay things. I almost forgot. I booked you a cruise. You leave Saturday from Miami, visit San Juan, St. Thomas, St.Croix. Six days, five nights. Looks like a good time.”

  “Thanks. I really appreciate you springing for that, especially with how the boss is treating you.”

  “I appreciate you making that call to him.”

  His jowls quivered in a frown. “I’ll tell him when I talk to him—this ain’t right.”

  “Wouldn’t hurt to call Janet,” Tory suggested. “Tell her you’ve booked a cruise. Position this as a little excursion, the best of what’s available on short notice. Tell her you’d like to take a big trip with her first of the year. I’ll call you tomorrow, make sure everything’s going okay.” She looked over at me. “We need to talk to Rosemary’s husband.”

  “Fish, if you hear anything—anything at all about Rosemary—will you call me?”

  He nodded.

  When we were going down in the elevator, Tory hit the door with her hand. “I can’t believe I mentioned Raines in front of him. I’m sorry.”

  “An easy slip to make. We’ve gotten to thinking of Fish as a friend.”

  She hit the door again. “Damn.”

  It opened on the ground level revealing two little old people, each holding a bag of groceries. They scurried out of Tory’s way.

  “What did Raines tell you?” she asked as we walked to our cars.

  “Not much really. He said he’d look into it. Told me to call when I found out who was handling the police investigation. I’m going to call him now, fill him in on my conversation with D’Onifrio.”

  “I’ll follow you.”

  I drove to that same pay phone at CVS, called Raines, got the call back. “I don’t know anything yet,” he said in a gruff voice.

  “I’m calling because I talked to D’Onifrio. He confirmed what you suspected. He’s holding her to get me.”

  “Only way this makes any sense.”

  “I tried to get him to let her go. He wouldn’t. I tried to set up an exchange at the wedding. He wouldn’t agree to that, either. But he’s going to be at the wedding. If something’s going to happen, it’ll be then.”

  “When’s this wedding?”

  “Friday. Two o’clock. City Hall. Room 410.”

  “And you think he’ll have her there?”

  “I don’t know, no. But I said I’d be there. If he lets her go, he can take me.”

  “Matt, you can’t do that,” Tory said adamantly.

  From the earpiece, I heard Raines say, “I agree. Let’s play it like you’re going to make the trade, but not plan on going through with it. I’ll have people there. We’ll get the woman away from them, get you out of there.”

  I desperately wanted to believe he could pull that off.

  “Can you get me a picture of this woman?”

  “Yes.”

  “A guy named Rusty is on his way to your place to sweep your phones. Give him the picture. Call me with any news.” He rang off.

  I hung the receiver in its cradle, turned to go.

  Tory stood in front of me, arms folded in front of her, a concerned look on her face. “Tell me you’re not going to do that.”

  “Raines said to play it like it’s going to happen but not to go through with it. He’ll have people there.”

  Her face softened a little. “Good.”

  I headed for the car, away from further confrontation. “Raines has somebody on his way to my place. I need to get back.”

  “I’ll come, too,” she said to my surprise.

  As I pulled up to the guardhouse, Ehrlichman stepped out. I stopped, leaned out the window, and explained I had a guest following in the car behind me. If I hadn’t, he’d have assumed Tory was an intruder and given her a full body-cavity search. Instead, all she’d get from him would be a goofy leer.

  “Service guy came by for you, Mr. Seattle,” he said when I’d finished. “I rang your place. You weren’t there, so I couldn’t let him in. He said he’d come back at five.”

  I looked at the car’s clock. Four-forty-five. “Sorry I missed him. Send him on when he comes back.”

  “I sure will, Mr. Seattle.”

  “Thanks.” I raised my window, drove on.

  Actually, the delay helped me. I knew I had a picture of Rosemary. I’d used it in an announcement when she joined the brokerage. But what had I done with it?

  I parked my car in the garage, waited at the front of the building for Tory. She arrived a minute later. Parked in the visitor’s area. We wa
lked in, rode the elevator up to twelve. “Make yourself at home,” I said to Tory as I opened the condo’s front door. The answering machine was beeping, I went there first, hit the play button.

  You. Have. Two. Messages. First. Message. Saturday. Three. Twenty. P.M. “Matt, it’s Dan. Rosemary still hasn’t come back. I’ve called the police. You haven’t heard from her, have you? Call me back.” He sounded desperate.

  Second. Message. Saturday. Four. Ten. P.M. “Mr. Seattle, this is Lieutenant Brock Ellsworth of the Sarasota Police. Rosemary Shears, who I understand works for you, has been reported missing by her husband, Dan. Mr. Seattle, if you wouldn’t mind calling me at this number at your earliest opportunity, I’d appreciate talking to you. Thanks.”

  I wrote down his name and number. Headed into the library. If Rosemary’s picture was here, it would be with the office stuff in my desk. Sure enough, in a file marked announcements, I found it. A five-by-seven glossy.

  The downstairs buzzer sounded, I headed for the intercom.

  “It’s Rusty,” a voice said, “you should be expecting me.”

  “C’mon up.” I buzzed him in.

  The doorbell rang moments later. “I’ll get it,” Tory said.

  Rusty was a young guy with red hair and a goatee. He had on overalls that said Central Service, carried a large gray metal toolbox in each hand. “Raines told you I was coming, right?”

  I nodded. “Said you were going to sweep the phones?”

  “Yeah, want to show me where they are?”

  I showed him the three phones. “One of D’Onifrio’s people was in this condo,” I said as I showed him the phone in the bedroom.

  “Really? I better sweep the whole place.” He opened his tool kits, took out a bunch of gadgets. Tory and I watched him as he worked. Half an hour later, he packed his stuff back up. “You’re clean. You can call Raines from here now. I’ve put a scrambler on your phone. It activates when you call him at this number.” He handed me a card. I got Rosemary’s picture, gave it to him. He put it in his tool kit and departed.

  “I’m going to call Dan back, then Raines,” I said to Tory. “Find out what he wants to do about the police.”

  Dan must have been right next to the phone. “Hello,” he said in a frightened voice.

  “Dan, it’s Matt. Any news?

  “No. The police just left. They’ve been here all afternoon.”

  “There was a message on my machine to call a Lieutenant Ellsworth.”

  “He’s the one in charge.”

  “What’d he say?”

  “He told me not to panic. Said she could still turn up. He’s wrong. Something’s happened. I know it.”

  “Let me call Ellsworth. See what he needs. What can I do for you? Want to go get some dinner together? Bring something by your place? What sounds good?”

  “Thanks, Matt. I can’t eat, I’m too worried. Call Ellsworth. If you hear anything, let me know.”

  “Poor guy. He has to be beside himself,” Tory said after I hung up.

  “Rosemary and Dan are the nicest people in the entire world.”

  “I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. You’re a nice guy, too. Very few people look out for others the way you do.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled a little self-consciously, dialed the scrambler number. A man answered, got Raines.

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “It’s Matt Seattle. You said you wanted to know who was in charge of the investigation. There’s a message on my machine from a Lieutenant Ellsworth. He’s the guy, and he wants me to call him back.”

  “I’ll call him, tell him we’re involved. He may still want to talk to you, but I want to talk to him first. Anything else?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “My guys are alerted. No word on your friend yet.”

  He rang off. I put my phone down, feeling vaguely unsettled by the conversation with Raines. The last thing I needed was a turf war.

  Tory slung her bag over her shoulder. “I’ve got to leave.”

  I rode down in the elevator with her. “I know you meant leave the condo, but you should leave Sarasota. Take off before D’Onifrio grabs you, too.”

  She looked at me, her face resolute. “He’s not going to come after me. It doesn’t make any sense for him to take another hostage. Besides, you need the help.”

  I didn’t think anything else I said would change her mind. We rode in silence the rest of the way. The doors opened when we reached the ground level. “Thanks,” I told her before we stepped out and headed to our cars.

  On the way back to my place, I made a quick trip to Publix, picked up some chicken from the deli counter. I ate in the kitchen, one eye on the phone, wondering who my next caller would be.

  It turned out to be Ellsworth. He called at seven. “Mr. Seattle, I’ve talked to Paul Raines. I’d like to talk to you.”

  I tried to read between the words, but couldn’t tell if the conversation with Raines upset him. “Sure. When do you want to meet?”

  “How about now?”

  “Where?”

  “Police headquarters. Fourth and Main. Tell them at the front desk you’re there to see me. They’ll have someone escort you up.”

  Forty minutes later, I was sitting in the visitor’s chair across a battered green metal desk from Brock Ellsworth, a short, muscular man with big shoulders, a big neck, a shaved head. His features were regular enough until you got to his eyes, which were cold and distrusting. He wore a patterned tie over a brown short-sleeved dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up. To show off his biceps, I guessed.

  Every inch of his small office was in use—photos pinned to the walls, cardboard boxes stacked against walls, files everywhere.

  Ellsworth had sent the girl who walked me to his office to get us coffee. She surprised me when she brought back two large cups from Starbucks.

  Ellsworth gulped his eagerly, said, “I hate the crap we’ve got here.”

  I took a sip of mine, smiled. “It’s very good. Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it. Thanks for coming right over. I told you I talked to Raines. He asked me to cooperate on this. I told him the department always cooperates with the D.E.A. But you know what? I’m a lot more concerned about Rosemary Shears than I am about Don D’Onifrio.” He drank more coffee, put the cup on his desk, leaned forward. “I want you to tell me everything you know about this, ‘cause I don’t want Rosemary Shears dying because this guy Raines has a hard-on for D’Onifrio.”

  I told him what I knew. Didn’t leave anything out. While I talked, he finished his coffee, threw the cup in a wastebasket where it joined others.

  “Let me get this straight,” he said when I finished. “You’re going to this wedding thinking Raines is going to rescue you and this Rosemary Shears?”

  I nodded.

  He laughed contemptuously.

  Chapter 46

  “Raines doesn’t care about you or this Shears woman. He’s only interested in putting D’Onifrio away. He’s on a personal vendetta because he’s lost four of his men. Now he might be telling you he wants to get D’Onifrio on kidnapping charges, but if D’Onifrio kills you and the Shears woman, Raines can go after him for murder.” He sat back in his seat, watched me, waited for my reaction.

  If he was trying to frighten me, he was succeeding. I tried not to let that show. “What should I do?”

  He continued to watch me. “You walk into that wedding, I guarantee they’ll carry you out in a body bag. He can’t stop what’s bound to happen.”

  “I hear you, but I don’t see I have any choice. If I don’t go, Rosemary’s dead. Rather than warning me about Raines, the two of you should be working together, figuring out how to keep us alive.”

  Ellsworth smiled. “Didn’t I tell you? The department always cooperates with the D.E.A. Stay in touch, Mr. Seattle.” He handed me one of his cards. “It would be in your best interest to keep me very much in the loop.”

  He stood. I was dismissed.

&n
bsp; I drove home in a daze. I had the bad guys fighting, the good guys fighting, the clock ticking.

  Sunday the weather worsened. It was overcast, spitting rain. My mood darkened as well. In the afternoon, I had a bad conversation with Raines. He was annoyed with me for talking to Ellsworth and not calling to fill him in on the meeting. He was more annoyed when I told him what Ellsworth had said. He did little to assure me that Ellsworth was wrong. Most troubling, he never mentioned Rosemary. I had to ask twice before he told me they didn’t know anything new.

  That evening, I took Chinese over to Dan. We ate at their kitchen table. Dan wolfed his down as if he hadn’t eaten in days. He looked terrible. His eyes were tired, bloodshot. He hadn’t shaved or combed his hair. His clothes looked slept in. Twice during dinner he broke down and cried.

  I tried to steer the conversation to happier times. He rallied a bit then slid back into sadness. After dinner, we played cards. He seemed to enjoy that. When I left at nine, he hugged me. “Thanks for coming, Matt. You don’t know how alone I feel.”

  But I did. I knew exactly how he felt.

  There were messages on my machine when I returned to the condo. The courtesy call from a carpet cleaner I deleted immediately. Ellworth was call two. I returned his call, learned he’d gone off duty. I left a voicemail that I was returning his call and would call him in the morning. Call three was Tory. She answered when I called.

  “I was checking to see how you were doing. You were pretty low when I left yesterday.”

  “You don’t know what low is. I just took dinner over to Dan.”

  “That was nice of you.”

  “He’s a mess.”

  “I thought you might need a little cheering up, too. You want to have a drink somewhere?”

  “Sure. Meet you at Tommy Bahama’s at ten-thirty?” I named an upscale restaurant and bar on St. Armand’s Circle.

  She was already there when I arrived, seated at a table for two. A man was leaning on the other chair, talking to her. As he saw me approaching, he left quickly.

  “A friend?” I asked, sitting down.

  She smiled. “He’d like to be. He was sharing some interesting ideas on how we could get to know each other.”