Dear God, what should I do? She made it to her car, visibly shaken from what she had discovered. This whole thing was over the Amaceo coin—and the police department was involved. Sharon fumbled through her purse, trying to retrieve her keys. She finally clutched them, then tried to unlock her car door, but her shaking hands caused her to drop them. She quickly scooped them up, then stood again only to come face-to-face with Sergeant Freeman.
Sonya moaned and clutched her head. Its heavy pounding held her at its mercy. She struggled to open her eyes despite the pain. She felt ill. Her stomach threatened to heave its contents. She quickly covered her mouth to prevent the inevitable.
Her stomach delivered on its promise. Once done, she felt better. She tilted her head up toward the ceiling, thankful for the welcome relief.
Sonya pulled herself up on her wobbly legs and felt another wave of nausea threaten. A loud thud drew her attention toward the closed door. What was that? Until that moment, Sonya hadn’t wondered about her surroundings. She looked around, puzzled. She reached for the door, but something warned her against it. She heard someone searching through nearby rooms.
Sonya turned toward the window and contemplated an exit route. Suddenly a man’s voice rang out in the apartment.
“Who in the hell are you?” she heard the man ask in a thunderous voice.
“Friend of C.J.’s,” another voice answered.
Sonya covered her mouth when she heard what sounded like muffled shots.
“Is he dead?” Jack asked, waiting for Benjamin to check the body.
“As a doornail,” Benjamin replied, shaking his head. “So is the chick. It’s a shame, though—she’s some looker.”
“It’s a shame that he tried to work with both C.J. and Frank. He should have known that was dangerous. Search the apartment. That broad has to be here somewhere.”
Both men split up and went to search every room.
“She’s not here,” Benjamin yelled.
“Damn! The boss isn’t going to like this one bit,” he said, shaking his head.
“He said not to call him unless we have good news. I suggest we try to find her. I’m not about to call him and tell him we came up empty-handed.”
“Good point. Let’s go. She can’t be far.”
Malik grew restless, sitting in the wooden chair. No one spoke as they waited in anticipation. He noticed Dwayne trying to loosen his tied hands. Malik watched Laura drift off to sleep. He had watched her saddened expression for most of the day. He read the mistrust in her eyes. She refused to speak to him or Dwayne.
As she slept, she looked much like a lost angel. He remembered her from the old neighborhood. She was a scrawny little thing, just a shadow of her sister’s beauty. He remembered her being a quiet girl, never having too many friends surrounding her. Who knew she would turn out to be such a beauty?
Of course her face was smudged with dirt, and her clothes were filthy, but there was more there. He could see it, feel it. He continued to watch her soft breathing pattern in pure fascination.
The door rattled, and everyone became alert, including Laura. Two men entered the room and headed for Laura.
Laura’s eyes widened as she pushed her chair away from them, a futile act that didn’t prevent them from grabbing her shoulder painfully. Laura cried out.
Malik tried to come out of his chair in an attempt to protect her. The two men jumped away from Malik, fear visible in their expressions. One of the men tried to reach for Laura again but was cut off by Malik thrusting his chair between them.
“Come on, man. I don’t want to have to hurt you,” one of the men dared to threaten.
“Give it your best shot,” Malik challenged. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Dwayne had finally snapped his hands free from the ropes. A wicked grin covered his lips as Dwayne jumped to his feet and landed an elbow punch to the back of one man’s head.
Malik rocked to his feet and swung around to hit the other man with his chair. He then proceeded to kick the man solidly in his chest and back. He also dealt a quick blow to the man’s head, knocking him out cold. He turned back to Laura and saw Dwayne untying her hands.
When he finished, Dwayne proceeded to untie him, too. But when he looked at Laura, she seemed to cower away from him as if she feared him.
“Come on. We have to get out of here,” Dwayne commanded.
Laura raced behind Dwayne while Malik took up the rear. When they stepped out of the small room and into a dark hallway, Malik heard Laura gasp. He reached out and took her hand, trying to calm her down, but she snatched her hand away almost in fear.
“Shh…” Dwayne whispered.
Malik didn’t press the issue. Laura was afraid of him, that much he was sure of.
A light switch clicked on, and the threesome turned toward the source.
“Hey!” a man cried from behind them.
“Go!” Malik shouted, pointing down the opposite hallway.
“The prisoners are getting away!” the man shouted.
Malik raced behind them, glancing over his shoulder. More men filtered through the hallway for the chase. Laura stumbled but Malik grabbed her before she hit the floor.
“Keep moving, sweetheart,” he urged her on.
Dwayne stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Laura asked frantically.
“It’s a dead end,” Dwayne said, looking around.
“What are we going to do now?” she asked when she saw the men gaining on them.
“This way.” Malik pointed down another hallway.
Dwayne and Laura wasted no time, but that hallway was another dead end. Laura spotted a small window about seven feet up. Malik followed her gaze.
“Do you think you can fit through there?” Malik asked.
Laura nodded. In the next moment, Malik and Dwayne propelled her up to reach the window. She struggled to pry it open.
“You can do it, sweetheart,” Malik encouraged.
The footsteps drew closer just as Laura pushed open the window and pulled herself through.
Chapter 29
Sonya hid behind an old, blue ’67 Monte Carlo, trembling. She tried to calm her racing heart but couldn’t.
Two men stepped from the apartment building. As they looked from one direction to another, an eerie feeling told her they were looking for her. Who are they?
The men shook their heads, then walked to an old Chevy Citation and got in. She inched away from their view. She listened in fear as the Citation’s engine revved up and pulled from the parking lot. Sonya sighed in relief, then slumped against the Monte Carlo.
Her mind drew a blank. She placed her fingers along her temples and tried to remember how she ended up in that strange bedroom.
Sonya forced the bits of information from her memory. She remembered the hospital, remembered seeing Bridget. Then Sergeant Freeman wanted her for questioning.
When she stopped rubbing her temples, her eyes widened in alarm. A vision of her accepting aspirin from Sergeant Freeman filtered through her mind.
“He drugged me,” she whispered. She stared back at the apartment building. This doesn’t make sense. Why would he want to drug me?
She glanced around the complex and contemplated returning to the apartment. She felt nauseated at the thought. Maybe it’s best that I don’t know what happened. However, her curiosity wouldn’t let it go at that. She had to know.
Sonya took a step toward the building, still feeling weak and light-headed. She waited, then gathered her courage to proceed toward the building. She made it back to the building, but the moment she stepped into the hallway, an overpowering sense of fear engulfed her. Sonya changed her mind momentarily, but she couldn’t stop her feet from carrying her to the unknown.
She rounded a corner and noticed an apartment door opened slightly. This is the apartment. This time her feet stopped. She stared at the door. Seconds turned into minutes, and she was unsure of how many passed before she finally pushed open the door.
&
nbsp; There, only inches inside the door, lay Carmen’s body. Another wave of nausea hit her. This time she was unable to release anything from her empty stomach.
I have to get out of here. She turned to leave the apartment, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted her purse sitting near the coffee table. She quickly retrieved it while trying to avoid Carmen’s body.
Just before she picked up her purse, she noticed a gun lying next to it. With shaky hands, she reached for the gun. She was barely able to hold it, her hands shook so bad. She hated guns, always had. This was the first time she had ever contemplated having one. Protection, her mind shouted. I’ll just take it for protection.
Unwillingly she looked back at Carmen’s dead body. How many close calls had she suffered in the past few weeks? How many more could she survive? She opened her purse and slipped in the gun.
Sonya knew she couldn’t just walk away from the crime scene. She had to do something. Looking around, she found the phone. She pulled a handkerchief from her purse and used it to pick up the phone. With the tip of her nail, she dialed 911.
“Nine-one-one?” the operator responded.
Sonya placed the receiver on the table and let the operator repeat her question to the tabletop. They’ll send someone over, she reasoned. All 911 calls were recorded, and she didn’t want to be placed at this murder scene.
Without a backward glance, Sonya left the apartment and raced from the complex, while glancing over her shoulder every few feet. Her hand absently touched her purse. She had been caught off guard one too many times. It wouldn’t happen again.
Twenty minutes later, Sonya reached a gas station. This time she had money to a make a phone call. She dialed Grady Hospital and asked for room 718. Hopefully Dwayne would still be in with Bridget.
“Hello?”
Sonya recognized the voice.
“James, this is Sonya. Is Dwayne there?” she asked in one long breath.
“Oh, hello, Sonya. No, I’m sorry, Dwayne isn’t here. He left a few hours ago.”
Sonya shook her head. Just her luck. “Do you know where he went?”
“No, I’m sorry. Is something wrong? Is Sharon all right?” he asked with concern in his voice.
“Sharon?”
“Isn’t Sharon with you? She said she was going to the police station to see you.”
Sonya’s mind reeled. “When did she go?”
“What’s wrong? Is Sharon is trouble?”
“I have to go. I’ll call back later.” Sonya slammed the phone down, then quickly searched through her purse for another quarter. She ignored the gun as she found her coin to place a call to Sharon’s car phone.
“Sergeant Freeman, you scared me.” Sharon placed a hand over her heart.
“I didn’t mean to, Mrs. Ellis.” He took a dangerous step forward. “You seem to be in a hurry. Is anything wrong?”
Sharon forced a smile. “Wrong?”
“One of the officers said you were looking for me. You never came to my office. Is there something I can help you with?”
Sharon averted his hard look, afraid that he would see straight through her. He’s testing me, she realized.
“Actually, I was looking for Sonya. I was told she came down here for questioning. But one of the officers told me she had already left.” She hoped he wouldn’t read through her lie.
“Really?” he answered, sounding unconvinced.
Sharon jumped at the sound of her car phone ringing. “Excuse me,” she said, trying to open her car door again.
Sergeant Freeman smiled, then waited. He remained standing outside her car while she answered.
“Hello?” Her voice quivered slightly.
“Sharon?” Sonya asked.
Sharon fought the urge to shout for joy when she recognized the voice.
“Sharon, are you there? It’s me, Sonya.”
“Hello, James,” Sharon greeted.
“James? Sharon, it’s Sonya. Is everything all right?”
“Oh, everything is fine. I made it safely down here to the police station.”
Sonya hesitated. “Is Freeman there?”
“Yes, dear. I’m talking with Sergeant Freeman now. It seems I’ve just missed Sonya.”
“Damn,” Sonya cursed. “Sharon, you have to leave right now. The man is dangerous. I believe he drugged me. You have to get away from him.”
Sharon reached for her door while responding to Sonya over the phone. “Yes, honey, I’m on my way back to the hospital now.” She quickly started the car, then smiled prettily at the sergeant while she pulled away.
“Sonya, that was too close. Where are you?”
“I don’t know, really. Hold on. The address printed on this pay phone is 5455 Memorial Drive. How fast can you get here?”
“Memorial Drive? I guess I can be there in twenty minutes. Don’t move.”
“I won’t. Do hurry, Sharon.” Sonya hung up the phone and looked around the station. She had to hide. Those men could show up here looking for her. She spotted the public bathroom by the gas station’s convenience store and decided it would be the best place for her to hide.
She ignored the cool breeze that cut across her exposed legs as she hurried toward the bathroom. She slipped in just as that familiar old Citation pulled into the lot. Her heart tripled its pace.
Dear God, what if they saw me? She backed away from the door and waited for the men to barge in at any moment. She looked around but there was no other avenue of escape. Her breathing became shallow when a familiar voice thundered outside the door.
“I’ll be right back, Benjamin. I just have to use the john.”
Sonya quickly reached out and locked the door. The doorknob turned. Sonya trembled in fear.
“Damn!” she heard him say. Then there was a loud banging on the door.
“Hey, you in there, hurry up!” he shouted.
A lump enlarged in Sonya’s throat. What am I going to do?
A car horn blared. “Come on, man, do that later. We have to find that broad, pronto!”
Sonya heard footsteps drawing away from the door. A few seconds later, she heard a car pull off. Was it the Citation? She refused to move toward the door. She didn’t want to take the chance of being wrong. She leaned against the small porcelain sink and waited.
After a long period of time passed, she felt confident to look out the door. She peered around the small station just as Sharon’s car turned in. “Oh, thank God.” She raced from her hiding place and headed straight for Sharon.
In one fluid motion, she opened the car door and jumped in. “Let’s go.”
Sharon wasted no time in doing as Sonya asked. “What is going on?” Sharon asked.
Sonya kept looking around to see if there was any sign of the Citation. “I’m not sure what is going on anymore,” she answered just above a whisper.
“Well, let me tell you what I know. That coin necklace of yours is the reason for all of this!”
Sonya turned and looked at her. “What?”
“Reach to the backseat and grab that book,” Sharon instructed.
Sonya grabbed the book and gave Sharon a puzzled look.
“Open it to the marked page.”
Sonya complied and found the page Sharon was referring to. She immediately recognized her coin. Hurriedly she read the caption beneath the photograph. The Amaceo Coin: dated back to early Aztecs, many believe to as far as 15 BC Estimated worth:
“Twenty million dollars?” Sonya nearly shouted.
“That’s exactly what I said.”
“But…I don’t understand. How…? Laura gave me…This doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know. But whatever is going on, your Sergeant Freeman is knee-deep into it. I overheard him talking on the phone. He was promising someone that he would have that Amaceo coin to him by tonight.”
Sonya reached for her necklace. “I don’t have it. It’s back at the motel.”
“Which motel?”
“The Sundial. It’s d
own by Grady Hospital.”
Sharon made a sudden U-turn and headed for the Sundial Motel.
Within minutes, Sharon screeched her car to a halt in front of the motel. The women jumped out and headed toward the elevator. Sonya pressed the button for the second floor.
The women rode up in silence. Both women hoped their anxieties were in vain. The moment they stepped from the elevator, Sonya’s eyes darted toward her room. She quickly grabbed Sharon by the arm and pulled her back.
“What’s wrong?” Sharon whispered, looking at Sonya.
“The door is open.”
Sonya tiptoed toward her door. She listened briefly, then pushed the door open farther. She eased into the room with Sharon following close behind her. Sonya reached inside her purse and pulled out her gun. This time she would be prepared.
Before Sonya or Sharon could react, someone grabbed Sonya’s gun, and they were surrounded by giant men who appeared from nowhere.
“Come in, ladies,” a male voice instructed.
Sharon passed Sonya a worried look, but both women did as they were instructed. Sonya became nervous as she heard the door click behind them.
A muscular giant sat on the edge of the bed. Sonya squinted at the familiar-looking man and forced her memory to come up with a name. “William? William Gainey?”
William smiled as he stood up from the bed and walked closer to Sonya. “I see you haven’t forgotten me.”
“You know this clown?” Sharon asked, relaxing.
Sonya nodded, but her guard remained intact. “You’re Malik Moyers’s brother. What are you doing in my motel room?”
“Let’s just say I need your help.”
“My help?” Sonya asked, looking around, only to see the angry faces of the men surrounding them. “What on earth can I do for you?”
“Well, you see, my brother was in my pool hall a couple of days ago. He was asking questions about your sister,” William began.
“Laura?” Sonya asked with wide eyes.
“Yeah. Malik was hired to find her.”
Defenseless Page 22
