Blind Faith (11 page)

"No." His mouth pulled into what could have passed for a smile. "We don't get too many of his kind 'round this joint."

His thick fingers grabbed the money and made it disappear. The blonde at the end of the bar yelled something, and he walked away to pour his customer another drink. The conversation was over.

Seeing no reason to hang around the place a moment longer, Kelly slid down from her stool, her club soda untouched, and hurried out, glad to see that the two gorillas were no longer playing pinball. Out in the alley, she stopped and looked around in dismay. Her cab was gone.

She thought about going back inside and asking the bartender to call another taxi, but the prospect of waiting for a driver to come to this part of town did not thrill her. She was better off taking her chances on the main thoroughfare.

Kelly's heart did a little flip as she recognized the raspy voice of one of the men in Salamander. Had they been waiting for her? Once again, she ignored them and quickened her step, telling herself not to panic.

She knew martial arts. Once they realized that, they'd leave her alone.

A cry of alarm rose from her throat as both men suddenly jumped in front of her and started walking backward, grinning from ear to ear.

Up close, they looked even larger and more ominous than they had inside the bar. The one who had addressed her had long brown hair held back in a ponytail and a gold upper front tooth. Dangling from his right ear was an earring in the shape of a skull. His companion was no less frightening. An inch or two shorter, he wore a red bandanna around his shaved head and stared directly at her chest, leaving little doubt about his intentions.

"Where you going so fast, baby?" Gold Tooth asked.

Kelly kept on walking, remembering Dr. Ho's instructions when faced with imminent danger. Stay calm. Breathe deeply. Consider all options. The only option she could think of at the moment was to run, but considering the obstacles, that was impossible. "I'm meeting some friends at the corner," she said.

The man laughed. "You hear that,
Paulie
? She's meeting some friends at the corner. You see anyone at the corner?"

The man he had addressed as
Paulie
glanced over his shoulder and laughed. "I see shit, man."

They stopped walking, blocking her path. A cold fear lodged in Kelly's throat. "Look," she said as calmly as she could manage. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but I wouldn't try anything if I were you.

I know karate."

At that remark, both men laughed. "Did you hear that,
Paulie
? The girl knows karate."

Paulie
scratched his crotch. "I heard."

"Show her what you know,
Paulie
."

Obviously glad to have been asked,
Paulie
executed a series of quick hands-and-knees movements Kelly immediately recognized as wing
chun
kung-fu with some Thai kick boxing thrown into it.

It was clear she was no match for him and would have to think of some other way to escape. Her thoughts never went farther as Gold Tooth, still laughing, wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her off the ground and carrying her inside the dark, dank doorway.

Kelly screamed and pounded his head with her fists, but he didn't appear to feel the blows. If anything, her efforts seemed to excite him more.

"You keep this up, and I'm
gonna
be too hot for foreplay." He pinned her against the wall, crushing his body against hers. "You like foreplay, don't you, baby?" He ran the back of his finger down her throat.

Probably both, but if she enticed them with the money first, they might forget about raping her long enough for her to escape.

"Look," she said, praying the lure of cold hard cash would win. "I have money.
Two hundred dollars.
You can have it. Just let me go."

Gold Tooth laughed. "Oh, we'll get the money. But first, me and my bud, we want a little action. Know what I mean?"

Her only answer was to duck under his arm. She was immediately slammed back against the wall. "My, my, you're a slippery one,
ain't
you?"

Behind him,
Paulie
chuckled. "I like '
em
slippery."

Seemingly unconcerned about her lack of response, Gold Tooth started rubbing Kelly's thigh. His hand was rough as sandpaper and sweaty, his breath foul as he breathed heavily into her face. "You feel good, doll.

Real good."

She had to get out of here. She had to put this brute out of commission and take her chances with
Paulie
. Not an easy task considering their size and strength.

There was one method of self-defense, however, that didn't require a lot of power, just accuracy.
After she was nearly abducted three years ago.
 
Dr. Ho had made her practice that technique over
an
dover
until she could do it in her sleep. She had never put it to use but knew it worked. At the moment, it was her only chance. But first she had to stop struggling and pretend she was enjoying what her aggressor was doing to her.

Trying hard not to gag, Kelly began moving her own body in a slow, suggestive way that brought out a moan from the man's throat.

"Give me a little more room and I'll do more."

Thank God he was too stupid to realize she was setting him up. His lower body still glued to hers, he pulled his torso back an inch or two, then took her hand and pressed it to his crotch. "Yeah, baby. Do it."

Behind him,
Paulie
was getting excited as well. "Hey, I want some fun, too."

His friend gave him a vicious swat. "Wait your turn, man."

That was all the distraction Kelly needed. In one fast motion, she yanked her arm out, put the heel of her hand under the man's chin and pushed up with all the force she could manage within the confined space.

It was enough. The man's head snapped back and he let out a long, agonizing growl. The fact that he couldn't scream told her she had achieved her objective. She had broken his jaw. A harder push would have broken his nose as well.

He fell to his knees, the lower part of his face cupped between his hands. Blood seeped through his fingers and his eyes were closed as he rocked back and forth in obvious pain. It was a wonder he hadn't passed out.

"You bitch." Kelly heard a click and before she could identify what it was,
Paulie's
powerful arm was around her, the point of a blade pressed against her carotid artery. "You're
gonna
pay for hurting my friend."

Kelly held her breath. One wrong move on her part, and the blade would sink in.

"Let her go!" a male voice shouted.

The command took
Paulie
by surprise. Instinctively, he let go of Kelly and whipped around, his expression mean, his voice low and threatening.

In the darkness, the other man was only a shadow. "Beat it, asshole, if

you
know what's good for--"

The rest of his sentence caught in his throat. In a split second, Kelly's rescuer, who seemed to have come from nowhere, landed a hard punch to the man's jaw.

The knife flew out of
Paulie's
hand, but almost immediately his leg shot out in a roundhouse kick. The other man quickly blocked it with his elbow before delivering a heel-kick to the groin. A grunt that sounded like rolling thunder rose from
Paulie's
throat. His head low, he charged and went down, taking the other man with him.

Fearing his advantage over the stranger, Kelly ran toward the wrestling bodies and gave
Paulie
a hard kick to the ribs, jumping back before he could grab her leg. It was enough to give the newcomer the break he needed. With the agility of a cat, he bolted up and yanked his opponent to his feet. He finished him off with a right hook that would have made Mohammed All proud.

Kelly heard the sickening crack of bones breaking. Before
Paulie
could decide whether or not he was up for another round, his friend was back on his feet. Still unable to speak, he slapped
Paulie
on the arm and thumbed him out.

In an instant they were gone. "Thank you." As she spoke, Kelly bent to retrieve her purse from the ground and was relieved to see it hadn't been trampled on during the tussle. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come along."

Holding a handkerchief, the man looked around, found the switchblade and went to pick it up. "You should know better than to venture into such a neighborhood all alone."

Kelly took a step back. The
man
who had just saved her from being raped, and possibly killed, was none other than Nick
Mcbride
. Like a punctured balloon, her gratitude quickly deflated. "What are you doing here?"

Nick brushed the dust from the sleeve of this tan sports jacket. "A simple thank-you will do."

"Thank you? You think I'm stupid? You probably staged this little ambush."

He looked amused, which infuriated her even more. "Now why would I do that?"

"God only knows. I've stopped trying to figure you out."

"You're upset because I scooped you."

"You didn't scoop me," she snapped, her face suddenly hot. "You wouldn't know how. And I wouldn't be bragging if I were you. What you did was low and deceitful."

"You've got it all wrong, Kelly."

"Do I? You pretended not to be interested in Jonathan's disappearance, then you sneaked behind my back, came down to
Miami
and made sure you were one step ahead of me the entire time. What would you call that?"

"Lucky--for you that is. Just think where you'd be right now if I hadn't shown up." He took out his cell phone from his breast pocket and punched in a number.

"Don't try to make yourself into a hero,
Mcbride
. I can take care of myself."

"Your gratitude is touching. Maybe I should have left you in the hands of those two thugs. The experience would have taught you a little humility." His voice rose. "Detective Quinn, please," he said into the phone. "Tell him it's Detective
Mcbride
. And it's urgent."

Within seconds, he was speaking again.
"Hi, Carl.
No, nothing helpful.

She told me the same thing she told you, but I didn't call about
Magdalena
. I need to report an aggravated assault. Kelly
Robolo
. No, she's all right." He winked at Kelly. "I got here just in time." There was a slight pause.
"Two of them.
Caucasian, late twenties.
Big, six-three to six-four, about two hundred and forty pounds each, tattoos on both arms. One wears a ponytail. He's the one with the broken jaw."

He laughed. "No, Kelly did. I'm only responsible for a broken nose on the other guy, who by the way has a shaved head and wears a red bandanna."

As he talked.
Nick walked out of the doorway and into the alley. Kelly followed him. Though she hated to appear interested, she didn't want to miss one single morsel of the conversation.

"The incident took place outside Salamander," Nick continued. "It's a strip club at night and a tavern ... You know it? Good. Check with the owner. He may know the
perps
. They were playing the pinball machine when I was there. Oh, and one of them dropped his switchblade. Yes, I have it." He looked at Kelly. "Can you add anything to the description I just gave?"

The thought of learning up with him brought Kelly's irritation to a new level, but she didn't let it show. She had as much stake in wanting those two men apprehended as he did, especially if they had anything to do with Jonathan's disappearance. "The one with the ponytail had a gold front tooth and an earring in the shape of a skull. The other was named
Paulie
."

"Did you get that, Carl?" Nick said into the phone. He nodded. "Sure.

Give us about twenty minutes or so."

He hung up and slid the phone back in his pocket. "He wants us to stop by the station to look at some mug shots."

She had figured that much. "I'll miss my plane."

"I'll make sure it waits for you." He took her hand and started walking rapidly toward the main thoroughfare, forcing her to run to keep up with him. "Hurry up. My cab is waiting."

His cab was waiting? He had to be kidding.

At the curb.
Nick put two fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. To her astonishment, a cab pulled out from across the street, made a fast U-turn and came to a screeching stop in front of them. Nick opened the back door and motioned Kelly in.

After what had just happened in that back alley, she would have been stupid to turn down the ride, but no way was she going to cozy up in the back with him. Instead, she opened the front door on the passenger side and sat down, grateful for the blast of cold air coming from the air conditioner.

The driver turned to Nick. "To the airport, Amigo?" he asked.

"The police station first, Luis.
On
Second Street
."
He closed the door.
 
"Then the airport." He leaned forward, his head almost touching Kelly's, and handed her the sunglasses she thought she had lost in the shuffle.
 
"Here. You dropped these earlier."

"Thank you," she said curtly.

As the cab wound its way through traffic.
Nick, apparently in a talkative mood, told Kelly about his first trip to Florida when he was ten--a father-and son fishing expedition that had begun in Fort Lauderdale and ended up in Key West, where Nick had caught a five-foot swordfish. Nick's relationship with his father must have been very special, just like hers had been with her own dad. It was a funny, if one sided conversation. From time to time the cabdriver glanced at her, as if waiting for Kelly to answer, or to make a comment. She remained silent during the entire trip to the police station.

Thirteen.