Crossing Danger: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (23 page)

“Where did they go?”

“You mean Beauchaine and Harris?” At my nod, he continued. “I don’t know. Why?”

“There was just something I needed to tell Harris...but that’s okay...I’ll call his cell phone.”

I hurried back to Dimples’ desk and punched in his number, relief pouring over me to hear him answer. “Hey, it’s Shelby. Where did you go so fast?”

“Oh...listen, we’re going over to Blake’s office with the thumb-drive. I’ll call you back.” He disconnected, leaving me with my mouth hanging open. What was going on? That wasn’t like him to just leave me without an explanation.

Disgruntled, I glanced back to where I’d left Bates, but he was gone. I looked through the papers on Dimples’ desk and found the files gone too. Bates must have taken them to the archives for the missing pages.

Drained by the whole thing, I decided I’d had enough of all this. Besides, it was time for my kids to get home, and I wanted to be there for a change. On the way to my car, I pushed the button on my cell for Uncle Joey. I should have forgotten about Blake and called Uncle Joey in the first place.

“Shelby? Did you forget something?”

“No, but I’m just leaving the police station...and I wanted you to know that I just met with Blake. He was here at the precinct as a special agent for the FBI. He’s looking into a police detective’s death, but his real investigation is with the attorney general’s office.”

Uncle Joey exhaled. “Now it makes sense.”

“There’s more.” I opened my car door and sat down in the driver’s seat. “I saw the assassin’s face. Do you know what that means?”

“Uh...no.”

“Blake doesn’t know that I saw the assassin’s face, but he was thinking that anyone who’s seen his face is dead. That means the assassin is probably planning to kill me too.”

“Ah...Shelby...that’s too bad. I had no idea. But I’m glad we know. Listen...Ramos has a plan, and I wasn’t going to ask you, but it might go better if you help. Will you come?”

I let out my breath. “Sure. Where?”

***

For the second time today, I pulled into the garage at Thrasher Development. This time Ramos was waiting for me, and the cold chill around my heart melted a little. I trusted Ramos. He’d saved me more times than I liked to remember, and if anyone could protect me, it was him.

Of course, now I had to participate in something dangerous and, from his thoughts, I could tell he wasn’t real happy with me. “Did Uncle Joey tell you the assassin would be after me too?”

Ramos punched the elevator button and frowned. “Yes. But...this plan would have worked just fine without you.”

“Well...if you’re right, then I’ll go home.”

“No...you can’t do that now.” The elevator doors opened, and we stepped inside. “We left the bug on the flowers, so we should have him right where we want him. But something could always go wrong. That’s where you’ll come in. If he’s there, you’ll hear him, and you can tell me what he’s planning.”

“Okay. So where are we going?”

“We’ve talked about a scheduled meeting across town at The Depot this afternoon that Manetto can’t miss. We’ve discussed our plan that we’ll make it look like he’s going, but he’ll stay here in the apartment where it’s safe, and I’ll go in his place. Then we’ll watch for the assassin to follow...and trap him.”

“So what’s the real plan?” I asked.

“The real plan is that he’ll go to the meeting...and I’ll stay here.”

“What if the assassin doesn’t take the bait?”

Ramos shrugged. “If I were him, I’d see this as an opportunity to get Manetto while he’s only got one guard instead of five. It might be the best chance he’ll get. But if he doesn’t take it, we’ll have to think of something else.”

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped into the hallway. “Wait...so what am I doing?”

“Manetto wants you to go with him, in case the guy figures it out and goes to the meeting. You can warn Manetto, and the men I’m sending to protect him, if the assassin’s there before anything happens.”

That sounded kind of scary, and my stomach clenched. “Okay.”

Ramos stopped and grabbed my upper arms, turning me to face him. “No...it’s not okay...I don’t like it, and you don’t have to do it. Just tell Manetto you’ve changed your mind. He’ll understand.”

“Um...thanks Ramos, but let me think about it, okay?”

He took a deep breath, then dropped his hands. “Sure.” He was thinking he could agree because he felt confident that the assassin would come here instead of following us.

That calmed my nerves a little bit, but I knew it was still a risk. “Does he know where the meeting is?” I asked.

“No...only that it’s across town...we’ve been careful not to mention that.”

“Where are the flowers?”

“On Jackie’s desk. We haven’t moved them, but we did find the bug,” Ramos answered.

“Okay...I’ll be careful what I say.”

“No...you’re not saying anything around those flowers. I don’t want the assassin to know you’re involved in any way.”

I nodded and, after taking a deep breath, followed Ramos inside. I spotted the flowers right off the bat and turned down the hallway to Uncle Joey’s office, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Ramos went the opposite direction to the surveillance room. At the front desk, the two goons from before nodded at me and kept their vigil.

As soon as the door to Uncle Joey’s office closed behind me, I flopped onto the couch and exhaled.

“You okay?” Uncle Joey asked.

“Yeah...just resting for a minute,” I lied, still unsure of what to do.

“Well, don’t get too comfortable. We’re leaving in a few minutes.” He was thinking this plan had better work. Having an assassin after him was starting to get on his nerves. He’d sent Jackie to Seattle so she’d be under Kate’s protection. He was grateful no one knew about Miguel, or he’d be worrying about him too. This needed to end. Today.

“I appreciate you coming, Shelby.”

“Oh, sure,” I said.

He smiled, hearing the hesitation in my voice, and pulled a sports coat over his bulky vest.

“Is that Kevlar?” I asked.

“Yes. Ramos insisted, although if this assassin is as good as we’ve heard, he’ll go for the head shot, and it won’t do me any good.”

“Well...that’s comforting.”

He chuckled, relieving some of the tension in the room. “Don’t worry...it’s not going to happen.”

“I certainly hope not,” I said. A sudden desire to have one of those vests around my chest washed over me, but if Uncle Joey was right about the head shots, I probably didn’t need it.

Just thinking about needing a bullet-proof vest made me realize how crazy my life was, especially that I was even thinking about doing something like this. What was wrong with me?

Ramos poked his head in. “It’s time. You ready?” He was thinking all the men were in place and, with nothing out of the ordinary so far, everything was going according to plan.

Uncle Joey nodded, and I stood. The time to decide if I was going through with this quickly slipped through my fingers. If I didn’t say anything now, it would be too late. Uncle Joey walked out the door, and the words got stuck in my throat. For some strange reason, I couldn’t let him down. Straightening my spine, I followed him to Jackie’s desk where he stopped to make his speech.

“I guess this is it,” he drawled. “That white hair should convince him, but I’d keep my face down if I were you.”

“Got it,” Ramos said. “I’ll call you with updates.”

That was it. Ramos nodded at me and watched as we left the office and got on the elevator. Both bodyguards came with us, leaving Ramos on his own. My gaze caught his as the doors slid shut, and I heard his thoughts of ‘be careful’ which mirrored my own, and I smiled.

That’s when I realized I hadn’t called my kids to tell them I’d be late getting home. I checked the time. It was after three-thirty. They were already home by now.  I explained to Uncle Joey that I needed to call them and pulled out my phone.

The elevator doors opened, and we walked the short distance to the waiting limo. The first bodyguard opened the door and I got in, hitting the button for home on my speed dial. After Uncle Joey took his spot beside me, the guard got in, with the other one sitting in front with the driver.

“Hi Josh,” I said. “I’m going to be a little late, maybe another hour or so.”

“Sure mom, see you soon.” He disconnected before I could ask him if any of his friends were there, so I figured they were. What were they up to? I shook my head. I should be there too. With a sigh, I was about to put my phone away when I heard a string of swearing coming from the driver.

What was his problem? Then I caught him thinking that if I recognized him, it was all over.

Chapter 13

Fear slammed into my stomach, and my heart raced. With all the will power I possessed, I kept my gaze down instead of looking into the rear-view mirror like I wanted. The assassin pulled his cap down over his eyes and was thinking that this could still work. I hadn’t spotted him yet. All he had to do was get us to the meeting. Once we were out of the car, he could still pop one into the back of Uncle Joey’s head.

Killing me would be a bonus, but he didn’t think he could get away with it before the bodyguards responded. Although he might be able to do it if he could get the shot off fast enough. It grated on him to leave me alive, so he figured it was worth a try.

My mouth went dry, and I swallowed, then pulled up my contact list on my cell phone and found Ramos’ number. I pushed the message icon and wrote,
“The assassin is our driver,”
and sent it. I nudged Uncle Joey with my elbow and continued to write, detailing the assassin’s plan to shoot Uncle Joey in the head once we got out of the car. I pushed send and tried to catch my breath.

Uncle Joey cursed in his mind and started thinking,
show the guard, show the guard.
I nodded to let him know I’d heard but, with the guard sitting across from us, I wasn’t sure how to accomplish that. Thinking fast, I improvised, and poked Uncle Joey with my elbow and held up my phone. “Wow...look at this picture. Isn’t that something? My son just sent it. Maybe I’d better skip this meeting and get home.”

“Holy hell,” he said, playing along.

“I know.” I glanced at the bodyguard. “You should see this.” I scooted close to Uncle Joey to make room for him, but he just shook his head, thinking there wasn’t enough room. “Come on, there’s plenty of room. Seriously, you’ve got to see this.”

He glanced at Uncle Joey who sent him a stern nod. With a resigned huff, he moved his bulky frame to the space next to me. I held the phone so he could see the message clearly, but before he could read it, a message came through from Ramos, saying,
“I’m on my way. Show the guard.”

I tapped back to the first message so he could see them all and said. “There it is, see?”

As comprehension dawned on the guard he said, “Holy hell.”

“Yeah...right,” I agreed.

This caught the attention of the guard in the front seat. “What is it?” he asked.

The assassin stiffened, thinking that if I moved forward to show the guard, I might recognize him. He slipped his gun into his left hand under his jacket just in case he had to shoot me.

“Oh...I’ll show you in a minute.” I quickly typed another message.
“The assassin has a gun in his left hand.”

Uncle Joey read it and swore in his mind. Beside me, the guard’s brows drew together, and he glanced at me like I had horns growing out of my head, wondering how in hell I knew that.

“Are we almost there?” I asked.

The driver ducked his head before he answered. “Yes, ma’am. Just a few more minutes.”

“Good. I’m starving. I missed lunch. Did you say there’d be food at this meeting?”

“No,” Uncle Joey said. “But if everything goes well, I’ll take you to dinner afterward. How does that sound?”

“Great,” I said. “I think I might have a granola bar in my purse. Is it okay if I eat it?”

Since the guard was basically sitting on my purse, he moved back to his seat and slowly removed his gun from the holster under his jacket. I breathed easier, knowing he was ready, then rummaged through my purse. I found my stun flashlight and put it in my lap. I wasn’t sure how it was going to help me, but I felt better with it handy.

Uncle Joey smiled, thinking the flashlight was pretty useless as a weapon, but if it made me feel better then what the hell? Since he’d worn the bullet-proof vest, he hadn’t brought his regular gun, but his compact pistol was strapped to his ankle. He’d just have to wait for the right moment to grab it.

Knowing they were both ready calmed my nerves, but it didn’t stop my heart from racing as we got closer to our destination. I knew Uncle Joey wasn’t planning on leaving the car, and I thought that made sense for me too.

I also remembered that Blake had asked that we take him alive, but I wasn’t so sure that was going to happen. The guard was trying to decide if he should shoot the guy as soon as we stopped, or wait for him to get out of the car.

I was beginning to think he should shoot him once we stopped, and not wait around, even though that was pretty callous of me. Before I was quite ready, the limo pulled to a stop in front of a tall brick building on the west side of town.

He put the car in park and quickly jumped out, leaving his door open. The guard in the front seat did the same. With my heart about to burst, I watched as the assassin opened the back door for Uncle Joey to get out, holding the gun out of sight by his side, ready to shoot.

The guard took that opportunity to exit first, effectively blocking the assassin’s view of Uncle Joey. In response, the assassin backed up a step into the street. At that same moment, a motorcycle barreled by. The bike clipped the assassin, sending him spinning to the ground. The gun flew out of his hand to rest under the car in front of us.

The assassin lurched to his feet and tried to make a run for it, but he didn’t get far before the guard tackled him. Ramos jumped off his bike and, with the guard, brought the assassin’s arms behind his back. Before I knew it, he was cuffed and lying on the ground.

It was over.

“I guess we can get out now,” I said.

Uncle Joey smiled, then put his gun back in his ankle holster, a little disappointed that he didn’t get to use it. He got out, and I quickly followed. Ramos hauled the assassin to his feet and roughly pushed him against the car.

“I’m a little disappointed you didn’t kill him,” Uncle Joey said to Ramos, still thinking it might be a good idea. He gave the assassin a hard frown but kept his distance. “I guess I’ll give Blake a call so he can haul him off.”

While Uncle Joey did that, I took his place. “Thanks Ramos...I was sure happy to see you drive by. I’m glad it all worked out.”

“That’s for sure,” he agreed, thinking I’d saved the day.

That brought a smile to my face. I glanced at the assassin. With blood dripping from a cut on his brow, and a bruise forming on his cheek, he seemed more dangerous than ever. Then his gaze trapped mine, and he sneered.

Pure loathing and hatred, with a little crazy thrown in, washed over me. Even with the handcuffs and Ramos holding him, a chill traveled up my spine and sent goosebumps over my arms. I swallowed but held my ground.

“Um...how did you know Uncle Joey would be in the car?” I asked.

He frowned even more defiantly and pursed his lips tightly together, but I heard the answer in his thoughts.

“Holy hell.” I’d been hearing that a lot today, so it came out of my mouth pretty easily. I glanced at Ramos. “He planted a bug in the elevator...and in the plants by the entrance to Thrasher. He heard everything you told me.”

The assassin’s eyes widened in shock, and it gave me quite the rush. I narrowed my eyes as evilly as I could to keep him off balance and continued my questioning. “What happened to the limo driver?”

The news wasn’t good. “You killed him?” I shook my head and turned to Ramos. “He’s in the trunk.”

Seeing all the gory details in his mind was about as much as I could take, and I turned away in disgust. My legs shook a little from the ordeal, but I wasn’t about to get back in the limo, knowing there was a dead body so close in the trunk.

Just then, a car pulled up beside us, and I let out a relieved sigh to see Blake and another agent. He jumped out and greeted Uncle Joey. Then he spoke to Ramos, who told him what happened and also mentioned the dead body in the trunk. Blake couldn’t have been more satisfied with events.

A police car arrived and cordoned off the area under Blake’s supervision. After several questions, Blake’s partner pushed the assassin into the back of their car, and I breathed easier with him out of the way. While his partner opened the trunk of the limo, Blake made the rounds, asking the guards, then Uncle Joey and Ramos, several routine questions.

He finally came to me with the same questions but, at the end, surprised me with one I hadn’t expected. “I’m curious. How did you know about the body in the trunk? I’m sure the assassin didn’t tell you.” He was thinking that even though Ramos had told him about it, he was pretty sure it was because of me that Ramos knew.

I shrugged, trying to make light of it. “My premonitions, I guess...or you could call it a hunch if you prefer.”

“Anything else you’d care to add?” he asked.

“Uh...no...that’s all I’ve got.”

Blake was thinking it might be to his advantage to have me help with the assassin’s interrogation. He was sure the guy wouldn’t talk, but maybe I could pick up something that would make his talking unnecessary.

I tried to quell the instant panic that brought, and I sent him a tremulous smile. “That guy’s one scary dude. I’m sure glad I don’t have to talk to him again. Are we done here? I really need to get home.”

Blake studied me with narrowed eyes. “Yes...for now. I got the thumb-drive from Harris. Maybe we can talk after I have a chance to look at it.”

“Sure. I’d be happy to.”

“Good. I’ll be in touch.”

I exhaled as he turned away from me and leaned back against the car, shoving my hair away from my face.

“Babe,” Ramos said, coming to my side. “You did great. Did Blake say something to upset you?”

“Oh...a little, but I handled it.” I smiled at him, not about to tell him about the interrogation part, or the fact that I was helping Blake with the investigation into the attorney general’s office. Who knew what he might do?

His right brow arched. He thought I was hiding something but let it go. “I’m going back to the office for Manetto’s car. Do you want to wait for me to get back, or would you like to go with me on the bike?”

My heart surged with happiness. “Holy hell, yes!”

Ramos chuckled. “Okay then. Let’s go.”

I’d probably overdone it with the holy hell part, but I was so relieved that it just slipped out. Maybe it was starting to become a habit? That wasn’t good, but now that I knew, I could stop...only I kind of liked saying it. What was up with that?

I grabbed my purse from the limo, making sure my stun flashlight and phone were inside, and hurried to the bike, slinging my purse over my shoulder.

Ramos unclipped my helmet from the back of his bike and handed it to me. “I brought it just in case,” he said with a wink.

My heart melted a little, and I put the helmet on to hide my blushing cheeks. He got on the bike and started her up, then I got on behind him. As I settled onto the seat and put my arms around Ramos, I figured that if being targeted by an assassin had a silver lining, this was it.

The ride back to Thrasher took a little longer than it should have, mostly because Ramos left the freeway behind and took the side streets instead. He did it for my benefit, and I appreciated the time to unwind and enjoy myself. Plus, it didn’t hurt to have an excuse to put my arms around him.

By the time we pulled into the parking garage, I was back to my old self and feeling good. I dismounted and pulled the helmet off my head. “Thanks Ramos.” I handed it to him. “That was awesome.”

He took it from me with a smile, popping open the trunk to his car, and setting both helmets inside. “I guess I’d better get back, but I’ll walk you to your car.”

I nodded, and we walked slowly to my car. “I’m glad that went okay. You were right that something could go wrong. Who would have thought he’d plant all those bugs?”

“Yeah...it was a good thing you were there.” We stopped at my car, and our gazes met. His desire to hold me in his arms washed over me. My knees went weak, and my breath caught, but he held back at the last minute. A slow smile spread across his lips. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I could only nod and watch him walk away. With a deep sigh, I turned around and got in my car. I didn’t remember driving home so, when I pulled into my garage, I was grateful I hadn’t run any red lights or caused an accident.

The kitchen surrounded me with warmth. Being home, safe and sound, filled me with gratitude. It was nice not to worry about an assassin coming after me. Even if I’d only known about him for a few hours, it still took a toll.

Laughter bubbled up from the basement, and I smiled. Josh and Savannah were actually having a good time together. Would wonders never cease? Then I realized how crazy that sounded and listened more closely. Nope...that wasn’t Savannah down there.

“Hey!” I yelled. “I’m home!”

The laughter immediately stopped, and Josh called, “Oh...hey mom. Uh...Chloe’s here. We’re just watching some TV.”

“Where’s Savannah?” I asked.

“She’s at Ashley’s house.”

I heard some whispering, but I knew it was Chloe telling Josh they ought to go upstairs and talk to me for a minute. I thought that was a good idea, so I took my jacket off and hung it in the closet while they headed up the stairs.

“Hey Chloe. How are you doing?” I asked. “Did you go back to school today?”