‘And that’s also when you take the photos,’ Evan said, glancing over at Angel, who was trying to look non-judgemental but wasn’t making a very good job of it.
Destiny nodded. A pink flush had spread across her cheeks and her eyes were moist. The atmosphere of disgust that hung in the air was palpable. Nobody was acknowledging the fact that she was now putting herself at risk by helping them—more so than anyone else. Evan felt sorry for her. He caught the eye of one of Angel’s men and held it until the guy looked away.
‘That’s how it normally works,’ Evan said, a little too brightly, ‘but this time Destiny will have a packet of inert powder to switch. I act as if I’m doped and as soon as I’ve signed the credit card slip Destiny calls Angel, who’s waiting outside.’
‘The guys will be inside,’ Angel said and nodded at his men, who still had the deadpan don't-mess-with-us, we're-the-professionals-here look on their faces, ‘in case anything kicks off. But there will still be a time frame when Evan and Destiny are on their own. We can’t follow them upstairs to the private rooms. That means no heroics, okay’—he looked directly at Evan as he said it—‘you get out at the first sign of any trouble. These people are dangerous and they’ve got a lot to lose.’ He got up and went to open the door to let some fresh air in, leaned on the doorjamb looking out at the parking lot.
They talked a few other things through until everyone was happy with their part of the plan. Forrest gave Evan a corporate credit card with a credit limit he assured them would be more than sufficient for anything the club tried to charge to it. He also gave him a big wad of cash to flash around.
Angel came off the doorjamb, took an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Evan.
‘More money? It must be my birthday.’
‘Sorry to disappoint. It’s just some mug shots of Tony D’Amato, the guy who owns the club, and his sidekick, Seppe. I can’t remember his last name. Just so you know who’s who in case they’re in there. Destiny probably knows them already.’
Evan pulled the photos out. A roly-poly face with dark, greasy hair stared back at him. The piggy little eyes were set too far back under his sloping brow and seemed to follow Evan’s eyes when he placed the photograph under the one of the sidekick. Seppe looked like garden-variety, wop muscle. He probably wore wife beater shirts and far too much cheap aftershave. Evan put D’Amato’s mug shot back on top.
‘Ugly bastard, isn’t he?’ Angel said.
‘At least I won’t have a problem remembering the face.’
‘Or the body. He’s three hundred pounds of pure viciousness. He plays the jolly fat guy most of the time, but he’s an evil son of a bitch underneath. He’s unpredictable. And he’s not stupid. You need to be very careful if you come across him.’
Evan handed the photos to Destiny. She nodded in recognition, passed them quickly to Forrest. He recognized them all too well. He wasn’t sure what he felt as he looked at the man who was more than likely responsible for his father’s death and, as a result, his current predicament.
‘I think that’s about it,’ Angel said taking the photos back. He looked at his watch and walked back over to the open door and looked out. ‘So, where’s Gina? She should have been here by now.’
Destiny tried ringing her cell phone. ‘It’s ringing out. I’ll try again later.’
‘What do you think, Evan?’ Angel said. His tone of voice said now would be a good time to tell me whatever it is you’re not telling.
Evan was thinking lots of things, none of them pleasant. He still had the note he’d found on Gina’s kitchen table in his pocket. Had he made the right call by not showing her? She’d had a rough time of it lately, but last night she’d managed to relax and they’d had a fun time. He hadn’t wanted to spoil it, wanted to protect her, save her from any unnecessary worry. But it was looking like the worry wouldn’t have been unnecessary after all—and she’d have been more on her guard.
‘I think her classes probably overran.’
Evan’s phone suddenly gave a quick double beep as a message came through.
‘That’s probably her now.’
He got his phone out, read the display, his jaw tightening before he could control it. Luckily nobody noticed.
‘It’s not her,’ he said, concentrating hard to keep his voice level, ‘it’s just my brother-in-law.’
Angel nodded, ran his fingers along the stubble on his chin and over his top lip. ‘Why isn’t she answering her phone?’
Evan shrugged, his fist still clenched around his phone. ‘I don’t know. Maybe she left it at home or in the car.’
It sounded as lame to him as it did to the others. The mention of her car had shaken something loose. Had it still been parked on the street when he’d driven away? He’d been so full of the joys of spring after their night together, he hadn’t been paying much attention to anything. A pack of hyenas might have been eating a dead giraffe on the front lawn and he wouldn’t have noticed.
But there was a nasty nagging anxiety at the back of his mind—the sort you get when you can’t remember if you turned the gas range off before you went on vacation.
Angel had seen something in his face. ‘What?’ he said, instantly alert.
Evan shook his head. ‘It’s nothing.’
Angel searched his face for tell-tale signs to the contrary. Evan met his gaze.
‘Really. It’s nothing.’
Angel slapped the envelope containing the photos into his palm a couple of times and walked outside, his men trailing after him.
Evan released the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He was going to have to go back and check. He knew the most sensible thing would have been to say something now, but he didn’t want to admit to spending the night with her if he didn’t have to. He certainly didn’t want to admit to what now definitely felt like the wrong call. If her car was still parked in the street and she still hadn’t made contact, then he’d talk to Angel about it.
He wanted to drive round there straight away, but Destiny had other ideas.
‘Come on,’ she said linking her arm through his which only made him worry about Gina more, ‘we’re going to smarten you up a bit. Let’s go spend some of Forrest’s cash. Maybe even get you a haircut.’
He wanted to say no, but he got the feeling she needed his support after the hostile atmosphere in the room. If he voiced his concerns, insisted on going to Gina’s immediately, he’d undermine her already shaky confidence, her commitment. He’d watched her as Angel warned them about D’Amato, seen her swallow nervously, her face pale under her embarrassment. He gave her an encouraging smile.
‘Let me just check my messages first,’ he said, not wanting to read Mitch’s latest text but unable to stop himself.
Where are you Evan? I want to talk to you. You can’t hide from me forever.
Chapter 45
DESTINY DROPPED HIM BACK at his hotel a couple of hours later. The trip had done her the world of good and she was in a much better frame of mind when she drove away. Unlike himself, whose mental state had taken a matching nosedive. He threw everything on the bed and jumped straight into his car and drove round to Gina’s house. He called her cell phone on the way over and it rang out again. The unease that had come on during the meeting had intensified during his shopping trip with Destiny. You should have shown her the note went around and round in his head. You made a bad call and she pays the price.
A couple of blocks from Gina’s street the traffic ground to a halt. It was complete gridlock up ahead. He slammed his palm into the wheel and hit the horn by mistake. A couple of other drivers took up the call and soon everybody was leaning into their horns like their lives depended on it. Evan grabbed the wheel with both hands and shook it in frustration. Then he wrenched it sideways, pulled in to the curb and jumped out. He started to run towards Gina’s street.
Everything’s okay. Stop overreacting.
But everything wasn’t okay. Gina’s car was parked where he now remember
ed it had been parked last night. He put his hand on the hood. It was stone cold. He ran up to her front door and pounded on it so hard he thought the cheap piece of junk might split. No answer. He placed his forehead on the door and closed his eyes.
A sound coming from the property next door made him look up. An elderly Chinese or Korean man who looked about a hundred and ten was pushing an equally ancient lawn mower up and down the sad patch of weeds outside his house. It was hard to tell which bits he’d done and which he hadn’t. His wife was sitting on the tiny porch chewing something and watching him.
‘Have you seen Gina?’ Evan called, walking over to the fence that divided the two properties.
The old man was moving away from him and seemed not to hear him. Time slowed to a crawl as Evan waited until he reached the end and turned to come back the other way. If he’d had a rock he’d have thrown it at the back of his head.
‘Have you seen Gina?’ he shouted, his hands gripping the fence.
The old man stopped and looked up at him. ‘I’m not deaf.’
Evan forced himself to relax, tried to smile. ‘Have you seen Gina?’ he said for the third time.
He thought it was a straightforward question. It seemed he was wrong. The old man cocked his head like he didn’t understand the question and took a well-used handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his crinkly brow. The old woman was leaning forward watching him intently, all chewing suspended for the moment.
‘No,’ he said and went back to pushing the mower. The old woman leaned back in her chair, satisfied the unauthorized break was over before it started.
‘When was the last time you saw her?’ Evan shouted again.
‘I told you I’m not deaf,’ the old man said, glancing quickly at his wife, before fixing Evan with an indignant glare.
‘Have you seen her today?’ Evan asked in a calm, quieter voice that sounded as if it was coming from somebody else, somebody whose gut wasn’t twisted and rock hard.
‘No,’ the old man said, giving Evan a big, toothless grin. ‘But I saw you coming out.’
He wagged his finger and cackled, a peculiar high-pitched sound, his scrawny old body rocking back and forth. His wife stood up quickly like she’d been waiting for something like this to happen, spat a stream of tobacco juice into the dirt and barked at him. He looked at her and the cackle turned into a coughing fit as he pushed the mower forward again.
Evan knew by now he wasn’t going to get anything useful out of the old couple. He walked back towards his car with the certain knowledge that something bad had happened to Gina. And that he had facilitated whatever it was. If he’d shown her the note, she’d have been more careful. She might not have left the house at all, or at least insisted he stay with her.
He knew it wasn’t true. He hadn’t spent much time with her, but he knew she had more balls than most guys—particularly Jesse. She wouldn’t let them intimidate her. She’d have laughed in his face if he’d suggested it. But it didn’t make him feel any better.
He dialed Angel’s number as he walked.
‘Good shopping trip?’ Angel asked. ‘If she’s managed to make you look rich and sophisticated, I want to know where you went.’
Evan didn’t have time for the banter. ‘I think Gina’s been abducted. Her car’s still here, she’s not at home and she’s not answering her phone. I think she was taken some time this morning.’
There was a pause as Angel digested the information and jumped to some conclusions. The right conclusions probably.
‘How come you can be so sure about the time frame?’
The exact question Evan was hoping he wouldn’t ask.
‘Because I saw her last night—’
‘And this morning?’
The question hung in the air, not quite an accusation, but almost. Evan wasn’t sure if it was asked from the point of view of a police officer or a red-blooded male. Both most likely. Evan suddenly realized that the honest answer was that he hadn’t seen her that morning but he knew that would be disingenuous. What the hell, Angel was a big boy now.
‘I spent the night but I was still asleep when she left this morning.’
There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds. Evan bit his tongue, determined not to add anything to his statement—he didn’t need to explain himself.
‘You didn’t think to mention this earlier?’
Evan heard the thump of his heels as they came off the edge of his desk. The guy seemed to spend his whole life with his feet on the desk.
‘I knew there was something you weren’t saying. Really. It’s nothing,’ he said in a parody of Evan at their meeting. ‘I hope to God I never come across something.’
Evan wished he could argue that he hadn’t made the wrong call, but he knew he had. And it wouldn’t be him who’d pay the price.
‘I didn’t know for sure until I went around there a minute ago.’
‘I could have sent a car—’
‘You could have done that anyway when she didn’t answer her phone.’
‘—would have given us a three-hour head start.’
They both fell silent. Evan heard his own breathing strangely amplified in the quiet between them. It wasn’t the time to bellyache about whose fault it was and they both knew it. There’d be plenty of time for recriminations later if they didn’t get to her in time.
‘I’ll get on it,’ Angel said.
The line went dead.
Evan stuffed his phone back in his pocket and felt the note he’d found on Gina’s table. He hadn’t even mentioned it to Angel. That pleasure was still to come.
Chapter 46
‘YOU ARE ONE POPULAR young lady,’ D’Amato said, looking at Gina’s phone. ‘Three missed calls from Evan, two from Destiny and two from Angel.’ He looked up from the phone, his face scrunched into a look of mock concentration.
‘I wonder who that might be. What do you think, Seppe?’
‘Well I don’t think it’s the Angel of Mercy or the Angel of Death,’ Seppe said, ‘so that just leaves our very own Detective Angel Garcia of the Louisville PD.’
D’Amato raised his eyebrows and looked at Gina.
‘So? Is he right?’
Gina ignored him. They’d driven her to this disused old warehouse, taken her phone and locked her in the men’s restroom for a couple of hours. Even though the stink of stale urine was long since gone the place was still disgusting. The yellow-stained urinals were cracked and the seats had been ripped off all the toilet bowls. Not that she’d have sat on one of those anyway. The floor was covered in dust and rat droppings, not to mention a number of unidentifiable stains that she didn’t want to think about. She spent the time standing up and inspecting herself in the faded mirror over the wash basins. She had a bruise on both cheeks where the guy had slapped her and another on her butt where he’d kicked her. As he’d said, no one would be paying good money to see her dance for a while. She’d managed to turn one of the rusted up old faucets hoping to cool the throb in her cheeks, but had been rewarded with nothing more than a trickle of dirty brown water.
They’d come for her after a couple of hours. One of them pushed her roughly along a deserted corridor. From the look on his face and the awkward way he was walking she guessed he was the one she’d kicked in the balls. They’d taken her into what must have been a manager’s office with a window overlooking the now empty warehouse. A big, flabby, greasy looking guy who she thought owned the club was sitting with his fat butt perched on a desk. There was another, younger guy who she’d seen around the club. Along with the two guys who’d dragged her into the back of the van, that made four of them. That would have been bad enough.
Then somebody else walked into the room from behind her. She knew without turning around, just from the smell of cheap perfume and the sound of the strange way she walked in heels, that Samantha, queen bitch and first lady of orange peel skin, had joined the party.
They’d spent the next five minutes playing some stupid gam
e meant to frighten her. The fat one, who was called Tony, told her to take her jeans and panties off. She stared back at him and gave him the finger. He smiled pleasantly like he’d have been disappointed if he’d got any other response from her. He looked at Samantha and nodded his head at Gina. One of the goons came up behind her and held her arms and Samantha had walked over and slapped her. Exact same spot as before, it hurt like hell. Gina sucked in her cheeks to get a decent amount of spittle together and spat in Samantha’s face, hitting her right in the eye. She was surprised it didn’t hiss and sizzle and turn to steam, the way Samantha’s eyes were blazing.
Samantha wiped her eye and drew back her arm to slap her again but D’Amato stopped her with a single word. Gina would have liked the word to be stop or enough. Unfortunately, it was later. Samantha un-buttoned Gina’s jeans and pulled them down to her ankles, pulling her panties with them. There was no way she was going to let Gina get a leg free to kick her.
Gina stood and tried to let it all wash over her. She heard the guy holding her arms breathing heavily behind her, smelled the testosterone coming off him. His nails dug uncomfortably into her flesh. She didn’t care about them all staring at her naked from the waist down—she did it every night for Christ’s sake—but she felt stupid with her jeans and panties around her ankles like a little girl whose mother is helping her have a wee-wee at the side of the road.
‘Seppe, get the lady a chair,’ D’Amato said.
Gina watched as the guy she recognized from the club went and got a wooden chair. He carried it over to her and turned it upside down on the floor so the legs were pointing at the ceiling. He lifted his foot to stamp out the seat.
‘No, no, no,’ D’Amato called out. ‘Other way up.’
He shifted his bulk off the edge of the desk and walked over and grabbed one of the chair legs. ‘We don’t want her to get splinters in that lovely little butt,’ he said, pinching it gently as if he was testing the fruit in Walmart.
The Evan Buckley Thrillers: Books 1 - 4 (Evan Buckley Thrillers Boxsets) Page 41