Quita tried the handle, but it was locked. Knocking on the door, she called out, "Chloe, let me in."
Zach heard the chain on the door being moved and the locks turning. The door opened to a small room with two beds. A tiny young woman with pitch black hair and pale skin stood in the doorway.
"Where've you been?" she asked, her voice a tinkling sound that reminded Zach of fairies.
"Out. Ran into some trouble last night."
"Oh my gosh! Quita, what the hell happened?" Chloe asked.
"The less you know, the better," Quita said, crossing the room to what Zach assumed was her bed. She pulled out a duffel bag from underneath the bed, and Zach saw that it was full. She hadn’t even unpacked. She drew out what looked like a pocketknife from the duffel.
"Where are you going?" Chloe asked. "And who's this?"
"Zach, Chloe. Chloe, Zach." Quita pulled the bed away from the wall and shimmied behind it.
"Nice to meet you, Chloe," he said, but his attention was riveted on Quita. She sat down on the floor between the bed and the wall. He drew closer to her, peering over her shoulder as she used the knife to make a small incision in the wallpaper.
Carefully, with steady hands like a surgeon's, Quita sliced at the seam and peeled back the paper, revealing a small hole in the wall. Using the knife, she flicked at something in the hole, and the drive plopped out, landing in her lap. She replaced the wallpaper and stood, holding the drive out to him for inspection.
It looked the same. He pocketed it, then looked back at the paper. He would never have found the hiding spot. The paper blended in so well that it would have been almost impossible to see the seam that Quita had created.
"You're brilliant," he said with a grin.
Her smile back at him was radiant. "Thanks." Her cheeks were pink, and Zach realized that he'd embarrassed her with the compliment.
Huh, the woman had bared it all on stage without so much as a blush, but give her a genuine compliment, and she lit up like a bonfire. Good to know.
"Let's go," he said, glancing at his watch and tucking that bit of information away for later.
"Wait. Where are you going?" Chloe asked. "Will I ever see you again?"
Quita gave Chloe a quick hug and whispered something in her ear. She pulled back and smiled. "Look if you ever need anything, just call Castle Investigations in D.C. They'll know how to find me."
Chloe nodded, and Quita turned to him.
"I'm ready," she said.
He opened the door to find Buck Teeth and Mr. Mafia blocking their way out. Zach cursed under his breath.
Buck Teeth lunged for him, grabbing Zach's shirt with his hands, one of which was wrapped up in a bandage from hitting the brick wall the night before. He shoved Zach up against the wall so hard that a picture on the dresser next to it fell over and shattered on the floor.
Zach heard Quita yelp in pain and peered over Buck Teeth's shoulder to find Mr. Mafia's arm around her throat, her body pulled tightly up against his own.
"Knew you'd come back here," Buck Teeth said, his face millimeters away from Zach's. Spittle flew out and hit Zach on the cheek. The man needed a toothbrush. His breath was putrid, and Zach was surprised not to see a green fog curling up from his mouth.
"You're a genius, then, aren't you?" Zach said. Buck Teeth looked a little startled at his reply, as if trying to determine whether Zach were being serious or not.
Brainy, he was not. It was just the moment of distraction Zach needed. Zach threw his head forward, using his forehead to hit the man right between the eyes. Buck Teeth yelled out and let go of Zach. Zach gave a quick punch to the man's kidneys, and Buck Teeth crumbled to the ground. Zach followed with a swift kick to the ribs and a final blow to the head, and Buck Teeth went quiet.
Mr. Mafia suddenly pulled a gun from his pocket, aiming it at Quita's head, and Zach stopped, his hands raised in surrender. The man motioned with the gun for Zach to back up. Quita whimpered at the hold the man had on her neck. He could see that she was struggling to breathe.
"Give me the drive," Mr. Mafia said. "Or I'll blow her brains out."
Zach reached for his gun from behind his back. "Not so fast," Mr. Mafia said. "You packing heat?"
Zach shrugged. "Take the gun out and put it on the floor. Nice and easy," he said. Buck Teeth was still passed out on the floor.
Zach took the gun out and dropped it on the floor.
"Now, hand over the drive."
The thought of giving this thug the drive was more than Zach could handle. They needed the information on that drive, and he had no intention of giving it over to this greased-up gangster. As if sensing his indecision, Mr. Mafia turned the gun back to Quita's head, pressing it so hard that Zach could see her skin turning white at the temple. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Damn it! Zach started to reach inside his pocket when a flash of something caught his eye. Slowly, he continued reaching inside his pocket to pull the drive out.
"No!" Quita shouted as he retrieved it and held it out.
Mr. Mafia lowered the gun from Quita's head. The sound of a bat hitting a skull ricocheted off the walls, and Mr. Mafia's eyes crossed before he landed face first on the hostel floor.
Quita yelped and swung around to find Chloe standing there, bat in hand.
She shrugged. "I don't know what's on that thing, but it seems to me that it's pretty important. Plus, I wasn't about to let him kill the nicest person I've met in the last five years since I've been on my own."
Dropping the bat, Chloe collapsed into sobs against Quita's chest. Quita held her close, patting her head. "It's ok," he heard her say. "Get your stuff. Let's go."
Chloe looked at her in confusion. "There will be more coming. I can't leave you here. We'll take you someplace safe."
Quita looked at Zach for confirmation, and he nodded. Sully was going to kill him, but it couldn't be helped.
Chloe pulled a duffel bag out from under her bed and threw a few things from the dresser inside. Then she scooped up the picture that had fallen earlier. Zach caught a glimpse of a young woman holding a little girl with a head full of inky black hair on her lap. Must be Chloe and her mom, or someone very special to her.
When she zipped her bag, Zach picked the gun up off the floor and peered out the door. Once he was sure there was no one out there, he motioned for the girls to follow him. They reached the stairs and made it down to the first landing without incident. Zach looked over the railing and found two more greased-up thugs standing guard at the front door.
Zach pointed to the two men, and Quita looked at him with a question in her eyes. He motioned back up the stairs. When they were no longer within earshot, she asked, "What are we going to do?"
"Is there a fire escape?"
Quita nodded. "Yeah, but we'll have to access it either through our room or the roof."
"The roof it is," Zach said.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he heard a shout from below as the two men started up the stairs after them. "Stop!" one of the goons cried out.
Pieces of the wall splintered next to his head, and the sound of a gunshot registered at the same time.
"Go!" he yelled, just as another shot landed in the space his head had occupied a moment before. Quita and Chloe ran up the steps, dropping the duffel bags they'd been carrying to move more quickly. Zach covered them, laying down fire at the men who were running up the stairs after them.
Two more shots were heard, and pieces of plaster exploded, sending a piece flying off to cut his cheek. He could feel the warm trickle of blood but kept going, pushing the girls to move faster.
"Go, go, go!" he shouted.
He turned, firing another round, and heard an oomph from one of the men. His bullet must have hit one of the goons, but Zach didn't stop to check. Just as he heard another shot and the ping of the bullet off the metal handrail, the girls hit the top floor and ran past their room to the door at the end of the hall.
Zach stood at the top of the
steps, covering them as they ran, returning fire at the man who was shooting from a level below them. Zach glanced over his shoulder to check their progress just as Buck Teeth stepped in front of the girls, clearly still muddled from his kick to the head. He blinked rapidly and lunged for Quita. But she was quicker, raising her knee and catching the guy in the groin.
Buck Teeth bent over at the waist, then toppled over and curled on his side in the fetal position. With a quick grin at Zach, Quita ran to the door at the end of the hallway and pulled it open. Chloe disappeared up the steps to the roof, and Quita held it open for Zach.
"Let's go!" she yelled.
Zach fired two more shots, then ran as fast as he could to the door. Quita flew up the steps just as Zach reached the door. He heard the shot, then felt fire burn through his arm. Turning, he leveled his gun at the guy and fired. His aim was true, and the bullet hit the man right between the eyes.
His face registered shock, and then he fell, his body hitting the floor with a solid thud.
Zach pulled the door closed and ran after the girls, the pain in his arm a dull ache as adrenaline flowed through him. Chloe was already crawling over the edge of the building to the ladder that led to a fire escape.
Quita followed her, turning to face the building as she went to climb down the ladder. She stopped when she caught sight of Zach, her face paling.
"Zach! You're hit!" she yelled, panic evident in the tightening of her mouth and eyes.
Zach looked down at his arm and saw the blood oozing from the wound. He didn't know how many others were left, or when Buck Teeth and Mr. Mafia would rally, so he ran on without checking to see how bad it was.
"I'm fine. Go!" he yelled back.
Quita looked unsure, but when Zach continued towards her, she started her descent down the ladder. Zach reached it, climbing down behind her, and soon they were all on the ground and running towards his car.
They rounded the corner near where they'd parked, in the parking lot of an abandoned building. Just as the car came into sight, Zach saw movement from an alley nearby.
Two men stepped out of the alley, their guns drawn and aimed right at them.
"Run!" Zach yelled as the ping of bullets chased them back down the alley they'd just come down.
"Where do we go?" Quita shouted.
"Just run."
Zach pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed.
"Manny! I need help," Zach yelled, then rattled off an address. "How soon can you get there?"
Chapter 5
Who the hell was Manny? And why was Zach calling someone while they were running through the back alleys of the wrong side of town in New York City?
Quita's feet smacked the pavement as she ran like her life depended on it. And it did, so it was good that she was able to keep up the pace. Her abused feet felt like they were on fire from the barefoot running she'd attempted the night before, and her bruised ribs blinded her with excruciating pain. If she got out of this alive, she was going to sleep for a week.
Zach led the way as they made turn after turn, his phone in front of him as he navigated their direction with its GPS. Finally, he stopped, ducking down behind a dumpster. Quita and Chloe followed behind, their breathing rough and ragged from the unwelcome exercise.
"What the hell is going on?" Chloe hissed through labored breaths.
"It's a long story," Quita answered. "They'll find us if we stay here." She directed the comment to Zach.
"Not before Manny gets here," he said, his apparent confidence in some guy named Manny unwavering.
As if on cue, the squeal of tires pierced the silence of the alley. Zach peered over the dumpster and motioned for the girls to move. As Chloe exited the hiding place, a bullet hit the side of the dumpster. With a squeal, she dove back behind it. Zach pushed the girls behind him, and then shouted at the car.
"You got any firepower over there?"
"Does a fat baby fart?" a voice shouted back.
Zach laughed, although Quita didn't see the hilarity of the situation. They were being shot at, and these two idiots were joking around? Men!
"Manny, I'm going to send them to you one at a time. Can you help lay down cover?"
"Does a bear crap in the woods?"
With a grin, Zach looked at her and Chloe.
"When I say run, you run. Got it?"
They both nodded. Quita pushed Chloe to go first. Zach took a deep breath, then counted to three. He stood, firing his weapon in the direction the two men had been shooting from. An answering bark rang out from the car on the other side of the dumpster. Bullets hit both the car and the dumpster, and then Zach yelled, "Go!"
Chloe didn't hesitate. She jumped up from her hiding place and ran to the car, diving into the back seat.
Zach sank down to reload, and the alley was quiet. When the gun was loaded, he nodded at Quita. "Ready?"
"I guess."
He stood again and fired his weapon. The sound was deafening in the alley, but she could still hear his calm voice say, "Now!"
Quita ran to the car, jumping through the rear passenger side door as bullets dinged and clanged around her. She dropped to the floor next to Chloe, who was crouched there with her hands over her ears. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and Quita felt sorry for her. She hadn't signed up for this.
The alley went quiet again, and a man's face peered over the front seat. "Hello, ladies, I'm Manny. I'd say nice to meet ya, but that may have to wait."
As if in answer, a gunshot sounded, hitting the side of the car. Manny ducked, and then, with a huge grin on his face, said, "That's my cue!"
The sounds that followed were a cacophony of gunfire and flying pieces of concrete. The front passenger door opened, and Zach hurled himself inside the car.
"Go!" he shouted, and Manny fired two more rounds, then jumped in the driver's side and peeled out of the alley.
The car was quiet for several moments, during which only the sounds of their heavy breathing could be heard.
"Woo hoo!" Manny yelled, and Quita jumped at the interruption of the silence.
Zach threw his head back with laughter, patting Manny on the back. "You're a lifesaver, old man."
He must have meant it as an insult or a joke, because there was nothing old about Manny. His skin was the color of café au lait, and his accent was pure South American god. He had dark, wavy hair and caramel-colored eyes. Manny was Latin-movie-star gorgeous.
"Old? Who you calling old, gringo? You wanna tell me what you've gotten yourself into?"
"It's a long story. Can we stay with you tonight? I'll need to go back tomorrow and get my car. But for now, we need a place to stay and get cleaned up." Zach motioned to the blood on his arm, and Quita remembered that he'd been hit.
"Zach, your arm!"
Zach peered down at his arm and grabbed the sleeve of his black t-shirt, tugging hard until it ripped. He examined the wound, then met her eyes.
"It's just a scratch," he said.
Just a scratch, her ass. Blood was oozing in a steady trickle down his arm, and Zach's color did not look good. He sank back into the car seat and laid his head against the headrest. Quita was sure he'd lost a lot of blood with all the adrenaline pumping through his veins and all the running they'd done.
"Zach?"
"Just resting, baby. I’m good."
She started at the term of endearment, but placed her hand against his forehead. It was cool and clammy, not at all the skin of a man who'd been running at full speed for the past fifteen minutes.
"We need to get him to a hospital," she said, directing her attention toward the Latin god.
He gave her a movie-star smile, his teeth a brilliant white against his dark skin. "Not a chance, chica. I'll patch him up when we get to my place."
Quita looked up at the buildings passing them by. Fortunately, traffic wasn't too bad tonight, and they were able to weave in and out of the other cars with ease. Quita looked over at Zach again and found his eyes closed.
; She was glad he was resting, but fear bubbled up inside her. She'd never forgive herself if something happened to Zach.
Manny caught her worried expression. "He'll be fine. We're almost there. He's just lost a little blood. Makes you woozy. Trust me, he's had worse."
The cryptic words didn’t escape her notice, and she opened her mouth to ask him about them when they pulled into a parking garage underneath a building. Manny parked in a reserved spot and ushered them out of the car. Chloe was still silent. She hadn’t yet said a word—just wrapped her arms around herself protectively.
They'd had to leave their bags at the hostel, so neither of the women had anything with her. Quita thought back to the picture Chloe had had in her bag, and tears filled her eyes.
"I’m sorry. About dragging you into this. About the picture…"
Chloe shrugged. "It's ok. I have another one on my phone. That one was just my favorite. It had been hers."
As she spoke, tears flowed down her cheeks. Quita's heart broke. She hadn't had a chance to get to know Chloe that well. But for the few weeks she'd lived there, they'd shared a little of their pasts. Chloe's mom had died of cancer when she was a little girl, leaving her an orphan who'd been passed from foster home to foster home.
"Maybe it will still be there. In a couple of days, maybe you can go back…"
The words were hollow, though. They both knew that there would be no going back to the hostel.
Manny gave them a sympathetic smile before he walked around the car and opened Zach's door as he stumbled from it. Zach threw his good arm around Manny's big shoulders, and the four of them hobbled towards the elevator doors. Quita hadn't noticed how big Manny was. He towered over them at six foot five or six foot six. He was huge, and he looked to be bearing Zach's weight as if he weighed nothing.
Manny pointed to the door at the end of the row of cars. "There's the elevator. Hit eleven when you get in."
Quita held the doors so they wouldn't close on him as he entered, noticing that he had to duck as he got into the elevator car. She hit floor eleven and waited as they rode to Manny's place.
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 77