High Deceit

by C. E. Waterman

  Robin could move her hands up and down, but the rope binding them to her feet kept her from resting them all the way on the table. With her ankles bound to the bench support, she couldn’t move them. She wriggled her hands, working at the rope. The thick hemp wouldn’t budge.

  From Tony’s movements, it appeared he was doing the same thing. “We’ve got to get out of here,” he said. “I don’t know what Carlo will do to my family now.”

  Robin didn’t say what she was thinking. Why would he let either of them live? Especially her, since she knew who they were. It was a matter of time. Were the police looking for her? She had no idea of the time. Did they even know she was missing yet? She cleared her throat. “Won’t someone be missing you soon?”

  “My grandmother will miss me and call. I was supposed to be driving to her house.” His shoulders jerked. Yep, he was trying to get loose. “I don’t know what they’ll do about it. No one will go against Carlo even if they figured out he grabbed me.”

  A scratching grated at the door. Robin dropped her hands in her lap.

  Carlo came in. “Tony,” he moved to his side of the table, “I need your help.”

  Tony shuddered. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Carlo’s face hardened. “No, I’m not kidding.” Then his lips pulled back in a smile that sent chills along Robin’s spine. “But if you don’t feel like doing it, you don’t have to.” He pulled a long, curved knife out of a sheath on his belt and studied the tip. “Did you know I can get your brother put away for murder? All it takes is one little call and the gun planted in the right place, and little Jimmy goes away for good. Is that what you want?”

  “No.” Tony scowled at the floor. “What do you want me to do?”

  “That’s more like it. I knew you’d see it my way.” Carlo reached down and cut the rope around Tony’s feet. “If you try anything funny, I’ll kill you and send your brother to jail. Then your parents will lose two children.”

  Tony nodded. “What about Mrs. Clayton? If I help you, will you let her go?”

  Robin held her breath. What was he doing? He would get himself killed!

  Carlo glanced at her as if she were a cockroach at his dinner party. “Mrs. Clayton is not your concern. Don’t you worry. I’m sure we can find a use for her.”

  Tony pressed his lips tight, as if he wasn’t too sure, but he must have thought she was safe for the moment because he let himself be led away.

  Robin remembered what he had tried to do for her in the van—and had gotten punched for his efforts. God, please don’t let that boy get killed protecting me. What were Carlo’s exact words? Did he mean they had something for her to do, or was he humoring Tony into doing what he wanted? She lowered her face and rubbed it on her arm, to scratch the itch on her nose. What could she possibly do?

  Mark! The only use for her was Mark. They would use her as a hostage to get him out of hiding. Thank goodness, they didn’t know about the baby. They would have even more leverage then. But what was she thinking? Heat rose in her face, a shameful heat. It wouldn’t matter whether Mark knew about the baby or not, he’d come out of hiding for her. He would give his life for hers. She knew how much he loved her. How could she have doubted him? Beth knew what kind of man he was, yet Robin, his own wife, had doubted him. She clawed at the knots again. She couldn’t let that happen.

  The rope gave a little. With new vigor she tugged, pulled and clawed harder, her fingers bending backward and her nails snagging and tearing on the rough hemp. Attuned to every sound—her breath, her own heartbeat, the scratching rope—she worked, expecting someone to burst through the door any second. Her fingers had rubbed raw, their efforts seemingly futile…until the knots eased loose. She pulled them off and started on the ropes at her feet.

  43

  Tony moved his arms and rubbed his wrists. Carlo grabbed his elbow, jerked him forward, and pushed him through the door, still holding his arm in a vise grip.

  “No funny business now, or I’ll have to mess up that pretty-boy face of yours.” His eyes were black and deep.

  Did Carlo want him to try something so he could prove how macho he was? He trudged along with him. Then Carlo lifted a dolly from the truck next to the van they arrived in. His arms flexed and bulged.

  Man, he really was strong. Fighting him wouldn’t be such a good idea. Time to dismiss any vague thoughts of overpowering him and taking the knife.

  “I want you to load this truck with those boxes.” Carlo pointed to the right.

  “What’s in them?”

  “Jars of sauce. What else?” He gave the shark grin. “Don’t worry. This shipment isn’t going to Pinon Creek. This one’s staying in Denver.”

  So they were in Denver. Not that it helped, but knowing felt better. “You mean you send it other places?”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say I’m in the big league now.” He swaggered around the truck. “Multiple locations to serve you.”

  The creep was proud of it, as though he had a chain of stores or something. He jerked his head toward the boxes and leaned against the truck.

  While Tony stacked boxes on the dolly, Carlo pretended to clean his nails with the knife. He watched Tony manhandle the heavy dolly up the ramp and move it into position in the rear of the truck. After Tony stacked a second load, hauled it into the truck, and came out, Carlo was gone.

  Tony filled his lungs. Without those bottomless black eyes staring at him, maybe he could think of a way out. He couldn’t be a part of this, and he couldn’t let them hurt Robin. But what about Jimmy? How could he help Robin and still keep Jimmy out of jail? What an impossible situation.

  As he shoved the next load into the truck, a woman crept from the hallway and disappeared into a row of boxes. Startled, he nearly tipped the dolly.

  Robin got loose! Good, maybe she could go get help. Tony frowned. If they found her, they’d hurt her. Or worse. They certainly didn’t have any problem with murder. What could he do?

  He peered at the darkness between the boxes on the shelves. Was that her? He didn’t think so. She’d disappeared. Maybe she got out. No, if the door opened, he’d have seen the light. And so would Carlo. An idea occurred to him. He’d create a diversion.

  Tony unloaded the boxes he had and rolled the dolly down the ramp. This time he loaded four boxes instead of three and shoved hard to get the dolly to move. It did a little. Then the weight of the boxes helped him get a run at the ramp. He went at it at a slight angle, and he was almost to the top when the dolly tipped sideways and the boxes flew off.

  44

  Robin slid between the boxes and sighed with relief. She felt safer out of the open. Now how could she get out? She walked the length of the shelves and peered around the end. Tony stacked boxes on a dolly and loaded them on a truck. She looked around her. What could she use to defend herself? Too bad there wasn’t a loaded gun just lying on a shelf somewhere.

  She edged back the way she’d come, around the end and into the next one. Her hopes fell as she padded along, finding nothing useful. A metal pipe about three feet long that must have been part of the shelving caught her eye. It rested on a shelf as if placed there and forgotten. She eased it up and weighed it in her hand. It wouldn’t stop a bullet, but it was better than nothing. She tightened her grip on it, the metal cutouts pinching against her palms. At least she wasn’t totally helpless.

  A loud crash clattered from the truck. Seconds later four men burst out of a doorway and ran toward the sound. Carlo was with them. Good. If that was all the men, then she only had to worry about Beth. If that was all. Carlo started shouting at Tony, and she inched around the shelving. So how would she get Tony and get out? She saw a side door and almost took it. But there was no way she could leave Tony. There had to be a better way.

  Beth ran from the hallway. “Where’s Robin?” she screamed. “She’s gone!”

  Robin peered through the boxes.

  Carlo glanced up from watching Tony sweep each tiny bit of white powder into a
container.

  “Calm down. I put her in the old lunchroom.”

  “No! She’s not there. I looked.” Beth’s voice was so high and squeaky Robin hardly understood her.

  Carlo ambled over, said something, and stroked her arms. Robin couldn’t hear, but whatever he said calmed her. They gazed around the warehouse.

  Robin ducked below the boxes.

  “Hey, Lou!” Carlo yelled as he walked toward someone who had entered the office behind the glass. Lou stood and met Carlo at the door. He then went back inside, grabbed something from a drawer, and handed it to Carlo. Robin couldn’t see it until Carlo gave it to Beth—a gun.

  Lou yelled, “Wait. That’s not—”

  Carlo scowled. “She knows it’s not a toy. Do you think she’s never used one before?”

  Lou stood there mouth still open, closed it, shook his head, and then backed into the office. In no time, he returned with a gun of his own sticking out of his waistband. The three split up and moved toward different parts of the warehouse.

  Robin’s heart leapt in her chest. What could she do? Shelves of boxes towered around her. Stairs led to the second floor, but in all the movies where the heroine went up instead of down, she trapped herself. Better stay here. She carefully laid the pipe she had been carrying on a shelf and climbed up beside it, huddling between two large boxes. The boxes were stacked two deep along each row. She sat frozen with her feet up, trying to blend.

  She could barely see above the boxes along the row, and ducked as the man they called Lou passed her row, glanced down it, and kept going. She released her breath. She had to do something. She couldn’t stay here forever. She’d be caught. Could she sneak into the back of the truck, get Tony, and get out? Her courage almost failed her. It was suicide. She thought of her unborn baby. She’d rather they died trying than to have him or her know its mother was a coward. She rubbed her stomach. Please God, now’s the time for a miracle.

  She gingerly stepped down and retrieved the pipe, tiptoeing toward the truck, trying to keep out of sight. She was quiet, but so were the searchers.

  The only sound was Tony loading more boxes.

  45

  Tony paused from sweeping white powder into a clean dustpan and then into the container Carlo brought. He hoped they found a way to remove all the tiny shards of glass, since Carlo apparently planned to sell every last granule. He hadn’t known what to do after hearing Beth scream, so he kept sweeping. He couldn’t drag it out any longer though. He’d obviously scraped as much as humanly possible off the cement. He propped the broom against a shelf and went back to the dolly.

  No one stopped him, so he loaded a box on the dolly, then another and started up the ramp. The search continued around him. He hoped Robin made it outside and away from the building. He froze as the side door opened. Was she getting out? Should he make a run for it or maybe try to create another distraction? No, if he did, it would only draw attention to something they might not have noticed.

  Lou headed to the door.

  Someone was coming in, not going out.

  “Jimmy!” Lou said. “What’re you doing here? How ya doin’, man?”

  Jimmy shook Lou’s hand. “I’m good. I thought I’d stop by and see if you needed help.”

  “There’s probably something you can do. Let me check with Carlo.”

  While Lou moved off to find him, Jimmy hurried to Tony. “Get in the truck. The cops are outside, but I need to get the overhead doors open.”

  “There’s a woman here who needs help,” Tony hissed.

  “The cop’s wife?”

  “Yeah. How did you know?”

  “That’s who’s outside. They didn’t want to storm the place for fear of hurting either of you. I’m going to hit the doors. Yell for her as soon as I do.” Jimmy walked over to the door opener and hit the button.

  Tony yelled, “Robin! Get in the truck!”

  Robin scrambled out of the row closest to the truck and raced toward him.

  The woman they called Beth jumped out from a row of boxes and pointed her gun.

  Robin dropped the pipe she’d been carrying and raised both hands.

  He heard a click. Nothing.

  Beth looked at her gun and tried again. Click.

  A shot rang out from somewhere behind Beth and imbedded itself in a box next to Robin’s head.

  Robin grabbed the pipe and swung it at Beth. It connected, and Beth flew backward, hitting a shelf and knocking it over.

  Tony sprinted to the cab of the truck and yanked open the passenger door. Another bullet hit the door as he jumped in.

  Robin scurried up the ramp and the sliding door clattered as she struggled to tug it down. He was crouching on the floor, when he saw the keys dangling from the ignition. He reached over and started the truck.

  The driver’s side door flew open, and Jimmy jumped inside, staying low.

  “Thanks, buddy.” Jimmy threw the truck into reverse. The ramp screeched as Jimmy floored the gas and the truck leapt backward.

  Tony peered over the dash. They cleared the doors and most of the parking lot by the time Jimmy slammed on the brakes. Tony did a face plant on the dash.

  Police converged from each side of the garage door, yelling and brandishing guns.

  When Tony raised his head farther, he saw Mark running toward him, his arm still in a sling. “She’s in the back!” Tony yelled.

  Mark changed direction as Tony dropped to the pavement. Blood dripped from his nose. He swiped it with the back of his hand as he raced around the truck, meeting Mark at the back. Each grabbed a side of the sliding door and hauled it up.

  “Robin, are you in here?” Mark craned his neck and peered in. He pressed his good arm against the edge of the truck and prepared to vault inside.

  She crawled out from among the boxes and stepped around the mangled ramp, still precariously attached. He held up his good arm, grasped her hand, and steadied her as she jumped down. She threw her arms around him and burst into tears.

  Tony turned to give them some privacy. Jimmy! With a gasp, Tony dashed to the driver’s side.

  A Denver policeman eased Jimmy carefully out of the truck. Blood soaked the left side of his pants.

  “Jimmy, what happened? Did you get shot?”

  “I think I got hit by a ricochet. It’s OK though. It just skimmed me. What about you? You’re bleeding.”

  Tony took another swipe at his nose. It came away red.

  A waiting ambulance skidded to a stop beside them.

  “It’s nothing. How’d you know where I was?” Tony asked.

  “When you hadn’t shown up at Grandma’s yet, I took a chance you’d be here away from the heat in Pinon Creek.”

  The EMTs pulled a gurney from the ambulance and half-lifted Jimmy onto it. “You’d better get in here with us, son,” one of them said. “It’s safer in here.” He handed Tony a clean gauze patch and reached out to help him up.

  Tony put the gauze up to his nose, climbed into the ambulance, and moved to a corner out of the way of bullets but still next to Jimmy. “You risked your life for me?”

  Jimmy grimaced while they cut his jeans away from the gash in his leg, cleaned, and bandaged it. “It’s my fault you got into this mess. If I hadn’t been stupid enough to trust Carlo and let him bully me, you wouldn’t be here.”

  Carlo and his friends were in handcuffs, and the police were readying them for the ride to jail.

  Not needing to go to the hospital, Jimmy sat on the ambulance bumper.

  Tony lowered himself beside him, his nose sore but no longer bleeding. “It’s not entirely your fault. If Dad hadn’t decided dealing drugs was an acceptable way to make a living, none of us would be here.”

  Jimmy leaned his head back. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m tired of being scared. I don’t care what they do to me. It’s better than worrying about Carlo. I’m glad it’s over.”

  46

  Peter helped a handcuffed Beth climb into the back of an ambulance. “How’s
that jaw?” he asked.

  “It’s on fire. Robin probably broke it.”

  “Awww. Too bad.”

  She glared at him.

  “I heard what happened in there. Sounds to me as if your boyfriend wants you dead.”

  She glowered at Carlo being loaded into a police car.

  “Why else would he have given you an unloaded gun? Obviously Lou tried to tell him, but I heard Carlo cut him off.”

  He unlocked the handcuffs and relocked them, confining her to a gurney. “I’ve heard of hard breakups, but this was a little extreme, don’t you think? He must have been ashamed of you—I’ve never seen you guys together.”

  “Keeping our relationship a secret was my decision.”

  Peter tried to look sympathetic. He was pretty sure he was failing.

  “The first time his people saw me, they thought I was one of his women. It amused me.”

  “Didn’t his having other women bother you?”

  She tried to smile, but pain flitted across her face. “After all, I had other men. Wealthy men who took me to the restaurant where Carlo worked and then to the opera. I loved flaunting my boyfriends, making him jealous.”

  Peter waited for a uniformed Denver police officer to take his place then jumped down from the ambulance. Beth had a good thing going for a while, but it was destined to fail. She waited too long to leave. She must have felt she had the upper hand over Carlo. It was obvious they didn’t love each other. The thought made him shiver. Wonder what Carlo would say to the police? Likely, anything he could to cut a deal. But then so would Beth. He shook his head. They deserved each other. He headed over to check on Mark and Robin. Now there was a relationship worth having.

  47

  Robin shifted.

  Mark leaned back on the couch next to her, holding her hand. The TV droned on, but she wasn’t watching. “I could have lost you.” His voice was hoarse.