Taki gratefully accepted the plastic bottle Victoria handed her. Finally, something to drink besides watered-down cola. The cool water refreshed as Taki took several long swallows, then noticed an unpleasant aftertaste.
“How old is this water, Victoria?” Taki examined the label.
“Oh, not old.”
Taki sniffed the interior of the car, detecting a hint of alcohol. “Have you been drinking this early, Victoria?”
“Really, Taki.”
Taki squinted at Victoria, wondering why her face looked so blurred. Suddenly dizzy, Taki closed her eyes.
* * *
“I AIN’T SAYING nothing until I get a lawyer,” Hector announced as he crossed his arms over his muscled chest.
Javi, Scott and Hector sat around Mayhugh’s kitchen table. Reese leaned against a counter and watched. The remainder of the agents waited in the outer room or had returned to their vehicles to await the outcome of the interview.
Reese grabbed a phone off the wall, wanting to smack Hector with it. “Here. Call your counsel.”
“I need a public defender. I know my rights, and you gotta appoint one for me.”
“We haven’t even placed you under arrest yet,” Scott reminded him.
“Then I’m leaving, man.” Hector stood, but Javi pushed him back into his chair.
“Where is Kim Spencer?” Javi demanded.
“Who?”
“Taki,” Reese said, not believing for a minute the innocent look on Hector’s face.
“Save your breath,” Hector said. “I ain’t talking until I get a lawyer.”
“That’s it,” Javi said. “Time for a trip to headquarters. You have the right to remain silent.”
“Taki thought you were her friend,” Reese said after Javi finished reading Hector his Miranda rights and cuffed his wrists behind his back.
Hector shook his head. “Well, you know, Reese, friends ain’t always what they seem to be.”
Reese stared hard at Hector, the bodybuilder’s words triggering a memory. Where had he heard those words before?
* * *
“IF ONLY YOU had stayed away from that pushy Reese Beauchamps,” Victoria complained to Taki, “none of this would have been necessary.”
“Wh...what?” Taki tried to focus on Victoria’s words, but they made no sense. And why was Victoria driving so fast? When Taki tried to lift her hand to rub her eyes, she couldn’t. What was wrong with her? She felt heavy, like a waterlogged cushion sinking...sinking...
“My plan was perfect,” Victoria said. “I worked on it for months.”
“I’m not feeling well, Victoria. I think there was something wrong with that water.”
“I knew you’d finally dip into your trust fund if you needed to ransom your precious Tibetan bowl. You just needed a good enough reason.”
“Ransom—my bowl?” Taki tried to concentrate on Victoria’s words. What was she saying about the bowl? Taki looked in the seat for the bowl to reassure herself she’d really found it. That small movement of her head made her stomach churn.
Victoria pulled a silver flask from her purse and took a quick drink. “No one would have been harmed, and I could keep my home.”
“Please pull over, Victoria. I think I’m going to be sick.”
When Victoria shook her head, the motion seemed jerky, like a broken toy or one with its battery running down.
“You’re not listening to me, dear, and I’m trying to explain. I’ve lived in that house for fifty years and can’t lose it. I’m too old to move. What would my friends think if I got stuck in a wretched condo somewhere in West Broward miles away from my club?”
“Victoria...”
“I gave you free rent. I helped your mother. Someone has to pay me back.”
As her landlady’s ramblings finally registered, Taki tried to raise her hand again. She needed to escape. She needed to open the car door—her fingers only twitched with effort as she stared at the handle.
Victoria was not her friend. She had deliberately put something in the water. Some chemical.
Victoria was Hector’s partner.
“I’m sorry about this, Taki. Really I am. But now it’s you or me.”
Taki closed her eyes against the horror that she could have been so wrong about Victoria. She was now at the mercy of a crazed woman. “What—what are you going to do?” she gasped.
“Did you know your mother experimented with drugs?”
Unable to speak, Taki stared at the old woman.
“Your mom was arrested for smoking marijuana in college.” Victoria threw her a sidelong look. “Of course, your father was busted with her. The Spencer lawyers were able to get his case thrown out, but your mom had a criminal record.”
“Victoria, please.” Taki’s voice was a feeble whisper.
“That broke up the happy couple for a while, but you know what they say about true love. It’s also how your father got full custody of you.”
“Why—” Taki swallowed hard. “Why are you telling me this?”
“You’ll see soon enough.” Victoria smiled mysteriously and took another swallow of whiskey.
* * *
WHERE WAS TAKI? Reese pounded his fist against the steering wheel as he followed Javi back to FBI headquarters where they would again attempt to interview Hector. Or more likely wait until his public defender arrived, which could take hours.
Had Mayhugh moved her, stashed her somewhere new, or had she escaped? Surely the kidnappers wouldn’t harm her—at least not until they got the ransom money. That’s the next thing he needed to do, figure how to play the ransom drop this afternoon.
Had Spencer come up with the money? He glanced at his watch. Three more hours.
But if the kidnappers knew something had gone wrong, would they cut their losses and kill her? No. He refused to believe she was dead. The way her prison appeared when they entered, she’d managed to escape.
A surge of pride at her resourcefulness was quickly squelched. What would she do once free? Who would she contact?
Would she phone him? Reese checked his phone for messages, but found the device dead. Shit. He hadn’t plugged it in last night and had left it on for Victoria Van Buren. Had Taki tried to call and couldn’t get through?
No, he doubted she would even have his cell number with her. And maybe she wouldn’t try to reach him. She considered him the enemy now, a fact he planned to remedy when he found her.
He turned his mind from a chilling prospect he didn’t want to even consider. He’d find her. He would see her again.
So who would she contact? Victoria? The ashram? SoBe Spa?
Deciding Victoria would be her first choice, Reese dug in the glove box, looking for his mobile charger. Instead, he found the CD of his psychic reading. He pulled it out.
Robin had thoughtfully placed her business card inside the case.
On impulse, he removed the disc and shoved it into his car player. The psychic’s voice filled the interior of the Jag while he plugged in the charger.
You must keep very careful watch over the one you love. She is in terrible danger.
I can’t see the trouble, but it exists.
He’d thought the woman spoke in vague generalities a week ago, but maybe...
Stay close to the one you love. She’ll lead you to what you want.
What was it he wanted?
Taki. More than anything he wanted Taki alive and well and in his arms.
Or was the fortune-teller referring to the more intangible wants in life? Reese shook his head, amazed that he was trying to analyze the incoherent ramblings of— He froze at Robin’s final words.
Sometimes friends turn out to be false.
* * *
TAKI AWOKE WH
EN someone began dragging her out of the front seat of a car. Disoriented, confused by what was going on, she tried to resist. When her limbs wouldn’t obey her instructions, she remembered.
She was in Victoria’s Caddy. Victoria had drugged her.
The old lady was surprisingly strong, and Taki found herself sitting in a dirty wheelchair.
Woozy and fighting nausea from the rough jostling, she recognized the mechanical rumbling of an automatic garage door. They were inside Victoria’s garage. No one could see them from the street.
“I always knew this wheelchair would come in handy again after Bert passed away,” Victoria said, a note of pleasure causing her voice to grow more shrill.
“You mean after you killed him.” Taki shook her head, struggling to stay alert against the effects of the drug.
“You have no idea how difficult it is to take care of an invalid. The expense of his medical care sucked all the money out of our accounts. I had to end his life or I would have been left with nothing. It was a kindness, really.”
Taki’s head jerked back as Victoria pushed the wheelchair out the back door of the garage down the ramp.
“You’ll never get away with this,” Taki said. “Mayhugh and Hector will talk.”
“I’ve already taken care of Bruce Mayhugh,” Victoria said. “What a ninny he was, flatly refusing to become involved in anything other than extortion. Apparently he had principles. Can you imagine? A thief with scruples.”
Victoria’s use of the past tense with reference to the fence chilled Taki. Queasiness churned in her stomach. How many people had Victoria murdered?
“What about Hector? I refuse to believe he’d—”
Victoria snorted. “Hector. That young man is so greedy he’ll never talk.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“Well, if he does, I’ll take care of him, too.”
Taki sucked in a quick breath. Without a doubt, her landlady had lost touch with the present moment. She’d gone way too far in creating her own reality. She might even have one of the diseases that caused old people to become confused.
Taki struggled to clear her mind. Drugged and helpless as a newborn baby, what could she do? Words were her only weapon, but her mind worked so very, very slowly.
“You can’t do this, Victoria. It will—”
“Don’t spout any of your nonsense about my karma, missy. It’s too late for that. Soon you’ll be another bored heiress who overdosed on heroin. It’s an old story, you know.”
Shock and disbelief now morphed into bone-deep fear. Even during those dreadful days in the bunker she’d never been this frightened.
“You’re going to kill me?”
“I’ll place you in bed and inject you like I did my husband. Don’t worry. You won’t feel a thing.”
As Victoria wheeled her into the cottage’s tiny kitchen, Taki created mental images that the wheelchair would get stuck between the cabinets. Anything for delay, something to give her time to formulate a plan.
But she rolled through without a bump.
“It’s your own fault,” Victoria said. “But ransom is out now, so I’m counting on your father to reimburse me for your room and board during the past months. Perhaps even a bonus for remaining discreet about your drug use. I know him, and he wouldn’t want the publicity. I’ll tell him I did my best to keep you straight.”
Taki closed her eyes. Her father would be all too eager to believe anything bad about her. But she didn’t want the last thing he ever heard of her to be that she was a drug addict. No, the universe wouldn’t do that to her.
“You know, I could threaten to tell the media about your mother’s drug use,” Victoria continued. “I’m sure one or two would love to sensationalize that. They might even feature me on one of those TV talk shows. It’s so low class, but I’d do it if they paid me enough.”
Victoria parked the wheelchair facing the bedroom. Behind her, Taki heard Victoria walk across the floor toward the kitchen. Taki swiveled her head to watch Victoria open a cabinet to retrieve her Bourbon, but that movement caused her stomach to rebel.
Taki slowly eased her head back to quiet the nausea. The freezer opened and ice clinked into a crystal tumbler. After a long, slow pour, Victoria walked into Taki’s view again, now sipping a drink.
She faced Taki, her face old and sad. “You’re my last chance to keep this house.”
“My father won’t give you a dime,” Taki said, her voice hoarse. She swallowed. Whatever Victoria had given her made speech difficult.
“Why not?”
“Because Reese will prove that you killed me.”
Taki blinked. Where had that notion come from? But she knew it as sure as she knew anything. He was looking for her. He’d been right about so many things, and she just hadn’t seen it. She’d told him to open his mind, and she hadn’t opened her own. But maybe it wasn’t too late. If she trusted him this time, truly believed that he’d come for her, he would.
Talk about last chances. She had to stall until he got here.
Victoria waved her hand. “Don’t be silly, dear. I have Reese convinced I was out of town when you disappeared. He knows how fond of me you are, so he’s always most respectful. The young man is actually quite besotted with you.”
Warmth flooded Taki as Victoria spoke. Victoria had no idea how much those offhand words comforted her. She wanted to smile, but the effort proved too costly. She forced a deep breath, praying her lungs didn’t stop working.
“He won’t believe it,” Taki said.
“Reese?”
Taki nodded.
“He won’t believe what?”
“That I shot heroin into my body.”
Eyes narrowed, Victoria took a swallow of Bourbon. “The poor dear will just discover he didn’t know you quite as well as he thought,” she insisted. “I’ll tell him about your mother’s overdose and drop a hint that drug use runs in families.”
Taki stared at Victoria, knowing in her heart the old lady was deluded and would most certainly be caught. Reese would make sure she was brought to justice. That’s what her soul mate did. That’s why they were perfect for each other.
Sadness swept through Taki as she realized that his justice wouldn’t do her any good. She would already be dead.
“What—what happened to Mayhugh?” she asked, searching for anything to keep Victoria talking.
“An unfortunate accident off the Julia Tuttle Bridge,” Victoria murmured. “Tragic. If Hector had pushed your Jeep off the same bridge like I instructed, we wouldn’t be in this pickle. I made a mistake involving him. That young man is all muscle and hasn’t a brain in his head.”
“But why didn’t you demand money right away?” Taki asked. “Why the strange note to come to Puerto Sagua just for information?”
“Another mistake. Mayhugh was supposed to meet you there and explain what you had to do, but the FBI delayed him, wanting information about some other theft.”
Reese’s briefcase, Taki realized. Hector had truly ruined Victoria’s plan by breaking into Reese’s car. “How do you even know someone like Mayhugh?”
“Remember that theft from Carroll’s Jewelers last year?”
Taki shook her head.
“Well, that was me,” Victoria said with a self-satisfied grin. “They never suspected one of their valued customers. Mayhugh bought the stolen diamonds.”
Taki stared at her landlady. Maybe I am naive. Reese was right about that, too.
“I wanted to do this nicely, civilized, make it easy on you.” Confusion swept across Victoria’s face. “No one was supposed to get hurt.”
Searching for anything to keep her talking, Taki asked, “Why were the notes made differently?”
“You have no idea how messy glue is,” Victoria said with a
sniff. “Plus, the stuff gave me a ghastly headache.”
“Why don’t you have another drink, Victoria,” Taki suggested, needing time to come up with another topic.
While Victoria moved behind her, Taki closed her eyes, willing with all her fading strength for Reese to find her. She imagined his gorgeous eyes, focused her thoughts and sent her location shooting like an arrow toward him.
She had so much to tell him. If she could be so wrong about Victoria, maybe she’d been wrong about Reese being too much like her father. Maybe they did have a chance in this lifetime. Her mind was open now. All she had to do was keep her thoughts positive.
Before Victoria had finished pouring, a car door slammed out front.
“Damn,” Victoria said from the kitchen. “Reese is here.”
Startled, Taki opened her eyes. Had she gone unconscious again? She doubted anyone could pick up on her psychic pleas this quickly.
When Victoria grabbed the wheelchair and shoved it into the bedroom, Taki’s stomach heaved in rebellion. Once inside, Victoria grabbed canvas straps from Taki’s yoga bag and tied her hands and feet to the wheelchair. Victoria placed another strap between Taki’s teeth and pulled it around the back of her head.
“You stay quiet, missy,” Victoria hissed, cinching the knot tight.
She left the bedroom, closing the door behind her with a quiet click.
Mustering her energy, Taki pulled against the bindings on her arms without success. No strength.
I won’t stay quiet. She shifted her weight from side to side, then front to back in an attempt to move the wheelchair, but only caused her heart to race with the futile effort.
And her nausea to swell.
If she threw up with the gag in her mouth, she might choke. Closing her eyes, she released a frustrated breath.
Reese had come. Soon he would be in the next room. Somehow, some way she had to let him know where she was. But how? The drug had all but paralyzed her. In despair, she searched the room for help. What could she do?
She stared at the angels suspended overhead. They swayed slightly from the breeze wafting through the window. If she ever needed her guardians, it was right now. This exact present moment.
The South Beach Search Page 28