by Wendy Byrne
His eyes told the story. He didn’t want to hear what I had to say.
But nothing short of a natural disaster could stop me. “You’re always in control, but sometimes you have to let go and let the spirit move you. Howl at the moon, as the saying goes.” If I read him right, pure fear hid within his eyes. This confrontation no doubt scared him more than any mission he’d ever been on. The stakes were too high for him to even contemplate.
“No. That’s your problem, Santos. You’re never in control. You set off on a whim and go where the spirit moves you. You never have a plan. There’s never a rhyme or reason to anything you do.”
“Sounds like we’re yin and yang.” I was hoping for a miracle, that he’d let down that guard of his long enough to see things as they were and understand he wasn’t in this fight alone. But he was hell-bent on putting a wedge between us before he left. I could see that plainly now.
“Don’t start that crap with me.”
“Personally, I think you’re a big chicken. You put up a tough exterior to fool everyone into thinking that you’re in charge. But in reality, our intimacy has you shaking in your boots.”
“You’ve gone too far, Gabriella.”
“No, if you ask me, I haven’t gone far enough. I don’t need your excuses and your finding fault with who I am and what I’m about. I’m in love with you, and you’re in love with me. If you’re too stupid to see it, that’s your problem.” I was tired and ornery, and running around in circles over this subject frayed my last nerve. I wanted him to stay and listen to reason while at the same time I knew he wouldn’t.
“I can’t be in love with you.” He blew out a breath, as if by doing so he could dismiss the idea.
“Why? Because of that big, ugly mole on my forehead? Oh, that’s right, I don’t have a mole on my forehead. Hmmm...could it be maybe that it scares you that I might leave you some day? That’s really what it’s all about, Shane, whether you can admit it or not. Being in love means there’s a possibility of pain. But I’m not going anywhere. Like it or not, I’m here for the long haul.”
He grasped my hands, but I pulled them away. “We’re really great together. The sex is incredible. But that’s all there is. I’m not your Prince Charming. Your fantasy made me into something I’m not.”
“Believe me, no one would confuse you with Prince Charming. Do you really think I’m that naïve? You make me sound like a blooming idiot.” Why couldn’t he see the logic in what I said? Could he be so scared, he couldn’t get past his own version of how things should be?
I couldn’t cry. No, I wouldn’t cry. But keeping all that emotion inside hurt like hell.
“I’m not saying you’re an idiot. I’m saying you expect me to be and feel something I can’t.”
“Can’t? Or don’t want to?”
“You’re splitting hairs.”
“Shane, can’t you see you’re avoiding emotion at all cost? It all goes back to your mom.”
“Don’t bring my mom into this. She has nothing to do with this discussion.”
“Let’s see...hmm...you lose the one person in your life who loves you unconditionally, and you stand there telling me it doesn’t impact your life?” I knew I’d crossed the line but somehow couldn’t stop myself. “You still haven’t forgiven yourself over what happened to your mother, even though it wasn’t your fault. It’s festering inside you like that big, old scar on your stomach. But it’s bigger and more painful than that could ever be.”
“You don’t know me, Gabriella.”
“I know more than you think. More than you could imagine. But it’s still not enough to break through that blackened heart of yours.”
“Well, if I’m such a loser, why did you pursue me to begin with? Why didn’t you leave things as they were?”
I heard the pain he’d endured all those years in his voice, and it made my heart ache. “Don’t you see? I couldn’t stop myself. Despite all your hard work at making yourself totally unlovable, it didn’t work with me. I saw the real you, Shane. And maybe that scares you more than anything.”
“This is a ridiculous conversation.” I could tell he was both itching to leave and itching to stay. He fidgeted until he finally moved toward the door.
I didn’t want to fight with him; I only wanted to force him to see reason. Based on the look on his face, it hadn’t worked. “Aren’t you going to kiss me goodbye?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” His voice was barely a whisper.
“Are you afraid of what you might feel?”
“I don’t feel. I haven’t allowed myself that luxury in a very long time.”
“Then you shouldn’t be afraid to kiss me before you leave.”
His touch was gentle at first, as if I might break. But then he put everything he had into the kiss, as if he never wanted to leave. “I’m doing the right thing,” he said when he pulled away.
I refused to respond even though I knew he wanted me to agree. He wasn’t doing the right thing. I could feel it. Why wouldn’t he listen to reason?
“The silent treatment is never going to work, Gabriella. You couldn’t pull it off to save your soul. If you could, it would rank right up there with the Seven Wonders of the World.”
“That’s mean.” I folded my arms across my chest and wished I could convince him to work with me, Patrick, the mayor, or even the Dalai Lama for all I cared. I didn’t want him to be alone on this.
“I can’t take you. It’s too dangerous. Besides, you’ve done too much already.”
“Going in there alone is suicide.” Fear unlike anything I’d ever known took hold of my nervous system. I had an ominous premonition circling inside my brain that I couldn’t shake.
“It’ll work. They’ll be expecting me to hit there in the middle of the night when no one’s around. But if I go at rush hour, the streets will be full of people. They won’t take the risk.”
Frustration played on my nerves. “There aren’t very many people around that area during the day. Besides, the police have combed The Blues Stop. Nothing can be hidden there. Walt’s lying, or you’re lying. You know what ‘A new US 10.28.52’ is. You just won’t tell me.”
I saw the truth in his eyes before he shrugged nonchalantly. “The Blues Stop is the only lead I’ve got. I’m going to follow it and go from there.”
I chewed on my lip. “It’s not like you can blend in. You’re going to stand out no matter what you try.”
“And you’re ten times more beautiful than most women, so they’d pick you out for sure.”
“Don’t try to charm me. I’m immune.” I huffed out a sigh, knowing that now that he was halfway healthy, I couldn’t win this battle even if I knew in my heart his plan was doomed. “You don’t have to throw yourself on the fire to avoid facing how you feel.”
“If you want to believe that’s what this is about, go ahead. I’m doing what I need to do.”
Without another word, let alone another kiss goodbye, he walked out the door. I turned on the music as loud as it could go and paced. This whole thing was heading straight to hell, and I had no way to stop it.
Finally, I did the only thing I could. Maybe somehow Patrick could protect Shane, assuming he was a good guy. Despite any question I might have, I had to trust somebody.
I drew in a breath and began to dial.
***
Five minutes later, I wanted to crawl out of my skin from worry. Even though Patrick had said he’d go to The Blues Stop, I should have figured out a way to follow Shane—like having an Uber waiting for me around the corner. But I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Instead, I sat here helpless. Waiting for the phone to ring felt like torture. I couldn’t sit around and wait another second.
Unlike Shane, I knew I couldn’t do it alone. First, I called an Uber, then I called Donna. “I need your help. Give me your address. Or meet me somewhere if there’s a cop camped outside so we can’t be followed.”
“They’ve been leaving me alone for the last
couple of days. Why? What’s going on?”
“Shane went on a suicide mission, and I sent Patrick to help him. But I haven’t heard from either one. And I can’t sit here and wait a minute longer.” Somehow, over the last couple of days, I’d adjusted to being in charge and didn’t like being kept out of the loop.
“Men.” Donna uttered the word like a curse. “It sounds like they need us.”
“The Uber’s here. I’ll need to borrow some money, but I’ll be at your place as fast as I can.” I hung up and rushed into the car.
As the driver promised, getting to Donna’s didn’t take very long. Standing on the front porch with her dark hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing jeans and tennis shoes, Donna waited when I exited the cab.
My phone rang. “Shane?”
“No, it’s Patrick. Shane’s not at The Blues Stop.”
I kept walking toward Donna as I talked. “I knew it.” Fear trickled along my spinal column.
“Any ideas?”
“Do you think he used another car? Or somebody got to him?” While I hated to consider the worst-case scenario, after the last couple of days and based on the ferocity with which the bad guys were coming after us, I had to consider the possibility. The idea made me go weak in the knees.
“Shane wouldn’t have taken any chances. But since everybody’s looking for his Porsche, he probably stopped at his place and switched cars. I don’t think he ever intended to come here. More than likely he wanted to throw you off track.”
“But why...” Of course he wasn’t going to The Blues Stop. He made up that part about the evidence being there. He knew where…
“Gabriella?” Patrick interrupted my train of thought.
“Let me call you back.” I clicked off the phone and looked at Donna. “Paper and pen.”
I wrote down the phrase that had been brewing inside since I’d seen it in Shane’s email box. It meant something. And Shane knew.
“What does it mean?”
“This was in Shane’s email box. Vince Perry sent it to him. Nothing else. No explanation. We’ve got to figure this out so we can keep him from getting killed.”
“Let’s call Cara. I bet she could help.” Donna pushed in her number on the phone. Once Cara picked up, I immediately put it on speaker.
“Cara, it’s Gabriella and Donna. We need your help. Shane’s life is in danger.” I gave her a quick recap of the morning, along with the information from Vince. “Any ideas?”
“Let me write it down. It’s got to be relatively simple.” Cara remained quiet for a few minutes. “The date can’t be a real date for obvious reasons. Something that happened in 1952 can’t be related so that was to throw us off track. What else does a series of numbers represent?”
“An address, a combination...” I stopped and looked at Donna. “Was there some kind of hidden safe at The Blues Stop?” Despite my earlier conversation with Patrick, this was too important not to cover all my bases.
“Not that I know of. Besides, that would be way too obvious.”
My mind raced a million miles a minute but produced nothing useful. Every second that passed ratcheted up the danger factor for Shane.
Finally, Cara spoke. “What about a locker number?”
Donna nodded. “Where are there lockers?” I clung to the back of one of kitchen chairs. “Airports, bus stations, train stations. But if he’s headed downtown that means bus or train.”
Cara shouted into the phone. “US means Union Station. That’s got to be it.”
My heart pumped. Maybe I could save Shane from his own stubbornness. I glanced at Donna. “Where’s that?”
“About ten minutes away.”
“Thanks, Cara. You’re a genius.”
“Just glad I could help. And before I forget, Garrett’s on his way back. His plane should be landing within the next half hour.”
“Thanks. I’ll give you a call when we find Shane. In the meantime, call Garrett and send him to Union Station.”
Donna drove while I called Patrick. “We think Shane’s going to Union Station. Can you meet us there?” I struggled to breathe as fear started to take over.
“It’ll take me about twenty minutes,” he said, then hung up.
“What if the A stands for Annie? Maybe she hid that video in the locker.” Donna maneuvered her way around one car, beeping her horn when another tried to get in her way.
“That’s got to be it. ‘A new’ meant Annie knew. ‘US’ meant Union Station and then the locker number.” Suddenly, all the pieces fell together in my mind. I was staking Shane’s life on the fact we were right. Based on the number of bad guys sent after us in Wisconsin, there wouldn’t be only one person around to capture Shane. Then again, they didn’t know where he was headed.
“What are we going to do when we get there?” Donna’s question broke through my thoughts.
After everything I’d been through in the last week, I no longer was one of those people who let others take care of things. I was a strong woman, and wouldn’t allow Shane go at this alone. “You wait out in front for Patrick. I’ll go inside. Then I’ll have to play it by ear. How long before we get there?”
“It’s about a block away.” Donna pointed toward a crowd of people spilling out of an old gray stone building.
Traffic was at a standstill as people walked across the street, against lights, around cars, with a single-minded kind of focus. As the car inched along at a snail’s pace, I felt compelled to do something.
I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Shane had been gone nearly an hour. He had to be inside by now. They could be waiting for him, and he’d be walking into a trap. Unable to sit inside the car one second longer, I threw open the door. “I’m going.”
“Gabriella, wait for—”
I slammed the car door shut and sprinted through the hordes of people spilling into the street. They came in waves, cresting and receding in a rhythmic pattern.
My heart bumped inside my chest in a rhythm that felt unnatural. While I wasn’t in the best shape, exertion didn’t make my chest squeeze tight. Overpowering fear had taken precedence over anything else.
The constant flow of people made negotiating my way through a struggle. No one seemed to be paying attention as people bucked traffic while I headed toward the enormous iron doors with ‘Union Station’ engraved across the top.
Almost there, I felt a tug on my arm, followed by the cold tip of a gun against my back. “Ms. Santos, you’re under arrest.”
He held out his badge to part the crowd. “Chicago Police. Make way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Wishful thinking or was I going crazy? I could have sworn I heard Shane calling my name. But when I tried to turn around, Stu stuffed me inside the car.
“Where’s Shane?” With a gun pressed into my side, I had no choice but to follow, but I also needed to know he was still alive.
“Inside, where he’s becoming acquainted with a few of my friends.”
“You’re arresting both of us?” I knew Stu had no intention of taking me to the station.
He laughed. “Yeah, something like that.”
I could only hope Donna had spotted what had happened. Either that, or I wasn’t hallucinating and that was Shane’s voice I’d heard. “How did you know?”
“On my last visit to your friend’s house, I planted a listening device. It’s amazing what we can do with modern technology. As soon as I heard your voice, I knew my gamble had worked.”
On top of everything else, I’d led them straight to Shane. I closed my eyes and shuddered.
“You’re not really arresting me, so what are you doing with me?” I gauged whether I could open the door and get out quickly enough. But right now, the car steadily moved through traffic, making that kind of escape impossible.
“We wait until we hear from my friends. Once everything’s taken care of, I get rid of you. You’re the last loose end.”
“That’s what you thought when you got rid of Annie
. She knew what you were doing, didn’t she? What happened? Did she say something to Vanessa? And what about Tony? Vince? Walt? They’re still alive as far as I know.” I poked around looking for answers. “You can’t get rid of everybody.”
He nodded. “Annie interrupted one of our meet and greets. We couldn’t let her hang around after that. Walt knew about Annie, but he couldn’t pull the trigger, so we had to take matters into our own hands. Vanessa got thrown into the mix because we had to be sure. So outside of you and O’Neil, we’ve got all the loose ends tidied up.” He glared. “Tony’s not talking. He knows what will happen to those he loves if he does. He heard what happened to Annie, and in case he forgot, we sent him a final message in prison: Nobody, nowhere is untouchable. Mack got stupid, which only made Shane sniff around where he shouldn’t have, so we had to get rid of him.”
“Then there was the matter of the elusive video she told Vince about.”
“That’s getting taken care of as we speak. That and Shane in one nice, neat little package since I’m sure he’ll resist arrest.”
My blood went cold, but I tried to focus. Shane wouldn’t be easy to bring down. If Patrick got there in time, there would be two of them. I had to keep thinking positive.
“How did Tony know about the video?”
“Annie stumbled upon what was happening at The Blues Stop and told Tony Marcos. He convinced her to get proof, and she shot a video of one of our…hmm…how do I put this delicately…our informational sessions. The proof did nothing but seal her fate, even with promises of protection from Walt. Tony was stupid enough to think he could blackmail us with Annie’s video. Doesn’t quite work that way.” He glanced at his cell phone on the seat. “If we destroy the evidence, Vince, even if he manages to pull through, can’t prove a case against us.”
“Drugs?”
He gave a cynical laugh. “Drugs are not where the real money is. It’s about people. The best of commodities. You get paid on both ends that way.”
I shook my head. “What do you mean?”
“Foreign women want entry into this country. We see that they get in. There’s a price to pay, of course. By the time we figure that out, we’ve got them too strung out or scared to do anything but agree.”