‘Who?’
Harry smiled grimly. ‘The one person we know can be manipulated easily – especially as she was in love with the man we suspect. My sister. We’re going to see Cora.’
The cab stopped outside of the hospital entrance and Lila thanked the driver and tipped him well. ‘Could you come back about ten-thirty?’
The driver smiled. ‘Of course, Miss, see you then.’
Lila walked towards the entrance of the hospital. She’d spent the night at home. Getting things ready for Noah’s homecoming. Now he was out of bed and into a chair, the doctors had told him he could be released to rest at home in as few as two weeks. Lila couldn’t quite believe it. She grinned to herself now and her pace quickened.
‘Lila.’
She started violently and whirled around. Charlie smiled at her. ‘Sorry.’
‘Charlie…jesus.’ She put a hand on her chest to still her thumping heart. ‘Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you.’
‘I know, honey, I’m sorry, had things I was doing. Found a place.’
‘Good. Look I was just going in to see Noah.’
‘How is he?’
She smiled. ‘Doing really well. Come in and say hello.’
Charlie looked up at the well-lit hospital. ‘I won’t today, I don’t want to intrude. I’ll come back another day.’
‘You sure?’
He nodded. ‘I would like us to sit and talk soon. Very soon. I think we need to get some stuff resolved.’
Lila nodded. ‘I think we do. Call me tomorrow, okay? And we’ll talk.’
‘Promise.’ And he was gone. Lila frowned after him. She wasn’t imagining it, their friendship had change drastically. There was awkwardness there.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow they would see if they could salvage anything from the mire of recent events and rejuvenate their friendship.
Tinsley had elected to stay in Seattle while Harry went to see his sister in New York. Harry had understood; whatever she had done, Cora had still instigated a ferocious attack on Tinsley.
‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be in the same room,’ she had told him and he agreed. Nothing good would come of that.
Harry had told her he would fly straight back to Seattle after speaking to Cora and so Tinsley was holed up at his hotel, mindlessly ordering room service and watching TV. to take her mind off what they were finding out. It didn’t work and she ended up with a yellow legal pad and pen making charts and flow diagrams and writing everything down. It didn’t take her long to make the connection and now she wondered how they hadn’t seen it months ago. Of course, if she was right, it meant she herself had fucked the killer – unwittingly of course – and that their whole relationship had been a lie. If Charlie was as dangerously obsessed with Lila as they thought…
‘He’ll never stop.’ God, she needed to warn Lila now. She would risk Lila not believing her, even if it lodged a tiny suspicion of doubt in her mind, it might protect her. Tinsley considered what to do next. Harry had asked her to stay in the room, keep safe, but if Lila was still in danger…
She could get a cab straight to the hospital and speak to Lila there; it would safe right? Probably safer than going to her home…
Mind made up, she grabbed her purse and head out of the door.
As far as she was concerned, there wasn’t a moment to lose.
It didn’t take long for Harry to extract a confession from Cora, who broke down in tears. ‘It wasn’t like that, he didn’t ask me to kill her but just said…while she was in the picture, we could never be together.’
‘Fucking asshole,’ Harry raged. His mother, Delphine sat on Cora’s other side, looked devastated but resigned.
‘Do you think Lila is in danger?’
Harry nodded. ‘The worst kind – and I don’t think we can wait any longer to tell her. I have to go back to Seattle. Right now.’
Lila and Noah were laughing together when Tinsley knocked softly at the door. Lila’s eyes widened when she saw her friend and she jumped up and pulled her into a hug.
‘Where the hell have you been?’
Tinsley realized her friend was crying and she hugged her back tightly. ‘I need to talk to you, alone,’ she whispered. ‘Meet me at the bottom of the stairs, the exit is next door.’
She pulled away from Lila’s curious stare and kissed Noah. ‘I’m so glad you’re looking so well.’
‘Thanks Tins…what’s going on?’
‘Nothing you should worry about. I’m sorry, I only have a few minutes, I have to go pick Harry up at the airport.’
‘Harry…Carnegie?’ Lila was shocked but Tinsley smiled.
‘The very one. He would like to come see you if you don’t mind.’
She stayed for another five minutes then nodded for Lila to follow her out. ‘Give me five minutes then come down.’
‘What’s with all the intrigue?’
‘I want to make sure I wasn’t followed.’
Lila stared at her. ‘You’re scaring me.’
Tinsley tried to smile. ‘I don’t mean to. Remember, five minutes.’
And she disappeared in to the stairwell. Lila shook her head – what the hell was going on?
Noah asked the same question and she shook her head. ‘I don’t know, I really don’t.’
Five minutes later, she stuck her cell phone in her pocket. ‘Be back in a few.’ She kissed him but he held onto her hand.
‘Lila…I’m worried.’
‘Let me just go find out what’s on Tinsley’s mind. Get some rest, I love you.’
He didn’t look happy. ‘Come back soon. Love you too.’
Lila smiled and went out into the corridor pushing open the door. It was pretty poorly lit and she walked down carefully so she didn’t trip.
‘Tins?’
No reply. Lila’s heart began to beat a little faster. She peered into the dark as she descended the final flight. ‘Tins.’
Her foot hit something soft and she heard a moan. Lila snagged her phone from her pocket and switched on the light. Tinsley lay on her back, her face contorted in such pain Lila gasped. Tinsley was covered in blood and the hilt of a knife protruded from her stomach.
‘Oh god, no, no, no…’ Lila dropped to her knees and Tinsley looked up at her with wide eyes.
‘Lila…no…he’s…’
A gloved hand was clamped over Lila’s face, and as she struggled, her attacker slammed her head against the wall and she was dumped, dazed to the floor. As she began to pass out, she saw the attacker rip the knife from Tinsley’s body and begin to stab her again as Tinsley, her voice weakening, cried ‘No, no, please, no…
Charlie, please no…’
Noah started to get panicky. Surely Lila should be back by now? He eased out of bed, thankful he no longer had wires and tubes attached, and shuffled to the door. All was quiet in the corridor but the nurse at the station looked up and smiled.
‘Look who’s out of bed.’
He tried to smile. ‘Have you see Lila?’
The nurse shook her head. ‘Not since earlier. Why?’
Noah just shook his head. ‘She as supposed to be back by – ‘
He turned sharp as the door to the stairwell opened and a breathless, panicked young man almost fell out of the door. ‘Please, I need help…there’s a girl down there…I think she’s been stabbed.’
‘No, no, no…’ The adrenaline coursed through Noah and he lurched towards the door just as the nurse, alarmed, both called for assistance and yelled at Noah to stop.
‘Noah, you’re not well enough…stop…’
He didn’t listening. He grabbed the rail and climb down the stairs as best as he could, desperate to get to her…not again, please, not again…
The lights flooded on and he heard people shouting behind him. As he made it to the top of the last flight, he saw her.
Tinsley. She was prone on the floor, in a pool of blood, her clothes soaked red. Noah’s heart began to pound out of his
chest as he rushed down to her. ‘Tinsley, oh my god…’
Tinsley opened her eyes and looked up at him. ‘Noah…’ He could barely hear her. ‘Noah, he has Lila….Charlie has Lila…’
Everything in Noah’s world stopped. ‘Did Charlie do this to you?’
She nodded, gasping for air. ‘I’m sorry, Noah…I’m sorry…’ As the medics rushed in to help her, to help him, Tinsley’s head fell back and her last breath sighed from her lungs.
A medic listened to her chest and started to perform CPR but Noah knew it was too late. There was so much blood. Tinsley was dead.
And Lila was gone…
She had watched him stab her friend to death and now, as she started to regain consciousness, she wondered why she wasn’t dead too.
Charlie. She opened her eyes. She was laying on her back on the back seat of a moving car, her hands and feet bound. She turned her head to see him driving, his face set and grim. It was Charlie. It was Charlie. It didn’t take a genius to figure it all out now. As far as Charlie was concerned, Lila belonged to him. He’d stopped her wedding by stabbing her, framed Riley – had he known she and Riley had slept together? – and probably killed him, arranged Richard’s murder. Had he coerced Lauren into shooting Noah?
God. You should have finished me in that changing room, she thought angrily, then at least the others could have been saved. You bastard. You cowardly fucker.
Now she thought about it, it was so obvious. He’d called her that day….
Charlie Sherman smiled grimly to himself. She was at the bridal boutique. So easy…he’d checked it out a while back when she told him about the place. Security was minimal – yeah, they set an alarm at night, but during the day... The fire exit he could jimmy open in seconds…wasit really going to be this easy?
He could hardly wait. He’d dreamed of this day for years, ever since that night that she’d given her virginity to him. God the feel of her skin, her silky tight cunt as he’d thrust into her. She’d been so drunk that any inhibitions had fled and she’d enjoyed herself as much as he had. Then…nothing. ‘Let’s keep that one night special, I don’t want to ruin our friendship because of sex.’
Bitch. He’d agreed, of course, how else was he going to keep her close and he’d waited, and watched as her beauty, her warmth, her quick wit had brought the men flocking. His Lila wasn’t a whore though, she chose her lovers carefully. And then she’d met the billionaire and it had all gone to hell. Richard fucking Carnegie. When he’d found out that Carnegie had cheated on Lila, he was sure that she’d end it. She even knew about the cheating and stayed with him and then promised to marry the motherfucker.
But it was the night, a few days before the wedding when he’d known what he had to do. He’d gone to meet her at the bar, a little later than normal. The door was locked but he’d gone around the back and sure enough, the back door was open. He walked into the bar – and saw them. Lila and Riley. Fucking, right there on the floor. He watched them silently – well, he watched her, her face when she came, when Riley’s face was buried in her sex.
Bitch.
Slipping in the back door of the bridal boutique was easy. A quick check of the other fitting room and then he was there. She pulled back the curtain and he drove the knife into her soft belly. So easy, so beautiful. She barely had time to gasp; he stabbed her quickly, brutally, blood spattering then gushing from her wounds.
Afterward he made his escape but the adrenaline inside was raging what a rush, what a thrill…
Charlie looked back at Lila and smiled. ‘You’re awake. Good.’ His voice was almost tender.
Lila’s eyes filled with tears. ‘You murdered Tinsley.’
Charlie shrugged. ‘She got in my way.’
‘She used to be your girlfriend…I thought you loved her.’
Charlie laughed. ‘For a bright woman, Lila, you can be dense. The only woman I’ve ever loved is you.’
Hearing him say it out loud in such a matter of fact manner was terrifying. ‘You were the one who stabbed me.’
Charlie steered the car to a stop and turned to her. ‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Richard.’
She shook her head. ‘What about him?’
‘Riley. And then Noah. And every other man you’ve fucked. Every one of them took something from me. And the only way I can think of to right that wrong is to take you.’
She stared at him and didn’t know the monster in front of her. ‘You’re going to kill me.’
‘Yes, Lila, of course I am.’
She felt strangely relieved. ‘And you won’t hurt anyone else?’
He smiled, a strange rictus. ‘No, Lila. I won’t be able to, because you and I will die together. Once I stab you, I’ll cut my own throat. I don’t want to live in a world without you.’
She closed her eyes. ‘You’re insane.’
‘And you’re going to die today. Now, lie still and quiet and it’ll all be over soon.’ Charlie started the car again and pulled out onto the highway.
Harry Carnegie stared at the police in disbelief. ‘No. No, she can’t be…oh god…’ He covered his mouth as if he were about to throw up. Tinsley dead? No, they must be mistaken.
When he’d got to the airport and she hadn’t met him, he’d called the suite and one of his security men had told him Tinsley had insisted on going to the hospital. He’d taken a cab there only to be greeted by reception full of police and shocked faces. He heard a whisper. Someone was murdered in the hospital. His chest had clenched tight but he brushed it away. He’d asked for Noah’s room at the desk which is when they’d called a policeman over and he’d been taken into a private room.
There, the detective in charge had told him gently that a Miss Tinsley Chang had been stabbed to death in a stairwell, and that a Miss Tierney had been abducted.
Tinsley was dead.
Harry turned away from the other men so they couldn’t see the raw grief in his face. I just found you again, baby. Why didn’t you wait for me to come here? ‘Can I see Mr Applebaum now, please?’
‘Of course…he wanted to tell you himself but we thought you two might be too close…’
Harry gave a humorless laugh. ‘We’ve never even met.’ And yet they were bonded in blood.
Noah Applebaum looked haunted. As Harry stepped into his hospital room, Noah turned and saw him. The two men stared at each other for a long moment then Noah unsteadily moved towards him. These two men, who had never met, embraced, hugged each other tightly.
‘I’m so sorry, Harry, I’m so sorry.’
‘Me too, Noah. There’s still hope, right?’
Noah pulled out of the hug and tried to smile. ‘You bet there is, Lila’s a fighter. If I wasn’t in this damn hospital, I’d be out hunting that son-of-a-bitch down, but they’re watching me like a hawk.’
Harry nodded. He studied Noah’s movement. ‘So you feel okay? You can walk?’
Noah half-smiled, knowing something else was coming. ‘Yeah, why?’
‘I can distract anyone that needs to be distracted.’
‘They took my clothes so I couldn’t sneak out.’
Harry sized him up. ‘Okay, so I’m about two inches shorter but we’re a similar build.’
Noah did grin then. ‘You sure?’
Harry nodded. ‘If the roles were reversed?’
‘You betcha, buddy. You could come if you want.’
‘I don’t want to leave Tinsley,’ Harry said simply, as he began to undress. Noah nodded, understanding.
‘Man, when this is over and Lila’s safe…’
‘Go,’ Harry brushed his gratitude away. ‘We’ll have all the time to talk after. You got any idea where he would take her?’
Noah shook his head. ‘But I know her history and I know how obsessed people think. If he’s going to kill her, he’ll want to do it somewhere significant. I’ll start where they first met – at the old children’s home in Puget Ridge.’
Harry nodded. ‘Good. Then I
’ll give you a one hour start before I go to the police. Back up, you understand?’
Noah shook Harry’s hand gratefully. ‘I owe you big.’
Harry gripped his hand tightly. ‘If you can, kill the fucker. Please. For Lila. For Tinsley. For my brother.’
Noah sneaked out of the hospital easier than he expected. Everyone was just wrapped up in Tinsley’s murder. When he’d been trying to guess where Charlie would take her, he’d had to think back to the times he and Lila had talked about her childhood. That was back in the early days, when she was in rehab, before they’d even kissed, before that dream of a day when they’d made love – and made Matty. God, he wanted the chance to make babies with Lila, to build a house, a family with her. She was his heart and now his heart was being ripped from him and it was a million times more painful than the bullet Lauren had fired into him.
In spite of his bravado, his assurances to Harry, Noah’s body was screaming at him. His chest burned, his one remaining lung working overtime. Despite his calm exterior, Noah was in the worst agony of his life – physically and emotionally but the adrenaline, the need to get to Lila was all-encompassing.
Just be alive, sweetheart, please. Fight, Lila, fight…I’m coming for you.
Charlie parked the car behind the old children’s home and pulled Lila from the back seat. He’d taped her mouth so she couldn’t scream. After he’d taken her in and laid her on the floor of an empty room, he took the tape off.
‘Scream all you want, no-one will get to you before I kill you. There’s no point, there’s no hope now, Lila.’
He grabbed his backpack and pulled out a gun and a knife. The knife was stained with blood. ‘Whoops,’ he said, grinning nastily. ‘Better wipe Tinsley off of this before you get it.’
Lila’s temper exploded then. ‘You killed innocent people Charlie, and my whole life I’ve been defending you from people saying that you’re bad news, that you’re bad and mean and scary. I defended you!’ She started to cry now. ‘I loved you, Charlie, not as a lover, but as a friend, as a brother. You were my person.’
Nightclub Sins: A Billionaire Romance Series Page 119