by Amy Shojai
Fisting her eyes, Lia straightened her shoulders and reset her resolve. She’d thought finding the truth would make things right. She’d prove to Grandfather that her father wasn’t the villain, she’d have a new sense of her heritage, and everyone could go back to their prickly relationship—but still be part of each other’s world.
But that wasn’t possible. Wyatt—she couldn’t bring herself to call him Dad—had provided more truth in their brief Skype conversation than she’d had in 22 years. He’d been honest about his mistakes, too, including that he’d hurt her sister Tee in some terrible way, and wanted to make it right.
Lia debated calling September but couldn’t bring herself to impose again. She’d missed messages from Combs. He’d found her truck, but not Karma or her sister. Dammit!
Doc Eugene should have called by now about Karma. That meant the other option turned the awful, horrible, terrible day into an even worse nightmare. She’d bet the Corazon fortune that Tee took Karma with her to meet Momma Ruth, and didn’t tell Combs, either. She further bet he found out about it, and that’s why he took off like a buckshot coyote.
Lia didn’t bother listening to voice mail. Time enough to call Combs back once she’d reamed out Tee. She dialed her sister’s number, shivering in the brisk breeze. She pulled on her gloves and didn’t notice the car’s approach until it stopped next to her. Lia scrubbed at tear-stained cheeks before turning when the driver rolled down the passenger window.
“Need a ride? I couldn’t help but overhear—”
“Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it. Just a second.” She held up a pink-gloved hand as Tee answered the phone, but when she heard heavy breathing, Lia grew exasperated. “Hello? Hello? Where the hell are you, Tee, and what have you done with my dog?”
Barks erupted on the other side of the line, followed by a cacophony of crowing roosters. “What? Do you hear that?” Incredulous, she climbed into the car. “Something’s wrong. Take me to the police station, I’ll explain along the way.” She slammed the door.
“Oh, I’m sure it’s quite a story.” Antonio Kanoa smiled as he shoved the car into gear, grabbed Lia’s phone and tossed it out the window.
Chapter 70
Combs waited while the office manager unlocked the door to Tee and Lia’s apartment. He’d hoped Lia would be waiting when he arrived, but the place was empty. She’d still not returned his call or text, and that worried him.
“Where’s your uniform? You sure don’t look like a cop.” The manager stood aside, grumbling.
“Detectives don’t wear uniforms.” He’d shown his badge, but still hadn’t changed from his off-duty clothes, so he looked like a refugee from a rodeo. He didn’t wait for response and closed the door behind him.
The place looked bipolar, but he wasn’t surprised. Tee kept her space tidy, if not immaculate, but Lia couldn’t be bothered. Part of that, he knew, had to do with sharing space with a ninety-pound pregnant Rottweiler. Karma’s frustration with confinement prompted all sorts of destructive behavior, so the folded clothes spilled off of the sofa, shredded burrito wrappings, and tipped over wastebasket weren’t surprising.
He hurried to the tiny kitchenette and found Tee’s laptop. Thankfully, she hadn’t locked the machine, and he found the file he wanted. They file-shared, so he’d seen most of it before, but she’d updated since his last review. Combs scanned the document, paying particular attention to the most recent entries made less than two hours ago. “Bingo!” God bless Tee for being anal.
The snitch made contact and set the sting in motion. Tee also noted the phone number had changed from previous Momma Ruth communications. She’d used at least three other phones before, but this was a phone call from a landline, not a cell number. Interesting. On top of that, Momma Ruth said the “merchandise” moved out today, pushing the sting to go-status.
He called the station. “Get someone to track down this number.” He read the landline from Tee’s file. “Yeah, I’ll wait.”
He’d gathered as much information as he could. Without more, he’d rejoin Gonzales and the rest of the team back at the station, compare notes, and figure out next steps. Maybe they had a line on Tee’s cell phone by now. He was headed back to his car when the station came back on the line.
“That number’s for a hole-in-the-wall diner way up north, over the Oklahoma border. They’ve had some raids out that way on account of cockfighting and gambling. There’s an order to disconnect the line later today. It’s out of our jurisdiction. You want me to contact PD over yonder?”
“Do that. We have an undercover cop in the mix, so tell ’em to tread careful. And get someone to light a fire under whoever’s tracing Tee’s phone.” He disconnected.
As long as her phone stayed on, and the battery didn’t run down, they had a chance. Combs hoped she had the sense to mute the thing so calls wouldn’t give her away. Damn, he wanted to call her, but didn’t dare.
Before he could start his car, Momma Ruth called, again from the landline.
“She no here. Where your lady cop, spoze to come hep me. Where she be? We had a deal!”
“You contacted Tee this morning to set up the meeting.”
“But she not here. They gwon kill me! You promise get me outta the biz, if I hep. Now, Boss smells somfin wrong, got long reach. So I go ’way. Far ’way, you no fin’ and Boss no fin’ me.”
“Wait! Where’s the Boss now? With you at that diner in Chicapee?”
Dead silence. “What diner? No diner, no Chicapee, I nevah tell you dat! Boss come by me to Dallas, where I tell your girl-cop meet wif me. I hear tell about big boat they take in Houston, too. You gotta get Boss, so I go home Hawaii, okay? Leave me be!” She hung up.
He didn’t buy it. The call didn’t ring true. Still, Combs made two calls; first, to his counterpart in Dallas County to check into known cockfight operatives. And second, a call to Gonzales to gather the team and meet at the Chicapee diner. He’d make the forty-minute drive in record time.
Chapter 71
Lia cradled her aching jaw, still not understanding what prompted Antonio Kanoa to coldcock her. While dazed, he’d secured her wrists. She wasn’t sure how long they’d driven when he turned off a narrow farm-to-market road onto a pig path that cut through a spent cornfield. She roused enough to peer through the window, taking in the ramshackle property ahead. He threaded the car through chicken coop shelters, and when the colorful birds began to crow, Lia roused in startled recognition at the sound she heard on Tee’s phone. Dog barks joined the crowing cacophony, and she recognized the bass howls. “Karma!”
Kanoa backhanded her. “Shut up. You say nothing, do nothing.”
The car stopped, and a slim red-haired woman exited the diner’s door. “You’re late. Who’s she?” Her attractive features turned ugly. “Momma Ruth gave us up. I just talked to some detective, tried to steer him Dallas way, but I don’t think he bought it. Now you pick up some random girl? She’s not even your usual flavor, and we already got merchandise to liquidate—”
“But I thought—”
“Thinking is my job.”
He licked his lips. “Right, Boss. Of course. If your guy won’t take delivery—”
“Everything’s blowing up, nobody will do a deal now. I’ll make up the loss later.”
“Give me Alana.” His eyes gleamed.
“You keep her, it’s your funeral. Changing your name won’t help for long, not without better planning.” She tossed her long hair. “I got a special order to deliver Pilikia Teves. Momma Ruth did us a favor, luring her in. The stupid bitch still has no clue we know she’s a cop. I paid off the delivery guy, he knows nothing, even if they pick him up.”
Kanoa gestured at Lia where she slouched in the car listening with growing horror. “She’s a Teves, too. Half-sister to the cop, one of Wyatt’s bastards. Should be a bonus for your client if they’ve got something against him. This one won’t be missed, either, she just cut ties with the Texas branch of the family.” He grimaced a
t the noise. “What’s with the mutt?”
Karma’s barking grew to hysterical proportions. Lia’s throat ached in sympathy, hearing the dog’s hoarse sound. Karma’s presence meant her sister was in trouble, too. Lia eyed the car door latch. If she could reach Karma, they couldn’t touch her.
“That’s the cop’s dog. I thought we could use it as leverage. If we had more time, fun and games for me to see what my knives could do to its shiny black fur.” She laughed, and added, “Never got the chance when I worked at the vet clinic last year.” Karma redoubled her barking, as if she knew they discussed her. “Shut up! Shut up, dog, or I’ll shut you up!” Boss screamed, taking a few steps toward the dog.
“About that barking.” Kanoa nodded at Lia. “She called someone. Nobody answered, but I could hear crowing and that dog.” He looked around at the cackling flock. “Tee has a phone hid somewhere. They can trace those, can’t they?”
“Son-of-a-bitch!”
The pair turned away, and Lia unlatched her car door, slid out and pushed it closed. She crouched, keeping the car between her and the couple, and scuttled to where Karma stood shaking and barking with aggression. When she noticed Lia, her barks morphed to squeals and howls of delight. Karma slicked back her ears and wriggled with happiness.
Boss narrowed her eyes, swinging attention back from Karma to the car. “Where’s your merchandise, Tony?”
Lia sprinted, reaching Karma in less than ten seconds, and rolled beneath the porch overhang. Her zip-tied wrists prevented hugging the warm, black neck, but she welcomed Karma’s frantic lapping face-kisses before pushing away. Now what?
Kanoa screeched and started toward her. Karma’s growl warned him away.
“Leave her, she’s not going anywhere. Help me put the merchandise on ice, and we’ll come back for her. I’ve got a date with a plane, and a new passport.” Boss whirled, and Lia heard her feet thump overhead as the woman ran back into the diner.
“Good girl, Karma! What a good-dog. Let’s get you loose.” Karma’s teeth offered their only defense. She pulled off her pink gloves, and struggled for long minutes to untie the rope.
Karma grabbed something soft and pushed it against Lia’s bound wrists.
“Yes, I see, you brought your lamb. Hold still, Karma.” But the dog repeatedly thrust the toy at her, hampering her efforts. “Karma, no! It’s not playtime.” What was wrong with her? This wasn’t like the dog, not at all. In exasperation, Lia grabbed the toy to fling it aside.
The weight of the lamb made her pause. Karma looked at her with a wise expression, cocking her head from side to side. Something was inside. And Karma knew it.
Tee! Leave it to her savvy sister to offer a back door for rescue. Lia smiled. That explained the noise when she called. Tee’s phone was inside the lamb, and somehow, Karma answered the call.
Overhead, she heard more screams, and loud voices. Soon, Kanoa and the woman would return for her. She needed to call Combs and get the police out here before something awful happened.
Lia found the open seam in the stuffed toy, reached inside, and pulled out the phone. But something else remained inside. She stuffed the phone into her pocket and drew out Tee’s gun.
Her heart thudded. The only gun she’d ever fired was Grandfather’s shotgun. He told her as a Corazon, she needed to respect firearms, and know how to use them. She wished she’d paid closer attention.
Karma whined and licked her face as if to say, we’re in this together.
“Good girl, Karma.” Lia didn’t like guns. She’d get over her distaste, though, if it meant defending herself and Karma, and the rest of the merchandise inside.
Chapter 72
Tee waited inside the bathroom, prepared to continue the masquerade. She’d heard a car leave—her driver?—and another arrive—maybe, finally, the Boss. Now at least two pairs of footsteps echoed down the small hallway toward their smelly prison. She hoped the police weren’t far behind.
Alana cowered. Tee winked at her. “Like I told you, I’m here to protect you. Don’t be scared, even if I pretend to be hurt or frightened. It’s all pretend, okay?”
“Pretend.” Alana repeated the word, but didn’t believe her. To the child, pretend wasn’t valid when she lived a real life of horror.
A loud banging sounded on the door. Alana tugged Tee’s bound wrists, and the pair backed way.
“Coming for you, sweet Alana, my little damaged goods!” The man’s voice made the child whimper. Tee’s nostrils flared, and goosebumps shivered her flesh. His voice scratched some secret dangerous memory deep inside, and sudden terror clutched her gut.
The door screeched open, and Tee no longer had to pretend. Tony Kanoa reached to grab Alana and drag her out. Tee did nothing to stop him. Couldn’t. She was helpless, just like all those years ago.
Her vision darkened, and she slipped away from the hurtful now, welcomed the black, wanted to go away and not come back. The boogeyman of childhood nightmares, foggy memory keeping her safe, shined real—not pretend at all—with evil embodied in his flat face and fervent eyes.
“No, Mr. Tony no!” Alana screamed.
Tony Kanoa.
Tee fell into a black abyss and welcomed the nothingness.
Chapter 73
Lia heard a young girl squealing and blubbering. She peered from beneath the porch as Karma continued to growl. “Shush.” She whispered the command, and the dog fell silent, but Lia could feel the muscular shoulder pressed against hers trembling with pent up energy.
“Your choice, Tony, but consider the merchandise your payment in full.” The woman’s strident exasperation was clear. “When you’re caught—and your habit will make that happen—you say nothing.”
“I’d never say anything, Boss.”
“Yes, you would, Tony. I know you. Just don’t forget I have a long memory, and longer reach.”
She couldn’t hear his answer. Lia saw him shove a tiny girl into his car and drive away. Lia remained silent, holding her breath as the woman paced back and forth on the wooden porch overhead.
Mele didn’t know the Boss’s name. But Mele never said if Boss was a man or a woman. Antonio Kanoa, if that was his real name, took orders from this woman. She called the shots.
“I have your requested merchandise, and a bonus package that’s closely related to the merchandise. You understand? But delivery isn’t possible. How would like me to dispose of said merchandise?”
She strained to understand the one-sided phone conversation. Tee had been suckered into going undercover, when in fact she’d been targeted. Lia thought she’d been a drive-by casualty, but instead, Kanoa also targeted her. She couldn’t figure out why. Lia juggled the gun with her bound hands, prepared to defend herself. She half-expected Tee to burst out of hiding with guns blazing like a super-cop. Her sister must still be okay, or Boss wouldn’t ask her client for instructions.
“Understood. Yes, it will be painful. You shall have the honor of informing their father. And I expect payment to my account in the name of Dr. Robin Gillette, though I’ll be changing things again very soon. I will text you the transfer instructions.” The call ended, and the Boss walked down the stairs to peer beneath the boardwalk. “Come out, before I shoot you, kill your dog, and burn your sister to death.”
Lia braced both hands on the gun, closed her eyes tight, and began to shoot.
A scream of anger greeted the half dozen gunshots.
Pulling the trigger, not trying to aim, kept the woman at bay. Lia didn’t know what else to do and had no plan beyond that. Boss knew the police would show up. Maybe she’d cut her losses and go, rather than risk waiting Lia out.
The woman scrambled back up onto the porch, so Lia rolled onto her back and shot overhead through the rickety wood. Splinters hit her face, and mud dauber nests shattered and sprinkled her face with dirt. “Go away, go away, leave me alone!”
“You’ve seen my face now. You and your sister, both. And my payday and escape depends on you both going away.”
The voice taunted her. “I’ve got plenty of new names ready to go, so take your best shot.”
She’d never been so scared or angry. Lia pulled the trigger again, and nothing happened.
Boss tromped down the stairs, voice gloating. “All out of bullets? Figured it was the cop’s gun, so I counted to 15.” She bent low to stare at Lia, and didn’t flinch when Karma roared at her. “Amazing what tools one can find rummaging about a country kitchen.” She held a cylinder in her hand, flipped a trigger, and the blowtorch spewed blue flame, licking at the tinder-dry structure.
Karma screamed, and backpedaled from the fire. The dog’s tether caught Lia across the throat, knocking her head sideways against the bois d’arc support beam, leaving her dazed.
Boss reached a hand tipped with blue lacquered fingernails and aimed the flame to sear Lia’s face. But she recoiled and dropped the blowtorch and it rolled out of reach when a poof of fur hissed and clawed blindly at her skin.
“Dammit! Thought I got rid of all of you filthy things.” Boss flung her hand, and the orange tabby hissed and spat, sailing past Lia’s head.
Lia blinked, sure a kitten hallucination meant very bad things for her brain. She struggled as Boss grabbed her by the neck, and dragged her out of the shelter, leaving the flaming torch, bellowing dog and screaming kitten behind.
Chapter 74
Karma dodged the flame-spitting demon when it rolled toward her. The area under the building restricted a good-dog’s movement, and she struggled to gather her feet. Her job was to protect, but the rope kept Karma from reaching Lia. She checked on the kitten, and it hissed and spat with startled aggravation, then purred when it smelled and recognized Karma.