The uncanny darkness of the night was like a blanket that protected them both from reality. There was no Victor Saldana in the horizon who wanted her dead. There were no days of endless waiting in a cramped hunter’s cabin, no fears about what tomorrow may bring.
Finn felt like nothing could harm her, no one could touch her, for as long as Lennie’s arms were around her. The way he would occasionally kiss her forehead was so reassuring it made her smile. She pushed all worries away and relished the freedom it brought despite being in the dark. She never wanted to leave this place.
When dawn was making its presence felt, Lennie gathered the blanket and they headed back to the cabin.
Finn disguised her emotion as she approached Lennie who was ready to leave. She plastered a big smile on her lips instead as he reached and gathered her in his arms.
“You’ll be okay while I’m gone?” Lennie asked.
“Of course, I’ll be fine,” Finn assured him.
Finn knew that today was significant not just for her but for the entire precinct. The warrant of arrest for Victor Saldana would be served at his office simultaneously with the criminal case filed against him. Lennie was the lead detective in the case and was charged with serving the subpoena for the arrest.
Lennie held her face with both hands and scrutinized her. “You know I hate to leave you, right? I’d want nothing more than spending the whole day with you. After the case is filed, we’ll be transferring you to another safehouse where you will be issued a bodyguard 24/7. That will make me feel so much better rather than thinking you’re here all alone.”
“Can’t you just be my 24/7 bodyguard instead?” Finn teased.
“You know I’d like nothing more,” Lennie groaned as he lowered his lips to kiss her.
He lingered longer than necessary making the air rush out of her chest. She turned weak and was almost tempted to ask him to stay. But she held on to her resolve and supported him in what he needed to do today. She pushed him away.
“Go,” she laughed pushing him out the door.
Alone in the quiet, Finn decided to work on the errant bracelet that she couldn’t get quite right from last night. She headed for the table and was halfway there when she heard a knock. Finn smiled. It had to be him again.
“Forgot something,” she asked swinging the door wide open.
Lennie stood there silhouetted against the morning light. It was the stricken look on his face that grabbed her attention.
“Lennie, what’s wrong…” Finn never finished the sentence as someone shoved him roughly from behind.
Finn shrieked as three men followed Lennie in. One was holding a gun against his head while the other two had powerful rifles in their hands.
“I’m sorry Finn,” Lennie mumbled, “They took me by surprise.”
Another man entered the cabin. He strolled in like he owned the place. The thinning gray hair, the wide forehead, the narrow eyes that glinted with triumph – those features were forever imprinted in Finn’s memory. Victor Saldana. Finn felt faint as she cowered in fear. Lennie pulled her close like he wanted to safeguard her with his body.
“You shouldn’t have been surprised, Detective,” Saldana said.
“What do you want?” Lennie barked.
Saldana gave an ominous laugh. “You know what I want,” he replied, directing his eyesight at Finn hiding behind Lennie’s back.
Finn was fully conscious of the gun pointed at Lennie’s head. “If it’s me you want, just let him go,” she pleaded.
Saldana gave another hoarse laugh as a tall thin man wearing a shield on his overcoat made an appearance at the door. “Ah… Lindt… I’m glad you could finally join us,” Saldana said.
Finn was taken by surprise. She knew this man. “Lennie is that…”
Lennie’s baleful stare at the new arrival confirmed her suspicion.
“Yes, that’s the Commissioner of New York’s Finest. A snake and a traitor to the position he upholds,” Lennie replied.
“Detective Palermo, you’re not exactly in a position to call me names,” the Commissioner greeted.
“So, you’re here to make sure that nothing stands in the way to the murder of Torch?” Lennie asked angrily.
The Commissioner shrugged. Finn wondered how he could still manage to look embarrassed.
“Actually, you’re right,” Saldana confirmed. “Things wouldn’t have escalated this far if his men were able to kill the girl the first time. But you came along and decided to play the hero. I admit it took a while before we could actually pinpoint where you’ve hidden her. The commissioner relayed that information to me as soon as he found out.” The pleasant voice was in stark contrast to the face that displayed no sign of emotion.
“Well, he has always been a rat,” Lennie said. Then he looked directly at Saldana and said, “Maybe you should ask the Commissioner how Torch managed to lose the guns?”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Commissioner sputtered.
Lennie glared angrily. “We know you orchestrated the heist at the armory. You offered the guns to Saldana because you needed the money for the coming elections. What Saldana doesn’t know, you made the same offer to the Angels hoping to get more than Saldana’s offer of 2 million dollars. Torch Sr. asked for a few days. You got antsy when he left the country so you decided to accept Victor’s offer. You were playing it safe. But when you got wind of the reason Torch was away, you got greedy. Now it wasn’t just about the money. If Torch Sr. succeeded in uniting all the motorcycle clubs around the world, that would make him powerful and you wanted that power too. You informed Jimmy Jr, the son, where Victor hid the cache promising him part of the loot. After Torch Jr. got the guns, you orchestrated another heist and stole the guns from him. The weapons are currently in your possession in your garage at Southampton. You were waiting for the right timing before you gave it back to Victor, possibly even ask for more cash. What you didn’t foresee was that Victor here would kill Jimmy Jr. that night at the pier.”
A cold silence followed.
“That’s a lie, Victor. Don’t believe anything he says,” The Commissioner contended.
Finn saw the look in Victor Saldana’s eyes. The glint was gone, replaced by something more menacing. He didn’t say a word as he calmly removed a handgun from his pocket, sauntered, and fired.
Finn screamed as the Commissioner collapsed.
“Jesus,” she heard Lennie mutter.
“I never liked him anyway,” Victor announced as he casually slid the gun back into his pocket. “But the idiot could still serve a purpose,” he added sidling to Finn and Lennie. “After I kill you both, I’d plant the gun in your hand, Detective Palermo. We’ll make it appear there was a shootout between you and the Commissioner.”
Finn slid her hand and entwined her fingers with Lennie’s. She knew with absolute certainty the next gunshots would mean their death. She felt him grip her tightly as she closed her eyes and waited.
She heard a clatter as an object rolled on the floor followed by the sound of breaking glass as more objects were hurled into the house. The smell of acrid smoke filled her nose. She opened her eyes at the exact moment when two figures came hurtling to the door.
“Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons!”
Two of Saldana’s men swiveled and leveled their guns. Finn heard the sound of automatic gunfire as Lennie grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground. Her ears were ringing from the exchange of gunshots in the closeted cottage. It seemed like an eternity before the gunshots ceased completely. She couldn’t move a muscle because Lennie was on top of her.
“Lennie, are you okay?” A voice inquired.
She felt Lennie stir and free her from the weight of his body.
“I’m okay, Chief” Lennie responded before he attended to her.
Finn was still in shock as Lennie assisted her to her feet. The cottage was in shambles. There were now two other bodies on the floor beside the Commissioner. She looked up and stare
d as half a dozen men entered. She realized that that most of the men were dressed in black wearing heavy helmets on their heads. The word “Police” was emblazoned along one side of the sleeve.
The swat team found Victor Saldana crouched behind a chair holding his gun. Two automatic rifles were aimed at his head.
“Drop the gun, Victor.” The Chief said.
Finn turned and watched as Victor Saldana rose to his feet, both hands raised in a gesture of surrender. The gun was still in his hand.
“Drop the gun,” The Chief insisted.
Finn thought it was just like in the movies, except this time everything was in slow-mo. She saw Victor smile. The hand holding the gun slowly moved. Victor Saldana aimed for his temple and pulled the trigger.
Finn screamed.
There was a mad dash to where Victor stood before he twisted and toppled to the ground. Finn watched in horror as sticky crimson spurted out from the gaping hole in his head. The liquid spewed before settling to a pool that rolled a few feet away from his body. Finn had never seen so much blood in her life. One thing struck her with so much clarity. The shade of Victor’s blood was exactly the same color as the rosebud that was pinned on his lapel.
The cottage had a dreamlike quality as Finn watched the frenetic aftermath of Victor Saldana’s suicide. Forensics came and gathered whatever evidence they could find. A vehicle from the coroner’s office arrived and collected the bodies inside body bags. The shrill siren of an ambulance was heard through the trees before it made its way to the cottage.
Finn sat a few meters away watching everything unfold. It was like watching CSI. An EMT wrapped a blanket around her. He asked if she wanted a sedative to calm her nerves. Finn shook her head unable to answer vocally.
Her mind had stopped functioning the moment Victor Saldana took his life, right before their very eyes. And yet, a thousand thoughts whirled simultaneously. She was free from the threat of being killed…there wasn’t going to be any trial… she could take up her life again where she left off since that night Jimmy Torch was shot at the pier.
“I’ll probably need years of therapy after this,” she mumbled, not realizing she said it out loud.
The EMT replied, “you should watch out for post-traumatic stress syndrome. It’s fairly common for situations like this but eventually it will go away.”
Finn noticed that Lennie was huddled in conversation with a group of men. One of them she recognized as the Chief. Fragments of their conversation filtered her way.
“It was Lou’s idea to install trackers in Saldana’s cars. He figured that if the guy would make a move it had to be today. We had the cottage on GPS. The moment we noticed movement coming your way, we called the Swat team in.” The chief said.
“You had a close, Lennie. You owe me your life,” a voice teased.
Finn assumed he was the guy the Chief was referring to. Lou.
“Yeah,” Lennie replied, “I owe you one, you geek.”
Lou laughed loudly.
“What did the mayor have to say?” Lennie asked the Chief.
“The guy is nervous as hell. Can’t blame him. When the headlines come out tomorrow, he knows the public’s attention will be focused on him next. Probably regret the day he endorsed Lindt as his appointee. He knows the deal. He will expect major backlash when the relationship between Saldana and Lindt comes out in the news. It may even cost him his reelection,” the chief replied.
The Chief of Police glanced in Finn’s direction then walked over to where she was.
“Miss Allen…”
“Finn,” she cut in.
“Finn, I’d like to thank you for everything that you were willing to do. You placed your life on the line to bring justice to someone you didn’t even know. But its not over yet, unfortunately. We need you to come with us to the station where we will get your statement.”
Hours later, Finn was bone-weary and ready to head home. She hadn’t seen Lennie for hours, not since they arrived at the station where she was closeted with an Investigator who took down notes of everything she said.
She faltered as she made her way out of the room. It suddenly occurred that she may never see him again. There was no longer any case to follow and she no longer needed protection. The notion was painful. Silly as it may seem, this was one of the thoughts that flashed through her mind when Saldana shot himself in the head.
She fought the tears that threatened. “I’m just tired,” she consoled herself, as she turned a corner of the precinct.
Then suddenly she saw him. He was there, leaning against the wall. His face lit up when she came into view and sprinted to meet her.
“You okay?” He asked.
Finn nodded wondering if that was tender concern she heard in his voice. He reached for her and took her in his arms. Finn noticed that most of the officers in the room were looking in their direction. Suddenly she felt shy.
“I just wanna go home,” she told him.
Lennie didn’t let go even as they made their way to the exit. He had an arm securely around her shoulder.
“Your place or mine,” he asked.
“Huh?’ Finn replied, not understanding.
“You said you wanted to go home. Where is home Finn? Your place or mine?” Lennie asked tenderly.
“With you…always with you,” Finn replied without hesitation.
Also by Emily Vincent
The Seduction Series
Dual Hearts (Book 1)
The Bodyguard’s Bed (Book 2)
Virgin On Vacation
FREE GIFT ‘SEX, MONEY & ME’
On Fire (Seduction Series Book 3) Page 14