“I don’t know that.”
He chuckled loudly, and purposefully. “I know you do, Agent Bowles, or you
wouldn’t have texted your people asking them to trace this call.”
The expression on her face changed to one of extreme caution. She hadn’t been
expecting to hear that revelation from him. She reached into her handbag for the gun, and held it in her hand, resting it carefully on her leg. She cast quick, anxious glances around her. It was hard to tell where he was on the crowded street. She glanced across the street at the packed coffee shops, and at the two restaurants nearby. Then up to the large windows at the tall buildings above her. Maybe he was positioned up there somewhere looking down at her.
“You are watching me!” she said to him in an angry voice.
He chuckled again. “How else could I have known about your hair, and the text. I’m looking at you as we speak. And your stalling tactic will get you nowhere. They can’t trace this call.”
Her head went up to the windows at the buildings again.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Excuse me!” She curled her finger around her gun tighter, wishing she could put a couple bullets right through his heart.
“I want to meet with you.”
“It’s not going to happen. The only encounter I will be having with you, is to bring
you in, either in handcuffs or a body bag!”
He let out a loud laugh. “That’s very brazen, even for you, Agent Bowles. I’m offering you an olive branch, and you are snapping it into pieces and tossing it right back in my face. That’s not very nice of you, Agent Bowles. I expected so much better of you.”
“You are a wanted criminal, Raybourne. We don’t negotiate with those. You can either surrender yourself to us, or we will take you out. One way or the other, we are going to catch you.”
He laughed loudly. And it made her furious.
“Oh, my, Agent Bowles, you are completely delusional about your ability to capture me! There is a reason why you haven’t been successful this far.”
“We will catch you, Raybourne. There’s no doubt about it!”
He giggled some more. “Enough about me, Agent Bowles—I call to talk about you personally, not about your team’s never ending wild goose chase. I know it hasn’t been easy for you since your partner left.”
That ticked her off. “I know you framed Earnes, Raybourne, and it’s only a matter of time before I prove it!”
“And what if I did! I told you before no one is going to stand in my way, including you, Agent Bowles.”
“Is that why you tried to kill me?”
“What! I never tried to kill you, Agent Bowles. We have a connection. I don’t want
to lose it.”
“The man you sent to my house.” She pointed out to him quickly. “You couldn’t
have forgotten that!”
“That wasn’t me. But come on, Agent Bowles, you took care of that very nicely. That poor guy didn’t have a chance against you.”
“How did you know about that?”
“As I said before, I’m hardly one to reveal my sources, but I can give you something better.”
A confused look appeared on her face. “What do you mean?”
“Check your phone in a minute. I’m sending you some photographs. You will find them very fascinating, to say the least.”
“Turn yourself in Raybourne! I’m giving you the chance!”
“I will love to help make your job a lot easier, Agent Bowles, but I’m afraid I can’t. I have too much to do, and I won’t be able to do any of it if I’m sitting in a jail cell watching the wall. Or as you so succinctly put it, in a body bag! You do have a way with words, Agent Bowles! I must give you that!”
“What are you planning, Raybourne? We will find out. And we will stop you.”
“Do you really think I will divulge that to you, Agent Bowles? Let’s just say that it is something big and unforgetable. Check your phone momentarily. I’m sending you the photographs as promised. And Agent Bowles, enjoy your lunch with your mother. She is already waiting for you at the restaurant. That place makes the best sushi. Their sashimi is to die for. I will be in touch shortly.”
He ended the call before she had the chance to say anything more.
She shut the phone, and called Marcy.
“Were you able to get anything?”
“No, sorry. The signals were scrambled. He could have been calling you from overseas.”
“No, he was here. He was looking at me from somewhere close. At least we know he hasn’t left the country.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure, Marcy—thanks. Call me if you find anything.”
“But it’s your day off.” Marcy reminded her quickly.
“And I’m coming in. Give me an hour,” she told Marcy, and ended the call.
She opened the phone about a minute after. The photos and two documents appeared on the screen. She spent less than two minutes looking at them. She didn’t need more time. There was hardly an expression on her face when she was done. She pressed delete and watched as they disappeared from her phone.
She pulled out of the parking lot shortly after, and headed on Broadway, in the
direction of the restaurant on 60th. Her mother would be disappointed that this wasn’t
going to be one of their long, chatty lunches. She was relieved.
Chapters 12
She was sitting in the shadows when he walked in. She had been waiting for him for almost two hours. He was late. He should have been here over an hour ago. She had timed his arrival, down to the very last second. He had probably made a couple stops on the way before coming here. She’d heard when he came into the house, and had gone and sat back down in the leather armchair next to the window where she could have a clear view of him when he came in.
She had thought of taking him out when he entered the house—one quick bullet to his left temple would have done the job. That would have certainly killed him, but she had decided to wait. She wanted to give him a chance to talk. She wanted him to tell her why he had done it. Then she would kill him. There was no other way out of this for him. As far as she was concerned, he was no different than the others. He must die.
He saw her when he switched on the light, and he jumped.
“Honey! What are you doing sitting there in the dark? Hard day at work, I assume!”
He sounded so fucking sure of himself, she thought. He was acting as if he knew what she was feeling—SOB, she thought. She could feel the hate, anger and disgust mounting, and she took a very deep breath and gave him a reserved look. This would
be so much easier than she thought!
He dropped his briefcase and came towards her, and there was a smile on his face as he drew closer to the chair. It was a smile she knew ever so well. She used to like the way his upturned lips would morphed into a wide, easy grin, his dimples getting deeper, and deeper, as his smile widened. He was the only man she knew with such natural dimples, well, him and Kirk Russell. And she had even thought that his were sexier!
“Honey?” He bent and took her hand. “Is everything okay?”
His deep set blue eyes went up to search her face. And if she hadn’t known what he had done, she would have thought that he actually cared.
She pulled her hand away and stared back coldly at him. “I don’t know—you tell me,” she told him in a stony voice. She was far from feeling disgusted with him. She had been through that emotion hours before.
“Is this about that dinner party at your mother’s? I apologized for that. I told you I couldn’t make it. I had clients flying in from LA. I needed those accounts, Gab. I couldn’t reschedule, either. They were in town for only that day.”
She looked at him, and still she didn’t say anything.
“I’m getting a drink. Want one.”
He didn’t wait for her to answer. He went over to the drinks on the s
ide table and
poured two glasses. He took a sip of his, and brought back the second glass to her. He
offered it to her, and she didn’t take it.
“Have it,” she told him in an indifferent voice. “You will need it.”
He gave her a crushed look and sank into the chair next to the desk.
“You found out, didn’t you?”
He emptied the two glasses in two swift swallows, and set them on a side of the large desk.
“I would have found out. It was only a matter of time.” She slowly uncrossed her legs, and sat forward to look at him. His face was red and flustered, and he had beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.
“You weren’t supposed to know, at least, not yet.”
“Why did you do it, Kirk?”
“He found out I was pilfering money from some of the clients’ accounts. He was going to turn me in.”
“When was that?”
“About a year and a half ago.”
She frowned. “Around the time you so mysteriously bumped into me at the soup kitchen! I should have known. You seemed so extremely out of place there. My first impression was that you didn’t even want to be there. But you were there for me, weren’t you?” She had already put the pieces together. She just wanted him to walk her through everything again. She wanted him to admit his guilt. She felt he owed her
that much!
He gave her a nervous look and looked away.
“What did he offer you?” she asked him in a reserved voice.
“Work with him or go to jail.”
“So you chose the easy way out.”
“It wasn’t that easy, Gab. Look at me—I’m a nerd—I’ve never had one day of hardship in my life. I’ve always had everything handed to me. I’m not accustomed to the rough life. I’m not a thug. I wouldn’t have survived in prison.”
“Just a white color thief and a liar!”
He ignored the swipe she took at him.
“I never meant to hurt you, Gab. You have to believe that. I’m not cut out for jail. Those criminals would have eaten me alive! I’ve watched episodes of Jail. I’ve seen what prison is like. I know what goes on behind those bars. I would be dead within a day!”
“What I don’t understand is; you were doing well. You didn’t need the money.”
His face reddened, and he loosened his silk tie. “I got into some trouble,” he finally told her in a barely there voice.
“What sort of trouble?”
“I have a weakness for high stake poker. I owed over half a million dollars to loan
sharks, and I’m talking about some very, very bad guys here.” He emphasized. “They
don’t play around. They would have killed me if I didn’t have their money.”
“Am I supposed to feel sorry for you!” She gave him a sarcastic look. “That is no excuse for what you did. You should have cut your losses and deal with the consequences. Do you have any idea what type of man you were working for?”
“I do now.” He gave her a rueful look.
“Then why didn’t you just walk away when you had the chance. Why didn’t you tell me what was going on, Kirk? It probably would have helped you.”
“I couldn’t. He threatened to kill me if I went to the police or told anyone what I was doing, including you. And he meant it. I barely escaped with my life. His people burned down my condo in Manhattan, then the brake on my car was cut, twice. He wasn’t going to let me just walk away. He made that extremely clear.”
“Then maybe you should have taken your chances and let him kill you, Kirk.”
She gave him a fierce look.
“You don’t mean that.” He seemed surprised, and hurt.
“I do. I mean every word of it. It’s still going to end the same way for you, Kirk. There’s no easy way out of this one for you. You are just as guilty as Raybourne.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“What I’m trying to figure out is; why did Raybourne target me? Why did he use
you to come after me?”
She had gone over every possible scenario in her head, and none of them had made
much sense to her.
“I…I. duh…I don’t know.” The color rushed to his face. He took his glasses off and blew on them. And she watched him taking his time to clean them. She felt like ripping them from his hand and stomping on them.
“Are you sure about that?”
He threw his hands up! “He wasn’t forth coming with a reason. He’s a sick guy—maybe he has some sort of sick obsession with you. Be grateful that he didn’t kill you. I’ve seen him killed a lot of people. He’s crazy! A lot of crazies are usually obsessed with beautiful women. You just happen to be the one he chooses.”
“Didn’t know you were a psychiatrist now,” she told him sarcastically.
“I don’t have to be one to see what’s really going on here,” he told her. “The guy is obsessed with you, Gabby. He wants you, and he’s willing to go through great lengths to make it happen.”
“I think you should leave that analysis to the professionals, Kirk.” She dismissed his ranting. “What I do want to know, Kirk—was it all an act for you?”
She had sworn not to bring it up with him, but the urge to find out was too great. She probably would regret asking him, too.
He gave her a hurt look and buried his face in his hands. She heard him groaned.
“Oh, god, Gabby, no! I know you want to believe that, but you couldn’t be more wrong about me, and about us. I knew you were something special the moment I saw you. You were smart, beautiful and funny. I fell in love with you on our second date. I wanted a life with you, Gab. I really did. Why do you think I was so determined for
you to move in with me? I wanted to protect you from him. I thought living with me
would keep you safe.”
“I don’t believe you, Kirk. There is so much wrong with everything you are saying.” Her thoughts flashed back to the nude images of her in the shower and in her bed. She would never be able to get pass any of it.
“I swear I had no idea that was what he wanted me to do. I’m so sorry. I wish I can take it all back.” He tried to come over to where she was sitting.
“Stay where you are!” She brought the gun around and held it on him.
He stood in his tracks and gave her a stunned look.
“A gun?” he said in a shocked voice. “Are you arresting me?”
“Yes. But that is entirely up to you. I’m giving you a heads up that you have a choice here. What else did you do for Raybourne? And don’t tell me that you weren’t involved in any of his illegal schemes.”
He ran his hand through his thick hair. “Okay—I laundered money for him, and I siphoned off money from some of the wealthy clients’ accounts at the bank. They are billionaires; it’s not like they were going to miss a couple million dollars!”
“What did Raybourne do with the money?”
“I don’t know. I just transferred the money to offshore accounts.”
“Did you have anything to do with the money that ended up in accounts that were supposedly opened in Earnes’ name?”
He neither confirmed nor denied it. He turned his head and stared out the window
behind her into the darkness, instead.
“Do you know where he is?”
He whipped around and gave her a surprised look. “No! Do you really think he would confide that sort of information in me? The man is a schizophrenic paranoid. He doesn’t trust anyone. And he’s elusive.”
“He obviously trusted you!”
She’d heard enough. None of it mattered anymore. It would all come out in the investigation. “Change of plan,” she told him in a hard voice. “Turn around!”
She had decided not to kill him, and for one reason, and one reason only—he was going to help clear Earnes’ name. Otherwise, he would be dead already.
“Spread your legs.” She was going to pat him down to make sure
that he wasn’t carrying a concealed weapon anywhere on his body. “Put your hands behind your back where I can see them.”
That caught him completely by surprise. “Are you taking me in?” he asked. “This very minute?”
She got up and approached him.
“Consider yourself lucky. You are going to jail, for a very, very long time. You will
probably die there. Raybourne would probably have someone shank you in the shower—or worst!” she told him, with deliberate precision, knowing he wouldn’t take
it well.
She reached for his hands to handcuff him, and he put up a fight. He brought his
left hand up and elbowed her in the face. The swift blow sent her staggering backwards against the chair. She stumbled and lost her balance. He didn’t waste any time. He jumped down on top of her, grabbed her hair, and tried to push her face into the carpet. She slipped her body to the right, and gripped onto his hands. She dug her nails into his skin, and bit down hard into the flesh on his arm.
That got him to let her go. She shoved him off her, and crawled towards the gun. He got to it first. He was already on his feet. He grabbed the gun and pointed it at her.
“You don’t want to do that, Kirk.” She looked up at him from where she was lying on the floor.
“You don’t give me a choice. I told you there’s no way I’m going to prison, and I mean it. I don’t want to kill you Gabby, but I will, if I have to.”
The gun was shaking in his hand, and he was gasping for breath. She had forgotten that he was asthmatic.
“Okay, I get it. Put the gun down, Kirk, and we will work something out.”
“Like what?”
“Like you walking out of here,” she told him calmly. “Just let me up.”
“No! I don’t trust you. This is all work for you, Gabby. You will never allow me to
walk out of this house. And I’m a step ahead of you, babe. I can always say you were
already dead when I got home—shot in the head by an intruder—a robbery gone bad.”
“They will never believe you, Kirk, not when I’m shot with my own gun.”
“That can be taken care of.” He raised his jacket and showed her the gun in his waist. “Thanks for pointing that out, babe. I always knew you were smart! I bet you didn’t know that I was carrying one, did you!” He let out a sinister laugh. “I got one for my own protection. I went to the shooting range every single day to learn how to use it. Bet that is a surprise to you, huh!”
In Hot Pursuit Page 15