But worse than anything, no one would ever know the fact that Liam McGrey loved Erin Flemming more than life itself.
“Thank you for being so quick, Mr. Doreli. Please tie his hands behind his back now, before he tries anything else,” Burke instructed.
“Yes, sir,” Doreli replied, grabbing another piece of rope.
“If you try any more tricks, Mr. McGrey,” Burke said, turning his attention to Lee, “I will shoot Ms. Flemming.”
Lee was still in too much pain to try any tricks. Burke must have obtained his medical records in order for Doreli to know the exact spot on his leg where one of the bullets had shattered the bone. Any unexpected kick would have probably knocked him on his backside, but Doreli had known precisely where to kick to cause the most pain.
Still, Lee tried one more trick. One that neither Doreli nor Burke, nor even Erin, seemed to notice.
He held his breath while Doreli tied his hands behind his back. For all the good it would do, he had no idea, since Doreli was tying the rope tightly enough to cut into his wrists. He had to try. He had to hope that it wasn’t over for him or Erin just yet.
Not after sharing last night with her. Not now that he had the chance to have her back once again.
No, he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t give in. He wouldn’t. It was as simple as that.
Yet things didn’t look good for either of them. Erin, with her hands tied in front of her, and Lee, with his hands tied behind him.
And things seemed to be going from bad to worse as Burke reached down slowly and picked up the gun Lee had dropped. “I think, when the time comes, that it would be ironic for you and Ms. Flemming to die by your own gun, don’t you?” Burke asked.
“Yes, I do,” Lee agreed, trying to overcome the palpable tension in the small room, trying even more not to show Burke the fear and pain burning through him enough to cause his head to ache.
“It probably won’t make a great deal of difference to you, though,” Burke added.
With a sudden clatter of footsteps, another one of Burke’s hired men came down the stairs in a rush.
“What is it now?” For the first time, Burke sounded irritated.
“The FBI’s arrived. Apparently, they were checking every car that arrived here today and they’ve identified Ms. Flemming’s car. They’ve come to investigate and want to speak with her.”
Burke’s eyes blazed with anger, but it was the only sign Lee could see that revealed any of the man’s emotions.
Lee enjoyed it, despite his own desperate situation. “The FBI,” he taunted. “Why don’t you show them in? We’d love to speak with them. Wouldn’t we, Erin?”
He shifted his gaze to her, taking in her shocked expression. She nodded. “And after we’ve explained why my car is here, Mr. Burke could explain why these art treasures are in this room,” she added.
“Shut up,” Burke snapped, his angry gaze burning into Lee. Burke, however, was the first-to look away. To the second man; he said, “I’ll be up to deal with the FBI in a moment.”
“Yes, sir,” the man said, leaving as quickly as he arrived.
Burke turned his attention to Lee and Erin once more. “The FBI,” he said, his voice cold and harsh and as tight as a garrote.
Lee would have rather the man yelled and ranted and raved. At least that behavior would be more predictable than this.
“You’ve brought the FBI down on me in my own home. I assure you, you will both pay for that mistake,” Burke threatened in that same frightening voice. “Mr. Doreli, keep them down here until the FBI have gone. I suppose I shall even allow them a search to get them off my back. There are quite a few guests upstairs. When you take this pair out, make sure it’s done so that no one sees them. I won’t be able to supervise, and I want it done right.” He glanced at Doreli. “If there is any trouble, I’ll have your head on a platter. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take them back to Chicago and finish this once and for all. Then take them to the middle of the lake and put them with Ms. Flemming’s friend, Mr. Jenkins. She seemed so eager to see him on the pier. Why I ever thought Jenkins trustworthy enough to be in my employ, I’ll never know,” Burke muttered under his breath before turning away.
Erin gasped at Burke’s words. Lee didn’t make a sound, trying to keep his heart from racing in his chest. They were getting close to the end, and there was still nothing he could do. His hands were tied. He felt like kicking himself. He should have called Tom. He should have trusted his friend. But now it was too late. The only thing he could hope for was that Tom would get the report of Erin’s car being identified or that the FBI could help them.
A moment later, Burke was gone, leaving Jimmy Doreli standing there, holding his gun on them.
“I could always scream,” Erin ventured. “That would get the attention of the FBI.”
Jimmy Doreli only moved the barrel of the gun and pointed it at Lee. “Go ahead,” he said with a cold smile. “I’ll shoot your lover in his good leg. And I suppose it’s true that someone would probably hear the shot. But you know, guns go off all the time while they’re being cleaned or simply by accident. True, I’d have to act like an idiot when I confess that my gun accidentally went off. Then I’d have to show my permit to carry it, and it could become a big hassle.
“Of course,” he continued bitingly, “there is always the chance that even though they may hear the shot, they won’t be able to find this room. In either case, they wouldn’t be of any help to you or to Mr. McGrey.”
Erin clamped her mouth shut.
Doreli leaned up against the wall casually, still smiling, still holding his gun steady. “You may as well get comfortable. It’s hard telling how long we’ll have to wait before we can leave.”
Lee found himself suddenly caught in the heat of Erin’s gaze across the small room. Slowly, she moved, stepping around the sculpture she stood against to get to him.
“No,” said Doreli, straightening slightly.
Lee wondered if Doreli was taken off guard more by the look that passed between him and Erin, or if it had merely been Erin’s movement.
Doreli motioned to Erin with his gun. “You stay over there.” He turned to Lee. “And you stay over there. You’re not getting close, where you can scheme together.”
Erin flashed Lee another heated look before giving in and staying where she was. Slowly, she sank to sit on the cool, earth floor.
Lee looked at Doreli, holding the gun, standing so sure of himself. With his hands tied behind his back, Lee doubted he could reach the man before Doreli could shoot both him and Erin.
Doreli saw Lee looking at him, and his smile only grew. He knew exactly what Lee was contemplating. “Come on,” he beckoned. “Try it. Let’s see how fast you can run with your leg in the shape it’s in.”
Lee could hardly stand on it now, even though the pain Doreli had caused was slowly fading. “Go to hell,” Lee finally got the chance to say. Then, he, too, sat down to wait.
He looked at Erin, her knees drawn up, her head resting against them. Lee wished he could hold her, sit close to her and offer her some assurance that they would get out of this alive. But he couldn’t. Besides, it would be a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep.
Minutes later, Lee found this to be the hardest wait of his life. Sitting on the cold floor with an even colder gun pointed at him and the man with his finger on the trigger just itching to pull it, Lee thought he might just lose his mind. No waiting game in all his years of being a cop, not even the past long months of healing and therapy after the shooting, had been this bad.
And Lee knew it must be just as bad, if not worse, for Erin. At least Lee had had years of training and experience to prepare him for the bad situations. Erin had only reported them, seeing them secondhand, hearing about them from witnesses. He doubted she had ever lived through anything as shattering as this.
“Are you all right over there, Erin?” Lee finally gave into the urge and asked qu
ietly.
“Yes,” she said. “You?”
“Be quiet,” Doreli ordered.
“I’m fine,” Lee replied, ignoring Doreli, not even so much as looking at him. Instead, he looked only at Erin and gave her a small smile, the only assurance he could from across the room.
“I said be quiet,” Doreli said, this time a bit more forcefully.
The room grew quiet again, except for Lee’s loud, frustrated sigh. Seconds grew into minutes, and Lee had no idea how many slow, agonizing minutes ticked by.
He did, however, notice that Doreli was watching Erin again. The very thought that that thug wanted to put his hands on Erin burned in Lee’s gut. He tried to push the rage aside and use it to his advantage. While Doreli was otherwise occupied, he slowly, silently, struggled against the rope that bound his wrists together behind his back.
And all the while, he mentally called out to Erin. Erin, do you know that I love you? Do you know that I have since the first moment I met you? Do you know that I always will?
He could only hope that somehow she would be able to read his mind.
He should have told her last night. He should have told her this morning during Mrs. O’Malley’s hearty breakfast, or later in the car. Hell, he should have told her the moment he opened his front door to find her standing there. Now look at the two of them, he thought, his hope fleeing him. He might never get the chance to tell her.
It could have been hours, or merely long, exaggerated minutes, until Burke returned. He came down the narrow, hidden stairway, still wearing his perfect dark suit, his boots heavy on the wooden stairs. Only this time, he wore a flushed, frustrated, annoyed expression to go along with it. Lee would have liked to laugh, but he didn’t think that would go over well, so he kept his silence.
“The FBI have finally gone,” Burke muttered through gritted teeth. “And now it’s time for you to leave, as well. I will not bid you goodbye, for I’m grateful to be rid of you. Get them out of here, Mr. Doreli. Mr. Raimmey is waiting out back in the van and will drive for you. Call me as soon as everything is taken care of so that I may celebrate with a glass of champagne.”
Burke left without another word.
Silence hung in the air in his aftermath.
Doreli broke it. “You heard him. Let’s go. On your feet.” Grabbing Erin by the arm, he roughly hauled her to her feet.
Lee cringed at the sight of Doreli’s hands on Erin’s soft skin. Lee vowed that somehow Doreli would pay slowly and painfully for putting his hands on her. But all in good time. This wasn’t over yet.
With his gun constantly at their backs, Doreli maneuvered them up the narrow stairs and once again into Burke’s deserted office.
“One peep out of either of you,” he warned, “and I shoot McGrey in his other leg.”
“You seem to like that threat,” Erin observed quietly.
Standing in the empty office next to Lee, with Doreli holding them at gunpoint, -Erin leaned against Lee. It felt good just to have her brush her arm against his. She was so warm, so real. So alive. And Lee was going to do whatever it took to keep her that way. He only wished he could tell her somehow. He promised himself that if they ever got out of this alive, he would never again put off telling anyone anything. But now, all he could do was give Erin’s arm a slight rub with his own.
“I do like that threat,” Doreli responded. “Very much. You might keep that in mind before you open your mouth again. And as for you—” he glared at Lee “—if you try anything stupid, I’ll hurt your girlfriend. Understand?”
Better than you know, Lee thought. Yet he merely nodded, not trusting his voice should he choose to open his mouth. If and when Lee got the chance, Doreli was going to pay for all of this. For all the threats. For knowing just what threats to use to keep them both in line. Yes, he was going to pay. Big time. A moment later, before they left the plush office, Lee asked, “Doesn’t it bother you that you’re nothing more than Burke’s gofer?”
“Shut up.”
“But think about it. All you do is take orders. You stay loyal, you do whatever the head honcho tells you. But the FBI is watching him. And sooner or later, they’re going to find something to pin on him. Do you think he’s just going to ’fess up and go to jail to do his time like a naughty little boy going to bed without his supper? No, he’s going to name names. Yours will probably be first on his list. Why, do you ask? Because you’ve been so loyal, that’s why,” Lee persisted. He had no idea if any of this was getting through to Doreli, but at this point he was willing to try almost anything.
Doreli stopped pushing them toward the door. “I said shut up.”
Maybe Lee was getting to him. Lee pushed on. “I’ve seen it a million times. Hell, in my job, I protected men like Burke who ratted on their men. Burke will expect you to do all his time for him. And the state will actually protect him in order to get his testimony,” Lee said. “He’s so slimy, he’ll probably even point his finger at you and make a deal with the district attorney so fast when the time comes that you won’t even know what hit you. And while you’re rotting away in a cell doing his sentence for him, he’ll be free and clear, wasting no time moving some other dumb clod into your position—”
Doreli hit him with the butt of his gun. Lee saw it coming, but ducking was about all he could do with his hands tied. Erin tried to help, too, by throwing herself at Doreli. But neither action stopped Doreli from slamming the butt of that gun into the side of Lee’s face.
God, that hurt.
Almost more than what Doreli had done to his leg.
The pain of it left him dazed. He was hardly aware of Erin clutching his arm with her bound hands. Her voice, however, rang through his head like a church bell.
“No! No! Don’t hurt him! Let me help him.” Erin helped him to his feet. “Just lean on me, Lee.”
Lee leaned on her. He couldn’t help it. He couldn’t fight the pain of what must be thousands of tiny explosions going on in his head and still stay on his feet at the same time.
Doreli hurriedly ushered them down the rear stairs and into a waiting van. Lee moved along, leaning on Erin, blinking against the new wave of pain Doreli’s blow had just given him, hardly aware of his surroundings. In the van, there were no back seats. Just when Lee had nearly regained his bearings, Doreli shoved them into the hard, empty place. Leaving them to land as they would, he slid the door closed and climbed into the front passenger seat. A man Lee assumed was Raimmey sat behind the wheel.
As they drove away from the house, Doreli shifted in his seat and turned toward them. “You might as well get comfortable for the ride. It will take a few hours to get back to Chicago.”
Lee’s head pounded with a headache that he thought could kill a horse, but at least he could focus again as he pulled himself into a sitting position against the wall of the van. Erin struggled up, moving to sit close to him.
“Why not just take us to the river? It’s closer,” Lee forced out, trying to hide the fear he could feel welling up inside him, threatening to spill over, as the pain in his body ebbed.
“Don’t give him any ideas, Lee,” Erin snapped.
“And take the chance your bodies will wash up on the shore so close to Mr. Burke’s house? I don’t think so,” Doreli answered. Yet he was looking at Erin again as he spoke.
Lee mentally cursed him. The man might as well put a stamp across his forehead that read “I want that woman.”
Well, Doreli wasn’t going to have her. Not while Lee was still alive.
Lee slowly shifted, again working the rope binding his hands. Was it his imagination, or were they just a bit looser? Slowly, while trying to relax his muscles and give himself all the room possible, he continued his efforts.
Doreli was probably too intent on Erin and the upcoming excitement, and he didn’t seem to notice.
Lee moved faster.
Doreli shifted again, saying something to the driver that Lee couldn’t hear. Lee concentrated on the rope. Freedom was close
. He could feel it. Taste it.
Yes, the knot in the rope was loosening. Another few moments, and he would be free.
But then, with Erin’s words, everything came to a sudden, complete halt. Everything.
“Lee,” she said softly, leaning close enough to him to entice him with her soft scent, “I love you.”
Chapter 10
Erin had to tell Lee. She had to tell him everything. If time was running out for the two of them—and it definitely seemed to be—she had to tell him while she still had the chance.
Telling him she loved him had thrown him off guard. She could tell by the look in his eyes, in the frozen expression on his face. He looked as though he didn’t believe a word she’d said. He looked as though she’d just dropped a jug of ice water down the back of his shirt.
So Erin said it again. “I do love you. Really.”
“Erin—” he began, his hoarse voice hardly more than a whisper.
“Liam, please,” she cut in, “let me talk. Let me say everything I want to say before you stop me. I’m afraid that if you don’t let me say it now, I may never get the chance.”
“You still might, you know,” Lee murmured. “This isn’t over yet.”
“I know it isn’t,” she said, totally ignoring the two men in the front of the van, concentrating completely on Lee. His handsome face was now marred with a huge, darkening bruise left by Jimmy Doreli. But his black eyes sparkled. Erin wished she could simply get lost in those mysterious depths. “I’m just afraid that if I do get the chance some time later to say everything that I feel needs to be said, I won’t be able to find the courage.”
She paused for a long moment, never taking her eyes off Lee. She fought the urge to take his face in her hands and kiss away the pain she knew he must be feeling still. Even more, she wished she could simply erase all the pain he had experienced in the past eight months.
“You?” Lee questioned, not looking at her, “without courage? I don’t think I’d believe it even if I saw it.”
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