He turned to her and took hold of her arm. “Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head.
He tilted her chin up and searched her eyes for the truth.
“Really,” she said.
He nodded and turned back to Whitmore. “So what was this all about?”
Whitmore smirked. “You tell me.”
Tony took a step toward him, but Jack intervened again.
“There wasn’t a ransom note,” he said. “We don’t know what they wanted. Other than to terrorize.”
“And that they did,” Whitmore said as he sat back down, looking his age for the first time tonight. He looked at Tony with distaste. “But we have an idea what they wanted, don’t we?”
“Dammit, Carson, this isn’t about that.”
Whitmore wasn’t buying it. “Just some random enemy, then? Why not one closer to home?”
“I told you. I had nothing to do with this. Do you think I would do anything that might hurt Susan?”
“You’re in business with men who would. You brought that into your own home.”
Tony waved his hand. “And your business partners are squeaky clean.”
“They’re not murderers.”
Tony looked nervously at Jack.
Whitmore laughed. “He knows the score. Probably better than you do.”
Tony didn’t like that, but he took it. “Look, as soon as I heard what happened, I went to speak to him—”
“Marshall?”
Tony’s eyes slid over to Jack, but he nodded. “Yes. He promised me—”
“Oh, he promised you, did he?”
“Just shut up for a minute, old man, and listen!”
“Tony,” Susan said softly.
Whitmore held up a hand. “It’s all right. First time he’s shown a little backbone. It’s about time.”
Tony pushed out a cleansing breath. “Think about it. If the … if they used tactics like this to get their way here, how long do you think the Feds would let it go? They succeed here because they play by the rules.”
Whitmore rolled his eyes and Tony nodded, accepting that was a bit of a stretch. “Mostly. But they don’t pull stunts like this. The money from the banks and the permits and the rest of it, all of it would dry up if they did things the old way.”
Jack had to agree that Tony had a point. The mob had thrived in Las Vegas because they didn’t bring their usual gangland mayhem with them. They were tough, brutal, but if they started kidnapping and murdering people over leases, it would be chaos.
Whitmore thought about what Tony said and saw the wisdom in it, even if he didn’t like it. “Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that I believe you. That these men weren’t behind this. Then who the hell was?”
Tony shook his head. “I don’t know. But I promise you, I’ll find out.”
Whitmore grunted. “You don’t mind if I look into it a little myself?”
Tony frowned. “I know you don’t like me. Hell, I’m not crazy about you. But this? When it comes to Susan, we’re on the same side.”
Whitmore reluctantly, and as far as Jack could tell, tentatively, agreed. He held out his hand and they shook.
“Then you won’t mind me putting one of my men with Susan?”
Tony held up his hands in assent. “Of course.” He walked over to her.
Whitmore nodded. “Good. Jack, if you’d—”
Tony spun back around. “Him?”
“You have a problem with that?”
“Yeah, I have a problem with that,” Tony said. “Who is he? I don’t even know him.”
“I do,” Whitmore said. “Decorated war veteran.” He looked at Jack. “I did a little checking that first day.”
Jack was impressed. Both in that Whitmore had done his due diligence and that, once again, Travers’ alias magic held up.
“He’s a man I trust, and there aren’t many of those around here right now.”
Tony knew he couldn’t say no without looking like a fool or a jealous husband or both. Reluctantly, he nodded.
“Good,” Whitmore said. “If you will, Jack, I’d be most grateful if you stayed close to Susan. At least until we get a handle on what’s going on here.”
Jack nodded but looked toward Susan. “That is, if it’s okay with you?”
Much to her husband’s displeasure and her father’s delight, it was.
Tony glared at him, then turned back to Susan and helped her up. “You can come by later. Right now I think my wife could use some rest.”
Dark circles under her eyes marred her otherwise still pristine face. “I am a little tired.”
“Of course you are,” Whitmore said. He came to her side and kissed her forehead. “You can always stay here, honey. You might be safer—”
She shook her head. “No, thank you, I just want to go home.”
Whitmore nodded and looked sternly at Tony, who put his arm around his wife. “She’ll be safe.”
They walked out into the outer office where the doctor was just finishing his examination.
“You have a concussion,” Simon said tersely.
“Mild,” Elizabeth said and looked to the doctor for backup. “Right?”
“Yes. But you should take it easy for a few days.”
Elizabeth sighed and Simon straightened to his Imperial height. “As I said.”
“Everything okay?” Jack asked.
“No.” “Yes.”
Jack would have laughed if he weren’t so tired. “Well, everything’s normal anyway.”
“Mrs. Cross,” said the doctor, “I don’t dare give you anything stronger for the pain, but these should help some.”
While Elizabeth and the doctor spoke, Jack pulled Simon aside.
Jack glanced over at Elizabeth and lowered his voice. “Look, if you want to go …”
Simon snorted and looked at his wife with a sigh. “It wouldn’t matter. Elizabeth won’t leave. Wild horses couldn’t drag her away. Which, if we ever end up in the Old West, I am going to try.”
Jack chuckled. He’d like to see that.
“But for now,” Simon said, as he grew serious and a glint sparked in his eyes, “I have a little unfinished business. There’s a man out there who hit my wife. I should very much like to return the favor.”
Chapter Fifteen
“SHOULDN’T YOU GIVE THAT back to Jack?” Elizabeth asked as she watched Simon hide his gun on the top shelf of the closet.
His response was a withering look.
Elizabeth shrugged. “I’m not in any danger. I just happened to be there. I was incidental.”
Simon closed the door to the closet. “There is nothing incidental about you.”
“Flatterer.”
He frowned and shook his head as he leaned against the wall. “If this keeps up, I’m going to develop an ulcer.”
“But just think about how much exercise your heart is getting.”
He didn’t smile at her joke. She walked over to him and put her hand on his chest. His arms slid around her waist. “When it comes to you, my heart feels like glass.”
“But it isn’t,” she said. “And neither am I.”
“You’re not indestructible either.” His eyes fell on the bump on her forehead.
Her fingers sought it out and she pushed against it, needlessly testing to see if it still hurt. It did.
He took hold of her hand and looked at her wound. From his expression, it hurt him a lot more than it hurt her.
“It’s not so bad,” she said.
“But it could have been.”
They’d had this argument before. He must have sensed her frustration at veering toward that well-trod ground because he tilted her chin up and looked almost apologetic. Almost. “I’m just glad to have you back.”
She smiled and he leaned down to kiss her gently.
Once the kiss was over, she rested her head against his chest and relaxed into his arms. She was glad to be back, too. Being here was a darn sight better than sitting in that dark a
nd dusty old warehouse with Frick and Frack.
“We should get some ice for that,” Simon said. “I’ll call down.”
While he called room service, Elizabeth took a quick shower and put on fresh clothes. She felt worlds better by the time she was done, although her head still ached and she had that buzzy, antsy feeling she got when she was overly tired.
“How do you feel?” Simon asked when she rejoined him in the sitting room of their suite.
“Like butter scraped over too much bread.”
He smiled. He secretly loved Tolkien. “Maybe something to eat then?”
He nodded toward a room service table with two silver cloches, orange juice and tea.
“You know me too well.” She took a seat and picked up the lid from one of the plates. Pancakes and sausage.
She took a sip of orange juice. “Perfect.”
He poured himself a fresh cup of tea. “Did you remember anything else?”
She nodded. Earlier, her brain had been fuzzy. She remembered things, but they were hard to hold onto and seemed a little out of focus. A little time and the shower had helped clear away the cobwebs, but some things still confused her.
“I think so, but it’s odd.”
“What is?”
“The two men. They were thugs. I mean, they had that part down. The way they talked, moved. These were not genteel fellows.”
Simon frowned and Elizabeth quickly added, “Not that they did anything … weird. If you don’t count kidnapping and wearing clown masks. I just meant this probably wasn’t the first crime they’d committed.”
“That’s not surprising.”
“No, but they weren’t good at it either. Not professional professional. Sort of semi-professional.”
Simon looked at her blankly.
“I know. It’s hard to describe, but I just have a feeling about it. They weren’t what I’d expect from a couple of men from the Chicago Outfit.”
Simon shifted in his seat. “How so?”
Elizabeth shook her head. It was hard to put into words. “I don’t know, they just didn’t seem like made men.”
He picked up his tea. “I don’t think watching Goodfellas and Casino makes you an expert on that.”
Elizabeth scowled at him, but he merrily ignored her.
“They just reminded me of the sort of men my father told me to stay away from when we were on the road. The two-bit hood type.”
Simon hmm’d and put down his tea. His eyes drifted up to the bump on her head. “And just how did that happen?”
Elizabeth finished her bite of pancakes. “Susan was sort of on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. First time being kidnapped and all.”
“And you, as an old hand, helped her by getting knocked out?”
Elizabeth made a sour face. “Something like that. She was starting to freak out a little and it was freaking out one of the men. So I distracted them.”
“Whatever you did, apparently it worked.”
“I’m heroic even while unconscious,” she said with false immodesty. “Some might even say more so.”
Simon laughed and then shook his head. “Don’t make me laugh. I want to stay angry.”
“I know.”
“I tend to take it personally when someone hurts my wife. I’m funny that way.”
Elizabeth’s heart flipped a little, as it always did whenever Simon said something like that. She would never get tired of being loved by him.
“I’m not a fan of it either. But look at the bright side,” she said. “Got the kidnapping out of the way early. Smooth sailing from here.”
He was not amused.
Elizabeth quickly took another bite of sausage and they ate in silence for a few moments.
“I know they wore masks,” he said, “but did you notice anything that might help? Anything they did or said?”
She thought about it, trying to remember everything she’d heard or seen, but there was still a little peach fuzz covering some of it.
“Other than that scar on his hand, I’m not sure. I don’t know if I’m misremembering it or what, but ….”
She closed her eyes to concentrate and pull back the memory in full. “One of them said, ‘When this is over, I’m going back to fun and games.’ And the other said, ‘Yeah? I thought you were kicked out of there.’”
She opened her eyes. “That’s weird, right? There? Like fun and games was a place he was kicked out of?”
Simon nodded. “Possibly.”
“Maybe it’s a club or something. And if we can find it, we might find him, and if we find him, we might find out who was behind the kidnapping.”
Simon shook his head. “That’s quite a leap.”
“Better than nothing. I think we should—”
“Later,” he said, firmly. “Right now you need to rest.”
As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She took one last drink of water and stood. She walked part of the way toward the bedroom and turned back. “Aren’t you coming?”
He arched an eyebrow. “The doctor said no vigorous activity.”
Elizabeth laughed. “I didn’t mean that, unless, you know …” She waggled her eyebrows.
Simon shook his head and stood. “I’ll have to take a rain check, I’m afraid. Doctor’s orders.”
She pouted and he came toward her. “But don’t think I won’t cash that in later.”
He kissed her and then turned her slowly around and pointed her toward the bedroom. “Sleep.”
He gave her a gentle nudge forward. She took a step and turned back. “You haven’t slept either.”
“I’ll be along soon,” he said. “Go.”
She knew he wouldn’t. He would stay up and watch over her. It was what he did best.
~~~
Jack waited until early afternoon to go to the Santos’. He wanted to give Susan enough time to get some rest and, honestly, he needed a little kip himself. Last night had been a long one.
It surprised him a little when the guard at the door to their suite let him in. He half-expected Tony to change his mind, but he hadn’t, and Jack was admitted into the inner sanctum.
For some reason, he thought their apartment was just the upper floor, but it was both upstairs and down. Once he got past security at the main entrance, he was led into the outer foyer where another guard stood in front of the large double doors that led to their apartment.
Before Jack could even say his name, the man opened one door and stood aside. “Mrs. Santo is expecting you.”
The apartment was stylishly furnished in what Elizabeth called Rat Pack chic. It was bright and open. Everything from the room itself to the furniture was some sort of geometric shape—a series of rectangles or swooping curves. In the middle of it all, hanging from the high ceiling, was an enormous starburst chandelier.
“Hello?”
He wandered into the living room area to look behind a half-wall partition, but there was no one there. Other than this one section that was divided off, the rest was an open floor plan and he could see nearly the entire bottom floor. And it was empty.
“Jack?”
Or maybe it wasn’t.
He walked back toward the foyer and saw Susan coming down the curved staircase, needlessly smoothing down her perfect hair.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I must have fallen asleep again.”
“How are you feeling?”
She reached the bottom of the stairs and frowned. “Embarrassed. I was such a blubbering fool.”
Jack shook his head. “If you can’t blubber over a kidnapping, when can you?”
She smiled at his joke, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Elizabeth didn’t.”
“She’s … had an unusual life. Most people react the way you did. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’ve seen grown men fall to pieces over less.”
She nodded and held out her hand toward the living room.
Despite her calm, cool, and collected exterior, she really was insecure.
His assurances seemed to help a little, but a lifetime of being dominated by her father, and then her husband, would take more than a few kind words to undo.
She walked over to the wet bar. “Would you like a drink?”
“Not for me, but you go ahead.”
She hesitated, but then set about mixing a gin and tonic.
“This is a nice place you’ve got here,” he said, trying to fill the silence.
She turned around and took a sip of her drink. She waved a hand to encompass it all. “My gilded cage.”
“It’s not so bad as that, is it?”
She shook her head, and seemed to regret her honesty. “No. I just feel …”
“Afraid?”
She looked embarrassed to admit it, but nodded as she sat down on the sofa, gesturing for Jack to take a seat as well.
“Yes. My husband’s doubled security and you’re here and this is my home, but I’m afraid to walk out that door.”
“That’s perfectly normal.”
She looked at him skeptically, but gratefully. Then she smiled and took a cigarette from a silver box on the coffee table. “How would you know? You’re not afraid of anything.”
Jack picked up the large crystal lighter that sat next to the box and leaned across the table to light her cigarette.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” he said.
She arched a perfectly arched eyebrow. “All right. Tell me one thing you’re afraid of.”
He sat back in his chair and actually thought about the question. “Not a fan of snakes.”
She pursed her lips. “Come on, something real.”
He shrugged. Since they were being honest … “It’s not very original, but being alone.”
“That’s funny. You seem like the sort of man who doesn’t want to be tied down.”
She took a draw from her cigarette and waited for his response.
“I don’t think anyone wants to be tied down. But tied to somebody? The right somebody?”
She arched an eyebrow. “You haven’t ever been in love?”
He grinned. “I fall in love all the time. Just never quite all the way.”
She laughed. “I know that feeling.”
“But men fall in love with you all the time, don’t they?”
Susan’s eyes drifted down. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Jacks Are Wild: An Out of Time Novel (Saving Time, Book 1) Page 15