Sinful Deception

by Mel Comley

  ~

  Samael opened the lab door and stared at the figure on the metal table. As he’d suspected, it was Alexandra’s beloved Nobby. He closed the door as Candy came down the hallway. “Finish the trial, clean him up, and make sure nothing happens to him.”

  “You’re going to let him live?”

  “If he dies, you will die a thousand deaths before I set your soul free.”

  Candy shrugged. “You’re the boss.”

  “Is there anything here you need to take with you?”

  “My clothes and things are at the townhouse.”

  “We can buy clothes. Anything else that would tell the police who you are?”

  She shook her head. “Are we going somewhere?”

  “We’ll be leaving for the UK tonight, as soon as I retrieve my brother. Remember what I said about the old man. I have arrangements to make.”

  He stopped momentarily at the office. “Goodbye, Val.”

  The night air was crisp, and Samael closed his eyes, raised his hands, and breathed in deeply. Alexandra had lied to him. She must have known his brother was in custody. He would have to punish her, but not by killing a dying old man. He pulled out his cell and made arrangements for the helicopter to be fuelled and waiting in two hours. A plan formulated in his mind, and he laughed. He would take her back to where it all began and make her kill Jordan.

  Samael dialed the number, his heart lifting as he realized the power he had over her.

  “Hello.”

  “I believe I have something you want, Foxy. And you have something I want. I suggest a trade.”

  “All right, Samael. How do you want to do this?”

  “There’s an abandoned airstrip north of Manhattan in the Bronx. Meet me there in two hours. I’ll bring your friend, and you bring my brother.”

  “I’ll be there with Rico.”

  “Come alone. I’ll have someone flying over the area. If I see one copper, or anyone who looks suspicious, I’ll cut poor Nobby’s throat and drop him at your feet.”

  “Are you coming alone, Samael?”

  “I’ll have a companion, but she’s no threat to you.”

  “Then I’ll bring a companion. He won’t be a threat to you, either.”

  “That’s what I love about you, Alexandra. You’re quick on your feet.”

  ~

  Alex tossed the phone on the table and lowered her head to her hands as the rest of the team kicked into gear.

  “Reefer, can you get a fix on that airstrip?” Chief Brown asked.

  “Doing it now, sir.”

  “Derek, organize a team and have them ready to move in as soon as the exchange is made.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alex raised her head. “No. He said if he saw anyone, he’d kill Nobby. We can’t chance it. We don’t even know the person showing up will be him.”

  “Alexandra is right, Chief,” Blake stated. “We know who he is, where his companies are, and we have a chance to match crime scenes with his DNA, and hope it matches his brother’s. If we have to let him go to save Nobby’s life, we let him go. We’ll catch him later.”

  Chief Brown glanced around the room. “Are we all in agreement on this?”

  The team nodded.

  “All right. Alex, you and Crimshaw had better get moving; he only gave you two hours and if traffic is bad, it will take you that long to get there.”

  “I’m going with Alexandra.” Blake stood.

  “Like hell you are!” Crimshaw bellowed.

  “Alex told him the person she was bringing wouldn’t be a threat to him. He knows you’re her partner, Crimshaw. You’re a threat.” Blake stared at Rico Kaur. “He’ll ask to talk to his brother before he makes the trade.”

  Alex placed a hand on Crimshaw’s shoulder. “He’s right, Jacob. Besides, you have a wife and two kids to take care of. Blake and I are both single. If something goes wrong, we’re not leaving behind people who depend on us.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “We’re partners; we have to have each other’s back.”

  “I’ll program the GPS for you. It will save time.”

  “Thanks, Reefer. Let’s get going, Blake.”

  Blake yanked Rico from the chair. “Here, Reefer, take him with you. I want to talk to Alexandra for a minute.”

  “We don’t have much time, Blake. If we hit traffic, we could be late.”

  “We’ll use the siren if we do. You’re the only one that knows him, Alex, and you know more than you think. I can’t talk to you about this in the car because of Kaur. You know how he tilts his head when he’s talking. What he does with his hands. His body language. When you look at the guy there tonight, watch for those things.”

  “We’re letting him go, so what difference does it make?” Alex picked up her keys and headed for the door. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Blake caught up with her. “It makes a lot of difference, Alex. If the guy there tonight is him, we’ve found his weakness. It’s his brother. Samael may hide behind different faces, but Rico doesn’t. We find him again, we’ll find Samael.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Samael used binoculars to scan the airfield. A single car turned down the road and headed for the strip.

  “Are you in love with her?” Candy asked. “Because if you are, you have a weakness you need to fix.”

  “Love is an emotion. And emotions come and go.”

  “So why are you doing this? Why not kill the old man and leave?”

  “He’s done nothing to be punished for. It is the blood that runs through our veins that binds us and creates love. I did this for my brother.”

  “How long are you going to protect him? They have his DNA now, and eventually, you’ll make a mistake, a drop of sweat, skin cells, something at a crime scene they can pin on you through that. He messed up, and somewhere down the line, you’re going to pay for it.”

  Samael lifted the binoculars and studied the area again. “Land the helicopter a hundred feet from the car.” He knew in his heart Candy was right. But Rico was his brother, his own flesh and blood. If there was any such thing as love, he shared it with his brother. “Hand me the phone.”

  Candy passed it to him. “I still think you should kill her.”

  “She is no threat to you, Candy. I have plans for you that do not include her, and plans for her, too. You will be well taken care of, love.” He dialed the number.

  “Hello.”

  “Step out of the car and hand the phone to my brother.” He watched until they moved away from the vehicle.

  “Rico, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Samael. The guy with her, he doesn’t have a gun, and they agreed to have no police in the area.”

  “I love you, my brother.” Samael ended the call. “Let’s make the trade.”

  ~

  “They’re ready, Alexandra.” Blake pointed to the helicopter, where Nobby and Samael were climbing out.

  “Help me get Kaur out of the car.”

  Blake opened the door, and Kaur climbed out. “Untie me.”

  “That’s not going to happen, Rico.” Alex turned to the helicopter and yelled. “How do you want to do this, Samael?”

  “Like in the movies, love. They start walking at the same time. I’m a man of my word.”

  “Nobby looks weak. He can’t walk as fast as Rico. Let me come halfway and get him.”

  “All right, love, but leave your gun with your friend.”

  Alex pulled her gun from the holster and handed it to Blake. “If things go wrong, make sure you kill that son of a bitch.”

  Blake clicked off the safety. “I’ve got no problem with that.”

  “Let’s go, Rico.” She walked toward the helicopter, her eyes on Nobby as he walked, stumbled, and righted himself again. Alex stopped at the halfway point and waited for him. He reached her and grinned. “Good to see you, partner.”

  “Go on, Kaur. Get the hell out of here.” She wrapped her arm around Nobby’s waist and placed his
arm across her shoulders. “Let’s go home, Nobby.”

  Samael called out from behind her. “I’ll see you soon, love.”

  Blake came out to meet her and helped to put Nobby into the backseat. “Was it him?”

  “I don’t think so. Get in. We need to get Nobby to the hospital.”

  An explosion rocked the car, and flames lit up the sky as debris from the helicopter flew through the air.

  “Shit.” Alex ducked inside the car and slammed the door. “Why the hell did he do that?”

  Blake climbed in beside her and fastened his seatbelt. “Because he doesn’t have any weaknesses.”

  ~

  Samael started the car and drove onto the highway. Punishment must be painful, and last for days, or weeks, or years to be an effective deterrent from future crimes. He would have punished Rico for his weakness; he could do no less for his own.

  “You did the right thing, Samael. He had to be punished.”

  “I didn’t do it to punish him, Candy. I did it to punish myself.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “Would you sit down, Alex? You’re driving me crazy.” Crimshaw patted the seat beside him. “The rest of the team will be here in a few minutes, and you can drive them crazy.”

  She flopped into the seat and placed her elbows on her knees, cradling her head in her hands. “If they did something to him, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “You didn’t do it, Alex. He did. And we’re gonna find him. We’ve got half the world looking for him now, and the other half will be soon.”

  Chief Brown and Derek walked into the waiting room, followed by Blake, who was carrying Cinders. Reefer and Tamara came in, leading Dixie.

  “Any word yet?” Chief Brown asked.

  Alex shook her head as Dixie hopped on the sofa and laid her head in Alex’s lap. Blake handed Cinders to her. “They insisted on coming with us.”

  “Anything on Samael?” Crimshaw asked.

  “A jet took off from JFK shortly after the helicopter exploded. We think it was him.”

  “Any idea where it was heading?” Alex asked.

  “The flight manifest said Spain, but it can be changed after takeoff. They’re going to let us know if he switches course. We’ve alerted the authorities in Spain, and they’re on the lookout for him.”

  The team grew quiet as Dr. Shah approached the waiting room. “Which one of you is Alex?”

  “I am.”

  “He wants to see you for a minute, but I’m going to ask you to keep it short. He needs to rest, and I’ve given him a sedative. He won’t stay awake long. I’ll wait until you return, and then I’ll fill you all in on what we found.” She glanced at the animals. “If that’s Dixie and Cinders, you can take them with you.”

  Alex smiled and stood. “Thank you, Doctor. I’ll keep it short.”

  “Down the hall, room three twenty-four.”

  Alex shifted Cinders in her arms and pushed open the door with her hip. Nobby looked pale, weak, and for some reason, awfully small and vulnerable in the hospital bed. Her eyes misted, and she swallowed hard, blinking rapidly. He’d kick her arse if she cried. “Hey, partner, you’ve got company. How are you feeling?”

  “Like a damn pincushion. Look what that asshole did to me.” Nobby pushed aside the sheet and showed her his belly.

  “Dr. Shah did that?”

  “No, that sadistic little bitch, Candy.”

  “Candy Granger?”

  “I guess. Didn’t get her last name. Bring me a picture, and I’ll let you know.”

  Alex sat in the chair next to the bed, her legs suddenly weak now that she knew Nobby was okay.

  “You shouldn’t have let him go, Alex.”

  “We’ll get him, Nobby. We know enough about him now that he can’t hide anymore.”

  “I got to tell you something, honey.”

  He was getting weaker. “Why don’t we wait until tomorrow? You’ll feel better, and we can talk as long as you want to.”

  “Tomorrow might be too late. I lied to you about the test results. Scan showed the cancer was spreading.”

  “Nobby, don’t. We’ll get you home and keep pouring the juice and sprouts into you. You’re not gonna die.”

  “I left everything I had to you and the kids. The only thing I ask is if Blake gets out, you let him hang around until he gets on his feet. He’s a good man, Alex.”

  She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Cinders jumped onto the bed, crawled up next to Nobby’s head, and began to purr. Tears streamed down her face, and she swiped at them. “I won’t let you die, Nobby. I can’t do this without you.”

  “Stop your blubbering, and get this damn cat off me.”

  Alex reached for him as Nobby grinned, rubbed his face against Cinders’s fur, and kissed him on the forehead. His voice was weak, and she leaned in to hear what he had to say. “Take the kids home, Alex, and get some rest.”

  “They’re not kids, Nobby. It’s a dog and a cat, remember? That’s what you told me.”

  “Only kids I’m ever gonna have,” he whispered softly and closed his eyes.”

  Alex grabbed a Kleenex and finished drying the tears from her face. Not that it mattered; they were bound to start up again soon. She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Dr. Shah was approaching as Alex left the room. “Is he okay?”

  “He’s asleep now.”

  “Let’s go to the waiting room. Your friends are about to sue me for mental anguish if I don’t give a report soon.”

  Alex sat by Crimshaw, and he placed an arm around her and squeezed gently as Dr. Shah began.

  “We’ve done a battery of tests, and so far, everything looks good. Mr. Adams is going to be fine. I don’t suppose you know what drug they gave him?”

  Chief Brown shook his head. “We’re not sure yet where he was held, but if we can find the place, we’ll let you know.”

  “That would be wonderful, as there are some oddities in the tests we ran, and we’ll be running more tomorrow.”

  “What kind of oddities?” Alex asked.

  “Well, as you know, Mr. Adams has cancer. Since he missed his bloodwork this morning—or actually, yesterday morning—I decided to run his CEA test while we were checking for other things. That’s the test we use to measure the proteins put off by tumors, and although not a diagnostic tool, it is helpful in monitoring the growth.” She paused for a moment and took a breath. “I rushed the results, and Nobby’s CEA was at one point nine.”

  “Which means what?” Crimshaw asked.

  “Well, anything two and below is normal for a non-smoker. His blood results show that he doesn’t have any tumor growth. We’ll run a CAT scan tomorrow and possibly a PET scan. We should know more then, but judging from the bloodwork, whatever they gave him killed the cancer cells in his body.”

  Crimshaw punched the air. “Hot damn, Alex, did you hear? Nobby’s gonna be okay.”

  “I haven’t told this to Mr. Adams yet because I want to be sure. But I believe we’ve witnessed a miracle. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Alex stroked Cinders’s fur. “I guess that means we want to take him alive?”

  Chief Brown sighed. “If he’s got a cure for cancer, Alex, we should take him alive, if we can. Let’s all go home, celebrate Matt’s good fortune, and start again tomorrow.”

  “We’ve still got an open case,” Reefer said. “We never figured out who killed the last two girls.”

  “With everything going on, I forgot to tell you Corey Graves broke and told everything,” Derek said. “He said it was an accident, and he confirmed Patterson was part of the group.”

  “So do we get tomorrow off?” Crimshaw asked. “We’ve put in a lot of overtime lately.”

  “Duke MacIntyre is still missing, as well as Drucilla Granger.”

  “Found Drucilla, but MacIntyre is still out there somewhere. A funeral home called and said they found burned remains in the crematory chamber. When the
y sifted through the ashes, they found a titanium hip replacement, which won’t burn. We matched the numbers, and it belonged to Drucilla Granger.”

  “And the daughter is still missing,” Tamara brought up. “She may or may not be with MacIntyre.”

  “She isn’t missing.” Alex stood and walked toward the hallway. “She’s the one who tortured Nobby by sticking needles in his stomach. She’s with Samael.”

  “Guess we’re not getting tomorrow off,” Crimshaw grumbled.

  Alex hooked her arm through his. “Chin up, partner. When we get home, I’ll bake you a chocolate cake.”

  EPILOGUE

  “For he’s a jolly good fellow… for he’s a jolly good fellow… for he’s a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny.”

  Alex laughed as the team sang off-key to Nobby.

  Chief Brown squeezed him in a bear hug. “Welcome home, Matt.”

  “Known you guys were gonna make all this fuss, I would have stayed at the hospital.”

  “Alex even baked a cake.” Crimshaw pulled the flattened mess from the garbage. “We saved your life by throwing it away.”

  Alex’s phone rang, and she withdrew it from her pocket. Her voice quivered as she read the text. “Hush, please. It’s him.”

  The team gathered around her. “What’s the bastard saying?” Nobby asked.

  She read the text to them. “You owe me one, love, and I have a job for you. It’s time to come home, Alexandra. If you don’t, someone you care deeply for will be mailed to you in pieces.”

  Alex let her finger hover over the video for a second before she pressed Play. “Oh, my God, it’s Bob.”

  Samael’s voice filled the room. “Bob and I are getting to know each other. I haven’t started the torture yet, but I will soon, unless you come home. I’ll give you a week, love, and then I’ll mail my first parcel.”

  Alex shut off the phone and turned to Chief Brown. “Permission for a leave of absence, sir.”

  “You’ll have no authority there, Alex. And you won’t be able to carry a gun. I’m sorry, but the answer is no.”

  Alex removed her badge from her belt and held it out to him. “It’s Bob, sir. He was my partner for years. He had my back, and he never left me until I found Scarlet. He risked his life to help me. If I can’t have a leave of absence, then I quit.”