Deadly Rumors

by Cheris Hodges

  “Well, may—”

  “I said be honest.”

  “No, but at least I would’ve known what was going on.”

  “And you could be dead right now. Zoe, you know what I’m not going to do—apologize for what I’ve done—and if I had to do it again, I would. Get over it.”

  She shook her head. “That’s why I’m going back to New York, because your attitude is pissing me off. You act like I should drop down on my knees and thank you for lying to me. Fuck you, Carver. Fuck you.” Zoe stormed out of the kitchen and grabbed her bags. When she headed for the bathroom, Carver stopped her.

  “Can we talk and not argue or place blame?” he asked.

  “I don’t have anything left to say to you.”

  “But I have plenty I need to say to you, Zoe.” He led her to the sofa and she shot him a nasty look before sitting down.

  Carver sighed and took her hand in his. Zoe slipped it out of his embrace. “Say what you have to say so that I can go.”

  “I know you think I have some savior complex, but that isn’t what this is about. You know I love you and it would kill me if I lost you.”

  “You’re dangerously close to that happening right now,” Zoe murmured.

  Carver gritted his teeth. “Just listen to what I have to say, please. I lost a woman I loved, and it nearly destroyed me. Monica and I served in the Marines together. We were both in intelligence with the rest of the Shadows. One night, we got into an argument about some of the risks she’d been taking in the war zone. She didn’t appreciate what I said and went outside. Unfortunately, she walked right into a Taliban ambush and was killed instantly.”

  Zoe’s mouth formed the shape of an O, but she didn’t say anything. Carver stroked her arm. “I can’t go through that again, and that’s why I did this.”

  She rose to her feet and started pacing. “So, you are using me to replace the love you lost?”

  Carver rolled his eyes. “No. Zoe, you aren’t Monica. No one will ever be Monica, but I’m not going to watch you go out there and put your life in danger because you feel like you have something to prove.”

  “Like you said, I’m not Monica. I’m not walking out into a war zone and I’m not staying here while that man is hunting me like I’m some deer in the headlights.”

  “I’m not going to let you be his prey, and I need you to understand that!”

  Zoe crossed over to him and punched him in his chest. “It’s not your decision! Why don’t you understand that?”

  “Fine, you want to die. Then let’s go to New York—blind, not knowing what’s going on. But you aren’t going alone. I don’t give a damn how hard you want to fight me.”

  Chapter 28

  Charlotte, North Carolina

  A beam of sunlight woke Lewis up. He cursed himself for going to sleep when he knew he needed to be alert. Glancing over at the Harringtons’ house, he smiled when he saw both cars were still in the garage. He looked at his watch and realized that he hadn’t overslept, but he had missed his chance to see the couple wake up and do their early morning dance. Part of him almost didn’t want to kidnap the wife, but Zoe had brought this hell on her brother when she ruined Lewis’s marriage and his life.

  Lewis wished he had a cup of coffee to rinse the sleep out of his system. But he knew he had to do this. He opened the door and crossed the street. He walked behind the garage and lay down on the ground. The ransom note was underneath his arm and he had his face covered with a bandana and a pair of sunglasses.

  What he’d forgotten, though, had been his latex gloves. When Lewis realized that, he started to head to the car to grab them, but he heard the door open in the garage.

  “I can’t believe you’re actually leaving before me,” he heard the wife say.

  “Early meeting to get rid of that warehouse property. It’s a good thing.”

  Silence. Lewis figured they were kissing.

  “Pizza for dinner?”

  “Again?”

  “Yes. Again. And fries, too.”

  “You pick it up, since I’m not sure how long this meeting is going to be.”

  “All right.”

  More silence. Probably more kissing.

  “Love you,” he heard the wife say.

  “Love you, too. Now, you go get dressed.”

  Lewis held his breath as he heard a car crank up. He watched Zoe’s brother back out of the garage, and as the car disappeared down the block, Lewis slithered like a snake on the ground and entered the garage. He dropped the note on the steps and turned the knob on the door leading into the house. Like most people living in the burbs, the garage door leading into the house was unlocked. Lewis smiled and walked over to the coffeepot. He dripped a few drops of GHB in the pot. He figured that she would come downstairs and fix herself a cup before heading to work.

  Lewis listened for the shower to start. When he heard the water, he decided to take a look around the house. He stopped in the den as he looked at their wedding picture. Standing on a beach, they looked like the happiest couple in the world. And Zach’s wife was just beautiful.

  The shower stopped and Lewis crossed back into the kitchen to sneak out of the house. He posted up in the garage and waited for the moment when he’d grab that woman. Because he didn’t want Joe to interrupt him, he sent a quick text.

  I’m in place.

  Now, he just had to wait in silence.

  * * *

  Back in DC, Carver and Zoe walked to the boarding area at Union Station. She glanced at him, still trying to deal with what he’d told her about Monica. On one hand, she did feel for him. She had never lost to death a man she’d loved. But, on the other hand, she still felt some kind of way about his justification for keeping her in the dark about Singletary’s plot because he’d watched Monica die.

  “Am I going to get the silent treatment all the way to New York?”

  Zoe rolled her eyes. “What’s left to say?”

  “That you understand. That you forgive me.”

  “I’m not there yet, and you’re going to have to give me time.”

  “Will three and a half hours be enough time?” Carver smiled at her. “Zoe, we’re going to have to figure out a plan together at least.”

  “Not right now, and I’m not sitting beside you.” They boarded the train and she headed to a seat in the back. Carver sat three rows in front of her.

  About an hour into the train ride, Zoe walked over to Carver. “Mind if I sit?”

  He shook his head and moved over to the empty seat next to him. Zoe took his seat. “How long were you and Monica together?”

  “Five years. We met in basic and fell for each other.”

  “I thought that wasn’t proper in the military?”

  “Only if I’d been her commanding officer. We kept our relationship a secret for as long as we could, but my crew knew the truth. Raymond thought it was a bad idea for us to be together.”

  “I’m not surprised.” Zoe rolled her eyes.

  “And when I asked her to marry me, I told her she should leave the Marines, but she wasn’t having it. We weren’t ready to be married, but I thought getting her out of the Corps and out of danger would mean that we could build our lives together. Of course, Monica wasn’t feeling that and she tossed my ring back in my face and told me to go fuck myself.”

  “Wow.”

  “Though we broke up, we were still in love, and I thought we’d have a chance after the war.” Carver sighed. “But when she died, things changed.”

  “Changed how?”

  “I shut myself off to love, took a lot of risks, because for a few years I wanted to die. Give everything to my country. The other Shadows had to get me back on track.”

  “Are you over her?” Zoe’s voice was barely above a whisper.

  “She’s always going to have a place in my heart because she was my first love.” He touched her chin and forced her to face him. “But you’re not sleeping with a ghost.”

  She nodded. “I he
ar what you’re saying, but what’s changed about you and how you deal with women now?”

  “Zoe, just know this. I love you and I want to protect you with everything in me. Maybe I went about this the wrong way, and I’m sorry, but I don’t regret it, and if I had to do it over, I wouldn’t change a thing. You may disagree with me, but at least you’re still here to do that.”

  “All right,” she said. “Maybe I have been acting like a jerk. But I just don’t want you to think that I need a savior. I can take care of myself, and if you want to have my back, then that’s fine. Just let me in on it. Don’t keep secrets from me.”

  I’ll never do it again. Do you want me to cue up Babyface?” Carver smiled and cleared his throat. Zoe covered his mouth with her hand.

  “Don’t even do that,” she said. He licked her palm and she jerked away from him. “That was so nasty.”

  “Oh, please, when my tongue does that to you in other spaces, you don’t mind at all.” He wiggled his eyebrows and slipped his hand between her thighs.

  Zoe couldn’t even argue with him about that. “You need to stop.” Leaning her head against his shoulder, Zoe felt as if she and Carver had a chance to move beyond this.

  “If you say so.”

  “Oh, I know so,” she said.

  “I could demonstrate, but people might hear you screaming.”

  “There’s always tonight,” she said as she ran her hand across his cheek.

  “I like the way you think, woman.”

  Zoe pulled her cell phone out of her purse and told Carver that she was going to check her voicemail at the office. “Since you’re going to be watching my six, I guess I could get back to work.”

  “Yeah, because I’m sure the FBI is going to stop paying me to pay you now. And the cheating husbands of New York have had a break long enough.”

  Zoe rolled her eyes. “I investigate wives, too. Although, those cases are a little harder to crack because women are better at hiding things.”

  “Good to know.”

  Zoe pressed the code on her phone to access her voicemail and listened to the first fifteen messages. Insurance adjusters, clients asking when she’d return, a lawyer reminding her that she needed to testify at a divorce case next month, and then she heard a voice that sent chills down her spine.

  “Zoe Harrington, you’re a slippery bitch. Cost me millions of dollars, but I know you value family more than anything else. That’s why I snatched your pretty little sister-in-law. If you ever want to see her alive, you’re going to do exactly what I say. See you in North Carolina, bitch.”

  The phone slipped from her hand. “Zoe? What’s wrong?”

  “Singletary has Chante! We have to get off this train and get to Charlotte.” Zoe rose to her feet and took off running for the doors. Carver followed her in vain as she grabbed the ticket attendant and begged him to get the conductor to stop the train.

  “Ma’am, we can’t do that.”

  “Zoe, calm down,” Carver said. She whirled around and glared at him.

  Pointing her index finger in his face, she roared, “No, you put my whole family in danger with this wild-goose chase of yours. If you’d just told me the truth about what was going on, we could’ve avoided this! You better get me off this train.”

  Carver flashed his FBI badge at the ticket agent. “We need to stop this train.”

  “What’s going on?” the frazzled agent asked.

  “We have a situation and we need to get off the train and get to North Carolina.”

  “Yes, sir,” the agent said, and took off down the corridor. Zoe started to follow her, but Carver grabbed her arm.

  “Zoe, stop.”

  She snatched away from him and pointed her index finger in his face again. “Carver, playing this game with you has put my family at risk, and now that murderous bastard has Chante.”

  “I had no idea that—”

  “Because you didn’t trust me with the truth. If anything happens to Chante, her blood is on your hands.”

  Charlotte, North Carolina

  Chante banged her hand against the lid of the trunk, hoping someone would hear her. “Hello! Let me out!”

  Silence.

  She banged again until her hands were raw and her palms started to bleed. Chante didn’t understand what was going on. She’d walked out of the house and felt a hand over her mouth, then everything went black. By the time she came to, Chante realized that she was in the trunk of her own car. She couldn’t understand who would be after her. When she’d reached for the emergency trunk release, it didn’t work, as if something was on the lid stopping it from opening.

  Chante took a deep breath and said a silent prayer that she wouldn’t die in the trunk of a car. Then she felt her baby move. There was no way in hell that she was going to let her child suffer.

  “Let me out, please. Please, I’m pregnant. Please let me go.”

  * * *

  Lewis would’ve felt sorry for Chante had she not been a Harrington. He wouldn’t have kept a pregnant woman in the trunk of a car, but Zoe needed to know that her sister-in-law was in danger. He was about to take one of the boulders off the back of the trunk and give her some air, but Singletary walked over.

  “My man! Good job.”

  Lewis nodded. “Thanks.”

  “She still crying and banging on the trunk?” Joe laughed, then walked over to the car and slammed his hand against the trunk lid. “Don’t worry, you won’t be in here much longer. I’m going to take real good care of you.”

  “Please! Why are you doing this to me?”

  “You married into the wrong family,” he said.

  She started banging again. “Please, I can’t breathe and I’m pregnant! Let me out.”

  Lewis leaned in to Singletary. “We can tie her up and let her breathe.”

  “Doesn’t matter what we do, the bitch is going to die anyway.” Joe slapped the lid again. “I left Zoe a message, but she hasn’t called yet. You better hope your sister-in-law steps up.”

  “Don’t keep me in here,” Chante said. “I can’t breathe and my baby—”

  “Shut up. Shut up!”

  * * *

  Zach was pissed. His day had gone from bad to worse in the span of six hours. First, his morning appointment had been a no-show. He’d waited for the man for two hours. And when it became clear that he wasn’t coming, Zach left and headed to Dunkin’ Donuts to grab some apple fritters. As he drove to the doughnut shop, some idiot rear-ended him.

  Waiting for the police and getting a rental car took up most of the morning and half the afternoon. And Zach still didn’t get his sweet treat. He called Chante to see if she’d left the office and gone home yet.

  Voicemail.

  “Babe, I hope you’re on your way home and your day was better than mine. I’m going to stop by the grocery store and get some of those cupcakes you love.” He ended the call and headed to the store.

  Things were starting to look up for Zach as the lines in the grocery store were short and the buttercream cupcakes he and Chante enjoyed were readily available. He started to get a bottle of wine, but then he remembered he’d be the only one drinking it. Zach grabbed two bottles of craft beer instead, because after the day he’d had, he needed a drink.

  While standing in line to check out, Zach’s phone rang. He answered the phone, hoping it was Chante.

  “Hey, babe.”

  “Zach,” Zoe said. “Where are you?”

  “Zoe? What’s wrong, you sound weird.”

  “Is Chante with you? Have you talked to her?”

  “Zoe, what in the hell is going on? Chante is at the office. I just called her and left her a voicemail message. She’s starting maternity leave today.”

  “Zach, listen to me. Chante has been kidnapped.”

  “What are you talking about? Who would want to . . . How do you know?”

  She sighed into the phone and told her twin that she was about two hours away from Charlotte and he needed to get home.r />
  “Zoe, tell me what the hell is going on. Who has my wife? Does this have something to do with that psycho Robert Montgomery?”

  “No, this isn’t about her ex, Robert. It’s much worse. Zach, just wait for Carver and me. Okay?”

  “Zoe, tell me what the hell is going on!”

  “I’ll tell you everything when we get to your house.”

  Zach set the cupcakes and beer down on the edge of the register’s conveyer belt and ran out of the store. Speeding to his house, Zach was confused about what to do. Did he call the police and report his wife missing? What if Zoe was wrong? Please let Zoe be wrong. I can’t lose Chante and our baby.

  When Zach arrived home, he saw that the garage door was open and Chante’s car was missing. Something was wrong. They always closed the garage door because the lock on the door leading inside was broken. He wanted to punch himself in the face for not getting it fixed.

  But their neighborhood was safe; at least he thought it was. Pulling into the driveway, he noticed an envelope on the step. Zach didn’t even turn the car off as he jumped out.

  Maybe Chante had left him a note or something. Ripping the envelope open, Zach read the note as fear ran up and down his spine. Chante had been kidnapped, and they wanted three hundred thousand dollars.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Zach pulled out his phone and called his sister back.

  “Zach, are you at home?”

  “Yes. And there’s a ransom note.”

  “What does it say?”

  “That Chante’s going to die if I don’t get them three hundred thousand dollars in twenty-four hours. There’s a number at the bottom. I’m calling—”

  “No. Don’t do anything until we get there.”

  “Zoe, my wife and child could be dead. I don’t have time to waste.”

  “You and Chante aren’t the target. I am. A man named Joseph Singletary is behind this and he wants to kill me, not Chante.”