Hard To Handle

by Kylie Brant

  “You’re a spook. Just like your sister.”

  The conclusion he reached was so at odds with the lance of fear piercing her that it took a moment for her to comprehend. In the next instant he balled his fist and slugged her. Lights wheeled behind her eyelids as pain exploded in her jaw. He grabbed her shoulders his hands and shook her.

  “Aren’t you? You’re just like her?”

  The metallic taste of blood pooled in her mouth, and she fought desperately against the haze that threatened to drag her to unconsciousness. Dimly she was aware that he’d just handed her a possible lifeline.

  Feeling as though she were clawing her way through a thick mental fog she forced her eyes open, tried to stop her head from spinning. “That’s right. I am.”

  He rose suddenly, as if loath to remain near her. As if Meghan, with her imagined abilities, was somehow more freakish than his own lack of conscience. She welcomed the respite, her mind working overtime. “Do you want to know what D’Brusco was thinking when the two of you ran by the window?”

  His lips stretched in a chilling smile. “Change of plans, bitch. You’re gonna die quick, after all.”

  She shocked herself with the steadiness of her tone. “I think you’re overlooking just how useful my ability can be.” When she saw him hesitate in his approach toward her she knew she had his attention. “I can pick up all kinds of things that go through a person’s head. Where they keep their money. Combinations to their safes. How to shut off their alarm systems.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “Am I? There’s a list in my purse of possible targets. Go ahead and look.” She held her breath for the space of the minute he stared at her. Then he found her purse on the floor and dumped it out, fishing for the folded-up sheet listing donors to the fund-raiser. He brought the paper close, scanned it. Then his expressionless gaze landed on Meghan again. “So what. It’s a bunch of names.”

  “Names that include a bank president. A respected gemologist. A federal appeals judge.” She knew she didn’t imagine the cold calculation that crossed his face. “Check them out for yourself. And while you do, imagine how much you stand to gain by letting me live.”

  Desperation was all that kept her words steady. Desperation and a certain fragile hope that she could buy herself some time. Enough time for Danny to help Gabe find her.

  The soothing sounds of ocean tides filled the dimly lit room. “Concentrate on the waves, Danny. Hear them rushing in and then out again. Listen to that rhythm.”

  Raina’s gentle voice was as lyrical as the sound of the recording. Neither had a calming effect on Gabe’s razor-edged nerves. His fists clenched tightly, he chafed at the forced inactivity. But unless Danny could give them something, some tiny clue about Meghan’s whereabouts, any attempt at rescue would be doomed.

  C’mon, kid, he coached Danny silently. You did it to me easily enough. Give me something to work with. He was only half aware of the hand Cal placed on his shoulder. His attention was focused intently on the boy. If it hadn’t been, he would have missed the way Danny’s small fingers squeezed the older woman’s.

  “Aunt Meggie’s scared.” Tears were in his voice.

  “Tell us more, Danny.”

  “Her car’s outside.” The detectives looked at each other. Meghan’s car wasn’t in the apartment garage. Gabe suspected she’d been on her way to Danny’s school when Paulie had found her. Which meant he’d been watching her. Waiting for an opportunity. And Gabe had been too late to prevent it.

  “Is it?” Raina spoke quietly in her slightly accented voice. “Where is Meghan?”

  “It’s empty and dark. She’s inside with the bad man.” His lips quivered. “There’s water, only not like on the tape. And big lions on the wall. There’s one outside with his mouth open.”

  “There used to be a restaurant called the Red Lion on the east pier,” Cal murmured to Gabe. “Had a big lion out in front that almost looked real. I took Becky there on our first date.”

  Gabe met his partner’s gaze. “Got your cell phone?” Cal nodded. “Then let’s go.”

  When Meghan heard the squeak of a door hinge, and a heavy tread approaching, her stomach plummeted. She had no way of knowing how long Delgado had been gone, only that it hadn’t been for long enough. She blinked away the tears of frustration that wanted to gather and forced that thin shaft of despair away.

  It had been futile to think she could project her whereabouts to Danny; futile to believe that a five-year-old child could do more with that bombardment of emotion than be terrified by it. Who, after all, had she thought could help the boy? From Gabe’s icy fury that morning, it had been all too obvious that the fragile relationship they’d been building had shattered.

  Delgado walked over to where she sat on the floor, bound to the radiator. “Your lucky—you get to live. For a while at least.” He’d checked out the names on the list, she thought dully. Greed had managed to circumvent his blood-lust. At least for the moment.

  “Your boyfriend, though…he’s not going to be so lucky.” He watched for the comprehension to flicker in her eyes. “I might be able to fake your death, but I still got a job to do on him.” His hand went to her hair, and snakes of revulsion twisted in her stomach. “I think I’ll let you watch me gut him. We’ll take him at his house after dark, how ’bout that? But there’s plenty of daylight left. And I know just how we can spend it.”

  Her protest was muffled by her gag, but Meghan struggled violently as he reached for her, kicking out and catching him in the thigh.

  He loomed over her, menacing. “Bitch. You’ll learn how to…”

  The blow she was steeled for never came. The door crashed in, and a figure came hurtling inside in a dive, dropping to the floor and rolling to his feet again. Gabe. She had an instant to recognize him before she saw the glint of Delgado’s blade flashing. Descending. She kicked out again, her scream sounding only in her mind. Tearing pain, followed by numbness.

  The scene was rushing by in blurred fast-speed frames. She recognized Cal, heard the struggle Gabe was involved in and then the room began to shift in and out of focus. Senses dulled, grew distant. The last thing she remembered before the black rush of unconsciousness overswept her was the sound of Gabe calling her name.

  “A hell of a story.” Dare McKay scribbled madly in his notebook.

  “Yeah.” Gabe leaned back in the hospital chair, bone tired with worry and exhaustion. Meghan was sleeping, heavily sedated. He’d had the doctor’s assurance, repeatedly, that she was out of danger. But he couldn’t bring himself to stray farther than outside her door.

  “Thanks for the exclusive.”

  “Well that informant we mysteriously acquired had a hand in all this.”

  Dare shrugged modestly. “Glad to hear it.”

  Gabe narrowed a look at the other man. “How’d you happen to know so much about Mannen, anyway? What’s your angle in all this?”

  “I often find myself wondering about his angles myself.”

  The blond woman approaching them wore a tailored navy suit and a professional manner. But there was no mistaking the slight edge to her words. “McKay makes it a habit of turning up in all sorts of odd places.”

  The reporter, Gabe noted interestedly, seemed to lose a little of his famed affability when he saw the woman, but his voice was even enough when he answered. “Turning up in odd places is my business, Addie, you know that.”

  With an air of dismissal the woman turned her back on McKay and extended her hand. “Addison Jacobs, assistant state attorney for Cook County. I’ll be determining charges in the case.”

  Shaking her hand, he responded, “Detective Gabe Connally. My partner and I made the arrest. He took the perp to lockup, and I came here with the victim.”

  “I talked to Detective Madison already and thought I’d get your report before talking to the victim. Is she…” The attorney broke off as her cellular phone rang. With an apologetic smile, she reached for it. “Would you excuse me?”<
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  As she moved away to answer her call, Gabe looked between her and Dare consideringly. “Now I’m the one sensing a story.”

  The other man pretended to misunderstand him. “About me and Mannen? Maybe I’ll tell you about it over a beer sometime.”

  “And the one about you and Jacobs?”

  McKay’s gaze strayed to the pretty blonde. “That story will take a six-pack.” Tearing his gaze away from the woman, he tucked his pen in his shirt pocket. “You know, there’s one thing you didn’t explain about the events today.” He paused a beat. “You never said how you knew right where to find the victim.”

  A mist of ice formed and settled in Gabe’s chest. “We acted on an anonymous tip.”

  “Funny thing about tips. You never know where they’re going to lead. For instance, did you know Meghan Patterson and her nephew are regular visitors of Raina Nausman?” He watched the detective’s eyes go opaque. “The woman’s famous in some circles. Noted for her expertise in parapsychology.”

  Gabe didn’t ask how the hell the reporter had gotten that information and he didn’t waste time on denials. Damage control was his first concern. “Leave the boy out of it, McKay.”

  Dare’s gaze never wavered. “Are you asking or telling me?”

  Emotions were a complicated business, Gabe was discovering. They rippled out, touched others. And because he felt a responsibility to all involved, he said, “I’m asking.”

  The other man nodded, tapped his pen against his tablet. “You got it.” He rose and gathered his jacket. “I hope Miss Patterson recovers soon.” Then he turned and strolled away.

  And Gabe was left with the discovery of how instinctive it was to seek to protect a child. And a new appreciation for the lengths people would go to, to do so.

  “Are you sure you’re up to this?” Callie asked worriedly. She fussed with the cake Meghan had ordered, while she repeated the question for the fifth time.

  “I’d better be. The first of the little demons is already on his way upstairs.” As if to punctuate her words, the bell rang, and Danny threw the door open, greeting his friend and ushering him inside.

  “I still think you should have postponed this until you’re feeling better.”

  Meghan stifled a sigh. “Callie, I feel fine. And this is the first birthday party Danny’s ever had. He’s been counting the days until his birthday for weeks. I couldn’t disappoint him.” Or more important, she refused to. There had been so much turmoil in the boy’s young life, that this slice of normalcy was the very least he deserved. And the very least she owed him.

  It also provided her with a much-needed distraction from the recent events in her life. And the man who was noticeably absent from it.

  The buzzer sounded and again Danny answered the door. “Well, I’m going to stick around to make sure you don’t overdo it,” Callie said firmly. There was a whoop and what sounded like a pack of elephants running through the living room. “I’ll also provide the whip and the chair.”

  Meghan forced a smile. “They might come in handy. I’m not sure how I’m going to keep the kids occupied all afternoon.”

  Callie waved her worry away. “Don’t be concerned about that. They’ll entertain themselves. That’s the part that will make you most miserable. Oh, there’s the buzzer again. How many of the little maniacs did you let him invite, anyway?” She left the kitchen to go to the door.

  “Do you want to show him into Danny’s room, Callie?” Meghan called from the other room. “Oh, make him take off his shoes first. And show him where the bathroom is. I’ve found that that’s a pretty urgent thing for—” She looked up from the pitcher of drink she was stirring and her words stumbled.

  “Actually, I’ve been housebroken for a few years now,” Gabe said, propping one shoulder against the wall.

  Her voice was strangled. “I…thought…you were…”

  “Five. I got that.” His gaze swept her form once, then again. She looked okay, he thought with something approaching relief. Better than okay, actually. There was some color in her cheeks, a welcome change from the way she’d looked lying in that hospital bed. Just the memory made his gut churn.

  “So this doesn’t look like following doctor’s orders.”

  She shrugged, then winced when the action pulled at the wound in her shoulder. “I’m taking it easy. And Callie’s helping.”

  He raised his arm to show her the box he was carrying. “I brought the kid something.” His gaze skimmed the room because it was easier than watching that polite, blank expression on her face.

  “A train set. He’ll like that.”

  “Yeah. I guess every kid needs a train.”

  “I can go get him if you like.”

  “It can wait.” This wasn’t going exactly the way he’d figured. His stomach was jittery with what felt suspiciously like nerves. Hell. He frowned. He’d rather face a storm of bullets than see Meghan look at him with that polite dispassionate mask.

  “So. I thought you’d want to know…Delgado was denied bail. They’ve got charges of kidnapping and attempted murder pending against him.”

  She winced a little. “He was planning to kill you, too.”

  “Yeah, so you said, but so far we haven’t had any luck trying to get him to talk about who hired him.” Gabe had his suspicions, though. Meghan must have been snatched not too long after he and Cal had left Mannen. He was a long way from proving the man’s involvement, but it was a connection he was determined to make. “If we catch some luck, the knife Delgado had on him might match the wounds on the corpses that have been piling up in this case. We’ll have enough charges against him to keep him in prison the rest of his life.” And maybe, he thought grimly, that would be incentive for him to flip on whoever had hired him. That would be their best chance of tying him to Mannen.

  “And you should probably know about Wadrell.” Her gaze jerked to his. “He’s on suspension, pending a full investigation into his conduct in your sister’s case.”

  Meghan waited for satisfaction to fill her, or at least a sense of vindication. But there was nothing. What happened to Wadrell now, however deserved, wouldn’t bring Sandra back. “It’s not enough.” She was unaware she’d spoken the words aloud until she heard his response.

  “No, it’s not. But sometimes we have to take what we can get.”

  As if they’d both run out of words, the silence stretched then, long enough to be considered awkward. Gabe cleared his throat. “Well, you look good. Last time I saw you, you were kind of out of it. I think they’d just given you a painkiller again.”

  She went still. “You saw me…in the hospital?”

  “Yeah, both nights.”

  “I don’t remember.” She recalled little past the time he’d burst in that door, struggled with Delgado. Gabe had ridden in the ambulance with her, and she’d annoyed the medic by insisting on telling him everything she’d learned while Delgado had been holding her. But once she’d gotten to the hospital…she had no memory of seeing him while she’d been there, and she’d drawn her own conclusions from his absence.

  She couldn’t allow herself the indulgence of believing that finding out differently changed things. She tucked that dismal little tendril of hope away and faced him. “I owe you an apology.” She was going to step out from behind her carefully constructed defenses and offer him, finally, honesty. It might be too late, but it was no more than his due. “For not telling you about Danny.”

  His voice was deliberately expressionless when he answered. “You were trying to protect him.”

  “That’s true. But telling you wouldn’t have been easy for me, in any case.” Determined not to spare herself, she met his gaze head-on. “I don’t have much experience trusting people. I didn’t get much practice at it when I was a kid, and now…well, I guess I’m too much of a coward.”

  His eyes narrowed. “That’s the last thing I’d accuse you of.”

  A corner of her mouth lifted wryly. “Oh, yes I am, emotionally at least.
Trust means lowering my guard and opening up to someone, and that terrifies me.” He terrified her, because he’d managed to smash through her defenses with so little effort. Had found a place in her heart without her permission and lodged there. There had been loneliness within those inner walls, but there had been safety, too. Right now she felt stripped bare. Vulnerable and exposed. So the words she had to force through her lips sounded rushed. “I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not a good risk. I don’t have a lot of experience with long-term relationships, and there’s absolutely no reason to believe I’ll get better at them. But I want to.” The ache in her heart sounded in her voice. “Because I love you.”

  For one long moment he stared at her, and then finally, slowly, his mouth curved. “I know.”

  She stared blankly. “You know?”

  “Remind me not to tell you any state secrets. You’re inclined to babble when you’re on low dosages of medication.”

  Her gaze abruptly narrowed. “Babble what?”

  “That first night in the hospital you told me you loved me.” He hadn’t quite believed it; hadn’t allowed himself to. She’d also mentioned something about climbing the Sears Tower in grip boots, and he hadn’t intended to hold her to that, had he? But she’d repeated the words now, and damned if he wasn’t going to hold her to it.

  “I did?” Emotional bravery, she was beginning to believe, was vastly overrated. Her chest was in a vise, squeezing the oxygen from her lungs. “Well, what did you say?”

  “I think I said something along the lines of…ditto.”

  Her lungs eased a little, but there was no denying a sense of disappointment. “Ditto? Ditto? You’re lucky you didn’t send me into insulin shock with your sugary sentimentality.”

  His smile settled into his eyes. Her fire was back. He preferred it to the ice. Closing the distance between them, he cupped her face in his hands. “I couldn’t do much better at the time. Do you know what it did to me, hearing Danny describe how afraid you were…knowing Delgado had you?” The ugly images crawled across his mind, still trailing ice. “Every minute it took to find you was an agony.”