Love & Redemption

by Chantel Rhondeau

  Paul smiled, though his patience seemed to be fraying. “Besides your life, you mean?”

  She shrugged. “If what you said about Gavin and Jenessa is true, what do I really have to live for? You went through the breakup with Nadia. You know how it is. I’m tired of all this sadness and facing everything alone.”

  “Are you saying you’ll work for me, then?”

  “I will.” She nodded, keeping her eyes focused on him. She couldn’t let any hint of weakness clue him in that she lied.

  He wasn’t easy to convince. “I’m not sure I should trust you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “And you think I’m all gung ho about trusting you? It’ll be an uneasy alliance until you prove yourself.”

  “Prove myself? You are the one who has to convince me.” He stood up, looking at something behind Shelley. “You could make me feel a lot better about things right now.”

  Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Emma had sat up, drawing Paul’s attention.

  “Mommy?” she whispered in a shaky voice. “Make the bad man leave.”

  “The bad man indeed.” Paul walked to Emma, holding his hand out. “Come here, girl.”

  She shook her head and shrank away from him. “Don’t touch me.”

  “I’m not going to hurt you.” Paul’s voice had taken on the grandfatherly quality again. “I noticed you called Shelley mommy. You must really like her. Do you want me to take you over to her?”

  Emma nodded and hesitantly placed her hand in Paul’s. Shelley literally bit down on her tongue, so strong was her urge to scream at him to get away from her.

  He scooped the girl into his arms and carried her across the room, placing her in Shelley’s lap.

  Shelley whimpered in pain when Emma’s heel crashed into her right shin, but she readily cuddled the girl, trying to comfort her. She wondered how much Emma heard or understood about what was going on. Did she realize Shelley was making a deal to work with Paul?

  Paul stood over them, a calculating look in his eye that put Shelley’s teeth on edge. “If you really want to work for me, Shelley, prove it. I know how extensive your training is. Even with your injuries, you can overpower one small girl.”

  Shelley shook her head, struggling to twist her body away from Paul to shield Emma from his view. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”

  “And I won’t. You will.” He grinned. “Prove your loyalty.”

  Frustration overcame her. She’d wasted all this time trying to gain his trust, and he picked the one test she couldn’t fake. “You know I won’t do that.” She placed Emma on the ground, and shoved her toward the opposite side of the room. “Stay away from the bad man, Emma.”

  Emma ran to the wall, pressing her back into it and watched them warily.

  The back of Paul’s hand slammed across Shelley’s cheek. “I figured you were lying, you little bitch. Don’t expect another chance. Even if Nick comes through with the diamonds, you and Emma will die.”

  Shelley spit out a fresh batch of blood and struggled into a standing position, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She was slightly taller than Paul and looked down at him with a sneer. “Not if I kill you first.”

  He laughed. “I’ll miss that fighter spirit of yours. Stephen asked to do the honors if it came down to it, so I guess you’re his problem now.”

  Paul strode to the doorway and knocked on it.

  Though Shelley was tempted to jump him from behind, knowing that Terrance was on the other side and waiting to help his boss stopped her. She’d have better odds against Stephen.

  Terrance opened the door and glanced in at Shelley. “Told you she’d never turn on them. This was a waste of time.”

  Paul shoved Terrance out of his way. “It was my time to waste. Don’t forget who’s in charge.”

  The door banged shut, but they had left Shelley with a lot to think about. If she managed to get out of this situation alive, Nick would be very interested to know that all wasn’t great over at S.A.T.O.

  Seemed Paul had a power struggle on his hands with Terrance. That might be the key to ultimately bringing them down.

  ***

  Ken stopped the police cruiser on the outskirts of a town called Walton, parking next to three Delaware County police cars. “Here’s our backup,” he said. “Hope this is what you had in mind, because it’s all they could send.”

  “I think we should go in first,” Gavin blurted from the backseat. “What if we all go down there, and they kill Shelley or Emma before we find the cellar. We need to be quiet and sneaky.”

  Nick turned to face him. “Sneaky is a good idea. We know where the house is and we have a general idea of the cellar, but it’s off the main property and might be hard to find.”

  “Exactly.” Relief flooded through Gavin. It seemed Nick was a reasonable man. “A small group can get around easier than all of us.”

  Nick nodded. “I actually think one person, used to sneaking around, would be even better.”

  Comprehension dawned on him. “You want me to go in alone?”

  “Yep. We can drop you off down the road from the property and you can go in first.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Ken said. “It’s all forest area. If you stick to the trees, you could probably get in undetected.”

  Gavin wondered if Ken really thought it was a good idea, or if he just didn’t want to put himself in danger if he could help it. “What if there are too many guards and I can’t get in?”

  Jenessa shrugged. “Then we have our answer. Only one reason they would guard a cellar.” She pulled out her pistol. “Take this with you, just in case.”

  Gavin pushed it back toward her. “I have no clue what to do with that.”

  “Point and shoot, Gavin. It’s not a hard concept.” She thrust the handle toward him again. “In an emergency it could save you. Take it.”

  Nick’s eyebrows narrowed, and Gavin thought he would argue about the gun, but he didn’t.

  “If there are a lot of guards,” he said, “sneak back to the forest and call us. At least if we know how many people are there, we can go in prepared. If the women are unguarded, get them out of there.”

  “Okay.” Gavin took a deep breath, clinging desperately to his nonexistent courage. He had to do this. Shelley counted on him and he wouldn’t let her down. “I can do this.”

  “Of course you can. You’re a secret agent now.” Nick turned to Ken. “Tell the other officers the plan. We’ll need them on standby. I have a feeling once this happens, it’ll be quick. If Gavin calls us in there, we’ll want to take them by surprise.”

  Gavin’s hands trembled so badly, he stuck the gun in his jacket pocket, afraid he might drop it on the floor. The folded map from Brent’s office sat on the seat between him and Jenessa. After wiping his hands on his pants, he pulled the hand-drawn picture from the center of the folded pages.

  It was a good drawing, telling him where the forest was in relation to the house, an old rock fence line, and finally the cellar itself. He could do this. As a kid, he’d often used hand-drawn pictures of a mark’s house in order to find the best ways in and get the items someone asked him to steal. Sneaking past S.A.T.O. agents was riskier than those childhood indiscretions, but he reminded himself Shelley counted on him. When he was young, Gavin was a screw up, getting into trouble and barely surviving the streets.

  This time, he’d be the hero.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “I’m hungry,” Emma complained.

  Since Shelley’s stomach rumbled its displeasure, she understood how the girl felt. Glancing at the counter, Shelley saw they only had two bottles of water remaining and no idea if Paul would provide more. Still, Emma needed something. Despite Paul’s threats, she planned to find a way out of this.

  “Drink some water, sweetling. It’ll help you feel better.”

  Emma shook her head. “I want pizza.”

  Don’t we both? “I promise to get you pizza when we get out of here, but for
now I can’t do that.”

  Though Emma pouted her bottom lip, she hopped off the mattress and ran to grab a water bottle. “Do you want the other one?”

  “Can I just have a swallow of yours?”

  “Rose said that spreads germs.”

  Thanks, Rose. Probably not important in a life or death situation. “She’s right about that normally, but we can’t drink all our water. It needs to last.”

  With a shrug, Emma crossed back to her and handed her the drink. Though Emma slept a lot and had seemed sluggish lately, the promise of pizza perked her up. Shelley wondered if anyone fed Emma since her kidnapping. If not, she had to be getting extremely weak. Shelley had to act, the sooner the better.

  Taking a small sip and swishing it around her mouth, Shelley passed the bottle back. “Emma, I need you to help me. Next time the bad man comes down here, we’re going to play a little game to trick him, okay?”

  Emma’s brown eyes sparkled with mischief. Shelley got the feeling that when the girl had a belly full of food and her life wasn’t in danger, she probably had driven her nanny to distraction with her antics. “What should I do?” she asked.

  Shelley struggled back into a sitting position. Her knee still throbbed from the effort of getting back to Emma after Paul left, but if things worked out, she’d get medical attention soon. “Help me to the doorway.”

  “Right!” Emma bounced on the mattress, and Shelley sucked in a hiss of pain as it jostled her. The girl was immediately chastened. “Sorry, Mommy. I’ll be carefuller.”

  With a sigh, Shelley decided there was no point in correcting her use of mommy. There was only so much the girl could handle without breaking down. Unless her plan worked, it likely wouldn’t matter anyway. “Help me up.”

  It took a lot of effort but with Emma’s assistance, Shelley managed to pull herself to an upright position. Tears of pain streamed down her cheeks, but she was determined to get them free. If her estimation of time was anywhere near right, it had been about three hours since Paul made his appearance. They must have contacted Nick again in the meantime, and presumably Stephen would be along to kill her anytime now.

  Luckily, Paul made her job even easier. He left the folding chairs in the room when he stormed out. Maybe that didn’t seem like a big deal to him, but it made it possible for Shelley to wait for his lackey for a longer time than if she had to stand.

  “Move that chair over there and lean it against the wall,” she instructed. “Then, move the other chair next to it.”

  Emma ran to do as told, definitely having more energy than she’d displayed since Shelley first got there. Hopping painfully across the space, Shelley plopped into the chair upon reaching it. She pulled the second chair sideways and rested her hand against the top edge. As soon as she heard the lock in the key, she could use it to pull herself to her feet. Stephen wouldn’t know what hit him.

  “What now?” Emma asked.

  “Now is your most important job of all.” Shelley pointed to the bed. “Build up those blankets and make it look like I’m lying there. When the bad man comes back and sees you in bed, he’ll think I’m there too. Then I can stop him and get us out of here.”

  “Gee, that’d be good, Mommy.” Emma smiled, showing the lack of one of her front teeth. “Then we can get pizza.”

  “We sure can. Just make sure you don’t look at me when the bad man comes inside, okay? I don’t want him to know where I’m at.”

  ***

  Gavin stood near the old stone fence. It was low to the ground, only about two feet high. He stepped over it, deciding it must be a property marker of some kind. According to the map, once he walked to the edge of the trees, it should open onto a clearing.

  It seemed odd someone had built a cellar so far from the main house. Maybe the previous owners hid liquor down there during prohibition. That’s the only thing Gavin could think that made sense. Or maybe they were true criminals. A hidden cellar was just the sort of thing people like Paul Billing’s needed to run his operation.

  As he came out on the edge of the forest, Gavin saw an area of trampled spring grasses. It definitely looked as if several cars had driven in the area recently. No one was there now, however. It might be their lucky day.

  Gavin followed the tree line up the clearing, ready to duck into cover if anyone appeared. Though the map was not to scale, the cellar entrance should have been in sight, but nothing stood out to him.

  Retreating behind some trees, Gavin pulled out his phone and dialed Nick’s number, quickly filling him in on the situation. “There have definitely been cars out here, but no one’s here now. I’m wondering if they’re up at the main house? It would make sense for them to stay there until Emma’s taken care of.”

  “That’s a good thought,” Nick agreed. “You can’t find the entrance to the cellar?”

  “Not from here. I’m going to have to go out in the open and hope no one comes up while I’m looking.” Because he was sure S.A.T.O. would shoot first and ask questions later if they found anyone out here.

  “Fine. You concentrate on finding Shelley, Emma, and the nanny. We’ll take the officers and raid the house.”

  “Be careful.” Gavin placed the phone back in his pocket and pulled out the gun. “Just point and shoot,” he muttered to himself, trying not to be afraid of the weapon.

  After crisscrossing the grassy clearing for several minutes, he finally found a wooden doorway sunk into the ground and covered in moss, which helped hide it. The grass around the edges of the frame was smashed, showing it had been opened recently. This had to be the place.

  Just as he was ready to open the door, the whine of an engine made him hesitate. It sounded like a car driving up the makeshift path. While he didn’t want to give anyone a chance at Shelley, he couldn’t be caught in the open either.

  Gavin darted back to the trees, watching as the vehicle pulled to a stop about fifty feet from the cellar door.

  Shaking so hard he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold it steady, Gavin pointed the gun at the driver’s side of the vehicle. Now all he had to do was shoot. That was the hard part.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  The sound of the lock turning woke Shelley from her light doze. Jumping to action, she pulled herself to her feet, adrenaline pumping high enough she hardly registered the knee pain.

  Emma glanced at her with wide eyes and a smile, but quickly looked away. The child threw her arm over the bulky blanket next to her and stared at the door.

  When it opened, Shelley stayed still behind it, knowing she had to pick the right time to jump whoever was on the other side. She just prayed they didn’t see her first.

  Masculine fingertips curled around the edge of the door, grabbing it, but no face followed to look behind it. Relief flooded through her when the door began to swing shut.

  “Mommy’s hurt,” Emma exclaimed. “She needs a doctor.” The girl was shielding the blankets with her body, remembering not to squish them. It actually looked like Emma was there with a person. The girl obviously liked tricking the bad guys.

  “She won’t need one,” Stephen’s gruff voice replied. As the door clicked shut, he came into view. His back was to Shelley while he faced Emma and the bundle on the bed.

  It was now or never. Shelley lunged for him, nearly tumbling when her right knee took some weight. She crashed into him lower than intended, missing his neck and instead pushing the middle of his back.

  Stephen stumbled forward a pace, but stayed on his feet. He whipped around, a snarl curling his upper lip. “So, you want to fight? That’s even more fun than how I planned to kill you.”

  He seemed quite pleased with his taunting, and opened his mouth to say more. Shelley didn’t give him that chance. Turning quickly, she flung her right leg out in a powerful side kick. As her boot-clad heel rammed into Stephen’s stomach, she felt something tear further in the knee.

  None of that mattered. Stephen fell to the ground, thudding in the soft dirt. “You bitch.”


  Shelley brought her heel down, stomping on his shin, which was the closest thing to her. Again, pain jolted through her knee. She gritted her teeth and slammed her foot down again. Even if she ruined her knee permanently, it would be worth it to save Emma.

  Stephen howled in pain, grabbing his leg. It pulled him out of reach for another attack.

  Stepping forward, Shelley nearly went down when her knee didn’t take her weight. She managed to balance herself with arms outstretched, but teetered unsteadily.

  Lightning fast, Stephen rolled toward her. He bashed into her legs, forcing her feet from beneath her. She fell backward, the air knocked from her lungs as she thudded flat on her back. Within seconds, he climbed on top of her and pinned her to the ground. Her arms were trapped beneath his knees. She tried to kick him with her good leg, but couldn’t do more than bump his back with her thigh.

  “Nice try, Shelley. For all the problems you’ve caused the past few months, you get to die.”

  Though Shelley struggled, she couldn’t get away. She let out a loud scream, praying someone would come to her rescue.

  A smile crossed his face and his fingers closed around her throat.

  ***

  Damn it!

  Gavin raced to the opening, knowing he failed. He just couldn’t pull the trigger when Stephen stepped from the car. He had to stop Stephen from whatever he was about to do.

  Creeping quietly down wooden steps, his body blocked out the light from above, making it difficult to see. The musty smell of earth filled his nose, and Gavin worried he’d sneeze and give away his presence.

  At the bottom of the stairs, it didn’t open onto the cellar as he expected it to. Instead, there was a tunnel, shored up by rotting wooden pillars barely visible in the dim light. Shuddering, Gavin wondered how Shelley handled walking down here.

  After five more steps, he couldn’t see anything. Whatever this place was used for in the past, they were serious about no one finding it. He wished he had a flashlight, especially when he ran into the wall at the end of the path. Feeling around revealed two tunnels turned off it. Which way should he go?