Off the Grid for Love

by Rena Koontz

  Still stunned from the slap, she shook her head. “I-I don’t know who you mean.”

  The right side of his mouth curled up into a sneer. “No? You choose to play dumb with me?” His eyes raked over her body and she drew her knees up to her chest, causing Vincent to laugh.

  “You think that will stop me? I can have you naked and spread eagle in a matter of minutes if I have a mind to fuck you.”

  Fear seized her insides. “Is that what this is about? You brought me here to rape me?”

  Vincent sneered. “I hadn’t thought about it but it would sure piss off Jake and right now, that’s my goal. To get him here and angry enough that he doesn’t think straight.”

  With one hand he slicked back his coal-black hair. Her eyes followed his movements and the notion that he colored his hair flashed through her mind. “Be smart, Miss McElroy. Save yourself from my attentions and tell me what you know about him. What does he do for a living?”

  She’d asked the same question more than once and she still wasn’t certain. But she doubted Vincent would appreciate that response.

  “He’s a security guard. I don’t know where but he works the night shift. That’s all I know. Why do you want to know? What’s Jake’s occupation have to do with abducting me?”

  Vincent’s forehead creased when he laughed. “Is that what he told you? Maybe he’s not what I think he is if that’s what he’s telling you. I hate to break it to you, lady, but your boyfriend is no security guard. He spends just about every night with me, so what kind of night shift do you think he works?”

  “You?”

  Now his right eyebrow arched at the same time the corner of his mouth rose, as if the eyebrow tugged it upward. “Me and my women. Jake’s a real party boy. Didn’t you know that?”

  She shook her head, dumbfounded. Lies. All the words he’d whispered to her when she lay in his arms, when they stood in the kitchen and he murmured against her lips, every time he spoke he’d lied. She’d been such a fool.

  Unchecked tears made their way down her cheeks.

  Vincent sneered. “The look on your face could make me believe he played us both. But you could simply be a good actress. Tell me, what were you doing on the turnpike? My men said you were headed for the state line. Where were you going? To some pre-arranged meet with Jake? I’d think right about now he’d be getting out of town if he wanted that phony arrest to look real.”

  Phony arrest? She’d seen him handcuffed on TV, escorted by the FBI, his name listed among the suspects in the City Hall swindle. Perhaps she was still groggy from whatever his men had drugged her with but she didn’t understand Vincent’s meaning and she told him so, adding that the news had shown Jake being arrested. He ignored that and repeated his question.

  “New York. I decided to take a couple days’ vacation and visit my cousin.” She dropped her gaze to her lap remembering Jake’s observation that she was a terrible liar. But that truly had been her plan.

  “Your boyfriend gets arrested and you leave town to visit your cousin? You expect me to believe that?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend. He never really was but we’re not . . .” What was the correct word? Dating? Sleeping together? “. . . with each other anymore. All he did was lie to me. I know that now. I had enough. I wanted to get away from him.”

  Vincent eyed her again as if she didn’t have a stitch of clothing on. “Sorry, cara mia, but I don’t believe you.” He retrieved her cell phone from his back jeans pocket and held the face of it toward her. “He’s been calling you. You have at least ten missed calls. That doesn’t sound like someone you’re not seeing anymore.”

  Mackenna’s heart leapt to her throat. Jake hadn’t given up trying to reach her. For what purpose, she was unsure, but at the moment, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t letting her go. And she didn’t want him to.

  Just then a man hollered from beyond the door, “Boss, you gotta see this. You ain’t gonna believe it. Come here, boss. Quick.”

  Vinny grinned and pointed his index finger at her. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  Vincent jogged out of the room leaving the door ajar and her mind spinning. Weren’t he and Jake business partners? That’s what Jake had said. Why doesn’t he know what Jake does for a living if they work together? It made no sense. Neither did kidnapping her. He might be the biggest jerk in the universe but Jake would never abduct her. He’d never hurt her. On that she’d bet her life. What had Vincent said? He wanted Jake here and not thinking clearly. What did that mean?

  Despite her confusion, her spirits lifted. He’d been calling her. After everything that’d happened, that shouldn’t make a difference but it did. Jake would save her. She knew it.

  Vincent strolled back into the room wearing an ear-to-ear grin. His head bobbed as if he’d learned a wonderful secret. “I gotta hand it to Jake, he’s no dummy. A bank teller robbing her own banks. It’s ingenious, I’ll say that.”

  Mackenna narrowed her eyes. “What?”

  “So you were high-tailing it out of town and I bet Jake planned to meet you somewhere. Am I right? Do you have the money with you? I’ll have my boys search your bags just in case. That’d be a sweet surprise.”

  She didn’t comprehend his words and simply shook her head.

  “C’mon, honey, your face is all over the news. I bet if I walked into the post office right now I’d see your mug on a wanted poster.” His head dropped back and he laughed. “It’s brilliant. If we hadn’t stopped you, you’d be out of state right now. No wonder Jake was hesitant about meeting me tonight. He never planned to show.”

  “You’re wrong, Vincent. I’m not a bank robber and there is no plan between me and Jake. It’s true the FBI questioned me about the robberies and I think they think I’m in on it but I’m not. I was running away from everyone, especially Jake. I-I thought he believed me but he treated me just like the police.”

  His head tilted. “The FBI questioned you? Oh, that’s good. Was it Jake asking the questions?”

  Her eyebrows knitted. “What? What are you talking about?”

  “So now, Miss McElroy, you have to ask yourself if all those sweet words he whispered when he was fucking you were true or a ruse? And then you have to ask if Jake was running away with you to live happily ever after on the thousands of dollars you stole or if he planned to arrest you and make a name for himself? You’d be quite a feather in his cap.” He grinned. “Plus you’re a notch on his bedpost too. I have to admire the man.”

  Mackenna stared at him, the meaning of his words beyond her comprehension. “You make no sense. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Somehow I doubt that. But it’s of no matter now.” He extended her cell phone toward her. “I want you to call Jake and tell him I’m in the picture now and I’m changing the plans. Tell him you need his help. When he answers, I’ll give you the location where he can meet you.”

  Whatever they’d drugged her with manifested a major headache, one that threatened her stomach’s stability. This was worse than a bad dream. What did Vincent mean? What plans?

  Vincent’s raised voice filled the room. “Punch in your damn code and unlock this phone so you can call him. Or it won’t be only me on top of you in this bed, it’ll be every man in this house.”

  Her hand trembled so violently she had to tap the numbers twice to type the pass code. Vincent scrolled through her contacts until he came to Jake’s number and touched the call button. Then he switched the call to speaker mode and she listened to it ringing. He placed the phone near her ear. “Tell him you need help.”

  After five rings, the call dropped into his voice mailbox. His message was quick. “You know the drill.” But hearing Jake speak those four words filled her with a sense of calm. It might be the last time she ever heard his voice. Vincent pressed the phone toward her mouth. “Leave
the message.”

  Mackenna could barely speak. This call would lure Jake into a trap. Even though she hated Jake and never wanted to see him again, she didn’t wish anything bad to happen to him. Well, she didn’t exactly hate him. God, she thought she loved him. At the same time, she was handcuffed to a bed and Jake might to be her only way out.

  She stuttered. “Ja-Jake, it’s Mackenna. I need your help.”

  Vincent yanked the phone away. “We had a dinner date tonight, Jake, and you’re late. I gotta tell you she looks mighty tempting on this bed, so I suggest you cease your little undercover game and make it your business to get here.” Vincent reached for her blouse and ripped it with a rending tear, and Mackenna screamed. Vincent grinned and disconnected the call. He eyed her heaving breasts. “That was the perfect sound effect, Miss McElroy. If that doesn’t get him here we’ll take it to the next level.”

  He turned to leave and she called, “Wait. Please. I need to use the bathroom. And I’d like some water, please.”

  She couldn’t sit here helpless. If she could get out of this bed into another room, maybe she could lock herself in. Or climb out a window. Anything to get away.

  “This isn’t a spa, honey.” The door slammed behind him and the lock clicked.

  Panic gripped her and she yanked at the handcuff, straining to squeeze her wrist through it and, when that failed twisting to distort its shape and slip her hand out that way. It didn’t work. Her efforts resulted in a bruised and bleeding wrist.

  The lock turned and Mackenna drew her shirt closed. The behemoth entered with a bottle of water. He strode to a door on the right wall and kicked it open, revealing a bathroom. Then he advanced on Mackenna, grabbed her wrist, and unlocked the handcuff.

  “Five minutes, lady.” He posted himself in front of the door.

  The bottled water was cold and she relished its taste, drinking half of it before taking a breath. It hadn’t dawned on Mackenna that her shoes were missing until her bare feet touched the floor. No sign of them either. She stood on unsteady legs and limped to the bathroom. The oblong window near the ceiling was meant solely for ventilation and not escape. Her head would barely fit through it. She used the toilet then frantically searched the vanity, finding each drawer empty except for a box of condoms. She caught her reflection in the mirror and gasped. Her lip had swollen and her cheek displayed the purple and blue outline of a fist. The raccoon eyes from her smeared mascara and disheveled hair didn’t help.

  For one brief second, she thought about overpowering the behemoth when he tried to handcuff her again. But that would likely earn her another punch. And if she ran out the door, what would she run into? A house full of Vincent’s men? Men he’d implied would hurt her if permitted. No. That’s wasn’t the solution. She’d have to bide her time and wait for a better opportunity.

  When she opened the bathroom door, he studied her, making her skin crawl. She walked at a snail’s pace toward the bed, searching the room with her eyes. Nothing that would help her escape. Dejected, she perched on the edge.

  She jumped when he barked, “Feet off the floor.”

  She raised her legs and edged up to the headboard. He descended upon her with a quickness that belied his size, then snatched her wrist from her side and snapped it into the handcuff. Then he left without a word, locking the door behind him.

  Mackenna’s head dropped back against the metal frame. What the hell was this about? What did Jake have to do with it? She recalled the times she’d seen Jake and Vincent together. At the grocery story, when Vincent’s attentions obviously perturbed Jake. In the mall parking lot when Jake ordered Vincent to leave her alone. He’d said they weren’t friends, more like business acquaintances. But Vincent didn’t act as if he knew what Jake’s occupation was. And Jake had described Vincent as a shady businessman.

  What type of business were they in together? Had Jake lied to her about where he went every night? Had he ever honestly said? Vincent said they partied nightly with women. Was that why she’d never seen Jake in a security guard’s uniform? Had he ever confirmed he was a guard or did she assume that? She replayed their conversation in the coffee shop after the first robbery. She’d been an emotional wreck and he appeared out of nowhere, like a guardian angel. The newscast showing Jake under arrest at City Hall resurfaced.

  He was no guard. But what was he? A business associate of Vincent’s who planned to double cross him? Why else would Vincent be looking for him?

  But if Vincent and Jake were business partners, why did Vincent need Mackenna to summon Jake here? If his men were able to track her and accost her off the highway, surely they could locate Jake. The message she left on Jake’s phone only relayed that she needed help. She hadn’t given a location because she had no idea where she was. A house of some kind. It must be Vincent’s business headquarters for Jake to be familiar with it otherwise how would he find her? If he knew this location, then she could assume he was in business with Vincent, making Jake a shady businessman also.

  None of it jived.

  Her eyes closed. Thinking about Vincent and Jake magnified her headache. She needed to focus on one or the other and she knew more about Jake, didn’t she? What had he said that day? “You’re a smart woman. Think it through.”

  Chapter 28

  Demond reviewed the police report as he stood in the center of the young man’s bedroom. Brighton City police discovered the body shortly before ten o’clock when the coffee shop prepared to close and an employee hauled out the trash. The young man had no identification on his person but process of elimination singled out his vehicle and police checked his license and registration to learn his name. Nothing out of the ordinary about the murder. Sad to say in that part of town, drive-by shootings were commonplace.

  It was only when police broke into his apartment that they called the FBI. A waded stack of one-hundred-dollar bills perched on the bureau in the bedroom, the wrapper clearly stamped by the Good Neighbor Bank. A bank statement bearing the name Mackenna McElroy sat beside the bundle of money, which the police recognized from the FBI alert. Demond considered the logical explanation that Mackenna was his partner. And since he was dead and she was missing, it was safe to hypothesize that she double-crossed him, maybe even killed him and was on the run. That scenario caused him to shake his head in disbelief. She didn’t strike him as the killer type.

  Another premise was that she too was dead somewhere, which assumed a third party was involved in the scheme. Jake? No, Demond refused to let his mind go there.

  Unless and until Mackenna’s body was found, Demond favored his theory that she was a fugitive. And possibly a murderer. So far, there was still no trace of her. She was one smooth operative, he’d give her that.

  Jake would be devastated when he learned these new details. Jake had developed feelings for the woman. Demond recognized the shine in his eyes and he felt partly responsible for that since he’d been the one to encourage Jake to get closer to Mackenna. But Jake should have known better. As an FBI agent you sealed your emotions away and did the job on every case.

  Well, developing feelings for Mackenna McElroy created a conflict of interest for Agent Jake Manettia. Knowing that, Demond should withhold this new intelligence. But Jake was also his friend and he wanted Jake to grasp the whole complicated picture. As if bank robbery wasn’t serious enough, Mackenna could be facing murder charges and if Jake knew where she was, he needed to bring her in right away.

  He texted Jake’s cell phone first, typing a message for Jake to call ASAP. Minutes ticked by with no response so he called the undercover phone, a risk he debated but decided to take. The call went to voicemail and he recited a terse message. “Call me, ASAP. Nine-one-one.”

  Demond searched the apartment. Tucked in a plastic bin in the back of the man’s closet he found women’s clothing, a blond curly wig and fake eyeglasses. They matche
d the description of the outfit worn by the female bank robber. Antsy to contact Jake, Demond glanced at his phone every few seconds. Where the hell was he?

  When the phone finally rang, he was disappointed to hear one of the FBI’s computer experts on the other end. His information bewildered Demond. “What do you mean an agent from the Alabama office has been nosing around the electronic files in the Good Neighbor bank robberies? Who is it?”

  The tech guy couldn’t tell, saying whoever tiptoed through the files was a pro and left no digital footprints. He’d only caught it because he’d been in the file at the same time and noticed a movement on the screen.

  “Well, keep an eye on it and if there’s any additional activity, let me know right away.”

  Damn. Jake was based in the Alabama office. What was he up to? Maybe he planned to go over the wall. It wouldn’t be the first time an agent strayed to the wrong side of the law for a woman. He didn’t doubt that Mackenna McElroy infatuated Jake. Was it more than that? Had Jake conspired with her?

  Again, Demond dismissed the notion. He knew Jake better than that. The kid lived and breathed the FBI.

  An hour later, and still no word from Jake. For as anxious as Jake was for information about the bank robberies and by default Mackenna’s involvement, he should’ve called by now.

  Demond dialed Courtney and she relayed the details about the Cabacolli meet, which could explain Jake’s silence. Courtney said surveillance was positioned thirty minutes before the meet was to take place and now, hours later, Jake remained a no-show. That wasn’t how it was supposed to work. If Jake decided to call off the meeting or delay it for any reason, there were ways to let the team know. Courtney said the bosses were conferring about what to do. Her gut feeling was the same as his. This wasn’t good.