Heart Lies & Alibis

by Chase, Pepper

  I slipped along the back of the property until I reached the edge of the sunflower garden. The tall blooms provided enough cover for me to get to the back of the garage without being seen. I sidled along the house until I stood just beside the kitchen window. Luckily, Declan and I had opened it this morning before breakfast allowing me to hear the voices inside without a problem. I listened for a moment and felt ill at what I heard.

  "Did you think we wouldn't find you Mikey?" I heard Malachy ask. "Hayes wasn't nearly as clever as he thought he was. Remember that secret file we told you we found? Well, dumb shit put his mother's address in there. It didn't look like much at first but we did some more digging once you took off. It didn't take much to find this place and I figured it would be where you ran. The only thing missing from our reunion party is your lovely lady friend. Where is she Mikey? Where is Reagan?"

  From where I was crouched I heard Declan yell, "FUCK YOU!" a moment before I heard Malachy swing and connect a punch to his face. Malachy continued the beating to the sound of Declan's moans and groans and my stomach clenched with fear. I had to see what was happening.

  I glanced in the window for just a moment before jumping back to press my body against the wall. They had Declan tied to a kitchen chair, his face bloodied from the punches I just heard. Malachy was rubbing his hand so I knew he was delivering the punishment this time. Two more of Ortiz's men stood off to the side and Ortiz sat near the table, his legs crossed casually and an amused expression on his face.

  This was as bad as a moment could get in a string of shitty moments. I pressed my back against the wall of the house again and squeezed my eyes closed. Think Reagan, think. What are you going to do to save Declan?

  Malachy laughed and the sound filled my ears with dread. "Wrong answer Mikey. I told you from the start, we could do this the hard way or the really hard way. The choice is yours." I heard the distinct click of a switchblade and took the chance to glance back in. "We both know I am supposed to deliver you to the old man alive but he didn't say how alive you had to be." Malachy walked closer to Declan and for the first time Declan looked afraid for his safety, his previous anger clouded with genuine fear. Malachy stopped in front of him, placing the blade at the edge of Declan's neck and leaning close to his face. I held my breath.

  Malachy pressed slightly, the tip of the blade piercing Declan's skin and releasing a small droplet of blood that slid down to the collar of his shirt. Declan strained to stay still, eyes flicking down at the blade and back up at Malachy's hateful stare. Declan's face was tensed but solid and I could see he was refusing to let Malachy have the upper hand by showing any fear even as he sat at the wrong end of the knife.

  "Mikey, you remember how impatient I can get. So I will ask you again and I suggest you answer this time with a bit more information and a whole lot more politeness. Where is Reagan?" The blade moved deeper into the skin.

  Declan flinched again but remained quiet his eyes burning a blaze of hate into Malachy. He was going to protect me even if it meant he lost his life. I had to stop this madness.

  I was about to scream and announce my presence when I heard one of the men inside say. "Hey boss, Amberly's here." What the hell was she doing here?

  Malachy straightened and looked toward the window while Ortiz motioned for his men to let her in. She swept into the room, her blonde hair a cascade of curls down the back of the short shift dress she wore. It was black and hit mid-thigh while hugging all the right places. She walked in like she owned the room and I saw Ortiz smile with pleasure before she reached him, bending to give him a kiss.

  "Hello my love. I'm so sorry I'm late. Traffic was unbearable." Who was this girl? Certainly not the one I knew who seemed afraid of her own shadow back in Houston. She had fooled me in more ways than one I realized.

  "Hello my dear. Your timing is just right. Mr. Lynch is having a difficult time convincing Mr. O'Shea to reveal the whereabouts of Mrs. McCallister. So we are a bit behind schedule as well. Perhaps you could offer him some assistance darling?"

  Amberly smiled as she walked around Declan looking him up and down, her face a portrait of such viciousness my heart skipped a beat. She stopped in front of him. He stared at her with unveiled disgust. She leaned towards him, running her manicured nails down his left cheek before Declan turned away breaking the contact. He turned back and their eyes met and the look they shared was filled with equal distaste.

  "It appears he may need a little persuasion." She ran her hand behind his head before sliding her fingers into his hair and yanking his head back roughly. "I know you know where that ice bitch is, sweetheart, and it would be in your best interest if you told us sooner rather than later." I heard Declan grunt slightly from the pain of having his head jerked back but otherwise he was silent. I was seething as I watched her and I wanted to kill that little bitch worse in this moment than when I found her fucking my piece of shit husband.

  "I think it would be in your best interest to let me go you fucking whore. And if you lay a finger on Reagan, I will kill you." Declan hissed.

  Amberly was laughing as she let go of his hair. "Ah, I guess chivalry isn't dead after all. This is so romantic. You still won't give her up even when you are facing near certain death. I think I feel a tear." She laughed again before walking over and sitting next to Ortiz. He looked at her with affection. I wanted to kill them both now.

  I watched from my concealed place outside the window with growing terror and no idea what I was going to do to save Declan when a hand slid over my mouth and an arm pulled me roughly back into the shadows by the garage. I started to struggle when I heard a familiar voice whisper in my ear, "Don't scream, Mrs. McCallister."

  With his hand still over my mouth and the rest of my body held firmly in place, I could only just twist my head to look into the chocolate brown eyes of Detective Davis. Oh shit.

  He whispered again. "If I let you go, I need you to not scream or run. Do you understand?" Though his voice was still a whisper his tone was stern. I nodded slightly and he released my body before his hand slid off my mouth.

  "How did you find us?" I whispered while keeping an eye out for Ortiz's men.

  Davis was also keeping close vigil on the area, his eyes darting between me and everywhere else. "We followed Amberly Jones down here. A few inconsistencies with her story, and with her background, and a few other things had us looking at her closer the past few days. Then yesterday, before the shootout at your house, we saw her meet with a high ranking member of the Lazcano Drug Cartel and we knew something was definitely wrong." She must have met with Ortiz.

  I nodded. "She works for them and she helped them kill Thad. Now they have Declan."

  His dark face hardened. "I know. We have some of the evidence we need to charge her. But now we need to get you out of here so we can do our best to rescue Mr. O'Shea." His face told me he thought rescuing Declan was very unlikely but he was going to try.

  I shook my head. "I'm not leaving. I can help you do something, anything, but I am not leaving and you can't make me."

  He gave me a stern glare but I stood my ground. What did I have to lose at this point? Everything I cared about in the world was the answer so he wasn't going to scare me away no matter what he did. "Fine. You can stay only because trying to get you out of here will cause a scene and we need the element of surprise on our side." He shook his head and looked to the sky in exasperation. Finally, he looked back at me again. Pointing his finger at me for emphasis, he barked in a quiet voice "But you will do what I say when I say it. I know you want to do whatever it takes to save Mr. O'Shay but right now I need you to keep a level head and follow my directions. I don't want to have to rescue you too. Do you understand?"

  He locked eyes with me, making sure his unspoken threat was clear. I nodded. "Okay, Perretti is out at the edge of the property, waiting for local backup and watching in case these guys call in reinforcements. I need to let her know I found you and tell her what the hell is going on inside." He ste
pped away and spoke in low tones into a walkie-talkie. I was sure Perretti would not be happy to hear of my involvement in this situation after our previous run-ins and the thought almost made me smile in spite of the situation.

  I continued to scan the yard while Davis finished his conversation. He returned to my side, his face more grim than before. "Perretti says it will be at least twenty minutes before the closest SWAT team can arrive."

  I inhaled sharply. "I don't know if Declan has twenty minutes."

  Davis nodded gravely. "I know."

  "So what can we do?" I was desperate now. I couldn't lose Declan. Not like this and not if I could do something to save him.

  "We need to just hold tight and hope for a miracle." Before he could say another word he yanked me back to the side garage door. He opened it pulling me inside and closing the door just as one of Ortiz's men came around the corner and into view. We pressed into the shadows of the garage and were silent. I watched, my heart in my throat, and my body rigid with fear.

  The man glanced in the window and for a brief second I thought he could see us but he retreated back and kept walking toward the front of the property. The sound of exhaling breath from Davis filled the room.

  He whispered into my ear again. "That was too close. We need to get the hell out of here and wait for the backup with Perretti." I knew couldn't leave Declan no matter what. Of that, I was certain.

  "No. I can't do that." And then before he could stop me and before I really had a plan as to what I was doing, I opened the door and walked out. He hissed my name and tried to grab for me but I had walked far enough into the yard he missed. Ortiz's thug hadn't yet cleared the end of the yard so I called out to get his attention.

  "Hey there, I think your boss might be looking for me." He turned his gun drawn and the look of surprise on his face almost comical. I smiled and waved, hoping to throw him off guard even more.

  He walked toward me. With his weapon leveled at my chest and a scowl on his face "Hands up. Are you alone?" I wondered briefly if anyone in a situation like this ever tells the truth when asked that question.

  I lied, of course. "Yes. I am alone."

  The thug stopped a few feet in front of me with his gun directed at my head. "Hands on your head, turn around." I followed his instructions and caught sight of Davis out of the corner of my eye. He was still inside the garage and I barely saw him before he slipped back into the shadows. I knew he was mad, rightfully so, and I knew this was probably the stupidest thing I could have done but desperation can drive a person to do many things. The thug finished his quick pat down and when he was assured I was without a weapon, he barked "Walk to the front of the house. Move" I again did as I was told with my brain in hyper-drive as I tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do next.

  I walked up the stairs and towards the door being held open by the other yard thug. I walked inside the small house and into the living room with my hands still on my head.

  All eyes turned at my entrance, including Declan's, and I almost cried out when I saw the fresh damage on his face. Malachy had obviously restarted his interrogation of Declan, upping the motivational punches in his pursuit of ascertaining my location. Declan's left eye was nearly swollen closed while the other sported a huge cut, his lip was bleeding and his nose looked crooked and swollen next to a bruise flowering to a deep shade of purple on his cheek.

  I snapped my mouth closed to regain my composure, steeled my nerves, and then spoke. "Hello everyone. I didn't know we were expecting company Declan. I am sorry I wasn't here when you arrived. What brings you all here for a visit?" I sounded like a deranged Stepford Wife. I smiled again, from nerves and the desire to further unsettle our captors by appearing far calmer than I felt.

  Ortiz and Malachy looked momentarily surprised, as if my appearance in the house was more unexpected than appreciated, while Amberly looked downright giddy to see me. I'm sure her joy had something to do with what she thought, or hoped, her boyfriend and his goons planned to do to me. Either way, I wanted nothing more in that moment than to slap the smile off her face. "Amberly, I was hoping I would get to see you again. I believe we have some unfinished business to discuss regarding my dead husband." Her smile faded slightly and she was momentarily speechless, shocked at my audacious behavior or my apparent lack of terror at the situation I found myself in. But before she could respond my attention was drawn back to Ortiz.

  He had recovered from his momentary moment of surprise at my appearance in the house and once again oozed calm and confidence. "Ahh, it is so nice to see that the lovely Mrs. McCallister has finally joined us." He began once again cool and calm.

  I forced another smile on my face. "Call me Reagan, please. I am no longer Mrs. McCallister after all. You took care of that problem for me, remember?" The fear in my heart boiled away and was replaced by the heat of raw anger. I leveled white-hot embers on him with a stare that said he had fucked with the wrong woman.

  He met my gaze and never flinched, his eyes dark pools of evil without a trace of a soul. "Very well. Reagan, please come in. And do have a seat. It is so nice to see you again as we still have some things to discuss with you after your unexpected departure a few days ago. I am very happy you returned. We were starting to worry." He was smiling but everyone in the room had to feel the unspoken threat in his words.

  I walked over and sat in the chair he indicated. I met Declan's eyes for only a brief moment and I saw fear for my safety and questions as to what the hell I thought I was doing. I had to look away because I didn't have any answers so I turned my gaze back to Ortiz.

  "Mr. Ortiz, as I told you in Houston, I don't have any information about Thad's business dealings with you. I have no information that could help you in any way. I swear that's the truth."

  "She's lying. He told her everything I'm sure. She always had her nose in his business." Amberly interrupted, her voice rising with annoyance.

  I turned a blazing glare in her direction and she narrowed her own at me. You just made a major mistake little girl. I will destroy you before this day is over.

  "Why would you believe he told me everything, Amberly? He obviously didn't tell me he was fucking you so we weren't quite as communicative as you'd like to believe." I watched Ortiz straighten slightly and frown for a moment at the mention of Amberly's affair with Thad. Apparently pimping his girlfriend out for business was one thing but hearing about it was not something he enjoyed. Good, he deserved to feel the pain of infidelity just as much as I had to.

  She glanced sideways at Ortiz and paled slightly at his stern gaze before she answered. "Well, yeah that's true but I know he still told you things. He wouldn't shut up sometimes about how smart he thought you were, especially about business and about how to be a good lawyer. I swear, I asked him once why he cheated on you so much when he seemed to worship you in so many ways. He told me you were too complicated to really love, that you had too many demons and secrets from the past, and he liked being with women who took less work to have a relationship with." I sat back hard against the chair while her words washed over me. Had Thad known more about my past than he let on? Had I been that hard to love?

  I felt my mind start to split, one piece spinning around this new light Amberley had cast on my relationship with Thad, the other part dumbfounded that I would be able to forget for even one second exactly how close to getting killed I was. As the two wildly different states of mind fought for my attention another, colder piece of me snapped me back to attention. I had to survive the situation I was in if I wanted to have a future with Declan, a future free of the murderous animals that were surrounding me from all sides right now, and a future that I was in control of.

  My legs were moving before my mind had come to terms with everything and I soon found myself running like the devil himself was chasing me. I was going to save Declan or die trying, of that I was never more certain.

  Chapter 21

  Things were getting desperate so I decided to try a different ap
proach. I looked at Ortiz and smiled the smile I often used with clients when I wanted to put them at ease while convincing them to tell me everything I needed to know. "Mr. Ortiz, may I call you Emiliano?" I hoped talking to him on a more personal level could stave off whatever plans he had for killing Declan and me before the police could arrive.

  His eyes looked amused for a moment before he nodded. "You may call me Emil, Reagan."

  I forced my face into another smile. Maybe this plan would work. "Emil. I believe we can solve this problem with more finesse, perhaps, and less bloodshed. There must be something specific you would like to know regarding Thad and his business dealings with you. Why don't you ask me some questions and we can see if I can answer them. If Thad told me anything, I will be able to tell you what you want to know." I was sure everyone could hear my heart thudding inside my chest and I was afraid to breathe.

  Ortiz narrowed his eyes in a cynical glare. "And what will stop you from lying to me if you do know anything?" I had anticipated the question because it is what I would have asked in the same situation.

  I looked from him to Declan and back again. "I will tell you the truth because I know if I don't, you will kill the man I love right in front of my eyes. And that is something I can't let happen."

  This answer seemed to please him. "As I noted before, you possess a very good balance of beauty and brains. Yes, that will be the exact consequences if you do not tell me everything you know. In spite of what Mr. Lynch keeps asserting, Mr. O'Shea may not be returned to Mr. O'Bannion exactly as ordered if I decide his death will bring me the information I need. Of course, everything is up to you and what you say from this moment on." He smiled and I felt bile rise in my throat.

  The fear he created thudded like a falling boulder into the pit of my stomach but I pushed it away. Now was the time to find that same strength that had let me walk away from Winchester all those years ago. "I understand completely Emil. And I will cooperate to the best of my ability. You have my word. Please, ask your first question."