Race Against Time

by Sharon Sala

  He hit the remote to close the door, and as it was going down, he brushed the back of his finger along her cheek.

  “Hey... I said I would. Don’t doubt the cop in the car beside you. Sorry everything is so dark, but I haven’t been home in days...actually, not since you walked into Homicide and turned my world upside down.”

  “I’m not afraid of the dark,” Quinn said. “Besides, you’re light enough for me.”

  Nick was so moved by the declaration that it took him a few moments to speak. Then he reached for her hand.

  “You were always special to me, and nothing has changed that. I know you’re scared. I’m scared for you. But it’s no longer just you against the world. You have me, and we have the entire Las Vegas police force on our side. I can’t promise the rest of this is going to be smooth sailing, but I can promise you won’t bear it alone.”

  Quinn nodded. Blinking back tears, she unbuckled the seat belt and grabbed the blanket in her lap.

  Nick aimed a remote and deactivated the security alarm, then hit another button that turned on a few lights inside.

  “I’ll show you to your room and then come back for your things while you get settled in, okay?”

  “Yes.”

  Shaky and exhausted, Quinn let him help her into the house.

  She caught glimpses of dark wood and warm red tiles on the floor as they moved through the kitchen, and overstuffed leather furniture in the living room off to her right as he led her down a hall.

  The energy in the house was calm. She would be safe within these walls. When she was a child, Nick and safety were synonymous. Despite their unexpected reunion, it seemed nothing had changed.

  “This is my bedroom,” he said, pointing to the open door on the right. “Yours will be the next one on the left.”

  The lights in this room were not programmed into his remote, so he flipped the switch on the wall and then stepped aside for her to enter.

  “I have a great cleaning lady, so I trust everything in here is in good shape. The bathroom is through that door. There’s a shower and a tub, plus a linen closet with towels and washcloths.”

  He led the way into the bathroom, opening drawers to show her where extra toiletries were kept and where the night-light was so she wouldn’t be stumbling around in the dark.

  And all the while was watching Quinn’s face. Her silence was unnerving, and he was hoping she wasn’t suddenly uneasy about being alone with him.

  “There’s also a lock on your bedroom door,” he added in case it might reassure her.

  Quinn looked up at him then, and he realized there were tears in her eyes.

  “I’m not afraid of you,” she said quietly and then walked into his arms and laid her head on his chest. “Thank you for this...for a safe place to be while I heal.”

  “Anytime. Always,” he said and kissed the top of her head. “I’m going after your things. I’ll turn down the bed as I go so it’s ready when you are.”

  He gave her a gentle hug, careful not to hurt her shoulder, and left her in the bathroom, closing the door behind him as he went. She heard him moving around the bedroom, then heard him walking away. She had washed up and was already in bed when he came back with her duffel bag.

  “I’m going to put this on the desk so you won’t have to bend over to get to your things in the morning. I have my pain pills if you need one, and I’ll call the doctor tomorrow to get your meds.”

  “Thank you,” Quinn said, watching as he moved about the room adjusting the curtains and lights.

  She couldn’t get over the fact that they were back in each other’s lives, or that she was in the guest room in his home.

  Nick leaned over and lightly kissed her on the cheek.

  “Welcome to my home. Sleep until you’re ready to get up.”

  She wanted to hug him, but didn’t.

  “I am so grateful,” she said.

  “I’m the one who’s thankful to be able to help you,” he said and headed for the doorway, only to pause at the foot of her bed.

  “You are a very beautiful woman, Quinn O’Meara,” he said, and then he turned out the light and closed the door.

  Quinn shivered. Part of her wanted him to come back and explain what that meant but was too afraid it meant nothing. She nestled down into the pillows beneath her head, eyeing the room again. This time it was in shadows, lit only by the night-light in the bathroom. After years of apartment hopping, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept in a real home.

  The house was quiet. A neighborhood dog was barking somewhere down the block. The glow from the streetlights coming through the closed blinds left thin slashes of light on the darkened walls. She was in Nick Saldano’s house and she was safe. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  After the constant bustle of the hospital and the messages on the nurses’ intercom interrupting her sleep, the silence wrapped around her like a hug. She touched the place on her cheek where Nick had kissed her and let go.

  The next time she woke, the sun was up and the comforting scent of coffee filled the room.

  * * *

  Anton had gone to the TomCat Club, one of the houses he ran outside of Vegas. He’d availed himself of one of the new girls and spent the whole time thinking Star was better than this and sent her away after he tired of her. He was still asleep when his cell phone began to ring. He rolled over, saw that it was already almost 9:00 a.m. and frowned. He never slept this late. The phone rang again but without an ID. He wasn’t going to answer it, then remembered his life was not stable enough to ignore anything and reached for the receiver.

  “Hello.”

  “Your girl’s not in Vegas.”

  “Who is this?” he snapped.

  “Just a guy doing you a favor. Star’s gone. Word is she got picked up.”

  “And you’re telling me this, why? Because you’re such a Good Samaritan?”

  “I’m telling you this so you won’t hurt Luis Alvarez for letting her get away.”

  “Who is this?” Anton snapped.

  “Just another Alvarez who appreciates your generosity toward my siblings.”

  “Okay, I hear you and thank you for the info,” Anton said.

  The line went dead.

  Anton’s belly was in knots. He guessed she’d been picked up by the Feds, and this time there was no chasing after her. It was time to leave the country.

  A couple of hours later he was packed and ready to go, with just a few loose ends to tie up. He called the hospital to check on Luis’s condition and learned he was still in ICU. He left info with the billing office to send the charges to him as a signal to Luis that they were okay with each other. Now it was time to check in on the one person other than Star who could do some real damage to him right now. The woman who’d witnessed the car crash.

  “Transfer me back to the main office,” he told the woman on the phone. “I need to inquire about another patient.”

  “Yes, sir. One moment, please,” the billing clerk said.

  Anton got a couple of minutes of music and then another voice in his ear.

  “Centennial Hill Hospital. How may I direct your call?”

  “I need to get the current status on a friend who is a patient there,” he said.

  “One moment,” the operator said, and again Anton got the hold music.

  “Centennial Hill Hospital. How can I help you?”

  “I would like the current status of a friend. Her name is Quinn O’Meara.”

  “Yes, sir. Let me check,” she said, then moments later, “Oh... I’m sorry, sir. We don’t have anyone here by that name.”

  Anton’s heart skipped a beat. “Check again,” he demanded.

  A moment of quiet, and then the clerk confirmed what Anton already suspec
ted—she’d been discharged.

  “Damn it!” he yelled, throwing the phone down on his bed and shoving a hand through his hair in angry frustration. “Son of a bitch. I bet the Feds have her up, too.”

  Now the urgency he felt to leave was overwhelming. The car he’d called from home to come pick him up was outside, waiting to take him to the private airport where he kept his jet, and he was digging his passport out of the briefcase when the phone rang again. This time there was a name on caller ID, and it made him groan.

  “For God’s sakes! Will this shit ever end?” he muttered, then took a deep breath to collect himself and answered the call.

  “Good morning, Mr. Stewart.”

  “Good morning, Anton. I have a firm delivery date for the products you needed.”

  “Right...about those products. It appears I won’t be here to take delivery after all, so I won’t be wanting them at this time.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t want them?” Stewart snapped.

  Anton’s voice rose in unchecked anger.

  “Exactly what I said. I have a situation I’m dealing with, and I don’t want to mess with a whole new delivery right now.”

  “That’s all well and good for you, big shot. But that’s not good for me,” Stewart snapped again. “You’ve just proved to me that I can’t trust you to keep your word.”

  Anton frowned. He didn’t like to be challenged like this, but Stewart was a man of mystery, and Anton didn’t know enough about him to push any further.

  “All I can say is I’m sorry,” Anton said. “I’ll let you know when I’ll be available.”

  “We’re not done here,” Stewart said and hung up.

  A niggle of concern pushed at Anton’s conscience, but he let it go and called to have his luggage taken to the limo.

  He called his home, left word with his housekeeper to tell people he was on a business trip, and then he was off.

  But the trip to the airport became yet another issue—they got stuck behind an accident and were trapped in a long line of traffic while ambulances removed the injured and tow trucks removed the wrecked vehicles. Finally one lane was opened to traffic, and the line slowly began to move.

  Anton kept looking over his shoulder the whole time they were there. The impending hand of the law was far too close on his ass.

  By the time they reached the airport he was short-tempered and shouting even though there was no need. His pilot, Paul Franklin, met him at the top of the boarding ramp.

  “Welcome aboard, Mr. Baba.”

  “Get me in the air ASAP,” Anton muttered.

  “Absolutely, sir,” the pilot said. Then he added, “There was a situation here. As I was driving in I saw a man staked out watching this airport. He’s still there, up on the ridge as you drive in. I’m sure he saw this car and probably you getting out. I just thought you should know in case...”

  Anton tossed his briefcase onto a section of seating along the wall and grabbed his phone.

  “Thank you. I’ll take care of it,” he said.

  The pilot nodded and left as Anton sat down in his flight seat beside his dining table and buckled up, then waved away the flight attendant.

  “Not yet,” he said.

  She turned and walked away as he made his call.

  “Hello, Mr. Baba.”

  “I have a problem at my airport. Get out here ASAP. There is a man in an old green Jeep up on the ridge as you drive in. I want him gone.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “How soon can you get here?”

  “Within the next ten minutes.”

  “We won’t take off until it’s done. Call me.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He disconnected, then buzzed the pilot, who’d already fired up the engines.

  “Don’t take off until I say so.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said.

  Anton wiped a hand across his face in frustration. All of this shit was getting on his nerves.

  “Linda! Bring me a drink.”

  The flight attendant entered within seconds, bringing Anton his usual in-flight drink of choice—two shots of whiskey, neat—and mini-Bavarian pretzels, heavy on the salt, in a cut-glass crystal dish.

  Anton eyed the woman who’d been serving him in this capacity for as long as he’d been in Las Vegas. Logic told him she must be in her midforties by now, but she still looked like the young, vivacious girl she’d been when he hired her.

  “Thank you, Linda.”

  “You’re welcome, sir. Would you like me to bring you something to eat? We have the Gulf shrimp on ice that you like and some rare roast beef with horseradish sauce.”

  Anton took a sip of the whiskey and leaned back with a sigh of relief.

  “Shrimp cocktail and a roast beef sandwich. Sounds perfect.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll have it to you soon after the pilot reaches flight altitude.”

  “We’re not leaving yet, so hold off for a bit.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said and walked out.

  Anton sipped on his whiskey and nibbled at the pretzels while waiting for that text.

  Five minutes came and went, and then ten. He was getting antsy when his phone suddenly dinged, signaling a text.

  It is done.

  He buzzed the pilot again.

  “Take off now, please, and hurry.”

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Baba.”

  Anton buckled up.

  “This is your captain. We are getting ready to taxi for takeoff. Take your seats and buckle up, please.”

  Linda made sure Anton was situated and then went to her seat and buckled herself in.

  Anton had visions of the Feds somehow stopping takeoff and boarding his plane, then hauling him away in cuffs. It wasn’t until he felt the plane go airborne that he finally relaxed.

  Nine

  Nick was in the kitchen making breakfast when his doorbell rang. He glanced at the clock and frowned: 8:04 a.m.

  “Who the hell comes visiting at this time of the morning?” he muttered, then set the skillet of bacon off the fire and went to find out. He glanced down the hall as he passed, looking to see if the sound had awakened Quinn, but her door was still closed.

  The doorbell rang again.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming!” he said to himself and then looked through the peephole and groaned.

  He was about to catch hell. Might as well start off with a smile.

  “Hey! Aunt Juana... Uncle Tonio...just in time. Coffee’s done, and you must have smelled the bacon cooking. Come in, come in!”

  Juana was just a little over five feet tall, but she came across like a Titan when she was upset, and today her voice was high-pitched and scolding.

  “Look at you with this bandage on your head! You get shot and you don’t call us? Who does this?”

  “Your nephew the cop does this,” Nick said, then swung her off her feet and into his arms until she started laughing and begging to be put down.

  He did so, with a kiss on her cheek.

  She spent a couple of minutes fussing with her dress and patting her hair.

  “You are a loco popo!” she said, wagging her finger in his face.

  Nick threw back his head and laughed. Popo, the slang word for cop, cracked him up. Crazy cop fit him far better than he would have cared to admit.

  “Good morning, Uncle Tonio! You knew she was going to chew me out, and you brought her anyway?”

  His uncle, who wasn’t a whole lot taller than his wife, chuckled and gave Nick a big hug.

  “It looks like that was a close call, mi hiho. So glad you are okay.”

  Nick ran a finger along the bandage.

  “So am I, but you’ve both fussed enough. Come to the kitchen wit
h me. I need to finish cooking bacon. I have a convalescing houseguest to feed.”

  “Someone else is shot besides you?” Tonio asked.

  “Yes, but not at the same time. She was shot first. Then I was shot when the bad guy came to the hospital to finish her off.”

  Juana made the sign of the cross.

  “Madre de Dios. Who is this person?”

  “Just a thug and he’s dead. Let it go. It’s part of the job, and I’m fine and she’s healing.”

  Juana’s dark eyes flashed.

  “Why do you have a stranger in your house? Why is she not healing in a hospital where she belongs?” she asked.

  Nick was turning bacon as he talked. He needed to explain this right. It mattered to him that they like her.

  “She’s not a stranger, and she isn’t safe in the hospital. And she has no one in the world to belong to, Aunt Juana...except me.”

  Juana frowned. “This is the first I’m hearing that you have a woman in your life.”

  “It’s not like that. She’s an old friend...from my life before. We were foster kids together in the same family for almost two years. The one where I lived when you guys came for me.”

  “And she just found you?” Tonio asked.

  “Not like you mean. It was about as random as a chance meeting could be. She staggered into Homicide with a bullet wound in her back and a toddler zipped up inside her jacket. She fainted in my arms. Look, the less you know about this case, the better. Just know that she was way out in the desert when she saved a baby’s life and got hurt in the process.”

  “She sounds like quite a hero. When do we meet her?” Tonio asked.

  “Here I am. Look all you want,” Quinn said.

  They all turned in unison to see the leggy redhead in scrub pants and a wrinkled shirt standing in the doorway.

  Juana and Tonio were a bit taken aback. She was very tall, and all that red hair gave her something of a wild, exotic look. She had a sling on her arm, but she looked less like a victim than anyone they’d ever seen.

  Nick was eyeing her too, but with appreciation.

  “Good morning, Quinn,” he said.

  “Morning. Sorry to interrupt. I could just really use a cup of coffee and one of those pain pills.”