Two Lives in Waltz Time

by Vivien Dean

  Apparently, anything was. Magic was. Bringing a woman back from the brink of death was. Disappearing at the drop of a hat as soon as they figured out how to open the door would be too.

  He wanted to talk to her again. The world made more sense to him when Ava explained it all. He couldn’t shake the hope she’d help put all this straight, so he could go on and do what he needed. No more last-minute trips to the hospital, though. Cash hadn’t been too pleased about that, not that Gino could blame him. Maddy had taken a terrible risk, going to see Mack. Gino should have known better.

  He would next time. If he even got a next time.

  His palms were sweating. Wiping them off on his pants, Gino took a deep breath and took a bold step forward, exhaling as he balled his hand into a fist and knocked at the dressing room door. The laughter inside immediately quieted, followed by the click of heels.

  Lola cracked the door open. “What do you want, Gino?”

  He cleared his throat. “Need to talk to Miss Reisman.”

  With a grin, she turned away from the narrow opening and called out, “Oh, Miss Reisman! Someone’s come a-courting for you!”

  His ears burned red-hot at the fresh burst of laughter. A moment later, Ava appeared, still dressed in her street clothes, though her face was fully made up.

  “Hey, Gino.” Her eyes searched his, and one of the knots tying him together unloosened. “What can I do for you?”

  She couched her query in politeness, though he knew it was just for show for the other girls. He jerked his thumb toward the alley doorway. “Can we talk for a second?”

  “Sure.” She twisted to call to the others, “Be right back.”

  He held back, giving Ava room to pass in front of him and lead the way through the corridor. The lack of real illumination helped for once. It kept him from watching parts of her that would just distract him further, and forced his concentration on the moment at hand. He only quickened his step to reach for the door before Ava, pushing it open and holding it there so she could exit first.

  Her startled cry was muffled the moment after Gino heard it. Gino shoved the door wider and leapt through the opening, only to grind to a halt at the sight of a struggling Ava in Marty’s arms. He had one hand clamped over her mouth. In his other, a gun jammed against her temple. Marty’s beady eyes glittered in triumph as they locked on Gino.

  “Close the door, real quiet like,” Marty ordered. “’Cause you make one wrong move, Paonessa, and I swear you’ll be scraping your little chippy off the walls.”

  Ice shot through his veins. Ava’s dark gaze pleaded with him, wrenching everything inside his gut until he thought he might throw up. After the fiasco with Maddy, he really should have started packing, no matter what Lombardi said. With a gun, he might actually have a chance against Marty. He still might, if he could just get close enough to lay his mitts on the man, but he didn’t dare try. He’d never put Ava at risk like that.

  Slowly, without moving any other part of his body, he reached out and caught the edge of the door, pushing it shut. Its weight slammed it in place, effectively blocking out anyone from inside overhearing. That was what he’d wanted, after all, he thought bitterly. This was one wish he could’ve done without fulfilling.

  “What do you want, Marty?” The evenness of his voice surprised him, but he wasn’t about to waste time thinking about it. “You got a beef with me, you take it up with me. Leave Miss Reisman out of it.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so.” He pushed the gun muzzle harder against her head, drawing a whimper from her throat that made Gino see red. “You think I don’t know you’re soft on her? Way I see it, she’s the best insurance policy a guy could ask for.”

  Gino balled his hands into fists, his knuckles cracking from the force. “You don’t hurt her.”

  “I won’t, as long as you do what I say.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Mack’s got it in his head I’m no good to him anymore, ’cause of what happened last night. You’re going to help me set him straight.”

  Gino scowled. “You’re a sap if you think I got any sway with Mack.”

  “I don’t. You’re going to tell him it was all Vinci’s fault last night.”

  As far as what Marty could have asked him to do, Gino didn’t think this was that bad. Mack already hated Cash. He probably already thought Cash was responsible, so anything Gino added wouldn’t really do any more damage. It wasn’t even a drop in the bucket of what he’d do to make sure Ava got out of harm’s way.

  “Deal. But you’re still a sap if you think Mack’s going to forget you’re the one who put Maddy in the hospital. No way she’s going back to him when she gets out.”

  Ava’s eyes widened, and Marty went completely still. Something he’d said had sparked a response from both of them, but for the life of him, he had no idea what it could be.

  “I knew it,” Marty said. “I just knew that stupid bitch pulled something.” His lip curled into a sneer. “Change of plan, then. Let’s go for a drive.”

  Aaron leaned against the side of the car, glancing at his watch for the sixth time in the last five minutes. At the rate Mack was taking to get out of the hospital, Aaron wouldn’t need to stall for time at all. Cash and Kate could get in, put the painting back, and have a party in the time it took Mack to get released.

  The front door opened and a nurse stepped out to hold it open for a wheelchair to pass through. Aaron straightened at the sight of Mack, then frowned when the nurse left Mack alone with the scrawny young man who’d pushed him out. Something about him niggled in the back of Aaron’s brain, but he kept his features neutral as they approached.

  At least, until they were close enough to see the young man in question was Sammy. What was the staff manager from the Rising Sun doing with Mack? Aaron looked past his shoulder, fully expecting to see Lombardi too, but to no avail. Maybe Lombardi had sent Sammy along to try to keep the peace with Mack, though Aaron couldn’t understand how he could have known Mack would want to leave the hospital that afternoon.

  “Good,” Mack said when Sammy drew the wheelchair to a stop. “I’m glad I don’t have to wait, Mr. Keating.”

  When Sammy shouldered Mack’s bag, Aaron thrust out his hand and yanked it away. “I’ll take that now.”

  An amused smile played on Mack’s lips as he rose carefully from the chair. “That’s not necessary. He’ll be accompanying us.”

  Aaron’s head whipped between the two. Sammy looked like the cat that ate the canary, while Mack seemed oblivious to Aaron’s disbelief. “Doesn’t he have a job to do?”

  He swore silently when Sammy beat him to getting Mack’s door, a loss Mack noted with a cool glance in his direction before he slid into the back seat. “We’ll drop him off in plenty of time for the Sun’s opening,” Mack said. “In the meantime, I’m taking him up on the suggestion he stopped by my room to give me.”

  Though the sun beat down overhead, dread turned Aaron’s body to ice. “What suggestion?”

  “To say goodbye to Maddy.” Mack’s disembodied voice drifted out from the car. “Come, gentlemen. If I’m lucky, I’ll even have the honor of throwing Cash Vinci out personally.”

  Sammy stepped forward to climb in, stopped only when Aaron grabbed his shirt collar and yanked him back.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed in Sammy’s ear.

  The scrawny young man smiled up at Aaron, but the dark malevolence that glowed in his eyes banished any hint of friendliness. “Ending Cassius Vinci,” he replied. “Once and for all.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  This world hated him. End of story.

  Cash growled under his breath as the taxi coasted to yet another stop at yet another infuriating red light. What should have been a twenty-minute trip had now stretched to nearly forty-five, and he was still several blocks away from the Rising Sun. Aaron had only promised to buy him an hour. At this rate, he was never going to make it.

  “I’ll get out here,”
he announced. Pulling a sheaf of bills from his wallet, he tossed them over the seat and bolted from the car before the driver had time to protest. Hoofing it had to be faster at this point. The sidewalks teemed with people, but he could maneuver with the best of them. At least he could shove pedestrians out of his way if they were bound and determined to stop him.

  He had never been so glad to see the club as he was a few minutes later, when he darted across the last street to sprint for its front door. He skidded to a halt at the sight of the girls milling around the entrance to the alley, but it was Kate breaking away from the pack that truly alarmed him.

  “What happened?” he demanded.

  Her thin fingers wrapped around his elbow and hauled him away from the group. “Ava and Gino are missing.”

  “What?” His eyes darted to the club, then back to Kate’s grim face. “You and Ava came in to work together.”

  “I know.” Tersely, she detailed how Gino had knocked at the dressing room door and asked to speak to Ava, but neither had returned.

  Only because she seemed so serious about it, Cash suppressed his urge to smile. “It’s Ava and Gino,” he prompted. “How do you know they’re not off somewhere snogging?”

  The look she leveled at him was not amused. “Because when she didn’t come back after twenty minutes, one of the girls went out to look for her and found her shoe in the alley.”

  “You’re sure she didn’t throw it away? You heard her bitching.”

  “One of her normal shoes. And only one.”

  Even as he’d made the joke, Cash hadn’t really believed in it. Kate fussed over him like a mother hen, but he was her only sibling. She wouldn’t be this worried about two people she’d only just met if she didn’t think it was serious.

  “How well do you know this Gino?” she was asking.

  Her question startled him from his thoughts. “You’re kidding, right? Gino would never lay a finger on Ava.”

  “She wouldn’t have left a single shoe behind unless she struggled against someone,” Kate argued.

  “And I’m telling you, there’s no way it’s Gino.” That didn’t actually make him feel any better, though. If Gino had been there, and something had happened to Ava, Gino would have fought tooth and nail to protect her. Cash was sure of it. Damn it, he did not need this on top of everything else. He grabbed Kate’s elbow and led her toward the street, scanning up and down for a taxi. “Come on. We’ll talk about it more on the way to the flat.”

  Though she let herself be led, she remained tense until he’d found an empty cab for them. “Why do I get the impression something else is wrong?”

  “Because something else is. We have to get the painting back into Mack’s flat because the wanker’s decided he’s too good for hospitals now. Aaron’s going to stall him, but the best we can hope for is an hour.” He glanced at his watch. “Well, twenty minutes, now.”

  Hesitating, Kate rested a slim hand atop the open door, frowning as she turned to Cash. “You still don’t have enough power to magic it in?” When he shook his head, she swore. “This is why I hate healing spells. They make you bloody useless for anything else for days afterward.”

  “I’d hardly call you useless.”

  “Have I mentioned lately how much I hate this place?” She slid into the back seat, waiting as Cash gave the driver the address. “Next time somebody tries to kill you, try to have them do it where there’s a bit of beach, all right? Anything has to be better than this.”

  Cash grinned. “Never knew you to fuss about a little drama before.”

  “I’ve never been this close to the end of one of your frustrating little capers, either.”

  The mild rebuke wiped away any vestige of his amusement, reminding him yet again of what happened to those he cared about. He had been lucky so far, lucky that the girl at the club had been such a poor shot, lucky that Kate had come through in time to help Maddy, lucky that the answers they needed kept coming in with smooth regularity. But now, Ava’s disappearance boded ill for that luck holding. Would Maddy even be able to forgive him if something happened to her best friend? Cash already knew he would never forgive himself. His only alternative was to do everything he could to find Ava.

  “Have you said anything to Mum and Dad about me?” They hadn’t talked specifically about anything not directly involving the painting and his immediate safety since she’d come through. He’d deliberately avoided the topic, for the very reason he knew he had to bring it up now.

  “They know you’re alive, but that’s all I let them know.” She smoothed a wrinkle in her slim skirt, picking at an invisible piece of lint. “We agreed it wasn’t safe for them to know anything more, remember?”

  “I know. But when I go back to clear my name—”

  “So you’ve made up your mind?” At his nod, her eyes narrowed, her hand stilling. “What about Maddy?”

  What about Maddy? The question of the day. The question of his life since the day she breezed into it, actually. He wanted to believe she would still be there after they got out of this godforsaken place, but she had yet to actually confirm that. A lot had transpired since he’d asked her to go with him, enough to make him believe there was no way she could turn him down now. But until she said the words, those were just hopes, not reality.

  Without an answer for himself, he had none for Kate.

  Without anybody else around, the apartment was too large, too quiet, and not nearly distracting enough from Maddy’s wayward thoughts. Cash had been gone at his meeting with Mack for almost two hours. Even in her wildest imagination, she couldn’t see how that could possibly have a good result. He hadn’t even called to say he would be running late, and now scenarios of him getting hit by a car or worse kept playing through her head.

  She laughed at the irony. Maybe it was time she got a dose of her own medicine. After all, she’d done the exact same thing to him that morning when she’d disappeared to the hospital.

  Ava and Kate were at the club already, preparing for another night of work and investigation. Maddy never would have thought she would say it, but she missed going into the club with the others. At least then she would have something to do. She wouldn’t be sitting around, playing solitaire with cards bearing naked men and women, going out of her mind with every little sound that made itself known. Even worse, she was losing.

  Disgusted, she threw down the cards and rose from the couch, heading for the kitchen for another glass of water. She wasn’t really thirsty, but the movement gave her something else to do, something to focus on for a few moments while the water rushed from the tap. It wouldn’t be so bad if she hadn’t promised Cash she wouldn’t leave the apartment without him this time. There was logic in assuming safety in numbers, though she knew that at least part of his request had been payback for making him worry so much that morning. But it didn’t mean she had to like it.

  When the knock came at the door, she jumped, spilling water over the rim of her glass as she hastened to set it down. Quickly, Maddy went to answer it, her heart thudding in her throat as she hoped he had only forgotten his key.

  Wrenching open the door, she said, “You better have a really good excu—” Heat flooded her cheeks at the sight of a solemn Gino filling the entrance. “Oh, hi, Gino. Sorry. I thought you were Cash. Come on in.”

  She pulled the door open wider for him to enter, but Gino didn’t move. His hands hung at his sides, clenching and unclenching, the sound of his knuckles popping with every squeeze unnaturally loud in the hallway, while beads of sweat studded his wide brow. Even his eyes looked absolutely miserable. He licked his lips to speak, but no words came out.

  Panic started to set in Maddy’s stomach. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” All the images she’d entertained earlier of Cash lying broken and bloodied returned with a vengeance. Slowly, she backed away, her hand trembling when she let the doorknob slip from her grasp. “Oh, God, something did. I’ll get my shoes. Wait there.”

  She turned on her
heel, only to stop at Gino’s soft voice.

  “I’m so sorry, Maddy.”

  The words of protest died on her tongue when she whirled back to face him.

  “Stop apologizing and get in there.”

  The words came from behind Gino. She knew that voice, knew it from nightmares, from memories, from echoes that would likely haunt her to her dying day. As Gino stepped over the threshold, she matched the cold satisfaction in the voice’s tone with the chilling victory in Marty’s dark, sunken eyes as he came into view. In his arms, he held Ava firmly in place, one hand over her mouth, one aiming a gun directly at her ear.

  The same gun he’d tried to kill Cash with, she realized irrationally.

  Once all three of them were inside, he kicked the door shut behind him. “Don’t do anything stupid like scream,” he warned. “Your friend here will be dead before anybody even has a chance to hear it.”

  Somehow, Maddy tamped down the terror clawing its way out of her gut. “What do you want?”

  “First things first, you’re going to tie up your friends here, so you and me can have a little heart to heart.” He jerked his chin at the straight-backed chairs at the dining room table. “Sit down, Gino.”

  Though Gino shot her a conciliatory glance that barely masked his frustration with the situation, he obeyed Marty’s order, the chair creaking under his weight.

  The last thing Maddy wanted was to restrain the one person who would be her best chance for overpowering Marty. “What do you expect me to tie him up with?” she snapped. “Dental floss?”

  His knowing leer made her skin crawl. “You think I don’t the kind of games you like to play? And something tells me you didn’t throw out all your rope after you dumped Mack for Vinci. So go get it. Enough for two, and no funny business, or I swear, I’ll plug them both.”

  Gino’s surrender would have been enough proof for her that Marty meant business, even if she hadn’t just taken a bullet from the man herself. Her legs were numb as she went into Cash’s bedroom and retrieved the rope from the wardrobe, her eyes flicking over the other implements it contained before she returned to the living room. Nothing she could take with her. The whips might hurt, but they weren’t nearly as fast as a bullet.