Dirty Business (The Leah Ryan Mysteries - Book Three (Steamy Suspense))

by Tracy Sharp

  “I don’t want to get you into any trouble. But they may have seen her the day she disappeared. Maybe somebody was with her. You never know.”

  “Let me check the schedule.” She reached under the counter and pulled out a clip board with schedule that appeared to have four other names on it for that night. She ran her finger down the page. “All the girls are on tonight.” She smiled. “With Christmas coming, it’s been crazy. So if you want to come back, they’ll be here then.”

  “I will. Thanks so much.” I was going to go barreling out of the store, but then remembered that I was pregnant and should really at least look at the maternity clothes. I browsed the racks slowly, lifting hangers and holding items up to myself.

  I found a sparkly red blouse half price, perfect for the Christmas holiday or New Years Eve. A wave of sadness washed over me. Colleen would never share Christmas with her baby. Alexia and Tara may not either. But there was a chance. If I was able to help bring one of them home, I’d give that blouse to them to celebrate.

  I brought the blouse to the counter and paid for it, my gaze moving over the counter area. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but sometimes that’s when you spot something.

  “Oh, this will look gorgeous on you with your dark hair and eyes. Good choice.” She smiled and folded the blouse, wrapping it in red tissue paper before placing it in a red and green striped bag.

  “Thank you. I hope so.”

  I left the store with my holiday blouse and went out into the mall to find out where Jack and Lucas were lurking.

  ***

  Lucas needed to get back to his office and his work. Jack and I went our separate ways. We’d meet back up later. I needed to deal with something I didn’t want to deal with, but that I could no longer avoid.

  Callahan was packed when I got home. He was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for me, his bags at the front door. Pango lay at his feet, her face sad.

  I stood looking at him, my eyes welling up. I didn’t want him to go, but we both knew it was for the best. We’d been down this road before.

  And I’d betrayed him with Lucas. I could never take that back. I deserved his abandonment.

  He kept his eyes on the floor. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.”

  “I know.” My voice cracked.

  I couldn’t change, and neither could he. We had both tried, but it just wouldn’t work. I wished I didn’t love him. I wished that he didn’t love me. This wouldn’t be so hard. It wouldn’t tear the heart out of us both, like it was doing now.

  He got up, walked toward me and wrapped his arms around me, something I both did and didn’t want him to do. Callahan was my security my feeling of home and comfort. When he walked out the door, that feeling would be gone with him.

  “I love you,” he said into my hair.

  “I love you, too.” My voice was a whisper. I couldn’t talk without crying. I swallowed down my grief and bit my bottom lip, feeling my chin tremble.

  He kissed me on the forehead and slowly pulled away, then walked to the door, grabbing up his bags. Pango had followed him to the door, and he stopped to stroke her head and face. He whispered something to her.

  Then he was gone.

  ***

  A knock on the door startled me awake. I’d been lying down on the couch for a couple of minutes and had apparently fallen asleep.

  Pango gave a friendly bark, standing in the kitchen and smiling at Jack. He smiled back at her and waved through the window in the kitchen door. But when he looked back at me, his face was serious.

  “What’s up?” I stood aside to let him in.

  “Noel called me on my cell. She said that Julia found a phone and called her. She’s scared and wants to come home but she’s afraid of what will happen to her if she tries to leave.”

  “Does Noel know where they are?” My heart was jumping.

  “She said there’s another compound in Wentworth.”

  “Two hours from here.” I grabbed my coat and pulled on my boots.

  “Kicks.”

  I looked up. “Yeah?”

  “She said Julia thinks he’ll do something to the women. He’s rushed for time. Acting unstable. Noel thinks he wants the babies before anyone finds out where they are.” He looked away, his gaze narrowing in thought.

  “And?” There was something more he wasn’t telling me.

  “If he thinks he’s close to getting caught, then I don’t think it’s the babies he’s thinking about. I’m worried there will be another Jim Jones situation.”

  “Oh, Jesus Jack.”

  “If he convinces those women that the world is a horrible place without him…”

  “That their babies are better off in another world.” Oh God.

  “They just may drink the cool-aid.”

  Chapter Nine

  Declan followed us to the location of the other compound. We had no concrete evidence that Gabriel would try to persuade the pregnant women, or any of his other followers, to kill themselves. But he did feel the walls closing in. I’d stupidly told him what my theory was on what happened to the “dying” babies. It wasn’t the wisest decision. Now he might be going completely crackers and see no way out. He may be thinking he had nothing to lose. That’s when a person is most dangerous.

  The compound was a large cabin on an island surrounded by Black Water Lake. The only way to get to it is by boat, or by swimming. None of us felt much like swimming.

  There was a boat house up a little ways from where we parked, almost directly across from the island on the shore side that we were standing on. There were five speed boats tied to a dock. The boats had to belong to the compound. Aside from the boat house, which looked like it had seen better days, there weren’t any other structures around.

  Dusk was gathering darkness fast. We needed to make a move. Declan went into the boat house and found several paddles and two large flash lights.

  “Let’s not use the flashlights if we can help it. We don’t want to alert them that we’re coming.” I shuddered, thinking of what creepy crawlies may be in the boats that I wouldn’t be able to see. I hate creepy crawlies.

  We climbed into one boat and started paddling. Turning the motor on wouldn’t be wise. My guess was that Gabriel wasn’t up for entertaining us. We paddled slowly, trying to be as silent as we could. I shivered, the wind was picking up, and the air was bitter coming off the water.

  I’d have preferred to be just about anywhere else. I thought of Lucas’s warm skin and felt myself flush. There was an enormous sadness in the pit of my stomach left by Callahan’s leaving. So Lucas was my happy place right then. I would hold on to that sensory image tightly until we and the women were out of there and safe.

  We had made it almost to the shore when a gunshot rang through the air and Declan flew back, almost falling into the water.

  “Get down! Get down!” Jack screamed. He ducked low and reached for his gun, aiming it at the compound.

  I stretched my arm out toward Jack. “Wait. We don’t know if it’s Gabriel shooting or if it’s one of the women.”

  He lowered his gun. “Fuck!”

  “Hey motherfucker! Having fun?” I shouted.

  “More than you can possibly imagine,” was the amused reply, carrying eerily over the water. “But I wouldn’t shoot back if I were you. I’m not the only one standing out here.”

  He was despicable, using pregnant women as a shield, and that was exactly what he was doing.

  “You are disgusting. You’re nothing but a fucking coward. You’d put those pregnant women in danger to save your own ass,” Jack shouted.

  “They are happy to do it,” Gabriel’s voice floated down to us.

  We couldn’t see him. Too many shadows. Darkness was draping itself over us. There was no light.

  “You will get yours, Gabriel. Believe that.” My teeth were gritted, more from anger than cold, but still I shivered. My teeth began to chatter.

  “I’m taking a swim. Keep him busy.
” Jack took off his leather jacket and prepared to drop into the water.

  “No,” I whispered. “You’ll freeze. That water is way too cold now, Jack.”

  “I can do it. The shore is not that far away. We’re almost there.”

  “You may get there, but your limbs will be too numb to do anything to stop him,” Declan said.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Jack said. “Just keep him busy.”

  I’d seen Jack bear temperature extremes that would make most of us faint with no problem at all. Sometimes I wondered if he weren’t superhuman.

  Declan and I moved to the opposite side of the boat to keep it from tipping as Jack waited. When we were ready, as silently as he could, he dropped into the water.

  For as big a boy Jack is, he didn’t make as loud a splash as I’d thought he would, and I wondered if Gabriel had heard him at all. He wouldn’t have seen him. Darkness had covered everything now. The wind had picked up and I could barely see the water. Only a crescent moon shone in the sky, not lending us any real light.

  “You come up on this island, you’re not leaving.” Gabriel’s voice was carried by raw, icy wind.

  “No, you’ve got that wrong, Gabriel,” I shouted back. “We come up on that island, and those women aren’t all happy and fine, you aren’t leaving.”

  His laughter rang and bounced around on the rocks. “You’re one ballsy woman; I’ll give you that, Leah. But these women don’t want a thing to do with you. You’re a Judas. You can’t be trusted. You’ve revealed yourself to be a serpent.”

  “Blah, blah, blah. Don’t you ever get bored of hearing yourself talk? ”Cuz I gotta tell you, Gabe, your spiel is way past old.” I scanned the water for Jack, but didn’t see him. He really was stealthy and silent when he wanted to be. I just hoped that’s what he was being, and not sinking to the bottom of the lake. He wouldn’t have much time before his limbs grew numb and stopped working. I kept talking. “I mean, seriously. Go look at yourself in the mirror and see if you can keep a straight face saying that shit.”

  “You’ve got about five seconds before I start shooting blindly at the water. You and your friends would be wise to turn around and leave us alone,” Gabriel said.

  “Nah. I like this boat. How much did this boat set you back, Gabe? Oh wait; it must be just one more thing one of your adoring, brainwashed disciples laid at your feet. What’s that like, anyway? Having people just give you things because you blow so much smoke up their asses? Have you ever, in all your lazy-ass days, considered actually working for a living? Or is that concept completely beyond you.” I was running out of insults. Jack had better hurry the hell up. “Actually, Cult Leader is a pretty lucrative gig, isn’t it, much less work than picking pockets or snatching old ladies purses and running away?” Hurry up, Jack.

  I heard a grunt, and a gun went off. A woman screamed.

  And then there was nothing.

  ***

  We paddled the remaining few feet to the shore, jumping into the knee deep, chilled water, and scrambled up the stairs to the chaotic sounds up ahead.

  “Jack!” I screamed. “Jack!”

  “A little help,” he shouted, his voice strained.

  I ran toward his voice, seeing vague, muted shapes finally come into view. I heard Declan right behind me.

  Jack was struggling with one of the pregnant women, she was trying to get his gun from him. She was scratching and biting, and now screaming like a banshee.

  “Jesus Christ,” Jack grunted. “Calm down, lady.”

  I heard groaning from the ground as I ran past somebody lying there. A hand clamped over my ankle and I went down hard. I kicked with my other leg and connected with something that made a cracking sound.

  “You broke my nose, you bitch.” Gabriel said, his voice sounding liquid and nasal.

  I grinned, not being able to actually see the blood clearly but imagining it just fine. “Good.” I scrambled closer and booted him in the jaw. “How do you like me now, Gabe?”

  I pushed myself up, bracing myself to boot him again if he tried anything else. I risked a peek over my shoulder to see Declan helping Jack with the woman, trying to pull her off.

  “You’re going to hurt your baby if you keep this shit up,” Jack said at her. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “We would both give our lives for Gabriel,” she said, her voice reverent.

  “Yeah, he’d give your lives for him, too,” Declan said.

  “It is God’s will,” she cried.

  “Jesus,” Jack muttered.

  I heard rustling on the ground. I looked down to see Gabriel trying to pull himself up. I took one step toward him, hearing the water squish in my leather boots, and booted him in the chest.

  He flew backward, grunting.

  “That’s for making me ruin my leather boots, you fuck.”

  I loved those boots, and the delusional bastard wasn’t even worth the cost of replacing them.

  But the unborn babies being treated like commodities were worth everything. And I wasn’t leaving that island without those women.

  ***

  Jack and Declan got the woman into the cabin and locked her in a room until she calmed down. I babysat Gabriel, who wasn’t half as mouthy with me as he had been. It might have something to do with his swollen and torn mouth. He’d called me a very nasty name, and I’d kicked him in the face.

  I sighed. “Gabe, why don’t you just shut the hell up? I’m getting tired of kicking your worthless ass.”

  “One of my teeth is loose,” he said, moving his tongue over said tooth.

  “Well, I’m sure you have at least one dentist in your flock,” I said, wiggling my toes in my wet boots. They were feeling numb. My poor feet were taking a hell of a beating because of this prick, and the weather was far too cold for these shenanigans. “Too bad you have all your followers stuck away in a compound.”

  He smirked through his bubbled lips, the effect more than creepy. “I have more followers than you can imagine. Many of them live off site.”

  “That’s heart-warming, Gabe. Really.” But a chill ran down my spine, because I believed him.

  He tipped his head back a little to look at me. “You really don’t know what you’re dealing with, Leah. I think you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.”

  “That’s sweet coming from a guy who won’t be chewing anything hard for a while.” I stepped toward him and he cringed back. “And if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’ll fix it so you won’t be chewing anything at all. You’ll be sipping your meals through those funny, twisty straws for a long, long time.”

  Jack and Declan came back down. None of us trusted Gabriel to walk up to the cabin without pulling something on me. He was much easier to deal with on the ground. His gun was gone. Jack had knocked it out of his hand, and then pistol whipped him across the head. As long as Gabriel didn’t have a gun, we were doing okay.

  Jack glared down at Gabriel. Declan’s face was grim as he looked at me.

  “Christ. What?” I asked.

  “Julia gave birth earlier today.” Jack didn’t take his eyes off Gabriel. “Her baby is gone.”

  I looked down at Gabriel, feeling my blood boil. I hauled my foot back and booted him in the jaw again.

  ***

  We brought him into a tool shed not far from the main cabin. Declan stayed with the women. Two were pregnant. He would try to talk to them, using his deprogramming skills as best he could. But it would take days. Hours would do nothing to change their minds.

  Gabriel sat in on the floor while Jack and I stood over him.

  “Where is Julia’s baby, Gabe?” I asked.

  He grinned up at me, blood staining his teeth. He no longer looked like an angel. He looked like a demon straight from hell. I wondered if maybe he was. How did some people get to be so evil? But right then, it didn’t much matter.

  “Gone.” He smirked now, really enjoying this.

  “Gone where?” I squatted down, looking him in the f
ace.

  “Somewhere you’ll never find him.”

  “Same place Noel and Lydia’s babies went?” Jack asked.

  Gabriel’s eyes flicked up to Jack. “Same place they were headed. Noel’s and Lydia’s babies never made it there.”

  Something in my chest folded in on itself. “And where was that?” I stood over him, tapping one foot as a reminder of what my boots could do.

  A shot rang out. Jack and I looked at each other.

  Gabriel tilted his head back and laughed. “I bet your friend has his hands full, if he’s still kicking, that is.”

  “Go.” I tilted my head toward the cabin. “I’ll keep our friend company.”

  Jack gave Gabriel a withering look before running out the door.

  Gabriel smiled widely at me. “You really don’t have a clue, do you?”

  “No, but I have a couple of really hard boots that are ruined anyway, so I don’t mind getting more flesh and blood splattered all over them.”

  “I know about Noel sending you. Julia told me,” His grin faded. “After I caught her on the phone, I had to correct her for that.” His eyes sparkled for a moment. “She said you’d be coming.”

  “And?” I tried to appear bored.

  He laughed again, really getting a charge off the power he had over me. Off the fact that he had information I was almost desperate for.

  “I want a deal.” His smirk was back, and it was dirty.

  I wanted to walk through a car wash, but it would never make me feel clean enough. “I don’t make deals with murdering baby sellers.”

  “I didn’t murder the babies.” His eyes gleamed at me. “But I know who did.”

  “You had somebody murder them. That makes you a murderer.” My stomach roiled.

  “I didn’t have anyone murder them.” His voice was quiet and even.

  I stared at him, trying to read if he was lying to me or not. He seemed like he was telling the truth, but cult leaders are practiced liars, as a rule.

  He watched me through crazed eyes. He was on the ground, physically broken, and he still held all the power. “Let me walk out of here, and I’ll tell you who did kill them.”