No One to Trust (Hidden Identity Book #1): A Novel

by Eason, Lynette

  Marlee whimpered and sat on the bottom step. “Just let them bite me. I’m so tired of everything.” She began to sob and Summer went to her to wrap her arms around her sister. But Marlee pushed her away. “I don’t deserve your comfort,” she whispered. “I did this. I led them to you. I let them beat me up and put me in the hospital so you would take me with you, and I could let them know where we were. I kept my phone with me and on so they could track you. Even at the warehouse when we showered and changed clothes, I managed to keep the phone on.” Tears tracked her cheeks and dripped off her chin. “I’m no better than that man who put us in here. I’m evil.” She dropped her chin to her chest and continued to weep.

  “Oh, Marlee.” Summer closed her eyes, and David knew she was hurting at yet another betrayal. The snakes wiggled toward them. David shivered. It was now cold in the room. He knelt and felt the floor. Warm. Hence the snakes were traveling toward them. He’d bet the floor where they’d been sleeping was now cold.

  Laura ran up the steps and started banging on the door. “Let us out! Please let us out!”

  Summer jumped up and wrapped her arms around the girl. Sandy practically climbed up her mother, who dropped her purse to clasp her child to her.

  David looked around. Grabbed a broom from its resting place against the wall. He snapped it in half over his knee. He shoved one of the pieces at Chase. “Take it. We may have to see if we can beat them back until rescue comes.”

  “And while you’re doing that, I’ll see if I can find a way up into the ceiling,” Papa Bear muttered.

  “There are snakes up there too.”

  “Well, I’ll just have to move them out of the way.”

  “Too bad we can’t make a fire,” David murmured.

  Papa Bear walked to the steps where Summer still held Laura.

  Olivia walked Sandy up to Summer, then turned and grabbed her purse. She opened it and rummaged. David absently wondered what she was looking for while he jabbed at a snake that was getting a little too close for his comfort.

  “Here,” Olivia said. “Use this.”

  He glanced at her and saw what she held.

  A lighter.

  David spun. “Summer, give me your blazer.”

  She frowned but picked it up and tossed it to him. Her eyes widened. “Look out!”

  He turned to see one of the reptiles nudging up against his shoe. His heart beat a little faster. He wasn’t afraid of snakes, but he didn’t want to do anything to cause one to strike either. With the end of the broom handle, he gently lifted the snake off his shoe and gave him a toss back into the too-close pile.

  David wrapped Summer’s blazer around the end of the stick.

  “You still got your ankle gun?” Chase asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Let me have it. This lock looks like a cheap one. One or two bullets ought to do it.”

  In the back corner, Chase had located a cabinet with a combination lock. David handed him the gun, then flicked the lighter against Summer’s blazer. It caught, then snuffed out.

  He tried again. And again. And yet again. Finally it caught and held. Started to burn, but was slow.

  Still, he shoved the small flame at the snakes and they backed off. He turned in a circle, waving the makeshift torch.

  Chase warned everyone to hold their ears. Then a gunshot echoed throughout the room followed by a clunk as the lock hit the floor.

  52

  Adam winced, his vision blurred. Soon he’d pass out and drop his weapon. “Open the door.”

  “You’d better hurry. They won’t last long,” the girl on the floor answered. She pressed a hand to her bloody side and grimaced. “He set his snakes on them. They’re poisonous. If one of them panics and starts fighting, the snakes will bite. You’ve got to get them out.”

  “Shut up,” Raimondi growled. “You’ve been nothing but trouble bringing that traitor into my home. You don’t deserve to breathe.” He raised his weapon like he was going to shoot the girl again.

  Three gunshots echoed and Adam ducked, spun to face this new threat. Only to see a woman in her late fifties standing in the doorway by the bookcase. She lowered the weapon and Adam turned back to see Alessandro Raimondi clutching his chest, eyes wide.

  “Rosalinda?” he whispered as he dropped into his leather chair, then slid to the floor.

  “You will hurt no one else in this family, you dreadful, evil man.” She dropped the gun and raced to the young woman’s side. “Georgina, oh my baby, are you all right?”

  “I will be,” Georgina gasped.

  The man Adam recognized as Agostino went to the women’s side and helped them up. He looked at Adam. “Go help your friends. The police are here. I’ll let them in.”

  Adam nodded. His legs felt rubbery, weak. The door looked very far away. He went to his knees.

  The door. He had to get to the door.

  The gunshots echoed through the small room, freezing them all for a fraction of a second. Even the snakes seemed to startle.

  “They’re coming,” Summer warned him in a tight voice.

  Papa Bear looked at him. “I can’t find a way up there, there’re too many of them.” He held up a hand. “One of the buggers got me. I didn’t move fast enough.”

  David clenched his teeth and willed the blazer to burn faster. “Great.”

  “Guess we’ll see if it kills me or not.” With his other hand, Papa Bear caught one of the snakes behind its head, a viper, David thought, and tossed it aside.

  They backed up and David waved the now-burning blazer at the mass. “If we don’t get out of here real soon, you won’t have to worry about one measly little bite.” He was more concerned than he let on. “How do you feel?”

  “It’s swelling and it hurts, but other than that, nothing.”

  “David, what else can we do?” Summer asked him.

  “Nothing. Unfortunately.” He glanced at Chase, who’d moved from the cabinet back to the door. “Anything?”

  “Snake food. Nothing that can be used as a weapon. Our only hope is to get through the door we came in.” He turned his attention back to it.

  David continued waving the torch to slow the snakes’ advance. “You having any luck with it?”

  “No. I think it’s dead bolted from the outside. Hinges are on the other side too.”

  Pounding on the door startled him. “David? Summer?”

  Summer yelled, “Adam! We’re here! Open the door.”

  “Back up, I’ve got to shoot the lock off.”

  They moved down the steps, but no farther as the snakes now surrounded the area. Papa Bear held Sandy on his shoulders. Laura, Olivia, and Marlee crowded together. Sandy pointed and squealed. “They’re coming closer.”

  David placed the makeshift torch at the bottom of the steps. “Shoot it!”

  The shot came and the door shuddered.

  53

  The door flew open and Summer rushed into the office. She froze at the scene before her. Cops everywhere. Adam on the verge of passing out and Raimondi on the floor, his chest covered in blood.

  Laura and Sandy followed her, Olivia and Marlee bringing up the rear with Papa Bear and Chase. The last one through the door, David turned and pushed it shut. The bullet had shattered the lock as well as part of the doorjamb so it didn’t close well, but as long as it kept the snakes down below, that was all Summer cared about.

  Chase muttered, “We need some serious pest control down there.”

  Officers swarmed them and, as soon as they realized they weren’t the bad guys, started firing questions.

  David ignored them and pointed to Papa Bear who had come into the office and leaned against the wall. “He’s been bitten by a snake and needs immediate medical attention.” He looked at Adam. “Looks like you do too.”

  The officer got on his radio and requested EMTs on the scene.

  Olivia and her girls huddled next to an officer who began questioning them. Marlee sat on the love seat with yet another l
aw enforcement official.

  “David?”

  Summer turned to the one who’d called her husband’s name. But David wasn’t looking at her. He gripped Summer by the upper arms. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded. “Are you?”

  “Yes.” And Summer saw he was. There was an excited air around him, a glint in his eye that said he saw the end was really near. He finally turned to the girl who’d professed to be in love with him and dropped beside her. “Georgina, are you okay?”

  She shrugged. Her gaze bounced between him and Summer. David took her hand and squeezed her fingers. The gesture squeezed something in the pit of Summer’s stomach. Who was this woman to him? What else had he lied about? Just when she was hopeful things might somehow work out for them after all of this was over, the doubts crept back in.

  “I’m sorry,” she heard him whisper.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I know.” He looked up and Summer refused to look away from the two of them. Regret flashed in his eyes. He turned back and said, “I owe you an explanation, but not now. We need to get you to a hospital.”

  David stood and Summer sat on the couch next to Marlee. Her sister mumbled answers to the officer’s questions, and he finally gave up.

  Papa Bear sidled up to David and said, “Blue’s got the elevators working. I told him to fade out of the picture as soon as possible.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll get checked out, get some antivenin, grab Doc B from the hospital, and disappear.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Not so great.”

  EMTs and paramedics entered the room. They hauled Papa Bear off and then Georgina with her mother following, holding her hand. While they examined Adam, Summer walked over to him and she knelt beside him. “Thank you.”

  He gave her a wan smile. “I owe you a huge apology.”

  “You saved our lives. You’re a hero.” She took his hand. “You got here just in time.”

  “No. I—”

  “Ma’am, he’s lost a lot of blood, we need to get him to the hospital.”

  Summer moved out of the way and let the paramedics work.

  Raimondi’s body was photographed. The medical examiner finally arrived about two hours later, and Summer was ready to lie down on the floor and go to sleep. But she needed to have a conversation with her sister.

  Marlee sat staring. At nothing. She’d been separated from the group and questioned by the officers as had everyone else. Now Summer could see she was lost in her thoughts, her betrayal. A battle raged within Summer. Everyone she’d loved and trusted had betrayed her. Lied to her.

  David and Chase were still talking to the authorities. Things were finally starting to calm down and Summer had hopes that they would be able to leave soon. Ron stepped inside and Summer wondered about the badge that he flashed. Whatever it was, it granted him instant access to the room.

  Marlee looked up and caught her eye. Shame darkened the woman’s face and she glanced away again.

  Summer dropped to her knees in front of her sister. “Why?” she whispered.

  Marlee scrubbed her tears. “I’m sorry.”

  “But why? Do you hate me that much?”

  “No.” The swift answer told Summer at least it was honest. Marlee’s gaze flicked to David. “They came to me about two weeks ago. Somehow, they’d tracked David to Charleston. I think he called his brother to wish him happy birthday or something.”

  Summer closed her eyes. Oh David. He would beat himself up over that one. A weakness. A momentary lapse in judgment and it had almost cost them all their lives. He’d taken a gamble and lost—and yet he’d won.

  She opened her eyes and watched as they wheeled Raimondi’s body from his office. “Why’d you refuse to go to the hospital?”

  Marlee shook her head. “I don’t deserve help. I wish Raimondi had killed me.”

  Summer’s gut clenched. While she was angry with Marlee, absolutely furious with her, she didn’t want her dead. “Tell me the rest of it.”

  “I don’t know how they connected me. I guess they have their ways. Anyway, they came to me and asked me if I wanted to make some money. They told me who David was and that he was a con man. That he was wanted by the police and they needed my help to get him. I thought they were cops at first.”

  “And you jumped at the chance to help.”

  She shrugged and sighed. “I wanted the money, true, I’ll admit it.” A pause. “But more than that, I had wanted David out of your life before those guys showed up. When they arrived on my doorstep all official like and I thought he was using you for some reason, it made me angry.”

  “Surely it didn’t take you long to figure out they weren’t the cops.”

  “No, it didn’t, but by then, I didn’t care. I just wanted David gone and you back to the way you were before you met him.”

  “A spineless jellyfish?” Summer muttered.

  Marlee blanched and looked away. “Of course not.”

  “They beat you up, Marlee.”

  She flushed and glanced back up. “I told you, that was my idea. The first time. I didn’t know they were going to break my arm or that it would hurt so bad. That Corbin Hayes guy enjoyed it way too much. But it was the only way I could think to get you to come to me. If I landed in the hospital, as long as you found out, I knew you’d come.”

  A rap on the door caught their attention. Two uniformed pest control workers entered. The officer covering the door asked, “Are we about finished? They’re here to get the snakes.”

  Summer looked at David. He gave a slight nod. She stood and held a hand out to Marlee. “Let’s go. You need to get checked out at the hospital whether you want to or not.”

  Marlee stared at her. “Why do you care, Summer? Why would you offer to take my place when Raimondi had the gun on me? I don’t understand.”

  Summer let her hand fall to her side and simply stared. “I love you, Marlee.”

  “But I betrayed you! I don’t deserve your love!” Her shout brought all eyes to them.

  Summer ignored them and gave her sister a gentle smile. “Doesn’t matter whether you deserve it or not, you still have it.”

  54

  David placed a hand on Summer’s shoulder as her words sank in. Words that gave him hope that she could forgive him like she had just forgiven Marlee. A restlessness invaded him. He wasn’t sure he wanted Summer to forgive Marlee. The woman had essentially done her best to have him killed. He wondered if she even realized that. Marlee was definitely petulant, selfish, and self-centered. But she was also, in some ways, incredibly naive, easy to manipulate, and foolish. Sort of like Georgina had been.

  He winced at the thought. Could he hold a grudge against Marlee when his own sins were stacked to the ceiling?

  Summer had no problem forgiving Marlee.

  But that was her sister, she was blood. He was a guy who’d used her as a means to an end. He’d never imagined falling head over heels in love with her.

  Summer held out her hand again to her sister. Marlee stared at it for a full thirty seconds before reaching up to grasp it like a lifeline. She swallowed hard and looked up at David. “I’m sorry.”

  The sincerity in her eyes held him. He nodded. “We’ll all talk later. Summer’s right. We need to get you to a doctor so you can get checked out.”

  Chase said, “The FBI’s Evidence Response Team is going to be here for a while. CSU might help, but this is FBI territory now. They’ve got a lot to process. Agostino’s been arrested. He’s cooperating and answering questions as fast as they can throw them at him. I have a feeling he might be our next assignment.”

  “What about Georgina and Rosalinda?” David asked.

  “Rosalinda is being hailed as a heroine.” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe she shot him.”

  David nodded. “He went after her child. I guess motherly instincts can overrule fear.”

  “Where did Olivia and the girls g
o?” Summer asked.

  “They’re at the hospital also. I don’t think there’s anything physically wrong with them, but we just wanted to make sure.”

  Summer frowned. “They’re going to need a counselor more than a physician.”

  “We’ll see they get the help they need,” David said.

  Summer helped Marlee to her feet, and Marlee kept a tight grip on her hand. Summer steadied her as she wobbled, and David placed a hand under Marlee’s left elbow. She glanced at him, unsure. But she didn’t pull away. Summer wasn’t sure whether it was because she was truly sorry for her part in the ordeal or whether it was because she might fall over if not for the support. They began walking toward the door.

  Summer glanced at David. “Did you give them the laptop?”

  He nodded. “Yes—or I will. Ron’s retrieving it as we speak.”

  Summer bit her lip. “We still don’t know who the man with the snake tattoo is. Raimondi had one on his wrist. The man in the picture on the laptop had one on his arm. What does it mean?”

  “It’s the symbol for Raimondi’s family and those loyal to him. A Mafia symbol.”

  She shuddered and stepped into the elevator. Marlee began to shake and Summer tightened her grip. David pressed the button to go down.

  Marlee finally agreed to be seen at the hospital but wanted Summer to stay with her. After two hours of pacing and flipping through magazines she wasn’t interested in, Summer told David, “I know you’re worried about Adam and Doc—” She planted her hands on her hips. “What’s his name anyway? I feel weird calling him Doc B.”

  “Jesse Gonzales.”

  “Okay, well, why don’t you check on him and Adam while I stay with Marlee?”

  Doc had had surgery to remove the bullet that had blitzed him in the left side. Fortunately, the bullet had done minimal damage and now, according to Chase, he was awake and surly.

  David hesitated, then nodded. “That should be all right. You’ve got a police officer outside the door.”