Run to You

by Lynne King

  Her lips were pursed and she could feel her skin being stretched, yet still she tried to resist as her eyes filled with tears.

  “Tell me everything and I might let you live.” He released her face and leaned back again.

  Liz could see his impatience at her silence. Her mind was in turmoil as she thought of someway to explain her ignorance. That she didn’t have a clue as to what he wanted from her. It was the same with Jack. They all thought she knew more than she did and that Shaun had confided in her.

  She took a breath, the words now rushing out. “If you think I can help return whatever Shaun stole from you, I can’t. I was forced into helping the day of the robbery and that was as far as my involvement went. Don’t you think I would tell you if I knew?” Seeing that his features were unmoved and he was waiting for more, she continued, “I’m no threat to you. I didn’t witness anything in Shaun’s apartment, just voices, voices—that was all. I was hiding in the bathroom and never saw the faces. Please, you’ve got to believe I won’t say anything about what I heard.”

  Gandini put his head back and let out a short savage laugh before turning his attention back to her. “You learn fast. Such a sweet story of innocence with the tears and all. Now suppose you tell me why you have a New York homicide detective guarding your pretty ass. That could prove quite interesting to hear since it was this cop who led me to O’Riley’s involvement and you, of course. I want to know how come he was so quick to link the two of you.”

  Liz felt like burying her head in her hands and giving up completely to whatever fate had dished out for her. Instead an inner strength forced her to continue. “He had an informant, I think, and knew Shaun was planning something, but didn’t know what. He saw Shaun and me together and then when the bank was robbed, he sort of worked it out.” There was more like Mark Hunter’s blackmail, but Liz felt Gandini’s impatience. “When Shaun was killed I didn’t know who else to contact. I was scared and rang him to confess my part, and it had nothing to do with Shaun’s murder. I didn’t tell him anything because I don’t know anything.”

  He leaned forward again and Liz felt herself sinking further down into the floor well.

  “So far you have told me nothing that could convince me to spare your life.” His voice was dangerously low now and full of intent. “The detective has kept you under wraps for a purpose. What is it?”

  “Everyone involved in the robbery was murdered by Shaun except me and someone who didn’t actually take part, but helped organize it, knew what boxes to go for.“ Liz knew she was fighting for her life now and was willing to say anything that might convince him her life was worth saving. “He thinks now Shaun is dead, this partner might come after me thinking like you do that I know too much. The detective has decided to use me in order to try and draw this person out in the open.” Liz could see she had his interest now and in the hope of sounding more convincing, the lie slipped out. “That’s why I haven’t been arrested yet. The detective is also under the impression that this partner killed Shaun.”

  “That’s very good. You either have a creative imagination when it comes to saving your neck or maybe you are telling the truth or at least some of it. I want what was stolen from me, do you understand.” His eyes narrowed sharply.

  He wanted more and Liz knew her survival depended on it. “The detective also has a key, a safety deposit one. It was hidden by Shaun. We discovered it this morning and I think that’s where Shaun hid your stuff, in another safety deposit box.”

  That laugh resounded again. “Now we are getting somewhere. I will tell you exactly what you are going to do for redemption. You have two days in which to come up with a name and to bring me that key. If you do not bring me results then everything I promised earlier will happen.” He picked away at a piece of fluff on his jacket, his voice quite calm now. “Don’t think I will stop with you. Your sister and family tucked away in England, the few friends you have here in New York will all be made to pay if you prove to be evasive again. Don’t underestimate my power. How do you think I found you so easily with your detective? As for everyone who means anything to you, I have your laptop for that. Your sister sent some sweet photos, by the way. This is the number you call when you have what I want and don’t leave it to the last minute.” He took out a notepad from his breast pocket and a pen.

  She stared numbly as he scribbled down a number and ripped the paper from the pad. He was going to let her live. Why wasn’t she feeling ecstatic? Liz knew the reason why—it was in his warning. What chance had she of achieving the impossible?

  “As you said yourself, Miss Saunders, you are to be the bait, so go along with your detective, get him to trust you and use him to get what I want.” His hand, adorned with gold rings, came down and lightly stroked her face. “O’Riley certainly had an eye for pleasurable merchandise. It would be a shame to mar it so.” The hand came down and pulled her T-shirt away from her neck while his other hand tucked the piece of paper into her bra cup.

  She didn’t try to recoil, her body transfixed as his hand came back to her face and gripped her jawline, his gaze holding hers. “I want this person before the cops. Don’t cross me by confessing all to your detective friend. Where will he be, say, in a month or a year’s time while your family and friends pay? I’m not the sort of man to go back on a promise.”

  As he let go of her, Liz could still feel the indentations left by his fingers, her whole body now quivering. Gandini tapped the glass partitioning them from the driver. The car stopped abruptly as the fat man opened his door. Grabbing hold of Liz’s wrist, he pulled her roughly along the floor of the car and then yanked her out. A foot landing heavily on her behind sent her sprawling onto the concrete sidewalk. Before shock and pain could set in, she scrambled to her feet and stood staring as the black limousine sped off into the distance.

  Her legs began to shake uncontrollably as the rest of her body responded with waves of dizziness. Trying her hardest not to give way to the threatened collapse, she forced herself to stay focused on her surroundings. There were people milling about, some had stopped to stare at her. She turned and faced the huge building complex. Realization of where she was hit her at the same time as her legs buckled and darkness took hold.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The door was closed and the blinds were down at the windows, shutting out the prying eyes and eavesdropping from the skeleton staff of detectives and officers working on a Sunday.

  “You’ve really screwed up this time, Willis. What the hell did you think you were doing?” His voice continued to rise. “I’ve just received the make on the latest homicide, and guess what, his name’s not O’Riley but a sonofabitch called Ian Connor. Terrorism, murder, robberies, you name it and his MO has been linked. The British authorities have been desperate to get their hands on him for years, but it seems he disappeared a year back.”

  He banged his palms down on the desk and leaned toward Jack, eyes blazing. “Well, we all know where he resurfaced. I want to know what the fuck is going on between you and this tart. According to you, she can link Connor to the heist and witnessed his murder, so what have you promised his accomplice in return?”

  Jack sprung up from his chair and sent it flying behind him. “You haven’t listened to a word I said. Elizabeth Saunders is as much a victim in all this as the others O’Riley killed and for all I know could be dead now.” His head was killing him and he had to grip the desk to steady himself. Slugged in the back of the neck was humiliation enough, but the thought that he had allowed it to happen by his own negligence and what might be happening to Liz was torture.

  Obviously he looked as bad as he felt because the captain had come round and picked up the chair and was now pushing him toward it. Jack waved him away and straightened up. “I’m all right,” he snapped.

  “Well, you look like crap. What did the doc say?”

  “That I’ll live, but will have one hell of a hangover for a day or so.”

  The captain went back behind his de
sk and sat back down. “Look, Jack, so far I’ve kept this between us because if the Feds learn what’s gone on, hell, I don’t even know myself…well, the shit’s going hit the fan.” His voice was calmer now as he leaned back in his seat, arms folded. “Until the girl surfaces and we find out what’s going on, it’s best it stays that way.”

  “We’re wasting time. It was Gandini’s lot—I know it. So why can’t I bring the sonofabitch in for questioning, turn the heat up.” Jack’s knuckles had turned white as his grip tightened.

  “Because then you might as well sign her death warrant at the same time. No, we hold tight.”

  A knock sounded at the door and a uniformed officer’s head appeared around it. “Captain, you wanted me to ring the hospitals. Well, I just struck lucky. A woman answering the description collapsed outside the Lenox Hill a short while ago. She was admitted for observation.”

  Jack was out the door with his captain’s voice bellowing after him, “Willis, you stay in radio contact, otherwise you’re off the case and suspended, do you hear me!”

  Liz guessed she could have only fainted for minutes, seeing she had come round by the time they had placed her on a bed in the accident and emergency center, curtains drawn. Heart and blood pressure okay, not physically injured anywhere, and of sound mind, she now waited for a doctor’s final assessment and to sign the release form. The fainting had been brought on by the sudden draining away of the terror and impending death she’d experienced a moment before.

  She had asked for a cup of water and was now sipping it when the curtain was drawn aside and Jack entered. There was no disguising the relief and pleasure written on his face, mirrored by what was bubbling up within. It was crazy, but she felt like wrapping her arms around him and holding on so tight. She wanted to tell him everything, about Gandini’s threats, what he wanted from her, and to have Jack hold her in his arms and tell her it was all going to be okay. Instead she drew away from that intimate smile of his and stared down at her empty plastic cup.

  “Nice to see you’re okay, Detective.”

  “Likewise,” he replied.

  The sudden silence was unnerving. It was crazy. He must have a million and one questions to bombard her with, but instead he remained by the curtain, watching her. It was as if he knew she was about to lie and was waiting for her to begin. Liz could stand it no longer. “I’m just waiting for the doctor to sign a release form or something. Anyway, I feel a bit of a fraud lying here. I fainted, that’s all and banged my head slightly.”

  As if on cue, the doctor and a nurse appeared with forms to sign. Jack stepped back from the open curtain and then drew it to allow her privacy. She could see his shadow through the curtain, which meant he could hear everything.

  “No continuous headaches, blurred vision, spells of dizziness leading up to this fainting attack?” asked the very young-looking doctor, who Liz felt must be straight out of medical school.

  “No, as I told the nurse, I skipped breakfast this morning and then went jogging. Must have overdone things.” Liz didn’t really care whether he believed her or not. She simply wanted to get out of there.

  “One of our medics reported having seen you being thrown out of a car,” the nurse broke in with.

  “I think I would have known if that was the case.” Liz forced out a smile.

  “Fine, well, we have your medical insurance details. I believe there’s a detective outside waiting to take you home.” The nurse threw her own wry smile and followed the doctor out of the cubicle as Jack stepped back in.

  “You lie pretty convincingly. If I didn’t have a whopping great lump on the back of my head and a pocket load of aspirin, I might have thought it was all a dream.”

  Liz swung her legs around off the bed. Luckily they hadn’t stuck her in some hospital gown and the piece of paper Gandini had wedged in her bra cup was still there. She could feel it against her skin like a poison viper.

  “I could hardly tell them I was kidnapped, bungled into a car, asked a load of questions and then when they realized I knew absolutely nothing, thrown back out like a discarded catch. Now could I?” She gave him the same smile displayed for the nurse. The returning frown and twitching of his jaw muscle told Liz she was in for a rough ride. “Who exactly kidnapped you?”

  “You’re the detective.” She knew as soon as the words were out, it was a mistake.

  Linking his arm forcibly into hers, he frog-marched her out of the hospital and into his car. The relief at finding her alive and well was over, she guessed. Now he wasn’t responsible for allowing a witness to end up dead, he could get back to furthering his career by handing her over to the authorities. If that happened, what chance would she have of finding out who Shaun had been working for and of getting back that key? She feared Gandini now more than ever after meeting him and knew she would never be safe until she did what he asked. She didn’t care what she was doing was morally and legally wrong, putting her life before others. She had done the right thing with Simon and look where that had got her.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked again.

  “Somewhere quiet and familiar where you can tell me everything and I mean everything.”

  “There’s not much to tell,” Liz replied.

  “I think I will be the judge of that.” Jack radioed through to his station telling them to advise the captain he will be in contact on his cell phone in ten minutes or so.

  “You’re not taking me in, then?”

  He didn’t reply to her question, but as the area grew familiar, Liz knew exactly where they were heading. The car pulled up outside her local convenience shop. “Don’t move,” he aimed across at her.

  Liz nodded. It wasn’t as if she had anywhere to go. Five minutes later he reappeared with two brown bags, she guessed, full of groceries. Placing them in the trunk, he jumped in behind the wheel again and opened a packet of gum. “Want one?”

  Liz shook her head. “Am I going to be under house arrest then in my own apartment? I thought you wanted to off-load me, not continue baby-sitting me as you put it.”

  Popping the gum in his mouth, he started the car up and drove into her avenue. Pulling the car up opposite her apartment, he switched the engine off. Then he turned and faced her, his expression blank. “Seeing all the perps connected to the bank heist are dead and Gandini is no longer an immediate threat, arresting you at the moment wouldn’t serve much purpose.” He went to open the door.

  Liz reached out and grabbed his wrist. “Hang on a minute, don’t I get a say in this?”

  “Well, what do you want, sweetheart. Several hours ago you were accusing me of selling you out.” With his hand remaining stationary on the door handle, his other hand encased her offending forearm.

  Why did she feel so angry and betrayed when this is what she needed in order to get the information for Gandini? She knew why. Jack was using her in the exact same way as she had told Gandini, to draw out Shaun’s co-conspirator. That she hadn’t even had to implant the suggestion was causing her the greatest upset. “You’re hoping Shaun’s partner will come after me, aren’t you?”

  “I don’t know, you tell me? Do you have something else Gandini thinks is worth keeping you alive for?”

  Jack was looking at her as if challenging a denial of some kind. Liz knew her silence in the hospital and in the car had been an admittance of such. He didn’t need for her to tell him. Liz slowly unfolded her fingers from around his wrist. He released her forearm and opened the car door. Following him to the trunk, she took her case from him and the purse she had dropped when she had been grabbed. Seeing he did not trust her, that would have been searched, no doubt. Luckily, in her panic of discovering Shaun’s gun, she had shoved it under the mattress in Jack’s spare room. Maybe when this was all over, if ever, she would leave him a note about it. She waited while Jack removed the two bags of groceries and then headed the way to her apartment.

  When they arrived outside her door, Jack told her to stand aside. Placing the bags d
own, he removed his gun from his shoulder holster and released the safety catch. Taking her key he slowly unlocked the door. In one swift movement he turned the handle and pushed the door open wide with his foot before shielding her body with his own to the side of the open doorway.

  Jack didn’t expect someone to be hiding out in her apartment waiting for her appearance, but one could never be 100 percent sure so he took no risks. The silence confirmed it was okay, but he still told Liz to wait while he went in first. What confronted him was confirmation enough that Gandini’s men hadn’t wasted much time on doing the place over. It had been completely trashed with drawers emptied out and furniture slashed. He heard Liz gasp behind him and knew she had followed him straight in.

  “I told you to wait outside.” He could see the distress in her pale features, the trembling of her lip, but he could also see a hardening resolve creep in.

  “Bastards,” she mumbled. Picking up a broken picture frame, she saw the watercolor painting of an English country landscape was slashed down the center. She threw it to the floor in disgust. “Perhaps the one you’re after has already paid a visit,” she stated as she headed toward the bedroom.

  “The same goons who did over O’Riley’s place did this, same MO.” He came up behind her and looked over at the slashed mattress, the bed covers stripped from the bed.

  “You expect me to stay here, after this?”

  “Unless you have a better offer, yes. Look, fetch me some trash bags and fresh bed linen. Then make us some coffee while I sort this out.”

  He went to the mattress and turned it over, finding the underneath intact. Her disappearance and return with the requested items, dropped on the mattress for him, confirmed her acceptance. It also validated Jack’s earlier theory that Gandini cutting her loose like that meant he now had her working for him. She must have told him something to make it worth his while. After all, he now knew she took part in the robbery and possibly witnessed her boyfriend’s execution. Either he thought she could get his stolen merchandise back or provide information as to who was behind it.