Never again.
By God, no man was ever going to hurt her again without getting something back in return.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m going to leave. Eventually. After I’ve had my fill of your cunt…and your mouth, and your ass. I like it nice and rough and before I’m done, I can guarantee you’re going to like it that way, too. But before we get to the fun and games, we’ll take care of business first.”
“We have no business between us. And I’m not going to let you touch me.”
“Oh, honey, you won’t be able to stop me.” He waved the gun he held for emphasis. “But as I said, business first. I’ll take the necklace.”
“Necklace?” Annie didn’t have to feign confusion. Necklace? What necklace? “I don’t have any jewelry. Despite the fact that Jim worked in jewelry stores for all the years of our marriage, he never once bought me any jewelry. If you think he did, maybe he gave it to one of his girlfriends.”
“So you knew about the bimbos? Thought you did. See, Jimmy wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. And neither are you, although you’re good. Really good. But, of course, I mean the glittery and expensive gems we stole just before I got sent away.”
When Annie only stared at him, he shook his head.
“What do you know? Innocent little Annie really is in the dark, and Jimmy did keep his mouth shut for a change.”
“Jim stole something from the store? When? How?”
“You really don’t know about it, do you? Well, that’s all right. You don’t need to know all the hows and the whys. Just get me the piece, I’ll take a few more pieces, and be on my way.” He leered at her, and Annie’s stomach turned over. She wondered if barfing on him would deter him.
“You’re crazy. I don’t have any necklace. Now get out of here. I’m expecting friends.” The lie slid easily from her lips. “You’ll be in deep shit if you get charged again, won’t you? Threatening, attempted assault. That gun you’re holding will make it all the worse for you. Maybe this time, they’ll lock you up and throw away the key.” Too late she realized letting him see her loathing was the wrong move.
“Bitch. Maybe the necklace can wait after all. You’ve been living without a man’s hand for too long. Sounds like you need a good going over, with my belt and my cock.” He pointed his gun at the ceiling, and Annie heard a click. Then he laid the weapon on the kitchen counter.
Rick moved so fast, Annie didn’t get a chance to try and escape. Clamping both hands on her arms, he dragged her forward.
Annie screamed, and he spun her around, slapping a hand over her mouth. She struggled, but she was no match for his strength. He pulled her back flush against the front of his body. The ridge of his cock pressed against her bottom, and terror gave her added strength. She dislodged his hand and screamed again.
He threw her to the kitchen floor, hard, falling on top of her. Winded by the fall, Annie struggled for breath. Rick pushed himself up, roughly turned her over so she lay on her back, and straddled her. He put one hand over her mouth again and reached for her blouse with the other.
She heard fabric tear and felt cool air wash over her bra-covered breasts. He grabbed her left breast and squeezed hard. His eyes glittered with arousal, his pants tented with his erection, and Annie knew without a doubt he was going to rape her.
He must have read her thoughts in her eyes, because he grunted and reached for the waist of her shorts.
“Let’s get these off you. First, I’m going to fuck you. Then I’m going to beat you.” He levered up just a little as he worked her shorts down and then off her. He missed the thin silk of her thong, but of course that garment would be no protection for her or barrier to him. He flicked his gaze down at her, and stroked his fingers over her mound.
She bucked and thrashed, desperate to escape his touch.
“Eager little cunt, aren’t you? Let’s see if you can move that well when my cock is buried deep inside you.”
Struggling, screaming against his hand, Annie’s vision blurred from her tears. Rick raised himself up on his knees, and she heard the sound of his zipper opening.
Annie fought to breathe even as the panic tightened her chest, made the blood roar in her ears. Her heart pounded, louder and louder, until it rivaled a crack of thunder. Above her, Rick stiffened, his face a mask of surprise. His hand slid away from her mouth and she desperately sucked in air as he crumpled, half-trapping her with his weight. Crying, desperate, she pushed to get out from under him, wiggling until she broke free., Skittering back, she realized he hadn’t moved. A red stain grew on the back of his shirt below his right shoulder blade. Annie jerked her gaze toward the door.
Veronica stood beside her kitchen table, gun still pointed in a two-handed grip.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” Annie wiped at her tears.
“Are you all right, Annie?”
“Yes. Yes.” Shaking, she reached for her shorts, but couldn’t seem to be able to stand up to put them on. So she wiggled into them as she sat. Rick hadn’t moved, and she was shaking too much to tell if he was breathing or not.
“Is he dead?”
“I really don’t care one way or the other,” Veronica said in an oddly detached voice. “There’s only one thing I care about.”
Annie’s relief turned to confusion, and then horror, as Veronica slowly pivoted to aim the gun at her.
“I’ve waited long enough to get what’s coming to me. I had hoped to accomplish my goal and move on before that piece of slime even got out of prison. Oh, well. I’ll take what I can get. But there’s one thing I need, the one thing I followed you here to this hick town for in the first place. Get me the necklace, Annie. Now.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Veronica? What…what are you doing?”
Shit, shit, shit. Veronica’s gaze drifted over to where Rick Rutherford lay, unmoving. Had she killed him? She’d never killed anyone before. Come to that, she’d never even shot at anyone before. But she’d had no choice. She couldn’t stand by and let him rape Annie.
“Look, Annie. I’m sorry. Really. You’re a nice woman. I even kind of like you, which is unusual for me. I don’t generally like women. But I’ve got to have that necklace.”
“I don’t understand any of this.”
Annie had moved away from her brother-in-law so that she sat against the archway between the kitchen and living room, but didn’t seem to have the energy to move much further. Veronica considered for one moment what the best course of action would be. Generally, there weren’t too many people in the center of town at this time on a Sunday night. Only Annie, who lived over her store, and that goof-ball Billy Woods, who had a room above the shop he rented a couple of blocks away, actually lived in what was laughingly called the ‘downtown’ district of Branchton.
There were always people in the fields outside of town, taking target practice or actually hunting. One shot on a summer Sunday evening wasn’t going to raise any alarms or make anyone even wonder what was going on. So Veronica probably had a bit of time. And after what Annie had just been through, she didn’t mind giving her an explanation. She was already working the angle in her mind, what her story would be if she got stopped later. She’d be out of the country with the goods within twelve hours, but she wanted to go back to New York. She’d say she shot Rutherford out of fear for her friend, and then she’d become so unnerved, she’d run. Necklace? What necklace? Annie must have been confused by the trauma she’d suffered.
It could work.
“Okay, likely no one in Hicksville here is going to investigate the sound of a gunshot, so I can spare a minute or two. About three years ago, I met this smooth talking salesman on a Friday night when I happened to be bored and looking for a little action. I was at a bar in Manhattan, The Euro, and this guy looked good, smelled good. I didn’t know at the time that he was married.”
“Jim.” Annie’s voice sounded flat, and Veronica winced.
“Yeah. Anyway, we sort of hit it off and stumbled into an
affair. Then, one night when he was trying to impress me, he told me how he was being entrusted with a special assignment. Algernon Piers, the owner of Piers Telecom and Piers Data Net, had requisitioned a special cleaning and inspection of Aphrodite’s Tears.”
“He wanted to inspect…what?”
Veronica’s patience began to waiver. She needed to get this done and be gone. “Aphrodite’s Tears. It’s a necklace, gold filigree and tear-drop diamonds, dozens of them. Legend has it that the necklace was a gift to Paris, an apology of sorts for the trouble the goddess had brought him, and a token he was to bestow on the woman Aphrodite had given him—Helen of Troy.”
“Helen of Troy?”
Annie’s tone of disbelief grated. “Look, the legend is just bullshit, we both know that. Bullshit the rich attach to their baubles to make them sound more important than they really are. But the necklace is worth more money than either one of us could normally hope to see in a lifetime.” Veronica wasn’t a villain, had never set out to hurt anyone. She’d only seen a chance to grab something for herself. The gems in the hands of a perennial loser like Rick Rutherford might fetch him half a million. He’d have to break the piece, sell off the diamonds which in turn would need to be re-cut.
But sell the necklace whole to a collector—to the right collector—and the profit would be in the millions.
Veronica had already contacted such a collector who lived in the Cayman Islands. The man was Greek and ridiculously sentimental when it came to ancient gods and goddesses, which was good for her.
All she had to do was get the necklace to him and she would have everything she had ever wanted for the rest of her life.
“Veronica, I’ve never seen this necklace. I didn’t even know it existed until tonight. I had no idea Rick had gotten Jim involved in one of his schemes.”
“No. It was my scheme. Rick was all for stealing it from the store, but that would have been stupid. Instead, we waited until the day after it was returned to the Piers penthouse apartment. A security consultant was arriving that afternoon to change the set up for the safe. Fools should have seen to that first instead of having that big party. They deserved to have it stolen. So in the wee hours of the morning, after everyone in residence was either passed out from too much booze, or exhausted from cleaning up after the rich and bored, Rick broke in and stole it. My plan, not Jimmy’s and certainly not his.” Veronica gestured at the still unmoving man on the floor. It looked like he was still breathing, so she guessed he wasn’t dead yet. “The plan was to keep the gems hidden for a couple of years until the best buyer could be located. A buyer who coveted the thing and wouldn’t care if it was stolen. But then Rick knocked over that 7-Eleven and ended up back in prison, and Jimmy…I won’t lie and say I’m sorry he’s dead. By then, I’d discovered what a bastard he was.” Veronica shook her head. “Look, Annie. I just saved your ass. Give me the necklace and I’ll be gone.”
“I don’t have the necklace. I keep saying this, but no one seems to be listening to me.”
“Rick seemed to think you did. He might be a prick, but he’s not completely stupid.” Veronica believed Annie hadn’t known about the necklace. But if Rick thought she had it, then it had to be among the things she’d brought with her from New York.
“Okay, time’s wasting. Get up. We’re going to have a look for the gems. You have them, even if you don’t know you do. They’d be hidden in the stuff you brought with you, of course. So let’s get to work. Or rather, you get to work. I’ll observe and keep this gun on you. I don’t want to hurt you, Annie. I really don’t. But if it comes down to a choice between you and me getting what I want….Well, I’m a survivor.”
* * * *
Annie had trouble gaining her feet. The shaking had subsided, but hadn’t left completely. At least she knew Veronica wouldn’t inflict the kind of humiliation on her Rick planned. But she thought she just might be in more danger than before the other woman had ‘saved her ass’.
“Okay, what did you bring with you from New York? And before you suggest it, you should know that I went through all the crap you left behind the day after you headed West. I spent the better part of a day going through everything, so I know you must have it with you.”
“Um…just give me a minute to think.” Annie’s mind raced. She figured no one in the area thought much about that gunshot, because long minutes had passed and her phone hadn’t rung, and no sirens screamed. Her instincts screamed at her to buy time, though why, she had no idea.
“I brought a box of photos, my report cards, yearbooks, personal mementos. Some clothes. Some books. There are still a couple of boxes in my bedroom closet. One of books and pictures, one of clothes. Maybe….” She stopped mid sentence and frowned.
“Maybe what?”
“Well, maybe I don’t have the necklace itself. Maybe it’s like a note or something saying where it is.” Annie thought the suggestion sounded reasonable. With such an idea firmly in place, they could search every page of every book, eating up a mountain of time.
God, I wish my men were here. Not that she needed them to rescue her. Exactly. But in the last half hour, she’d had her entire world turned upside down and her life had literally flashed before her eyes. Looking down the barrel of a gun, she finally understood what was really important in life.
She didn’t care about schemes or gems or the money they would bring. She cared about being loved, and loving in return. That had been her dream all her life, and though the relationship she shared with Jesse and Grant was unconventional, it made that dream come true in a big way. That’s what mattered more than anything else. If she got out of this mess, she was going to take the chance of a lifetime. If they still wanted her, then she was going to trust them to know their own minds. If they still wanted her, she was theirs.
“That would make sense, Annie, except I really don’t think Jimmy foresaw his own death, do you? We pulled off the heist about a year before he got shot in that hold up. The plan was to sit on the gems. I was supposed to keep them, but Rick bitched about it so Jimmy said he’d stash them, that he had the perfect place in mind. I had planned to wheedle the location from him one night with a combination of booze and sex. But of course, his dying changed that.”
“Oh.” Hell. Annie felt her spirits drop as she moved slowly toward the bedroom.
The sound of heavy foot falls on the outside stairs chilled her to her bones.
“Annie, sweetheart, I know you’re up there. Don’t be mad at me, baby. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
* * * *
Billy shot his companions an assessing glance. He wouldn’t doubt their ability to come through for him under any other circumstances. But he understood how much they cared for the woman in that upstairs apartment.
He’d already taken all the time he could to assess the situation. From the bug he’d planted in Annie’s place, he knew Veronica was up there, that something had happened to Rutherford, and that Veronica had a weapon of some kind—most likely a gun.
There were only two ways into Annie’s apartment. Up the stairs or down the roof and through the living room window.
According to Jesse, there used to be a set of stairs from the store to the apartment, but the old buzzard who’d owned the place before Annie had taken them out and sealed the door.
“Damn place is a fire trap with only one exit,” Billy groused.
“Fine. Let’s get her out of there. Then you can report it to the sheriff,” Jesse replied tightly.
“I’ve already called the sheriff. He’s about twenty minutes out.”
“Fuck that,” Grant said.
“Exactly. Gentlemen, here’s what we’re going to do.” Billy realized as he mapped out his plan that either or both of these men could challenge his right to be in charge. If they did, he was toast. He didn’t have a badge or a gun. But he did have reams of experience. Okay, not in this exact situation, maybe. But this was more up his alley than it was either of these two cowboys.
“Damn it,” Jesse said when Billy finished. “I don’t like this one bit. If that bitch shot Rutherford, how the hell do you know she won’t shoot Annie?”
“I don’t. I didn’t catch all that she said,” Billy touched the Bluetooth that allowed him to continue to listen in on the conversation in Annie’s apartment. “I would have banked on Veronica being almost no threat at all. In fact, I had.” He shook his head.
They stood behind the shed at the edge of the back parking lot. They could see the lights on above the store, could see the apartment, but nothing of what was going on inside it. “I think she told Annie that she’d saved her ass, so maybe she only shot the bastard to protect your woman.”
“And might shoot again to protect herself when we do what you want us to do,” Grant said.
“Yeah, maybe. You have any better suggestions?”
“No.” Jesse and Grant exchanged one long look. Billy guessed that when a person knew a man all his life, he got to the point where he could know his thoughts without a word being spoken.
“You do glib better than I do, Jesse,” Grant said. “I’ll go with Billy.”
“Okay. Let’s just get this done,” Jesse said.
Billy led the way down the road and across to the back of the dry-cleaners. He was grateful that Grant climbed as quietly as he did.
The silent cowboy gave him a boost onto the roof, and Billy admired his strength when he then hefted himself up with no help. They crept along the crest, careful to keep their balance and their silence.
When Billy reached what he judged to be the right spot, he sat straddling the peak and tried not to look down. He really didn’t care too much for heights.
Grant got busy with the rope they’d taken from the truck, working quickly to form a slip-knot. Billy slid it over his head and snugged it under his arms. Grant shimmied forward and nodded. Billy inhaled deeply and worked his way down the roof, until he was at the very edge facing Main Street. Looking down, he could see the light through Annie’s living room window. He nodded to Grant, who in turn lifted a hand to signal Jesse.
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