On Borrowed Time

by Jenn McKinlay

  Yes, she was going with the tried-and-true play stupid method of stalling for time. She knew she couldn’t give him the micro card. If she did, Jack was a dead man. On the other hand, if the guy killed her and took it, they would both be dead. She wondered if she could grab a book and smack the gun out of his hand. It seemed unlikely. She glanced at his arms and wondered if they were the same arms that had choked the life out of Juan Veracruz. It seemed probable.

  “Give it now!” the man demanded, and he snapped his fingers in her face.

  “Listen—” she began but was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Robbie.

  “Lindsey, the sea serpent and I were talking—” Robbie began but was cut off when the man turned and fired at him through the stacks.

  “Bloody hell!” Robbie cried as the bullet whizzed past his ear and lodged itself into a section of Nicholas Sparks’s books.

  Lindsey knew she had one chance to get away. She raced around the shelving unit and started shoving the books through the shelves with all her strength. Robbie ran to her side and started to do the same. The man was hammered by an avalanche of books.

  “What the hell is happening?” Sully shouted as he appeared at the end of the row. “You were supposed to convince her to let one of us give her a ride home.”

  “Yeah, well, winning the coin toss to talk to Lindsey was not great!” Robbie answered.

  “Man with a gun!” Lindsey shouted.

  Sully was in action before her words even registered. He went down low and started firing books through the shelves like rockets. He must have gotten in a particularly good shot, because Lindsey heard the man grunt and saw him double over.

  She heard the gun clatter to the floor and Robbie grabbed her hand and shouted, “Run!”

  They raced out of the stacks with Sully bringing up the rear. Ms. Cole and Ann Marie stared at them until Lindsey waved for them to run, too.

  “Go! Go! Go!” she cried.

  Ms. Cole and Ann Marie dashed through the workroom to the back door. They pushed through it, not slowing down until they reached the parking lot.

  “Go to the police station!” Lindsey ordered. “Hurry!”

  In a tight pack, with Robbie and Sully on the outside trying to cover the ladies, they hustled down the sidewalk toward the station. Robbie jerked the door open and pushed each of the women into the main room.

  “Get away from the window,” Sully ordered. He ushered them all to the back of the room.

  “What is going on out here?” Emma Plewicki entered the room from the offices in back.

  “There’s a man with a gun in the library,” Lindsey said.

  “Was the building clear?” Emma asked.

  “Yes, we were the only people left in it,” Ms. Cole said. She gestured to the five of them.

  Emma went right to her radio and began calling all of her officers in. Detective Trimble came out and Emma briefed him on what was happening.

  “We have to secure the building,” she said. She and Trimble headed out with Tom Jarvis right on their heels.

  “I work security,” he said. “I can help.”

  “Are you licensed to carry?” Emma asked.

  “Of course,” he said.

  The three of them left and the room grew quiet.

  “What do we do now?” Ann Marie asked. She looked scared and nervous and Lindsey felt bad for her.

  “You go home,” she said. “Call your husband and have him come get you. If Emma needs to speak with you, she’ll call you in.”

  Just then the front doors banged open and Milton Duffy strode in. He crossed right to Ms. Cole and wrapped her in a hug.

  “My dear, I was at a historical society meeting when Bill Sint popped in to say he’d been listening to the police scanner and heard there was a shooting at the library,” Milton said. He glanced at them all and then back at Ms. Cole. “Are you all right?”

  Ms. Cole patted his arm. “I’m fine, dearest, just fine.”

  In a world that had gone utterly mad, Lindsey couldn’t help but feel an “aw” bubble up inside her. Milton had been a widower for several years, and Ms. Cole was the town spinster, but after performing in a play together a few months before, they seemed to have found something special together.

  “Are you needed here, or can I escort you home?” Milton asked. “I imagine a nice spot of tea would calm your nerves.”

  “That would be lovely, among other things,” Ms. Cole said.

  Lindsey saw Ann Marie’s jaw drop, and it was all she could do to keep hers firmly in place. Had Ms. Cole just made an innuendo-laden proposition to Milton? Judging by how red the tips of his ears got, Lindsey was pretty sure she had.

  “G’night,” Milton said to them in a hasty and distracted manner as he hustled Ms. Cole out of the station.

  “Damned octogenarian is making better time than either of us,” Robbie muttered to Sully.

  “Please, my ego is battered enough,” Sully said.

  “Excuse me,” Lindsey said. If Antonia had been watching her in the library, she had to assume that Antonia was still watching her. Then again, if the man with the gun had been watching Lindsey for Antonia, maybe she was in the clear.

  That didn’t make sense, however, because why would Antonia have set up an exchange with her if she was sending a thug into the library to muscle the micro card away from Lindsey? Because just like she had lied about being married to keep Lindsey from reporting Jack’s kidnapping, she had arranged a meeting with Lindsey to exchange the card for Jack, knowing full well that her thug would take it from Lindsey before the arranged time and place.

  Unless, of course, Antonia was on the up and up and the thug had been sent by one of the other cartel members like Carrego. Either way, Lindsey had a feeling she was not supposed to come out of tonight’s meeting alive and neither was Jack.

  Lindsey felt as if her brain was contracting. She was tired of letting the bad guys call the shots. She needed a new plan.

  Lindsey searched the contacts in her phone. Nancy picked up on the second ring.

  “Can you come and get me at the police station?” Lindsey asked.

  “I’ll be right there,” Nancy agreed and hung up.

  There was no hesitation, no questions asked. That was the power of true friendship.

  Lindsey sent off a few texts to the other crafternoon ladies. She had a feeling she was going to need a backup plan.

  Stella was grilling Robbie and Sully about the man in the library.

  “How was he in the library when it was closed? Did you get his name?” she asked.

  “Really didn’t stop to introduce myself while he was using my ear for target practice,” Robbie said.

  Sully snorted and Lindsey glanced up to see that the two men were practically bonding while Stella peppered them with questions.

  “I’d assume he hid in the building somewhere,” Sully said. “When he saw Lindsey alone, he must have figured that was his chance.”

  “Chance for what?” Stella asked. “What did he want from you?”

  “No idea,” Lindsey lied. She kept pacing, which conveniently kept her from having to make eye contact with any of them. “He just asked me to give ‘it’ to him, but I don’t know what ‘it’ was.”

  Her voice cracked on the words, and she hoped they attributed that to her rocky emotional state and not the fact that she was a terrible liar. She raised her eyebrows in an effort of stop herself from crinkling her nose.

  “I just don’t understand,” Stella said. “None of this makes any sense.”

  “Agreed,” Robbie said.

  “Oh, here’s my ride,” Lindsey said. “Tell Emma to call me if she has more questions. I’m assuming they’ll lock up the library once they have it secured.”

  “You mean you’re not going to wait and see if they catch the guy?” Su
lly asked. His blue eyes were wide with disbelief.

  “Nah, I’m really beat,” Lindsey said. “Must be an adrenaline crash.”

  “You’re going to leave the library without checking on it?” Robbie sounded as shocked as Sully.

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine with all of the police there,” she said. “Good night.”

  She shoved through the doors and hurried down the walk. She heard Sully call her name, but she yanked open the door to Nancy’s powder blue Mustang and jumped in, pretending she didn’t hear him.

  “Make it look like we’re going home,” she said to Nancy. “But then double back to the Anchor. I have everyone meeting us there.”

  “Oh, a covert op,” Nancy cooed. “I’m on it.”

  She hit the gas and they took off down the street toward home. Nancy drove past the Blue Anchor and Lindsey hoped they’d managed to fool Sully and Robbie into thinking she was just having a stress meltdown and was going home.

  Nancy pulled over onto a side street and they waited while the heater cranked out warmth over their toes.

  “Okay,” Lindsey said. “I think we’re good now.”

  Nancy pulled out of the side street and parked in the small lot on the other side of the Anchor. It wasn’t visible from the street, and Lindsey hoped it kept Nancy’s distinctive car hidden from view. She could not afford to let Sully or Robbie know what she was doing. Primarily because she had a feeling that, like most men, they would feel compelled to jump in and help her.

  This wasn’t a problem anyone else could fix. She had to face Antonia alone and try to bargain to get her brother back. That being said, she wasn’t stupid and she knew she needed a backup plan.

  She and Nancy hurried into the Anchor. Mary met them at the door.

  “Are you okay?” Mary asked.

  “I will be,” Lindsey said.

  “Come on,” Mary said. They followed her through the restaurant to the far corner, where the ladies’ room was located.

  Nancy stopped and looked at Mary. “Seriously?”

  “Trust me,” Mary said. She pushed open the door and they saw that Violet, Charlene and Beth were already hanging out in the big square room. Beth was sitting on the edge of the sink while Violet lounged against the wall and Charlene was wedged between the sink and the toilet.

  “Why on earth are we meeting in the ladies’ room?” Nancy asked.

  “Because . . .” Mary paused to reach around Lindsey and flip a switch next to the light switch. The grind of an overhead fan kicked in. It sounded like a motorcycle, revving its engine. “It will cover our conversation if anyone is listening.”

  Lindsey nodded. It made sense, given that she had no idea who Antonia might have sent to follow her. It was a wise precautionary move, and she had to admit Mary had some skills in espionage.

  “So does this have anything to do with your apartment being trashed?” Violet asked.

  “Yes,” Lindsey said. She exchanged a glance with Beth, who gave her a slow nod. It was time to tell all and hope her friends weren’t too irritated that she’d left them out of the loop. She began with finding Jack in the crafternoon room and ended with the man in the library with the gun.

  The crafternooners were silent. Lindsey felt her insides twist while she waited for them to absorb what she’d said. Were they going to be mad? Reject her? Storm out? What?

  “What do you need us to do?” Nancy asked.

  Lindsey glanced around the room, and the relief that swept through her almost took her out at the knees.

  “Come here, honey,” Violet said, and she opened her arms.

  Lindsey didn’t hesitate. She let Violet enfold her in a hug that comforted as well as bolstered. The others joined in, and in short order they had a massive group hug going. Lindsey felt the lump in her throat start to burn. Everyone should have the pack of friends that she had.

  The sound of flushing broke up the hug.

  “Sorry,” Charlene called out. “I hit the handle with my butt.”

  This made Beth snort, which cracked up the group. Lindsey felt the burn in her throat ease with her chuckle.

  “Okay, we’re going to get Jack back from the she-devil,” Mary said. “What’s the plan?”

  “Antonia, the woman who took my brother, wants to broker a deal for him,” Lindsey said. “She was watching me, and she knew when I found what he’d hidden in the library and called me immediately. I have to make an exchange on the pier at ten o’clock tonight.”

  “No police?” Violet asked.

  “She was very clear that law enforcement would be a bad idea,” Lindsey said.

  “What about the shooter in the library?” Charlene asked, ever the reporter. “If he was working for her, then I say her deal is null and void.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” Lindsey said. “I think he might have been working for her but he could also have been from one of the other cartel members. Either way, she still has Jack so I don’t have much leverage to call foul.”

  Violet shivered. “Sorry,” she said. “The whole cartel angle spooks me no end.”

  “Agreed,” Mary said. “A coffee cartel—who even knew something like that existed?”

  “Jack did,” Lindsey said.

  Her voice was grim, and she could feel the fear that she wouldn’t be able to save her brother rear up inside her like a hairy beast. She swallowed hard, trying to beat it back down. As if sensing her distress, Nancy put a bracing arm about her and gave her a solid half hug.

  “Don’t,” she said. “We’ll get him back. Period.”

  Lindsey drew in a shaky breath. That was exactly what she needed to hear.

  “Okay, here is my plan, if you’re willing,” she said. She paused to glance up at the tiny room full of women, her friends, the strongest ladies she knew. They each met her gaze with no fear, no uncertainty, just the knowledge that one of their own was in trouble and needed help and they would be there to do what needed to be done.

  Lindsey almost laughed. Who would have guessed that a love of books, food and crafts would forge a bond so strong among such a disparate group of women? The gratitude she felt almost overwhelmed her, but there was no time.

  She shook her head and cleared her throat and began to outline her plan. With input from the others, it was fine-tuned and tweaked down to the last detail.

  A poor woman came to use the restroom in the middle of their session, and Mary stuck her head out the door and told her to keep her panties on.

  They were all staring at her when she closed the door to return to their meeting.

  “What?” Mary asked.

  “Do you think that’s good business, dear?” Nancy asked.

  “Pffthbt.” Mary made a short raspberry sound. “That was Bubble Hubbell.”

  “Ah,” they said in collective understanding.

  Bubble was a nickname Mary used for Heather Hubbell, who had been Ian’s girlfriend before he met Mary. Heather had tried repeatedly over the years to win him back, and although Ian had been clear that he had less than no interest, Heather kept trying.

  “I loathe that woman,” Mary said.

  “She is a nasty piece of work,” Beth agreed. “But she’s not worth getting upset over. You know Ian would never—”

  “Oh, I know,” Mary said. “It’s just the nerve of her to keep trying. Argh. It’s maddening.”

  “Maybe we can interest Bubble in a nice cartel member,” Charlene said. “How does she feel about Brazil?”

  Mary looked thoughtful. “That might be far enough away.”

  “Excellent, I’ll just pencil that in at the bottom of our plan,” Lindsey said. “Okay, let’s go over it one more time.”

  They finalized the plan, and then one by one they left the bathroom. The tiny space was down the hall from the main restaurant, but Lindsey wondered if they had
fooled anyone by staggering their departures.

  There was no sign of Heather Hubbell waiting in the hallway, and Lindsey was relieved. The last thing they needed was to navigate a smack-down between Mary and Ian’s ex.

  Lindsey waited in the hallway while the others slipped out the back door. Lindsey watched the clock on her cell phone, willing the minutes to slow down so that her friends had enough time to do what needed to be done. All the same, she wished it were a half hour later so that she could be at the meeting place, getting her brother back.

  As Lindsey paced in the narrow space, she thought about the events of the past few days. A dead man in the library. Her brother’s return and subsequent kidnapping. Threatening phone calls and people following her. Sully opening up about his past and a drunken Robbie sleeping on her couch.

  Lord-a-mercy! No wonder her nerves were shot.

  Ian poked his head around the corner. “Lindsey, have you seen my wife?”

  “Recently?” Lindsey asked. Yes, she was stalling.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Heather Hubbell stormed out of the café, no loss there, but she said Mary wouldn’t let her in the bathroom and told her to keep her panties on. Is that true?”

  “Um, yes, I do believe there was a conversation to that effect,” Lindsey hedged.

  “I can’t believe she didn’t tell me herself.” Ian sounded mystified. “Mary loves getting all worked up about Bubble . . . er . . . Heather, which is crazy because anyone with eyes in their head knows I am berserk for my wife.”

  Lindsey glanced down at her hands. She had a feeling berserk would surely describe his reaction when he found out what Mary was doing right now. What to do, what to do. Should she tell him?

  She did a quick risk assessment in her head. If everything went according to plan, then Mary would be perfectly safe for her part of their plan. If things didn’t go as planned . . . Lindsey shook her head. She refused to even go there.

  “Well, if I see her, I’ll let you know,” Lindsey said.

  Ian gave her a considering glance. “You okay, Lindsey? You don’t look yourself.”