by Linda Turner
“If it is, you’re in it right up to your pretty little neck,” he retorted, unimpressed by her theatrics. “So save the act for someone who appreciates it. I know what’s going on at the newsstand. I’ve been watching the place for weeks now.”
He’d been watching her at the newsstand? Why? Her overactive imagination, always at the ready, was more than willing to supply her with a series of twisted images. “Who are you?” she choked, wildly wondering what kind of depravity she’d stumbled into. “What do you want with me?”
“Obviously not what you’re thinking,” he drawled. Irritated with the way she was looking at him-as if he was a pervert trying to get in her pants, for God’s sake!—he shook his head in reluctant admiration. “Boy, lady, you’re really good. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were as innocent as Shirley Temple in her heyday. The problem is…my momma didn’t raise any idiots. So let’s just cut the crap, okay? We both know you know about the warehouse behind the newsstand—”
“But I don’t-”
“The one full of stolen museum pieces,” he continued through his teeth, trying to hang on to his temper. “The one that Lazear fences hot goods out of during the day…” He watched her eyes widen with recognition and grinned nastily. “Bingo. And you said you didn’t know Sneakers. Finally, we’re getting somewhere. What else don’t you know?”
Hugging the door, she shook her head. “N-nothing. Just Mr. L-Lazear. T-Tommy Lazear.”
“Tommy Sneakers Lazear,” he corrected as he turned the corner onto the street where the newsstand was located. Glancing down the block to where the shop took up the northeast corner at the next intersection, he swore and swiftly pulled over to the curb, cutting his lights. “Speaking of the devil…”
“What?” Following his gaze, Maddy gaped at the sight of her boss, Tommy Lazear, rushing out of a door that she’d never seen before. A door that, she realized with a jolt of shock, had always been hidden by a magazine rack that she’d thought was bolted to the wall but now stood open like a door, revealing the warehouse behind it. Harried and unkempt in a way she had never seen him before, Lazear tossed a large, stuffed plastic bag into the front seat of his gray Mercedes, which was illegally parked at the curb, then turned back to what must have been the hidden warehouse. Seconds later, he reappeared, his hands dripping with jewelry as he jammed the items into the pockets of his silk suitcoat.
“Son of a bitch, he must have had somebody watching the place just in case his cover was blown,” Ace muttered.
“I didn’t know anything about this,” Maddy told him earnestly. “Honest to God, I just thought it was a newsstand. I never sold anything but newspapers and magazines.”
That much, at least, was the truth, Ace silently acknowledged. All the nights that he’d watched her, he’d never seen her do anything the least bit suspicious. That didn’t, however, mean she was the innocent she proclaimed to be. “We’ll have to discuss that later,” he said grimly and put the pickup in gear.
To Maddy’s growing horror, he pulled away from the curb and headed right toward the newsstand. “What are you doing?”
“Going after a snake in the grass,” he said with a bold grin as he hit the gas. “Hang on to your hat.”
Chapter 2
The bullet came out of nowhere, blasting through the windshield to the accompaniment of breaking glass, and slammed into the seat just to the left of Maddy’s shoulder. Wide-eyed, she stared in macabre fascination at the small, still-smoking blackened hole that ruined the previously unmarred vinyl of the seat. Two inches, she thought numbly. Two inches farther to the right, and the bullet would have buried itself in her skin. A low moan working its way up her tight throat, she whimpered and suddenly couldn’t stop shaking.
“Get down, woman! Dammit, do you want to get shot or what?”
Grabbing her, he jerked her down, bringing her head level with his thigh on the bench seat. “Hell, I just had that windshield replaced,” he muttered. “Bastard!”
Another shot rang out, this one hitting Ace’s side mirror and shattering it. Maddy screamed and cowered closer to him, her heart jackhammering in her breast like a frightened rabbit’s. Above her, she heard Ace swear, then felt him duck so that he was hovering over her protectively, and it was all she could do not to crawl right inside his skin. He would stop now and forget this wild idea about going after Mr. Lazear, she told herself frantically as she buried her head against his rock-hard thigh with a boldness that would have horrified her if she hadn’t been trembling with fright. He’d pull over and let the police handle this before he got them both killed. It was the only sane thing to do.
But instead of hitting the brake, he stomped on the gas, and the pickup lurched forward like a thoroughbred out of the gate. “What are you doing?” she cried, clutching at his leg with both hands. “Trying to get us killed? You’ve got to stop!”
“And let your boyfriend get away?” he mocked. “I don’t think so.” Nobody—especially a slimy bastard like Lazear—took potshots at him and got away with it.
“I told you—he’s not my boyfriend!”
“Right.” Tearing his eyes away from his driving for only a second, he grinned suddenly and reached down to ease her tight grip on his thigh. “Whatever he is, you’re not going to save him by cutting off the circulation to some of my more vital parts, babe. Watch the hands, okay?”
Mortified, Maddy snatched her hands back and snapped upright, a hot, painful blush sweeping up from her toes all the way to the roots of her hair. Dear God, what had she been thinking of, touching him like that? She could still feel the heat under her fingertips, the incredible strength of those hard muscles….
Abruptly realizing that her gaze had wandered to his lap, she quickly jerked her eyes to the front, her cheeks burning, and prayed he couldn’t hear the mad pounding of her heart. Lord, what was wrong with her? “I’m s-sorry. I didn’t mean to…I didn’t realize…”
She sounded so mortified, she could have convinced Saint Peter himself that she was as pure as the driven snow, Ace thought with reluctant admiration. Hell, she almost had him convinced that he’d misjudged her. And he knew better! But she was good—he had to give her credit. Better than good. She hadn’t broken character once since he’d pulled her from Cement Johnny’s car, and that made her damn dangerous. A woman who could lie that easily, that completely, had her own agenda and would say anything, do anything, to get what she wanted. If she said it was raining, a smart man would run to the window and check the current conditions for himself. He’d do well to remember that.
More shots rang out, sending the woman at his side diving under the dash with a startled shriek. Dodging bullets, Ace swore and spun the wheel sharply to the right, then the left, sending the pickup careering back and forth across the street like an out-of-control Ping-Pong ball. It took all his concentration just to miss the cars parked at the curb, and by the time he lifted his gaze to the Mercedes in the distance, he caught only a glimpse of its taillights as it disappeared around the next corner.
“Damn! The son of a bitch is heading for the thruway.”
Peeking over the dash, Maddy pushed the long strands of her hair out of the way. “He got away?”
Ace grinned at her hopeful tone, not a trace of humor in his hard eyes. “Don’t you wish. Sorry to disappoint you, sweetheart, but it’s going to take more than a few wild shots and a fast car for your boss to lose me.”
He hit the gas again and reached the intersection where Sneakers had turned, taking the corner on what felt like two wheels. By the time he turned onto the freeway entrance ramp a half a block away, the speedometer was at seventyfive and climbing. His only thought to catch Lazear, he burst into the first lane…only to discover four lanes of traffic backing up in front of him.
“Watch out!”
His reflexes lightning quick, he slammed on the brakes even before Maddy gasped the frightened warning. Tires squealed and shuddered. Biting out a curse, he swerved to miss a van full of people, an
d almost sideswiped a little green sports car that came out of nowhere on his left. At his side, Maddy made a squeak of protest, but Ace didn’t dare take his attention away from the road to reassure her that he had everything under control. “Jackass!” he yelled at the young punk as he darted around him. “Where’d you learn how to drive? A go-cart track?”
For an answer, he got an obscene hand signal that he cheerfully returned. Blaring his horn, he scowled at the cars that stretched four lanes deep all the way to the horizon. “Dammit to hell, the place looks like a damn parking lot. Where’d all these cars come from at this hour of the night?”
“The Knicks game,” Maddy mumbled, rigidly clinging to the door handle at her side as the car in front of him forced him to finally come to a complete stop. “They played Orlando tonight at the Garden.”
Grinding an oath between his teeth, Ace hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. For as far as he could see, there was nothing but wave after wave of red taillights, and in the dark, it was impossible to distinguish one car from another. Sneakers and his Mercedes could be anywhere ahead of him…or the bastard could have taken the exit immediately after he got on the freeway and be halfway to Brooklyn by now, where Ace knew he had a brother who would hide him until things cooled off.
If he wasn’t going to lose the bastard completely, he had to make a choice, and damn quick, Ace thought grimly. Common sense told him to take the next exit and circle back—Lazear would have never allowed himself to get stuck in traffic—but Ace’s gut was telling him that a freeway full of cars was a perfect place to hide in the dark. Going with his gut, he wrenched the steering wheel to the right, gunned the accelerator and sent them shooting onto the shoulder. “Watch out for Lazear,” he told Maddy tersely. “He’s got to be around here somewhere.”
Sitting as stiff as a poker in her seat, braced for the collision she knew was going to happen any second, she looked at him as if he was crazy. “You’ve just escaped from Bellvue, haven’t you? That must be it. Oh, God, why did I come into work tonight? I should have known better. The nuts always come out when there’s a full moon.”
Not the least insulted, her companion only chuckled. “I’m crazy, all right, but not certifiable. Hang on. We’re going around this truck.”
Distracted by the husky sound of his laughter, it was a moment before she realized they were racing right toward a wreck between a moving truck and a Jeep that blocked the shoulder and the entire far right lane a hundred feet in front of them. Cars, bumper to bumper, crawled around the disabled vehicles, and to the right of the shoulder there was a steep concrete embankment that jutted steeply up into an overpass.
There was nowhere to go!
“Oh, God, oh, God,” she whispered when Ace showed no sign of slowing down. “We’re going to die. Right here and now. And I’ve never done anything, never been anywhere. Oh, Lord, does Mother know where my insurance papers are? This is going to kill her….” Covering her eyes with her hands, she rocked back and forth and started to pray.
Over the frantic pounding of her heart in her ears, she heard Ace laugh softly. An instant later, she felt the pickup swing to the right and shoot up the side of the embankment. Her stomach lurched, then did a free-fall to her knees. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of death…” she chanted hoarsely.
“You can save the rest,” he said dryly, humor lacing every word as he safely circled around the broken-down truck and brought the pickup safely back to the shoulder on the other side. “You’re not cashing in your chips tonight. Not if I—” Suddenly spying the Mercedes darting down the next exit, he spit out a curse. “The son of a bitch is heading for the airport!”
He floorboarded the accelerator and started to shoot over from the shoulder onto the regular pavement, only to nearly lock bumpers with a BMW whose driver didn’t seem inclined to let him in. When the other man blew his horn at him, he took it as a personal insult and muttered, “Yeah, yeah, I see you.” He gave him a wave as if in apology, but instead of pulling back onto the shoulder, he forced his way in, just daring the guy to hit him. The other driver was still laying on his horn when Ace took the ramp to the airport.
Due to the lateness of the hour, the airport wasn’t nearly as crowded as it usually was, but Lazear had the advantage of knowing where he was going—they didn’t. And by the time they reached the parking area, he and his gray Mercedes were nowhere in sight. Hurriedly scanning the lot, Maddy sighed in relief. Finally, this madness was about to end! They’d lost him.
But her savior—or abductor, she hadn’t decided yet which category he fit into—apparently had no intention of giving up so easily. Instead of swearing and heading back to the newsstand as she’d expected, he pulled up with a loud squeal of breaks in front of the United terminal. Ignoring the noparking sign, he hopped out, then leaned back inside the pickup to grab Maddy by the wrist.
“C’mon,” he growled, tugging at her arm. “Let’s go.”
Caught off guard, she instinctively stumbled out of the. pickup, never thinking to protest until it was too late. “Go?” she echoed in alarm. “Go where?”
“After Lazear,” he retorted, and pulled her after him into the terminal.
“But he could be anywhere!”
“He’s gonna be halfway to China if you don’t hurry up. C’mon! Get the lead out!”
Given half a chance, she would have pointed out that she was hurrying, but his legs were six inches longer than hers and she had to practically run to keep from being jerked along like a puppy on a leash. Breathless and growing more indignant by the second, she hurried to catch up with him, only to run into his broad back when he stopped suddenly at the first boarding area they came to. Staggering, she would have fallen if he hadn’t still gripped her wrist like a wayward child’s. “What—”
All his attention focused on the tall, eye-catching stewardess at the checkin desk he’d stopped in front of, he didn’t spare Maddy a second glance. Quickly flashing some kind of badge, which he pulled from his pocket with practiced ease, he said, “Hi, darlin’. I could use your help if you’ve got a minute. I’m looking for a little weasel of a man—short, round, pock-faced. Wearing a suit and a bad toupee. He came through here a few minutes ago and would have been in a big hurry. Have you seen him?”
He spoke with a rough charm that no female with an ounce of estrogen in her blood could have failed to respond to, and the stewardess was no exception. Her blue eyes sparking with interest and a slow, inviting smile curling her mouth, she considered his description for all of two seconds and regretfully shook her head. “Sorry, not that I remember. But it’s been a hectic night, and after a while, all the passengers start to look alike.” With a boldness that Maddy would have never dared emulate, she looked him up and down and made no attempt to hide the fact that she liked what she saw. “Now, if he’d have looked anything like you, I’d have noticed. Some people you just don’t forget…if you know what I mean.”
There was no way not to know what she meant, Maddy thought, perversely annoyed as she watched Ace—God, could his name really be Ace?—grin like an idiot. The girl all but had Easy Pickup stamped on her forehead, and Ace was eating up her blatant flattery with a spoon. Wanting to hit him without really knowing why—she couldn’t care less who he flirted with!—she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d asked the girl out then and there.
But Ace hadn’t forgotten for a minute why they were there. Winking at the girl, he handed her a business card. “If you do remember seeing him, call this number, okay? It’s important. Thanks, sweetheart.” Tightening his grip on Maddy’s wrist, he started down the concourse again, his long strides quickly making up for lost time as he headed for the next terminal. Then the next.
At each checkin counter, he quickly gave the same description, asked the same questions…and received the same answers. No one had seen hide nor hair of Tommy Sneakers Lazear.
“Dammit, he’s got to be around here somewhere,” he grated half to himself. “He couldn’
t have just disappeared into thin air.”
“Maybe he didn’t take a plane at all—he could just want you to think he did,” Maddy suggested as they hurried past a wide expanse of plate glass that gave a commanding view of the runways. “He could be hiding in the rest room or one of the restaurants until you leave.”
Outside, a late-night flight lifted into the night sky and was quickly lost in the stars. Following it with his eyes, Ace considered her suggestion, then shook his head. “Lazear’s not that clever. The second he realized we were on to him, he ran right here, and it wasn’t to hide.”
They reached the TWA terminal, where a crowd was lined up and waiting to check in with the lone stewardess at the checkin desk. Looking slightly harried, her smile strained, she greeted each passenger and quickly processed their paperwork. She was working as fast as she could, but Ace could practically feel lost time slipping through his fingers as he and Maddy claimed a spot at the end of the line. Checking his watch, he bit out a curse as the line slowly inched forward. At this rate, the damn sun would be coming up before he even got to question the woman, he thought irritably.
It did, in fact, take nearly ten minutes. Frustrated enough to chew lead, Ace finally stepped up to the counter, flashed his badge and quickly gave her the same description of Sneakers he’d given everyone else. “He’s an ugly little guy in a hurry,” he added. “He should have stood out like a sore thumb. Any chance you’ve seen him?”
“As a matter of fact, I have,” she said promptly. “He came through about ten minutes ago with a boarding pass for a flight to Caracas, Venezuela. I wouldn’t have noticed him, but he was sweating like it was a hundred degrees outside. I thought he was sick.”
“All right!” He would have kissed her but there was no time. “Has he already boarded? Where is he? I’ve got to stop him—”