Deadly Ties

by Vicki Hinze

  Cut NINA out? Was he crazy? They’d both be dead before midnight. But it showed the man’s desperation. “Look, just stay away from the hospital. Find a hole somewhere isolated, and crawl into it until this is over. You’re the connection. If they can’t get a bead on you, they can’t take their investigation any further. Just disappear until the cargo is delivered.”

  “I can’t just disappear.” Hauk lifted his arms. “I have a business to run.”

  “You can’t run anything if you’re dead.”

  Hauk absorbed that with a long, hard blink. “Okay. Okay. I’ll disappear.”

  “Stay in touch with me.”

  Hauk swabbed at his face with a white handkerchief. His hand shook. “Even now that girl causes me grief.”

  “Maybe you should have just left her alone.”

  Fury flashed in Hauk’s eyes. “She defied me.”

  “Yeah, well.” Karl hitched his pants up on his hips. “I hope penalizing her for it is worth it.”

  His eyes glittered. “It will be.”

  When the videos of Lisa fighting started coming in, and Hauk saw her routinely beaten to a bloody pulp, then he’d be satisfied. Feeding on her misery. Parasite. “You know, Dutch, I do terrible things, but they’re not personal.” Karl saw his own shortcomings clearly, but for all of them, Hauk was worse. If hell had levels, he would be low man on the lowest level.

  Hauk met Karl’s eyes. “You can say what you want, but in the end, you’re no better or smarter or stronger than me, Karl. You might think you are, but when push comes to shove, you’re no different. It’s always personal.”

  Wrong. Definitely wrong. “Whatever.” Karl pushed his chair back under the table and turned to go.

  “Wait.”

  Karl looked back.

  “I still want Chessman’s house.”

  “It’s sold.”

  “I know.” Hauk stood. “I want to buy it from Darla Green.”

  “Are you making a formal offer?”

  “Yeah. Tell her I’ll give her whatever she paid plus fifteen percent.”

  “Okay.” Karl paused, curious. “You realize if Annie lives, she’ll never move out of the house she shared with Charles.”

  “I didn’t plan on asking her.” Hauk opened the book he had as a prop and pulled it to him. It scraped on the table. “She’s my wife. She’ll do what she’s told.”

  “At one time, maybe. But after all this? She recognized me, Dutch. She’ll know you’re behind what happened.”

  “Doesn’t matter. She’ll still do what I tell her.”

  “Why should she?”

  “Because she knows if she doesn’t, I’ll make Lisa pay for it.”

  “But Lisa’s gone.”

  “Yes, she is.” He hiked up his eyebrows. “And she’ll stay gone for as long as I choose.”

  “That’s why you want the videotapes. Not for yourself. To control Annie.” He’d dangle them before her like carrots, knowing they would torment her. He’d keep her in a nightmare the rest of her life. Karl really wished he’d put a bullet through her head and ended her misery.

  “They’ll keep her in line,” Hauk said. “There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for her brat. And who knows, maybe after a year or two, I’ll buy Lisa back.”

  “That’s not possible and you know it.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I know it and you know it, but Annie doesn’t.”

  Bile rose in Karl’s throat. “You’re sorry, Dutch. No way around it.”

  “Yeah, I guess I am.”

  “My old man was sorry too.” He had done his best to make Karl’s life as miserable as Dutch had made Lisa’s. Karl had gotten out young, drafted by a Spider. He’d worked his way up through the ranks on the criminal side of the organization, took on jobs no one else wanted for the political side. He made Raven believe he had ideological preferences, but the truth was, he couldn’t care less. Whichever side made him the most money, that’s the side he was on.

  “Is that why you stay on Lisa? To keep Annie in line?”

  “Actually, no. Lisa never did what she was told.”

  “So you had her abducted for it?”

  “She was going to take Annie.”

  “No, Dutch. I meant the first time you had her abducted.”

  He lowered his lids, and silence charged the air between them. Finally Hauk said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He knew exactly what Karl was talking about, and he was as guilty as sin. “My mistake.” Karl gave him the lie and walked out of the library.

  Hauk had blown it—huge. Then and now a cleaner wasn’t supposed to know the client’s identity, yet indirectly he had revealed his connection to Lisa’s first abduction.

  Everything that had happened then, Hauk had bought and paid for.

  His nerves zinging, Karl hustled toward his car, putting everything in its place. Charles and Lisa had stood between Hauk and Annie, and doing what he does best, Hauk hired out his dirty work.

  Dutch had set Annie up.

  Charles and Lisa too.

  Karl dwelled on the matter. Annie was nobody’s fool. Maybe, just maybe, she knew it. Maybe Hauk wasn’t keeping the reins tight on her to control his wife but to keep his wife from blowing the whistle on him.

  Now that put a different spin on the whole situation.

  Hauk knew that the minute Annie and Lisa connected, Annie would tell Lisa the truth—or maybe Lisa knew the truth and would tell it to Annie, which meant he had to keep them apart.

  Dutch wasn’t afraid of losing Annie. He’d never really had her, and he knew it. He was afraid of losing everything.

  Either Annie or Lisa had the power to take everything.

  Question was, which one would do it?

  Lisa glanced at Gwen’s watch. Ten minutes and it’d be noon. The truck would be stopping again.

  Amanda, the witness they’d picked up in Jackson, Mississippi, had shared her story—and her regret that she had agreed to testify. Two men assigned to protect her lay dead in a safe house, and she had been delivered to Frank and tossed in the truck. She, too, was pretty, like Gwen and Selene, maybe Mel’s age, early twenties, and scared to death.

  They all were. Which is why Lisa wasn’t telling them her plan. What they knew, they could be coerced into revealing. It was safer for them all not to know a thing.

  In the first abduction, she’d trusted a boy. He turned her in to the Spider, who had nearly beaten her to death. She remembered the lesson if not the specifics, and it was one she wouldn’t repeat.

  “Your parents don’t want you anymore. I’m your family now, and if you tell anyone I’m not your father, I’ll kill you. Do you hear me, my little shrub?”

  Mr. Phen. She could almost see his face through the veil of shuttered memories, but it slipped away. Yet she distinctly recalled his voice.

  “This is your home now. You’re safe here. I won’t throw you away like they did.”

  Liar. Liar. Her parents loved her. They wouldn’t throw her away.

  “Don’t move.” Mr. Phen left the room.

  “I won’t.” Oh, he was a big man. Big and mean.

  Outside, Lisa saw a little boy playing with a soccer ball. She crawled out the window and hit the ground running. The air smelled salty, a lot like it did at home. Running through a green, grassy field, she spotted the top of a distant lighthouse. If she could get there, she could get home. Running toward it, she heard Mr. Phen’s voice. “Shrub? Shrub?”

  Then the little boy. “She’s over there. See? She’s running away.”

  She ran harder, faster, until her legs were so heavy she could barely lift them—and suddenly arms snaked around her middle and lifted her off the ground.

  “You’ll regret this.”

  She screamed and kicked, and the more she did, the madder he got. He tossed her down on the ground and began beating her.

  He’d nearly beaten her to death.

  For days she lay in bed unable to move, unable to swallow
or chew. Parched, she’d dribbled water down her bruised, dry throat. Everything hurt everywhere, and she cried and cried for her daddy to come heal her like he’d healed everyone else.

  But her daddy couldn’t come.

  Then the spiderweb man from the van had come back. He’d put tape on her mouth, around her wrists, her ankles, and thrown her in the van. She’d been bad and was being sold.

  And that’s when the spiderweb man stopped at the store and she ran to the dress shop and the woman hid her and called the police. They came and asked her about her father, and she told them the truth.

  “My daddy’s in heaven. He went to Haiti and fell off the roof.”

  Then there was a blur, and finally her mother was there, and she took Lisa home.

  Rex had been so happy to see her. Lisa was happy to see him too. He licked and licked and licked her face.

  Her mother didn’t ask her anything, just hugged her a lot and cried. “If you need to talk, we can any time. About anything. Okay?”

  Lisa didn’t want to talk. She wanted to sing.

  For three solid days, every waking moment, she sang the 4-H song. When she stopped singing, she made up her mind that she never wanted to talk. Never wanted to remember. She wanted to forget, and so she had.

  Until now.

  NINA. The signs in the stores. No one would help her now. Forgetting was a luxury she couldn’t afford, just as Selene said. Lisa had to remember.

  Gwen and Amanda talked softly. Selene listened. Lisa frowned. “You sure ask a lot of questions, Amanda.”

  She had the grace to blush. “This is upsetting. I want to know as much as possible. Don’t you?”

  “I do.” Gwen tapped her chest.

  Lisa couldn’t dispute Amanda’s logic, but something tickled her instincts. Not a warning, more an awareness.

  Selene shot Lisa a soft smile. “You have to forgive Lisa, Amanda. Being protective is in her genes. Ask all the questions you like, as will we.”

  Amanda relaxed. “Protective is good. I’d like about two tons of it right now.”

  “Wouldn’t we all?” Gwen grunted.

  “Them selling us doesn’t surprise me,” Amanda said. “To be honest, I never thought I’d live to testify, so I guess I should be grateful to still be breathing. But I’m not.”

  “Don’t give up.” Selene patted Amanda’s arm. “Lisa’s Mark will find us. He’s looking.”

  He was. And knowing it gave Lisa strength. “True, but we need to do our part.”

  “What can we do?” Amanda asked. “Our options are limited.”

  Gwen speculated. “Lisa has figured out her plan.”

  Amanda’s expression proved she expected Lisa to elaborate. Instead, Lisa hugged her knees. “I know we talked about discussing the plan,” she looked at Selene, “but it’ll help it work if you don’t know everything.”

  “Why?” Selene asked.

  “Your reactions will be honest.”

  Amanda balked. “I’m not okay with this.”

  Selene studied Lisa. “Get okay with it, Amanda. Lisa will tell us what she can. On the rest, we will trust her.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I don’t like it.” Amanda snorted.

  “You don’t have to,” Gwen told her. “Just do it.” She motioned with her flashlight. Its beam skidded over the truck panels. “Go ahead, Lisa.”

  Grateful for their support, Lisa started. “When we get into the rest room, start vomiting—or make them think you are, Amanda. Pretend claustrophobia or something.” Lisa looked from Gwen to Selene. “You two make sure the door stays closed and locked.”

  “What are you going to do?” Selene swiped her hair back from her face.

  “I’m going to try to get us some help.”

  “That’s insane.” Amanda grunted. “The minute you try, you’ll be shot.”

  “Maybe not, if we cover for her.” Gwen squeezed her arm.

  Solemn, Selene touched Lisa’s hand. “Be careful. They will kill you.”

  Lisa stiffened. “Yes, but we all know there are things worse than death.”

  The truck stopped.

  Lisa’s stomach filled with flutters. Give me the courage and wisdom to do this. Carry me.

  Soon Frank ushered them out of the truck and into the store, down the aisle, and to the back. “Two at a time.”

  Lisa and Gwen went into the rest room.

  Frank stuck out an arm and blocked Selene and Amanda, keeping them from entering. “Wait.”

  Amanda groaned. “I can’t. I’m going to be sick.” She clutched at her stomach, swiped at her face, and faked a gag.

  He beat on the door. “Open it up and let them in. Now.”

  The door swung open.

  Selene and Amanda shuffled inside. Gwen quickly shut the door and turned the lock, and then shot a wild look toward the window.

  Lisa was hanging halfway in and out. Craning her neck, she swept her line of sight, left to right and then back again. “Juan isn’t out here. Stay put as long as you can.”

  Worry flooded Selene’s eyes. “May God protect you.”

  She who did not pray, prayed for Lisa.

  Touched, she slid out the window and dropped to the ground.

  A gas station stood not thirty yards across a lot of tall grass. Hunkering low to the ground, she ran, not daring to look back. Weeds slapped at her calves, her thighs. I’m looking over a four-leaf clover …

  An elderly man in greasy overalls with a crooked nose and grease-smeared hands came walking up front from the rack. “Yes ma’am. Can I help you?”

  If he thought it was odd that she was dressed in a crumpled formal, he didn’t show it. “I need a phone. Fast.”

  “We don’t have a public phone. No need. Everybody’s got cell phones these days.”

  She darted her gaze to his store door and window. No papers. He wasn’t NINA. “It’s an emergency. Please help me.”

  He looked at her dirty, tattered evening gown. “Step inside.”

  She did and he pulled out his phone. “I get free long distance. What’s the number?”

  Lisa sputtered it to him. “Thank you.”

  He handed her the receiver. “Don’t worry. No man is going to bother you while you’re here.” He reached behind the counter, pulled out a pistol, and stuffed it in his pocket. “I’ve got your back.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. He was about Clyde Parker’s age, and his knuckles appeared about as arthritic, but his heart was huge. “Thank you …”

  “Jed.”

  “Jed.” She smiled.

  Mark answered his phone. “Taylor.”

  Mark. It really was him. The tears threatening spilled. She brushed at her cheeks, forced strength she didn’t feel into her voice. “Mark, it’s Lisa.”

  “Where are you? Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not. I was abducted—”

  “I know, honey.”

  “How’s my mom?”

  “No change.”

  She was still alive. Thank God.

  “Where are you now?”

  Lisa could breathe again. “I’m not sure. Wait a second. Jed, where are we?”

  “You’re asking your abductor?”

  “He’s not my abductor, Mark. I escaped.”

  “Near Slidell.” Jed shot her a worried look.

  “Jed is helping me. He owns a car repair shop.” Her face went hot. “What state, Jed?”

  He wiped his hands on a shop rag, the lines in his face deepening to grooves. “Louisiana. Highway 190, off I-10.”

  She repeated her location to Mark. “Apparently, they’re moving us across country to sell us.”

  “Us?”

  “I have to talk fast. There are four of us—at least, so far.” She reeled off what she knew about the other women. “There are two men here. Frank and Juan. Frank has a spiderweb tattoo, and Juan—I don’t know. There’s something strange going on with him.” She darted a quick look outside, saw the tip of the truck’s front end. �
�Could you please get help here? They’re heavily armed and I’m not.”

  “Stay put, honey. Joe’s already on it.”

  She reeled off the truck’s tag number, model and type, repeated the tag number again. “I have to get back. They’ll realize I’m missing.”

  “No. Lisa, don’t go back!”

  “If I don’t, Frank will kill the others. Dutch is behind this, Mark, and NINA is involved. They stop every two hours at a convenience store, and NINA signs are on every door.”

  “I mean it, Lisa. Stay hidden.”

  She’d like nothing better than to listen to him, but to live with herself, she had no choice. “You don’t understand what they have planned.”

  “Fights to the death. Auctions. I know.” Mark’s voice cracked. “What if I can’t get to you in time?”

  “You will. I’m not Jane. You will get here.” She hung up the phone.

  Jed’s wrinkled face settled into a deep frown. “I couldn’t help overhearing. You should listen to your man about this. Don’t go back. Let me call the police.”

  “I can’t. The police could be involved.” This was NINA. She couldn’t risk it.

  “Well, at least stay here until he arrives. Then he can help you find the others.”

  Reasonable. Rational. But wrong. “They’ll be dead by then.” She headed to the door. “Thank you, Jed.”

  His phone rang. “You wait. I can help.” He answered the phone.

  Lisa slipped out the door. There was no way she was dragging him into this.

  She checked but didn’t see Juan—where was he? He was supposed to be watching the window, but she hadn’t seen him coming or going back. She rushed to the convenience store, then wiggled in the rest room window. Someone was beating on the door.

  “Thank goodness!” Selene sounded breathless.

  Lisa dropped to the floor and closed the window. “Everything okay?”

  Gwen, one hand on the lock, let out an expansive sigh. “Frank is getting impatient.”

  “Amanda, vomit.” Lisa motioned with a finger to her mouth.

  She crammed her finger down her throat.

  Gwen jerked open the door, and Frank witnessed Amanda losing her lunch.

  “What’s wrong with her?” He looked at Lisa.

  Please don’t let him see the mud on my shoes. Please.

  “I don’t know.” I’m looking over a four-leaf clover … Juan had to have seen her. If he hadn’t, why hadn’t he? If he had, would he tell Frank? If he did, she was a dead woman. Frank would haul her into that field and shoot her in the head. No doubt about it.