Deadly Deception

by Gilbert, Morris

  Helen Darrow was sitting by her husband, Max, staring at Eddy with suspicion. “You handle the books, Eddy,” she pointed out sharply. “If something’s wrong, you’re responsible.”

  Eddy glared at her, and Dani was aware that though they were brother and sister, little natural affection existed between them. “Your dear hubby Max does most of the juggling with the funds,” he snapped. “Maybe he’s the one who’s been on the take!”

  Max flushed and shouted, “Why, you little shrimp! If you were more than half a man, I’d push your face in!”

  Eddy turned pale, for no one referred to his physical infirmity. Then he fixed his eyes on Darrow with such evident hatred that Dani felt certain if he’d had a gun, he’d have killed his brother-in-law.

  “Keep your mouth shut, Max!” Eddy’s wife, Irene, was on her feet and would have attacked the lawyer, but Frank reached out and caught her. The yelling continued, but Frank finally shoved Irene into her chair and slammed his fist on the table.

  “Shut up, all of you!” he shouted. When they stopped in surprise and stared at him, he shook his head. “You sound like a bunch of kids! This is a business matter, and we’re going to treat it as such. The next one who raises his voice, I’ll chuck him out that door—and I’m not kidding!” Everyone—most of all his father—stared at Frank. There was, Dani saw, a thin smile of approval on Dom’s thin lips as he looked at his older son.

  “Miss Ross first noted some sort of discrepancy in the books, but Sam Vino checked it out. Sam’s never mistaken, Eddy, and he says there’s something wrong. Now, you and Max have been working on these books for a long time. I’ll give you three days. Come up with some answers—or maybe I’ll have some questions you won’t like!”

  The meeting dragged on as Frank went through details, and Dani soon tired of it. She had been impressed with the authority that Frank displayed and knew that Dom was pleased. But when the meeting broke up, she felt glad.

  “Thanks for coming, Dani.” Frank nodded. “I hope you don’t have to get involved in this mess any more.”

  Dani murmured, “It would be better if I stayed out of it, Frank. This man Vino is your best bet.”

  Frank looked at her glumly. “Hate to think one of the family’s been stealing, Dani. That’s about all a man like me has—family pride.”

  He walked away abruptly, and Dani went to her room. She’d checked out a Dickens video, Bleak House, and settled down to watch it. It was very long, over six hours, and about 3:00 A.M. she turned it off. Going to the window, she stared out, wondering about Ben. Even as she did, she saw a pair of headlights come down the road. It was unusual for a vehicle to approach the house at that hour, so she watched closely. When the car passed by the large mercury light near the garage, she saw that it was Ben’s.

  She gave a gasp of relief and tore out the door and down the stairs. The air was cool, and when she got to the garage, she found that Ben was just getting a suitcase out of the trunk. He looked up sharply when she entered, and a grin turned up his lips. “Hello, Boss,” he greeted her.

  “Ben!” Then Dani could not think of what to say. The tension that had bound her had been worse than she knew, and as she stared at him she became suddenly aware of the power he had to stir her. She forced herself to say calmly, “I’m glad you’re back.”

  “You been waiting up for me all this time?” he asked with a glint in his dark eyes.

  “Of course not! I—just couldn’t sleep.” She brushed her hair back and inquired, “How did it go?”

  “A piece of cake.” He shrugged. “Let’s get some coffee, and I’ll tell you about it. But at the big house, not here.”

  Dani knew he didn’t trust any of Lanza’s men, so she agreed. They crossed the terrace, and soon he was munching freshly baked doughnuts, washing them down with scalding coffee.

  “You never taste anything, Ben,” Dani complained as she watched. “You eat so fast your taste buds never get a chance. Now, tell me.”

  He went through the story, making it sound easy, but she could read the difficulty and danger that he had passed through. It was a way he had, she knew, of making the difficult seem easy. And as he sat there, talking, she wondered just exactly what sort of man he was. He had always been an enigma to her, and the more she knew him, the more she became conscious of the complexity that lay beneath a seemingly simple exterior.

  Finally he ended the story, “So Joe promised to be a good boy and let the Lanzas alone. Then I tippy-toed out and came home.”

  Dani thought about it, then asked, “Do you think he’ll stick to it?”

  “I think so. He’s pretty jumpy, and his wife is worse. The problem is Johnny Ring, just as it’s always been.” He leaned his elbows on the table, and there was a light of speculation on his face. “I think Martino will have Ring tossed in the river.”

  “Have him killed?” Dani asked in a startled tone.

  “Sure. Happens all the time. These mob bosses don’t like a strong man. A guy gets too strong, he’ll take over. That’s what Capone did, and these big operators know what to do about that.” He studied her, then remarked, “Looks like we might be out of here in a day or two. Don’t guess you’d mind that.”

  Dani shook her head. “I want to leave, Ben. It’s been— very hard.”

  He knew she was thinking of the shooting. “I’ll tell Dom what happened first thing in the morning, but my guess is that Martino will call early. He’s really scared.”

  Dani got to her feet, and he followed suit. “I’m glad you’re back,” she told him. “I did worry about you.”

  He studied her, then shook his head. “Go to bed, Boss. When we get out of here, let’s go fishing or something.”

  She smiled at him, her eyes glad, and as he left, she remarked, “Yes, let’s do it, Ben. Go fishing, I mean. I need a little simplicity, I think.” He left, but she sat down for a long time at the kitchen table, trying to think how it would be to get out from under the Lanza influence. Finally she went to her room, thinking, He’s arrogant enough as it is. I shouldn’t have let him find out how much I worried about him!

  “Martino called this morning,” Frank announced as Dani came into his office. “He wants to call the whole thing off.” His eyes were disbelieving, but he suddenly smiled. “Your man Savage really knows how to scare a guy. Pop said Joe Martino was practically begging to get off the hook.”

  Dani asked, “Did your father believe him?”

  “Not at first, but Joe kept picking at him. Finally my father was convinced. The two of them are going to meet. Martino even agreed to come here! That’s what convinced Pop, I think. Joe Martino is a coward. He wouldn’t stick his head in this place unless he had to.”

  “Looks as if my job will be over soon.” Dani smiled.

  “Now, don’t go running away so quickly!” Frank protested.

  “Not today anyway.” Dani reminded him, “I’ve got to take Pat to the dentist.”

  “Want someone to drive you?” Frank asked.

  “No, I can drive my own car. I’ve been blackmailed by your younger son.” She smiled. “The only way I could get Pat to agree to go for his checkup was to promise to take him to the aquarium afterwards.”

  “Kid is going to be a terror when he grows up.” Frank shook his head in mock despair. “He’s been conning me for a long time. Now he’s branching out. You can handle him alone?”

  “Oh, yes. Save some dessert for us.”

  When Dani went to get Pat at one o’clock, she found him huddled in Rosemary’s arms, his eyes large with apprehension. Playing it very lightly, Dani said, “Well, Pat, let’s go get the checkup out of the way. I can’t wait to get to the aquarium.”

  “Don’t want to go!” Pat moaned, holding tightly to Rosemary.

  “Of course you do,” his mother encouraged. She whispered in his ear for a few moments, and Pat looked up at her with surprise. Then he pulled away and went over to pick up his blanket.

  “Let’s go, Dani,” he called happily, r
acing out the door.

  Dani stared after him, then wondered aloud, “What in the world did you promise him, Rosemary?”

  “That’s privileged communication.” Rosemary laughed. Then she got up slowly and came to embrace Dani. “I’ve been so excited, Dani! When I go to bed, no more bad dreams. Every time I want a drink, I just do what you said.” Her blue eyes sparkled and she laughed. “I just tell him, ‘Devil, I’ve put all that away and locked the door. Jesus has the key. Go get it from Him if you can!’”

  “I’m so happy for you, Rosemary,” Dani said. “We’ll have time for a little Bible study when I get back. Maybe after the Monopoly game. Well, I’d better take him before he backs out.”

  Pat had waited at the door, and the pair of them left. Passing the tennis courts, they saw Ben playing tennis with Abby. Matthew and Rachel watched from the sidelines. Ben missed a shot, and Abby laughed in delight. “You’re an old man, Savage!”

  “Oh, yeah? You just get your breath, kid.” He came over to walk beside Dani and Pat. “You sure you don’t want me to come along?”

  “No. You watch the store. We’ll be all right.” The thoughts of their meeting the previous night came back to her, and once again Dani wondered if she’d led him to think she was too interested in him. She kept her voice casual as she added, “Don’t worry about me.”

  He gave her a strange glance, but only commented, “Keep your powder dry.” Then he turned and went back to the game. It was an unsatisfying scene to Dani, but she put it out of her mind. She strapped Pat into the car and left the grounds, thinking of the possibility of getting off the case within a few days. Faye was at the gate, along with Frenchy, and as the small Cajun opened the gate, Faye questioned “What time will you be back, do you think?”

  “Should be around four o’clock.” Then she pulled through the entrance, asking Pat, “Would you like to play the radio?” He nodded and found a rock-and-roll station, which he turned up to maximum volume. She hated it, but it kept the child happy.

  Dark clouds were building up to the south, and she hoped that the rain would hold off until after dark. The road was in poor repair, and she had to dodge potholes, which pitted the asphalt surface. The three miles of road was rarely used by anyone, the Lanza place being one of the few dwellings it led to. It wound around a large sugarcane field, then joined another more widely traveled road and intersected the state highway, six miles to the north. As Dani made the sweeping curve around the cane field, she was forced to brake suddenly, for two vehicles blocked the road. One of them was a panel truck with DAVIDSON’S FLORIST in large letters on the side. It was right across the road and nosing into the front of it was a white Taurus. Two men stood beside the cars and appeared to be having a rather violent disagreement. One of them, a tall man dressed in a gray sports coat, had the other man by the arm. The other wore a tan uniform with Davidson Florist printed on his cap.

  The tall man looked around as Dani slowed to a stop, gave the driver of the delivery van a slight push, then turned and came to where she was parked. He was shaking his head, and a furious expression covered his thin face. He was very tall and said something she could not understand. She lowered her window, and he bent down to tell her, “Got to get a call in to the police. Stupid clown can’t drive!”

  Dani promised, “I’ll make a call when I get to the highway.”

  She started to raise the window, but suddenly a gun appeared not six inches from her eyes. “Don’t try to do that—or the kid’s dead.”

  Dani’s mind seemed to freeze. The muzzle of the revolver was like a tunnel, and she could see the man’s trigger finger quite clearly. All he had to do was touch the trigger, and she was dead. Suddenly her mind began racing, and she thought, He’ll have to make me get out of the car. I can get my gun out as I do that.

  “Lean forward and put your head on the wheel, slow and easy,” the man ordered.

  She obeyed and at once felt the muzzle of the revolver touch her head. Then she felt his other hand on her back! He knows where I carry my gun, she thought, and despair settled on her. She felt him yank her coat up, and then he pulled the .38 from the holster.

  “All right, you can get out now. Get the kid, too.”

  Pat stared at the gunman with large eyes. “Who is he, Dani?” he whispered.

  “Don’t be afraid, Pat,” she encouraged quietly. Unbuckling her seat belt and then his, she got out, and the boy scrambled out to stand beside her. He groped for her hand, and she held it tightly. “You’re making a mistake,” she informed the man. “My people know where I’m going. And if I don’t call in soon, they’ll know something is wrong.”

  The thin gunman grinned, but shook his head. “Nice try—but then I heard you were a cool one.” Then the smile faded and he commanded, “Over to the van, and move it fast!”

  As Dani walked toward the van a third man emerged from the delivery truck. He was short and heavy, with jet-black hair. “Harry, take her car. You know where to put it.” The man dressed in the tan uniform had moved to open the back door of the van, and when he turned, he had a roll of silver duct tape in his hands. “Turn around,” he commanded Dani. She had no choice and was forced to pull her hand out of Pat’s grasp. Her hands were taped together, then she heard the sound of the tape being ripped. She gasped as another piece of tape was slapped over her eyes, and Pat began crying.

  “Now the kid,” the tall man’s voice directed. Dani was shoved into the van, striking her knee on a sharp surface. She cried out, “Pat!” but rough hands seized her legs, and she was thrown roughly, falling on what seemed to be some sort of pad. She strained to break the tape, but it was useless. Pat’s cries became louder, and then she heard a voice say, “That’s good enough.” Finally she felt the child’s body strike her legs.

  “It’s all right, Pat,” she comforted him. The door slammed and she invited, “Come up here and lie down beside me.” The boy wriggled and came to press himself against her. “Now, try not to cry,” she directed, keeping her voice as even as she could. Fear raced through her, but she knew her job was to keep Pat from sensing it. “We’re in some trouble, Pat, but you remember the story I read you last night?”

  His voice was muffled, for he was pressing his face against her breast, trying to get as close as possible. “You mean—about the man in the lion’s den?”

  “Yes, Daniel. Remember what happened to Daniel? He was in terrible trouble, wasn’t he? But God saved him.”

  “I know! God glued up the mouths of the lions so they couldn’t bite him, didn’t He?”

  “That’s right, Pat. And God will get us out of our trouble. So let’s just start right now asking Him to keep us safe, all right?”

  “All right!”

  He began to pray in his childish fashion, and Dani was very glad that she had taught the children how to speak to God. It had not been very real to any of them, but Pat was occupied at least. She prayed herself, asking God to preserve their lives, but she felt burdened with the knowledge that most kidnapping victims were not rescued. It was, as she well knew, too dangerous to let the victims live, for the kidnappers were very conscious that one day they might face the victims in court.

  The truck door slammed, then the engine started, and at once the truck spun around and moved down the road. Dani lay there, listening to Pat and speaking to him from time to time, but with another part of her mind, she recorded as best she could every scrap of information about the route the truck was following. She could only estimate the speed of the vehicle, but she guessed that the driver would not exceed the speed limit—too much chance of being picked up by the police. She knew the country well, having lived in the area for years, and she and Ben had thoroughly covered the section around the Lanza estate. She concentrated on picturing a map in her mind and tried to see the car as a red dot moving down the highway. She knew at once when it passed the cane field, for they made a sharp left turn that led to the state highway. There was a stoplight where the road intersected the state highway.
She waited as the driver stopped, then made a left turn. Going east, she thought, toward New Orleans. She could not reach her wrist to use her pulse for a clock, so she counted off the seconds, keeping track of the minutes. The traffic picked up, and she could hear the big trucks passing, their wake rocking the smaller panel truck.

  Eventually, of course, she became confused, for the truck went through a suburban area, making several turns and pausing for lights. But finally she felt a thrill when the sound of the tires on the highway changed from a high-pitched sound to a more hollow one, and the vehicle tilted upward. We’re on one of the river bridges! she thought rapidly. Got to be going through Algiers, down the river.

  But then she became confused, for nothing else marked the progress of the van—no particular sounds or traffic patterns—just the steady hum of the engine. She lost track of time, as well, but guessed that they had not traveled more than thirty or forty minutes since passing over the bridge. Then the truck made a sudden left turn, and five minutes later, passed on to a very rough road, so rough that it shook Pat and Dani to their bones.

  Finally, the truck stopped, and the door slammed at once. Dani lay there, waiting, and the back door quickly swung open. She heard a voice say, “Everything go all right?”

  The voice of the driver was assured. “Sure. Like clockwork.”

  “All right, you boys clear out. Here’s your money.”

  “Yeah. See you around—”

  “No names, you fool!” the other man cut him off. “Get them out and then clear out.”

  Dani felt Pat being pulled away. She was jerked out of the van and held upright when she swayed. “Take the boy,” the speaker ordered. Pat was whimpering, and Dani comforted him, “It’s all right, Pat.”

  Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her across a paved surface. Then the voice commanded, “Step up.” She cleared the step, and once again began trying to picture everything in her mind. Already she was thinking of escape, and a knowledge of this place would be necessary. They were marched across a concrete floor, then the pressure on her arm jerked her to a halt. A metallic clanging came to her, and she was pulled forward. Her heel caught on some sort of projection, and then she was stopped again. “Get the kid in,” the leader ordered. He had a high-pitched voice, but it was filled with authority. Then the clanging sound came, and the floor suddenly moved. Pat cried out in fear, but Dani soothed him, “It’s just an elevator, Pat.”