Pointing Leaf

by Lakes, Lynde

  Toni’s heart raced. She couldn’t wait. In a few minutes the man with the blueberry birthmark would be back, and Duke, whoever he was, would be there, too. Three would be easier to take down than five. Crouching and peering between the bars of the railing, she studied them. The woman wouldn’t give her much trouble. Though immoral and dishonest, Toni didn’t size Jessi Ashley up as a killer. The most dangerous was the guy wearing the belt with the missing stone. But the secretary was no lightweight either.

  Slowly Toni rose. Sweat dampened her palms and trickled down her spine. Her sweater clung to her back. After securing her purse by putting the strap over her head, she tucked her gun in the waistband of her slacks. Then she grabbed a heavy chain hooked to the railing of the scaffold. She calculated that if unwound to its full length it would extend about six feet off the floor. She unhooked it, clasped it firmly, said a little prayer, and jumped. The chain swung out like a pendulum. Her feet connected with the secretary’s jaw, and when he fell backward he slammed into the other man. Both men hit the concrete hard. Rad’s eyes widened; then he stood and butted Jessi in the stomach with his head. She doubled over and went down.

  Toni had no control of the chain as it continued its sweep. Dropping off just before it connected with a stack of crates, she rolled, got to her feet, and drew her gun. “Freeze,” she said, edging toward Rad. Although Jessi sat groggily on the floor and the brawny secretary and the other man seemed to be unconscious, Toni wasn’t taking any chances. She kept her gun ready.

  Quickly, she opened the razor carton-cutter she’d found earlier and slashed Rad’s ropes. He removed his gag. “How did you find me?”

  “It a long story—”

  The barrel of a gun jabbed into her back. “Drop the gun, girlie.” She recognized the raw-edged voice. It was the man with the blueberry birthmark. A sinking feeling washed over her. She’d failed.

  Suddenly, Toni heard an explosion. The double doors of the building fell inward. Dust rose in rolling gusts. The concrete floor vibrated. An acrid stench of nitroglycerin and ammonium nitrate permeated the air. Out of the smoke and confusion, the biker who had brought her there and a dozen other armed bikers roared into the building.

  Someone shot the gun from the hands of man with the blueberry birthmark.

  Relief and gratitude washed over her. Because of the blare of roaring bikes, she conveyed her thanks to the biker with a thumbs up sign.

  “Get on,” the biker said. He aimed his gun at the man with the blueberry birthmark, then nodded toward the bear-like, bearded man on the motorcycle behind him. “Your boss can ride with Bogeyman.”

  ****

  Shaking his head and wondering how Toni had pulled this off, Rad straddled the Harley, and gripped Bogeyman’s wide, steel-jeweled belt on both sides. He couldn’t reach all the way around. The man’s roll of fat hung over on his fingers.

  Bogeyman turned his head sideways and shouted to Rad, “Ever been on a Harley?”

  Rad hadn’t yet caught his breath. His throat was dry, and his voice came out hoarse. “Used to own one.”

  “Good. Hold tight. I ride rough.”

  Another biker passed. He was a giant with midnight skin and pearly teeth. He rode close to the guy with the blueberry birthmark, almost hitting him. The next rider, a wiry wolf-faced man, grazed Blueberry with his motorcycle and knocked him down. The woman cringed next to the crates, looking as if she wished she could disappear.

  Rad wondered who she was. More important how had Toni found him? He’d been stunned to see her swinging down on the thick chain. Now being rescued by a motorcycle gang, it was so unreal. Who were these bikers, and where had Toni met them?

  They didn’t look like the kind of men a lady like Toni would know, even a lady detective. He was used to being around rough men, but none like these. He wouldn’t want to be alone in a dark alley with any of them. How had Toni secured their help?

  He shook his head. From the moment Toni swung onto the scene, she had absolutely glowed. Her green eyes had never been brighter. If she’d had any fear, it hadn’t shown. He was astounded by the chain of events, and completely awed by her. She was so amazing, so beautiful.

  He and Bogeyman swerved behind Toni and the lead biker. Toni’s auburn hair and her mint scarf began to flutter as they gained a little speed. Her back was straight and proud.

  The rest of the gang of bikers followed and circled the inside of the building. Then the motorcycles roared out the same way they had come in, while the woman and the man with the blueberry birthmark stared in shock.

  ****

  “They won’t be following us,” the lead biker told Toni. “We punctured their tires.” Toni clung to the biker as they headed out of the industrial area and onto the highway. She glanced back at Rad. He gripped Bogeyman’s belt with a look of self-possession. Rad looked natural on a Harley, and handsome. Though undoubtedly confused by all this, he remained flexible enough to go with it and ask questions later.

  She felt a quiver of satisfaction. The biker had come through for her after all. Toni leaned forward and tilted her head until she could see his profile. “What made you come back?” she shouted.

  “When I saw you go in there alone, I had to help someone with that much guts.”

  “Thanks. What do I call you?”

  “The gang calls me Butcher.”

  She decided against asking how he got the name.

  Butcher turned his head to the side and shouted, “I promised the gang a hundred each to leave their pool game. Any problem with that?”

  “No problem. I guess if I said there was, you’d take us back and let them kill us.”

  Butcher laughed riotously, neither confirming nor denying anything.

  Toni directed him to her office, and he followed her inside while Rad and the gang waited at the curb.

  Her office staff stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed as she and Butcher entered. “Butcher, this is my office manager, Chuck, secretary, Eve, and researcher Leonard.” They all nodded silently like puppets. “Chuck, would you please get Butcher a cup of coffee while I get some papers from my office?”

  Chuck looked apprehensive. “Is everything all right?”

  “Great. Butcher just saved my life.”

  Toni’s office manager looked unconvinced, but he led Butcher to the coffee-maker while Toni went alone into her private office to get the cash.

  Chuck waited by the door until she returned. He adjusted the glasses on his nose. “You were right,” he whispered. “An unusual amount of land has been taken over by Orthodox Bell Tower Corporation, aka Bell Corporation. Not only in the area where your step-dad had his farm, but in the surrounding acreage where Mr. Murdoch’s station is located.”

  Toni touched Chuck’s hand. “Good work. I knew we’d find a connection.”

  “The problem is,” Chuck said, “the ownership is so tangled and buried in documents that I haven’t yet determined who the top man is.”

  “Keep digging. It’s important.”

  Chuck nodded and handed Toni two folders. “These are the profiles on Tinihanga and Taureka. No police records on either man, but they both are gamblers. Big stakes. I was able to track the gambling through the snapshots of the vouchers you sent in. The men play craps on the River Rat and are frequent heavy losers. Tinihanga also has a more serious and very expensive addiction, a woman named Maria Te Pano. It’s all in the reports.”

  “Remind me to give you a bonus, Chuck.”

  He beamed.

  “Interesting client,” Chuck said, glancing at Butcher.

  “Smile at him,” Toni whispered teasingly. “He gets really upset when people don’t smile.”

  A stiff, too-wide grin spread across Chuck’s face.

  Toni handed Butcher the envelope, and as she expected, he counted the cash.

  “Hope we meet again, Mr. Butcher,” Chuck said, with a broad smile frozen on his face.

  Butcher made a thumbs up sign.

  “Your assistant smiles a lot,�
�� Butcher told Toni as they walked downstairs.

  “He’s a happy guy,” Toni said with amusement in her voice.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Rad’s ranch house kitchen air swirled with the tangy aroma of roast lamb and fresh baked bread. Toni noticed the table was set for two. Tukaha pulled out a chair and smiled at her. After he seated her, he helped her scoot forward.

  “I was glad you called, boss,” Tukaha said as he shrugged into his jacket. “I put dinner aside for you and Miss Toni before the men finished it off. It’s in the oven.”

  “Thanks,” Rad said. “We didn’t get a chance to eat. Frankly, until we got back on the plane, food was the last thing on my mind.” Rad lifted a platter of pineapple glazed roast lamb from the oven. “Now, it’s the main thing.”

  “Let me help,” Toni said, starting to get up.

  Rad motioned for her to stay seated as he placed a heaping dish of mashed potatoes and a pitcher of gravy next to the meat platter.

  “What’s the constable going to do?” Tukaha asked, as he paused with his hand on the door knob.

  “By the time they took the complaint and accompanied us to the warehouse, it was cleaned out.”

  “I don’t think they believed our story,” Toni said.

  Tukaha shook his head. “After saying you were kidnapped by employees of a so-called respectable management corporation then rescued by a motorcycle gang, can you blame them?”

  “Probably not,” Rad said, placing the basket of hot bread on the table. “At least they went through the motions. They inspected the warehouse for evidence, dusted for fingerprints, then went with us to the management office. It was closed tight.”

  “The boss said you waged quite an attack all by yourself, Miss Toni. I was right about you. You are a valiant warrior.”

  “But I failed. Without Butcher and his motorcycle gang’s help, Rad and I would be dead.”

  “I must hear how you got the help of a motorcycle gang, Toa Mumu.” He glanced at Rad. “But you two must be starved. Eat now. We’ll talk more tomorrow. Dessert is in the refrigerator, caramel shortcake,” Tukaha said as he went out the door.

  “Thanks, Tukaha,” Rad said.

  Rad lit the candles in the center of the table. When he lowered the lights, the shadowed walls flickered with the glow. He sat down next to Toni and drew his chair close. He poured the white wine Tukaha had left on the table into the two long-stemmed glasses. “This Penfold wine isn’t aged, but it’ll relax you.” He paused before setting the bottle back on the table and looked directly into her eyes. “In your business, do you do that often?”

  “What?” She tried to ignore the warmth that spread through her veins when he looked at her like that.

  “Pick up strange bikers.”

  “My first.”

  He raised his wine glass. “Here’s hoping he’s your last.”

  Toni clicked her glass with his, then said, “Don’t knock him. He saved our hides.”

  “What did your staff think when he went into your office with you?”

  “Nothing.” She smiled. “They’re used to strange clients. They’d like you.”

  Her teasing glance and saucy words were meant to convey that perhaps she included him in the category of the strange clients.

  “How much cash did you give him?” Rad asked as he passed the roast lamb to her. When she took the platter their fingers brushed, sending a thrill up her arm.

  “Thirteen hundred, if you include the hundred I gave him earlier. Butcher told me he had to promise the gang a hundred each to leave the poolhall.”

  “It is interesting to know what our lives are worth to men like that.”

  “Men like that?” She cut into her meat and stabbed a piece with her fork. “Don’t you mean heroes like that?”

  Rad’s voice was harsh. “They wouldn’t have helped without something in it for them.” He tore a chunk out of the steaming bread and passed the basket to her.

  “I might have agreed with you before. But not now. They weren’t sure they’d get the money. They came because a fellow biker asked for help. But you’re not the only one who is too quick to judge. When Butcher first left me there, I called him a wimp.”

  “You called that tough biker a wimp?”

  She nodded.

  Rad shook his head. “Your spunk’ll get you killed someday.”

  “I think it’s what’s kept me alive. Besides, in my business it doesn’t pay to worry about my own mortality.”

  “I couldn’t believe my eyes when you came swinging down on that chain. You’ve got guts.”

  It felt good to hear him say that. His look of admiration made her feel rather lightheaded, almost giddy. “There was no choice. I couldn’t wait until there were five of them.”

  Rad shifted, and his knee brushed hers. His closeness unsettled her but not enough to affect her appetite. She ate voraciously.

  “Let’s sit by the pool for a while before tackling dessert,” Rad said when they finished. “How about a swim?”

  Relaxing by the pool sounded good to her, but there was a problem.

  “I didn’t pack a suit.”

  He grinned. “We could skinny dip.”

  Visions of the last time she’d seen Rad swimming set her heart racing.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Well, I’ll bet a clever detective like you can whip up something up to wear.”

  His words carried a challenge she couldn’t resist.

  She snapped her fingers. “Of course, easy as making a pie.”

  The trouble was she’d never baked a pie in her life. As Toni entered her room, she glanced at the files on the desk and hoped she wouldn’t come to regret her earlier decision. She’d read the files on Taureka and Tinihanga during the flight back. But since it had been a rough day and they needed to catch their breath, she had decided to wait until morning to hit Rad with the facts. None of the data was conclusive, but it supported her theory about Tinihanga. Yet now, after learning about a man named Duke, she was uncertain.

  She wanted to talk to Damon about his visit with Maria, but he didn’t answer his cell. She figured he’d turned it off while out patrolling the grazing land, protecting the sheep, so the ring wouldn’t make the animals skitish.

  Ten minutes later, Toni stepped out into the pool area wearing cut off jeans and a bulky Tee-shirt covered by a terry cloth robe.

  Rad was waiting. His inky hair was still in a rope down his back, and he wore a modest bathing suit that concealed the tattoos. Still knowing about them excited her. To steady her heartbeat, she forced herself to concentrate on her surroundings, the glistening pool, the Maori carved head with glowing blue eyes, whose grinning mouth spewed steaming water, the sliding skylight open to the night.

  Toni sat down next to Rad, and they remained quiet, listening to the crickets, watching the moonlight dance on the surface of the water. She was too aware of his closeness, his maleness. And her skimpy outfit.

  “The robe is covering your creation,” Rad said. “When do I get to see your creation?”

  “When we go in the water.” In tight cut-offs she probably looked like Daisy Mae. But it was the best she could do.

  “Well, what’s wrong with right now?” he asked. “Someone as athletic as you must be a good swimmer. I’ll race you to the high dive.”

  “You’re on,” she said, glad for the distraction. Looking at him had made her feel emotions too daring to feel about a client.

  She dropped the robe at the edge of the pool.

  “Nice,” he said. “Very nice.”

  She quickly dove into the water ahead of him. The water warmed and caressed her, making her feel boneless. When she rose to the surface, she swam as hard as she could. Rad followed, and in spite of her effort to stay in the lead, he passed her. Before she reached the end of the pool he was already starting up the ladder of the high dive. His dive was smooth; his body arched, and then his fingers cut the water.

  He was so beautiful that for
a moment she’d forgotten to breathe. When he rose to the top beside her, she longed to brush the water from his face, his glistening black hair. She clamped both hands on the edge of the pool like a drowning woman, afraid if she didn’t, her hands would betray her.

  “Ready for dessert and coffee or another glass of wine?”

  She was ready for more than that. She wanted him pressed against her, wet clothes against wet clothes, skin against skin. Fearing her voice would give her away her naughty, unprofessional thoughts, she nodded.

  He smiled. “That’s what I like, a woman who isn’t afraid to want it all.” He hoisted himself out of the water, then extended a hand to her. Hesitantly, she took it. His touch sent quivers down her spine.

  He must have thought she was cold because he grabbed a towel off the back of the lounge chair. His body touched hers as he wrapped the soft cotton around her. Unable to stand her raging emotions, she stepped away from him and pretended to concentrate on drying herself. She felt his penetrating gaze for several seconds before he turned and went into the house. Needing a relief from his nearness, her unspoken offer to help died on her lips.

  She lay back on the lounge. Having such a strong attraction to a client was new to her. Of course, he wasn’t just a client anymore. They’d shared too much for that; they’d almost died together. And she had a real affection for him. Still, she had to stick by her resolve. It was the professional thing to do. In spite of her arguments to herself, and as much as she needed a relief from his nearness, she reveled in the warm giddiness she felt when he returned.

  ****

  It spite of his troubles, Rad felt so alive and right with the world. And Toni was the reason. He placed the tray on the table and handed her a plate with warm caramel shortcake and ice cream.

  Their fingers brushed. Her eyes widened, and her gaze raked over him. “It looks delicious,” she said in a voice too seductive to be talking about dessert.

  What was going on here? Toni had reacted as if she’d felt the charge of static electricity, too. He inhaled deeply to calm his rush of desire. “I suspect Tukaha’s wife sent it over. She works in a bakery.”