Wise Moves

by Burton, Mary

  Dane drew in a breath and then hung up the phone.

  Kristen’s eyes widened with alarm. “What are you doing?”

  “It is a calculated risk,” he said. “If I am going to save Crystal, I have to play hardball.”

  Tears filled Kristen’s eyes. “He has Crystal.”

  He nodded tersely. “Yes.”

  She turned her face away from his so he didn’t see the tears fall.

  Dane moved toward her when Lucian’s words stopped him. “Benito’s local—in the state—but you hung up too soon to get a hard fix on him. Why did you hang up?”

  “He knew there was a tap on the line. He’d have hung up before the two minutes. This is the only way to keep him on the hook.”

  Kristen pressed a trembling hand to her temple. “Crystal is just a child. This is not her fight.”

  “I will get her back.” Dane never made promises lightly. He would move heaven and earth to make this right.

  Anger brightened her brown eyes. “He will take his anger out on Crystal.”

  Dane believed he’d made the right move. “I don’t think so. I think he wants you back very badly. I think he is the one who is bluffing. He doesn’t want you hurt.”

  “He will kill her,” Kristen said.

  “Not right away. Not until he knows he has you back safe and sound.”

  Lucian cocked an eyebrow. “And if you are wrong?”

  Kristen moved to the couch and sat down. Her eyes were bright with worry. “I should never have befriended her, but I felt sorry for her.”

  Dane sat next to her, still careful not to touch. “I will get her back.”

  “Your promises mean nothing to me.”

  Dane was glad for her anger. He could handle it far better than he could the wounded look of betrayal in her eyes. Anger also signified that she still had fight left in her and she was going to need every ounce of it to get through this. “They will once this is over.”

  “So what do we do?” Lucian said. He folded his arms over his chest.

  “We wait for him to call,” Dane said.

  Lucian shoved his hands in his pockets. “We wait! What makes you think he will call?” His voice was louder now, angry.

  Instinct. It had gotten him through many undercover operations. “He will.”

  Lucian shook his head. “I deal in facts, figures and computer programs. There I can control the variables, the outcome. I make educated guesses that pay off ninety-eight-point-seven percent of the time. You are dealing with an animal. And animals are unpredictable. You don’t have a damn idea what that bastard is going to do.”

  “He will call,” Kristen said softly.

  Both men looked at her.

  “Dane is right. My brother wants me back in his house. And he will do whatever it takes.”

  “Why does he want you so much?” Dane said. That question had plagued him since the beginning. Several sick and twisted scenarios had played in his mind that he hadn’t dared voice.

  Kristen straightened her shoulders. “Antonio is a very superstitious man. He dabbles in the occult and has a team of seers and fortune-tellers who advise him on what to do each day. He believes they have kept him alive this long.” She picked at the edge of the white bandage neatly wrapped around her knee. “Antonio believes I bring him luck.”

  “That’s it?” Lucian said. “You are his lucky charm?”

  “In his mind, it’s more complicated than that. He believes I am his muse, his guardian against evil. Without my purity to guard him, he believes the forces of evil will devour him.”

  “That’s insane,” Dane said.

  “My brother is insane. Many times he was quite psychotic.”

  “That’s why he kept you locked in his house.”

  “Yes. He didn’t want me to leave, fearing the evil would destroy him.”

  “Why were you with him the night of the murders?” Lucian said.

  “I had tried to leave my brother. I was in love and wanted to run away and marry. Antonio caught me trying to leave. He wanted to teach me a lesson.”

  Lucian crossed the room toward Kristen. “Murdering my uncle was just one of his lessons?” Fury dissolved into disbelief and pain.

  Kristen met his gaze. “I’m afraid so. He was quite angry with your uncle for interfering with his drug trade. He wanted to set an example.”

  Lucian crumbled into a seat beside Kristen. “Six good men. Dead because of one crazy, greedy bastard.”

  Kristen laid her hand on Lucian’s shoulder. “I begged for his life, for the lives of his friends. I could not save them and that will haunt me for the rest of my days.”

  Lucian swallowed. Strong emotions made it impossible for him to speak.

  Dane’s cell phone rang, and all three of them froze. It rang a second time.

  “Answer it!” Lucian said.

  Dane held up a finger and waited for the third ring before he flipped it open. “Cambia.”

  “Mr. Cambia, you drive a very hard bargain,” Benito said.

  “I’m a stubborn bastard,” Dane said. “Don’t ever forget that.”

  “I want my Elena,” Benito said. For the first time, Dane heard a hint of desperation.

  “So what are you willing to do for me?” Dane could not show weakness now.

  “I will pay you one million dollars and give you the girl.”

  A smile tipped the edge of Dane’s lips. He had him. “Make it two million.”

  “Don’t push me,” Benito warned. “I am being very generous.”

  “I wouldn’t push your luck, Benito. Without Elena, you are quite vulnerable, aren’t you?” He thought about the money that Lucian had stolen from all Benito’s computer-based businesses. “How much of your business has been stripped clean since she vanished?”

  Silence was his only answer for five long seconds and then, “You have a deal.”

  “There’s an abandoned amusement park outside of town. Appletown. Meet me there in two hours.”

  Benito was silent for a long moment. “Agreed. But I will expect you there in one hour.”

  “I’ll need two.”

  “One or no deal.”

  Dane sensed he’d pushed Benito to the breaking point. “Deal.”

  Benito hung up.

  “He is drawing you into a trap.” The worry in Kristen’s voice gave him a measure of hope. Whether she liked it or not, she cared about him. Maybe after all this she could forgive him.

  “I would expect nothing less.”

  Dane’s cell phone rang again. Surprised, he flipped it open. “Cambia.”

  “Mr. Cambia, this is Sheridan Taylor.” Steel coated each word. “I want to know where Kristen and Crystal are.”

  “They’re just fine.”

  “Really? Then why did I find Kristen’s backpack outside the shelter?”

  He had no quick answer for that. “Would you like me to put her on the phone?”

  “No. I want to see that she is fine with my own two eyes. Have her at the studio in twenty minutes or I am calling the cops.”

  Chapter 19

  Dane drove the Suburban into town. Lucian sat at his right. Kristen was in the backseat.

  She was scared.

  She’d not seen Benito in over a year and she knew that if he got ahold of her, she would never see the light of day. She’d be his pet forever. But the alternative was to run and live the life of a coward. And she’d had enough of that.

  Dane had not spoken to her in the last half hour. And she was glad. Her emotions were so raw she didn’t trust her reaction.

  The car slowed and turned onto Elm Street where the yoga studio was located. She shifted in her seat and pulled back her shoulders. Her knee had started to ache and she couldn’t move fast with the stitches in place. But mental quickness was what she needed now. She had to outsmart Benito.

  Dane parked the Suburban in front of the yoga studio. The front door opened. Sheridan.

  “You’ve got to convince her you are okay,” Luc
ian said.

  Kristen nodded. “I’ll try.”

  Dane shut off the engine. “You’ve got to do more than try unless you want to risk her life.”

  Kristen didn’t argue. She opened her door and gingerly got out of the car. Closing the door, she limped forward a step.

  Dane hurried around the car and cupped his hand under her elbow.

  Immediately, she flinched and tried to pull away. “I can walk on my own.”

  “You’ve got seven stitches in your knee. And there’s no time to put you back together again if you bust one.”

  She tightened her jaw, hating his logic. With his help, she limped toward the steps. It was slow going up the stairs to the front door because she had to keep her knee straight. And she realized she wouldn’t have made it if not for Dane. When they reached the top step, he released her.

  Kristen pushed her hand through her hair. “Sheridan.”

  Sheridan hugged Kristen. “I was so worried about you.”

  “I had a little accident.” She nodded to her knee. “I took a tumble, needed to get a few stitches, but I am fine now. I just need to get some rest.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on her,” Dane offered.

  A thousand unspoken questions flashed in Sheridan’s pale blue eyes as she glared at Dane. But before she could respond, police lights flashed and a squad car pulled up in front of the studio. Kristen tensed.

  Sheridan nodded, satisfied. “I called them fifteen minutes ago. I didn’t trust Mr. Cambia here. I thought you were in real trouble, Kristen.”

  Kristen grew more anxious. Sheridan and the police needed to leave. They would see Benito soon. “Tell them it was just a silly accident.”

  Lucian got out of the car and walked over to the police. His stride was casual and unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world. A young policeman approached him. Within seconds the two were smiling and walking toward the house.

  Dane went to greet them.

  Sheridan grabbed Kristen by the arm and whispered, “Are you sure you are okay?”

  Kristen gave her a shaky smile. “You need to get rid of the police. Crystal is in danger. It has to do with my brother.”

  “Your brother?”

  “I will explain when the police are gone. Please, just hurry. We don’t have much time.”

  Sheridan’s eyes narrowed as she studied her. And then, as if coming to a decision, she moved past Kristen outside to the police officers. Within five minutes, she’d convinced the officer that everything was fine.

  Dane, Lucian and Sheridan went into the studio lobby. Sheridan closed and locked the front door. She pulled the shades. “Tell me everything, right now, Mr. Cambia.”

  Dane’s lips flattened into a grim line. He clearly didn’t like being backed into a corner.

  “Tell her,” Kristen said.

  He glanced at Kristen, then back at Sheridan. “I was FBI until a few weeks ago.”

  Sheridan shook her head. “I checked all your references.”

  “That was me you spoke to,” Lucian said.

  Sheridan met Lucian’s gaze. “And who are you?”

  “Lucian Moss.”

  “That tells me exactly nothing.” Sheridan’s earth-child demeanor had vanished.

  Lucian shrugged. “What do you want to know?”

  “Start with the basics and then we’ll take it from there.”

  “I do computers.”

  “That’s it?” Sheridan countered.

  “Basically, yes.”

  Sheridan shook her head, facing Dane and Kristen. “Fill me in, now.”

  Kristen met Sheridan’s gaze. “My name is not Kristen Rodale.”

  Sheridan raised an eyebrow. “No great revelation there.”

  She wasn’t surprised by Sheridan’s shrewdness. “My real name is Elena Benito.”

  “Where have I heard that name before?” Sheridan said.

  “It was plastered all over the news nine months ago,” Lucian said. He stood leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

  Sheridan stared at Lucian as the wheels in her memory turned. “Miami. It was a big story from Miami.”

  Lucian tipped his head toward her. “You get points for that.”

  Sheridan touched Kristen’s short blond hair. “Elena had long beautiful dark hair.”

  Kristen sighed. “I had to make many changes after the safe house was attacked. I needed to disappear.”

  Sheridan nodded. “You did a good job of that. The police were baffled. They thought you would be missing forever.”

  Kristen’s jaw tightened. “I would have been if these two men hadn’t found me.”

  Dane stepped forward. “I found Kristen so that I could use her as bait. We needed to draw her brother out.”

  Sheridan’s distaste was clear as her gaze moved between Dane and Lucian. “How very clever of you.”

  Dane’s jaw tightened. He wasn’t the kind of man who justified his actions.

  “Tell me you have help,” Sheridan said.

  “It’s just us,” Dane said.

  “It gets worse,” Kristen said. “My brother has Crystal.”

  Silver bracelets jangled on Sheridan’s wrist when she dug her fingers through her hair. “She was one of the few at the shelter that I thought would actually get out. She won prizes for her essays. She wanted to go to college.”

  Tears filled Kristen’s eyes. “We will get her back.”

  “Where is she?” Sheridan said.

  “Appletown,” Dane said. He checked his watch.

  “I know the place,” Sheridan said. “I can help.”

  “We have all the help we need,” Lucian said.

  Sheridan glanced between Dane and Lucian. “Like it or not, gentlemen, I’m in.”

  “No.” Lucian’s voice boomed like a cannon blast.

  Dane studied Sheridan. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  “I’ve seen my share of trouble, Mr. Cambia,” Sheridan said. “And I know how to use a gun.”

  Chapter 20

  Monday, May 21, 8:24 a.m.

  With less than minutes to spare, everyone was in place.

  Sheridan and Lucian left in his Suburban for Appletown. Their plan was to position themselves in an old mine shaft at the top of the hill that overlooked the old amusement park. The hideout was Sheridan’s idea.

  That left Kristen and Dane alone to follow in his truck. A heavy silence, as impenetrable as steel, had risen between the two.

  Dane broke the silence first. “When this is over, we need to talk.”

  She lifted her gaze from the worn, cracked leather seat to his eyes. “About what?”

  He glanced at her and then back at the road. “Where we go from here?”

  “We don’t go anywhere from here.” Unshed tears constricted her throat, but she refused to cry. “You want my brother and you will have him. And then we will be finished.”

  “I didn’t count on loving you.” His voice was a soft whisper.

  She raised her hand. “Don’t.”

  He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “I won’t now, but later we will talk.”

  Neither spoke as they drove out of town. When Dane passed a sign that read Appletown Park 100 Yards, he said, “I want you to stay in the truck until I tell you to come out. I want to keep you as far away from Benito as possible.”

  Oddly she was very calm. Facing her brother was her fate. She was tired of running. “He won’t give you Crystal until he knows I’m there.”

  “He can see you from inside the truck. I’m trying to buy time until Lucian can get his shot.”

  “I understand.”

  A weathered sign reading Appletown hung sideways from a single chain above a dilapidated wooden entrance. A circular go-cart track, eroded by time and rain, had weeds growing up high around a peeling fence that had once encased the track. The old ticket shed had lost its roof and all the go-carts had long since been removed.

  Kristen felt as if she’d a
rrived in a ghost town.

  She worried for Crystal, for Sheridan and Lucian and yes, Dane. As angry as she was with Dane, she did not want to see him hurt.

  She knew if Benito had his way, none other than she would leave here alive.

  Sheridan and Lucian reached the path leading to the abandoned mine shaft on schedule. Silently they climbed out of the Suburban.

  From the back hatch, Lucian pulled out a rifle. “So what is this place?”

  “There used to be gold mines in the area. This one did well for a time, but it was played out over a century ago.”

  “The Wild West right here in Virginia.”

  She hugged her arms around her chest, forcing herself to breathe deeply. “Something like that.”

  “So where is this rock you were talking about?”

  “Over here.” She pointed to where it jutted out.

  The two climbed through the brush to the outcropping of rock, which was curtained off from the valley below by a stand of trees. Sheridan headed down a narrow path through the woods. Within minutes they reached the edge of the woods and the lip of the overhang.

  It provided an excellent view of the valley and a clear shot into Appletown.

  Lucian nodded, impressed. “How’d you find out about this place?”

  “I grew up in the valley. We used to come up here as kids.”

  Lucian laid down on the stone surface, as did Sheridan. He took a moment to site the rifle. She winced when he chambered a round.

  “Tell me you can handle this,” he said without taking his gaze from the valley.

  “I can.”

  He pushed his hair out of his eyes. “I don’t want the yoga nonviolence thing to get in the way.”

  A bitter smile tipped the edge of her full lips. “It won’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  Sheridan didn’t meet his gaze. “Three years in prison says I can handle just about anything.”

  Benito stared at the sniveling girl across from him. Crystal was her name. Her jeans were filthy and her hair a revolting shade of blond. It was beyond him why Elena always gravitated toward the strays.

  He dropped his gaze to the gold ring on his index finger. Perhaps he needed to change things when he got Elena home. She’d always wanted a dog or a cat. He would choose a pure breed, something classy, like her station dictated. But he would see that she got a pet. That would make her happy. And he wanted her happy.