Retribution Boxed Set (Books One and Two) (19 page)

Janie drew her brows together. “I didn’t know
Jack was back,” she said in a friendly voice even though her face was a mask of
questioning concern. “Tell him I said hello.”

“I will.” She mouthed the word “help”, and Janie
nodded. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” She shut the door, certain Janie had
understood her, and now fearful of how everything would play out.

“Sit down,” Riley said.

She did as he commanded, fighting the
debilitating fear that threatened to reduce her to a whimpering puddle.

“I know about the money.”

She jerked her gaze to his face. If he was
looking for a reaction, she’d given it to him.

He nodded. “Your aunt told me pretty much
everything.” He sat on the couch, lounging as though they were two friends
having a conversation.

It sickened her to think what he might have done
to her aunt. She glanced at his hand, his shirt, looking for traces of blood. “Is
she all right?”

He wrinkled his brow. “Sure. Why wouldn’t she
be?”

She prayed he wasn’t lying. “You didn’t hurt
her?”

He straightened. “Why would I? She’s the one
paying me.”

She was certain he’d lost his mind. “I don’t
understand.”

“I thought she told you. She was calling as I walked
out the door, though she did warn me you might not be too happy when I got
here.”

Nicole stared at him dumbfounded. Her aunt
had
called, but she hadn’t answered. “Why the gun? If he was working for her aunt,
there was no need to hold her hostage.

“Safety precaution. You never know who’s out
there.”

With as crazy as her world had become, he sort of
made sense. “Why did my aunt hire you?”

“After she found out we were friends at work, she
contacted me and asked if I would keep an eye on you, make sure you got on the
bus okay. Stuff like that. You almost caught me following you the day you went
back for your bus pass, and I wish you would have. I would have gone inside
with you, and they wouldn’t have been able to pin that theft on you.”

“Or they would have blamed both of us.”

He tilted his head as though considering her
point. “True.”

“Did my aunt say who was after me? She’d feared
she been a target all along.

“She didn’t know who specifically. But she wanted
to pay me, and I kind of liked the idea of being a bodyguard. I bought me a gun
to be more legit.” His light blue eyes flashed with excitement. “Now, your
aunt’s worried that word has gotten out about the special account as she calls
it, and she’s more afraid someone might come after you like they did her last
February.”

“Last February?”

“The car accident. She was pretty suspicious of
the hit-and-run, but then nothing else came of it.” He frowned. “And then you
got fired which made
my
job a lot harder. I wanted to tell you what was
going on, thought it would make things easier, but she said no.”

Anguish and fear ripped through her. “Why
wouldn’t she tell me? God, they could have killed her.”

“I don’t know. Her call, I guess.” He shrugged. “As
soon as you get a few things packed, I’m moving you to a hotel. Then we’ll find
somewhere else safe.”

“You want me to pack up and leave? She wanted to
add “everything” to her question, but really, what would she be leaving? Xander
was already gone. She was pretty sure the job with his friend was, too. That
left her apartment and Janie. “I’m not leaving Stormy.”

“Of course not.”

She stood, and then her heart nearly dropped to
the floor. “Oh, no. Janie’s going to call the police.”

“What? He jumped to his feet.

“My neighbor who was just here. She could tell
something was wrong, and I think she’s going to call the police.”

“
Shit
.” He glanced about the room. “We
gotta get out of here. Now. Grab your purse. Get your dog.”

He headed for the door as she scrambled to
retrieve Stormy’s leash from the closet. “You want me to run from the police?”
she asked as he opened the door. The only answer she received was a muffled
shot echoing from the hall.

She jerked around and found Riley at the feet of a
short woman dressed in a blue button down shirt and tan pants. Her mousy brown
hair that normally hung limp above her shoulders had been pulled into a
ponytail, but there was no mistaking her identity. “
Mary
? The quiet girl
from IT had shot poor Riley with no remorse in her expression. Only a cold,
deadly stare.

Xander shrugged off his soaked jacket and tossed
it behind the passenger seat as a wet Apollo jumped in the car panting. Xander
had run them both until they were beyond exhausted. He glanced up at Nicole’s
apartment building, sending another piercing pain through him. He ached to go
up there and give her another piece of his mind, but it was pointless. She’d
made her choice, and it hadn’t been him. For all he knew, she was currently
stuffing her bags, planning to make a run for it.

He had to get out of there, and, God knew, he’d
avoid this end of town for the rest of his life.

He started the ignition, the engine roaring to
life. His tires squealed on the soaked pavement as he pulled into traffic.

He made it two blocks when his phone rang. He
wrestled his cell out of his pocket, the sick part of him wishing it was Nicole.
It wasn’t. Sam’s number glowed on the screen, and he dropped the phone into the
console not wishing to hear anything from his friend right now.

Whatever would happen, would happen.

He turned the corner and headed toward the bridge
that would take him to his side of the river.

His phone rang again, and he glanced at it. Sam. “Fuck.”
He ground his teeth together as he reached for his phone and answered.

“Where are you?”

“On my way home.” He couldn’t keep the hurt and
disgust from his voice.

“There’s something going down at Nicole’s
apartment.”

“She making a run for it? It would be his fault
if she did.

“No. A neighbor called, said she thinks there’s
someone in Nicole’s apartment who might be threatening her. Maybe a deal gone
bad or something. I have units heading there now. I’m not far behind.”

“Shit.” He slammed on the brakes and made a swift
U-turn on a one-way street. Blaring horns screeched about his illegal activity,
but he didn’t care. He cruised down the gutter a hundred yards before turning
onto the street that would take him back toward Nicole’s house. “I’m a couple
of blocks away.”

“Don’t interfere. Let my men handle it.”

His frustration got the better of him. “Then why
the hell did you even tell me?”

Sam paused. “I don’t know. I thought you’d want
to know.”

“I’ll see you there.” He ended the call, fishing
his gun out of the glove box before stepping on the accelerator. He hated the
part of him that insisted on running to her defense. She didn’t deserve it, but
damn it, love was a hard thing to kill.

*        *        *

Nicole couldn’t form a sentence. Her brain didn’t
have a clue how to piece together the madness unfolding in front of her. She
and Mary stood outside her apartment, Riley bleeding out at their feet.

“Where’s the money? Mary lifted the gun, pointing
it at Nicole’s forehead.

Fear iced her veins. “I didn’t take the money
from First Freedom.”

“I know you didn’t.” She leaned forward and
whispered, “We did.” The strong odor of stale tobacco on her breath gagged
Nicole. She had no idea Mary smoked. She’d always been this quiet thing that
never made waves.

“I don’t understand. If you have the money, why
are you here?”

Mary moved forward until the barrel hit her
between the brows. “The other money,” she whispered. “The offshore account.”

“I don’t have it.” Mary wanted the sixteen
million. How she knew about it was beyond her. “I-I mean, it’s not here. It’s
in an account in Singapore. But I could get it.” She had no clue how to access
it.

“No shit. Why do you think I’m here? She took a
step back, waving her gun at an unconscious Riley. “Get him inside.”

Nicole grabbed Riley’s hands, grateful to find
they were still warm. He groaned when she began to tug. The puddle of blood
near his mid-section seemed too large for him to still be alive, but he wasn’t
dead. Not yet.

Mary pulled out her cell while Nicole worked to
move Riley. “She’ll cooperate. I’ll make sure of it.” She paused. “Yeah, he was
here. Just like you thought. There was an unfortunate incident, so we can’t
stay here long. Someone might see the blood on the floor and call the police.” Mary
glanced down the hall. “Of course I used my silencer, douche. The fucking gun
still makes noise. Call me when you have the location. I’m giving you five
minutes.”

*        *        *

Nicole sat on her couch, unable to stop her
tremors. Mary hovered over her, restless and agitated. She kept her pistol
pointed at her, waiting for someone to call. Riley remained motionless where
she’d dragged him near the front door before Mary had forced her to the couch,
and she feared he’d died. All because he tried to protect her.

“Why are you doing this?”

Mary grinned, her dark eyes glinting. “Because I
can. Because I like power. Because everyone thinks they can walk all over mousy
Mary, and she’s going to take it.”

“I’ve never done anything to hurt you.” Nicole
tried to be kind to everyone she came across, though she
had
inwardly
thought of Mary as mousy.

“Doesn’t matter. Your dad did. To Mr. Donati. He
screwed him over on a deal they were supposed to share.” She displayed a sickly
sweet smile. “Sometimes children have to pay for their parent’s sins.”

“I don’t even know Mr. Donati.” Though she was
pretty sure she’d heard his name associated with her father before.

“He knows you.”

This still didn’t make any sense. “Why couldn’t
you have just asked for the money? Why did you have to set me up?”

“It was a ploy to put you at our mercy. See,
that’s one of the reasons I like working for Mr. Donati. He doesn’t want only
the money. He likes the game of it, likes using his mind. Did you know he’s the
one who sent the headhunters after you with a job?”

“No.” She’d never suspected. Never had a chance. They’d
been plotting against her, and she’d been clueless.

“It was our first chess move.” She snorted. “You
didn’t even know we were playing. He’d already planned a job there, already had
me in place. It worked out perfectly. The police…no one suspected anyone but
you.” She frowned and glanced at her watch. “After the accident with your aunt
didn’t pan out, we knew we had to come up with something spectacular. If she’d
have had access to the money, she would have touched it for medical bills
instead of mortgaging her house. So, we figured he must have given the money to
you
.” She pinned her with a crazed smile. “I came up with my brilliant
plan that Mr. Donati loved. Lots of twists and turns, ending with you
ultimately paying for your dad’s mistakes.”

She had a feeling Mary didn’t mean only paying
with money.

“My plan gave us another ten million in addition
to what your dad took, and you’d either end up in jail serving his time, or
we’d figure out another way to use you to get revenge.”

She swallowed a large lump of fear. Mary was not
sane, and she was not nice. Chances of Nicole surviving to see the sun rise
were almost nil. She’d never get an opportunity to explain things to Xander. He’d
believe she went down because of her crimes. Even if the police showed, there
was no guarantee she’d come out alive.

With the way Mary was spilling information, it
was obvious she intended to kill her. “Mr. Barton? Was he in on it, too? She
might as well learn what she could.

“Not exactly. He was easy to bribe after you
hired him. We paid him well to represent you, but keep you under control. Nothing
illegal about that.” She chuckled. “Although, he did earn his keep by figuring
out someone else was in your video.” She smiled. “Of course, we took care of
that minor detail, too.”

“The police still have a copy of it.”

Mary grinned. “Do they?”

Xander had one, too, but she wasn’t going to
mention that. Wasn’t going to tell this psycho that Xander had seen the
mysterious figure, too. Even if she died, Xander would continue to look into it.
He was too smart to not want to know who the second person was in the video.

Mary glanced at her watch again and cursed. “We
can’t stay any longer. Dumb fucks for not having this set up in time,” she
muttered under her breath as she stood. “They really shouldn’t push me, you
know?” she said, waving Nicole to her feet with her gun. “I’m the one in
control of the goods right now, and if I was in charge of the organization, I
would have found that offshore account information before the police
ever
did.”

“How
did
you find out about it? For that
fact, how had Xander?

She narrowed her gaze. “Enough talk. Time to go.”

Nicole frantically searched for a reason to delay
their leaving. If she could keep her there a little longer, the police would be
there any minute.

“
Now
,” Mary demanded.

Nicole walked forward, eyeing the motionless
Riley. If she had to wonder how deadly these people were, there was her answer.

As they neared the front door, Mary grabbed her
hair, yanking until she whimpered. “Don’t try anything because I promise you’ll
regret it. If you don’t pay for your father’s crimes, we can always go back to
your aunt.”

She tried to breathe past her fear. Keep a clear
head. Watch for an opportunity.

Nicole nodded her agreement, and Mary opened the
door, pushing her into the hallway. She prayed for an answer to her dilemma.

There was nothing.

She descended the first flight of steps, Mary’s
gun at her back, listening for sirens. There wasn’t another soul in sight as
they came upon a landing before starting down the next set of stairs.

As they turned the corner halfway down to the
first floor, Xander appeared, racing up the stairs.

The second he spotted her, he stopped. She froze,
causing Mary to bump into her.

He glanced between the two women as though trying
to understand the situation. “Duck,” he yelled as he pulled a gun from the back
of his waistband. Before Nicole could follow his orders, a shot rang out from
behind her, and she watched in horror as it hit Xander in the side of his
torso.

She crumpled to the stairs in shock as Xander
returned fire. The bullet whizzed past her and lodged in Mary’s leg. She fell,
knocking Nicole as she went down. Her gun landed on the stair below them.

She met Mary’s gaze, and they both realized
whoever got the gun first would win this round.

Nicole slammed an elbow into the growing red spot
on Mary’s leg, earning a cry of pain from her captor.

“Bitch,” Mary yelled as Nicole wrenched from her
grasp, sliding down a couple of stairs, snatching the gun on her way.

She reacted without thinking and pointed it at
Mary. Terror rumbled through her as she tried to keep the weapon steady. “Don’t
move.” She blindly grabbed for the handrail and pulled herself to her feet. She
backed down several more stairs in order to put a safer distance between them.

She gave Xander a quick glance, finding him also
on the floor, crimson blood staining his gray shirt. “Shit.” She needed to help
him. And she needed to keep Mary under control.

Before she could do anything, the sound of sirens
ripped through the night, and the tight band around her lungs eased. Within
seconds, the scene was flooded with officers, two checking Xander and Mary,
another disarming her and asking her name.

“There’s another man in my apartment. Mary shot
him. Apartment twenty-two. Third floor. He’s hurt very badly.” She couldn’t
vocalize her fears that he might be dead.

The policeman nodded to another coming up the
stairs. “Gunshot victim in apartment twenty-two.” The second cop rushed up the
next flight of stairs, calling for medical assistance as he went.

Nicole tried to explain to the officer what had
happened, but he cut her off and read her rights before leading her down the
stairs. She caught a glimpse of Xander between the two EMTs who worked on him. His
face was pale, but his eyes were open.

She held his gaze as she passed, trying to convey
what she felt, but she wasn’t sure he was coherent enough to realize what was
taking place around him.

Then the officer forced her out the door and into
the drizzling night. Xander’s Corvette was parked outside, and Apollo
continuously barked at the commotion.

Janie’s boyfriend arrived just as the officer led
her to his car. His gaze shifted from cop to cop and then he widened his eyes
when he spotted her in handcuffs.

“Paul,” Nicole called to him. “Please take Apollo
inside. Janie will watch him. Have her get Stormy, too.” She hated asking him
for a favor, knowing his true nature, but there was no one else.

He nodded, still looking a little surprised. But
she saw him lead Apollo toward the building as the officer put her in the back
of his car. At least the dogs would be okay.

She prayed Xander would.

*        *       *

Once again, Nicole sat in the small interrogation
room far more afraid than she had been the first go round. This time, direct
evidence connected her to a crime, even if it wasn’t the ten million from First
Freedom. Worse, it was most likely blood money. Money her father had stolen
from Xander’s dad. Money that could have cost her aunt her life. Money that
would certainly cost her Xander’s love if not her freedom.

A chill hovered in the air, and she wished she
had a jacket to keep her warm.

After nearly an hour, the door opened, and
Detective Holden walked in, his jacket and ball cap still wet from the rain.

“How is Xander?”

“Mr. Secrist is in surgery at the moment, having
a bullet removed.” He took a seat across from her.

Tears burned behind her eyes. “Will they let you
know when he’s out of surgery and if he’s okay? He had to be fine. There was no
alternative.

“I’m certain someone from the hospital will call
the precinct. We would like to question Mr. Secrist at the first possible
moment.” He assessed her with intense brown eyes. “For now, I’d like you to
tell me what your relationship is with him.”