Part 14 (1/2)
”Where've you been? We were getting worried!”
Nicole lifted her head only to find that she'd somehow made her way back to the restaurant on autopilot. Both Danielle and her father were both staring at her. The father's expression was unreadable but she recognized the look on Danielle's face. Nicole had seen it before-when she told Danielle she was moving out; concern and worry were etched in the lines wrinkling her brow, but the hurt in the depths of those green eyes back then was missing now.
Nicole quickly relayed a tale about the restroom being closed and her inability to find another without a lengthy line. She watched their reactions, searching both of their faces for a flicker of-what? Disbelief? Doubt?
Perhaps criminal justice or psychology course or two might have helped prepare her for this crazy situation that still seemed unreal.
”Dad and I have been coming up with a plan,” Danielle announced excitedly as Nicole slid back into their booth. ”No doubt, they know where the bonds are hidden. It's just a matter of time before they try to get them before you do, so we have to move first. Beat them to the punch, so to speak.”
”They?” Nicole turned and fixed her eyes on Danielle's father. ”Do you have any idea who these people are?”
”They're high up, that's for sure,” Rhyse murmured vaguely.
”So why remove the stocks from the bank at all?” she persisted, more than a little unnerved at how prophetic Kira's words had been. That has to count for something, she thought. ”Isn't that the safest place in the world to keep them right now?”
Father and daughter quickly exchanged a glance, and Nicole could have bitten off her tongue. She'd just confirmed the stocks were indeed at the bank.
”Remember who we're dealing with. These people are professionals of a caliber equivalent to the CIA,” Rhyse said. ”They've probably already obtained a warrant or some other sham doc.u.ment to get inside the bank. Everyday working stiffs are easily conned. If someone looks the part and acts with confidence and authority, no one questions them. Combine that facade with bogus credentials, or maybe even real ones, and they're in.”
No doubt spoken from experience, Nicole thought. The waitress came and placed the bill in the center of the table. A s.h.i.+ver ran down her spine as she watched the colonel's long, thick fingers grab the check. She swallowed hard, fighting her revulsion.
”While you two go to the bank, I'm going to see an old friend at the Department of Justice who might be able to help us,” the colonel said, pulling several ten-dollar bills from his wallet and laying them down next to his empty plate. ”Call me when you have the stocks,” he ordered, looking at Danielle. ”We'll coordinate a meeting place. Stay safe, both of you, and if you see anyone suspicious, call the police.”
Call the police?
Was that guidance a criminal would advise? Was he just saying the words for effect? Nicole was confused-but then took a deep breath. Just be aware, she reminded herself.
They parted ways at the taxi stand outside baggage claim. As the colonel climbed into a cab and disappeared from sight, Nicole mused on the possibility that Rhyse Taylor could be telling the truth about everything. But if he were, then Kira was a liar. And she didn't want to even consider that as a possibility.
”Where to?” Danielle asked as they exited the airport. Nicole plugged the bank's address into the Garmin and Danielle let the computerized man's voice dictate when and where to turn. They didn't say a word to one another, and the atmosphere in the car grew increasingly strained with each pa.s.sing mile. Nicole didn't have it in her to make polite conversation, at least not with a microphone strapped to her chest transmitting every remark she made, so she sat rigidly in her seat, loosely gripping the stun-pen her pocket.
”Do you think we might be friends when all this is over?”
Nicole looked over at Danielle. She was doing a good a job of acting the innocent. Far too good-was she that good an actress?
”Are you serious?” she asked, conscious of the wire taped to her chest. ”You pretended to be my friend. Everything was a lie between us.”
”Not everything,” Danielle said quickly. Nicole knew she was referring to their brief kiss, and she felt a blush steal over her cheeks. ”What if it was your mother, Nick? Wouldn't you have done the same if you were in my shoes?”
Nicole remembered what Kira had told her back in the restroom. If it was indeed true, right now Danielle believed her mother to be bound and gagged, sitting in the back of a car with two strange men. Something just didn't fit, and she couldn't figure it out. She longed to reach over, grab Danielle by the shoulder, and demand she come clean about everything-but the impulse remained nothing more than a fanciful whim. They were already at the bank.
”I'll wait here and keep a look-out,” Danielle said, her voice unsteady as she parallel parked the Escape in an empty spot between two compacts. ”Be careful. They might have been following us.”
Nicole sighed heavily as she extricated herself from the air-conditioned interior of the SUV. Hopefully, Danielle was right. She cast an uneasy glance at the traffic zooming by. Where was Bogie?
The sidewalk was busy. A group of three young girls hurried past her, gripping grease-splattered paper bags from a fast-food restaurant, their faces glued to their phones. She looked around, trying not to appear too conspicuous. Were any of the pedestrians plants from the government, ready to pull a gun from some hidden holster at the slightest sign of threat?
Inside the bank, it was quiet and cool. A man in a suit and tie tried to make eye contact with her, but she made a beeline straight toward the garishly made-up woman who'd helped her yesterday. Once inside the vault and the safety-deposit box was open, Nicole quickly scooped up all the stock certificates and shoved them into her bag. She glanced at the bundles of cash and decided to leave them behind-no one had said anything about the cash, after all. Before returning the box to its slot, she looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching. Placing an index finger over the hole in her s.h.i.+rt where the camera lens was filming her every move, she folded the envelope with the incomprehensible gibberish printed on one side of paper and the names written on the other and stuffed it inside the cup of her bra. On her way out, she grabbed the pen-shaped stun gun and tightly clutched it inside the folds of her fist.
”You have them? They were still there?” Danielle asked when Nicole returned to the car. The stun gun in Nicole's hand became hot and slippery as she reflexively clenched and unclenched her fingers around its slick metal. Sitting on the center console of the car was a leather pocketbook the color of warm paprika. It was wide open, as if recently rummaged through.
”Are you really going to do this?” Nicole questioned in a sad voice. She studied Danielle's face, paying close attention to her demeanor.
”Well, are you?” she repeated, trying to discern some little change in Danielle's expression that would confirm or deny her guilt. But there was no telltale bead of perspiration dripping from her hairline, no nervous s.h.i.+fting of the eyes.
”What are you talking about?” Danielle put the Escape in reverse, turning the wheel sharply to maneuver the front of the vehicle away from the curb. ”Were the stocks still there or not?”
”I have them.”
Their eyes met. In the depths of the hazel eyes looking back at her, Nicole saw nothing but honesty. And there was still that smidgeon of suspicion wedged somewhere in the back of her subconscious concerning Kira. How else could she explain the envelope stuffed inside her bra, the sharp corners of the stiff paper irritating the tender swell of her breast?
”Danielle, there's still time to get out of this. I'm not sure how your father is involved, but you don't have to take the fall with or for him. I'm positive they'll be lenient if you confess and help them with their investigation.”
”Investigation?”
Nicole squirmed uncomfortably but said nothing. Had she just blown everything?
”Tell me what on earth you're talking about, Nicole.” Danielle put the vehicle back in park. Her hands went to her lap and Nicole's eyes followed. Ensconced almost imperceptibly in the crevice between her two exposed thighs was what appeared to be the b.u.t.t of a gun, its dull faux-wood grain a sharp contrast in texture to the smoothness of Danielle's tanned flesh. Nicole cast a nervous glance out the winds.h.i.+eld. Where was the cavalry? Where was the SWAT team shouting for surrender from a megaphone? She fumbled with her s.h.i.+rt. Maybe when she'd stuffed the envelope inside her bra, a wire had come undone. She had to do something and quickly.
”Gun!” she shouted into the collar of her borrowed T-s.h.i.+rt.
Danielle's eyes were round with astonishment and incomprehension. The pen was still in Nicole's hand, but before she'd even contemplated exactly what she was going to do with it, a kaleidoscope of red and blue lights were flas.h.i.+ng all about them. Someone flung the car door open, jerked her into the street and into the arms of a uniformed police officer. After regaining her balance, she turned back. A pair of ebony arms pulled Danielle roughly from the car. An object fell from her grip. Nicole watched it crash to the asphalt with disbelieving eyes. Not a gun, but a hairbrush.
Chapter Twenty-three.
People were shouting. Sirens were now wailing. Nicole felt as if she'd just stepped off a roller coaster. The presence of the police officer standing somewhere to her left was rea.s.suring but it didn't stop the ground beneath her from s.h.i.+fting just a tad unevenly or the world all around her from beginning to spin wildly. A white Lexus emerged amidst the chaos and pulled up directly in front of her, its tires screeching as they came to a fast stop. The driver's side window was rolled down.
”I couldn't ride in on a white horse, but I found a white car.” It was Stella. Nicole fought an irrational wave of disappointment that it wasn't Kira.
”Come, kiddo, get in,” Stella fervently urged, reaching over in her seat and pus.h.i.+ng the pa.s.senger door ajar with her right arm. ”Everything's okay now.”
She wanted to move but couldn't. Her legs had gone wooden. Okay, so it had been a hairbrush and not a gun, but her body needed more time to adjust to that reality. For a brief, blood-curdling moment, she'd been envisioning the muzzle of a gun pressed against her forehead.
Suddenly warm, strong hands gripped her shoulders from behind, steering her around the hood of the car, then positioning her suddenly limp body into the seat next to Stella. Delicately feminine fingers pulled the seat belt across her lap and shoulder, tugging at the harness to ensure it was secure before fastening it. It took a moment for Nicole to realize that it wasn't the police officer tending to her well-being. The shapely, manicured fingers belonged to the same determined hands that had pulled her from the Escape.
”Get her away from this madness,” a woman's commanding voice dictated in a clipped tone. ”I'll find you when I'm done here.”
It was Kira. Nicole felt something tight inside her release. Stella was right. Everything was going to be okay.
”It was a hairbrush, not a gun,” she managed to mutter through lips that felt a bit rubbery. Her breathing was growing slow and shallow. She had to fight to catch her breath.
”Nicole, you're going pale. Listen to me. Inhale. Deeply. Here, let's remove the camera and mic.” With a quick, deliberate efficiency, Kira reached a hand down the front of her T-s.h.i.+rt and gently pulled the tapes and wire from her skin. The paper was still tucked into Nicole's bra. ”Look at me, let me see your pupils.” She searched Nicole's eyes. ”Good. Breathe. Deeper this time, slowly.” Kira took Nicole's wrist between two fingers while staring down at her watch. She was still in the same s.e.xy business outfit she'd been wearing at the airport, although the carefully coiffed chignon at the nape of her neck had come a bit undone.
”For a moment I thought you might be going into shock, but your vital signs are normal.”
”Your car. You found it,” she said almost accusingly.