Already Gone (22 page)

Mathew Pavel walks past me and down the stairs. Alek stays behind. I look down and see the bandage on his hand.

He notices and smiles.

“Send up a couple of the guys on your way out,” Gabby says. “We’ll finish this tonight.”

Alek stares at me. “What about this one?”

“He’s with me,” Gabby says.

The smile drops. “We didn’t discuss this.”

“That’s because it’s not negotiable.”

“Everything is negotiable.”

Gabby shakes his head. “No, he’s not part of this, and he’s leaving.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “Not without Diane.”

Alek looks past me to Gabby and frowns. “What is all this? We had an arrangement.”

“We still do. Nothing’s changed.”

Alek doesn’t say anything else. He stares at Gabby for a moment longer before pushing past me toward the stairs.

I turn to Gabby. “What’s—”

Gabby swings. His fist catches me under the jaw. It’s not even close to as hard as Gabby can hit, but the blow still has enough behind it to snap my head back and send a cold jolt of pain all the way down my spine.

I brace myself against the chair. Gabby comes closer, fists clenched.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he says.

I reach up and touch my jaw.

“I’m doing everything I can to keep you alive, and you’re doing all you can to fuck it up.” He points one finger at me. “From here on, you keep your mouth shut. Got it?”

“Why are they here?”

Gabby looks past me at the empty doorway then reaches for his drink. “It’s under control.”

“Under control?” I stammer over the words. “What—”

“We found out where they were this afternoon,” Gabby says. “But after you called and told me about the diamonds, I thought it would be better to talk to them.”

“They want to kill you.”

“Yes.” Gabby nods. “But tonight we’re partners.”

“I don’t understand.”

Gabby grabs the second glass from the coffee table and pours the scotch. “We made a deal, Jake.”

“A deal? As simple as that?”

Gabby hands me the glass, and this time I take it.

“Yes, as simple as that.”

“Can you trust them?”

“Nope.”

“Jesus.” I walk to the window. Down below, the trucks are loaded and closed. Briggs is standing in the lot talking to Hull. I look for Diane, but I don’t see her.

Gabby comes up behind me. “Do you have any idea how many diamonds are on those trucks?”

“I have to get down there, find Diane.”

“It’s hard to believe they were sitting in my warehouse this whole time.” He laughs. “Your old man, Jake.” He holds up his glass. “Here’s to him.”

I let him drink, then say, “Are you going to help me?”

Gabby looks at his empty glass, then turns back to the coffee table and the bottle. “I’m going to give you your father’s share. It’s a lot of money.”

“Keep it, but help me get her away from them before they find out what you just did.”

“Let them find out. It doesn’t matter.”

“They’ll kill her.”

Gabby laughs. “I doubt that.”

“Is this a joke to you?”

The smile drops, and the way Gabby looks at me makes my skin cold. “Use your head, kid. They’re not going to kill her. She’s helping them.”

“
What?
”

It’s not true, I know it’s not true, but hearing the words is like a punch in the chest.

“Diane fucked up and she’s been trying to save her own ass ever since.” He studies me for a moment, frowns. “You don’t think this is all a coincidence, do you? Her working with your old man, then jumping in bed with you right after he died?”

“She explained everything to me. She made a mistake, and I believe her.”

Gabby laughs, shakes his head.

“She thought I’d know where to find the statues. When she found out I didn’t, she stuck with me. She’s not lying.”

“Come on, Jake.”

“She married me. Do you really think she’d take it that far?”

“You were her best chance of finding them, her last chance. She rolled the dice on you, that’s it.”

I hesitate. “But she married me.”

“They’re worth millions.” He lifts the glass and drinks. “A lot of women marry for less, and you know it.”

I think back to the Diane I knew before the night I was attacked, before everything fell apart, and shake my head. “No, not her.”

Gabby takes a deep breath and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Think about it. They could’ve grabbed her anytime they wanted. You were the only chance she had of finding those statues and saving herself. She knew it, and they knew it, too. She had to get as close to you as possible, and they let her.”

“You’re wrong.”

Gabby shrugs. “No, you’re blind. But it doesn’t matter anymore. You’ve got your dad’s share and you can do anything you want, go anywhere in the world.”

“I’m not leaving without her.”

“I’m doing you a favor, Jake.”

I say it again, slower. “I’m not leaving her behind.”

Gabby turns away. “What do you know about this company of theirs? CDG Enterprises?”

“We don’t have time for this.”

“It’s not Briggs’s company,” Gabby says. “He wouldn’t be here if it was, too dangerous. Most likely he’s a field guy, someone who keeps things running smoothly.”

“So what?”

“So, all this, tonight, is just us cutting off the snake’s tail. They’ll send someone else in his place.” He pauses. “Unless we get lucky and he didn’t tell anyone he was coming.”

I can see where he’s going, so I stop him and say, “He called ahead. All those guys down there met us when we landed. Someone knows he’s here.”

Gabby nods. “But they didn’t know he was coming
here
.” He points to the ground. “You had to tell them where to go after you landed, am I right?”

I tell him he is, then add, “But you can’t be sure.”

“You can never be sure. It’s all a risk.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’ll move those SUVs out to the yard tonight,” he says. “They’ll be crushed and shipped away in the morning. One of the U-Haul trucks goes to the airport with me. We’ll unload the statues and fly them out.”

“What about the other one?”

The look on Gabby’s face changes, turns hard. “That one’s not my problem. That one goes to the Pavel brothers. Part of the deal. Fifty–fifty.”

“What about me and Diane?”

“You can come with me.”

“With Diane.”

“Jesus, Jake.” He shakes his head. “If you want to kill yourself over her, that’s up to you, but you’re not going to fuck this up for me.”

He starts to say more, but there’s a knock at the door, and we both turn to look.

Two of Gabby’s men come inside. They see Carlos lying on the floor and stop.

“No, not him. In the kitchen.” Gabby looks at me and holds up one finger. “Stay here.”

He walks away, giving instructions to the men.

I don’t listen.

Instead, I stare out the window at the lot and the swirling snow, fading in from the black sky. I think about Diane, and what Gabby said. He might not believe her, but I do, and nothing he says will change that.

Down below, Briggs’s men get into the two trucks and start the engines. I still don’t see Diane. Every part of me wants to run down and find her, but if I go without Carlos, Briggs will know what happened and things will turn bad.

All I can do is follow Gabby’s lead.

I stay at the window and watch Briggs walk back to the town car with Hull, and I feel my stomach twist.

I turn to the kitchen and start to tell Gabby that they’re leaving. Then I notice the industrial gate at the lot entrance start to move, locking everyone inside.

I yell back, “The gate is closed.”

No one answers.

I hear the three of them shuffling around in the kitchen, then Gabby’s voice. “You got it?”

Something heavy hits the floor.

A minute later, Gabby comes back into the living room, swirling his drink in his hand. The two men follow him out, carrying the metal oven door that Gabby had hung on the wall.

For the first time, Gabby’s plan starts to come clear.

“What are you doing?”

Gabby opens the door and watches the two men ease their way down the stairs, slowly. He doesn’t look at me until the men are out and the door is closed.

“Where were we?” he asks.

“What are you going to do?”

“Only what needs to be done.”

I start to ask about Diane again, but Gabby stops me. “I’m looking out for you, Jake, and you need to trust me. You’re too close to see that she’s lying to you.”

“She’s not lying to me.”

“Even if that’s true, she knows too much about me, and I don’t trust her.” He pauses. “I can’t let her leave here tonight.”

It takes a minute for what he’s saying to sink in, but before I can say anything, I hear someone yell outside in the lot, then a gunshot.

I look out the window and see Gabby’s men pulling everyone from the SUVs, taking their guns and leading them to the dock.

Hull is lying on the ground, pressing his hand against his stomach, trying to sit up.

Mathew Pavel is standing over him, watching. He’s holding a gun in one hand. He lifts it, slow, then fires once into Hull’s head.

The snow behind him turns dark.

I don’t see Briggs, and I don’t see Diane.

“You’ll thank me one day,” Gabby says. “You will.”

I move past him.

He reaches for my arm. “Don’t, Jake.”

I pull free and grab the silver handgun off the chair where Gabby dropped it and head for the stairs.

I expect him to try to stop me, but he just stays at the window, sipping his drink, watching.

I hear several more gunshots as I hurry down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Every muscle in my body screams at me to stop, but I ignore the pain.

Halfway down my foot slips and I fall backward, hitting the stairs hard, then there’s nothing. When I open my eyes again, I’m lying at the foot of the stairs, staring up at a dark ceiling, my vision fading in and out.

Gabby’s gun is lying next to me. I reach over to pick it up, then feel hands on my shirt, lifting me, slamming me against the wall.

Alek Pavel is in front of me, holding me up. One of his hands moves to my neck, and I feel my feet leave the ground. I can’t breathe.

He watches me struggle, silent.

I grab his hand and try to pull away, but my ribs shift in my chest, and I don’t have the strength.

Alek’s breath smells like peppermint and sour milk.

He leans in, whispers, “This isn’t over between us.”

My legs twitch, slapping against the wall.

I can’t stop them, and I close my eyes.

Behind the slow rhythm of Alek’s breathing, I hear a soft click. Then my feet touch the ground and he lets go.

I can breathe again.

I look up and see Gabby standing behind Alek with a small pistol pointed at a spot just behind his left ear.

For a minute, there’s only silence. Then Gabby says, “I don’t want to break our deal, but if you won’t honor it, I won’t have a choice.”

Alek turns, and Gabby takes a step back.

“You will control this one,” Alek says. “Or I will.”

Gabby lowers the gun, slow.

Alek walks through the door leading out to the loading dock. He doesn’t look back.

I lean forward, bracing my hands against my knees, waiting for my breath to return.

Gabby slides the gun into the back of his belt and says, “Come on, let’s go.”

“But Diane—”

He turns on me, fast, and I can’t help but flinch.

“Enough! You stick with me, or you’re on your own.”

I swallow, taste blood. If I don’t follow him, I have no doubt about what will happen. Right now, Gabby is my only chance of finding Diane and getting away.

“What’s it going to be, Jake?”

“I’m with you.”

He nods, then walks through the door to the loading dock.

I follow him, and when we step out by the freight elevator, my legs stop moving. No matter how hard I try, I can’t take another step.

“My God.”

Two of Briggs’s men are dead, their bodies stacked on the loading dock just outside the elevator. Hull is still lying where he fell in the parking lot, and Alek Pavel is kneeling over him, searching his pockets as the snow falls soft around him.

I don’t see Diane or Briggs.

“Where is she?”

Gabby presses the call button on the elevator, then looks up at the floor light above the doors. He doesn’t answer me right away.

I ask again.

“Don’t worry, they’ll bring her in.”

I look down at one of the men lying on the dock next to the elevator. His eyes are open, staring at me, his lips twitching. There is a wide hole in his stomach, and the blood leaking out looks black.

The elevator stops. Gabby pulls the doors open and steps inside. “Let’s go, Jake.”

It takes a second to turn away, but I do.

I stand next to Gabby as the elevator doors close.

Neither of us says a word.

When the doors open, the heat hits me hard, pushing me back. The air in the basement smells like gas, making it hard to breathe.

Gabby doesn’t seem to notice.

I follow him out.

The sliding metal doors separating the main basement from the oven room are open, and I see the orange light from the flames climb the cement walls and cut into the shadows, revealing a spider web of pipes overhead.

Mathew Pavel is standing next to the oven with two of Gabby’s men, all three trying to lift Carlos’s body onto a metal rack in front of the open oven door.

I can’t turn away.

Gabby walks to the desk in the corner, then takes the gun out of his belt and sits down. He runs a hand over his face and through his hair. He stares at me.

“How hard are you going to make this?”

I’m focused on the flames, and I don’t answer him.

“You really don’t see it, do you?”

In the oven room, the three of them manage to get Carlos on the rack, then slide him into the oven. Once he’s inside, they close the metal door and press down on the handle, locking it in place.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your wife, Jake.”

One of Gabby’s men slides a lever on the side of the oven. There is a soft hiss of gas, then a low rush of fire.

I turn away and look at Gabby.

“Nothing you say is going to make me believe she’s working with Briggs,” I say. “Nothing.”

“I shouldn’t have to say anything to convince you.”

“I should just take your word for it?”

“You’re goddamn right, you should.” He frowns. “Don’t you think you can trust me, Jake?”

There’s an edge to the question, and I know I have to be careful. “I trust you,” I say. “But I know you, and you always have to be right, even when you’re not.” I hesitate. “And you’re wrong about her.”

Gabby laughs. I don’t like the sound.

The light above the elevator flashes and the doors open. Two of Gabby’s men are inside, standing next to three bodies. I feel my chest clench, and for a second I think one of them is Diane, but it’s not.

I listen to the blood pulsing behind my ears and try to focus. I recognize two of the bodies as the men lying outside the elevator upstairs on the dock.

The third is Hull.

Matthew comes over and helps the other two pull the bodies out of the elevator and move them to the oven.

Gabby watches.

When they’re gone, he looks up at me and says, “You need to prepare yourself for what’s coming.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see his men lift one of the bodies onto the metal rack.

I already know, but I ask anyway.

“What’s coming?”

The men slide the rack into the oven and close the door.

“You’re leaving here alone tonight.” He pauses. “I’m sorry, but it’s out of my hands. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

In the next room, one of the men pulls the lever, and I hear the soft hiss of gas followed by the familiar hiss of fire. Something slams against the door, and an instant later, the screaming starts. The sound is flat, muted.

One of Gabby’s men runs forward, reaching for the door.

Mathew holds out his hand, stopping him.

The screaming stops as fast as it started, leaving only the hollow roar of the flames.

The floor under me shifts, and I reach out for something to brace myself on.

“Are you listening to me?”

“He was still alive!”

“Yes,” Gabby says. “And now he’s not.”

I want to say something, but the words don’t come.

“You need to listen to me.” He points to the oven. “If you don’t, they’re going to throw you in there and I won’t be able to stop them. My ass is on the line here, too. I can’t help you this time.”

I open my mouth to speak, but my throat burns. All I can say is, “I can’t leave her.”

Gabby gets up and puts a hand on my shoulder. “But you will.” He turns and walks into the oven room, leaving me alone.

Beside me, the elevator light flashes.

I step closer.

I tell myself that when the doors open, I’m going to make a run for it. I’m going to go back up and find Diane, then I’m getting her away from here, even if we have to jump the gate to get out.

The elevator stops. I close my eyes and breathe deep. All my muscles are tight, ready to go. Then the doors slide open, and I hear voices.

I open my eyes.