Tristan (The Kendall Family #1) (18 page)

“Uh, Tristan?”

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

“So am I, sweetheart,” said Derek, mockingly. “Everybody inside.”

Victoria backed away as Rick entered first. “What’s going on?”

Tristan ushered her back into the room, keeping his body between her and the gun. Derek and Larry entered, closing the door. Tristan’s pained expression caused her to look past him to the gun pointed at Tristan’s back. She gasped.

“Turn around, golden boy,” commanded Derek.

Tristan kissed Victoria on the cheek and did as he was told, keeping her directly behind him so that she had to look over his shoulder.

“Well,” began Derek, “it seems we have a situation. If you behave yourselves… Well, okay, that’s a lie. I’m planning to kill both of you.”

“What?” Victoria asked in shock.

Derek continued. “It’s just a question of who else you make me kill while I’m at it.”

“How about nobody?” Tristan suggested.

“I second that,” said Rick.

“Shut up,” snapped Derek. “Both of you. I’d rather murder you than go to prison for some grand larceny bullshit.”

“Well you can’t do it here,” said Rick, stalling him.

“I need a car. Jane’s got one?”

“Yeah.”

Derek ordered Larry, “Go get the keys. Bring her in here, too.” Larry looked at Rick for approval to do this, and Derek snapped, “Don’t look at him!
I’m
in charge here.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Rick, holding up placating hands and nodding at Larry as if to suggest he do whatever Derek said. As Larry left, silence descended on the room.

“Tristan,” Victoria began quietly, “what in the world is going on?”

He shot a look at Rick as he answered, “CMS stole my bike and this guy rode it down here. I caught him outside with it. I’m a witness, so…”

In disbelief, she stared at the CMS owner and quietly asked, “Rick?”

He looked her in the eye very briefly before glancing away, as if ashamed.

Tristan eyed their captors. From the way Rick nervously looked at the gun and Derek, and the guilty glances at Tristan and Victoria, Tristan realized that Rick was in over his head. Larry seemed even worse. Tristan wondered if he could overpower Derek and meet little resistance from the others. Maybe this wasn’t really three guys against one, but just him and Derek.

“Isn’t there another way to do this?” Rick asked.

Derek said, “No.”

“What if we read them in on it?” Rick suggested. “Tristan’s been asking me about getting involved in the business.”

“Somehow I doubt this is what he had in mind.”

Tristan remarked, “Well it’s better than being dead.”

“You’ll never know,” said Derek.

The door opened and Larry and Jane entered before closing it again. The room wasn’t really big enough for all of them to be there comfortably. Tristan wondered if the closeness could work against Derek somehow. He could only shoot one before the other four jumped him, but that took coordination. Tristan frowned. Victoria could be the one shot. Saving her was all that mattered now. Getting himself killed without preventing Derek from hurting her was pointless. That made him wonder about Jane, who now also knew what was going on.

“Are you gonna kill Jane, too?” Tristan asked.

“She’s with me,” Derek announced.

As if to prove that point, Jane pulled a gun from her purse and kept it at the ready.

Shit,
thought Tristan.
Should’ve kept my mouth shut. Then again, I would’ve been surprised if I’d counted on her help. So now it’s two of them definitely into this, and two not.

“Well you can’t do it here,” repeated Rick, breaking his thoughts and shooting him a look that Tristan interpreted as helping to stall. “Where will you take them?”

Derek pulled out his phone. “I know a guy who can find me something.” To Jane, he said, “Keep an eye on them.” He examined the window, making sure no one could get out that way. Then he stepped into the hallway and closed the door. Larry discreetly moved closer to it and cocked his ear as if eavesdropping.

Tristan asked, “What have you gotten yourself mixed up in?”

The CMS owner frowned. “You don’t understand.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m asking,” Tristan observed. Rick didn’t answer, so after a moment, he tried more aggression. “Are you ready to be an accessory to murder?”

“He’s not…” Rick stopped.

“Yes he is. He’s gonna take us somewhere and either kill us himself or get someone else to do it. That’s what he’s arranging right now.”

From behind Tristan, where she was clutching him, Victoria trembled. “You can’t let him do this, Rick.”

Rick gestured angrily. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this!”

“What wasn’t?” Tristan asked. “Stealing my bike?”

“No! Yes. All of it.”

Tristan asked, “All of what? What the hell is going on? Who
is
that guy?”

From where he stood by the door, trying to listen to Derek’s conversation through it, Larry said, “Tell him, Rick.”

“What good will
that
do?” Rick asked.

Victoria said, “If you’re gonna have us killed, you can at least tell us why.”

Rick closed his eyes and sighed before opening them again. When his gaze fell on Jane, who stood looking at him with a mixture of pity and amusement, his eyes hardened. He looked Tristan in the eye. “It’s the Goddamn mob, okay? I didn’t get involved with them on purpose.”

Tristan went cold. “Then why?”

Rick gestured futilely. “I did really well in the stock market years ago and opened CMS and the restaurant. Then the damn market crashed and creditors came after me. By then I had the wife, three kids, and the big house. I went to a loan shark in New Jersey. Should’ve known better, but I was desperate. Once I got involved with that guy, they started sending stolen parts and bikes for me to sell. At first I didn’t know that, but ignorance doesn’t get you off from the cops. I was fucked, but I was still holding out, trying not to get more involved like they wanted.”

He paused and shot a glance at Jane. “And I just found out they set me up so that I’d give in. They sent Jane here to seduce me, I guess, without me knowing that until just now. They took photos. When they blackmailed me, I thought they’d just been tailing me and caught me in the act, but they were behind it the whole time. You’re a good actress, honey, I’ll give you that.”

“It was a job,” she coolly replied. “And it paid well. Besides, don’t go around thinking you’re the only ones they’ve got their hooks in.”

Rick looked startled at that.

“Wow,” said Victoria. “Jesus, Rick.”

“So what happened then?” Tristan asked, stalling for time.

“Using the photos,” began Rick, “they told me they’d show them to my wife if I didn’t agree to help with the stolen bikes and parts. I’ve been doing it ever since.” He turned to Jane as if having a thought. “And why have you been doing this ever since? Why not just once with me?”

She admitted, “They wanted fresh evidence of your affairs all the time, in case the photos were needed.”

He flushed with anger, feeling rejected and used. “That’s fucking great.”

Trying to sound sympathetic, Tristan remarked, “Okay, so you’re not a killer, or accessory to murder. Yet. Are you drawing the line there?”

Jane spoke first. “Doesn’t matter, because I’m already an accessory before today, so what’s one more?”

“Two,” said Rick, glaring at her. “Or is counting not among your skills?”

She pointed the gun at him. “Shut up or I’ll make it three.”

The door opened and Derek returned. “Okay, we’re leaving.” He pointed the gun at Tristan and Victoria. “You two, and Jane. Rick and whoever-you-are will stay here,” he said to Larry.

“Tristan,” Victoria whispered in his ear, her tone urgent.

Tristan squeezed her hand. “We’re not going with you.”

“You want to be shot here?”

“You won’t. You’ll get caught.”

“But if you don’t come with me, I’ll get caught anyway, for grand larceny, so there’s no difference for me, only you.”

“Theft is a lot better than murder.”

Derek shook his head. “You won’t be the first ones I’ve killed, so getting caught for anything means going down for murder. But for you, well, you can either die here, right now, and doom your girl to death, too, or you can come with me and die somewhere else.”

“If I’m going to die, why does it matter where?”

“Because death is certain here, but if you come quietly, who knows? Maybe God will save you or some stupid shit like that. Slim chance or no chance. Take your pick.” Derek aimed the gun at Victoria’s head.

Tristan’s heart clenched at the sight and a vast hatred of Derek roared up within him. But there was nothing he could do. Not yet. The man was right. Here and now was certain, but any number of things could happen on the way to their execution somewhere else. He let out a big breath and squeezed Victoria’s hand, slowly moving toward the door with her trailing behind, her grip on him like steel.

Chapter 18 – Lifelines

Riley Kendall had pretty good instincts. They had saved his life a few times in the Marines. And sometimes while riding a motorcycle on the notoriously bad traffic on D.C.’s beltway. Even while just living his life, there had been the countless little moments of trusting his judgment and later having it confirmed. So when the impulse to drop by the Somerset Inn struck him, he exited the Dairy Queen where he’d eaten dinner and mounted his Harley.

With a roar, Riley’s Night Rod came to life and he strapped on the helmet. He’d swing by to say hello to Tristan and Victoria before heading home through Charlottesville instead of up Skyline Drive, which wound through a National Park that was closing for the night at any minute now. He merged onto I-64, heading toward the setting sun. It took less than ten minutes to reach the inn. On nearing it, he saw Tristan’ stolen motorcycle on the driveway running past the building.

Son of a bitch. Wonder if Tristan has seen that. Could get tricky fast.

He saw no one outside and passed the inn, pulling into the next driveway. The thief and Tristan together meant trouble. Getting to Tristan fast took priority over calling Officer Conway, who’d earlier given Riley his phone number—and a citation for running a red light. But when Riley realized he couldn’t just walk in the front door because the thief might see him and know something was up, he called anyway. After hearing the news, Conway said he’d be there with reinforcements in ten minutes and to stay put, but Riley felt that would be too late.

A low stone wall surrounded the inn’s small front yard, but he bypassed the front entrance for the building’s side, pausing at the first window to peer in. An unoccupied bathroom. He moved to the next window. An elegant dining room, with two couples enjoying dessert. Continuing around flower beds and bushes to the final window, he looked in. Empty. Just the bottom of the stairs, a foyer, and a registration desk.

Suddenly a woman’s legs appeared, descending the stairs. As Victoria came into view, he felt relief. But another woman came down right behind her, discreetly holding a gun at Victoria’s back. Shock ripped through Riley. Then the Marine snapped into focus, pulling out his own weapon.

Tristan descended next, and right behind him, the bike thief, holding a gun at Tristan’s back. The four paused at the bottom, all glancing around for witnesses. Riley watched them move toward the back door. He made it to the rear corner and watched them enter a gold Acura MDX SUV, which faced away from him, offering no clear shot at the kidnappers. The thief sat behind the wheel, Tristan and Victoria were in back, and the woman took the front passenger seat, turned around, and trained her gun on them.

When the car started, headlights blazing on, Riley realized the thief had to drop the gun to drive. Only the girl would be ready. As a trained sniper, he could take her out fast despite the darkness. He might even get the driver quickly enough, but it was risky. And there’d be the question of whether Riley had murdered them, but he’d accept jail before letting Tristan and Victoria be killed, which seemed the obvious outcome here.

As the car turned down the driveway on the opposite side of the house, Riley took off at a run down his side of the house. Both made it to the front yard at the same time. No traffic was coming so the SUV pulled out without hesitation. Riley swore. It turned away, giving him no shot. He noted the license plate and ran for his motorcycle and jumped on, not bothering with the helmet, which he just knocked to the ground while holstering his Nighthawk. He took off in pursuit.

* * *

Larry watched from upstairs as the kidnappers left, red tail lights vanishing into a darkness that matched the feeling in his heart. A beautiful day had turned sinister. He felt sick.

He’d known about Rick’s affair with Jane and the operation for years, but the details were largely kept from him. He’d been in charge of shipments when he’d overheard Rick lying to Sheriff Ryan about where a bike had come from. Snooping had led to catching his boss in more lies and finally Rick had read him in on it.

He’d found out about Jane, too, but not the blackmailing, because a drunk Rick had let it slip one night while bemoaning the state of his marriage and this business with the mob. It helped explain why Rick had been adamant for so long that no one else from CMS come on the trips; it was impossible to not realize he was screwing someone other than his wife while here. Since then, several other employees had become part of the operation, even being the ones stealing bikes, like they had with Tristan’s. They’d never stolen Victoria’s because Larry told them he wouldn’t tolerate something being done to her. And now something so much worse was underway.

“We have to do something,” Larry said to Rick.

“Like what? We don’t even know where they’re going.”

“I overheard Derek through the door. They’re going to a warehouse in Crozet. I have the address.”

Rick perked up. “Well, that’s a start.”

Larry pulled a gun out of his trousers. “I’ve been carrying this for a while,” he admitted, holding it with vague familiarity instead of the confidence of Derek. “So at least one of us has a gun.”