Emily Kimelman - Sydney Rye 03 - Insatiable (30 page)

“He’s not worth it,” she said as she passed me.

Mulberry picked up the men’s guns and then stepped over the recently pardoned gunman. “Who do you work for?” he asked. The man shook his head. Mulberry dug the heel of his boot into the man’s wounded foot. “Who do you work for!” The man screamed in pain. “Answer me and we’ll leave,” Mulberry said, leaning down into the man’s face.

“Global,” he said. “Global.”

“That’s what I thought.” Mulberry left the man lying in the dirt and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Come on,” he yelled to us, “let’s go.” Dan bent down and wrapped his arm under my shoulders. He heaved me off the ground. I gripped him. Keeping my injured leg up, I used my good one to hobble to the SUV. Dan helped me into the passenger side. The other three piled into the back with Blue. Mulberry pulled out of the dusty parking lot.

My leg was aching but it didn’t feel like there was anything inside me. Inspecting the blackened fabric around the wound I saw that it was a graze. The sun was setting. Mulberry turned on the headlights to navigate through the quickly darkening streets. “Izel, how are you?” I asked, twisting in my seat.

She smiled at me. The kitchen rag still pushed onto her shoulder. “OK.”

“We need to get her to a doctor,” I said to Mulberry.

“I have a friend,” Malina said from the back seat. “He will take care of all of us for no charge. And he is not a talker.”

“Sounds perfect,” I said.

An explosion shook the air. We all turned to see a cloud of black smoke rising up from where the RV used to be. Mulberry stepped on the gas as the wail of sirens filled the air. I leaned back in my seat exhausted. My leg burned.

Malina gave Mulberry directions to her doctor friend. Then Mulberry turned on the radio and scanned until he found a woman talking. It was a call in show and they were discussing Ana Maria. Izel translated. “This woman says she thinks it is conspiracy against Ana Maria. The host of the show says maybe she is paranoid.” We didn’t need translation for the woman’s yell of frustration and the sound of a phone slamming down. “OK,” said the announcer, “let’s see who’s next. Jose, tell me what you think.”

“She is guilty. She made the whole thing up, obviously.”

“You really think she killed her own parents?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“All right, Jose knows what he thinks, what about you?”

“Guilty,” Dan said. We all laughed a little.

“For those of you just tuning it we’re talking about the surprise at the Women of Juarez benefit tonight. If you’ve been under a rock for the last half hour than you might not have heard that a video of Ana Maria Hernandez Vargas confessing to her parents’ murder was played instead of a planned tribute to her family. The police are trying to verify the footage. Apparently, they have not arrested Ana Maria yet. But they are asking her not to leave the city. What do you think?”

The next caller was outraged. “How can they not just arrest her? If she was not rich, if she was like most Mexicans, like the ones her mother fought for, she would be in jail. Where she belongs.”

“That’s a good point…”

The gentle rhythm of the SUV combined with the whispers of Ana Maria’s guilt lulled me to sleep. When I woke up we were in the driveway of a suburban home.

I opened my own door and went to step out but my leg screamed out in pain. It felt swollen and stiff. Malina came to my side and helped me up. We hobbled toward the front door. The light of a TV flickered in a window. Malina rang the bell and we heard it ring throughout the house.

The sound of cautious footsteps leading up to the door preceded it being swung open by a tall, good looking man in his late 50s with dark hair graying at the temples. “Malina?” he said looking at her. Then he switched his focus to my face then down to my leg. “My God, what is happening?”

Malina pushed past him into the house. “You have to help us,” she said. Izel supported by Mulberry came in right after me followed by Dan and Blue. The owner of the house stood in his doorway with a slack jaw. “Please,” Malina said. “Help us!”

He jumped into action. “Bring them to the garage. We don’t want the blood in here.” Malina and I did our best impression of three legged racers as we moved through the man’s house, past his bright clean kitchen and into the garage.

There was a ping pong table and Malina helped me up onto it. Izel sat next to me. The man came out with towels, a bowl of water and several sterilized packets of tools. “Something for the pain, doc?” I asked. He nodded, stepping over to a fridge in the corner and pulling out a vial of liquid goodness. “Her first,” I said, gesturing to Izel. He gave her the medicine and within moments she was laying back on the pool table, her eyes closed and breath even. “What’s your name?” I asked as the doctor approached with his needle.

“I don’t want to know your name or you to know mine. Hopefully, you’ll all forget you were ever here.”

I smiled, then he stuck the needle in my arm. Moments later I was floating on a sea of comfortable foam. I heard Izel moan a little and turned to see him working on her arm, a bright light on his forehead, a pair of bloody tweezers in his hand. Later I felt the prick of a needle in my leg and looked down to see him at my wound. “A local anesthetic,” he said. “You won’t feel a thing.” And he was right, besides a mildly uncomfortable pulling sensation I didn’t feel a thing.

ENDINGS

When I woke up I was on a couch, a clean bandage wrapped around my leg. The doctor was asleep in a chair nearby. A thick white stubble covered his face. I looked around the pleasant sitting room and saw Blue snoring by the front door. It was still dark outside.

Sitting up I felt light headed but OK. My leg throbbed with pain but nothing unbearable. Swinging my legs around, I stood up gingerly, giving most of my weight to the good leg. My movements woke Blue and the doctor, both of whom hurried to my side. “Don’t put weight on it for a couple of days,” he said. “I have a crutch for you. Wait.” He hurried out of the room and I rested a hand on Blue’s head. He wagged his tail and smiled up at me.

Mulberry came down the steps and seeing me up, smiled. “How are you feeling?” he asked while crossing the room.

“I want to talk to Bobby Maxim right now.”

“OK.”

“He was the one who set those guys on us. That was not some police raid. That mother-fucker tried to kill us.” I would have continued on my tirade but the doctor came back into the room with my crutch and I didn’t want to freak the poor guy out anymore than he already was.

“Here you are,” he said, handing me the crutch. I shifted it under my arm and rested on it.

“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled and nodded. There were dark circles under his brown eyes. “I’m going to go check on Izel.”

I waited until the doctor was out of sight before turning to Mulberry. “He tracked your stupid phone,” I said. “If he believed Ana Maria and not you then of course he would want to kill us both. Get him on the phone.”

Mulberry pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the number. I took the device and sat back down on the couch, my leg pulsating.

“Mulberry,” Bobby said.

“Nope, it’s Sydney.”

“Wonderful-”

“We had a deal,” I said. “I get the girl back, you make Joy Humbolt a corpse.”

“Calm down, Sydney.”

“You just tried to kill me, Mulberry and our friends. I’m not going to calm down for awhile.”

“Someone tried to kill you?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know what you do with people you consider threats. Those ‘cops’ you sent - you think I’m stupid - that I wouldn’t figure it out?”

“If the cops caught up with you-”

“They didn’t and they won’t. Don’t waste your time trying to kill Sydney Rye, just take care of Joy Humbolt.”

“Things are already in motion. I saw the broadcast last night. It was very illuminating. One thing you’ll learn about me is that I keep my promises.”

“You better.” I hung up the phone.

Mulberry was staring at me. “Did he admit it? That he tried to kill us.”

“No, but he’s not an idiot. Why would he? I think he’ll follow through now, though. He knows what Ana Maria is. He said he saw the broadcast and that it was very enlightening.”

“Good.”

Malina came down the steps and smiled at me. “You look better,” she said. “You have color in your face.”

“Thanks.” I heard more movement on the stairs and turned to see Izel and the doctor making their way down. I stood, using the crutch for help. Izel looked drained but OK. She smiled at me as she reached the bottom of the steps.

The doctor cleared his throat and looked over at Malina. “We need to go,” she said.

“I understand. Thank you so much for your help, Doctor.”

“This never happened,” he reminded me.

“Right. Malina, I think it’s safe for you to go home. Ana Maria is not going to be going after any of us. The cops don’t know about either of you and I’m sure you are looking forward to getting back to your lives.”

Malina laughed. “Yes, but it will seem so boring now, no?”

Izel gave her a weak smile. “I’m OK with boring right now. But,” she looked at me, “if you ever need me, please call.”

“I will.”

“I can drive them home,” the doctor said. Turning to Mulberry he said, “You need to get yourselves and your bullet-ridden SUV off my property before I get back.”

Mulberry nodded. “Thanks for your help.”

“It never happened,” was his response.

“Right.”

“Where are you going?” Malina asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said.

“You will call me?”

“Sure. I’ll stay in touch.”

She smiled but tears welled in her eyes. I felt mine shimmering. We hugged tightly. “Thank you for all your help,” I said.

“De nada.”

I pulled back and wiped tears from my eyes but they just reappeared when I looked at Izel. Another hug, this one gentler to avoid hurting her arm. “You saved my life,” I told her.

“Thank you,” she said.

Dan, Mulberry, Malina, and Izel all hugged goodbye. The only dry eyes left in the house belonged to the doctor who was trying to hurry us out of his home. After Izel and Malina left with the doctor, Mulberry went to get the SUV. He’d hidden it behind the back of the house so no one would notice it and wonder why the good doctor had an SUV full of holes in his driveway.

“Do you need to get back?” I asked Dan while we waited for the car to come around.

“Back to what?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Don’t you have a life?”

“Not one that needs me.”

“Do you maybe want to go some place with me?” I asked, not looking at him.

Dan stepped close to me and touched my face. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me. “I’d follow you anywhere, Captain.”

I felt my eyes welling again and then he kissed me softly and sweetly the way only a boy from New Jersey can.

Dan helped me into the front seat of the car and then climbed in the back. Blue jumped up next to Dan. I turned on the radio as we headed for the highway. That Robert “Bobby” Maxim worked fast. The music was interrupted and news of a shootout followed by an explosion at Ana Maria’s hotel was announced. Apparently, she was dead, along with an unidentified woman. Both bodies were badly burned but they expected DNA evidence to match that of Joy Humbolt who was named in the recording of Ana Maria’s confession. Ana’s head of security, Blane Nichols, survived with only minor injuries.

I closed my eyes and laid my head back against the seat.

“Where we going?” Mulberry asked.

“Not you, too,” I said.

“How about into the sunset?” he suggested.

“It’s dark out,” Dan said.

“All right,” I said. “Then find us a sunrise.”

About the Author:

Emily Kimelman lives on a boat in the Hudson Valley with her husband, Sean and their dog Kinsey (named after Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone). Kimelman has a passion for traveling and spends as much time as possible in the pursuit of adventure.

Her Sydney Rye series feature a strong female protagonist and her canine best friend. It is recommended for the 18+ who enjoy some violence, don’t mind dirty language, and are up for a dash of sex. Not to mention an awesome, rollicking good mystery!

The first book, UNLEASHED, was released in October, 2011. DEATH IN THE DARK, a novella length Sydney Rye mystery came out in December 2012. The third installment in the series, INSATIABLE, came out January 2013.

If you’ve read Emily’s work and want to get in contact with her she can be reached via email
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A Note from the Author:

Thank you for reading my novel, INSATIABLE. I’m excited that you made it through my whole bio right here to my “note”. I’m hoping that means you enjoyed my story. If so, would you please write a review for INSATIABLE? You have no idea how much it warms my heart to get a new review. And this isn’t just for me, mind you. Think of all the people out there who need reviews to make decisions. The children who need to be told this book is not for them. And the people about to go away on vacation who could have so much fun reading this on the plane. Consider it an act of kindness to me, to the children, to humanity.