Fatal Transaction (Thriller & Suspense, Cyber Crime) (10 page)

Chapter 22

L
evy handed the phone to Ben—“You stay here in case Vance calls”—then headed back to the car. Mike joined him. Jarred stayed with Ben.

Levy contemplated the day. It had not been good. Maybe he should’ve let Mike finish Sara off. Keep the program low-key until Kai found the problem. She was much easier to control than Sara.

And, to top the day off, Jarred wrecked the car.

Glancing up the road at his damaged car, Levy just glimpsed Sara disappearing into the woods.

“What the—?”

Mike took off running. “Jarred, Ben, with me!”

Levy followed as Jarred and Ben raced past him. Mike made it to the car first, and cut into the woods where Sara had vanished. Jarred and Ben were close behind. Levy joined them in the woods in time to see Mike slide into a tree.

Ben rushed past him, but slipped the moment his slick shoes hit the needle-covered slope. Jarred was right behind him, almost falling on top of him, but reached out and grabbed a tree branch to stay upright.

“Hold up.” Mike looked down the hill through the trees to where Sara’s body lay. “She ain’t going anywhere.”

Levy stayed at the top, watching his men slowly make their way down the hill. He could just catch a glimpse of Sara through the trees.

Ben was about halfway to her when he pulled out his gun and increased his speed. The other two followed suit.

Levy heard gunfire. Suddenly Sara was gone. He rushed down the hill behind his men.

***

Derry heard noises. They sounded like an animal crashing through the trees, charging him. He shifted his attention up the hill, expecting to see a bear or a mountain lion rushing down. Instead he saw a body sliding toward him. Rushing over, he reached it shortly after the person came to rest at the bottom of the incline. The body was covered with dirt and blood, but he could tell it was a woman.

He lightly placed a hand on her back. She was breathing in short strokes. Even face-down, something about her was familiar. He slowly and gently rolled her over. Hair, dirt, and blood covered her face.

“Oh, ouch.” Her voice was weak but recognizable. Sara.

Hearing a noise above him, Derry glanced up as someone else slid down the hill. It was one of the men from the fair, one of the men who beat her. Rage surged through his body.

“Help—” Her voice was faint, barely a whisper. “Please— help me.” Her hand tried to tighten around his arm, but fell away.

She was badly hurt. His revenge would have to wait. He heard a metallic sound followed by a loud pop. Dirt flew up next to Sara. Derry scooped her into his arms.

Something hit the tree beside his head. The shots were getting closer. Another shooter had joined the first, a few yards farther up the hill.

Derry rushed to his car, yanked the back door open, and placed Sara on the seat, hoping not to hurt her. She whimpered the whole time.

He slammed the door and jumped into the front seat.

Keys, where are my keys?

Derry retrieved them from his pocket just as the man slid the last twenty feet down the hill.

Firing up his car, Derry crammed it into first gear as he punched the accelerator.

The man stood in front of the car. He pointed a pistol at Derry’s head.

Derry continued accelerating. The man fired as he jumped out of Derry’s path. A clean miss.

Derry pointed his car down the road and shifted into second. He heard two more pops. He hoped and prayed none of the shots had hit Sara.

Chapter 23

F
ishtailing as he hit pavement, Derry wondered where the cops were when you needed them. On the first straightaway he came to, he glanced back at Sara. She was a wreck. Reaching back, he touched her shoulder.

“You’re safe now.”

She didn’t move. Was she hit?

“Hey.” He gave her a light nudge. Nothing.

Finding a place to pull off, Derry slid to a stop. He jumped out, and yanked open the back door. Bending over Sara, he pushed the blood-soaked hair out of her face.

“No—” He could barely hear her.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Mmm—” Her hand pushed his away.

He checked the seat behind her. No bullet holes. No puddles of blood.

“I’ll get you help. Just hold on.”

She mumbled something as he closed her door.

Pulling back onto the road, he tried to bring up his maps program, but could not get good reception until he was almost to Lyons. As he drove through town, he checked for the closest hospital, Boulder Medical Center.

Several minutes later, he pulled into the north parking lot and headed for the emergency entrance.

A hand grabbed his shoulder. He was surprised at its strength.

“Where are you taking me?”

“To a hospital. You need help.”

“No. Are you crazy? He’ll find me.” She squeezed harder. Her voice was frantic.

Derry slowed the car, coming to a stop less than a hundred yards from his goal. “No one is going to find you. You’re badly hurt. You need a doctor.”

“No.” Sara reached for her door.

“Look, I’ll stay with you the whole time. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Sara couldn’t get the door open. She fell against it. “I’ll tell them you did this to me. I’ll say you beat me.”

Does she think those men will find her here
? “Why would they believe that when I’m the one who brought you to the hospital?”

“Try it and see what happens. They’ll believe me, and you’ll go to jail.”

She was right, and he knew it. The truth didn’t matter; it would be his word against hers.

“But you need help. You’re in a bad way.”

“It’s not your problem. Just—just drop me off somewhere. I’ll be fine—” Her strength was waning.

There was no way he was going to just drop her off somewhere. She’d be dead by nightfall.

“Or take me to a hotel somewhere. I just need some time to rest.” Her voice was calmer but weaker.

“Will you trust me?” Was he crazy? This girl had obviously done something illegal. She was running from very dangerous people, maybe the mob. But as he stared at her, he couldn’t believe she was anything but harmless. Someone in need of help.

“You take me to a hospital or the cops, and I’ll make sure you go to jail.” Her gaze shifted to the hospital.

“I won’t. I promise.”

Sara fell back against the seat. “You better not—” She was out again.

Shifting his car into first and accelerating, Derry again questioned his sanity.

***

Levy paced back and forth. “What do you mean you didn’t get the plate?”

Ben brushed dirt off his pants. “Sorry, Mr. Levy, but he tried to run me down. Almost hit me. By the time I got back up, the car was too far away to read the plates. Plus, with all the dust, I was lucky to see he had Colorado plates.”

“That narrows it down to one, maybe two, million cars.” Levy pulled out his gun. “You’re not any better than Ryan.”

“It was a white car, small four-door.” Ben’s speech was fast.

“What else?”

“He was white, I think. Brown hair. I didn’t get a clear view of his face.”

Levy kept the gun on Ben. “Jarred, what’d you see?”

“That sounds right.” Jarred stepped forward, but not too close.

“You hoping to save your cousin?”

“No, sir. I saw the same thing.” Jarred backed up just a few inches.

“How old do you think he was?”

“About my age, early twenties,” Ben piped up again.

“Mike, didn’t you say you had a run-in with someone at the fairgrounds?”

Mike sat against the side of the wounded limo, arms crossed. “Yeah, sounds about the same, but that description fits half the males out there.”

Levy slid the pistol back under his coat. “Could be a coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidences.”

He walked down the dirt road a few yards. His plans were unraveling. Whether the problems in the credit card program were real or not, he had to find and eliminate Sara. She was a liability.

As for the program, Kai better know enough to fix it.

A car approached. It was Vance, finally. With Sara gone, there was no reason not to call a tow truck. Levy told Jarred and Ben to have the limo towed to the closest garage before returning to Estes to get their cars. He wanted them to meet him in Denver as soon as they finished here. He had more work for them.

Levy and Mike got into Vance’s car, and headed back toward Denver. As soon as his phone had decent reception, Levy put in a call to Kai.

“Tap into all the hospitals and emergency rooms in the North Denver, Boulder and Longmont areas. Look for any new patients fitting Sara’s description.”

“Sir, that’ll take awhile. All night, at least. The hospitals keep that information pretty secure.”

“Then you better get on it. Also, start a set of tests on the credit card program.”

“Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Loading issues. I want to know if we can overload the system with too many cards at one time.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible. That relies on the banks’ and credit card companies’ systems, not ours.”

“Another lie.” Levy threw his phone across the car.

***

“Kevin, you at home?” Derry glanced in the backseat as he made the call. Sara hadn’t moved.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“I need a favor, a big one.”

“Tell me what it is, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“I need to talk to Natalie. Is she home?”

“Sure, hold on. I’ll get her.”

After a short pause, Natalie came on. “Is everything okay?”

“I need your help. It’s a long story but—the woman I told you about the other night?”

“Yes?”

“She’s hurt. Real bad.” Derry was only a few minutes out. Sara needed medical attention, and he hoped Natalie’s skill would be enough.

“What happened?”

“Long story. Right now, I need you to look at her.”

“Sure, where are you?”

“I’ll be there in just a few minutes.”

“You’re bringing her here?”

“Have to.”

The phone was silent for a few seconds. “Okay, we’ll be ready.”

“Thanks. I owe you.”

Five minutes later, Derry pulled into his driveway. Natalie and Kevin came out their front door as he got out of the car.

“Where is she?” Kevin trailed Natalie.

“In the back seat.” Derry opened the rear door.

Natalie leaned into the back of the car. Sara was unconscious. Natalie pushed her hair back and put two fingers on the side of her neck. “She has a good pulse. Was she in an accident? Car wreck?”

“She was beaten by some men.”

“By whom?” Natalie looked up at Derry. “Why?”

“That’s the long story.”

Natalie’s probing gaze prompted Derry to continue.

“I know, I’m asking a lot, but can this wait? We need to get her inside.”

“She needs a hospital, and you need to tell the police what you know about it.” Natalie was firm.

“She won’t go. I tried.”

“She won’t go to the hospital? What about the police?”

“She’s afraid the men who did this will find her if I take her to a hospital or call the police.”

“Who are these men?” Natalie softened her tone.

“I don’t know. Maybe organized crime.”

“What have you gotten yourself into?” Natalie turned back to Sara, and gently bushed a few strands of hair away from her face. Natalie’s voice was soft. “What has she gotten you in to?”

Carefully and as gently as he could, Derry lifted Sara. She felt no heavier than a small child. He carried her inside and placed her in his bed, the only bed in the house. Natalie and Kevin followed.

As Natalie bent over her, Sara opened her eyes. “Who are you?” Her gaze shifted around the room. “Where am I?” Her voice was weak and fearful.

“You’re in my house.” Derry stepped around Natalie to where Sara could see him. “You’re safe.”

Natalie added, “I’m a friend. I’m going to see what I can do for you. I’ll try not to hurt you. I promise.”

Sara’s eyes slowly closed again. “I’ve heard enough promises today.”

***

“Kicked out?” Kevin took a seat on the couch.

“Yep.” Derry glanced over his shoulder at the closed door.

“So what happened?”

What
did
happen? The memory of the day’s events had a
dreamlike feel. Or a nightmare.
It was a lot to swallow. Taking a deep breath, he recounted the day’s events. Telling Kevin made it sound even more unbelievable.

“Wow.” Kevin was quiet for several seconds. “And you have no idea who these men are?”

“The mob, maybe. That’s my guess.”

“You sure you’re not getting in over your head?”

“A little late to worry about that now. I wasn’t planning to get involved. It just happened. I had to help her.”

“So why would these men be after her?”

“Maybe she wanted to go straight. Maybe she has information on them, and was going to turn it in to the police.”

“But now she’s afraid to step into a hospital? You watch way too many movies.”

Looking down, he realized he was making excuses for her. “Maybe. But I believe she’s here because this is where she is supposed to be. There have been way too many coincidences for this to be random chance.”

“You’re saying she’s here because God wants her here?”

“Yes. I think so.”