Flirting with Disaster (33 page)

“Leaving so soon, Ivan?”

“Yeah. I’m done.”

Sera felt a jolt of panic. “Why, I don’t think that’s possible. There’s still alcohol behind that bar.”

“Got lots to do.” He paused, eyeing her up and down. “Unless you’d like to pull up a chair and join me.”

The very thought revolted Sera. “Now, Ivan, you know I’m working. Ario doesn’t like us messing around on the job.”

“Now, you know I’m one of Ario’s best customers. Do you really think he’s going to mess with me?”

Sera couldn’t think of anything to say. Absolutely nothing. If she didn’t sit down with him, he was liable to walk right out that door.

“Uh . . . sure,” she said. “I’ll sit for a minute. Just let me get this round of drinks to some other customers.”

Without so much as a backward glance to Juan and Enrique, Ivan moved to a table for two along the wall, where he slumped down in one of the chairs. Sera took the drinks to the customers who had ordered them, moving as slowly as she could, praying every moment that the phone would ring.

Nothing.

Finally, when she couldn’t put it off any longer, she sat down beside Ivan. He leaned toward her, moving so close she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She hated the way his eyes narrowed when he drank, with a lethal expression that set her nerves on edge.

“I like that nice, big farmhouse of yours,” he said. “We could have a really good time there. Maybe even tonight.” He paused. “Maybe even now.”

“What? You’re not even going to buy me a drink first?”

A thin smile came across his lips as he clearly saw himself leaping the first hurdle. He had no idea that very soon he’d be landing on the other side facedown in the dirt.

“Sure,” he said. “Whatever you say.”

“Sera!” Ario called out. “Phone for you.”

Sera’s heart leapt with hope. She started to rise from her chair, but Ivan wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Tell Ario to take a message.”

“I can’t. It could be one of my pregnant mothers with a problem. I have to answer.”

He tightened his grip. “We were just starting to have a good time.”

“Small delay,” she said, staring him directly in the eye. “That’s all.”

Slowly he released her, then leveled a gaze at her. “Come right back.”

“Sure, Ivan.”

Sera slipped away from the table and hurried into the kitchen. She grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

“Sera. It’s Lisa. We’re back at your house, and everything’s fine. Gabrio is here. He’s coming with us.”

“Oh, thank God,” she said. “Thank God.” Sera breathed deeply, feeling as if the concrete block that had been pressing against her chest for the past two days had finally lifted.

“Is Ivan still there?” Lisa asked.

“Yes. And I’m leaving right now.”

Sera hung up the phone and glanced back out to the bar, where Ivan sat sprawled in his chair waiting for her return, clearly on his way to becoming a monumental drunk. She slipped out the back door and hurried to her car, thinking that if there was any justice in this world, he’d drink himself to death.

When Adam heard the front door open downstairs, he sat up suddenly, praying to God that everything had turned out okay. A few minutes later, he heard footsteps on the stairs and Lisa appeared at the doorway.

“Gabrio?” he said.

“Downstairs. He’s coming with us.”

Adam exhaled with relief. “I knew you could do it, Lisa. I knew you could. Thank you.”

Lisa came into the room and sat down in the chair beside Adam. “I’ve got to tell you, though. He’s pretty freaked out right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“When Dave and I got there, he had a gun to his head.”

Adam just stared at her, blinking with disbelief. “He was going to kill himself?”

“I can’t say for sure that he would have done it. But he was really shook up. Dave had to talk the gun out of his hand.”

“But why would he want to kill himself?”

“Because he’s the one who informed on us. That led to Robert trying to kill us, so he thinks he’s the cause of everything. And with the possibility of his brother coming after him . . .” Lisa sighed. “He thought it was his only way out.”

“Is he all right now?”

“He’s still a little shaky. Not thinking too clearly. But he’s made the decision to come with us.”

“Thank God. Send him up here, will you? I want to talk to him.”

Lisa patted Adam on the arm and stood up. “Sure. I’ll go get him.”

A few minutes later, Adam heard footsteps on the stairs. Gabrio appeared at the doorway. Hollow half circles darkened the area below his eyes, eyes that radiated a wariness so ingrained that Adam wondered if it would ever go away.

“Come in,” Adam said.

Still the kid stood there, uneasiness shouting from every muscle in his body. His gaze went to the bandage on Adam’s head. Gabrio rolled his eyes heavenward for a moment, his chest heaving with a harsh breath.

“Oh, man. I’m so sorry about what happened. I should have stopped them. I should have—”

“No. You couldn’t have.”

“I should have done something. Anything but let them . . .” Tears filled his eyes. “Anything but let them shoot you.”

“Come here,” Adam said.

Gabrio paused, his lips tight, and even from across the room Adam could see him trembling. Slowly he walked toward the bed.

Adam sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Sit down for a minute, okay?”

Gabrio looked down at the overstuffed chair.

“It’s okay,” Adam said. “Just sit.”

The kid sat down, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him, refusing to meet Adam’s eyes.

“Listen to me,” Adam said. “You couldn’t have stopped them. If you’d tried to, you would have gotten both of us killed. You did exactly what you should have.”

The kid just stared at his lap, shaking his head slowly.

“Gabrio.”

Slowly he looked up.

“It was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen any man do,” Adam said. “You saved my life. I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

Adam held out his hand. Gabrio looked down at it, as if he hadn’t the faintest idea what to do. Adam continued to hold his hand out until finally Gabrio reached out hesitantly and shook it.

“I’m sorry for what Ivan did,” Gabrio said, his voice quivering.

“You’re not your brother. You don’t have to apologize for anything he’s done.”

Gabrio nodded a little, falling silent.

Adam could tell Gabrio still didn’t fully believe anything he was being told and years might pass before he found the capacity to trust anyone. But even though he had a long road ahead of him, at least the worst was over. At least now he’d have a chance at a decent life, and Adam was going to do everything he could to make sure he got one.

Sera parked her car in front of her house and got out, blinking against the late afternoon sun streaming through the windshield. Hurrying inside, she found Lisa and Dave waiting in her living room.

“Where’s Gabrio?” she asked.

“Upstairs with Adam,” Lisa said.

Sera was overcome by a flood of emotion, so grateful for what they’d done that she could hardly put it into words. “Thank you. Both of you. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.” Her eyes filled with tears. She put her arms around Lisa and gave her a hug, then did the same to Dave.

“No doubt about it,” she told him, sniffing a little. “I’ll be putting in your application for sainthood the minute we get to San Antonio.”

He smiled. “I’d have settled for angel wings.”

Lisa stole a glance at Dave, and Sera could tell that her contention that he was just a friend wasn’t even close to the truth. There was something so real, so telling, in Lisa’s gaze—admiration, attraction, appreciation, all those things that signaled just how much this man meant to her.

Friends, maybe. But that certainly wasn’t all.

“Okay,” Dave said. “We need to get out of here.” He turned to Lisa. “Take one of the cars, drive out, and get the plane ready to take off. I’ll get everyone packed up here. By the time we get there, you’ll have the plane ready and we can leave.” He turned to Sera. “Do you have your things together?”

Sera nodded. “Everything’s packed and sitting by the back door.”

“Do you have some extra blankets we could bring along?” Lisa asked. “The heater in this plane isn’t the best, and Adam needs to stay warm.”

“I’ll get them right now.” Sera walked to the stairs, then turned back suddenly. “Oh! The ponies! If I’m going to be gone for a while, I need to turn them out to pasture.”

Dave held up his palm. “You get the blankets. I’ll turn the ponies out.”

“There’s a twenty-acre pasture with a stock pond to the west of the barn. They can stay there for the time being.”

“Okay. Then meet me at the back door and we’ll load up.”

Sera nodded. As Dave and Lisa went to the back door, Sera went up the stairs into one of her guest bedrooms and fished through a closet to find two blankets they could take along, grabbing an extra pillow at the same time.

She came back down the stairs and had almost reached the bottom when she heard a knock on her front door. She jerked to a halt, her hand tightening on the banister.

Three more loud raps.

Who could that be?

She prayed it wasn’t a woman in labor. She couldn’t deal with that now.

Trotting down the final two stairs, she spilled the blankets and pillow onto the sofa, then walked toward the front door, stopping first to peer through the curtains to the porch.

Ivan.

A chill of fear swept through her. She knew he’d be angry that she’d left, but she never for a moment imagined that he’d follow her to her house. What if he saw Adam or Gabrio? Or even Dave and Lisa? What would he do?

He’ll go away. Just say nothing, and he’ll go away.

He beat on the door again.

Sera squeezed her eyes closed, willing him to leave. For a moment, she heard nothing. Then she saw the doorknob turn.

She gasped softly, unable to remember if she’d locked the door or not. She felt a call for help rising in her chest, but she stifled it immediately. It would only bring Gabrio down the stairs, and if Ivan happened to get inside she had no idea what he might do if he saw his brother here. She stood there, immobilized by panic, watching as the knob twisted ninety degrees. Then the door clattered in its frame.

Yes. Thank God. It’s locked.

Relief gushed through her. A few moments passed. Then she heard something rattling around in the lock.

What was he doing?

Seconds ticked by. The knob turned again. This time, the door opened, and Ivan stepped into the house. Sera’s heart slammed against her chest.

Their gazes met, and a drunken, malevolent expression spread across his face. “You ran out on me. Not a smart thing to do.”

She raised her chin and spoke sharply. “That door was locked.”

He gave her a mocking laugh. “You think a lock keeps me out?” He clicked his pocketknife shut and slid it back into his pocket, then shut the door.

“I think you’d better leave,” Sera said.

“Oh, yeah? Is that what you think? How about if I tell you I’m not interested in what you think?” His gaze slid all the way down her body and back up again. “You got a couple other things I’m interested in, though.”

You have to get him out of here. Now.

“We had plans,” he said, moving toward her like a wolf edging toward its prey. “Remember?”

Sera was silent.

He took one threatening step after another, backing her against the sofa. “So you want to tell me why you walked out on me?”

“I’m sorry, Ivan,” she said with as much of a conciliatory tone as she could manage. “I guess I’m still not feeling well. Maybe another time.”

“No,” he said sharply. “Not another time. Now.”

When he came closer still and pressed himself against her, she felt something hard at his waist beneath his jacket.

A gun. He’s got a gun.

It was all Sera could do to remain calm, to try to think, to find a way to get this man out of her house before he had the opportunity to use that gun.

Then Ivan looked to one side, his eyes narrowing with confusion. “What the hell is that?”

Sera turned to where he was looking, and dread shuddered through her. Gabrio’s bag was sitting on the floor beside the sofa.

“That’s my brother’s,” Ivan said.

“What are you talking about?”

“My brother’s bag!” Ivan said. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

“He’s not here. That’s not his bag.”

“You think I don’t know what it looks like?” Ivan glared at her. “A little young for you, isn’t he?”

“Ivan, I’m telling you he’s not here.”