Friends and Lovers Trilogy 03 - Seduced (32 page)

Joe traded a look with Creed as the team sprang into action. His muscles loosened as he called his brother. “Lulu’s fine. Said she wasn’t feeling well, but that’s probably due to the Percocet. They drugged her to keep her quiet. Didn’t you tell me that she’s hypersensitive to medication?”

“Yeah.” Murphy blew out a tense breath. “She’s going to be sick as a dog. The good news is, she’s probably too out of it to be scared.”

“I’ve got more good news.” Joe relayed the address of the diner.

“I’m at the local police station with a couple of the boys from Albany,” Murphy told him. “We’ve got a chopper at our disposal. I can be there in fifteen.”

“Same here.” Joe smiled. “We’re dealing with amateurs, Murph.”

“Yeah, well. One misstep and you’ll be looking at a couple of dead amateurs.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Creed. “Understood.”

Sofia parked the rental car near the sole security light in the deserted lot of the closed diner. She cut the engine, took off her boots, and shook off a chill. Her sister was at the mercy of the same coldhearted men who’d murdered Cavendish. The same monsters who’d left Luc to bleed to death.

She’d memorized Creed’s instructions. She had every intention of following the FBI’s directive. But, what if something went wrong? She couldn’t imagine life without Lulu. A world without all that sunshine and goodness. Why the hell hadn’t she spent more time with her sister over the last few years?

Because she’d been too obsessed with her own life. With trying to land the right man and the plum role. She’d moved to the other side of the country in a last ditch effort to attain stardom before hitting thirty. She’d succeeded by snaring the part of Cherry Onatop. She’d thrown herself into her job, socialized and networked with directors, producers, agents, publicists, screenwriters—you name it. Meanwhile, aside from weekly phone calls, she’d sorely neglected Lulu and Viv. She could’ve snuck away for sporadic visits to New Jersey. She could’ve invited them to California, could have taken them to Disneyland, for a tour of Universal Studios. They would have loved that.

She’d sacrificed family for career. A rocky career that was currently on the upswing, but entertainment, no matter the venue, was a risky business. A finicky, unpredictable business. If she hadn’t been so hungry to secure another connection, a higher connection within the industry, she wouldn’t have accepted Cavendish’s invitation in the first place. She knew he was a womanizer, yet she’d ignored her gut. Now, she was paying the price. Or rather, her sister was paying the price.

She blew out a tense breath and scanned the area. Deserted diner. Deserted parking lot. It was well past midnight and she was surrounded by dense woods.
Lone girl faces crazy killers
. She could almost hear a Hitchcock-esque score swelling in the background.

Except, she wasn’t alone.

Joe, Special Agent Creed, and several other officials were out there somewhere. Snipers were stationed on the roof. She wouldn’t be surprised if her brother-in-law was nearby as well. Knowing she was backed by an expert team bolstered her confidence, but even so anxiety simmered just below the surface. To think she’d been ready to step into this situation solo.

She placed her phone on the dashboard table, glanced at her watch. The cowboys would be calling any minute.

Just then Creed spoke in her ear via the tiny receiver. “Relax, Ms. Marino,” he said in a reassuring voice. “Remember, this isn’t a one-woman show.”

She blinked back tears. A message from Joe. “
I’ll be with you all the way
.” Was it just this morning that he’d made soul-stirring love to her? He’d mentioned forever. She could barely wrap her mind around this moment. One thing was certain. The last forty-eight hours had changed her entire lookout on life.

Her phone chimed. “I’m here,” she said calmly. “Where are you?”

“Right behind you,” the cowboy said.

She glanced in the rearview mirror, but saw nothing.

“Step out of the car, Sofia. Into the light. Let us see that you’re alone.”

She sat tight, just as Creed had instructed. “I’m not stepping into the wide open so that you can gun me down. That’s the idea, right? Dispose of the eyewitness?”

“If you want your sister to live, you’ll step out and away from the car.”

“If you want me to step out of the car, show me my sister.”

He cursed foully.

She waited.

“Fine. But one wrong move and I’ll slit her throat.” He severed the phone connection.

Her stomach churned as she laid her phone on the seat. “He said he’ll slit her throat if I make a wrong move,” Sofia whispered into the darkness. “He must have a knife instead of a gun.”

She waited for Creed to say something reassuring in her ear. Instead, she got Joe. “If he hurts Lulu, he knows he won’t get you, Sofia. You’re the one he wants. Remember Creed’s directive. You can do this, babe.” Gone was the man who’d been royally pissed at her two hours before. This was the Joe who made her feel cherished and special. The man who believed her to be capable and clever.

She held tight to that notion when headlights flashed in her rearview mirror. A car crept into the lot, parking several yards away from her own. Every muscle in her body tensed when a tall, lanky man exited the driver’s side and rounded the car.

She got a glimpse of his battered face and shuddered. Had she done that? Jesus.

He held up his hands to show her he was unarmed, then redialed her cell.

She answered before it even rang. “I see you. I don’t see Lulu.”

“She’s in the back seat. Look hard.”

Joe spoke in her ear. “We see her, Sofia. But the second cowboy’s sitting next to her. He’s probably the one with the knife. You need to get them, all of them, out in the open. We need a clear shot.”

“All I see is a limp woman with gold curls,” she said to the grotesque cowboy. “She could be dead for all I know. Bring her out and send her over to this car. When she’s three-quarters of the way here, I’ll come to you. Her for me.”

He laughed. “Do I look stupid?”

She resisted the obvious retort. “I’m no idiot, either,” she said into the cell. “If I come over there, you’ll kill us both.”

“If you
don’t
come over here,” he growled, “we’ll kill your sister.”

Her heart pounded. Her upper lip and underarms moistened with nervous sweat.

Joe’s voice rang softly, but firmly in her right ear. “Don’t cave.”

“If you so much as bruise her,” she told the cowboy, “I’ll drive off like a bat out of hell.”

“You’re bluffing.”

She keyed the ignition.

“Crazy bitch.” He opened the back door, grabbed Lulu’s hand, and yanked her out of the car and into his arms.

The second cowboy swiftly followed, a vicious knife glinting in his left hand.

Sofia ignored a swift surge of anxiety and the urge to give herself up. In her heart, she knew that once she was within striking distance she could disarm that bastard and take them both down. She’d done it before.

If only her drugged-up sister wasn’t in the mix.

She resigned herself to following Creed’s directive. Then, the freakiest thing happened. Lulu lurched forward and threw up all over the man with the cast.

He screamed like a stuck pig and backed away in horror, the knife clattering from his limp hand to the pavement. Thwarted by projectile vomit.

“Goddammit, Jesse!” When the lanky cowboy scrambled for the weapon, the snipers took their shots.

Sofia was halfway to their car by the time the wounded men slumped to the ground. She kicked the knife out of their reach and grabbed up her sister before she fainted dead away.

The night exploded with screeching tires, blaring headlights, and dozens of feds.

Lulu wrapped her arms around Sofia and clung. “I knew you’d outsmart them,” she said in a soft voice.

Sofia swallowed an emotional lump. “You’re the one who provided the distraction. I can’t believe he freaked like that just because you puked on him.”

“He has a thing about germs,” she said, easing back and pushing her hair out of her glassy eyes. “I heard him whining earlier. What a wimp.”

Sofia laughed at that. Being married to a hard-ass like Murphy had given her goody-two-shoes sister an amusing edge.

“Where’s Colin,” she asked as if reading Sofia’s mind.

“Right here, princess.” He swiftly moved in and took her into his arms. “Are you hurt?”

“Just sick.”

“I saw.” Murphy smoothed his hand up and down her back. “That was one weird-ass takedown, honey. Once I get over the coronary I’ve been suffering for the last several hours, I’m sure I’ll see the humor.”

Joe moved in, kissed Lulu’s temple, and smiled. “Tangling with the Marino sisters. Those idiots never stood a chance.”

He glanced at Sofia and her heart jumped up to her throat. She just stood there, frozen.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded.

“She’s a natural,” Murphy said with an appreciative wink.

“I won’t argue with that,” Creed said, stepping into the mix. “Well done, Ms. Marino.”

“Teamwork,” she said, holding Joe’s gaze.

Creed turned to Murphy, gestured toward Lulu. “I have a couple of Agents waiting for you at the chopper. Take her to the hospital. Have her checked out.”

“Are you the man in charge?” Lulu asked weakly.

He nodded. “Special Agent Earl Creed.”

“I overheard something when they thought I was sleeping.” Lulu leaned into Murphy for support, but focused on Creed. “The man they killed? His wife hired them. She caught them trying to rob her house last month and, instead of calling the cops, she hired them to kill her husband. Apparently, he cheated on her. A lot. She didn’t want a divorce. She wanted revenge. Oh, and the insurance money.”

“I can’t believe they talked so freely in front of you,” Murphy said.

Joe shook his head. “Amateurs.”

Lulu shivered. “Like I said, they thought I was sleeping. They argued a lot. They were creepy.” She shifted in Murphy’s arms and looked at Sofia. “When we got here, Frank told Jesse he was going to mess up your face worse than you marred his. Said no man would ever want you again. I knew I had to do something. But, I was so nauseous. I’d already thrown up once back at their cabin. When they hauled me out of the car, I remember how disgusted Jesse had been, something about bacteria. So, I stopped trying to hold it in and spewed.”

“This is one for the books, I’ll tell you that.” Creed scraped his hand along his jaw. “Is that it, Mrs. Murphy?”

“Isn’t that enough?” Sofia asked.

He smiled. “More than enough. Needless to say, we’ll be contacting Mrs. Cavendish.” He squeezed Lulu’s shoulder. “In the meantime, get some rest. We’ll talk again in the morning.”

Sofia smoothed the back of her hand over her sweaty brow. “What about me?”

Creed looked over his shoulder at Joe, then turned back to her. “Morning will do.” He raised a hand in farewell and disappeared into the fray.

Murphy swept Lulu up into his arms, glanced at his brother. “We’ll meet you at the chopper. Don’t be long.”

Sofia’s pulse quickened as Joe tenderly grasped her hand and led her away from the structured chaos.

He paused in the shadows, turned and faced her. “I’m sorry for being so rough on you back on the plane. What can I say? I’m a bastard. I thought about you facing those assholes alone, and I freaked.”

She nodded. “I understand. I do. That’s what happened to me back in Phoenix after I got their call. Only, I was worried about them hurting you and Lulu.”

He smiled at that. “Sweetheart, I can take care of myself.”

“I know that. My reaction was … rash. I didn’t think things through. You were right. The only crisis I’m qualified to handle is one concocted for film.”

He winced. “That came out a little harsh.”

She shrugged. “It’s the truth. And it’s okay. You actually helped me reach a decision. I know what I want to do with my life. It involves some major changes, but I think, no, I know I’m up to the challenge.”

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this?”

She wasn’t ready to divulge her plan. She needed to talk to Murphy first. “When you call home to retrieve your messages, you’ll hear a drawn out explanation as to why I abandoned you in Phoenix.”