KIDNAPPED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (31 page)

Never hit the brakes. Always turn the wheel in the direction of the skid.

With calm rapid movements, she had the car back under control in seconds.

The snow started to fall faster.   

Jake followed the big black Lincoln down High street. His heart pounded. He fought the rising panic. Somehow he had to save Samantha and Nicky from that mad man.

“Shit. Where is that son-of-a-bitch taking you, Samantha?” He gripped the steering wheel tighter, then forced his fingers to flex and relax.

He couldn’t do anything to help them from here. Somehow he needed an edge, some way to tilt the scales to their advantage. But how? He felt so helpless.

The Lincoln slid toward a parked car. Jake sucked in a deep breath. Samantha maneuvered the car back into its own lane, narrowly missing the lime green Volkswagen.

His light turned yellow. Jake pulled through the light. He couldn’t risk losing them. But he didn’t want to alert Madigan to his presence, so he stayed a block behind.

If only something would happen to even the stakes. He could ram them from behind, maybe gain the edge by surprise. No that was no good. In this weather, he might cause them to wreck and seriously injure Samantha or Nicky.

Think, damn it.
Frustration built inside him like a pot of pasta about to boil over. The advantage lay in Madigan’s hands as long as he had Samantha and Nicky in his grasp.

A green pick-up pulled in behind him. Jake glanced into his rear-view mirror and recognized Matt at the wheel. Good. At least now he had some back up. But back up for what?

Samantha turned the Lincoln off High Street. Where was Madigan taking them?

“Turn here.” Madigan directed Sami to turn onto the narrow and curved North Street. Lined with cars on both sides, barely enough space existed for her to maneuver between them. Some of the old cobblestones from the early nineteenth century had worn through the modern pavement. It gave the Lincoln’s tires a little more traction, although it still slipped on the ice patches.

“Why are you doing this? You can’t possibly believe killing us will keep your campaign hopes alive,” she asked, trying to keep his attention focused on her, not behind where Jake followed them.

He gave a harsh laugh. “This isn’t like TV movies, Ms. Edgars. No real confession just before the heroine is rescued. There isn’t going to be a rescue, so you don’t need my reasons. And as for my campaign, well, let’s just say what the voters don’t know won’t hurt them.”

“Can I at least know where we’re going? It’ll make driving a little easier.”

“To a construction site big enough to hold you two and this car.”

The guy was nuts!

North Street quickly turned onto Neil Avenue, at the most northern extent of the Ohio State University district. Sami wracked her brain for any memory of construction on campus. Nothing that big came to mind.

They stopped at the light.

“Now turn right and head west.”

The tires of the Lincoln spun on a patch of ice beneath them, trying to find some traction. The car lurched forward, the rear-end fish-tailing for a moment as she turned onto Dodridge Street. Sami got control of the car, driving down the hill toward the bridge crossing the Olentangy River.

Madigan flexed and gripped his fingers around the gun handle. His mind raced gleefully.

It would all work out okay. He’d report the car missing as soon as he got back into town. With it buried under tons of steel and cement, decades would pass before the evidence surfaced. Once he had the kid silenced, and with the Boss dead, no one would know of his involvement with the Kreshnins.

Petrov and his people had served their purpose. Years ago, when he’d been the greenest of assistants to the District Attorney, he’d come across a case of extortion against Petrov. Cutting a deal to lessen the other man’s offense to a virtual slap on the wrist had put him in a position of power. By keeping the gang out of the media spot light, and the cross hairs of the DA’s guns aimed at organized crime, his efforts had been well rewarded.

He now had bank accounts of endless funds in both Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, totally untraceable to him. With that money he could make anonymous donations to his own political campaigns.

The public needed him. They were stupid lambs ready for the slaughter. He planned to lead them blindly through his plans. First the mayoral ship, then the governor’s office. After that he only had Washington left to conquer.

No one, especially not some poor immigrant kid was going to stop him now.

The car swerved at the light, then the woman gained its control once more. Their speed increased as they descended the hill toward the bridge.

Watching Samantha maneuver the car over the ice and onto Dodridge Street, still following at a distance to prevent spooking Madigan, Jake would be damned if he’d let any harm come to Samantha and Nicky. They’d put their trust in him.

He needed something to happen though.

Anything. Just one thing to give him the upper hand. Then the bastard was dead.

He gripped the steering wheel tighter, focusing on his anger, not his panic and fears.

In front of him the Lincoln swerved once more on the slick road. This time it continued to slide. Just as it came to the bridge, the tail swung forward, the speed of the vehicle sending it through the old concrete structure and over the edge of the bridge.

Jake watched in horror as the car carrying the woman he loved and the boy he wanted as his own careened into the icy-cold waters of the river below.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Like in a bad movie, the car seemed to tumble in slow motion, head first into the icy waters of the river below. For a moment Jake stopped breathing.

“No!” The word tore out of his mouth as he stopped Doyle’s car inches from where the Lincoln plunged over the side. He threw himself out of the car, then stumbled and slid his way down the snow-covered embankment.

He had to get to Samantha and Nicky.

They couldn’t die. Not like this.

She
couldn’t die. He hadn’t told her he loved her.

From the street he heard car doors banging and voices calling his name. His attention completely focused on the tail end of the car protruding from the river.

Dammit, he had to get to them. But where? What if he dove in and he missed them? He rushed into the water.

“Wait.” A hand landed on his shoulder, pulling him back.

Jake glanced at Matt, trying to jerk his arm out of the other man’s grasp. “Let me go, Samantha and Nicky are in there.”

“I know, Jake. Don’t you think I want to dive in there, too?” His grip tightened. “She’s my baby sister, for crying out loud. But give her a chance to get out. I taught her what to do.”

They waited there, knee deep in the freezing water.

Time stood still.

The past few days flashed through Jake’s mind. Samantha fighting with him, then helping him with Nicky. The light in her eyes when she laughed. The love in them as she played with Nicky. The haunted pain in them when she spoke of her daughter. Her ability to adapt to each new situation. The feel of her body pressed against his in passion. The taste of her lips, her breasts.

Suddenly, he didn’t want to live without her.

Sami made herself lose control of the car. The back end swung around to the front. She felt the impact with the old concrete bridge before she saw it coming.

Madigan screamed beside her.

She pushed the electronic window button for the rear windows with one hand. With the other she reached for Nicky as the car tumbled downward, her arm helping to brace him against the impact. Her seat belt held them both.

Madigan hit the dashboard, then the window as his side of the car took the full brunt of the collision with the boulders lining the river bottom. His neck twisted sideways, his eyes, two glassy orbs.

A calm came over her. She knew what to do. Matt had drilled it into her head after the time he had to fish the elderly couple out of the Scioto River south of the city four years ago.

The icy water rushed in around them from the shattered front windshield. Gripping Nicky’s coat, she released her seat belt and shoved him into the back seat. She gulped in air, fighting off the urge to panic in the freezing cold water. She scrambled into the back seat with Nicky.

“Take a big breath, Nicky.”

The little boy swallowed in air, his eyes huge with fear.

“Can you swim?”

He shook his head no.

“Okay. When I shove you out of the window, you hold onto the car, okay? No matter what, you hold onto the car window. Jake is up there somewhere. He’ll save us both.”

With all her effort, she shoved the boy out the window, holding onto his coat, until she felt him floating next to the car. She glanced at the front seat, no longer able to see more than Madigan’s dark form in the swirling, murky water rushing into the car and filling it from front to back. No movement stirred from the passenger side.

Sami wiggled out the opening. Her lungs burned from holding her breath. She kept one hand on Nicky as she pushed her head above the water. Frantically, she reached around Nicky, searching for the edge of the rear window of the car. If she couldn’t secure them to the car until Jake came and got them, the current would pull them down river. The news frequently showed scenes of the river being dragged further down stream for bodies washed away from an accident.

And she wouldn’t let this child die. Not this time. No matter what, Nicky would live. This time she’d save the child she loved. And she did love this little boy.

“Jake! Where the hell are you?” She screamed over the sound of the water rushing around her and the sirens arriving on the bridge above them.

Two arms encircled her and Nicky from behind. “Right here, sweetheart. Matt’s here, too. You’re going to be okay.”

She felt him tighten his hold on her. His body pressed against hers holding them all tight against the metal frame of the Lincoln. His lips pressed into her wet hair. She shivered, from the cold or relief, she wasn’t sure.

Oh man, did he feel good
!

“I did it, Jake. I saved him. This time I saved him.”

“I know you did sweetheart. But you have to let go of Nicky, so Matt can get him out of this freezing water.” His hand gently pried her fingers loose from the death grip she had on the boy’s coat.

Matt reached in and slid Nicky out from between Sami and the car. She watched, still gripping the edge of the rear window, as Matt half swam, half wadded to shore. Once Nicky stood next to him, the paramedics wrapping him in a thermal blanket, she released her hold on the window. She let Jake ease her around the tail of the wrecked car.

“Wait!” Pushing against him, she tried to go back to the rear window.

Jake gripped her tighter. “Samantha, he’s dead. There’s no use trying to get him out.”

“I know that. The disc with Nicky’s testimony on it is in my purse. I have to get it out and get it to the police. It clears you and puts Kreshnin away for good!” She struggled again, but it was no use. He held her pinned between the bumper and his body.

“Sami! You are not going back in that car.”

“But Nicky’s testimony, the Kreshnins,” she said between chattering teeth and body wracking shakes.

He wrapped his arms around her. His body heat a blessing.

“Listen to me, sweetheart. Boss is dead, Madigan is dead, the gang is either half dead or in custody. That disc’s not important enough for you to risk your life over. Doyle can make us a thousand copies. Nothing is more important to me right now than that you and Nicky are safe.” He kissed her hard, then took a strong grip on her arm and shoulder. “ Now, if you’re done trying to play polar bear, let’s get out of this freezing water.”

They clung to each other, fighting the swift current.

“The car’s trunk,” she whispered as they stumbled over the rocky shore.

“What about it?” he asked once they too stood safely on the riverbank.

“It’s got…Ivanovich’s …DNAinside,” she managed to get out through her chattering teeth. “Tell Matt.”

“I will, sweetheart.” Then Jake pulled her into his arms. “I thought I’d lost you, Sami,” he whispered against her ear, hugging her so tight she could barely breathe.

Sami shivered, her arms wrapped around his waist. The paramedics wrapped them into warm blankets. “For a…minute, I thought…you did, too,” she said between shivers.

He pulled away for a minute, all the love and fear inside him there for her to see. “I love you, Samantha.”

He didn’t wait for her reply. His lips descended on hers in a kiss to convince her how deep his feelings ran. She clung to him. Letting him warm her from the inside out, her heart swelling with the need to return his passion with her own.

“Ahem.”

Somewhere behind her, her brother cleared his throat. She didn’t care. This was Jake. He was warm. He was hers. She’d been half-alive before him.

“Sami. Jake.” This time Matt made sure they heard him. “You two may want to stay out here and freeze to death, but Nicky needs to get to the hospital to be checked for hypothermia. And the news vultures will descend on us any minute.”

Jake broke the kiss off. “Your brother knows how to kill a romantic moment.”

She giggled against his lips. “Not a romantic bone in the guy’s body.”

“Come on, let’s get you out of the cold.”

He led her up the slippery bank to the emergency squad. Swarms of cars and people blocked their ascent. Lights from television cameras blinded her already bleary eyes. Two policemen stopped him from climbing in beside her.

“Jake Carlisle, you’re under arrest for the death of…”

Sami started to climb back out of the van, only to have her brother step between her and the policemen.

Matt flashed his badge at them. “Carlisle is already in custody of the Highway Patrol, officers.”

“He’s wanted by us for the murder of Captain Bridges and kidnapping Ms. Edgars.”