Killer Love (12 page)

Luke placed his fingers on the guy’s neck but didn’t get a pulse. It was then that he realized he knew who the man was. During his undercover operation to bust Bryce, he’d seen the guy a few times. The man had worked for DiMarco.

From the corner of his eye, Luke saw something flutter in the breeze. A blue piece of paper slid from the dash onto the ground. Luke rescued it before the wind carried it away. The ticket was stamped with the Miller Park Zoo logo. A parking pass. He and Tracy had been followed from Bloomington.

“Motherfucker.” Jumping into his car, Luke headed back to Tracy’s house.

Something struck him in the gut as soon as he pulled into the driveway. The house looked the same as it had a few moments ago, but it didn’t
feel
the same.

He un-holstered his Beretta and crept to the front door. “Tracy.” He shouted as he knocked on the door. No answer. Her car still sat in the driveway.

Luke tried the knob. Unlocked. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

She was lying on her side in the living room floor, blood pooling beneath her head. Lifeless eyes, frozen in terror, stared at the ceiling. A wound on her neck gaped open in a grisly mockery of a smile. DiMarco had slit her throat and done a much better job than he had on Jade’s.

“Sonofabitch,” Luke whispered, slamming his fist against his thigh. The bastard had been here just minutes ago. Hell, he could be here now.

Luke once again called 911. In a low voice, he told the operator to send back up to Tracy’s address. He also asked for an ambulance, although he knew it was too late for Tracy Lyons.

He crept down the hallway toward one of the three closed doors. With his back against the wall, he reached around and flung the door open. He entered the room, gun first, aiming it at one corner, then the next.

Stepping over a pile of clothes, past an unmade bed, he approached the open closet. Empty.

He searched the last few rooms, another bedroom and a bathroom, but DiMarco was gone. He’d done what he had to do in record time and escaped. But he had to be nearby. The bastard couldn’t have gotten far.

Luke searched the immediate area as he waited for the police, but didn’t find DiMarco. He felt like Tracy’s death was partially his fault. Maybe on a subconscious level, he’d intended to draw DiMarco out by stirring up the people in his old life. He hoped that wasn’t the case, but he had to accept that it was possible. It was a facet of himself he didn’t like, so he didn’t dwell on it. What was done was done.

An ambulance and squad car pulled up to the house at the exact moment Luke’s cell phone rang. It was Wayne.

“Nothing on Bryce Lyons but we got a hit on Sal Giamanni,” Wayne said, “He’s in a nursing home in Cape Girardeau. Paid for by Bryce DiMarco. Apparently, DiMarco visits him once a week like clockwork.”

“He’s a helluva guy, that DiMarco.”

“Yeah, a real winner. What’s happening there? You find out where the woman lives?”

“Lived,” Luke corrected, wondering how he was going to explain that two deaths had occurred right under his nose, in a span of less than ten minutes.

****

The air shimmered with the burning intensity of the hundred-degree temperature. Funny how much warmer Cancun was than Chicago this time of year. Bryce slid his sunglasses over his eyes and settled into the wicker pool chair. His only concession to the heat had been to wear ivory colored linen slacks and loosen half the buttons of his blue silk shirt.

Parker Williams sat across the table, looking miserably overheated in a black wool double-breasted suit, necktie and all. A power suit...never leave home without it. What Williams didn’t understand, was that power wasn’t in what you wore. Power was who you are. What you do. What you are
capable
of doing.

They could have talked inside but Susannah had begged and whined until Bryce agreed to join her by the pool. Considering she had provided him a place to hide out, giving in to her demands was the least he could do.

The sun’s rays reflected off the smooth surface of the pool and shone directly into Parker’s unprotected eyes. He squinted at the paper he held in his sweat-dampened fingers.

“As you know, the FBI froze your accounts. At least the ones they knew about. You can’t touch the five mil in the Caymans as it’s in your wife’s name only.” He took a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped the perspiration from his forehead. “Tell me again why you did that?”

“It was a cushion in case I ever found myself in unfortunate circumstances such as those I’m in at the moment.” Bryce’s lips twisted in a sneer. “What I hadn’t anticipated was that Jade would be in opposition to me. I suppose I overestimated her loyalty.”

Yes, and he’d underestimated her courage, or more accurately, her stupidity. Did she really think she could defy him and win? Apparently she did, but she was in for a most difficult and excruciating lesson.

He listened to Parker with half his attention, absentmindedly flipping a silver dollar between his knuckles while he watched Susannah’s lithe body slice the skin of the water.

Fortunately for him, she owned this secluded beach house in sunny Mexico, and was desperately in love with him. Also in his favor was the fact that she didn’t have an ounce of scruples in that delectable body of hers. His being wanted by the FBI hadn’t even made her blink when he needed a place to stay.

“Then of course, there are the accounts in Sal’s name of which you’re executor. The feds can’t touch those.”

The mention of Sal brought Bryce’s attention back to the conversation. The guilt he felt for abandoning the man who had been more of a father to him than his own was almost unbearable. But it couldn’t be helped. No way in hell would he risk going to visit him. Bryce couldn’t take the chance of being apprehended and sent to prison. Not even for Sal.

“You know, the wisest course would be to turn yourself in,” Parker told him, sucking greedily on his lemonade spritzer. “The only charge I feel we can’t beat is the bail jumping charge. I think I can get you minimum sentencing on that. There’s absolutely nothing to link you to the agent’s murder or the trafficking charges. At the most, you would probably serve a year.”

The sun glinted off the silver dollar as it moved more rapidly between Bryce’s knuckles. “I will not serve one
day
in prison, Parker.”

“I know how you feel, but you’re only making things worse. If you hadn’t fled, you’d probably have gotten off completely. I still think there’s a good chance of cutting some kind of deal where you only have to serve probation.”

The man was so optimistic, so enthusiastic. Bryce didn’t have the heart to tell him what he’d done to Tracy.

Try to get a reduced sentence for that one, counselor.

“We’re not cutting a deal. I’m not turning myself in. You are going to continue to do what I pay you to do and save your advice for someone who needs it. Do we understand one another?”

Parker’s eyes rounded. “Do you have any idea what they’ll do to me if they find out I knew your location and didn’t tell them?”

Bryce pulled his sunglasses down on his nose and leaned forward, looking directly into Parker’s eyes. “Do you have any idea what I’ll do to you if you do?”

The color seeped from Parker’s face. He cleared his throat and gulped his lemonade. “Well. I guess we’re through for now. I’ll be in touch.” He shoved papers into his briefcase and slipped a sweaty hand into Bryce’s for a handshake. Then he was gone.

“Hey baby,” Susannah called from a lounge chair next to the pool. “Come and rub suntan lotion on my back.”

“I’m not your fucking cabana boy, Susannah.”

She sat up and leaned forward, showing even more skin than the dental floss she wore was meant to do. “Pretty please.” Her full lips molded into an enticing pout but Bryce was unaffected.

Her bronze bathing suit was almost the exact shade as her tanned flesh. It was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. Sun-streaked blonde hair hung to mid back. She was a strikingly beautiful woman but she left him cold. Put a five hundred dollar swimsuit on a whore and she was still just a whore. They’d had some hot sex in the past, but once he’d met Jade, he’d lost all interest in Susannah.

Besides, she was the type of woman who could never be satisfied with just one man. As much as she’d professed to love him, she’d screw anything with a penis...and some things without. Lucky for Susannah, he didn’t give a damn about her. Otherwise, he probably would have killed her.

She uncoiled from the lounge chair and sauntered over to where he sat. Placing a hand on either arm of the chair, she leaned in close. She smelled of suntan oil and chlorine. Her bikini top gaped open, showing her nipples. She flicked out her tongue and moistened already glossed lips.

“Come on, baby. You’ve been here for weeks and you haven’t touched me. Don’t you remember how good it was between us?” One hand slid slowly over his exposed chest and slipped beneath his shirt to the waistband of his pants. “Don’t you know how much I want you?”

He grabbed her wrist and pulled it away. “I’m married, Susannah.”

“For God’s sake, Bryce. The bitch is gone. She betrayed you and
I’m
the one here for you. What the fuck is this crazy loyalty thing of yours? You’re a ruthless bastard in every way, yet you won’t cheat on your missing wife?”

He stood so quickly she stumbled back but still, he held onto her wrist. He pulled her against him and twisted her arm behind her back.

“My wife is
temporarily
missing. I
will
find her. I
will
bring her back.”

Her pupils widened, black nearly obliterating the blue. Her chin quivered and tears filled her eyes. “You’re hurting me.”

Blood surged to his groin and he felt the beginnings of an erection. Well, what do you know? She still turned him on after all. But she was the wrong woman.

He wanted to see that kind of fear in Jade’s eyes.

His grip eased. “You understand? I
will
get my wife back.”

“Ok, whatever. But surely you realize that she’s fucking around on you? I mean, she
left
you. You don’t think she’s got the same fucked up views of fidelity as you, do you?”

Everything around him faded to nothing. A shadow passed over the sun. Words fired like missiles in his brain.

Jade with another man. Jade desecrating their marriage vows. Just like his mother had done to his father.

No! She goddamned sure better hope that wasn’t the case. Because that would determine whether he took her back and simply punished her. Or whether he fucking killed her.

“Bryce! Bryce, goddammit, let go!”

Sunlight blazed once again and he looked down to where he still held onto Susannah. His fingers squeezed her arm so tightly, her flesh bulged between his knuckles. Tears streaked her cheeks. Pain had replaced the fear in her eyes.

He released her and stepped back. She stared at him and rubbed the angry red marks he’d left on her arms then turned and stormed inside.

Bryce shook his head. She was worse than Tracy. At least Tracy had been real. A low class bitch, but a loyal one. Until the end, that is. Tracy never should have talked to that fucking Butler. The sonofabitch thought he was so smart. He’d been so smug when he’d tried to intimidate Bryce after his arrest.

Agent Lucas Butler. A thorn in his side but obviously, the man was somewhat incompetent. After all, Bryce had murdered Tracy and escaped...with Butler less than half a mile away.

Unfortunately, Bryce had lost a good man in the process. Donahue had been loyal, an excellent employee. He’d been one of only a handful of men Bryce had trusted enough to take with him. Ah well, it couldn’t be helped. Part of the cost of doing business.

The maid brought him a fresh Glenlivet on the rocks, then quietly disappeared. He took a sip of the scotch, capturing a cube of ice in his mouth and crunching it between his teeth. Something glinted in the sunlight at his feet. The silver dollar. He must have dropped it when he’d grabbed Susannah. He picked it up and once again began working it through his fingers.

It was the first dollar he’d ever made. The first time he’d had money that was all his own and he’d earned it when he went to work for Sal. He kept it to remind himself of where he’d come from.

And where he swore he’d never be again.

Chapter Eight

Jade stared at the computer screen and watched the numbers blur before her eyes. She had work to do, but she wasn’t in the mood. Soon after she’d arrived in Solitaire, she’d begun keeping books for two different companies. They allowed her to work from home, which was perfect. The less contact she had with people, the better. In spite of the bizarre circumstances, it felt good to finally be free, finally independent, after all that time of living under Bryce’s control.

She pulled up the spreadsheet for Magic Construction. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t concentrate. Cutting herself off from human contact was a necessity but she grew lonelier with each day that passed.

The ache of no longer being able to see or speak with Melanie was almost a physical thing. Growing up, Melanie had been the only bright spot in Jade’s horrible existence. Melanie’s mother had welcomed Jade into her home as if she were another daughter. She was always in the kitchen, offering the girls a homemade snack. Jade especially liked the no-bake cookies. Melanie’s mother would let them scrape the pan and eat the gooey treats while they were still warm.

Jade had thought that Melanie was the luckiest girl in the world. She was always amazed when her friend would complain about her mother. Didn’t she realize how blessed she was?

Jade had secretly wished they could trade mothers. Funny how it never occurred to her that wishing her own mother on Melanie was selfish and cruel.

And now, she wanted to see her friend. Deeply and desperately needed to talk to her. Contacting family and friends was against the rules of the program, she knew that. And it could perhaps be dangerous. But God, she missed Melanie so much.

She stared at the computer screen now with a new purpose. Mel had an AOL account. Jade could add her screen name to the buddy list. Just to see if she was online. She didn’t have to talk to her. Maybe seeing Melanie’s name on the computer screen would help her feel connected to her friend.