Out of the Dark (20 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The car Mac drove turned the corner on two wheels as he pulled to the gated entrance of his apartment complex. After punching in the code, he sped to his apartment and raced up the stairs, leaving the car running.

He and Brody came to a halt when they noticed the door was open and heard Hershey barking inside. Mac rushed in and called Em’s name. The only sound was Hershey. Mac went to
the bathroom and let the dog out. Hershey leapt on him and continued to bark.

The dog was unharmed
, but Em was gone. Her purse lay abandoned on the coffee table and her new cell phone on the kitchen counter. He picked it up and dialed the last call Em had made.

“Hello,” a female voice answered.

Mac took a stab. “Hi, is this Brenda?”

“Yes, it is. Who’s this?”

“I’m Mac, Em’s friend. Her phone shows your number as the last one she called. What did she say?”

“Well, she mentioned you
. Said she was safe, but she didn’t tell me where she was. She called to let me know she was fine, that’s all.”

“She’s not safe now, Brenda. I’m at my apartment and Em is gone
, and Hershey was locked in the bathroom.”

“What! Emily said she had no intentions of leaving until you returned. Is her car there?”

“Yes, parked where she left it.”

“What are you going to do? Do you think the men who blew up her house found out where she was hiding?”

Mac didn’t know what to say or think. Em in Marino’s hands scared him so much he could hardly breathe.

“Oh God no
!” Brenda shouted. “It was her dumb-assed sister, wasn’t it? That bitch with the fake boobs and big mouth?”

“I’m sorry, Brenda, but you might be right.”

There was a wrenching sob on the other end as Mac blinked back tears himself.

“Okay
, Mac, you go get Emily. Give me your address and I’ll pick up Hershey and bring him here so he’ll be safe. But I’m telling you right now, I’m going to Victoria’s and Stanley’s and I’m kicking some serious ass. I’m about to rock their sick, twisted world.”

Mac liked Brenda. She was the kind of friend Em needed. One willing to stand up and fight when other ‘fair weather friends’ hid behind silence. After telling Brenda how to get to his place with the code to the gate, and a promise to leave his apartment unlocked, Mac and Brody went hunting.

Mac dialed Jake. When Jake answered, Mac said, “Go to the office and find out from Bruno where Em might be. We don’t have a single clue to go on. None of my neighbors saw a thing.”

“Got it,” Jake replied.

“Don’t be nice. Em could die any minute.”

“You can count on me.”

“I know, Jake. That’s why you’re the one I called.”

***

Jake made it to the office in record time. He went downstairs and kicked in the door to the interrogation room. When he saw Bruno, he pulled out his weapon and laid three loaded clips on the table.

Long, unbroken lines of sweat streamed down Bruno’s face. His shackled hands shook and fear bulged his black eyes. He stuttered and stammered, unable to form a complete word. Bruno’s crumpled face revealed his certainty that negotiations were over.

Jake fired a bullet and took off the lobe of Bruno’s left ear. The next shot clipped his right shoulder.

Bruno screamed in pain as tears fell from his eyes and the stench of his fear filled the
room. Jake cocked the gun again and fired. Bruno lowered his head as the bullet creased his temple. Stomping his feet he tried to yank free of the cuffs that held him bound to the metal table.

“Please stop!” Bruno cried. He hunched his shoulders and squeezed his eyes shut.

Emily Richards was the only thing Jake thought about at the moment. Bruno had made a lot of bad choices in his life, and now the devil was here to collect his due. Jake didn’t care how much he hurt a man who tried to kill an innocent woman. All he wanted was results.

“Where did Marino take the girl, Bruno?”

“I swear I don’t know.”

Jake shot his right ear off. “School is closed, Bruno, and I don’t play nice. If I don’t find out where Emily Richards is
right now, I’m going to kill you piece by piece. It’ll take an army of crime scene investigators to clean up this fucking mess when I’m finished. Now start taking.”

“I swear...”

Jake shot him in the left shoulder. “Try again.”

Bruno screamed at the top of his lungs. He cried, he pleaded, he begged. None of it mattered to Jake. All he wanted was Emily
’s location.

“I don’t know what to do.”

Jake cocked his weapon and shot Bruno in the left kneecap.

“Wait! Wait!” Bruno screamed
.

Jake released the trigger. “I’m listening.”

“I can reach him by phone. Maybe I can call him and he’ll tell me where she’s at.”

Jake walked around the table where Bruno sat in a chair pooled in blood. He reached inside his pocket and took out a phone. He put it on speaker then slid it toward Bruno.

“Make the call, Bruno, and hope you learn where she’s at because if you don’t, I’m going to take four hours to kill you.”

Jake’s phone was programmed to put out a tracer, record the conversation and determine the person being called.

Bruno dropped the phone several times before he managed to dial the number. “Yeah, Marino, where are you?”

“Where are you Bruno? With the fucking Falcon bitches?”

“No, no I got away. When the shooting started, I ran out the back into the field. I made my way to a local store where I stole a car. I’m on my way to meet you.”

“Why do you want to find me, Bruno? You have done nothing I have asked you to do. I don’t
need you anymore. I have Diaz. He is a man who gets results. Not you, Bruno.”

“
But, jefe, I’ve...”

Silence. Bruno dropped the phone on the table and lowered his head. “He hung up.”

Jake left the room and took the stairs two at a time. He walked into Frank’s office just as he picked up the phone. Jake went to the console set up by the NSA and read off the message. “Marino is at 1206 Mockingbird Lane in Southlake.”

“Did you hear that, Mac?”

Frank put the phone down. “You’re back-up. Get going.” Jake turned to leave.

“How bad did you leave Bruno?”

“Alive.”

CHAPTER TWENTY
-FOUR

Emily struggled to breathe. Every stitch of clothing clung to her sweat-soaked body. Her feet burned like fire ants had feasted on them. The smothering dark hood forced her to control her breathing or hyperventilate. Panic riddled her mind as terror spiraled down her spine.

Surrounded by darkness, not know
ing where they were taking her, Emily tried to chew at the tape across her mouth with no success. She stubbornly blinked back tears and thought of Mac. He was out there hunting for her, and he wasn’t one to quit.

Earlier in the apartment she’d hung up from Brenda when Hershey started barking. Thinking he needed to go outside, she foolishly opened the door
without checking the security screens. Three men with guns pushed inside. They threatened to kill Hershey if she didn’t keep him quiet. A short, stocky man followed her to the bathroom where she had to fight with Hershey to get him to stay.

Then they grabbed each arm and pulled her from the apartment. She lost her sandals in the struggle. As soon as they cleared the
door Emily screamed like a crazy person. She kicked, squirmed and tried to bite the man on her right. She managed a solid kick to the ankle of one guy, and the other got a jab in the ribs. Then before she knew their intent, they smacked a piece of duct tape against her mouth.

Following Mac’s instructions, she dug in with her bare heels and squatted down. They yanked her up, but she struggled backwards, stallin
g for time. Hoping someone would hear her plea for help, or see the abduction.

Angrily, she twisted, kicked, pulled against their tight grip and continued to dig her feet into the hard cement. She didn’t get much for
her efforts, but she got the satisfaction of refusing to give up easily.

Finally, the two men grabbed her legs, and threw her into the backseat of a car. With one on each side they shoved her onto the floorboard. Moments later they squealed out of the apartment compound then made a left
. Leaving her only sanctuary behind, the guy next to the window covered her head with a black canvas bag. He propped his feet on her shoulder and hip. The hump on the floorboard in the back of the car dug into her side.

From that moment on, Emily
was helpless. She didn’t know where they were taking her, how long they drove, or their intent. But something told her this would not end well.

T
he car came to a stop. The men yanked her out of the car with more force than necessary. The soles of her feet were so raw she stumbled forward when released. They removed the hood and shoved her through the open door of a large, two-story brick house.

With her eye
s still adjusting, Emily fell several times before she came to the living room where a tall, handsome man greeted them. The coldness in his eyes twisted a knot in her stomach. Without being told she knew this was Marino. The man determined to kill Mac. Obviously, she would play the part of a pawn.

Emily knew with all her heart that Mac would come. The confident smirk on Marino’s face told her he also had no doubts.

When they ripped the tape off, she licked her lips and asked. “What do you want with me?”

“You will see,” he replied smoothly. “You are McKinsey’s lover, are you not?”

His blatant remark gave her pause.
Were they lovers?
To this point she’d never considered their relationship or lack thereof. She cared a great deal for Mac, but at the same time she knew he wasn’t the settling down type. Besides, with her luck in the romance department, she wasn’t about to hold on to any hope.

“No, we are
not
lovers. I represent Falcon Securities as their attorney. I barely know Mac. I was in Russia and he came to my hotel room needing a lift to the States. That’s all there is to it.”

A bitter, ugly laugh bubbled from his throat
. Pointing a mean finger at her, he said, “You play me for a fool?” He stepped forward and tilted her chin. “Or, are you the fool, Miss Richards?”

“I don’t know what you mean and I have no idea why you want to harm me. I don’t even know you.”

“But you know McKinsey. The one I am after. The one I will kill.”

It took every muscle in Emily’s body to keep from reacting to Marino’s statement, but she managed, barely. “Then I suggest you go after him and let me go. Are you blind? I’m not McKinsey.”

In a breath, Marino slapped her so hard she fell to her knees. Blackness swelled and blinded her. With the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, Emily shook her head. Refusing to remain on the floor, she shoved herself up. Rage brightened his face.

With his feet spread wide, he squared his shoulders
. Madness glistened in his eyes. He pointed at her. “You are not him, but he cares about you. And now I am going to kill someone he loves like he did to me.” Marino thumped his chest. “I promise he will watch as I slice you into small pieces while your heart still beats”

Emily stood on wobbly legs and
shook her head to get her hair out of her face. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and no doubt Marino’s hand imprint on her face, would be added to her other bruises, but still Emily couldn’t resist. “I hope he kills you for the animal you are.” Then she spit in his face.

A horrible growl erupted from his mouth and he lunged for her with both hands. Before he could reach her, a small man shot
between them and warned, “Jefe, we need her alive. Dead she’s worthless.”

The two kidnapper
s forced her into a large bedroom. Without a word, they cut the hand restraints and slung her on the bed before banging the door shut. She rubbed her wrists and lay quietly, waiting. The bolt slamming home from the other side echoed in the sparsely furnished room.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Moscow

A
loud thumping on his hotel door brought Tony to his feet. He picked up his smart phone to see who waited on the other side. Tony never left anything to chance. A tiny camera across the hall showed the back of Nicholas Belskavia. He was alone. Clicking off his phone, Tony opened the door and waved the Russian in.

“Glad to see you came to your senses. So, Marino gave you
fugazi
?”

“I do not know what that mean
s, but the money is no good.” He threw his hat on the chair and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m going to kill that fucker. He thinks he is safe in America. Wait and see how long is my arm.”

Tony strolled further into the room. He opened the mini bar and poured his guest an
d himself a glass of vodka. “Be smart, Nicholas. Get legal. In today’s world with all the technology it’s hard to get away with much.”

“I think maybe after I kill
Ramón Marino, I will retire to the countryside. My wife hates Moscow. My son is in the army and my daughter is married to an engineer and they live in Kiev.”

Tony leaned against the wall and crossed his ankles. “I’ve known you for years, Nicholas, but I never took you for a family man.”

Nicholas tilted his glass and chuckled. “I have been married to the same stupid woman for a million years.”

“Giving up crime is a move in the right direction. You’re too old for all this.”

He blew out a frustrated breath. “Dah, I’m too old for all this killing.” He looked at Tony. “So, what is your plan?”

Tony shrugged his left shoulder. “Kill Marino.”

Nicholas took a drink of his vodka. “I like it.”

“How much money did you lose?”

Nicholas stood and paced the room. “Not as much as you might think.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“You see,” Nicholas said. “Those weapons I sold him? The nuclear ones that he could make into bombs?”

“Yes.”

“Well, they’re not exactly
nuclear
. If you know what I mean?”

“You old son-of-a-bitch.” Tony laug
hed. “What a pair the two of you make. Now, I don’t know who to kill.”

“I do. That fucker screwed me good. That was my retirement fund.” Nicholas stared out the window. “It will be a matter of honor. I go teach
Ramón Marino never to double cross a Russian before he thinks.”

“I need a favor, Nicholas.”

Nicholas stood and walked to the large window overlooking Red Square. “I owe you nothing, Archuletta.”

“I turned you on to the counterfeit money.”

Nicholas shrugged. “I would have eventually found out on my own.”

“Right, but it would have taken you time and I saved you a lot of embarrassment. You try using that money and people will think you’re an idiot.”

Nicholas rubbed his bristled chin. “You are right there. And I could have been arrested. Not good for a man my age.” Nicholas finished his vodka and helped himself to another glass. He turned to Tony. “You tell me what you want and maybe we can settle on a price.”

“No money is going to exchange hands. Remember, I still have the pictures. I could hang your asses. You and Marino both.”

Nicholas raised his hand. “Okey dokey,” he said. “And you Americans say Russians are rude.” Nicholas threw his hand up. “What is it you want?” Nicholas paused and raised his finger as if remembering something. “But when it’s all over, Ramón Marino must be dead...and the pictures become mine.”

“That leaves one little issue we have to solve.”

“What’s that?”

“The man who killed your right hand man, Lev.”

“Nyet, nyet, nyet!” Nicholas shouted. “That man must die. He killed my friend.”

Tony took the
glass from Nicholas’s hand and pointed at the door. “Then get out. We have no business to do. I can find others who will help.”

Nicholas walked toward him, his eyes narrow. “Did you kill Lev?”

Tony shook his head.

“It was a Falcon a
gent, was it not?”

“Yes, it was. Lev broke into his hotel to kill the woman who innocently too
k the pictures, and the Falcon agent protected the woman. She didn’t do anything wrong but go sight-seeing.”

“I heard her on the phone say,
‘I have all the pictures I need’.”

“She has a friend who invented a
camera. She was testing it for him. Nothing more.”

Nicholas took his drink out of Tony’s hand and slumped into the overstuffed chair. “I loved Lev. He was a good friend. And loyal, too.”

“Nicholas, we know for the right amount of money he would have killed you. That’s not a friend, that’s just a killer.”

Nicholas shrugged.
“Probably, you are right.” Nicholas let out a loud sigh. “We are in an ugly business, Archuletta. The whole world goes on about normal living, they drive their cars, they cook dinner. Us, we kill people. It is sad.”

Tony nodded. “Necessary evil.
But maybe you can escape to live in peace with your wife.”

“Oke
y dokey, how do we go about getting what we both want? I will tell you, I have men in your big state Texas. They stand by should I need them.”

“You know Marino’s
in Texas?” Tony had just spoken to Frank so he knew where the Columbian was, but how did Nicholas find out?

“I have people everywhere. You never heard of the Russian Mafia?”

“Yes, I have, but I didn’t know you were connected.”

“I’m not, but my brother is. He owe me favor.”

“Okay, this is what we do.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Bedford, TX

Brenda
Sullivan walked up the three steps to Stanley and Victoria’s ranch style home. She rang the doorbell. Dumb and Dumber barked like a Rottweiler who’d just sucked on a helium tank. Brenda wanted to squeeze their little heads until their brains popped out.

After a second ring, Victoria answered the door
with a flourish. Maybe she expected more TV cameras. Stanley stood behind her. That’s good, Brenda thought.

“Hello Brenda,” Victoria said
with a smile. “Did you hear what happened to Emily’s house?”

Brenda
stepped into the foyer, doubled up both her fists and planted her right one directly in the middle of Victoria’s perfectly made up face. She dropped like a ten pound weight. Stanley, the idiot, didn’t seem to know it was his job to catch her.

Standing over Victoria
, with the dogs yelping like air heads, Brenda waited for her eyes to open. In a matter of seconds, Victoria sat up and raised her hand to her bloodied nose. To fix the nose, thousands, to replace the bloody sweater, hundreds, but the look of shock on Victoria’s face...priceless!

As Emily’s sister looked up at her, bawling like a two year
old, Brenda said, “Listen you stupid brat. You went on TV and told the whole world that your sister was still alive. Then went on to say where she was hiding.”

“Brenda,” Stanley said. “Victoria didn’t mean any harm to come to Emily.”

“I don’t believe that, stinky Stanley. She knew what would happen. She got her ugly, plastic surgery face on the air.”

“I didn’t mean to slip and give them the address.”

Brenda leaned down. “Liar.”

“I’m not.”

“The hell you aren’t. All your life you’ve wanted anything and everything Emily ever had.” Brenda looked at Stanley. “Even this weirdo.”

“Brenda!”
Stanley stuttered, his brown eyes wide with shock.

“
Mac called me and said that Emily has been kidnapped. I’m calling my brother to see if he can help. But I don’t think this is a police matter.”

Victoria picked herself up off the floor and buried her bloody nose in the front
of Stanley’s shirt. “I’m completely innocent. And you come in here attacking me.”

“Be glad I didn’t bring my gun.”

Stanley patted Victoria on the back. “You need to leave Brenda,” Stanley said, “before I call the police.”

“Oh, I’m going and I’ll be the one calling the police. M
y brother. And if I see
her
face on TV again, I’m going to black both her eyes.”

Brenda turned and
stomped back to her car. Anger shook her whole body. How could Victoria be so damn stupid?

She couldn’t.

Tears blurred her vision as Brenda imagined her best friend being harmed. Emily never hurt anyone. She’d always been a good person. Now someone had kidnapped her. Batting away the tears, Brenda drove to the Fort Worth Police Station on Belknap. There she parked her car and fed the meter. After whisking away all the tears, and straightening her clothes, she stepped into the precinct where her brother worked.

A female officer sa
t at a desk near the door. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“I’d like to see
Detective Sullivan with CID.”

“May I ask your name?”

She took a deep breath. “Tell him it’s his sister, Brenda.”

Within seconds she watched as her brother came walking toward her. He was a tall, handsome guy if you were into bald
heads, and hairy mustaches. “What brings you here, sis?” He smiled, reached down and gave her a big hug.

“I guess you heard about Emily?”

“I heard her house blew up.” His hand on her back, he propelled her in the direction of his office. “She okay?”

Brenda took a chair after her brother closed the door. “I don’t know. She’s been
abducted from a friend’s apartment, and I think this is some kind of spy thing.”

“Spy thing?”
he said, sitting in the chair behind his desk.

“Well,
see, she met this guy. He’s actually one of her clients. Anyway something happened and the bad guys blew up Emily’s house.”

“Did you call
the police?”

“
No, Mac is looking for her.”

“Mac
, the client?”

“
Yeah, she said his name was John McKinsey. He works for Falcon Securities.”

“Oh, those guys
.” Her brother leaned back in his chair. “Not much to say about that company. I know they do a lot of undercover stuff.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“If one of those agents is on the case, I don’t think you have a lot to worry about. I hear they’re the best of the best.”

Brenda couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Her brother
stepped around and pulled her against his chest, and hugged her. “I’m so worried, Kenny. What if something happens to Emily?”

“Let’s just pray it doesn’t.”

He released her and grabbed his jacket off the hook next to the door. “Let’s get out of here and grab some coffee.”

“Sounds good.” Brenda
paused at the door and looked up at her brother. “Oh, by the way, I socked Victoria in the nose.”

Kenny patted her on the shoulder
, and grinned. “Good girl.”

As they
moved toward the exit, two policemen walked in escorting a man wearing tattered clothes and reeking for liquor. “This guy says his name is Rayland McKinsey, and his son is a cop in Dallas.”

Stunned,
Brenda stopped short and grabbed her brother’s sleeve.

***

Mac’s cell phone rang just as he and Brody pulled out of his apartment complex parking lot. Hershey hadn’t wanted him to leave, but Brenda would be there soon. He wouldn’t be alone for long.

“T
his is Mac.”

“It’s Tony. You on your way to Marino?”

“Yeah, I’m headed there now. Frank just sent me the

address.”

“Okay, well I have Nicholas Belskavia backing us up. He has thugs in the area.”

“Look
, Tony, I don’t want some stupid Russian screwing this up. Marino has Em. There’s no telling what he’ll do.”

“We’ll get Emily out of there. You know that, and I know that. This is what we do, it’s our job. But beware
, buddy. You’re driving right into a trap. Get your head on straight and don’t go barging in there and get killed in a hail of bullets. This isn’t something you can shoot your way out of.”

Mac wanted Em back so badly he could hardly see straight, nor could he keep his car in the right lane. He had the pedal almost to the floor. If a cop didn’t stop him, he could arrive in Southlake before Marino knew he was coming. “I don’t plan to shoot my way out, Tony. You know me better than that. Once I get there I’ll
come up with a plan. I always do.”