Third Half (36 page)

             
"Yes.  And I have someone looking after him."

             
"When can I see him?"  she asked, seeing Marsh shaking his
head with a growing frown.  Ignoring him she went on with what she
was saying.  "I told you, my sister won't pay unless I tell her I've seen
Jack and I'm certain he's fine."

             
"I'll take you to him tonight.  Then you'll see for yourself that
he's okay."

             
"Very good.  Tonight then.  Do I meet you, or will you pick
me up here?"

             
"Meet me in front of the club at six o'clock.  But stay close to
your phone in case I have to call and change things."

             
"All right, the club at six," she repeated before hanging up the
phone.

             
"What the hell did you do that for!"  Marsh fumed.  "Do you
have some kind of death wish?"  He ran his fingers roughly through
his hair, leaving it in disarray.  "Why can't you follow orders just
once?"

             
"I did what I felt was necessary to save my brother!"  she
shouted in reply.  "And that's what I intend to do!"

             
"And what do you think I want to do?"

             
"I hope save him, and keep me alive as well," she said
sarcastically.  "Though I wonder about the latter."

             
"You . . ." He bit back his retort, then turned stiffly, heading
for the door.  "I better go and see what I can arrange in order to do
that."  She saw him clenching and unclenching his hands at his sides,
as if trying to contain his anger.  "Please let me know of any more changes you may see fit to make; since it seems you're the one
running things now.  And by the way, if you need to contact me, I'll be
staking out the club."

             
It was five thirty when Liane left the hotel on her way to the
Calypso Club
.  After calling for a taxi, she decided to wait for it
outside where she could get some air.

             
Outside she was surprised to find a strange car pulling up in
front of her.  "Get in," the man ordered as he leaned over in the seat
and opened the door.  "We thought it would be nice to save you the
trip to the club."

             
"Who are you?  A silent partner," she asked, trying to sound
cool as she got in beside the strange man.

             
"I am now."  The man laughed roughly, then pulled away from
the curb.

             
"I'm not familiar with Los Angeles, but isn't the club in the
other direction?"  she asked after they were driving a while.

             
"I decided it would be best to leave Georgie Boy at the club. 
In case he's being watched.  You see, I'm not as trusting a fellow as he
is."  The man turned to stare coldly at her.  "You'll find out once we
stop up here at a place I know."

             
"What do you mean?" she asked, suddenly frightened.  "What
do you intend to do?"

             
"I intend to give you a change of clothing," he said, pointing to
the back seat.  "The Feds like placing wires on people so they can
keep track of what's going on."

             
"I can assure you that I'm not . . ." She stopped, seeing it was
useless to deny it.  "Oh, here we go again."  She thought of all the
times she had worn someone else's clothing since trying to find her
brother.

             
"What's that?"

             
"Nothing!"  She sulked until they pulled into a small, dirty-looking motel.  "You don't expect me to go in there!" she said with
distaste.

             
"No. 
We
are going in there.  They rent by the hour."

             
Liane choked as the realization hit her that she would be
totally at this stranger's mercy should she enter a room with him. 
Actually, she was at his mercy now.  Slowly she fumbled with the car
door.

             
"Do you want your brother?" the man asked as he firmly
grasped her arm, preventing her escape.

             
Her shoulders sagged as she looked at the man.  "Okay, let's
get this over with."

I

             
Later, as they returned to the road, she wondered how she had
withstood the indignity of this man watching her every movement as
she undressed.  Still she supposed she should feel fortunate he had
only watched when he could have . . .

             
She forced the thought from her mind.  Instead she thought
about Marsh, wondering what he'd do now that she was gone.  It was
well past her planned time of arrival at the club, and she knew he'd be
worried. 

             
Yes, but will it be about my getting hurt, or because his plans
were ruined?

             
She reflected on how often she had gotten in his way since
attempting to find Jack.  Now, she wondered if this wasn't the last
straw.  Would he give up on her and Jack? 
Me maybe . . . but never
his partner.
  She felt sure of that.

             
They were outside the city and heading into a less populated
area when she finally turned to her driver.  "Where are you taking
me?"

             
"To your brother, like you asked," the man replied.  I hear
George's girlfriend has been taking real good care of him.  You'll see
that for yourself once we get there.  But why don't you just relax and
listen to some music."  He leaned forward and turned on the radio. 
"We'll be a few hours getting there."

             
Liane wanted to scream.  The hours of air travel she had spent
in the past weeks did not prepare her for the patience she needed for
this trip. 

             
Perhaps it's just the company, she thought, letting her eyes
return to the driver.  She realized now, just how much she had really
trusted Marshal Todd.  This man she could never trust.

             
She had nearly dozed off when she heard a report over the
radio.  She was certain they had mentioned the
Calypso Club
when
they said they had found the body of a man in the basement.  But as
she sat up to hear the rest, the driver quickly changed the station.

             
"I prefer music to news," he said gruffly.  "Nothing but murder
and crime on the news."  Suddenly he burst into laughter, looking
toward her.  "Right, Sweetie?"

             
"Right," she mumbled as she looked out her window into the
growing darkness.  The only things she knew for sure, was that they
were heading into the mountains.

CH-14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

             
When finally she opened her eyes again, she was unable to
distinguish exactly where they were.  But she thought she could see
small lights flickering in various spots in the distance.

             
Within moments they were driving through a gate and onto a
long gravel lane.  As Liane watched out her window, she saw them
passing many tents and recreational vehicles before driving down a
long stony lane and parking in front of one R.V. secluded from the
others.

             
She watched as the door to the R.V. opened and a woman with
a shotgun came rushing toward the car.  "You!" the woman
exclaimed.  "Where's George?"

             
"There's been a slight change of plans, Christine," the man
explained as he opened his car door.

             
"What are you talking about?  Who the hell is she?"  The
woman nearly shouted when she saw Liane step out of her side of the
car.

             
"She's the sister of the fellow you've been keeping company in
there," the man said as he walked over to Liane's side.

             
"George told you about him?"  Christine said, shaking her
head in disbelief.

             
"Of course, you know how close we are."  The man laughed,
shoving Liane toward the doorway.

             
"I don't get any of this," the woman said tensely.  "George said
everything went wrong.  He was coming tonight and we were going to
get out of here."

             
Liane could tell the woman was sprung to so tight it probably
wouldn't take much for her to snap.  She also could tell the woman
obviously disliked her companion.  Not that she blamed her for that.

             
"Like I said, there was a change of plans," the man repeated.

             
"Liane," Jack called from the doorway of the trailer.

             
She looked up and saw her brother with his hands bound
behind his back.  "Jack!"  She was about to rush toward him but the
man grabbed her, preventing her escape.  "Now that you see he's all
right, we have a phone call to make."

             
"Let go of me!  I want to talk to him."  She struggled to pull
free of his hold.

             
"Let her alone!"  Jack ordered as he stepped further outside the
vehicle.

             
"Hold it!"  The woman pointed the shot gun at him.  "No one
is doing anything, until I know exactly what's going on."  She turned
back to the man.  "Art, a little while ago I tried to call George to see
why he wasn't here yet.  I couldn't reach him."

             
"He's still at the club," Art replied.  "We thought it would be
better that way.  Like I said, he thought he was being watched."

             
Out of the side of her eye, Liane thought she saw the bushes
moving.  She looked back at Jack and saw that he too, was glancing in
that direction.

             
"I want to check with him before we do anything," the woman
said as she stepped toward the man.  "We have to arrange to meet him
someplace after he gets away."

             
"You can't talk to him now.  Maybe later," Art said quickly.

             
Liane remembered the radio report.  "Don't you mean she can't
talk to him ever again?  Because you killed him when you found out
what was going on." The man slapped her to stop her from saying
more, but the damage was done.

             
"George . . . dead!"  Fear clearly etched on the woman's young
face as she looked back at them.  "No . . .Not my Georgie!"

             
"Don't listen to this broad, Christine.  She's making it up."

             
"All you have to do is listen to the radio," Liane said as she
slowly side-stepped the man as he went for his gun.

             
"That's enough of this bull shit!"  Art ordered, waving his
pistol in the air.  "If you want to call George, you can.  But at least
wait until we get on the road, in case they trace the call."

             
At that moment Liane saw her brother nod to her.  As she
turned to run, she heard the man shout for her to stop, and a dark
figure lunged toward her.  A shot sounded as she was pushed to the
ground.

             
She saw Marsh laying on the ground next to her, holding his
leg where he'd been wounded.  When she looked up she saw the man
holding the gun on her brother as he tried to escape.  Marsh saw it too,
and raised his gun again, but the man saw him and turned his gun on
him.  Their shots rang out simultaneously.