Courting Disaster (16 page)

“Aren’t you in danger here?”

“I’m safer here than I would be working elsewhere. Here, Vladimir believes he has me under his—how do you say?—under his thumb. He pays well too.”

“What about Uri?”

“Him.” Her snort said it all. “He is a pig, recruiting girls for his prostitution ring, but he stays clear of me.”

Prostitution, drugs, money laundering. All under the guise of family fun and games.

I wonder if the young girl knew why she was off limits to Uri.

“Vladimir thinks to replace Helen with me,” the girl spat. “He can try.” Behind the bravado I heard the fear in her voice.

I thought about her lovely long dark hair. Sheree had been nearly strangled to death by her hair. If the rapist was still at large and stalking his next victim at the park…

“Galina, please. After tonight, don’t come back here anymore. Make up an excuse that you’re too tired for school by working such late hours. I’ll find you a job somewhere else.”

With all our connections, Kate, Nicole or I should be able to come up with something for a teenage girl mature beyond her years.

I heard the surprise in her voice. “You would do that…for me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Her immediate acquiescence told me how much she had feared working here. “I will quit tonight, but I must get back to my ride.”

“Galina, one more thing. Have you seen anything suspicious going on here?”

A burst of laughter came from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a large group of men and women approaching.

“I must go.” Galina faded even further back into the shadows.

“Wait—”

“Check out the repair shop.”

What repair shop?

The group passed me and I knew Galina was long gone. Checking my watch, I saw that I had very little time before it was time to relieve Norma.

I hurried back to the booth and took my seat next to Norma. After a few general remarks, I steered the conversation to the park’s operations. “I walked through the ride section. Man, maintaining all that equipment must be something else.”

“The maintenance building runs twenty-four hours a day. Kinda remains me of Disney World. You rarely see anything to dispel the illusion of carefree fun. Yet the moment the park closes, the workers swarm all over the rides, particularly the new one. It seems to have been cursed from the moment it opened.”

“What ride is that?”

“You’re probably too young to ever have seen the original cartoon it’s based on,
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
. The ride’s been a hit with kids, though, if you ask me, it relies too much on computer animation.”

Excitement sped through me. I remembered the message from Borys Drew had delivered…that I might have to go to the ride.

“The maintenance shop must be noisy, though. It must be set apart from the main park.”

“Oh it is. At the back entrance.” Norma rose. “Time for me to go. I hope it’s a quiet evening.”

I could hardly wait to check out the new ride. Borys had been successful laundering money due to his computer expertise. Given his cartoon obsession, he had to have a role in devising the ride.

Impatiently, I glanced down at the small clock on the counter. Two hours to go.

“One ticket please,” a deep male voice asked.

Absentmindedly, I said, “That will be ten dollars please.” Fingertips brushed mine and a familiar electricity raced up my arm. Until the day I died I would know that connection anywhere.

Taking the crisp ten-dollar bill, I said, “What? A big stud muffin like you can’t get a date?”

Jared’s smile was so fierce that I blinked. “That all depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether a certain sexy femme fatale with bedroom eyes is available.”

Although my insides were doing a Snoopy dance of joy at his mere presence, I shrugged for effect.

“Can’t help you, sir, but that cheesy pick-up line might work in the video arcade.”

I handed Jared his ticket and he caught my hand. “Cheesy, huh?” His thumb rubbed the soft skin of my palm, releasing a new shower of tingles.

“Let go,” I whispered. “They could be watching us from the other booth. You’ll blow my cover.”

“Call me the moment you’re off duty. I’m walking you to your car.”

“Not possible. I have something I need to check out.”

“Carling.” Jared’s eyes were like liquid pools of steel in the booth’s light. “You’re leaving once your shift is over or else this charade is finished right here and now.”

“Jared, please. We may not get another opportunity. I think I know where Borys may have left another clue.”

His fingers tightened before he released me. “Okay, but on one condition.”

“Let me guess. We investigate together.”

“Yes.”

I eyed his dark jeans and polo shirt. “I guess you’ll do for some skulking about.”

“Thanks for the ringing endorsement,” he said dryly.

I consulted the mental map of the park in my mind. “Meet me at eleven by the water bumper car attraction.”

“I’ll be there.”

He turned to enter the park.

“Jared?”

“Yes?” He paused.

“I have bedroom eyes?”

His smile was slow and sensual. “Oh yes. I take one look into them and want to tumble you into bed.”

I swallowed. With a wink, he turned again.

“Oh, Jared?”

“Yes?”

“If you ever use that line on another woman, I’ll nail your hide to the wall.”

“Just so long as it’s your bedroom wall, honey, I’ll die a happy man.” He disappeared into the night.

The man was getting downright impossible to beat in parting lines.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught someone stirring in the other booth. Was Helen keeping tabs on me? Then I spotted him.

A nondescript man dressed in jeans and a T-shirt walked without hesitation to the advance sales booth. Helen leaned forward into the light. The exchange was quick and smooth, so fast that I almost didn’t get a shot of it from the pencil-thin camera phone I had hidden in my khakis’ pocket.

He handed her a small bundle and she gave him a ticket. But rather than going into the park, he turned and retraced his path to the parking lot. A minute later the back door to the booth opened, and a dark shadow of a man exited. For a split second, light gleamed on his blond hair before he slipped into the park.

Who was that? How long had he been in the booth without my being aware?

Norma had mentioned the women running that booth always had men coming to and from it, and had speculated on the nature of those visits, inferring sexual favors being performed. I doubted it. Were large sums of drug money being run from the booth to be absorbed into the park’s crooked books and laundered?

I needed more proof.

My heart pounding, I walked toward the employee entrance-exit to the park. As a large group of departing park attendees crossed in front of me, I slipped off the path and pressed myself against the side of the video arcade building.

The speakers played the recorded announcement that Whiplash was closed again. Fortunately, the park shut down the ticket booths one hour before the official closing time. I had been able to tally my cash, turn in the till and change into my street clothes before the other employees. Helen hadn’t even deigned to acknowledge my goodbye before disappearing into the crowd.

After changing, I threaded my way to the water boat bumper ride but didn’t spot either Galina or Jared. Had the girl gotten off early or was she taking a late break? She hadn’t been in the locker room or by the snack bar, a common meeting area for off-duty employees.

As for Jared, if he was actually hanging out in the arcade with all the giggling, skimpily attired young girls, I was going to smack him.

The coast appeared to be clear. I dashed to the shadowy protection of the equipment shed next to the water boat bumper attraction. I pressed my hand over my stomach, fighting to control my breath. As the rides shut down one by one, silence blanketed the park. Only the occasional shout of an employee now punctured the air.

A hand covered my mouth. I jumped and tried to ground my elbow into the body behind me. “Carling, it’s me,” Jared breathed into my ear.

I slumped against him. After he removed his hand, I whispered, “God, you scared the hell out of me.”

“I’ve been waiting here for the past thirty minutes, going out of my mind.”

I held out my hand, displaying the image on my cell phone. He took it from me and brought it close to his face to see. In the dim light I could see his focused expression.

“A hand off?”

“Yes. The man gave Helen a bundle and was given a ticket in return. But he never went into the park. And there’s more, Jared. There’s a repair shop at the back private entrance that only the owner and his cronies use. Where no one can watch their comings and goings. And you’ll never guess who the owner is?”

“Vladimir Petrov.”

Some of my excitement deflated.

His chuckle was low as he trailed a finger along the curve of my face. “Don’t look so disappointed. You’re not the only one with sources.”

I wasn’t going to let him one-up me. “But I bet you don’t know that the newest ride features the Rocky and Bullwinkle characters.”

Jared pursed his lips in a soundless whistle. “Borys?”

“Drew gave me a message from Borys about going to a ride. This ride keeps breaking down.”

“Where is it?”

“Past that concession stand.”

“Okay, follow me and keep low.” Peering out around the corner of the shed, Jared made a motion for us to go. We ran in a crouch, keeping close to the pool where moored bumper boats floated. Around the corner, we saw the brightly decorated archway to the next ride. Towering in the sky was a large figure of a moose and squirrel. Bullwinkle and Rocky, with his aviator’s cap and goggles, beamed over all that came to Whiplash.

Jared took my hand and we sprinted to the archway. Once inside, I studied the gleaming complex of metal arms, each carrying a car for four riders. The cars bore various figures from the cartoon show, from Dudley Do-Right and his faithful steed to the arch villains Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. The large cartoon figures also stood along the perimeter of the ride.

A low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance and the breeze kicked up. As a strand of lights bobbled, my vision blurred and everything around me grew fuzzy.

“Carling, listen to me.” Borys mopped his brow. “The Hedeon have eyes and ears everywhere. I have to protect my sister and my nieces and nephews living in Poland. I was told that if I ever testified against the gang, my family would meet with an unfortunate accident.”

“Borys, there are protection programs.”

His laugh was bitter. “Protection? The gang has law enforcement at every level on its payroll. If I can go into protection, I’ll be signing my death warrant along with Drew’s and my sister’s. No.” He shook his head.

“I’ve told the Hedeon that, if anything happens to me, I’ve hidden information to protect my family. I’ve hidden a trigger that—upon my death—will put into play a series of events to bring down their entire enterprise. So long as they can’t find the information, my sister and her children are safe. And I’ve hidden it right under their noses.”

Reaching out, Borys gathered my hands in his sweaty ones. “May God forgive me, but, my lovely Natasha, you’re one of the triggers.”

“Carling, snap out of it!” Jared’s frantic voice broke through the haze of the past.

“Jared?” I blinked and lifted my hand to touch my throbbing head.

“Thank God.” He gathered me close. “First you went pale, then you froze with a blank expression on your face. What happened?”

“I had one of those spells…” I turned my face into his neck and breathed in his warm musky scent.

“What did you remember?”

The piece of memory slid into place and held, not disappearing like so many other pieces had before. I raised my head.

“Borys made me a walking target for the Hedeon. He told them he hid information that would destroy the enterprise he built for them and that I was one of the keys.”

Jared’s arms tightened around me. “If the bastard was still alive, I’d kill him myself for putting you in danger.”

I touched his cheek and the tension in his clenched jaw. “He didn’t anticipate my being in the room when his hit took place. He thought I’d be safe and would find the first clue immediately.”

“He couldn’t have foreseen that you would have amnesia.”

I nodded. “That’s what kept me safe. The Hedeon couldn’t be sure whether killing me would end Borys’s game or cause a domino effect. So long as I couldn’t remember that night, they were safe. I was safe.”

“As safe as waiting for a long fuse to burn and detonate the bomb,” Jared said dryly.

I studied the motionless ride. “But the disk he left in the DVD set wasn’t the end. It gave us the names of the companies and a list of payoffs, but it wasn’t anything that would directly threaten the Hedeon enterprise.”

After a quick glance to make sure the coast was clear, I approached the ride. When activated, it would spin in a circle, lifting and lowering the cars.

Natasha, forgive me.

I stopped before the Natasha Fatale figure and ran my hands over it. Solid molded plastic. No movable parts, no secret drawers.

Planting my hands on my hips, I whispered, “Where is it, Borys?”

Tell Natasha that she may have to go to the ride after all.

I crossed to the car with a Natasha figurehead. If Borys had secreted another CD, it wouldn’t be under the car where a mechanic could easily find it during routine maintenance. Once again the Natasha figure appeared to be solid plastic. I climbed inside and sat in one of the plastic seats as I looked around the matting on the floor of the car.

I pried up an edge but saw nothing. Besides, all the people climbing in and out on a daily basis would have made short work of any disk.

Crinkling my nose, I ran my hand under the seat. A wad of gum. I hoped I had hand sanitizer in my bag. The seats appeared to be fairly deep. I doubt if the cleaning crews ever went beyond the curled lip of the seat. Sighing, I dropped to my knees.

“What are you doing?”

“Gum diving.” I gritted my teeth as I found another wad. I stretched until my fingertips reached the back of the seat. Nothing.

I switched to the other seat, which thankfully had been spared gum-chewing passengers today. Disappointment crashed through me as I ran my hand under the seat.

Nothing. Tape rasped against my skin. “Wait a minute. I found something.” I crawled under the seat so I could get a better grip. I pried at the tape edge but cursed when it held tight.

Had to be duct tape. I had a friend who had used the stuff on her tool shed before Hurricane Wilma. While she lost most of her avocado tree, the shed was still standing.

I pulled harder. Triumph surged through me when the tape gave…along with a small flash drive. “I’ve got it!”

Crawling out, I held it out so Jared could take it, but he gripped me under my arms and half lifted me out of the car. My feet barely had touched the ground when—
crack!
—the car’s siding exploded.

“Get down!” Jared yelled as he flung his body across mine, pressing me into the ground. Bullets, I realized, as I heard the gun’s report. The fact that the gunman wasn’t bothering with a silencer told me no one who would help us was left in the park.

Jared dragged out his phone and hit a number. “Sam, someone’s shooting at us. Execute the plan now!” Rolling to his feet, he pulled me up. “Honey, we’re sitting ducks here. Make for the other side.”

Together we ducked under the car and then moved as one as we crisscrossed through the network of the ride’s metal arms.

Dings of metal followed us to the other side where the operator stand was. Cursing, Jared pulled the lever as I punched buttons on the control panel. Adding to the chaos, the growling storm finally opened up and rain drenched us. The motor sputtered to life and the cars slowly moved around in a circle. Over the machinery I heard a cry of frustration.

Jared grabbed my hand and tugged me over a slight crest. On the other side of the incline, my foot slipped and I went down on my knees. As I tried to regain my balance, a sharp object stabbed my palm. I looked down and saw a metal spike used to secure ride railings lying on the ground. I grabbed it and stuck it in my front pocket as Jared assisted me to my feet.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, let’s get out of here.” We raced toward a building to our right. However, when we were close enough, Jared and I saw it was the laser tag arena and both shook our heads. Talk about a death trap.

We were slipping past the open door when I heard a girl scream inside. I tugged on Jared’s hand. “We have to check it out.”

Lightning flashed, revealing his frustration as water dripped down his face. “It could be a trap.”

Another thin wail of sheer terror came from inside. “Jared, please.”

“Stay close but behind me,” he ordered as he moved inside. I followed on his heels, staring at the Twilight Zone around us. No one had shut down the arena for the night yet, and the blast of cool air sent a shiver through me. My soaking wet clothes offered no protection. I rubbed my arms as I let my eyes adjust to the black-lit interior.

Walls covered with neon lights marked the start of the maze. Jared and I linked hands and stepped into the darkened labyrinth. Immediately, fog surrounded us, deepening the air-conditioned chill. We crept along the corridor, using our hands to guide us. We reached one turn and then another. Behind us—or was it to the side?—I heard the sound of a door closing. The shooter?

My answer came a minute later when a bullet slammed into the wall two feet ahead of us. The sound ricocheted throughout the maze. Adrenaline propelled Jared and me around the next bend.

For a moment my thoughts disintegrated as Jared continued to pull me along. We were trapped in a maze with a killer.
No, think of it as a game.
The hunter and the hunted. We were both.

We reached a T-shaped juncture and turned left. I felt Jared fumbling in his pocket. He raised his hand, tossing an object. It landed with a slight thud. Our shoes made a squishing noise as we ran. Movement sounded ahead of us.

A man emerged from the mist, dragging a girl by her hair. Galina. With a hoarse cry Jared rushed him, taking him down in a tackle. Fists flying, hitting flesh, they rolled over. In the garish light of an overhead neon display, I saw the angry, contorted features of Uri Popov.

Avoiding the thrashing bodies, I hurried over to Galina and slung my arm around her waist. “Can you walk?”

Sniffing, she nodded. I guided her to the side. I’d put my money on Jared any day, but the Russian could play dirty. I didn’t want to go too far.

There was a sickening thud as Uri rammed Jared’s head into the floor. He stumbled to his feet and ran past us down the corridor.

“Jared!” I propped the girl against the wall and ran to his side. Dropping to my knees, I touched the side of his face, not daring to move him. “Are you hurt?”

He groaned.
Oh God.
I needed to get him help. I rummaged in my bag for the phone. Three shots rang out in rapid succession from behind us. Then the overhead display erupted into a spray of glass, the shards raining down on us. I flung myself over Jared, trying to protect his exposed face. Glass struck my hands and back, stinging like a swarm of angry bees.

I heard Galina cry out and the lights flickered out. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, but I felt the warm dampness. Blood.

I pushed up to my knees, and the hair on the back of my neck rose. Off-balance, I twisted but a man’s arm came around my neck, squeezing, pulling. I had to rise with him. When he pressed close, I recognize that sour odor of excitement. The shooter was the man who had broken into my townhouse.

“Finally, you ungrateful bitch.” His voice was low, agitated. “Where is it? Where is the CD Borys gave you?”

His arm tightened over my throat, closing off my air. I struggled to breathe, clawing at his arm. “Tell me or your boyfriend dies.”

My vision blurred but I saw a hand lifting a gun.
No!
I went limp and let my hands drop. The pressure of his arm eased.

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re not dying until you give me the disk. I’ve saved you from that bastard client of yours. The least you can do is to cooperate this time.”

“You saved me from Larry Clark?” I slipped my hand into my front pants pocket and curled my fingers around the spike in my pocket.

“You bet I did, with one clean snap of that filthy rapist’s neck.”

“Why?” I rasped.

“At first, his hatred of women was useful to the Hedeon, but he became a problem with his increasing need to rape. After he had dared to attack the Greiner girl here at the park, he needed to be eliminated. All I had to do was nudge him and he went after you. We’d hoped that you’d be scared shitless, but no.”