From Manhattan With Revenge Boxed Set (19 page)

Her phone made an audible click, letting her know a new message
had been left.
 
She thanked Vincent,
hung up and listened to the message.
 
It was from Sheila Paige, one of the administrators at St. Vincent’s
she’d known for years.
 
She sounded
on the edge of panic, which was unlike her.
 
As she listened, Carmen understood the
woman’s panic and why her own stomach sank now.
 
He did it.
 

He stole Chloe away.

CHAPTER FOU
RTEEN

Out of all the property Illarion Katzev owned in Manhattan, he
owned only two warehouses, the first of which was unusable because it was
filled with items he didn’t have space for at either his hotels or his
restaurants, the second of which was perfect for his needs now because it
contained only his growing collection of high-end new and vintage sports
cars.
 

As such, this warehouse was spacious—none of the cars was
parked remotely close to each other.
 
Better yet, there was plenty of room for the other cars Katzev planned
to purchase soon, such as the Gullwing Mercedes he was
thisclose
to
buying.
 

The ones he owned now simply were here for him when he needed
them for a night out on the town or when he just wanted to see them, touch
them, sit in them and be reminded, with surprise, even at this point in his
career, that they belonged to him.
 

He loved them all, these gleaming works of art that shined in
the spotlights positioned above of them.
 
As a boy in Aberdeen, when he was just poor Iver Kester, the picked-upon
kid who collected car magazines and dared to dream that a better life existed
beyond the poverty he’d come to know on the farm but not accept, he never
thought that he’d ever amass a collection such as this.

In the center of the room was something different.
 

Sitting on a metal chair beneath another spotlight was a young
woman with a black hood over her head.
 
Her wrists were cuffed and her hands were in her lap.
 

Two armed men stood on either side of her.
 
Beyond asking to use the bathroom or for
the occasional drink of water from the fountain beside the bathroom, she hadn’t
spoken since they abducted her late yesterday afternoon when she was leaving
Forest Hills High School to return to the group home St. Vincent’s provided for
her.
 

Now, she simply sat there with her mouth shut, a gift she
probably learned from her days on the streets when keeping quiet sometimes was
enough to keep one alive.

Katzev went over to her and, for the first time in several
hours, snatched off the hood.
 
The
sudden gesture and the blinding light startled her to the point that she reared
away from him—not so much in terror, but given the look on her face, also
in rage.
 

He knelt down beside her.
 

She leaned further away from him, a lock of her shoulder-length
blonde hair fell in her face, and she pushed it back over her ear with her
cuffed hands.
 
Her bottom lip
quivered, but he sensed it wasn’t out of fear.
 
Just looking at her now, sensing the
heat of hatred coming off of her, he half-expected her to spit on him.

“How are you, Chloe?”

The girl moved to speak, thought better of it and remained
silent.
 
She glanced around the
warehouse.
 
Looked at the cars
again.
 
Saw the two men on either
side of her.
 
Saw their guns.
 
And then, in front of her, she saw
something new.
 
A video camera on a
tripod.
 
It was pointed at her.

“It’s fine,” he said to her.
 
“You can talk.
 
You’re not dead yet.
 
I’m giving Carmen nine hours to secure
your protection.
 
Do you think she
will?”

“Why am I here?” she asked.

“Because Carmen loves you,” Katzev said.
  
“What’s your last name, Chloe?”

“Why?”

“Because I asked you politely and I want to know.
 
You certainly don’t want me to be
impolite, do you?”

“It’s Philips.”

“Chloe Philips.
 
Nice ring to it.
 
How old are
you, Chloe?”

“Sixteen.
 
Seventeen
in two months.”

“One day—before you know it, really—there will come
a time when saying that soon you’ll be another year older in two months will
end.
 
That is, of course, assuming
that Carmen comes through for you.
 
If she doesn’t, you might just top off at sixteen going on seventeen.”

“Why are you doing this?”

He behaved as if he didn’t hear her question.
 
“Are you from the projects, Chloe?
 
From a poor family?
 
Taken away by the state because you were
mistreated?
 
Malnourished?
 
Wound up at St. Vincent’s in an effort
to turn your life around?
 
Is that
your history?
 
Your cheap shoes say
it is.”

She looked up at him in defiance.
 
“That’s about right,” she said.
 
“Although you left out the part about my
father being a drunk and my mother running off with any man who’d have her,
including the last one, who beat me.
 
But, yeah, that’s pretty much it.
 
That’s me, cheap shoes and all.”

“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?
 
Is that Carmen’s influence or does it
come naturally?”

“Carmen taught me to stand up for myself, but when you come
from the streets, as I have, you learn how to deal with scumbags like you
during the first few years of your life.
 
Carmen just helped me to hone my craft, if that’s what you want to call
it.”

“Carmen would think you’re being reckless right now.”

“Maybe.
 
But it’s
obvious what you’re going to do to me, so why should I give a shit?
 
Why not go out with a bang?
 
My life hasn’t exactly been wrapped up
in some big fucking bow, asshole.
 
It’s been shit from the start, so why should it end any differently?”

“I have to say—you are well spoken for someone so young.”

“I do well in English.”

“That should take you far.”

She ignored his sarcasm and looked around the warehouse.
 
“Are all of these your cars?” she asked.

“They are.”

“They look like they cost a lot of money.”

“They did.”

“So, you’re over-compensating for a little dick?”

He wanted to reach out and slap her across the face, because he
did, in fact, have a small penis.
 
But if he did, he knew that would just send her fury into silence, which
he didn’t want.
 

He found himself unexpectedly fascinated by her.
 

He stood and looked her over.
 
There certainly wasn’t much to her.
 
Maybe a bit over five feet tall.
 
Probably one hundreds pounds.
 
Pale skin that looked as if it probably
turned pink in the summer sun.
 
Pretty blue eyes now narrowed and looking hard at him.
 

When they followed her yesterday on her walk home from school,
there were students in front of her and students behind her, but Chloe Philips
walked alone, her back straight, stride determined, mouth set, cheap shoes
clicking on the pavement.
 

When they reached a point that one of his men was able to walk
alongside her and ask her to get into the car parked ahead of them or she’d
die, she hesitated for a moment, glanced at him, but then offered no resistance
when he led her to the curb.
 
It was
the most peculiar thing Katzev had seen in years.
 
She simply got in the back of the car,
no questions asked.

“Yesterday,” he said.
 
“When we picked you up.
 
Why
didn’t you put up a fight?”

“Why would I?”
 
She
nodded toward the man at her left.
 
“Roid boy here told me he’d kill me.
 
He also had a gun.
 
I could feel it when he pressed his
jacket pocket against my back.
 
I
would have been a fool to put up a fight, so I did what I was told.”

“Were you scared?”

“Are you serious?”

“But you’re so calm now.
 
Defiant.”

“I didn’t sleep last night.
 
Instead, I tried to figure out how this
was going to end.
 
And there’s only
one answer.
 
You’re going to kill
me.
 
That’s what your two brutes are
for and that’s what that camera is for—to capture it all on film.
 
This is what happens to people like
me.
 
It’s not going to end
well.
 
It never has for me, so why
should I give you the satisfaction of seeing me squirm?
 
It’s not going to happen.
 
And frankly, at this point in my life,
when I’ve been beaten up in ways you can’t imagine judging by your flashy cars,
your nice suit and your expensive shoes, it’s not worth it.”

“What isn’t it worth it?”

“Life isn’t worth it.”

“That isn’t true.”

“Oh, please.
 
So,
now you’re going to lecture me on the value of life when you’re about to take
mine from me?
 
That’s classic,
man.
 
That’s genius.”

“I also came from nothing,” he said.

“And look what that did for you.
 
It shaped you into the terrific person
you are today.
 
Are you proud of how
you turned out?
 
Would your parents
be proud about what you’re about to do?
 
What you’ve probably already done a hundred times in your life?”

“None of this is personal, Chloe, so stop behaving as if it
is.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?
 
My life is on the line.
 
It doesn’t get more personal than that,
dude.”

“You’re just the lure.
 
That’s all.”

“Bullshit.”

It had been years since anyone stood up to him like this.
 
Usually, when he put someone in her
situation, they were filled will pleas, apologies, empty promises and
tears.
 
They begged until they ran
out of words.
 
They cried and they
shouted and they asked for another chance.
 
But not this one.
 
This one
was pissed off and it came from a place of not caring because of the life she’d
been dealt.
 
She confused him and
she intrigued him.
 

He came around and faced her.
 
“We’re going to do something, Chloe.”

“Really?
 
What’s
that?”

“You’re going to talk directly into that camera.
 
Then I’m going to send the video file to
Carmen.
 
Please don’t trust my
patience and tell her that you’re in a warehouse.
 
We’ll just end up doing it again and
again until you get it right.
 
If
you refuse, your friend Roid Boy, as you called him, won’t make things pleasant
for you.
 
You’re a smart girl.
 
Just tell her that you’re frightened and
that you need her help.”

“But I’m not frightened.
 
I told you that.
 
I fully
expect to die here.”

“Then act frightened.”

“This isn’t about me,” she said.
 
“I’m the lure, remember?
 
You’re trying to get to Carmen.
 
Why?”

It hardly mattered if she knew, because in spite of the fact
that he admired her spunk, he still was going to kill her because she’d seen
his face and could identify him.
 
“Carmen was involved with a man named Alex Williams.
 
Did she tell you about him?”

“She didn’t.”

“Do you know she’s an assassin?”

“That’s a lie.”

“Actually, it isn’t.
 
But she loves you, so try to forgive her.
 
It’ll be tough, I know.
 
But you’ll manage.”
 

He watched Chloe’s face turn to stone.
 
Finally, he touched a nerve.
 

“Anyway, she and Alex became lovers on a job we hired them to
do, which was her first mistake.
 
Somehow, Alex had gathered intelligence on us.
 
Until this morning, we didn’t know how
or even why.
 
Now at least we know
how.
 
Williams worked with us on
another job that led him to sensitive information about the organization I now
lead.
 
He never should have had
access to that information, but he found a way to get to it and he stole
it.
 
We’ve now seen the breach.
 
Because they were lovers, we think he
shared that information with Carmen.
 
We think she now has enough information to compromise us, which is why
we targeted each for elimination.”