Game On (26 page)

Twenty-three

Carly shivered involuntarily. The sweltering heat
from the hot August day had not diminished with the onset of evening, but she felt cold to her core. Struggling to keep her breathing even, she shoved trembling hands into the pockets of her jacket. She tried to think over the loud hum of the huge generators necessary to run the stadium. Unfortunately, she couldn’t come up with one rational thought—not since she’d felt the cold metal gun barrel pressed to her side minutes earlier.

It seemed like hours ago when she, Troy, and Molly went walking arm in arm through the stadium concourse. Both kids were trying to talk over one another as they recounted their exploits in the hotel pool earlier in the day. The next thing Carly knew, Joel Tompkins was behind her, his warm, sticky breath wafting on the back of her neck, making her flesh crawl in warning. Before she could react, he grabbed her arm with one hand, shoving the pistol nearly into her kidney with the other. He hauled her into a utility elevator at the end of an empty hallway. Since she still had her arm linked with Molly’s, she and Troy were dragged along, too.

The elevator descended several floors before its doors opened into a deserted area beneath the stadium. Their loud footsteps echoed on the concrete corridor, drowning out the sounds of the exuberant crowd milling about far above. Joel quickly scanned the hallway before shoving them into a darkened utility room beside the steam generators. He flicked on the fluorescent light. The room was small, with a broken stadium chair in the corner and a metal file cabinet and card table against the wall. The smell of old cigarette smoke lingered in the air, but it was apparent the room was seldom, if ever, used. Certainly not on a game day.

No one would look for them here, Carly thought desperately.

“Damn it, why do you always have one of those kids with you?” Joel whined, slamming the door securely behind them and waving them deeper into the room with his gun. The surprise of seeing him must have numbed her brain, because she was reacting in slow motion. Giving herself a mental shake, she reached out, grabbing Troy and Molly, shielding them with her body. Her first priority was getting the kids to safety.

She only had to look into Joel’s eyes to know he was high.
Sky high
. He looked even more manic than he had the night of the gala, if that were possible. Carly tamped down a shiver. Wishing for Lisa’s soothing, therapist’s voice, she tried to reason with him.

“Joel,” she said over Molly’s sniffles. “Molly and Troy don’t need to be here, do they? This is between us.”

Before Joel could acknowledge her, Troy shot out from behind her, yelling, “I’m not leaving you with this druggie!”

Joel was frantically pacing the room, trying to get a connection on his cell phone. He’d ignored Carly, but Troy’s outburst got his attention.

“Hey, you shut up! She doesn’t belong to you,” he shouted at Troy, waving the gun around as Carly pulled the boy back behind her. “I’ve loved her since she was a little girl. She’s my Darling Carly.”

Trying to process Joel’s words, Carly pushed out a breath as nausea rolled through her stomach. Joel stepped in front of her and her body froze. He lifted a hand to her face before pulling it back without touching her.

“I’m sorry I messed up your house,” he said, tears pooling in his eyes. “But you weren’t being very nice to me.” Anger quickly replaced the tears, almost as if he were a toddler in mid-tantrum. “You were a very bad girl with Devlin. But he’s not going to have you anymore.”

Carly flinched as he turned away, once again fixated on his cell phone. Troy shot forward, starting to say something, but Carly slapped a hand over his mouth, shaking her head. She pushed Troy back and, placing Molly’s hand in his, took a step toward Joel.

“Joel, what do you want?”

He spun around, his face confused, as if he’d totally lost focus. But then the tears returned and this time, he did touch her. Carly held her ground.

“I want to take care of you, Carly. To protect you like your mother didn’t. Veronica died and left you alone in the world. But I’m here and you’ll never be alone again. You’ll be safe with me.” Taking his hand from her face, he placed it over his heart, his face the picture of sincerity.

Had Carly not been so frightened, she might have laughed at the irony of the situation. Obviously, Joel had bought into the dramatic portrayal of her in that stupid movie about her mother. It was true; her mother’s death had left her with a constant need for security and stability in her life. But what he wasn’t seeing were the events that came after the movie credits rolled. Carly knew she was a strong woman who clearly could survive whatever life dealt her. She’d found her sister and become a part of a family. And she’d finally found her niche helping other kids survive the same type of trauma. If she was lucky, she might even find someone to share her life with. Someone who loved her back
.

But she had to get them out of there first. Joel claimed to want to keep her safe, but looking into his crazed eyes, she really wasn’t feeling that way. She steeled her spine and gently caressed the arm he held the cell phone with.

“Who are you trying to call?”

“Keith,” Joel said. He stared at her hand where it made contact with his sleeve. “He’s our ride out of here.”

Carly willed her hand not to tremble on his arm. As much as she wanted to get him away from the kids, the idea of going off with two stoned maniacs scared the heck out of her. She needed to act fast.

“I have a car.” She willed her voice to sound convincing. It was the only option. “We don’t need Keith.” She stepped closer to Joel, forcing herself to look directly into his eyes. Biting the inside of her cheek to steady herself, she tried not to let his stare unnerve her. “We don’t need the kids. Leave them here. They’ll just slow us down.”

Thankfully, Troy and Molly remained quiet as Joel anxiously looked between them and Carly. “They’ll tell,” he said, sounding like a toddler again.

“No, they won’t,” she said in reassuring voice. She tried maintaining eye contact. If she could just keep him focused, she might be able to pull this off. “They’ll do what I say.” At least she knew Molly would. Troy was a bit of wild card. He clearly saw himself as Shane’s surrogate: her White Knight. Still, it was her only option.

“So let’s go.” She took a step toward the door, but Joel grabbed her wrist, pulling her against him.

“Tell them to stay,” he said, waving the forgotten gun in her face. “Or I’ll take care of them myself.”

Carly shuddered. “I won’t go with you if you hurt them, Joel.”

They stood like that for a few minutes. Finally, the expression on his face swung back to whipped puppy as he slid the gun into the waistband of his jeans.

Letting out the breath she was holding, Carly turned toward both kids. “Molly, Troy, you both need to stay here until the game ends. I mean it.”

Neither one said anything. Molly eventually nodded as she stepped closer to Troy. The look on Troy’s face was pure Devlin defiance.

I love you,
Carly mouthed over her shoulder as Joel hauled her out the door. She prayed they’d stay at least long enough for her to get Joel out of the stadium. Breathing a sigh of relief that Troy and Molly would be okay, she let Joel push her into the elevator. She’d only have a few minutes ride to formulate a new plan.

* * *

“Surveillance video has them in a service elevator
at portal G nearly ten minutes ago,” Donovan said as they raced through the crowded stadium. Their progress was hampered by the fans milling about on the mezzanine grabbing a bite to eat and a beer before heading for their seats. “It could have stopped on one of three possible floors. We’ll have to do a floor-by-floor search,” he said.

Shane jostled his way between two oversized Giants fans, causing one to spill his beer. “Hey,” the guy bellowed, but Shane pressed on. He had to find Tompkins and stop him before he did something to Carly. Or Troy.
Christ
, the creep had a gun on the two most important people in his life. If he wasn’t so frantic, he might have taken a moment to realize the enormity of that thought. Shane actually
had
people in his life. Two, in fact. Two people he cared about more than anything. Well, technically he didn’t have Carly in his life, but he’d remedy that as soon as he killed Tompkins.

“Over here!” C.J. yelled from a few yards ahead. Donovan followed on his heels as they turned right into a shallow hallway. Four security guards followed.

“We’ll take the lowermost floor,” Donovan ordered the guards. “You four split up on the other two floors. Search every space. He could have them anywhere.”

The elevator doors sprung open and Molly charged out. Tears streaming down her face, she threw herself into her brother’s arms. “Oh, C.J.!” she cried.

“Molly! Are you all right?” C.J. asked as he got down on his knee to hug her. She nodded into his shoulder.

Shane checked the elevator for any signs of Carly or Troy. “Molly, where are they?” he asked. His relief at finding Molly quickly evaporated. Dread settled like a rock on his heart.

With another gulping sob, Molly lifted her head. “She told us to stay there. But Troy said we had to go after them. I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t want to stay there alone.”

“Stay where?” C.J. asked.

“Go after them where?” Shane asked at the same time.

“Whoa,” Donovan said, crouching down on his haunches. “Molly, baby, start at the beginning, okay?”

Shane didn’t want to start at the beginning. He wanted to get to the end where Carly and Troy were safe in his arms. He plowed his fingers through his hair as he listened to Molly.

“We were walking on the concourse. Troy wanted nachos.” She sounded annoyed, as if Troy’s nachos had led to this. “And then Joel was there and he was pulling us into the elevator. He was really mad we were with Aunt Carly.” Molly gulped another sob. “He had a gun.” This came out in a whisper.

“Told ya,” C.J. said.

The idiot did have a gun. Shane squeezed his head in frustration. They needed to find Tompkins. Now.

“Then what happened, Molly?” Donovan prodded.

“He said Aunt Carly was his. Not Shane’s.” She tossed an accusing look at him. Shane’s chest felt like it was going to explode. “Aunt Carly talked him into leaving us there. She told us to stay, but Troy wouldn’t. He said he had to save Aunt Carly.” It was hard to make out what she was saying now because she was crying so hard. The pounding in Shane’s head joined the pounding in his chest. Leaning down to look at Molly, he dreaded her answer to his question.

“Where’s Troy now?” He had to push the words around the lump in his throat.

Molly’s lips trembled as she tried to form the words. “He went after Joel.”

Shane couldn’t ask another question because all the breath had left his body.

“Do you know where they went, Molly?” Donovan asked, his voice annoyingly calm.

“To Aunt Carly’s car.”

Both Donovan and Shane shot to their feet.

“VIP parking,” Donovan barked to the waiting security guards. “Where is it?”

“Portal B. It’ll be faster if we cut through the concession loading dock,” one answered as they moved as a unit into a jog.

Shane didn’t wait for them. He took off at a sprint.

* * *

It was a good thing Carly’s body was numb.
Otherwise, she’d be unable to endure the last few minutes with Joel. The corridor leading to the loading dock was crowded with food vendors preparing for the game, forcing them to hide in a secluded cubby behind a narrow wall. They had a clear view of their escape route out to the VIP parking, but Joel was too preoccupied with feeling his way around Carly’s body to make the next move. Apparently, he took her capitulation back in the storeroom to mean she was willing to be with him in
every
way. The touch of Joel’s tongue in her ear coupled with the stench of stale beer seeped into concrete should have made her faint.

Fortunately, she remained upright because she needed to move this along. The farther she got him away from Molly and Troy, the safer they would be. Maybe they’d already gotten help. Part of her wanted them to stay put, while another part hoped they’d found someone to rescue her.

Shane, perhaps
. He’d been her rescuer before and she wished he were here now. But he was probably already suited up for the game. Carly stepped away from Joel’s roving hands, causing him to stagger a bit.

Concession workers were still moving about, but there were fewer of them than before. A still-stoned Joel seemed oblivious and needed a little prodding. Her plan was to get him to her car where she could try to make a run for it. It wasn’t great, but it was all she had.

“Joel,” she said. “We need to get to my car before somebody sees us, remember?”

Almost as if she’d changed the channel on a television, Joel’s demeanor shifted back to belligerence. He quickly looked around. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

He grabbed her elbow and they walked arm in arm into the hallway, the gun pressed to her side under her jacket. If anyone looked closely enough, they’d see it, but she wasn’t that lucky. Everyone in the busy hallway was like an ant, minding their own business, gathering food to take elsewhere.

Ten yards from the doorway, the hall was deserted. They were sidestepping a pallet of shrink-wrapped hot dog buns when Joel’s phone rang. He couldn’t hold the gun, answer his phone, and maintain the grip he had on her arm. Shoving her against the wall, he released her and answered the phone.

That’s when Carly spied Troy following behind them. He stood behind a six-foot-tall rack of CO
₂
canisters. He put his finger to his lips.
Oh, God! What if Joel saw him? And where was Molly?

Stay back,
she mouthed to him, hoping Joel was too preoccupied with his phone to see. There was no time to wait until the parking lot. Carly had to run now and lead him away from Troy. She couldn’t risk Joel hurting him. With both hands she shoved Joel away just as he answered the phone. He tripped slightly over his feet, allowing Carly to slip under the arm holding the gun. She took five strides before tripping, face first, onto the pallet of hot dog buns.