The Black Feather (18 page)

Heather jerked her head toward Thad, as she listened to Suzanne’s explanation. She gave him a questioning look and he gestured for her to continue.

“Thad probably did it to keep you safe. I also wanted you to know, so you won’t worry about us that I’ve decided to ask Aaron’s boss if he’ll loan us the money to pay off the gambling debt. Maybe then I can get Aaron to go for counseling. Hopefully if we pay them the money the Montanes will agree to just keep watching while they wait to see what happens about the phones. I’ll leave it up to you what you decide if your dad does wake up and tells you where they are. All I can say again is that I’m so, so sorry I took such advantage of your willingness to help us.”

Heather listened.

“Yes, I’m sure Thad was pretty angry when he caught you trying to sneak away. But I bet he won’t stay mad because I just told him why you were trying to leave without him. I have to go now. We’ll talk some more later. I love you.”

Heather looked up at Thad as soon as she was done.

“Suzie didn’t say she loved me back.”

“You were going to throw her to the wolves. What did you expect, gratitude?”

Suzanne slid the phone into her purse, shaking in reaction to her friend’s shocking confession. She had no idea how long she sat there trying to take it all in when she heard someone unlocking the door.

What if it was a custodian? How was she going to explain what she was doing sitting here among the buckets and mops? The door swung open and a man she didn’t recognize stood there.

“We’re going to leave here together. Nice and easy. No noise. No scene.”

She gave him a thoughtful look. “Did Thad Novak send you? If he didn’t, I’m not going anywhere with someone I don’t know.”

“I have a knife that says you are,” he answered, and flashed the blade.

Suzanne backed away.

“Take my . . . my purse. I have cash, credit cards. You can have them all.”

“Thanks for the offer, but it’s you I want. Now shut up and move.”

He steered her outside to a service alley where he ordered her into the back of a van. Suzanne struggled to climb in causing the man to shove her. She gasped in pain when her hands and knees hit the hard metal. There wasn’t any pleasant aroma here like her last van ride. This vehicle was filled with tools and reeked of grease and exhaust fumes strong enough to irritate her nostrils and make her eyes water.

The doors banged shut, and Suzanne felt the van rumble away seconds later. What would Thad think when he got back and found her gone? Probably that she’d gotten out and run off again. He must be thoroughly sick of chasing after her by now. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t bother to come looking for her this time.

Another distressing idea made her stomach lurch. Heather didn’t say so, but she may have already let the Montanes know about Suzanne offering herself to them. Her phone call said to scrap the plan, but the mob might not be so willing to abandon the idea.

Could this mean she was on her way to the Devil’s Den after all?

Eighteen

The van’s momentum tossed Suzanne about like a lone marble rolling around inside a large box. She clawed her way over the hard surface, scooted around a toolbox, and managed to reach an area where she pulled her knees to her chest and leaned back to brace herself.

Who was this man who so boldly snatched her out of the clinic in broad daylight? A man who was now driving like a maniac, she noticed. How had he managed to get through security? Suzanne winced when her shoulder slammed into the wall, as the van took a sharp turn.

She supposed she couldn’t blame Heather for going to such lengths to help Aaron. Fear. Desperation. They had all been there in her friend’s voice. Suzanne realized Heather wasn’t thinking any clearer than she was, but for different reasons. She and Heather may have been friends for a long time, but in a situation like this the husband had to come first. Still, knowing that she was being used didn’t make it any easier to bear.

Suzanne had no idea what this man was going to do with her, but if she did end up at the mercy of the Montane brothers the first thing they were going to ask about were those cursed phones her father had hidden. She pressed her forehead to her knees. Would they believe her when she said she didn’t know where they were? What means would they use to get her to talk?

She felt the vehicle rumbling to a stop a few seconds later. They hadn’t paused at the gate, which told Suzanne they couldn’t have left the grounds. Were the Montanes waiting in the woods? She sucked in a quick shivery breath realizing just how the thought of that name gripped her with a sickening dread. She must have taken leave of her senses to let Heather talk her into going to the mob.

The doors yanked open.

“Get out,” the man ordered. “Don’t even think about trying to run away.” He held up his knife until the long slender blade gleamed in the sunlight. Two aborted van rides in one day. How would this one end? Suzanne eased her body to the edge of the van and jumped out, grimacing when her feet hit the ground jarring her sore muscles. She had a feeling she was going to be sporting a few colorful bruises by tomorrow.

If she was still alive.

The man motioned her to step away from the van. He looked to be in his late twenties with shaggy, sandy colored hair, average height and build. His denim shirt and jeans made him look like an innocent looking guy who just happened to be carrying a not so innocent looking knife. She saw he’d pulled the van off the road and parked among a grove of trees.

“What do you want?” she demanded, trying to force some strength into her voice, as she struggled to keep her fear at bay.

“Actually, I don’t want anything from you, but my friend does,” he said and pointed to a woman stepping out from behind a nearby tree.

Suzanne judged her to be barely out of her teens, if that old. Petite, like herself, but with jet black eyes to match her long dark hair. She wore a pair of faded jeans and a man’s plaid shirt. Her body appeared on the thin side with the exception of her protruding stomach.

Muriel. Suzanne felt sure this was the girl her father had fought so hard to protect. Her body looked soft and vulnerable while her expression held a mixture of hardness and hostility. Suzanne made herself smile while bracing herself against the open fury in the girl’s eyes.

“Are you Muriel? If you are you didn’t have to go to such lengths to get me. I wanted to meet you.”

“Why did you betray your father?” the girl demanded, brushing aside Suzanne’s query.

Suzanne shook her head. “I didn’t.”

“Yes you did! I was there,” her voice shook with the force of her anger. “You sent those people to our motel. You were the only one your father told where we were.”

“Muriel, listen to me, please. The people I told were friends. They know my dad. I needed their help to get you out of there and into a safe place. But when I got to the motel you were already gone. My friends arrived after I did.”

“You’re wrong. You’re so-called friends came first. They threatened to call my father when we didn’t open the door. That’s why we had to escape out the bathroom window. It’s all your fault that Wendell is so sick. His blood will be on your hands if he dies.”

It took Suzanne a few seconds to process what Muriel was telling her. Had it really been Aaron and Heather who got to the motel before her? Why didn’t she say so when she was confessing to her other lies? Muriel must be mistaken.

“Whoever came to your motel had to be someone else.”

“I heard the woman say their names, Aaron and Heather Martin.” Suzanne caught her breath on an audible gasp while Muriel continued. “Your father didn’t open the door because he didn’t trust them. He told me they’d borrowed money from him on several occasions to help pay the man’s gambling debts. He helped them because the woman is your friend. But they kept asking for more and never paid him back, so he stopped giving them money several months ago.”

Suzanne felt as though an icicle had just stabbed her in the chest. Her entire body went cold, as the last remnant of her relationship with her childhood friend snapped and died like a rotten branch falling from a tree. She forced down the anger swelling inside her as she tried to separate the old caring Heather from this new deceitful person.

“I didn’t know. I swear on my life. Heather said it was my dad who borrowed money from them. She said your father was going to kill them if they couldn’t deliver the phones to him. I was going to help by turning myself over to your father as security until I could get my dad to tell me where the phones are.”

Muriel uttered a harsh laugh.

“You’re not as smart as your father says you are if you really thought that would appease my relatives. They would have killed you as soon as they found out you couldn’t give them what they wanted.”

“Then we must get those phones to the authorities. None of us are going to be safe from your family until they’re locked away. Did you take the phones when you left my father?”

“No.”

“I see.” Suzanne pressed her lips together. “Will you tell me where my dad hid them?”

“I can’t.”

“Please, I’m begging you. It’s for your own good. I want you to be safe; and I know that’s what my dad wants for you, too. Help me to put an end to this, so we can all stop running. I’m sure you’re getting tired of having people chasing you all over the place. I know how you feel and I . . .”

“You have no idea how I feel,” Muriel sliced through the words causing her face to flush with color. “You think these last few weeks have been hard because you’ve had to look over your shoulder? Well, welcome to my world. Every day of my life has been like that.”

Muriel wiped away tears trickling down her cheeks. The gesture caused Suzanne to experience a flood of pity so strong she longed to reach out and offer comfort. But she knew any such gesture would be refused. She may not be the girl’s worst enemy, but neither had she been accepted as a friend.

“You’re going to have to trust someone else now that my dad is so ill. I know he’s very concerned about you and your unborn child. He told me so during our phone conversations.”

“I have people I can trust.” She nodded toward her friend nearby. “I’m not so sure about you.”

“I understand, but I really do want to help. Please tell me where those phones are. If not for me, then do it for my dad.”

“I said I can’t, not that I wouldn’t.”

Suzanne studied Muriel. The truth slowly began to dawn on her. She walked away and paced back.

“You don’t know where they are, do you?”

“No, I don’t. I would have turned them over to the police if I did. Your father must have put them somewhere before he became delirious.”

“Are you sure he didn’t tell you anything?”

“He didn’t, and since you don’t know where the phones are either, you aren’t much good to me.”

Muriel motioned to her friend and he began to amble toward Suzanne, the knife still clutched tightly in his hand. If they were desperate enough to drag her out of the clinic they might be desperate enough to do just about anything. She had to find a way to convince them she really meant them no harm. They needed her help, but she needed theirs even more.

“Let me tell you something, Muriel. I’ve spent years trying to prove to my dad that I was worthy of his love. I thought he never cared about me up until very recently. Now that I know he does I don’t want to lose our newfound connection. He loves both of us in his own way, and right now he needs both of us. Take me back to the clinic. Come inside with me. We’ll talk to him together, and hopefully hearing us will coax him out of his comatose state. I’m asking you to trust me for my father’s sake.”

Muriel pushed back the sleeves of the man’s shirt she wore to reveal several small bandages on her slender arms. “This is what I ended up with the last time I trusted you and your friends. I just met you, and you want me to trust you with my life.”

She shook her head.

“I don’t think so.”

“I don’t blame you for feeling that way. I’m having my own trust issues. I just found out a person I’ve known since childhood was willing to let me risk my life for her own selfish reasons. While on the other hand, a man I only met a few weeks ago has put himself in danger to save me more than once.”

“Why would he do that?” Muriel asked, her smooth brow furrowing into a frown.

“He’s been hired by a man to bring down the Montanes and put them away for good. They kidnapped the man’s only daughter and sold her into sexual slavery where she died. He wants justice for her, and he wants to help you, too. You know the girl I’m talking about, don’t you?”

Muriel sighed, and pushed her sleeves down.”

My college roommate. My family has hurt or killed so many people over the years it sickens me. Did you know my father even killed my mother?”

“Yes. I can’t imagine how awful it had to be for you. The man who’s been helping me mentioned it.”

“Did he also mention that my dad murdered my baby’s father?” she whispered, touching her swollen belly.

“Yes, I know about that, too. I’m so sorry.”

She couldn’t stop herself from giving Muriel’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. The girl stiffened, but didn’t pull away; and this time when she looked at Suzanne, her eyes were filled with surrender.

“I’ve been surrounded by hatred and greed my whole life. I often wondered why I had the bad luck to be born into a family so lacking in moral decency. I want to go somewhere and have my baby and find some peace. Is that so much to ask?”

“No it’s not. I’d like to help you find that peace and while we’re at it, I wouldn’t mind having a bit of it myself. Will you go with me to the clinic now and see if we can convince my dad to wake up?”

“All right. I’ll do this for your father, but I’m still not sure about my feelings for you.”

“I understand. Um, what about your friend? I hope he’s not still thinking about cutting me.”

“He never would have. I am not my father. I just wanted to scare you.”

Suzanne couldn’t suppress a nervous little laugh.

“He certainly did that. What will he do now?”

“He’ll go home.”

“How did he get the security guard at the gate to let him through?”

“We’ve been watching and waiting for our chance. We saw the plumber’s van coming, and I sat on the side of the road holding my ankle. The driver stopped. He said he was on his way to the clinic to fix a plugged toilet, and would take me there. My friend snuck up behind and knocked the guy out. He took the van and told the guard he was the plumber. He saw you being put in that storeroom. The rest you know.”

“You’re very resourceful.”

“You would be too, if you grew up in a family when every day might be your last.”

Thad stared at the empty closet where he’d left Suzanne and raked a frustrated hand through his hair.

Where in the hell had she gone now? What ruse had she used to get someone to let her out? He looked around. Could the Montanes have anything to do with her release? God, he hoped not. But anything was possible considering how many people they had on their payroll.

Did someone snatch Suzanne away in broad daylight? It’d be an odd twist for them. They were more used to masterminding something like this under the cover of darkness and in a place without people, so there wouldn’t be any witnesses. They reminded him of rats running through sewers. They carried their vileness with them, gnawing and biting as they went along, not caring that they destroyed everything and everyone getting in their path.

He could check back with the Martins, but the more Thad thought about them being involved in Suzanne’s latest disappearance the more he dismissed the idea. Who else would want to get in touch with Suzanne? Her mother? Maybe, but the last he heard she was still lying by the pool at her hotel in Mexico playing footsies with her companion.

He’d have to wait and hope that Suzanne would show up. It wasn’t going to be easy. But one thing he did know, and that was how he’d failed one more time to keep her contained in a safe place. He’d earned a big fat F in protection, if anyone was grading him.