Trifecta (20 page)

She felt a change in the air, even though her eyes were
squeezed shut, and knew the door to the closet had been opened.  Then the blanket
was yanked from her and she sat there, blinded by the glare of a flashlight shining
directly in her eyes.

She knew it was futile to run, there were two people in
the room.  She could see when she shaded her eyes from the glare.  She made a panicked
try anyway, and got by the man with the flashlight.  She ran almost directly into
another figure, who grabbed her in a vice-like grip.  She struggled for a moment
but knew she could never get away from the steely muscles holding her tightly. 

The two were speaking in Spanish, so Julia said, "Would
you please speak English.  And let go of me."  She managed just the right
amount of outrage in her voice, she thought.

It was Juan Carlos's ferret-like face that she recognized. 
Her heart sank.  Quijada had found them. 

The other man let her go and Julia sank down on the bed. 
She knew she had only moments to live.  The bulky man who caught her was holding
a gun.  His hair was black and he was young, maybe twenty years old, with sideburns
and a small thick mustache.

Julia frantically tried to think of a way to delay her
death.  She would have to bargain with the men and take up enough time for Robin
to return.  They were still speaking in Spanish, and she again requested that they
speak English.

"I have money in my purse.  You can have it." 
Julia said, hoping she was not shaking noticeably.  "And credit cards.  Just
leave me outside.  I can never make it into town and I will freeze to death.  I
don't want to be shot."

"Shut up."  It was the young giant who spoke. 
Julia could tell he was angry.  Probably because he had to kill her, to make his
bones or something, and was nervous.

"Where's Mr. Chavier?"  Juan Carlos asked.

"He went back to Los Angeles," Julia said, wondering
about the tone of respect that Juan used when mentioning Robin.

"I don't think he would leave you here alone,"
Juan said, leering at her.

Damn, Julia thought.  They would probably rape her before
they killed her.  "Well, it's true.  He thought you would never find me here."

"We want the books and videos," Juan Carlos said.

"I don't have anything.  It was all returned."

"No, it was not," Juan said.

Julia was silent.  She didn't want them to know that she
was aware that they had stolen back one set of copies.

"Maybe we will let you go outside, if you give us
what we ask for."

"Robin gave everything to you," Julia said again.

"I think there is something else," Juan said
nastily.  He was leaning too close and his breath was tinged with a horrid mixture
of garlic and the repulsive aroma of something else that was not yet fully digested. 
His eyes were black and slanted and darted about like crazy.  Julia was scared
out of her mind.

"If I gave you this item, would you let me go?"

"Of course," Juan said smoothly.  "We don't
want money.  We want the things that were taken from Senor Quijada."

"You promise you won't use the gun?"

"The gun would be quick."  It was the dark hulking
young man.

"Don't do me any favors," Julia said shortly,
then bit her lip to shut herself up.  Sarcasm might enrage the muscle-bound killer.

"You idiot," Juan snarled angrily at the younger
man.  He turned back to Julia.  "We might let you go if you have something
that belongs to Mr. Quijada.  We didn't say nothing about killing."

"You don't have to.  Let me die outside in the mountains,"
Julia asked.  "Please?"  Time was what she needed.  Time for Robin to
come back.

"You say there is something you have?" Juan asked.

There was a loud crack, like a gun shot, and Julia almost
screamed at them, "Get my purse from the closet."

Another crack from outside.

"What was that?"  The young guy was striding
to the window.

"Please," Julia yelled, to cover up the sounds
of the motorcycle.  "I need to pray outside."

She got up and ran to the closet.  She had moved so quickly
that the young guy turned from the window. 

"I do have something," Julia said, hoping to
distract the men.  She bent down and got her purse. 

Juan Carlos grabbed it from her roughly.  He turned it
upside-down and dumped the contents on the bed.  Her wallet fell out, along with
a compact, some lipstick, a comb and the rolls of film.

"See.  There it is," Julia yelled.

"You don't have to scream at us," Juan said.

"It's the rolls of film.  Open one.  You'll see. 
Pictures of Mr. Quijada's ledgers.  I couldn't read the Spanish, so I took pictures. 
That's what I do, you know.  I take pictures."  Julia's throat was getting
sore from yelling so loud, but she had to warn Robin. 

Julia looked at Juan Carlos.  He had pried open one of
the small canisters and was holding the film up to the light.  It was difficult
to make out anything on the dark brown film, but evidently he recognized pages of
the ledgers.  As Julia watched him she knew that this man, Juan Carlos, was the
most dangerous of the two.  She had a dreadful gut feeling that he had murdered
her brother.

"There it goes again," the younger man said when
there was another loud crack.  "Maybe Mr. Chavier is back."

"Go see," Juan said.

"No one is here but me," Julia said loudly. 
"You must let me prepare for my death."  She was yelling again, demanding
time to see the sky and the stars before she was gone forever.  She shouted that
she knew that they were going to kill her and repeated, again and again, that she
had to go outside.  Through all the yelling she tried to remain in control and not
panic.

Finally Juan Carlos got fed up with the hysterics.  He
leaned over and cuffed her hard on the side of the face, "Shut up." 

It hurt like hell and almost knocked her over.  Julia knew
there was nothing else she could do.  She would not cry.  Acting weak with these
volatile men would escalate the level of violence.  If they took her for a victim
they would treat her like one.

Juan looked at her suspiciously and then turned to the
other man.  "I'll go look.  Give me the gun."

The young guy obviously wanted to keep the gun and Juan
said something in harsh Spanish.  Then he added, scornfully, "She's just a
puny girl.  Surely you will be safe with her?"

Juan left the room with the gun.

Now that she had one man alone, the weaker of the two,
Julia started whispering desperately.  "You really don't want to kill me. 
Murder a woman in cold blood?  I don't think so.  Why don't you tell Juan Carlos
to let me go?"

The man was shaking his head and actually backed up a few
steps.  He was just a muscle-bound adolescent trying to act macho.

"I can tell you're a nice man," Julia said softly. 
"You're big and handsome.  They're using you to do their dirty work.  Maybe
they gave you drugs.  Maybe they promised money.  But in the end these men will
only exploit you, bring you death."

Julia got up and started walking toward the young guy.

"Sit down, lady.  Don't come any closer."  He
sounded angry.

"I don't even know your name," Julia said, walking
very slowly toward him.  She was trying to smile.  She thought she had heard something
from below.  A thump.  As long as the gun didn't go off she would have to believe
that Robin was all right.  She had to keep this guy's attention on her.  And keep
him up here.

"Tell me your name," Julia said commandingly.

"Mike."

"It's very warm in here, isn't it, Mike?"  Julia
took off the parka and threw it on the bed dramatically, like a stripper.  Then
she started unbuttoning the pajama top.  She noticed that she had Mike's full attention
now.  She unbuttoned slowly.  Then she took it off.

The one piece thermal underwear she had on was form fitting
and quite snug, showing off her breasts to full advantage.  Never before had Julia
been so glad that she was well endowed.  She had always considered herself almost
embarrassingly lush, but Mike was looking at her like he had never seen a woman
before. 

Julia was cold and knew that her nipples would be standing
out.  There were tiny buttons from the neck down to the waist of the garment and
Julia started playing with the buttons.  She unfastened a few so he could get a
good look at her deep cleavage as the tight garment spread open a little at a time
as she unbuttoned.  She stretched her arms up, yawning, saying she was very sleepy,
practically waving herself in front of his face.

Julia bent down so that he could see down the front of
her clothing, see her breasts fall forward, and took off the boots, letting them
thump on the floor so he wouldn't notice the noises from below.  Then she took off
the bottom half of the pajamas. 

As she stepped out of the pajama pants, Mike was now gazing
at the form that was revealed before him; the tiny waist and the long slim legs.

Julia looked at the guy from under her eyelashes as she
started at the top again, unbuttoning more of the buttons.  His eyes were riveted
on her chest.  He didn't seem to be aware that there were some more thumps and a
dragging sound from down below because Julia had almost reached the buttons at her
waist. 

She hoped that Robin had brained Juan Carlos with his own
gun and wondered what was taking him so long to get up here.  She was scared he
might be hurt.  Julia was positive Robin would come for her if he could.  She had
the horrible idea he might already be dead.  She felt tears sliding down her cheeks,
but Mike was intent on her body and didn't see them.

Julia glanced down at herself and saw that the underwear
had parted to reveal most of her chest.  She felt like grabbing the material and
yanking it together again.  What was taking Robin so long?  There wasn't much more
she'd be willing to do with this muscled moron if Robin didn't hurry up.

The man reached his hand out, as if to touch her, and Julia
started backing up, smiling at him, toward the door.  "If I let you touch me,
you have to promise that you won't kill me."  She was trying to sound playful. 
It almost made her sick.

Julia kept backing up and Mike was still moving forward. 
She thought if she could get to the doorway she might be able to make a run for
it.  Or, if he came too close, she could give him a good kick in the crotch.  If
he got hold of her she could never break away.  The guy was big as an ox. 

She wished she hadn't taken off the boots.  Kicking hard
enough to disable him with her bare foot wouldn't be easy.

"Hold it right there," she heard from behind
her.

Julia whirled around.  Robin was in the doorway, only a
few feet from her.  She had never felt such relief.  He was holding Juan Carlos's
gun, she noted with satisfaction.

"What took you so long?" Julia asked, almost
dizzy with relief.  "I was getting worried."

Robin didn't say anything.

When she saw where he was looking, she became infuriated. 
She had been so worried about him and there he was, gaping at her chest.  "For
God's sake!  Guys are so easily distracted."

"Well, that's a lot of fine skin you have showing,
Julia."  He was chuckling and it made her more furious.  She turned away and
started buttoning up. 

Robin directed Mike to lie down on the floor and fold his
hands behind his neck.

"I had to distract him.  It sounded like thunder down
there.  What happened?"

"I bet he didn't even notice," Robin said.  He
seemed very amused.

Julia had finished buttoning and she pulled on the parka. 
She was really angry.  She had been fighting for her life, and as far as she was
concerned he could take a flying leap.

She turned around, now that she was covered, to confront
him and really give him a piece of her mind. 

He looked at her, suddenly horrified.  "I'll kill
them if they hurt you."  Robin went to Julia and touched the side of her face
delicately.  Just a gentle touch with one of his fingers caused her to wince. 

She had forgotten all about the whack Juan Carlos had given
her.  "You were looking at me before, and you didn't even see my face?  They
were going to shoot me.  I'm not big and muscular.  It was tacky, but what could
I do?  And you.  You were laughing."

"You're wrong," Robin said.  He stepped forward
and put his arms around her holding tightly, and stroking her hair soothingly. 
"I was amused that you had such guts.  That you were so inventive.  The yelling
warned me as soon as I got off the bike.  Then you kept this man from going down
to help Juan Carlos.  It would have been much harder for me to take on both of them. 
You were so brave.  I was just...shocked."

Julia looked up at him and smiled a little lopsidedly. 
"I was scared to death.  But it was pretty funny, at that."

"I'm lucky you're so beautiful, that you could distract
the kid over there," Robin said, motioning with his head toward the man on
the floor.  "We have to get ice on that cheekbone.  It's already starting to
swell."

"Hey!"  It was the man lying on the floor.

"Just stay there," Robin said irritably, not
taking his eyes away from Julia.

"What happened to Juan Carlos?"

"He was bumbling around in the dark.  I just bashed
him on the head when he got close enough."

"Good thing you're a cop," Julia said.

Robin laughed.  "Lets get some rope and tie this bastard
up."

J
ulia and Robin tethered Mike's legs since he was
strong and they wanted him safely secured.  Each of them took a foot and dragged
the heavy fellow into a bedroom down the hall. 

Mike started an incoherent one-sided discursive yelling
through the door; Julia was a devil woman, a tease, and he would get them both. 
Just wait and see. 

"Should have gagged him," Robin said, shortly.

Juan Carlos was still at the bottom of the stairs, unconscious. 
They tied him up, too.  He was a tiny guy and Robin dragged him by himself into
the pantry.

Then Robin took Julia into the kitchen.  He rummaged around
in the freezer and pulled out a plastic package of frozen baby peas.

"This makes a good cold compress."  He pressed
it delicately to her cheek bone.  "My mother always had peas in the freezer
for emergencies when I was little.  It's better than ice in a cloth.  Doesn't drip."

He was right.  The frozen peas molded against her hurt
face and the whole area went numb after a while.

Julia sat on a bar stool in the kitchen, holding the plastic
bag to her face, and listened while Robin called the police to inform them about
the intruders.  Then Robin called Tony.  Julia heard parts of his side of the conversation
as she started boiling water for coffee.

"...yeah, you were right.  I know we should leave. 
When his henchmen don't call in, Quijada will probably send the troops to check
it out, but we're out on our feet.  ...Yeah, they slugged Julia.  She needs to rest. 
I'm going to chance it, stay here tonight.  It's icy on the roads and we only have
the Harley.  ...Thanks.  See you soon."

When Robin hung up, Julia was shocked to see blood all
over the white telephone receiver. 

"Robin!  What happened to you," Julia asked. 
She ran over to him and took his hand very gently in hers.  "Where are you
hurt?"  She was turning his hand over carefully, oblivious that she was getting
blood all over herself.

"It's nothing," Robin said, because she'd gone
absolutely white.

"Nothing!  You're dripping blood all over the floor."

Robin looked down, and then held up the hand so he wouldn't
drip.  "Juan Carlos had a knife."

Julia helped him take off his snow jacket, noticing that
the sleeve had been cleanly slashed through.  It was obviously painful for Robin
to move the arm, now that she knew he was hurt.  He had on a black sweatshirt and
she helped him peel it away from the blood that had coagulated underneath.  It must
have hurt dreadfully but his thick black eyebrows knit in a frown for only a second. 
He ducked down and she slowly pulled the shirt off over his head. 

"Just a flesh wound," Robin explained as he checked
his arm.  He had a an ugly, irregular knife slash that went from the bicep all the
way to the middle of his forearm.  It was still bleeding. 

"You've lost a lot of blood, Robin."

"It's okay, Julia.  Nothing to fuss over."

"Oh, stop acting so macho," Julia said irritably. 
"I know it hurts like hell.  That sweat shirt sopped up most of the blood or
it would have been noticeable immediately.  You should have told me." 

Robin allowed himself to be led to the bathroom.  As Julia
was washing and disinfecting the knife wound, Robin said, "It's a good thing
both of us were hurt, actually.  Quijada just lost two men.  The police will never
let them out on bail.  Breaking and entering.  Concealed weapons.  Bodily harm. 
They're going to be locked up for some time."  He looked pleased.

Yeah, it's great to be the walking wounded, Julia thought
cynically as she tied the bandage in place gently, trying hard not to hurt him. 
"Maybe we should have waited to bandage this up.  It looked gory as hell. 
All that blood.  Probably impress the police no end."

Robin laughed.

"It's not funny, Robin," Julia said, stalking
out of the bathroom.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Julia said.  She went into the kitchen
and made two cups of instant coffee, handing one to Robin.

"Come on.  Something's bothering you," Robin
said, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

"Oh, no," Julia protested, waving her coffee
cup.  "How could that be?  We're being hunted by killers.  My only brother
died.  I practically have to do a strip tease.  And you would probably rather have
bled to death than let me know you were hurt."

"I was busy, Julia."

"Right."  She didn't know why she was so angry. 
Taking it out on Robin was certainly the wrong thing to do.  She irrationally felt
like crying.  Just sitting down on the kitchen floor and bawling like a baby.

"You're exhausted and those two thugs were going to
kill you.  You're having an emotional reaction."

"Don't you patronize me."  She irrationally didn't
want him to be reasonable. 

They were both relieved with the knock on the door.

The police, two of them, both young and wearing the traditional
blue uniforms, were surprisingly quick and efficient.  They took Robin's statement
first.  Then Julia's.  She told them exactly what had happened, but omitted the
reason that Mike had not gone to the aid of his partner when Robin arrived back
at the cabin.  Also omitted was mention of Aaron Quijada's role in what was characterized
as an attempted burglary.  But Robin made sure  the police knew that there were
death threats against Julia and that both of them had sustained injury.  He handed
the gun and knife over to the police as evidence.

Julia sat in the living room by the fire and watched as
Robin helped the police herd Juan Carlos and Mike, both now hand-cuffed, outside
to the waiting police vehicle.  They seemed angry and sullen, but subdued to silence,
as they stumbled past her.  Juan Carlos gave her a vicious look with his beady black
eyes as he passed by, but Julia barely noticed.

She sipped her coffee and realized the reason she was so
angry was that Robin didn't tell her he was hurt.  The other, more distressing reason,
was that she wanted to make love with him.

These were unusual circumstances.  She tried to rationalize,
deciding it could just be the result of an accumulation of emotional trauma.  There
had certainly been enough of that in the last twenty four hours.  On top of that,
she had a throbbing headache from the blow to her head.  And Robin had been right
when he said she was exhausted.  But Julia knew with absolute clarity that she would
ever find anyone remotely like Robin again.  Mechanic or cop, it didn't matter to
her anymore.  He was everything she had ever wanted in a man.  He was right here,
right now, and she had to acknowledge she wanted him desperately.

That little fact would have to be kept a dire secret, Julia
thought, smiling to herself, as Robin came in with a blast of cold air and closed
the door behind him.  Shock his shoes off if she mentioned she had a profound desire
to get physical.

She wondered what her grandmother, Charlotte, would say
if she told her she was in love with a mechanic.  She would deal with that when
the time came.  Now she had to find out if Robin really cared about her, or if it
was merely a physical attraction.  She knew he was interested.  He had made that
obvious just about an hour ago, when she saw his look after she practically stripped
to keep Mike from going downstairs. 

The important question was if he had some emotional attachment
besides.  When she thought about it, she couldn't see why he would.  She had gotten
Robin into an awful predicament.  She had disagreed with how they should go about
getting the information on Quijada.  She winced when she remembered that she had
fought him on just about everything.

Robin sat down beside her on the sofa and started sipping
the cold coffee.  "You're angry at me."

"No," Julia said abruptly.  "Well, yes. 
But only for hiding the fact that you were hurt.  And don't say anything.  That
knife wound is just awful."

Robin nodded.  "You have every right to be angry. 
I never should have left you alone.  It was a stupid thing to do, knowing how desperate
Quijada is."

"It's over and done with, and I don't blame you one
bit," Julia said, smiling at Robin.  "You've been absolutely wonderful. 
Don't drink any more coffee or you'll never get to sleep.  I want to hear all about
your fight with Juan Carlos."

"Really?" Robin asked.  He suddenly seemed like
a small boy trying not to look pleased.

Julia knew he was dying to tell.  She nodded solemnly.

"Well, I faxed the ledgers to the D.A.'s office in
Los Angeles and deposited all the material, including the videos, in a safe.  Tony
set this all up with an attorney friend of his.  Then, when I was riding back, I
could see the cabin reflected in the lake because there were lights going on and
off quickly in different rooms.  It seemed odd.  It occurred to me that you wouldn't
be roaming around turning lights on and off."

Robin took a deep breath and shook his head.  "I panicked
and was going dangerously fast, practically hydroplaning over the icy road.  Almost
lost control a few times.  And finally I slowed down, when I got to the cabin, and
the damn bike started backfiring.  If I could have killed that sucker, I would have
done it.  I practically announced I was back.

"I ran to the door and you were yelling.  Saw the
door ruined by a gun shot.  So someone was inside with a gun, and you were suddenly
silent.

"When I rushed through the door there was little light
from the fire, but I couldn't see anyone.  I immediately crouched down  and duck
walked behind the sofa.  Juan Carlos was coming down the stairs, holding the gun
in front of him.  He went to the door and looked outside.  He must have seen my
bike and he turned around quickly, but I had already jumped up.  I clobbered the
arm holding the gun and it skidded away.  Then we were fighting.  He isn't a big
guy, so it really wasn't any contest.  Then he pulled out the knife.  And slashed
me.  It kind of evened things up.  My arm went numb."

"Go on," Julia said impatiently when he paused.

"I was desperate to see if you were all right.  I
had to bash Juan's head against the stair banister because he was sawing on my arm
with his knife.  He really knew how to use that thing.  And he was unbelievably
fast."

Robin started smiling.  "Then I ran up the stairs,
and there you were, holding Mike captivated.  I was so relieved it all seemed funny,
suddenly."

"He killed my brother.  A nasty dark part of me wishes
you killed him," Julia said.

"How'd you know?" Robin asked with surprise.

"How did you?"

"He fits the description of the man who went into
your brother's hospital room.  How did you know?"

"Intuition."

Robin looked at her for a long moment.  "I believe
you." 

"You don't have any more knife wounds you're not telling
me about?" Julia asked.

Robin smiled at her and shook his head.  He got up and
went to the ruined door.  "I thought the cabin was pretty safe.  Never figured
they would shoot off the lock."

Robin used some rope to tie the door closed.  Then he put
a chair in front of it.  He got pots and pans and placed them on the chair precariously. 
Then he took silverware from a drawer in the kitchen and scattered it around the
chair and on top of the pans.  If anyone tried to break in there would be a mighty
crash.

As they went up the stairs, Julia said, "I'd rather
sleep in the same room, if you don't mind."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Robin said
smiling down at her.  "We're a winning team.  You distract them, then I bash
them on the head."

Julia decided she would do much more than sleep tonight,
as she went into the room she had used earlier to put on the pajamas again.  It
occurred to her that if this had been a normal type of relationship that was beginning,
she would have made Robin wait.  But tonight she'd had a taste of her own mortality. 
She might not live long enough to have anything at all if she didn't make a try
for it now.  Whatever happened in the future, she would have tonight.

As Julia undressed she had flashbacks of Juan Carlos in
this room and was glad she wouldn't have to stay here tonight.  She decided not
to worry about whether Robin liked her or not, as she finished dressing and fluffed
her hair in front of the mirror.  She would seduce him and try to work on that later. 
Her reflection showed exhaustion and her cheek bone was turning blue.  Maybe he
wouldn't find her appealing.  Whatever happened, she promised herself that she would
be nicer and more understanding.  They might just end up good friends if they were
totally physically incompatible.  But Julia knew, deep down, that would not be the
case.

The problem was how to get Robin to make love to her. 
He was exhausted and had a knife wound.  She would have to be very sensitive and
careful about how she broached the subject.  She certainly didn't want him to know
how emotionally vulnerable she was, in case he didn't feel anything except an animal
attraction.  It would embarrass the hell out of both of them.

Robin was in the king sized bed when she went into his
bedroom.  He was wearing pajamas and looked perfectly comfortable and relaxed. 
He had taken the outside spot, nearer the door.  He was really squashed over on
his edge, so she would have lots of room in the king sized bed.

Julia stood in the doorway shivering, little seismic spasms
running through her.  She didn't know if she was afraid, but she was certainly cold. 
"You took the outside so you get the first bullet?"

"Let's forget all that."

Julia nodded.  She walked around the bed and got in on
her side.  The sheets were like ice.  "I want to forget it."

It seemed like they were speaking across a large chasm,
although there was only approximately three feet between them.

"Do you tell bedtime stories?" Julia asked, putting
her head on the pillow and turning it towards him, her body facing the ceiling.