Turning Point (The Kathleen Turner Series) (38 page)

Lucy and I cleaned up as quickly as we could, taking long moments to quench our thirst. I was glad to be clean, feeling as though six layers of grime had been washed from my skin and hair.

When I saw the clothes laid out for us, though, a sick nausea rolled in my stomach. There were two spaghetti-strap dresses, neither of them longer than mid-thigh, made of nearly transparent material. I thought I knew what Matt had in store for us, and it made me want to vomit.

“Let’s go,” the guard said. He reopened the door just as I’d finished pulling the dress over my head. I’d briefly considered putting my dirty clothes back on, but I just couldn’t do it. Plus, Matt might be more amenable and off his guard if we dressed as he wished.

We were escorted back to the entertainment room, Lucy and I gripping each other’s hands. That seemed to give us strength. We weren’t alone. We were in this together.

Matt was sitting on a couch, leisurely sipping a drink. His eyes gleamed when he saw us, and a shiver of revulsion ran through me.

“I do enjoy keeping the choicest merchandise for myself,” he murmured.

Billy turned at the sound, his gaze lighting on Lucy. “Mommy!” he yelled, tossing aside his video controller and racing toward her.

Matt waved off the guard who had stepped forward to intervene and Billy launched himself into Lucy’s arms. Tears ran freely down her cheeks, and my own eyes began to water. His pudgy little arms were tightly wrapped around her neck, and her hold on him was just as tight.

“Why’d you take so long to get here?” Billy asked.

Lucy loosened her grip on him, wiping her face before smoothing his hair, as though she couldn’t believe he was all right. “I came as soon as I could,” Lucy replied, her voice thick with tears.

“Matt said you might not come, that you didn’t want me anymore.” The hurt in the small boy’s voice was heartbreaking. Rage filled me at Matt’s malicious lies to the child, and my hands clenched into fists.

“That’s not true,” Lucy assured him. “That could never be true. I love you more than anything. You’re my baby boy.” She pulled him into her arms again, tears leaking from behind her closed eyes.

“You son of a bitch,” I gritted out, glaring at Matt, who just smiled.

“Come have a seat, Kathleen,” he ordered, patting the space next to him.

I complied, not having much choice with a gun leveled at me.

“So, you want to tell me what she told the police?” he asked.

“I told them the truth.” Lucy spoke up before I could reply, her eyes flashing. “That you’re a sniveling bastard that smuggles women illegally into the country, then sells them to the dealers in Rio.”

Matt’s face was turning an angry, mottled color. Afraid he was going to do something to Lucy, I asked a question of my own.

“Why bother smuggling them into the country?” I asked, making Matt look at me. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just take them directly from Mexico?”

I didn’t think he would reply, but he said, “The fucking cartels in Mexico won’t let me. They always want their share, their cut. And you can’t work with them. They’ll fucking kill you as soon as look at you. Idiotic morons, the lot of them.” He smiled, some of the anger fading. “But there’s
always women wanting to come to America. A word or two, a whispered rumor, that’s all it takes to have them do almost anything to get across that border.”

Matt turned back to Lucy, his gaze hardening. “But without you, they have no witness, and no case. I just have to make you disappear. An easier feat than you can possibly imagine.”

“Your uncle isn’t going to be happy that you’ve taken us,” I interjected. “He went to a lot of trouble to make sure you didn’t get convicted for the Vale case. What do you think Blane’s going to do when he finds out you kidnapped me?”

It was a shot in the dark. The last I’d seen Blane, he’d been shot.

“Oh, I think he’ll get over it,” Matt sneered.

My heart leapt. Blane was alive!

“It wasn’t an accident you were brought along, you know,” Matt said. “Some powerful people would very much like to see you disappear, too.”

My blood ran cold. I could see by the satisfied expression on his face that he was telling the truth. My mind immediately jumped to the senator’s threats. Then my mind made the next logical leap.

“It was him, wasn’t it?” I asked. “Your uncle, the billionaire philanthropist—and that organization of his, Improving America Now. It donates millions to politicians. I bet Senator Keaston is one of them. Keaston had him get you to do this.”

I knew I was right, and it made me sick inside.

“He didn’t have to work real hard.” Matt shrugged. “You’ll be my plaything for a while, then disappear into the wind.

“Do you prefer warm or cold weather?” The fake solicitousness in his voice was like oil on water. “Rio’s nice and warm, but there are colder locales, if you don’t mind the winters, though I do hear that Russian men are a bit rougher than the Hispanics.”

“Blane will find me,” I spat. “And he’ll kill you.”

“Blane Kirk has a bright future ahead of him,” Matt replied, unfazed by my threat. “My uncle knows what potential he has. It’s better this way anyway. If you’d been arrested for murder, Kirk would have been heroically compelled to defend you, blah blah blah.”

He waved his hand. “With Keaston’s endorsement and my uncle’s money, Kirk will win. Serve a couple of terms as governor, then it’s on to bigger and better things.” His eyes gleamed. “The most powerful position in the world.”

“Keaston’s not going to endorse Blane,” I argued, trying to conceal the panic rising in my chest. “They’re of different parties. Surely even an ill-educated moron like you knows that.”

He slapped me, the sound ringing out in the room. Both Billy and Lucy, who’d been talking quietly together as she rocked him on her lap, fell silent.

The force of the hit knocked me to the floor. I cradled my cheek in my hand, glaring at Matt with hatred in my eyes.

“Show me respect, or I’ll teach it to you the hard way,” he ordered.

“Fuck you,” I snarled.

Matt raised his hand and I flinched, expecting him to hit me again, but he didn’t. Instead, he signaled for the guard, who obediently came over.

“Take this one for your enjoyment, then pass her around. I don’t care if she survives. Do take pictures, though. I want to make sure my uncle has leverage to keep Kirk in line in the future.” Matt’s smile was cold and ruthless. “Perhaps he should pick his next girlfriend with more care.”

Terror streamed through my veins, then the cold rush of adrenaline. I leapt from the floor to try and get away, though where I thought I could go on a boat, I didn’t know.

“No, Matt, please!”

I could hear Lucy begging on my behalf as I ran, though the guard caught me easily, grabbing my hair and yanking. I felt the stab of a needle in my arm and I cried out in pain. Then I twisted and bit his hand until I tasted blood.

The guard roared, dropping me as I dodged his grasping hand. His brutal face was livid now and he snarled curses at me as I ran. The drug he’d injected me with was starting to take hold, but I fought it, knowing that if I didn’t, I was worse than dead.

The wind from the sea caught at my hair as I hit the deck running. A set of stairs heading upward caught my eye and I climbed them, twisting on the top step to send a kick toward the pursuing guard. The ball of my foot got him squarely in the nose, and blood spurted. I turned and ran again, not waiting to see if I’d slowed him down.

The upper deck was even windier, whipping my hair into a frenzy and plastering my clothes to my body. To my dismay three more guards stood post up here, all of them turning to look at me as I emerged from the stairway.

A noise behind me made me turn. The bloodied guard was coming up the stairs, his malevolent gaze unblinking as he came for me.

I backed away, my steps faltering as the drug-induced lethargy began to take hold. I blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the four encroaching men. The panic and terror were receding now, replaced by a cold nothingness that I knew was more deadly than fear.

My progress was stopped by a metal bar at my back. Turning, I saw that I was at the very front and top of the boat. The guardrail had stopped my steps, protection from the drop into the waters below.

The decision to climb over the rail was an easy one, though the execution proved more difficult. My limbs were heavy, not wanting to cooperate.

“Stupid bitch is gonna take a swan dive,” one of the guards observed. They’d stopped moving forward now, just watching me.

I glanced down. The ocean was churning, the waves beckoning to me. In a corner of my mind not yet altered by the drug, I could appreciate the deadly irony of my predicament. I hadn’t saved anyone, hadn’t helped anyone. My sacrifice to try and help Lucy and Billy had come to nothing but my own death.

Looking back up at the guards, I took a deep breath. At least my death would be my decision, not theirs.

My hands loosened on the rails as my eyes slipped closed.

A grunt and a thud made me pry my eyes open, harder to do with each passing moment. Two guards lay sprawled on the deck, blood leaking from their heads. The remaining two had their guns in their hands, looking around wildly for the source.

Then another dropped, half his head blown away. He hadn’t even hit the floor before the last guard was shot dead, too.

I was in shock, staring at the carnage around me. How had that happened? Was I dreaming?

I squeezed my eyes shut, opening them again with effort. To my amazement, I saw black-clad figures climbing over the rails of the yacht from all sides. They were silent, any sounds masked by the wind and the waves.

Gunfire rang out from below, and now I heard yelling, but it didn’t seem to faze the invaders, their movements precise and deadly as they disappeared onto the deck below me.

I didn’t know what to do. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw the water. The waves seemed to hypnotize me, their randomness becoming a pattern. My grip loosened even more, it becoming nearly impossible to hold on to the rail as my muscles began refusing to obey my commands.

“Kathleen!”

My name on the wind. How strange.

I tore my gaze away from the beckoning sea. One of the invaders stood among the dead bodies, his gun slung across his back. His face was painted black, making his green eyes stand out. One arm reached for me as he slowly approached, as though fearing I’d run away.

“Kat, it’s me,” the man said, coming closer.

My mind sluggishly tried to process the words, unable to reconcile what he’d said with what he looked like. He had a gun over his shoulder, another at his hip, dark grease in his hair, and black body armor strapped to his chest.

“Lucy,” I said, forcing the word from between lips gone numb. “Lucy and Billy. You’ve got to save them. He’s going to kill her.”

“It’s all right,” the man said. “They’re okay. We have them.”

Relief flooded me. It hadn’t been for nothing after all. They were going to be okay. I hoped Chance would be, too. I thought he and Lucy would be good together. Maybe they’d have a little girl. She could be called Lana, after Lana Turner, keep the tradition going. Mom and Dad would like that. I wondered if Mom knew where I was. She worried if I came home late from work, though she knew the bar didn’t close until late. Maybe Scott would fill in for me tomorrow. I didn’t feel well. My stomach churned and I was so tired.

“I think I should lie down,” I mumbled. I was exhausted. My eyes drifted shut.

“Kat!”

My eyes opened again. The man was still there, only much closer.

I panicked. “Stay back!” I warned him. “Don’t touch me!”

He froze. “Kat, please. It’s me. It’s Blane. Remember me?”

The name sparked a memory, but it was too difficult to grasp. My mind was filled with cobwebs and it just took too much effort.

“I’m here to help you,” the man said. “Take my hand.”

I stared at the hand stretched toward me. “Okay.”

I reached for him, but my foot slipped on the edge of the deck just as a gust of wind pushed at me. Then I was hurtling through the air. I stared at the man as I fell, an
odd peace coming over me. I watched in detachment as he climbed on the rail and dove after me with no hesitation. Then I hit the water.

Cold water closed over my head, bringing clarity to my fogged brain. I sucked in a lungful of liquid before my head broke the surface. I was choking, gasping for air, when a wave slammed into me, submerging me yet again.

Up was down and down was up. I couldn’t see a thing, and the cold seeped into my bones just as the drug had. My lungs burned with the need for air as I tried futilely to find the surface, the fear that I was swimming the wrong direction at the edges of my mind.

Something snagged me around the waist, pulling me. A moment later, my head broke through the surface and I choked, trying to get air. Hands under my armpits lifted me and I was lying flat, but I still couldn’t breathe.

Pushing, painful pushing on my stomach. Water filled my mouth, streaming out through my lips and nose, again and again. Then I was coughing, retching, and was turned on my side. More water came up as I coughed, but finally I could breathe.

My body was shaking uncontrollably. Someone wrapped a blanket around me. My eyes were shut tight, but I could hear men talking.

“Rico call it in?”

“Yeah. Got the girl and kid in the other RHIB. All hostiles neutralized.”

“Let’s bug out.”

“Roger that.”

The rumble of the boat’s engines was loud in my ears. A man slid his arms underneath me, picking up my limp body
and cradling me on his lap, tucking the blanket securely around my shoulders and legs.

“Doc, take a look. Something’s not right. She wasn’t in her right mind up there. Didn’t even know who I was.”

My head was too heavy for my neck, and when a hand gently turned my chin, my head lolled back on the arm of the man holding me. A bright light flashed in my eyes.

“Drugged.” My arms were pulled from under the blanket and examined. “Needle tracks. They’ve been drugging her for a while.”

“Will she be all right?”