“Not a damn problem.” Harley reared back and Zach shook his head.
“Not yet, sound’s still down for a minute, but cameras are back on in five, four, three, two, one.” Zach nodded and Harley slammed his fist into Zach’s arrogant face.
“Damn, Harley!”
“You told me to make it look good,” Harley whispered as he bent and retrieved Zach’s keys and service weapon. “Thanks, Zach. I’ll do what I can,” he whispered again.
“You fucking better after that sucker punch,” Zach muttered as Harley stood.
He peeked into the hall, and when he saw it was clear, ran towards the side exit and into the garage. He found Zach’s blue Escape parked in his spot, and he drove quickly out onto the street.
He needed to find a phone and quick. He drove quickly until he saw a row of payphones on the side of a gas station.
“Yeah?” Gerry picked up on the first ring, and Harley let out a breath of relief.
“I need you to come into the city now.”
“What’s going on?” Panic laced his voice, and Harley felt his own rising.
“They slammed into our car, Gerry. They got Norah.”
“Fuck!” Gerry yelled into the phone. “We’ll be there in an hour. Meet us at the safe house.”
Harley hung up the phone and headed for the car. He couldn’t lose faith now. He had to believe they would get Norah back.
* * *
“YEAH BOSS, I got her.” The bald man grinned at Norah and then turned away. Was he talking to Tom? Was he still looking for her? Why wouldn’t they all just leave her alone! Norah took a deep breath.
They had stopped, which meant Harley still had time to catch up. Norah knew he was still alive. There was no way he wasn’t.
She twisted slightly to stretch her back and felt the knife tucked into the waistband of her jeans. Of course! She had hidden it after Marissa had given it to her! Why hadn’t she thought of it before?
“I’m grabbing some food, Gio.” The man who had driven them headed for the door.
Gio nodded at him and then went back to his phone call. “Yeah, here she is.” He turned and smiled at her, showing off two gold teeth. “It’s for you, sweetheart.” He kissed at her and she shakily took the phone.
“H-Hello?”
“It’s good to hear your voice, Norah.”
Norah’s body started to shake, and her blood iced when she heard the voice on the other end of the line. It was one she would never forget.
“Clayton.”
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? You sound like you’re surprised.”
“I don’t understand—”
“You will soon enough. Everything is going to fall into place. Gio is going to bring you to me and then we will work everything else out, get your name out of the press. I was thinking we can get married next month, eh?” He laughed. “Make you forget all about that dirty cop Andrews.” He practically spit the name out.
“He’s not dirty,” Norah said, straightening. Hearing Clayton insult Harley hit her harder than any fist from him ever had.
“That’s not the story the media’s going to hear,” Clayton sneered over the phone. “Dirty cop shoots up charity banquet and kidnaps the fiancée of the organizer. Nice story, isn’t it?”
“But that’s all it is. What makes you think I would ever go along with it?”
“Because if you don’t, I will kill him. As it stands now, he will spend some time in prison, sure, but if I get my hands on him I’m going to tear him apart. Maybe make you watch while I do it. Now hand the phone back to Gio. Make sure you bring that bracelet I gave you last year, the one with the diamonds.”
“Why?” She knew exactly which one he was talking about; it had been the nicest gift he had given her, and it currently sat in her apartment. She remembered he had been angry with her for not wearing it at that last dinner.
“It looks nice on you, and for our comeback you’re going to need it.”
She held the phone out for Gio, and he snatched it quickly. Norah was under no false pretenses. Clayton wanted her dead; there was no way in hell he was going to let her live after everything. She had to decide now whether she wanted to make it easy for him or not.
The moment Gio pressed the phone back to his ear, Norah decided she was going to make it as difficult as possible. She pulled the knife out of her waistband and lifted the blade.
The blood pounding in her ears was deafening, and she could barely hear Gio laugh at something Clayton had said. She launched herself at him and grunted when she felt his elbow connect with her rib.
He outweighed her by at least eighty pounds, but she used every ounce of strength she had to plunge the knife into his throat. She was not going down without a fight. Blood spurted out as he ripped the knife out.
He threw it down and looked at her, wide-eyed. He reached for her as she stumbled backwards into the coffee table and fell on top of her. Blood continued to pour from his wound, and tears streamed down her face as she pushed him off her.
She had to get out, had to find her way back to Harley.
Norah did her best to only act and not think. She couldn’t allow herself to dwell on the fact she had just taken a man’s life. Norah grabbed Gio’s keys, gun, and her knife and started for the door.
“What the hell?” the driver said when he pushed the door open.
Norah lifted the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger. She bit back a cry when he fell, and she bolted down the stairs of the motel room.
Her fingers fumbled with the key as she tried to put it in the ignition, and as soon as she heard the engine roar to life, she threw it in drive and left the motel behind her.
She remembered all of the crime TV shows she had watched and left the car a few blocks from her apartment just in case it had a tracker. She pulled into the parking lot of an old diner and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt closer around her face. A few people looked her way, and she just did her best to continue pushing forward.
She could feel the blood on her black sweater. It was seeping through to her skin, and all she could think about was getting it off.
She had to get the blood off.
14
“We have to find her!” Harley yelled as he ran his hand through his hair.
“Marissa is on the phone with her contact here in the city. We will find her.” Gerry placed his hand gently on Harley’s shoulder and bit back his own fear.
Matthews is alive. How in the hell had he survived? Harley had seen the bullets rip through him with his own eyes!
He should have done more homework after the shooting. There hadn’t been time for it, and now Norah might pay the price. He knew he shouldn’t blame himself, but he just couldn’t help it.