“Yeah, thanks.” Marissa hung up her phone and turned to Harley. “Cops just found two bodies in a hotel room. They were men,” she clarified when both men started for her. “One had been stabbed in the throat and the other shot. Witnesses say they saw a woman matching Norah’s description go up with them.”
Hope flooded through Harley. She had gotten away, it had to have been her. He couldn’t dwell on what might have happened to her, not yet anyways. He just needed her back, needed to hold her in his arms and see for himself she was still breathing.
“A few blocks from the hotel room is an apartment building.”
“128th street?”
Marissa nodded. “It’s rented to Norah McNamara. Landlord said the rent was paid in full for the year but that no one has seen her in a while. He confirmed her description and said that he saw her go into her apartment about thirty minutes ago.”
“We have to go get her. If we found her, it’s only a matter of time before they do.”
“Give me some credit,” Marissa said in a mock-offended tone. “My contact buried the information just in case it was her. He owed me a favor,” she said, eyeing Gerry. “But he will only do it for so long.”
“Let’s go. Thanks, Marissa.” She nodded at him and they walked through the door.
* * *
NORAH SAT ON her old couch in sweats and an old T-shirt. Other than an odd smell from what she assumed was the garbage that had been sitting for well over a week, her apartment was exactly the same as it had been when Harley had saved her from Tom’s men. She stared at the coffee table, where the bloody knife sat next to Gio’s stolen gun. The same men who she had just killed.
She closed her eyes and could see the driver coming at her again, eyes wide, almost pleading for her to save him somehow. She knew he would have killed her, but that was the type of person he was. She wasn’t a killer, was she? She supposed she was now.
Norah wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face against her knees. Her wet hair fell around her face, and she felt the last of her strength dissipate. If they came for her now, she wasn’t sure she would be able to fight them off.
When she heard her door handle jiggle, she pressed her back further into her couch and reached for the gun. Had they read her damn mind somehow? Could they possibly know that she didn’t have the strength to resist anymore?
A silly thought, seeing as how she had a gun trained on the door in case she needed to take another life. Would she be able to pull the trigger this time? Did she want to become a person who could?
“Norah?” Harley’s voice sounded as the door cracked open, and Norah tossed the gun down on the couch and rushed to him. She threw her arms around his neck, and he sank to the ground, holding her. “Hey, baby I’m here, it’s okay.”
Her sobs came hard and fast, and she didn’t even notice as Gerry came in and shut the door behind him.
“I killed them, Harley,” she cried into his jacket and felt his hands stroke her back.
“It’s okay, baby, they would have done the same to you. I’m glad you did it. So damn glad you’re okay.” Harley hadn’t realized how afraid he was until this moment.
Feeling her in his arms confirmed how he felt. He was in love with her. Head over heels, once-in-a-lifetime love—and he could have lost her.
Harley pulled her away to look at her tear-stained face. “You did nothing wrong, Norah. Nothing, you hear me?” He wiped her tears with his thumbs and kissed her lips.
“We need to go,” Gerry said, putting his hand on Harley’s shoulder. Harley nodded and stood as he helped Norah to her feet as well.
“Grab anything you might need.” Harley said and squeezed her hand lightly.
A thought hit her. “My bracelet.”
“Bracelet?”
“Clayton gave it to me last year.” Norah’s already ashen face lost more color. “He’s alive, Harley.”
Harley’s jaw set in a hard line. “I know.”
“But how—”
“An old friend of mine at the police department told me.”
“He was on Gio’s phone. He told me we were still getting married.” Tears filled her eyes again.
“Like hell you are. No one is going to fucking touch you, Norah.” Anger with a bite of jealousy raced through him. If the bastard wasn’t dead yet, Harley was going to kill him the first chance he got. Screw turning him in.
“He told me to not forget the bracelet. He said I would need it when we made our comeback. I don’t know what he means, but if it’s important somehow—”
“Where is it?” Gerry interrupted.
“It’s in my safe, here.” She started to walk to the small utility room, and the second she opened the door Gerry pulled her back.
“Harley, get her out of here.”
“What’s that smell?” Norah asked as Harley pulled her back towards her bedroom.
“Harley!” Gerry called for him.
“Stay here, Norah. No matter what, until I call for you, stay here.”
She nodded, and he walked out of the room.
“Son of a bitch,” he said as he covered his mouth and took in the scene before him.
A woman covered in blood was tied to a chair . Harley could see multiple cuts over her arms and what was exposed of her legs from under her shorts. She had been tortured, for what he couldn’t be sure, but he would be willing to bet that fucking bracelet had something to do with it.
“We need to see if Norah recognizes her,” Gerry said, his eyes soft with sympathy.
“This will kill her, Gerry.”
“We really don’t have a choice. Whatever they thought she knew, Norah must know, and I’m willing to bet they know we’re here. We have to get out of here, and if that bracelet was important to Clayton, we need to see if it’s still here.”
Harley nodded. “Not like this, though. Pull her out and cover her with a sheet. We will only show her the woman’s face.”
“I’ll take care of it, go and prep her.”
“What is it?” Norah asked when Harley came back in the room.
“Do you have any friends, anyone you might have confided information in?”
“They were all mutual acquaintances with Clayton. The only person I knew that he didn’t was Reagan. She volunteered with me at the woman’s shelter, but I didn’t tell her anything. There was nothing to tell. I didn’t even know about who he really was.”
“Can you describe her for me?”
“Sure…” She covered her mouth with her hands and her eyes went wide. “That smell— Please, Harley, don’t tell me there was someone in there. I thought it was just the garbage. Someone’s dead, aren’t they? And I just left them there.”
“Norah, focus. Describe her for me.”
She nodded and did her best to push past the vomit in her throat. “Brown hair, brown eyes, but she wore green contacts. She was always really tan and had a small scar on her cheek,” Norah said, listing everything she could about the woman who had been her best friend.
“Ready,” Gerry called, and Harley reached for Norah’s hand.
“They know where you live. We need to get the bracelet and get out of here as soon as possible. I’m not going to show you what’s under the blanket, and you don’t need to see it, okay?”
“Is it her, Harley?”