“No thanks.” She followed him down to the basement.
“Norah, you shouldn’t have come back.” Harley was chained to a pole that was cemented into both the ceiling and the floor. His eye was bloodshot and swollen, and his lip was bleeding.
“You weren’t supposed to hurt him!” she said as she ran for him. She knelt next to him. “I’m sorry I took so long.”
He smiled at her. “You shouldn’t have come, Norah.”
“I couldn’t just let them kill you.”
“I love you,” he said, and she felt tears burning in her eyes.
“I love you too.” She kissed his split lip and then turned to face Carl.
“Where’s Clayton?”
“He’ll be here in a second. Let me see the bracelet.”
She pulled it out of her pocket and showed it to him.
“Glad to see you came back,” Clayton said as he descended the stairs. “What did I miss?”
“Not much. She got the bracelet and it seems our cop here has already had a taste of your fiancée,” Carl said smugly, and Clayton smirked.
“Oh really?” he said, and reached for the bracelet.
Norah pulled it back. “Unchain him and let us go.”
“You aren’t in any position to be making demands, darling,” Clayton said, and snatched it out of her hand. “Good job.” He turned to Carl. “Kill him and send her up to her room.”
“No!” Norah hurled herself in front of Harley.
“More demands?”
“If you kill him you might as well kill me too, because I will tell anyone and everyone I find about you. I swear it.”
“And if I don’t kill him?”
“I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want.”
She took a deep breath and looked down at Harley, who shook his head. “Just kill me, asshole.”
“No, I’m interested in where this may go,” Clayton said. “You will go to the upcoming press gala with me and you will play the doting fiancée. You will pretend you had been in hiding with me and that you couldn’t be happier to be married next month.”
Norah closed her eyes. “If I do all of that, you won’t kill him?”
“No, I won’t. I’ll even release him after we’re married, as a wedding gift,” he said, smiling at Harley.
“Norah, you can’t do this. Please,” Harley begged her, but she looked away.
“I want your word. Your actual word, Clayton. I swear if you betray me I will find a way to bury you.”
“I promise. By then we will be out of the country anyways.” He smiled at her.
“Fine.”
“Seal it with a kiss,” Clayton said, pulling her to him.
“No,” Harley growled at him, and he smiled.
“That’s the only way I will make a deal, darling.” He pressed his lips to hers, and Norah bit back the vomit that threatened. Had she ever actually liked being kissed by him? she wondered.
“All right, let’s go! We have a press gala and a wedding to plan.”
“Can I talk to him, please?”
“No,” Harley said, and Clayton laughed.
“Guess that answers that, then!”
“Harley—”
“Goodbye, Norah.” He looked away, betrayal all over his face.
Tears filled her eyes as she felt herself being pulled away from the only man she had ever loved.
17
“Where are they?” Marissa wondered as she watched the street. “You said she was fine?”
“Seemed to be. She forgave me.” Gerry was still on cloud nine at the thought of getting to know his only child. She was giving him an opportunity to make up for everything else, and he planned on taking full advantage of it.
“She forgave you? After her reaction and after not speaking to you for two days she just forgave you?”
“What’s so shocking about that?” Gerry wondered, staring at her.
“She came here alone. Took the bracelet, which was the only thing we had on Matthews or Hewitt. And she forgave you?”
“She said Harley was at the diner waiting on Zach.”
“And you really think Harley would have let her out of his sight?”
“No, I thought it was odd, but when I questioned her she reminded me about how she had been alone her entire life. I assumed she had given Harley that same speech and it’s why she came alone.”
“Oh, Gerry. Let me see your cell.”
He tossed her the burner and she dialed up the number Harley had given them for Zach.
“Murphy,” the man answered on the first ring.
“Harley gave me this number, this is Marissa. Did Harley and Norah meet with you earlier this evening?”
“No, why?”
“We have a problem.”
“What type of problem?”
“Not over the phone. Use the address Harley gave you.”
“Meet you there.” The line went dead, and Marissa turned to Gerry. She gently touched his cheek and her lips to his. His eyes were wide and tear-brimmed, and she knew he must be terrified at losing the daughter he had only just met.
“It’ll be okay, Gerry, we will get them back.” He only nodded and then turned for the kitchen.
“I’m going to make some coffee.”
* * *
“SO WHAT’S THE problem?” Zach asked as he sat down in the living room thirty minutes later.
“Harley and Norah are missing.”
“What do you mean, missing?” Zach’s normally cool fa?ade shattered. They were his only lead into the Matthews-Hewitt case. If something happened to them, everything else fell apart. Even putting that aside, Harley had been a friend of his since he had met him the day Harley applied for the academy.
“Norah came here around seven tonight saying that she needed the bracelet because they were meeting you at the diner and you wanted to see it.”
“Did she take it?”
“Yes.”
“Shit!” He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. “Is there any way she might have gone back to Matthews?”
“You mean did she switch sides?” Gerry asked angrily.
“Look, I gotta ask, all right?”
“No. There’s no way. My guess is they got caught and the bastard used Harley as leverage against her. She would do anything for him,” Marissa said softly, glancing at where Gerry stood.
“Well, all right then. What are we going to do?”
“How is that even a fucking question? We go and get them.”
“If they got caught doing surveillance, what makes you think you can get in and get them out?”
“We have to try,” Gerry insisted.
“You’re not going to be any good to either of them dead.”
“He’s right, Gerry,” Marissa insisted.
“We can’t just leave them there. Who knows if they are even still alive! If they are, it probably won’t be long!”
“Look, Gerry, I get it, all right? They’re your friends, Harley’s mine as well. We have to be smart about this and look for a way in that will give us the highest chance of success. We will find it, I promise you. Until then, we have to keep a level head.”
“Norah’s his daughter,” Marissa clarified, and Zach’s eyes went wide.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Gerry. I promise we will get her back.”
“Yeah. Promises don’t mean much to me anymore.” He turned and left the room.
“I’ll call you if I have any updates.”
“Thank you, Zach, we will do the same.”