Familiar Vows Page 6

  And he’d be furious.

  She mentally cringed at that thought, but she would be gone. If her plan worked out, she’d send Lorry and Charles to the hotel to get Lucas, and she’d be headed west, toward Texas, dragging the Maxim organization behind her.

  Lucas and Lorry could head in any other direction and be safe. Or at least safer.

  Bag in hand, she stood near the door of the hotel room. Lucas looked so vulnerable, his boots still on the floor. She put her bag down and picked up his feet, trying to arrange him in a more comfortable position.

  Her hand lingered on his shin. There was something about him that moved her. Had circumstances been different, she would have dated him, or at least hoped that he would ask her for a date. She wanted to know more about him, about what made him tick. In many ways, he was a contradiction, a mystery that piqued her interest on many levels.

  This action she’d taken would forever destroy any chance of knowing him in any light other than that of an adversary.

  Before she could stop herself, she placed a kiss on his forehead and then headed out the door. She threw her bag in the backseat and got behind the wheel.

  She’d checked the directions, and Interstate 10 East would take her to the turn off for Gulf Shores. Within an hour, she’d find the address listed in the brochure. If Lorry and Charles were there, she’d alert them to the danger they faced and send them to Lucas so they could find safety.

  It wasn’t a great plan, but it was a whole lot better than sitting around waiting for the Maxims to strike.

  THE CONDO WAS INCREDIBLE. A glass front gave a view of the waves, which rushed to the shore with a gentle whispering sound. Even in the dark, Michelle could imagine the beauty. She stood at the door, knocking loudly.

  No one answered, and the first finger of doubt traced along her spine. She was about to try the door when she felt something on her ankles. Startled, she looked down to find Familiar gazing up at her.

  “How did you—” No point in asking that question. She knew the answer. He’d stowed away in the car, managing to get in and hide in the backseat. He was a clever kitty.

  She turned the knob, and the door opened soundlessly. Stepping inside, she closed the door, blocking out the sound of the gulf. For a moment she simply stood, letting her eyes adjust to the gloom. Outside, a series of floodlights had illuminated the landing. Inside, though, the condo was quiet and in near darkness.

  If Lorry and Charles were here, they were either asleep—unlikely with the front door unlocked—or…She pushed that thought aside and entered the den of the condo unit. The first thing she noticed was a smashed coffee table. Wooden splinters were strewn across the plush carpeting.

  Heart pounding, she moved slowly through the kitchen.

  “Meow!”

  The cat’s strident yowl made the hair on her neck lift in anticipation of something terrible.

  “Me-OW!”

  Whatever he’d found, the cat was adamant that she see it, too.

  She followed his voice to the bathroom. As soon as she snapped on the light, she gasped. Blood streaked one wall. Fresh blood. Or at least not-so-old blood. She wasn’t a forensic expert, so she couldn’t tell for certain, but it was smeared across the tiles of the shower. Surely if it wasn’t fresh, someone would have washed it off.

  Unless that someone wasn’t able to wash anything!

  She stifled the small cry of fear and backed into the hallway, finding support against one wall.

  The Maxims had beat her to the condo. If she’d been able to find the brochure, so had they. The men who meant to kill Lorry were one step ahead at every turn.

  “What should we do?” she asked the cat. Too bad if a psychiatrist would likely commit her for asking a cat for advice. Familiar had discovered the blood. Maybe he knew what she should do about it.

  “Meow.” The cat walked calmly down the hallway and to the bedroom.

  She followed, because she didn’t know what else to do. When he used his paws to pitter-patter against the closed bedroom door, she knew what he wanted. The thing she dreaded doing—looking inside the bedroom. What if Lorry and Charles were in there, dead?

  And what if they were hurt?

  Standing outside the door, wasting time, could cost them their lives.

  She pushed the door open and flipped the light on. The bedroom was pristine. Sighing, she realized there was nowhere else in the house for Lorry to be.

  “What now?”

  “Meow.” Familiar was obviously in his element since she’d turned over control to him. He went to the front door, scratched to get out, and then sauntered along the cement balcony to the next door neighbor’s. Looking at her as if the solution were obvious, he pawed at that door.

  “Okay, okay.” She followed up with a loud knock. The cat was right. Canvassing the neighbors was exactly what would happen on one of the TV cop shows.

  The door opened two inches, revealing a young woman who held a hand to the throat of her shirt, a gesture of apprehension.

  Michelle gave her most winning smile. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m looking for the couple who rented the condo next door. They’re newlyweds, and I missed the wedding, but I have a gift for them.”

  The young woman visibly relaxed. “They were so cute,” she said, a fleeting smile moving over her face. “So much in love.” The frown returned. “What’s going on with them?”

  “I think they’re in dan—” She snapped her mouth shut on the cry of pain that almost escaped. Familiar had dug both sets of front claws into the back of her thigh. “I mean, what are you talking about? Is something wrong?”

  The woman edged the door open a little more and craned her head out to glance up and down the long balcony that ran across the front of the building. She caught sight of Familiar and smiled again. “What a beautiful cat. Is he yours?”

  Michelle hesitated for only a fraction of a second. “He is. He’s sort of my boss, in fact.”

  The woman glanced left and right again and then motioned Michelle closer. “Those men were scary.”

  Michelle schooled her features into a mask of confusion. “Men? What men?” The cat had let her know that she was there to obtain information, not give it out.

  “Why should I tell you anything about this? You’re not a cop.” The woman’s suspicion returned.

  Michelle reached into her purse and pulled out her business card. “I met Lorry when I was doing a shoot for Bride Magazine. I need to find her.”

  The name of the magazine worked its magic. Almost every young woman had skimmed through the bridal shots at one point in her life. The door widened, and the woman looked around, as if to make sure Michelle was alone.

  At last, the woman took a deep breath. “Come on in. I’ll tell you everything I can. Something isn’t right with Lorry and Charles. I haven’t seen them since late this afternoon, when they took off. And then those men came, and there was all that racket, and then the police…”

  Michelle felt her hopes sink, but she took a seat. She’d learn all she could and then decide what to do next. “You saw Lorry and Charles leave?”

  The woman nodded. “I did. I had some wonderful muffins from a shop on the beach, but they were in such a hurry, they didn’t even have time to say goodbye properly. I think someone in the family was very ill.”

  Michelle realized the black cat had slipped inside, too. He was in the shadows, inspecting the condo, checking for God knew what.

  “Did Lorry happen to mention where she might be going, Mrs….?”

  “Just call me Lidell.” The woman shook her head. “No, she never said. She’s from this area. I could tell by the accent. But she never said where she was going. Probably wherever her family is from, if someone is sick.”

  The logic worked, but it wasn’t correct. “What did the men look like?”

  Lidell’s eyes widened. “Oh, they were scary. Vile men in expensive suits. They got out of a black car, and one of them forced the door open. I saw it all thr
ough my window.” She pointed to a bay window that would give an excellent view of the condo next door.

  “Expensive suits and what else?”

  “They were young. Midthirties or less. And one of them had a New York accent. I heard him talking. The others didn’t talk much. He was the one giving orders, and I feel certain he was the one who hurt one of the other men.”

  Michelle remembered the blood and hoped it had belonged to one of Maxim’s men and not to Lorry or Charles. “How do you know someone hurt one of the men?”

  The woman leaned forward, her pale eyes wide. “I heard him scream. The New York man was so angry, he was shouting, and I could hear it through the wall. He said, ‘You’re nothing but a total—’ uh, a bad word ‘—and I’m going to make you sorry for the day you were born.’ I heard that clearly, and then I heard a man cry out in pain. There was a crash, like something heavy hitting the wall. That’s when I called the police, but by the time they got here, those awful men were gone.”

  Michelle played the scene in her mind. It was clear that Robert Maxim didn’t like to be disappointed. When someone crossed him in any way, they paid.

  As Lorry would pay.

  As she would pay.

  If he caught either of them.

  That was what she had to make certain didn’t happen.

  “Thanks, Lidell.”

  “You’re welcome. I hope you find Lorry and Charles and that they’re okay.”

  Michelle rose to her feet. Familiar waited patiently by the door. “If someone comes by here and asks if you’ve seen me, could you see your way clear to…fibbing a little?”

  “Why should I fib?” she asked.

  “Those men, they’re dangerous. I don’t know why they’re bothering Lorry, but they are. I’m going to find her and make sure she’s okay, but my life is a little complicated.”

  “What’s this really all about?”

  Michelle forced herself not to growl. Lidell was asking sensible questions. The problem was that she didn’t have time to answer them.

  “Let’s just say that I owe Lorry. I made a big mistake, and I’m trying to make amends.”

  Lidell smiled. “I can tell a little white lie for you.” She rose also. “Just take care of Lorry and Charles. They seem like real good people.”

  “You bet.” Michelle went to the door. “I’ll just leave Lorry a note in case she comes back.”

  Outside Lidell’s condo, Michelle let the roar of the gulf wash over her. The water was loud, the surf foaming onto the beach. She was completely alone, and she was in way over her head.

  The cat rubbed against her ankles, and she bent down to pick him up. Holding Familiar made her feel better. Cradling him, she opened the door of Lorry’s condo and went back for a final check. She had to find out where the young woman had gone.

  Chapter Eight

  Lucas struggled against the blanket of darkness that engulfed him. He was in a dense fog. Something terrible lurked just outside his range of vision, obscured by the roiling layers of mist and the blackness. Still, he knew it was there. He felt it drawing closer, an evil menace that loomed.

  Michelle, unaware of the danger and unprotected, was somewhere in the distance. He reached for her, but he grasped only emptiness. He had to save her, to keep her from the danger that lurked in the gray shadows.

  At last he forced his eyes open. It required all his effort to turn his head to the left. What he saw only confused him more. The wall was covered in a brisk pattern of tans and creams, and the painting of two springer spaniels darting through the woods was so unfamiliar that he couldn’t comprehend where it had come from.

  It dawned on him at last that he was the element out of place in the room. He didn’t belong there. And he tried to remember where he was and how he’d gotten there.

  The bedside clock showed 10:20 p.m. He couldn’t remember how much time had passed since he’d gone to sleep, yet he felt an urgent need to get moving. In answer to that anxiety, he pushed himself up on his elbows. He was fully clothed in bed in a strange motel room.

  It took him a moment to connect the dots, but when he did, he felt a rush of anger so fierce and pure that it gave him a moment of clarity. He’d been bushwhacked by a New York City photographer. And when he caught up with her—and he would—she was going to be in serious trouble. He couldn’t take her to jail, because he was no longer an officer of the law. But he could detain her until some deputies or marshals or even a dang game warden could be found to make the charges official.

  Unless Robert Maxim found her first.

  He forced his body off the bed. Wobbling, he reached for the wall for support. Somehow, though, the wall moved. He leaned toward it, going too far. His equilibrium was gone. He went down hard, his head striking the floor with a smack. Not even the carpet could protect him.

  Lucas sprawled on the floor, swallowed yet again by the black void of unconsciousness.

  MICHELLE CHECKED HER WATCH. It was nearly ten-thirty, and she was still at the condo. The night was slipping away from her, just like her lead from Lucas. The sleeping pills she’d given him wouldn’t last forever. This was precious time when she’d hoped to put distance between them. “Meow.”

  Familiar sat on his haunches at her feet. His gold-green eyes asked a question, but she didn’t know how to interpret it.

  “Me-OW.” He reached a paw under the sofa and batted at something. Curious, Michelle dropped to her knees and lifted the skirt of the sofa.

  She saw a metallic object, and with a silent prayer, she picked it up. Her fingers closed around the silver cell phone, and she pulled it out, clutching it tightly.

  The condo was still in darkness. Turning on the light would advertise her presence there. It was possible the Maxim organization was still watching the condo in the hopes that Lorry and Charles would return.

  If that was the case, she was a sitting duck. That thought made her sink to the floor, the sofa a good block against anyone who might shoot through the front window.

  When her heart stopped pounding, she wanted to beat her head against a wall. She simply wasn’t cut out for this kind of life. She’d hoped to help, but was she? If she got herself shot to pieces, it wouldn’t do much good.

  Worse than that was the image Lucas had planted of torture. She had no illusions about herself. She’d tell them anything they wanted to know, even if she had to make it up. She didn’t want to be hurt. It wasn’t that she was deliberately courting danger for the thrill of it. Cowering on the floor was not her idea of a way to spend an evening.

  Still, she flipped open the cell phone and punched the Call button. The last call made came up on the screen. She recognized the Dallas area code. She’d talked frequently with a magazine there that used her work.

  Dallas was the home of Robert Maxim. She’s heard Lucas say it more than once. The men who’d been in the condo were Robert’s men. This cell phone was likely a direct link to the gangster.

  Closing her eyes, she held the phone and tried to think of the best thing to do. Call Lucas instantly sprang into her head, but she couldn’t. He was still under the influence of the sleeping pills. Once he regained his faculties, he wasn’t going to be in a mood to hand out help to her.

  She had no way of getting in touch with Lorry. The last option was the only viable one.

  She pressed the Call button and listened as the phone began to ring.

  “Hello.” The male voice that answered was guarded.

  “I know where Lorry Kennedy has gone, Mr. Maxim.” She spoke clearly and was proud that her voice didn’t tremble.

  “And why would I be interested in her?” the man asked.

  He didn’t deny that he was Robert Maxim. Michelle visualized him. Cold, cunning, slightly eager because he thought his prize had been dropped in his lap. Once he heard the rest of it, he was going to be very angry.

  “I know you’re hunting for her.”

  “You claim to know a lot for an anonymous caller.”

  �
�I know I’m calling from a cell phone that belongs to one of your men.” She let that sink in.

  “So you’re clever. That could be useful in my organization.”

  “How useful?” She hadn’t meant to ask that question, but it was logical, and she appeared eager. Maybe she could make him believe she was willing to sell information.

  “Mid-six figures.”

  “I’d have to be very useful to earn that, wouldn’t I?” She made her tone coy. Her heart rate had calmed a little. Robert Maxim was likely hours away. She wasn’t in imminent danger.

  “What do you have for me?” He’d grown tired of the game.

  “A location for Lorry.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “Because I’m calling voluntarily.”

  “That’s a circumstance, not a reason. But go ahead. Tell me what you know.”

  “Are you kidding? And trust you to give me my money?”

  Robert laughed. “You’re all alike. You want to squeeze and squeeze. Just remember, I don’t like being pushed into a corner.”

  His tone chilled her. “If you want Lorry, you’re going to have to find me first.” She slammed the phone shut.

  “Me-e-e-ow!” Familiar was at the window, batting it with his paws.

  Michelle’s stomach dropped to her knees. While she’d been toying with Robert, hoping to make him so angry at her that he forgot about Lorry and Lucas, it was probable that he’d been signaling his minions. They’d know exactly where to look for her and the damn telephone.

  In fact, they could be sitting outside the condo right this moment. Just because she’d dialed a Dallas area code didn’t mean Robert had to be in Dallas. She might have called a cell phone; she’d never considered that.

  She wasn’t half as smart as she’d thought she was.

  “Familiar!” She called the cat as she pressed 9-1-1 on the cell phone. As soon as an operator answered, she gave her location. “Men are trying to kill me,” she said.