Читать книгу The Missing Millionaire - Dani Sinclair - Страница 8

While Harrison was still trying to understand what had happened, the woman leaped to her feet, running toward the blaze. Flames licked at the dry wood with greedy hunger. He climbed to his feet, shocked to see the entire building engulfed in flames. The heat was staggering.

“Elaine! Kirsten!”

He went after her as she attempted to get on the porch. The front window burst outward in a shower of glass. Flames shot through the new opening.

“Get back!” He grabbed her, but she pulled free.

“We have to get them out!”

He was pretty sure it was too late, but his gaze swept the grounds, lit by the voracious fire. “Is there a ladder?”

“I don’t know!”

They ran to the side of the house, seeking another way inside. As if the fire anticipated this, every entrance was thick with dark plumes of smoke as deadly as the flames themselves.

Knowing it was foolish, Harrison used the porch railing to pull himself onto the hot roof. The dry wood framing made the old house a tinderbox. Another window popped, sending more tongues of flame licking up the faded wood siding. Thick, black, noxious smoke filled the air.

“Get down!” the woman yelled.

There was no choice. Harrison swung back down and jumped to the grass. His lungs hurt as he coughed up the smoke he’d tried not to inhale.

She gripped his arm. “We have to go.”

“Your friends…”

“They’re dead. It’s too late.” She tugged him between the van and the car, grabbed the keys from where they dangled in the lock and moved past that car to the smaller one. The smaller car had been protected from the explosion by the other two.

“We have to go,” she repeated.

Harrison shook his head. “The fire department—”

“Can only watch it burn.” She opened the passenger door.

His head throbbed. He coughed hard. Coughing as well, she practically shoved him down onto the passenger seat. Slamming the door, she raced around to the other side and slid behind the wheel.

“Where’s your cell phone?” he asked as the engine roared to life.

“In there.” She nodded toward the house.

Surely someone would call. The flames would be visible for miles. Fire lit the surrounding area as it feasted on the house. Without lights, the small car careened dangerously across the choked lawn and down the rutted path that served as a driveway.

Harrison reached for his seat belt as he bounced all around. “Slow down. You’re going to wreck.”

“No.” She swiped the back of her hand across her cheek.

“I’m sorry. Your friends—”

“They weren’t. I didn’t even like them. But nobody deserves to die like that.”

He tried to make sense of her words as she turned the car onto the main road and sped up. “Turn your headlights on. You’re going to kill us.”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

Her fingers gripped the steering wheel fiercely. “Those explosions back there were deliberate, Mr. Trent. Tony lied to me.”

There was anguish in that last.

“Someone wanted you dead tonight,” she continued.

“No.”

She didn’t seem to hear his stark protest.

“If you hadn’t knocked that syringe aside…If you’d gotten a full dose of the drug, or hadn’t escaped when you did…” She stared at the blackness beyond the windshield, never once looking at him. She drew in a shaky breath. “You were supposed to die in there.”

Harrison tried to absorb words that made no sense. Nothing that had happened tonight made any sense.

“We all were.”

It took him a second to realize she meant they were all supposed to die. “That’s crazy.”

“I only realized my keys were missing when I went to the bathroom, or I’d have been inside that house along with you. We probably wouldn’t have had time to know what happened.”

“No one wants to kill me.”

“Wrong, Mr. Trent.” Bitter acid dripped from every word. “Someone hates you enough to kill anyone in your vicinity.”

He wanted to tell her she was insane, but the inferno behind them said otherwise. Thinking was hard, but he knew that fire hadn’t been accidental. He’d heard the explosion. More than one. And he’d felt the concussion of the blasts.

Either a gas main had ruptured, or she was right, someone had deliberately blown up the old farmhouse.

His brain felt stuffed with cotton and his head throbbed. He was a businessman. He’d made some enemies, sure, but he prided himself on being ethical. How could he have not known he’d made an enemy willing to commit murder? If only he could think clearly.

“What did you drug me with?”

Her quick glance was troubled. “It’s supposed to be a compound similar to Rohypnol.”

“Supposed to be?”

Her expression was uncomfortable. She faced straight ahead once more. Her hands continued their death grip on the steering wheel.

“I was told the drug would make you docile and agreeable so we could get you out of the house without an incident.”

“You stuck me full of a drug and you don’t even know what it is?”

She shifted as though uncomfortable and didn’t respond.

Despite the effort it took to keep his rage in check, he strove to keep his voice level. “Why did you kidnap me?”

“To protect you.”

Her tone was laced with irony, but there was also anger below the surface. Surprised, he realized she was as furious as he was. “By tying me up in an exploding house?”

“It wasn’t supposed to explode.”

“How comforting.”

“Look, I was asked to guard you until noon. Someone was supposed to explain everything to you then. After that, I was promised that you were going to be set free.”

“I hope you got that promise in writing, because you should definitely sue.”

Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.

“Who was coming to see me?”

“I don’t know.” The sharpness of her tone didn’t disguise a thread of deeper emotion he couldn’t identify.

“What do you know?”

“We need to get away from here.” Her eyes wandered between the empty road in front of them and the rearview mirror

that showed the empty stretch behind them.

“Are we being followed?”

“No.”

Not yet seemed to be implied. He shifted on his seat and stared at the side mirror. There was nothing to see. “Who promised you I was going to be set free?”

He didn’t think she was going to answer, but after a moment, she did. Pain laced her words. “Someone I trusted.”

He swallowed a scathing comment. She was angry and afraid, he realized. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Jamie. And until noon tomorrow, I’m your bodyguard.”

“I don’t want a bodyguard.”

“Too bad.”

Silence filled the car. He studied her stiff posture for several seconds. He thought there was a sheen of moisture in her eyes, but he couldn’t be certain.

“Why noon?” And a wave of cold spread through his belly as an answer presented itself. “I’m getting married at eleven. Zoe! They’re going after Zoe! Find a pay phone,” he commanded.

Fear knifed his thoughts. This wasn’t about him. This was about Zoe. She’d been the target of a killer at least twice. Her condo had been ransacked and destroyed. When she refused to move in with him before the wedding, he’d had her move into one of his apartment buildings to protect her. Someone wanted him out of the way so they could strike at her!

BLINKING BACK furious tears, Jamie glanced at the man. She couldn’t see his features clearly in the darkness of the car, but she could feel the tension that radiated from his still form. He was more alert and competent with every second. Despite the gun strapped to her ankle, she didn’t like the odds if it came down to a struggle. Short of shooting him herself, she wouldn’t win a physical contest.

“We need a phone,” he repeated angrily.

“Do you see a telephone anywhere?”

“He’s going after Zoe.”

“Who is?”

“I don’t know!”

Jamie shook her head. “You were the one in the house that exploded, not your bride-to-be.” But hadn’t she wondered all along if his bride was the intended target?

Except, he was the one they’d tried to incinerate. So why the charade to protect him? And why try to kill him in such a spectacular fashion?

She needed to find a phone more than he did. But the twolane road was dark. The houses and barns that flanked it were set well back from the street. Tony’s people had chosen the location for its remoteness.

“We’ve got a ways to go yet before we reach the highway,” she added.

“Where are we?”

“Southern Virginia.” She turned on the car headlights. There had been no sign of pursuit, so likely the explosive devices had been on timers. Yet she couldn’t be sure that someone hadn’t hung around to trigger those blasts. This was not the time to start taking chances.

Jamie shuddered as she thought about how close an escape they’d just had. She would not believe that Tony had set her up to die. Therefore, someone had lied to him. The person had to know he wouldn’t take this lying down. Whoever had set this in motion had a second set of victims in mind. Jamie needed to get to Tony before the killers did.

If only she hadn’t panicked and left her cell phone on the sink when she’d discovered her keys missing. Stupid. Now all she could do was race against time and the unknown enemy.

If she was going to have regrets, she should start with the fact that she hadn’t followed her instincts from the start and flatly refused Tony the minute he proposed this insanity. But if she hadn’t gone along, her mind whispered, it would have been his wife, Carolyn, in that farmhouse tonight.

“As soon as we get to a phone you can drop me off,” Trent told her. “I won’t tell the police about you.”

“Even if I believed that, what part of my being your bodyguard don’t you understand?” she snapped. Fear and frustration made her tone sharp. “I agreed to keep you safe until noon and that’s exactly what I plan to do.”

“I don’t need or want a bodyguard.”

“Two dead women say otherwise. I’m a professional, Mr. Trent. When I agree to do a job, I see it through.”

There was a beat of silence. She could feel him studying her.

“You really are a bodyguard?”

“Licensed, bonded and everything.” No need to tell him that was in California, not Virginia.

It was subtle, but she sensed him relax a bit.

“Do you know James Wickliff?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Mark Ramsey? Of Ramsey Incorporated?”

“No.”

His tension returned. “I hired Ramsey’s firm to guard my fiancée. Wickliff was assigned to Zoe.”

“Then she’s probably safe enough.”

“As safe as I was?”

His bitter words silenced her.

“Were those other two women bodyguards, too?”

“No. What they wanted to do with your body had nothing to do with guarding it. They came with the assignment.”

That gave him pause. “Who are you working for?”

Jamie debated. What would he say if she told him she suspected a man involved in organized crime had arranged to hire her? Her foster father’s former boss had his fingers in any number of pies, though he kept a low profile. His name probably wouldn’t mean a thing to someone like Harrison Trent, but if it did, the less said the better.

“I’m working for a friend,” she said.

“I’d hate to meet your enemies.”

Jamie tensed. “He was set up as much as we were!”

“How do you know?”

“Because I do.”

“That’s helpful.”

She didn’t bother to respond.

“This makes no sense,” he muttered under his breath.

“What doesn’t?” She felt his stare return to her.

“Why would Drake’s killer come after me?”

“Who’s Drake?”

The silence lengthened. She sent a glance in his direction and found him studying her in the darkness.

“You really don’t know, do you?”

“Listen, Mr. Trent, if you know who tried to kill you—”

“I don’t. Zoe dated a man named Wayne Drake a couple of times a few months ago. He turned out to be a professional thief. He was gunned down outside a restaurant in D.C. last week.”

“So?”

“So Zoe was with Drake when he was killed. The story made headline news.”

Jamie could have told him she hadn’t been paying attention to the news while she was here. Instead, she sent him a quick glance. “Your fiancée was dating another man a week before your wedding?”

“No! It’s complicated.”

“Sounds like it. Must have been a big story what with her being engaged to you.”

Harrison took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing calmly. She had to give him full marks for control.

“The police don’t know if Zoe was the intended victim or Drake was.”

“He’s the one who died,” she pointed out.

“But someone had tried to kill her a couple of months earlier.”

That was interesting. Jamie tapped the steering wheel with her index finger. Was his bride-to-be involved with Victor DiMarko somehow? DiMarko was reputed to be a good-looking man, if a lot older than Trent’s bride must be. On the other hand, if her dead boyfriend had been a thief, maybe he was the connection to DiMarko. Or maybe there was no connection whatsoever.

Jamie shook her head. Even if someone had a reason to go after the thief and Trent’s fiancée, why try to take out a man like Harrison Trent? He was a millionaire several times over. His murder would stir a hornet’s nest of activity for sure.

“Why would Drake’s killer come after you?” she asked. “Were you at the restaurant, too?”

“No.”

“Then the attempt on your life must be about something else.”

“There has to be a connection.”

She shook her head. “You’re a businessman, Mr. Trent. You’ve probably ticked off a number of people.”

He tensed. “Being a businessman makes me evil?”

“Being a successful businessman makes you a target,” she corrected. “Did you win any big deals lately? Maybe fire someone with a temper? Step on the wrong toes?” Like Victor DiMarko’s? “Start thinking, Mr. Trent, because someone doesn’t like you.”

“I’m sure a number of people don’t like me, but blowing me up is extreme. I don’t make that sort of enemy.”

“Obviously, you have now.”

She drove in silence while he contemplated her words. Abruptly, he pointed toward the windshield. “There’s a gas station up ahead. It’s closed, but maybe it has a pay phone.”

Jamie slowed, considered the spot and then sped up again.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s too isolated. We’d be too exposed.”

“Stop the car! I have to warn Zoe!”

“And I have to call someone as well, but I’d like us both to survive the experience. We’re too close to the house, Mr. Trent. This is the first phone I’ve seen. I suspect our bomber knows that. I don’t want to take the risk.”

“I’m willing.”

“But you aren’t driving.”

For a moment she thought he’d make a grab for the steering wheel. Fortunately, he wasn’t a fool.

“We’ll be on the highway in a couple of minutes. We’ll find a place to stop after that.”

“If Zoe dies because you wasted time, I’ll make it my full-time goal to see you spend the rest of your life in prison.”

Her scalp prickled. She didn’t doubt him, but she couldn’t afford to let his words stop her. “I prefer positive incentives myself.”

“I’m not joking.”

“Didn’t think you were.” She forced her voice to remain level as fear churned in her belly. “I don’t know who’s coming after you. Maybe they will go after your fiancée next. Maybe they already have. What I do know is that they tried to kill you and now they’re going to go after my friend because he’s the only one who can nail their hides to the barn door.”

“Assuming your friend isn’t behind the bombing.”

“That’s a given.”

“Is it?”

“Yes.”

His voice tightened. “Why should I trust you? You drugged me, kidnapped me and planned to hold me against my will.”

Her patience gave out. “That’s right, so don’t mess with me. I’ve got nothing to lose. When we find a safe pay phone, you can use it after me. In the meantime, be quiet and let me drive.”

HARRISON EYED HER with a grudging respect. Her elfin features were determined. He sensed she was telling him the truth as she saw it, but that didn’t soothe his impatience to reach Zoe and be sure she was unharmed.

“Is it possible the explosion was meant for you or one of the other two women?” he asked after a few minutes.

Jamie hesitated as if that thought hadn’t occurred to her. “Unlikely.”

But there was a thread of uncertainty in her tone. The more he considered the idea, the more he liked it. Drake’s killer would have no reason to kidnap or kill him, yet if Jamie was telling the truth, someone wanted him to miss his wedding. Why? Drake was dead. Where was the motive?

He squeezed the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve the throbbing pain in his head. The drug had left his mouth cottony dry and his stomach churning. Exhaustion tugged at him, both physical and emotional. As they rocketed down the highway, he wondered what would happen if a cop tried to flag them over. Would she stop? Would she tell the police what had happened?

Would he?

He was used to making snap decisions about people, but Jamie confused him. His initial attraction to her lingered despite what she had done. He couldn’t define what it was about her that had intrigued him from the start. But after she sped past the third possible exit ramp, any attraction he might have felt dissolved as he realized she had no intention of stopping.

“We could have found a pay phone at that exit.”

“I know. I also know you don’t have any change. I dressed you.”

Disconcerted, he couldn’t decide which was more disturbing, the fact that she was right about the change, or the fact that she’d dressed him. He always slept in the nude.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any change, either,” she added.

“You don’t need change to dial 911.”

She cut him a look. “I have no intention of dialing 911.”

That answered the question of what she’d say to the police if they were stopped.

“You could use a credit card.”

Her scornful expression deepened.

“Where are we going?”

She said nothing for so long he decided she wasn’t going to answer.

“We should get rid of this car,” she told him finally.

“What, you don’t like the color?”

She ignored his sarcasm. “It’s been sitting outside that farmhouse all evening. We’re lucky it wasn’t rigged to explode, too.”

“Now, there’s a cheery thought.” He shifted at the memory of those horrific explosions.

“It could also have a tracer on it in case one of us did escape.”

“Just who do you think is after me?”

“Someone willing to kill four people without remorse.”

Put that way, he couldn’t think of a thing to say.

JAMIE DEBATED HER OPTIONS. She could steal a car, but the minute she stopped, Trent was apt to take off. Part of her thought that would be just as well, but she couldn’t leave him undefended after promising to guard him.

Tony wouldn’t be happy when she showed up on his doorstep, but what other option did she have? She wasn’t about to ask Harrison Trent if he was involved in organized crime. He might say yes, and she really wanted to like him. He knew how to keep his head. Despite the drug messing with his system, he’d been quick to seize an opportunity when she’d inadvertently presented one. And he’d actually tried to save the other women even though they’d drugged and kidnapped him.

Ruefully, she realized the millionaire was handling the situation better than she was. Jamie didn’t want to discover he’d made his money in the same line of work as Tony’s former boss.

Whoever was behind the explosions would expect her to go to Tony if they knew she’d survived. But did they know? It all came down to whether the devices had been remotely triggered or on timers.

Her knowledge of bombs was rudimentary at best. Still, it galled her that she had walked into that farmhouse like a sheep last night. Not one of them had thought to check the place over when they returned, and she knew better. Foolishly, her chief concern at the time had been defending Trent’s questionable virtue from Kirsten and Elaine. She wasn’t altogether sure he’d thank her for that, but he and his friend hadn’t ogled the dancers that evening. In fact, Trent had almost looked pained at times.

Except when she’d caught him looking at her.

The memory provoked a tiny shiver. He’d been curious about her. She’d seen it in the way his eyes had followed her. Jamie had been surprised and more than a little flattered. She was blessed with attractive, if average, features, but certainly not the sort that normally drew a man’s gaze in a roomful of half-naked women. And more disturbing, she wasn’t immune to him, either. Even now, knowing he was engaged and possibly a member of organized crime, she found him extremely attractive.

Hastily, she shoved the thought aside. She needed to concentrate. She’d seen no sign of pursuit since they’d driven away, but that didn’t mean no one was back there. Most likely, the explosives had been on timers. They’d been well planted to effectively block all the main exits. Someone had wanted to make very sure no one escaped that inferno. The chilling thought brought a shiver straight down her spine. Would she have found the devices if she’d done her job right?

Jamie turned her mind from useless speculation.

“Mind telling me where we’re going?”

She hesitated at his question, but what was the point? “We’re going to try and stop another murder.”

“Laudable goal. How many of us did you kidnap tonight?”

She sent him a glare.

“Okay then, who else is going to be murdered?”

“The people who set up your kidnapping.”

“You want to share a little here?”

“No.”

“Right. How are we going to prevent them from being murdered?”

Jamie inhaled. “I have no idea.”

Only the barest hint of light streaked the horizon. The fatigue tugging at her brain told Jamie daybreak was fast approaching. The suburban streets were still empty as she steered the car into Tony’s subdivision.

Harrison Trent had fallen silent after their last exchange, for which Jamie was grateful. He didn’t need to know how rattled she was. None of her extensive training had left her prepared for the reality of almost dying on the job. The stench of the smoke clung to her hair and clothing despite the windows she’d opened to air them out. The knowledge that Kirsten and Elaine had died because she hadn’t done her job well enough was a weight on her soul.

So far, she’d managed to keep the shakes at bay. Unfortunately, she knew she was heading for a meltdown. The only thing that kept her going was the certainty that it wasn’t Tony who had set them up to die. Tony and Carolyn were in deadly danger from whoever had.

Turning the corner onto their street sent a new surge of apprehension pouring through her. Their house was near the middle of the block, and it glowed like a Christmas tree. Lights blazed behind the curtained windows on the first floor. Tony and Carolyn were early risers, but not this early.

Harrison Trent straightened in his seat. “It’s the house with the lights on, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Looks like we’re expected.”

Jamie cruised past slowly while her heart hammered in her chest. Carolyn’s dark SUV sat in the driveway. Tony’s fancy sports car was probably inside the detached garage along with his souped-up sedan.

“The SUV belongs there?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure.”

She circled the block looking for anything out of place. Every parked car was suspect. She watched for the slightest motion. Nothing. Not even a stray cat or dog disturbed the stillness.

She stared at the house as she drove past again at a crawl. “It’s too quiet.”

“It’s early Saturday morning. What do you expect? Most people sleep in on weekends.”

Jamie pulled over at the end of the street. She turned off the headlights, but left the engine running. “Wait here while I check this out.”

“Not going to happen.”

Her body hummed with tension. “Then take the car.You can leave.” After all, there was nothing she could do to stop him.

“As tempting as that offer is, I believe I’ll stay with you for now.”

“Mr. Trent, I’m serious.”

“So am I. I deserve some answers.”

She exhaled loudly. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Then turn off the engine and stop arguing.”

Her hand shook as she obeyed. “The people who blew up the farmhouse may be inside there.”

“I got that, but you’re going in, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m going with you. I have a few things to say to these people.”

Jamie growled. “You aren’t going to be reasonable about this, are you?” She pulled the gun from her ankle strap. He eyed it and her, but didn’t appear intimidated.

“I’m a businessman, Jamie. I’m always reasonable. Let’s go.” He opened the car door.

Jamie saw no option. She couldn’t force him to wait, and panic hovered, a mere breath away. Something was badly wrong inside, she sensed it.

“Let me lead,” she ordered. “If anything goes wrong—”

“I’ll be right behind you.”

She shook her head.

“You wouldn’t have another gun, would you?”

“No.” The last thing she wanted was a person she couldn’t predict at her back armed with a weapon.

Without another word she began running toward the house. Hopefully, anyone seeing them would take them for a pair of early morning joggers trying to beat the August heat and not notice the gun she tried to conceal in her hand.

Passing Tony’s house, she saw no sign of movement inside. She went up the driveway of the silent house next door. Trent got points for not asking more questions as Jamie led him around to the back and cut through to Tony and Carolyn’s yard. Their kitchen light tossed shadows across the porch and down onto the manicured lawn. Nothing moved inside or out. Fear pulsed with every beat of her heart.

Skipping the back door, she went around to the side entrance where it was dark. Trent remained silent as she pulled out her keys and inserted one in the lock. Jamie stiffened. The door swung open at the first touch without the turn of the key.

Her heart threatened to explode as she eased inside. Muted voices came from the living room. Jamie paused to listen.

The television, she realized when background music started to play. Tony wouldn’t be watching television at this hour. Something was horribly wrong.

Staying against the wall, she moved up the stairs to the softly glowing kitchen.