Rothschild hit him again. This time, Jake didn’t raise his head up as quickly. The man hit hard for someone his age. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake saw Conrad, standing quietly with his arms crossed. Rothschild was doing his job for him. When he stopped punching, he walked to the desk and took a sip from a crystal glass.
“Unfortunately, you’re correct. You do create a problem with my plan, Mr. Russo. I can only have the Saving Tomorrow Initiative take blame for so much. If they’re a radical group, they will only face so much scrutiny. Not many reporters are tenacious, anymore. By the time I have to reveal funding records, everyone will have forgotten about it all.”
“And when you do, they’ll show that the group got charitable donations.”
“Exactly. I didn’t send them a dime. But every community I own kicked a little in. And so did my foundation. On their own accord, of course.”
He grinned widely. Then he suddenly frowned.
“But there’s the unfortunate problem you’ve created. If people begin to think a woman was murdered, things become…difficult. The police will trace the group to me and start to get suspicious. But you’re the only one who thinks that, aren’t you?”
Jake stayed quiet. He couldn’t speak.
“So I have to kill two birds with one stone. Well, actually, I assume Conrad will be killing you in a different way than he killed Charlotte. He’s very creative.”
Jake looked up and opened his eyelids. The red hair looked like fire. He could see Conrad was smiling. He still had the strength to speak. He spit blood out on the carpet. If only Mel showed up now.
“You aren’t going to get away with this. People won’t stand by for what you’re doing.”
“Ah, you’d think that.” He went over to the bar and got out a bottle. “Club soda for the carpet. It’s wonderful for unfortunate stains. Like you.”
He placed the bottle on the desk and leaned back again.
“You see, I’m going to win. I have you here. And I always win. No one cared about an old woman dying on a beach. And no one will care about a third string reporter, sent to Sarasota because he couldn’t cut it in the big city.”
Jake spit again. Rothschild didn’t bother moving.
“Do you know why nobody will care?”
“Why?”
“Because they are used to it. They are used to old people dying. They are used to crazy environmentalists, and they are used to developers getting what they want.”
He laughed a little.
“And most of all, they are used to me winning and you losing.”
He stopped laughing. He straightened the collar of his suit and tightened his tie.
“Conrad, I think we’ve said everything. Tonight, I’d like you to transfer him out of here. For now, make sure he’s pacified.”
Conrad opened the bookcase and carried Jake’s chair in. He felt something shoved inside his mouth and then elastic cords pinched his neck. He started to feel dizzy, and as he began to faint, he only thought one thing.
So much for the plan.
CHAPTER 48
A light came in, first a thin line, then a wide band. Suddenly, the whole room was filled with light. He looked up, his neck sore. The bookcase was open and Rothschild was yelling at Conrad.
“Just get in there. And hurry. I’ll have her leave in five minutes.”
“I’d rather stay outside.”
“Get in there. I don’t want Mel to know you’re here. She might put two and two together.”
“If I could stay in here-”
“Do you not understand what I’m saying?”
Jake looked around the small room behind the bookcase. The walls looked like they were a silver color, possibly metal. Filing cabinets were lined up in a row on the left, and a wine refrigerator sat on the right. Conrad yelled to Rothschild.
“Just don’t let her in. Lock the doors, sir.”
“Who is the boss here? Last time I checked, I was. If I want to meet with her, I will.”
Conrad shuffled into the small room. He cursed at Jake as he pulled the door shut.
“Don’t think about screaming. I will make it more painful if you do.”
He tightened the elastic cords around Jake’s neck. Then he planted his hands firmly on the back of the chair. The room was completely dark. Jake tried to shake, but he couldn’t move at all. Conrad was too strong. He decided to shove his whole body forward when he had a chance. If he did, they’d hear him slam against the back of the bookcase. It was his only chance.
He couldn’t hear the words they were saying on the outside. He heard Rothschild’s voice, muffled by the books and the wall. Then he heard Mel’s. He tried to scream, but Conrad clamped a hand over his mouth. The man breathed silently. His hand almost covered Jake’s entire face. They listened to Mel and Rothschild but understood nothing.
They waited. He could smell his own sweat in the space of the dark room. Or maybe it was his own blood. He started to think. If only they’d planned a little longer. If only he’d been smart enough to hit Rothschild first. He wondered how they would kill him. Where he would die. How long it would take Thompson to even notice. He guessed a week would go by before anyone in New York even realized he was gone.
He hoped Conrad had loosened his grip. It was now or never. With everything in him, he jerked his body forward in the chair and it started to tip forward. His head was only an inch away from the wall. They’d hear him and save him. He’d get to file his story.
He stopped falling. Conrad had caught the chair. The voices outside the wall started to sound fainter. Maybe it was his hearing. Or maybe they were walking away. They must have thought he’d never shown. By the time they realized, he wouldn’t be able to be saved.
Then he heard a loud ringing. He looked back. He couldn’t see well, but he saw hands moving frantically in the dark. It rang again. It wasn’t his phone-it was Conrad’s. The ringing stopped, but then the voices got closer and closer and became clearer. He heard a man shout.
“It’s in there.”
“Open it,” Mel said. “Now!”
The thin line of light drew across the floor again. Then it turned into a wide band. Conrad shoved Jake’s chair into the corner and leapt out of the room.
“Hold it right there,” Sheryl Goldfein shouted.
Someone came over and pulled Jake up. Mel. She untied the cords around his neck, hands, and legs. He rubbed them and then stood up. Conrad was standing with his hands over his head and Jake walked out in front of him. Rothschild had surrendered. Then he saw Sheryl and Abram. Sheryl had a pistol in her right hand and used her left to brace her elbow. Jake wiped the blood from his mouth.
“Sheryl? Abram? Why are you here?”
She shrugged her shoulders and kept the gun steady.
“We had to come. For Charlotte.”
“And you own a gun?”
She shrugged again.
“Are you really that surprised?”
He regained his balance.
“Do you mean because your husband was a cop?”
She steadied her grip.
“Ech. I mean because I’m Sheryl Goldfein.”
