Gary had set up his tripod and was taking photographs of Rothschild and Conrad. He pointed the camera at Jake and the flash went off. He rubbed his eyes and Gary raised a thumb up above the camera.
“You don’t look good, but it’s a good shot.”
He turned to Rothschild.
“Looks like your plan didn’t go so well.”
“I should have killed you right away.”
“Thanks for that quote.” He reached for his notebook. “I’ll have to get that on paper. Do you have my tape recorder?”
“I destroyed it.”
Sheryl pointed the gun directly at Rothschild. He laughed.
“Your gun can’t get his tape recorder out of the incinerator.”
Conrad was totally silent. Mel grabbed a tissue and wiped Jake’s forehead. Rothschild growled.
“Mel, are you and Mr. Russo…together?”
She walked up to him and spit on his face. He didn’t bother wiping it off.
“Mel, you’re fired.”
“I don’t care. You won’t be behind this company much longer.”
“Oh really?” He laughed. “You don’t have any evidence. And now you’re holding me at gunpoint. My lawyers…”
Jake hobbled over to the bookcase and opened it. He pointed at the filing cabinets.
“Oh we’ll have evidence.” He hit one on the top and listened as the metal echoed. “We’ll get a warrant to look through all of these. Thanks for showing me where everything is.”
“A warrant?” For the first time, his chin sank down into his chest. Jake walked in front of him.
“That’s right. A warrant. A front page story. This is going to be everywhere.”
Jake walked away and Sheryl steadied her gun. They heard knocking at the door.
“Is there a problem here?”
Four policemen stood at the door and Gary motioned them into the room.
“I called them on the telephone before we arrived. I knew that we’d need some backup.”
Jake rubbed his wrists and buttoned up his Hawaiian shirt. Abram walked over to the policemen and pointed to the men. They pulled out their handcuffs.
“You are under arrest for attempted kidnapping.”
Gary pointed his cane at them and almost hit Conrad.
“And you’re going to get a lot more than that! The charges are just starting! Lot’s of charges! Like a credit card, but for bad things!”
Rothschild turned to Conrad.
“Stay quiet. The lawyers will take care of this.”
As the police read the men their rights, Jake stepped forward. One of the policemen tapped Jake on the shoulder.
“Sir, there’s a paramedic outside as well, if you need attention.”
“There is?”
“I called him,” Gary said. “I thought we might need one.”
“Thank God.”
They followed the police out of the office and into the hallway. Once they were all outside of the building, they led Conrad and Rothschild to the police cars. Both stayed quiet. Jake could hardly move. But he was strong enough to walk over to Rothschild and get his attention before he entered the car.
“Hey, Mr. Rothschild. You know how you said everyone was used to developers winning? I’ve got something else you’ll need to get used to.”
Rothschild turned his head as he was pushed into the car. His eyes were solid black. Jake smiled.
“It’s called jail.”
The car doors slammed shut and the five of them watched as the police cars drove away.
CHAPTER 49
“I think you’re going to be fine. You don’t even need a stitch.”
Jake knew the paramedic-it was the Hispanic kid he’d met at Sunset Cove. He gave Jake some bandages and cleaned his wounds. The peroxide almost felt good. A healthy sting. Gary walked over and introduced himself to the kid.
“I remember you. You’re the young man who helped me the day I saw the white light.”
“You?” the kid said. “You’re the guy who choked on his camera strap, aren’t you?”
“You remember me?”
“Oh yeah.” He smiled. “I see a lot. But how could I forget you?”
When he was finished, Gary waved as the ambulance drove away.
“I’m a celebrity!”
The five of them stood by Jake’s car. Abram and Sheryl held hands while Gary watched the ambulance drive away. Jake wanted to hold Mel’s hand. But he wasn’t strong enough to stand without her support, so he leaned on her instead. She kissed his cheek at the one spot where there wasn’t a bruise.
“How many times have you been beaten up?”
“I lost count. But that might be because I have a concussion.”
They leaned on the trunk of the car. She was warm and they were both finally safe. Sheryl and Abram looked like they were waiting for him to talk.
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. Both of you. I should have asked you to come and help me. I think you saved my life today, Sheryl.”
“Not just me.” She squeezed Abram’s hand. “He helped too.”
“How?”
“How do you think we knew that there was a room behind the bookcase?”
Abram pulled out a paper from his back pocket. He unfolded it carefully and smoothed out all the creases. It was a dark blue page with white writing.
“I don’t just study maps.” He held it up. “I have a thing for blueprints, too.”
Jake grabbed it. Abram had marked the spot behind the bookcase with a chalky white X. He handed the blueprint back and Abram folded it up.
“Abram, thank you.” He meant it. “I’m just glad we got so lucky. What are the odds that someone would call Conrad? If he hadn’t been called, you might not have known anybody was in there.”
Gary stood up straighter and shook his head.
“The jig was up!”
“Right, Gary, the jig was up.”
“No,” Mel said. “He’s the reason that Conrad got the phone call.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before we went inside, Gary looked through all of Charlotte’s papers. He found Charlotte’s list of calls to the Saving Tomorrow Initiative. So he made me give him my phone.”
“And he called the number?”
Gary nodded.
“I called it on my own! And then we heard the ringing behind the bookcase.”
“So Conrad was the number all along.”
“Yes,” Mel said. “At least he carried the phone. They had a different line just for the Saving Tomorrow Initiative.”
Gary piped up.
“I left a message.”
“Did you?”
