“I believe I saw him return a few minutes ago,” the man said. “Shall I buzz him for you?”
“Was he alone?”
The doorman looked suspicious at the question. “I’m not sure I should say, sir.”
“Was there a young lady with him?” Jason persisted. “Perhaps one of his costars from TV?”
When the doorman remained discreetly silent, Jason debated whether to wave money or his ID under the man’s nose. He opted for both, along with a far more confiding, genial attitude. Throttling the man, as he very much wanted to do, wouldn’t get results.
“I’m his boss,” he explained, forcing a smile. “I have some big news for him and for Miss Smith. I was hoping to catch them together.”
The man grabbed the two fifties and barely glanced at Jason’s business card. “Fifteen-oh-six. They’ve been there about twenty minutes.”
Long enough for Baines to do serious harm to Callie, Jason thought with a shudder. But why bring her back to his apartment? Why not do whatever he intended someplace else, then abandon her? It didn’t make sense that Baines would want to draw Jason or the police right to his own front door.
With impeccable timing, Henry cruised to a stop in his own late-model economy car and parked it in a no-parking zone right in front of the building. The doorman looked as if he might protest, but Henry’s scowl turned him away as if he’d noticed nothing at all.
“Is she here, sir?”
“Fifteenth floor.”
“Then I suggest we go calling,” Henry said.
They rode the elevator to the fifteenth floor in silence. In the corridor outside of Baines’s apartment, Henry gestured for Jason to ring the bell, while he plastered his back against the wall next to the door and pulled a gun in readiness for his own unexpected entrance on Jason’s heels. The gun looked perfectly natural in his hand. Henry was very resourceful, and Jason had seen to it that he was well trained to counter any attempts that might be made on Jason’s life. Henry might appear to be nothing more than a courtly limo driver, but he was a skilled bodyguard, as well, should that talent ever be required. Jason had never been more grateful that he’d had the foresight to insist on the training.
Baines opened the door without hesitation and with absolutely no hint of surprise at finding the network president on his doorstep.
“Kane,” he said with a nod. “I’ve been expecting you. Come in and join our little negotiating session.”
Jason’s gaze followed the direction in which Baines glanced. Outrage simmered at what he saw.
Callie was seated at a large dining room table, her hands painfully bound behind her back, a piece of duct tape over her mouth. He was relieved to see that her eyes, when they met his, were filled with fury, not fear.
What troubled him more was the gun that Jonathan Baines had trained right on her heart. Unfortunately, it more or less neutralized the one Henry was carrying.
30
Callie frantically tried to signal Jason with her eyes, pleading with him to stay cool. She could tell from his clenched jaw that he wanted to break Jonathan Baines in two. In the past half-hour, since Jonathan had abducted her at gunpoint from the hospital, she had seen just how close to the edge he was. He was clearly a man who was convinced he had nothing to lose by murder. If Jason alarmed him in any way, the actor would shoot them both without a qualm.
“Over here, Kane,” Jonathan said, gesturing toward the dining room table with his gun. “Sit where you can keep an eye on your girlfriend. I want you to have a front row seat, in case I find it necessary to kill her.”
Jason’s complexion drained of all color, but there was no mistaking the fury in his eyes as he complied. He fixed his gaze on Callie. “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
He stared at Jonathan then. “What’s this all about, Baines? Why are we here?”
Callie had been wondering that very thing herself. Although she’d guessed about Jonathan’s involvement, she hadn’t been able to pinpoint the motive. He’d said precious little to help her out.
“We’re here to renegotiate my contract,” he said now.
If her mouth hadn’t been taped shut, it would have gaped at that. Jason looked equally startled.
“Your contract?” Jason repeated incredulously.
“It seems the producers have planned to write me out at the end of my current contract,” Jonathan explained. “They’ve tried to convince me it will be a glorious ending, a hail of gunfire and all that. Unfortunately, I have bills to pay. I’m not prepared to die so soon.”
Callie thought of the scads of alimony Jonathan was reportedly doling out to ex-wives and the probable cost of maintaining this elegant apartment with its spectacular view of the East River. She didn’t doubt for a second that the prospect of being fired would terrify him.
But what did all of that have to do with Terry? Had he hoped to drive him off the show, assuming that the producers wouldn’t want two popular stars to leave at the same time? Had the notes been nothing more than a clumsy attempt to frighten Terry away or had they been more? Had he also wanted to make Terry pay for replacing him as the show’s lead?
Jason must have been wondering the same thing because he asked, “What do Terry and Callie have to do with this? Shouldn’t you be talking to Marty and Katrina?”
Jonathan regarded him incredulously. “I thought you were supposed to be a smart man, Mr. Kane. Terry’s the hottest thing on daytime. If he goes, the show won’t be able to afford to lose me. Besides, he’s a fraud, as we all know. Sooner or later, he would bring the show down when the public learns that he prefers men to women. I need Within Our Reach to continue to flourish. Getting rid of Terry serves several purposes. It protects
