T HEY DIDN’T LOOK ALL THAT DIFFERENT FROM WHEN I’D LAST SEEN THEM, during their trial. Their clothing was dark and more casual this time, and they were wearing gloves. They had gained some weight, gone a little soft around the middle, but they were tall and big-shouldered. Nothing about them said they lacked strength. Their faces were a little more wrinkled. They had better tans. Their hair might have been dyed. I noted these things in nothing more than a glimpse, because I couldn’t seem to make myself take my eyes off the business ends of their guns.
“Hands folded on top of your head,” Eric said.
Ethan said, “No need to hold guns on us-”
“We’ll decide that,” Ian said. “Now hands up and shut up.” He looked over at me. “What’s she doing here?”
“I thought you two were enemies,” Eric said to Ethan. “Wasn’t that the story you gave my uncle? What’s with the luggage?”
“I’m afraid our secret’s out now,” Ethan said to me, with a look that did an excellent job of mixing embarrassment with adoration.
“Ethan, for God’s sake…” I said in exasperation.
“You two have ruined everything,” Ethan said to them. “We could have been gone before her husband discovered us.”
We are going to be killed, I thought, seeing Eric’s anger. Right now. I’m going to die on the carpet of this crappy apartment.
“Eric!” Ian said sharply.
“You’ll be gone all right,” Eric said to Ethan. “Now shut your mouth.”
They bound our wrists behind us with duct tape and took my purse and keys. They forced us to walk out to the Jeep. I kept hoping that one of the party animals in Ethan’s building would open his door and see that two people were being led out at gunpoint. No luck. Eric and Ian probably could have capped us right there in the hallway without anyone knowing about it for hours.
Eric disarmed the alarm, and they put us in the backseat of the Jeep. I found myself thinking wildly that at least he couldn’t stuff us in a trunk. Eric and Ian got in the front seats-after arguing briefly over who would drive, Eric took the driver’s seat. He locked all our doors. He put on his seat belt and adjusted the mirrors. These little actions of protecting his safety as he stole my car with me in it had the effect of making me angry, which took a little of the edge off my fear. I calmed downed enough to find a slim hope. The LoJack.
Someone had to report the car missing, though, before police would try to track the LoJack’s signal. How long before Frank would think he needed to call me, let alone come looking for my car?
I looked over at Ethan to see how he was faring. He seemed to have been waiting for my attention. He leaned toward me and whispered, almost too low for me to hear, “Trust me.”
Right. I tried not to let him see just how stupid I thought that idea was. I saw Ian glance up in the rearview mirror.
At that moment, in a voice a little louder than a whisper, Ethan said, “Not the secret place. Tell them it’s at the storage unit.”
Ian, who had not put on his seat belt, whipped around and pointed his gun at us. “I told you to shut up, you sneaky little bastard.”
Eric drove a convoluted route, and then, not more than three blocks from where we had started, the car turned down a ramp that led into a parking structure. Eric pulled out a key card and pushed it into a slot. This raised a heavy steel gate. He drove under it, and the gate lowered. I felt my hopes lower with it. It sealed us in.
He drove through the deserted structure, following the curve of the ramp to a level that could not be seen by anyone who might approach the other side of the gate at street level.
He came to a stop near a long limousine. He got out of the Jeep. The back window of the limousine rolled down. After a brief discussion, he came back and told Ian, “He wants them out.”
We were taken from the Jeep.
Ian walked over to me, and without saying a word, punched me in the face. I lost my balance and fell hard to the concrete. My head was swimming. Ian stood over me, smiling down. “That’s just the beginning of what I owe you,” he said, and kicked me in the ribs. My feet were still free, so I kicked him back hard, on the ankle.
“God damn it!” he shouted, and aimed his gun at my head.
Ethan shouted, “No, don’t… please…”
“Ian!”
Ian turned toward the man who had called his name.
Mitch Yeager was not frail. He stood straight and tall, his large, dark eyes boring into Ian’s. His skin looked a bit translucent and his hair was on the thin and weedy side, but he was not, despite my hopes, someone who looked ready to pop off at any moment. He had been handsome in his day, but there was little sign of that now. His mouth had a bitter set to it that seemed to pull all his features into following its lead.
He was a big man, but a little shorter than his nephews. That he still stood in command of Eric and Ian was clear. Ian lowered his eyes and moved back from me, unable to meet his uncle’s stare. Mitch glanced at Eric, who ducked his head as well. I looked for some sign of the rebelliousness Eric had shown in the past and didn’t see it.
Mitch turned the stare on Ethan, who wasn’t hiding his feelings so well now, and I knew that any second, the old man would notice the fear and remorse I was seeing on Ethan’s face. I slowly maneuvered myself to my feet again and tried to convey to Ethan, with nothing more than a look, that I was okay, that he should calm down.
He got the message. He pulled himself back into his ace bullshitter mode.
He smiled at Mitch. “I’m glad you can see there’s no need to hurt anyone. This is all just a simple misunderstanding.”
“Is it?” Mitch Yeager asked.
“Of course it is. I can see that you might misunderstand our intentions, but we just needed a little traveling money, that’s all. We both want to get as far away from Frank Harriman’s reach as possible, and you know, that’s not going to be cheap. We have to relocate outside the U.S., right, honey?”
I smiled weakly. It hurt my mouth.
“A little old for you, isn’t she?” Mitch asked.
“No,” Ethan said simply. I was relieved he didn’t try to oversell that. I was feeling embarrassed enough as it was.
It seemed to work, because after Yeager looked between us, he said, “We haven’t got time for your romance, Mr. Shire. Now. You have something of mine.”
“It’s in a storage unit not far from here.”
Mitch looked at Ian. Ian hauled off and punched Ethan.
He lost his balance and fell onto the concrete.
Ian kicked him, making him cry out in pain. He curled his legs up to his chest, trying to protect himself from another blow.
“Stop it!” I shouted. My voice echoed throughout the structure, a voice lost in a concrete canyon. That earned me a gloved hand clapped over my mouth. I bit it. That won a slap hard enough to make me dizzy.
“Get him on his feet,” Mitch said. He turned to me. “You shut your mouth, or I’ll have him tape it shut, you understand?”
I nodded.
“Now,” Mitch said to Ethan. “Where is it?”
Ethan’s eyes were starting to tear up. He said, “I told you.”
Mitch nodded. Ian hit him again.
Ethan hit the ground and groaned as he lay there. His mouth and nose were bleeding now.
“Hit him again,” Mitch said.
“No, wait,” I said. “Wait!” Eric reached into the pocket that held the duct tape.
Mitch turned toward me and motioned Eric to wait.
“It was never necessary for matters to reach this point,” Mitch said. “You’ve forced all of us to do things we’d prefer not to do. But since you’ve brought all this trouble about, I should warn you that I don’t mind the idea of
