Bad Habit (28 page)

“
I understand, my dear. You have
plenty of time.” His fingers drummed again. “Speaking of Colin, did
he give you a present when you were on your trip? Perhaps some
little memento you’ve forgotten about?”

“
I can’t think of anything,” she
said. “We went island hopping and we ate and danced and shopped
everywhere we went.”

“
But he didn’t give you something
special? Something to which he attached some special sentimental
significance?”

She considered a moment. “No, Colin
wasn’t sentimental. You know how he was.” She smiled, pleased that
she could talk about him without tearing up. “I can’t remember him
ever giving me a present unless it was for a special occasion. Why
do you ask?”

“
I know what was in the bag,
Teri.”

His softly uttered words sent a
whisper of fear skittering along her spine. She turned to give him
her full attention. A little smile played around his mouth. “Did
you know that Colin was laundering money?”

She felt the air sucked out of her
lungs. She shook her head, staring at Kelso as though he’d been
replaced by an alien.

“
He was quite an enterprising boy,
our Colin. He set up a series of accounts and funneled money into
them from a particular client with unsavory business dealings under
the guise of legitimate advertising.

Teri felt like she was choking on
bile. “And you were a part of this?”

“
No. Colin obtained a client with
drug connections all on his own. They used the agency to divert
funds and Colin made the fatal mistake of trying to skim. He set up
a fund for himself and with every deposit, he gave himself a
percentage. That was the money he left in the bag.”

“
And they killed him for
it?”

“
They couldn’t let him get away with
ripping them off. He was well paid for his talents. He shouldn’t
have been so greedy.”

Teri glanced down at her hands. They were trembling.
“What do you mean?”

“
The vacation was a cover for his
actual purpose and I’m sorry to say you were victimized, my dear.”
He sent her a sympathetic gaze.

“
How do you know all this?” Teri
steeled herself for the answer.

“
Right after you took off I was
contacted by a man who assumed I was in on it. He threatened
me.”

“
Oh, Martin, I’m so sorry. I had no
idea.” She put her hand on his forearm and he covered it with his
own.

“
I didn’t think you were in on
Colin’s scheme. You’re too innocent.” He squeezed her
hand.

“
You have to tell Angel.”

“
Angel? Are you talking about that
young detective?”

“
Yes. He’s amazing, really. He’ll
know what to do. I don’t want you to be in danger.”

“
Just tell me where the money is.
That’s all I need to know. Where is Colin’s bag?”

“
I don’t know. I threw it at the
killers in San Antonio. I guess the police got it.”

“
The money, Teri. I know the police
don’t have it.” A knife-hard edge to Kelso’s voice caused her to
stare into his eyes. He regarded her without compassion, as a hawk
might regard a mouse in its talons. “Where is the
money?”

“
It’s gone,” she
whispered.

“
Gone where?”

“
I,…I can’t tell you,” she said.
The fine hairs on the back of her neck were standing at
attention

“
You can tell me anything, Teri. I
have to know where the money is or they’ll kill me. You don’t want
that now, do you?” The blue marble eyes held hers as in a steel
trap.

“
No, of course not. Angel can
protect you.”

Kelso’s grim expression was in
keeping with his cold tone. “You seem to have infinite faith in
this young man’s abilities. Is there something more between the two
of you?”

“
That’s not a factor in his job
performance. He can protect you.”

Kelso offered a chilling smile.
“But who will protect you, my dear?”

#

Seymour, the doorman, called Teri’s
phone. He refused to allow Angel access to the building
unannounced.

Angel raised an eyebrow as he
glared at the man. “You saw me with her yesterday. I brought her
home in a taxi and we went in together.”

“
And she might not want you here
today. This is a high security building and we can’t let just
anyone in.”

Angel could hear Teri’s phone
ringing through the receiver glued to Seymour’s ear. “She’s home.
Why isn’t she answering?” He frowned at the uniformed
man.

Seymour shrugged his
epaulet-dressed shoulders and hung up the phone. “Sorry, sir. I
guess she’s not receiving this evening.”

Angel reached for his identification and showed it
to the attendant. “Something’s wrong. Open the door.”

“
Whoa. Officer, I can’t allow you to
enter because you have a badge. Our residents are entitled to their
privacy. Perhaps you can call back tomorrow.”

Angel gave him a hard look. He
rested his hand on his weapon. “How about if I shoot you
tonight?”

Seymour winced, holding his hands
out in an effort to stave off impending bullets. “Look, man...She
has another visitor. About four-o’-clock this afternoon an older
dude came with an armload of roses and they went in together. She
had the groceries. They were laughing and talking. I figured she
wouldn’t want you to crash her party.”

“
Let me in,” Angel said.

“
Okay, okay. No trouble. I tried to
warn you, man.” He stepped back and Angel strode past him to the
elevators.

He paced back and forth as he
waited.
It has to be Kelso. He’s one of
her friends. She’s safe with him .
But some
inner radar was sending out a warning. He jammed his finger on the
up button again.

The elevator door opened silently
and he stepped inside, pushing the number for Teri’s floor. It was
a smooth silent ride, stopping once to admit an elderly couple who
thought the elevator should be going down. After pushing buttons
and frowning they turned to glare disapprovingly at Angel who had
the nerve to be going in the opposite direction.

Angel stepped out on the top floor
and the doors closed silently on the scowling couple. There was
nothing overtly amiss, but he was on alert. He opened the safety
catch on his holster and approached her condo. He leaned his head
against the door and listened, but heard nothing.

He recalled Teri’s face when he
burst in on her with his mother and great-grandmother. If she and
Kelso were having a friendly chat and he burst in with his weapon
drawn it would be one more instance to focus her attention on their
many differences. He pushed the doorbell and waited.

#

He’d tied her wrists and ankles
together with the sash to her silk robe. Terrified, she lay on the
floor of her bathroom.

Kelso had the water running in her
tub. Removing his jacket, he folded it neatly over her vanity chair
and loosened his tie. He turned to her with an earnest expression
on his face. “Teri, don’t force me to hurt you. Make it easy on
yourself and give me the information I need.” He leaned close,
peering into her eyes as though he might find the answer
there.

“
Martin, I don’t know what
information you’re talking about. The money is gone and I can’t get
it back.”

He laughed, a dry mirthless
chuckle. “That money was just a drop in the proverbial bucket, my
dear. There are so many millions tucked away in those accounts. I
must have access to them.” He turned off the water and rolled up
his shirt sleeves.

“
I don’t know what you want from
me.” She heard the terror in her own voice and tried to steady it.
“Colin didn’t tell me anything.”

“
But he must have told you. He
trusted you with his skim money.” Martin pulled her up by her
shoulders.

“
I promise you, Martin,” she said.
“I didn’t know anything about the money until after Colin was dead
and I opened the bag. By that time I was on the run
myself.”

“
Don’t lie to me. There has to be
something, a notebook, a disc. Think, Teri!” He hoisted her to a
standing position and lifted her into the water. Her feet slid out
from under her and she was sitting in shoulder deep water. Her
throat ached with fear. “Martin, please don’t do this.”

“
Oh, my dear, I don’t want to hurt
you. I wanted you to turn to me after Colin’s death. I wanted to
comfort and protect you.” His eyes hardened as he gripped her
shoulders. “Now I realize that you have jumped from one pretty boy
to another. I just want the numbers and access codes for the off
shore accounts.”

Slowly, he lowered her into the
water. His fingers formed cruel vises, digging into her shoulders,
as he pushed her down and held her under the surface.

Petrified by fear, she stared up
through the water at the man she’d thought of affectionately as an
alternative father figure. She held her breath as best she could.
Her lungs burned and she had to let the air out. Her chest felt as
if was being crushed.

Suddenly he dragged her, coughing
and sputtering, to the surface.

She gasped for air and blinked away
the water clinging to her lashes. Her heart pounded in her ears as
she gazed into the eyes of the man who would kill her.

A flash of anger displaced her
fear. “Alright, I’ll tell you.”

“
I knew we could reach an
understanding,” he said. “Tell me where it is.”

“
I’ll show you when you untie me.”
She glared at him with as much dignity as she could
muster.

“
Brava! That was excellent, my
dear. You must think I’m a complete fool.”

“
No,” she said. “I think you’re
brilliant. It was you all along. Colin wasn’t smart enough to do
this by himself.”

Martin raised his eyebrows. “Absolutely right, my
dear. It was I who brought the unsavory client into the mix. Poor
Colin’s only talent was his computer knowledge and his greed.”

“
I remember when you took him under
your wing,” she said. “He was so proud that you’d taken notice of
him. He used to run up those damned stairs because you told him it
was the habit of a winner.”

“
He was my puppet.” Martin’s smile
had the effect of chilling her to the bone.

“
What happened? How did he cut the
strings?”

“
He got too greedy. He suffered
from hubris, thinking he could step in and take over my operation.”
Gripping her shoulders, he shouted in her face, the veins in his
neck extended, “My operation!”

He pushed her back under the surface.

Teri held her breath and struggled
to break his grip. She kicked both feet and the silky sash came
loose from her ankles, but couldn’t get a foothold inside the deep
and long ceramic tub.

She jackknifed her body and pulled
Kelso forward into the water. He released his hold on her to grab
the side of the tub. She sat up, filling her lungs with air,
glowering at her former boss.

A look of panic replaced the snide
superiority on Kelso’s face. Teri threw her leg around his neck,
pulling him face first into the water.

Although he outweighed her by a
considerable amount, the choke hold she maintained kept him off
balance and he wasn’t able to raise his head above the water line.
Teri howled in anger. She was filled with rage and she let it all
out, her rage resounding off the hard surfaces.

A round of gunfire splintered her
heavy outer door and, moments later, Angel burst into the bathroom
with his gun pointed at the individuals in the tub.

“
Teri? What’s this?” He holstered
his gun and lifted her from the water.

“
It’s Martin,” she gasped. “He
tried to kill me.”

Angel dragged Kelso’s body from the tub and began to
perform CPR. “Call 911,” he instructed.

Teri loosened the wet sash from her
wrists. She felt lightheaded but, as she tried to make the
emergency call from her bedroom. Within minutes, her condo filled
with uniformed police officers responding to a ‘shots fired’
call.

Angel gave the care of Martin Kelso
over to emergency personnel and folded Teri into his
arms.

She leaned against him weeping, her
arms around his neck. “Will it ever be over?”

“
What happened?” he asked. “I
thought Kelso was your friend.”

“
I thought so too.” She shivered as
she clung to Angel, pressing her face against his chest. She lifted
her gaze to watch as Martin Kelso was removed from her bathroom on
a gurney with an oxygen mask covering his face.

Angel brushed her damp hair out of
her eyes. “Friends don’t try to drown you, Teri”

“
He knew about the money all along.
That’s why he was so anxious to find me. He was the real boss of
this money laundering scheme. Colin wasn’t in the least bit
creative, but he was a brilliant tech guy. Kelso brought him in to
manage the IT. Kelso said Colin got greedy and tried to rip him
off.”