Devious Minds (14 page)

This time, I closed my eyes so they’d think I was concentrating really hard, but in reality, I was mostly trying to figure out what to say. After Cypher repeated the phrase, I knew what to do, and I opened my eyes, going for a confidence and determination I didn’t feel.

“Tell Cypher I want to make a deal.” I turned my gaze to Cypher and continued. “I have information, but it is only for him and no one else.”

“No,” the leader said, glaring at me. “No deals. You tell me now, or I start cutting you up into little pieces.” To emphasize his point, he pulled out a switch blade and flipped it open.

A surge of fear spiked through my heart, and my breath caught. Still, I kept my gaze on Cypher and spoke as boldly as I could. “I don’t think Cypher would want that. Maybe you should ask him first.”

This time the leader caught my gaze and followed it to the man I knew was Cypher. “Why do you keep looking at him?” When I didn’t answer, he turned his gaze back to me and stepped close enough to place the flat of his blade against my cheek. “Tell me.”

“Because...”

“Enough,” Cypher said. “Put the knife away.” He thought about Blake and turned to the leader, speaking in rapid French. “Emmenez-la en bas à la cave avec les autres. Je veux parler à eux seuls.”

“Pensez-vous qu'elle dit la vérité?”

“Oui. Peut-être qu'elle sera plus disposé à parler si elle me voit les torturer.”

“Vous avez probablement raison,” the leader said, stepping away from me. “This is your last chance to tell me who the traitor is, otherwise you will be killed.”

Since I’d only picked up the torture part, and something about a cave, I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I had to try one last time. “I will gladly tell Cypher who the traitor is. You just need to let me speak to him. I can’t trust any of you to tell him the truth. That’s why I have to do it. I also have information he needs. Important information.”

“And you won’t tell me?”

“No.”

He turned to the big guy next to me and spoke. “Emmenez-la à rejoindre les autres.”

The big guy stood and pulled me to my feet. Since I was shaking so bad, he practically dragged me to the door. I glanced over my shoulder for one last look at Cypher. He was thinking that he could easily get to the bottom of this. All he had to do was torture Blake in front of me. Hearing him scream should make me spill my guts. After I told him what I knew, and more important, how I knew it, he’d kill us both.

Chapter 7

After hearing that, I could hardly walk. The big guy gripped my arm and closed the door behind us, then started down the stairs, dragging me behind him. Lost in my misery, I barely caught the whisper of a familiar voice. It finally dawned on me that Ramos had sent a thought my way, but I’d missed it. Then it came again.

Shelby! At the bottom of the stairs, I need you to drop to the ground. Nod if you hear me
.

Overcome with gratitude, I nodded vigorously. Lucky for me, my captor missed my antics and didn’t even look my way. With my heart racing, we came to the last step, and I sagged like a dead weight to the ground.

It caught my captor off balance, and he staggered forward. At that moment, Ramos came from behind and hit him over the head with something hard. He went down with a grunt, and Ramos grabbed my arm, thinking,
let’s go!

I was about to protest that we needed to find Blake first, but the big guy groaned and rubbed his head. Just then, the door above us opened, and the light from the open doorway shone down on us. With adrenaline pumping, we took off through the gate, and I let Ramos lead me down the road to his waiting car.

“It’s unlocked, so get in!” he said, letting go of my arm and running to the driver’s side.

My hands were still zip-tied together, so I lifted my arms and brought them down hard across my body, using the technique I’d seen on the video. Just like that, the tie broke. I tugged the door open and jumped inside.

Ramos had the car in gear and peeled out before I even had my door shut. Still, I heard angry shouts behind us. I glanced out the back window. Two men jumped into their car, but it was facing the wrong direction. As they started turning it around, Ramos pulled down a side street and floored it.

From the street map on the dashboard, along with the GPS in the car, it looked like Ramos knew exactly where to go. I glanced behind but couldn’t tell if anyone was after us. “Turn around, and put on your seatbelt,” Ramos said. “I’ll tell you if I spot them.”

I let out my breath and nodded, then found my seatbelt and put it on. After several turns, we came out on a street with two lanes and followed it to a freeway entrance. On the freeway, he sped up and maneuvered back and forth between cars, sending nervous spasms through my chest.

After a few minutes of this, he pulled across one lane and zipped onto the nearest exit and off the freeway. Taking a right, he drove down that street, then took another right until coming to a tree-lined road. Halfway down the street, he pulled over and parked beside a sidewalk.

Turning off the car, he took a couple of breaths and set both hands on top of the steering wheel with his head lowered. His fingers shook a little, but he clenched his fists and glanced at me.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh Ramos!” The tears gushed out of me, and I covered my face with my hands and sobbed. Next thing I knew, he had my door open and my seatbelt undone. Then he pulled me into his arms and held me tightly.

“It’s okay, Shelby. I’ve got you,” he said. “You’re okay now. You’re safe.”

I clung to him like I was drowning, savoring the strength of his arms and the safety he offered. He rubbed my back and murmured comforting words until I calmed down enough to quit crying. Taking a deep breath, I let it out and relaxed against him. “I can’t believe you’re here,” I said, sniffing against his chest.

He was thinking it was a good thing, since it looked like I was in deep shit. At least I wasn’t shaking like a leaf anymore, but what the hell? He nearly had a heart attack when he got to the café, and found me being dragged to a car by those men. He’d managed to follow us, but it was close. Then to see me go into that house... and wonder if I would ever come out alive... it was enough to send him over the edge.

Luckily, his training took over. He plotted an escape route on his map, and then came up with a plan to break in through a window in the back that didn’t have bars on it. He’d seen me through the second floor window and had counted the number of men holding me. Against seven men, the odds didn’t look good.

Then he’d snuck through the gate into the back yard and caught glimpses of me through the door on the second floor. He’d waited in the shadows to see if they’d put me in a back room or something, but his biggest break came when my guard brought me down the stairs alone. Thank God I could hear his thoughts.

I pulled away and glanced up into his dark eyes. “You almost died because of me... again.”

“Shelby... I... I’m...” he shook his head and frowned. “Come on. Let’s get out of here and you can tell me what’s going on.” He pulled away and helped me get back into the car, but not before I heard his unspoken words. He was thinking that he’d gladly die for me, because life without me in it wasn’t something he thought he could face.

Unfortunately, hearing his thoughts made my eyes fill up with tears again. He may think that about me, but if he wasn’t around, I wasn’t sure I could go on either. I didn’t even want to think about that, so I quickly wiped my tears away and got a tissue out of my purse to blow my nose.

By the time he opened his door to get in, I was mostly back in control. He got settled into his seat and started the car, then glanced over at me. His mind was carefully guarded, but I still picked up his concern about those thoughts he’d just had. “We’re good?”

“Yes,” I said and smiled at him. He nodded, and I sensed his relief that I wasn’t making a big deal of his feelings for me. “But... what about Blake? He’s back there at the house. I think they were going to torture him in front of me so I’d talk. Do you think we should go back and see if we can get him out?”

His brows rose in shock, and he was wondering if I was out of my mind. “Absolutely not.” At my widened eyes, he continued. “You’re lucky I got you out, but no way can we go back for Blake. Not without help.”

“Yeah... you’re right,” I agreed. “Wait a minute... Blake gave me a number to call in case of an emergency. I’ve got it here in my purse somewhere.” Filled with hope, I rummaged through my pockets until I found the piece of paper. “This guy is French Intelligence or something, but if he can get some people there soon, Blake might have a chance.”

“All right,” Ramos agreed. “It’s worth a try.” He pulled out the map. “I circled the address.”

“Great.” I took out my phone and started pushing the numbers. The call went through, and I held my breath as it began to ring. After the fifth ring, a man with a deep voice answered.

“Oui?”

“Um... hello, is this Gabriel Dumont?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Shelby Nichols. I’m calling about a mutual friend of ours, Blake Beauchaine?”

“Ah... yes. We are meeting tomorrow. Has something happened?”

“Yes. He’s in big trouble. Some people... I guess they’re terrorists with a bomb and everything. But anyway, they jumped us. I heard them talk about torturing Blake to get me to talk. I managed to escape, but I left Blake there, and I don’t dare go back. Can you help him?”

“How long ago did this happen?”

“I got out about... ten minutes ago. I have a friend who helped me, or I would still be there.”

“Do you have an address for this house?”

“Yes... it’s um... on the map here...” Ramos pointed it out, and I repeated the address for Gabriel. “We got away, but they started chasing us. We only lost them a few minutes ago. I don’t know what they’ll do now, but they might figure that with me on the run, I might call the police or something... but... I don’t know.”

“I believe you,” he said. “I will go now with my men to find him. Give me your number, and I will call you. I think you have more information for me, yes?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. Stay away from the area. Go someplace safe. I will let you know what we find.”

“Okay. Thanks. Here’s my number.” After making sure he got it right, we disconnected, and I heaved a huge sigh of relief. “He’s going to help.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Ramos said. “He must know Blake well.”

“Yeah. I’m kind of shocked that he believed me. So, what should we do now? He said to go someplace safe and wait for his call.”

Ramos checked his watch. “It’s almost midnight. I want to show you something, then I’m taking you to my hotel, and you’re going to tell me everything. How does that sound?”

“Sure,” I said, totally worn out. Nearly getting killed had taken a big toll on me.

Ramos turned the car around and got back on the freeway. Neither of us spoke, but it was a comfortable silence. Feeling safe, I relaxed my head against the back of the seat and closed my eyes. Sure, there were a lot of things I was worried about, but right now I needed a minute to pull myself together and regroup.

Ramos seemed to know that because, a few minutes later, he nudged me. “We’re here.” I glanced at him and he pointed out the window. Turning, I caught my breath. The Eiffel Tower stood only yards away, and it was all lit up in golden color. “Come on,” he said, and got out of the car.

I opened the door and started to walk toward the base of the tower, but he pulled me back beside him. “Wait. Just watch for a minute.”

He leaned back against the car, so I followed his example and did the same. I enjoyed seeing all the lights on this iconic symbol of Paris. Then suddenly, the lights over the entire tower began to sparkle. I gasped. “Holy cow! Look at that! I didn’t know it did that.”

Ramos enjoyed my outburst, pleased that he had brought a smile to my face after what I’d been though. I took his arm and leaned my head against his shoulder, loving this magical moment and grateful he was there. “Thanks for coming after me. I’d be dead without you.”

He took a deep breath, thinking it had been close. He was also wondering what the hell was going on, and remembering the bomb part of my conversation with Gabriel. What had I gotten myself into this time? How had my husband let me go? He should have known I’d get into trouble and put his foot down.

All at once the sparkling stopped, and I sighed. “That’s all?”

“Yeah... it only lasts for five minutes at the beginning of the hour.”

“Well then, I’m glad we got to see it.”

“We should go,” he said, thinking that if I kept leaning against him like that, he wouldn’t be responsible for what happened next. This was the city of love, after all, and even though my face was all splotchy from crying my eyes out, I still looked beautiful in the golden light.

I pulled away and raised my brow. “I don’t know if that was a compliment or not.”

“Babe,” he said. “We’re in a dangerous place. Right now I’d like nothing more than to kiss you silly... but I don’t want to take advantage of you like that. You’re vulnerable. Hell... right now, so am I.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You ready to cross that line?”

Wow. He’d never been so forth-coming and talkative about his feelings. “Uh... no.”

He took a deep breath, then sent me a wistful smile. “Didn’t think so, but you can’t blame a guy for asking.”

He was thinking that, as tempting as I was, he didn’t want to mess up my life. He admired that I had a family and a good marriage. It was something he respected more than he let on, and he didn’t want to be the cause of ruining that. Still... he could probably handle one kiss without losing control, he just wasn’t sure I could, since he was a damn good kisser.

“I’m getting in the car now,” I said, straightening from the door. “And I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that last part.”

“Kill-joy,” he muttered, but sent me a relieved smile.

We drove away, but I kept my gaze on the Eiffel Tower as long as I could, then lost sight of it between the buildings. Pushing “home” on the GPS system, Ramos navigated the streets to his hotel. Soon, we turned off the street and through an arched entrance with majestic columns on either side. The cobblestone driveway circled a fountain of splashing water, framing a stunning, three-story building, all lit up with spotlights.

Ramos handed the car keys to a valet and came to my door before I could get my seatbelt off. As I stood, my knees hurt from the scrapes and bruises I’d acquired. Now that I wasn’t running for my life, the pain began to register, and I noticed that my black leggings were torn and bloody.

I hoped no one inside looked too closely, since I figured this swanky place had a reputation to uphold, and torn clothing wasn’t allowed. Ramos led me past the concierge desk, up the stairs, and down the hall to his room, opening the lock with a key card he pulled from his pocket.

The door opened into a beautifully decorated suite. The sitting room was done in blue and white with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A blue couch with end tables and lamps sat on one side, fronted by a coffee table, and facing a double door with flowing curtains that opened onto a veranda. A blue lounge chair stood in one corner, with a small writing table at the other side.

A large, square opening in the wall led to the bedroom, where another chandelier hung from the ceiling. Inside, a queen-sized bed was framed by bedside tables and lamps, and a chest of drawers stood against the wall. Off to the side, another door opened into a tiled bathroom with a walk-in closet beside it. “Is it all right if I use the bathroom?” I asked.

“Sure. Make yourself at home.”

I went straight there and took care of business, then caught sight of my face as I washed up. Yikes! What a mess. I took off my leather jacket, then used a warm washcloth to get the streaks of mascara off and freshen up.