Haunted (16 page)

Actually, it would probably be better if you rested your head on the steering wheel.” Rae pulled a couple of books
and a binder out of her backpack.
got to reread the
tell Dad I/what’s Marcus/ Then she rolled it up, letting more of
her old thoughts run through her head without really paying attention to them, and handed the backpack to
Anthony. “You can use this as a pillow. Don’t worry.

I can watch the warehouse and do my part at the same time.”

“Your part,” Anthony repeated. He gave her a wary glance, then pressed the backpack against the steering wheel
and lowered his head down to it.

“Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Try and relax as much as possible,” Rae instructed, noticing the way Anthony’s
hair curled against his collar.

“It would be easier if I knew what we were doing,” Anthony said.

“I’m just going to use my finger to write some words on your back. You don’t have to do anything except repeat
the words in your head as I write them,” Rae explained. She checked the warehouse.

Still no sign of any activity. “Okay, we’ll start with on. ” As she spoke, she traced the word in big letters, pressing
firmly. His back was warmer than she expected, even through his T-shirt, and hard with muscle. She traced the word
over and over, starting right below his neck and working her way down until she could feel the waistband of his
jeans under her finger. When she realized she’d somehow started staring at the wide T-shirt-covered expanse, she
jerked her eyes back to the warehouse. Still nothing.

“Okay, I’m going to switch to at now,” Rae announced. She began tracing the word in rows that went from one side
of Anthony’s back to the other.

Anthony didn’t answer. “You’re not asleep, are you?” she asked.

“No,” he said, his voice coming out all husky.

“But maybe we should stop for a while.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m watching the warehouse,” Rae assured him, still writing on his back.

“You just keep thinking the word at while I do this.”

She filled his back with at’ s three times, eyes on the warehouse. No sign of life yet. Pretty soon they should
probably risk getting close enough for her to do a fingerprint sweep.

“I wish I’d thought to bring some sandpaper,” Rae said. “The book said different textures help, so if you used your
finger to write words on a piece of sandpaper, it might make them easier to recognize when you read them. I guess
having a bunch of different sensations connected to the words is good.”

“Since you don’t have any, maybe we should stop,” Anthony said.

“Just using my finger will still-” Rae caught a flash of movement at the side of the warehouse. “Get down,” she
ordered. “Someone’s coming.”

Anthony scrunched down in his seat as Rae did the same. She watched as a man-maybe six feet with a bear build-headed away from the warehouse and over to a beige Toyota parked about a block from Anthony and Rae.

Anthony started the car. “What are we going to do?” Rae asked.

“Follow him,” Anthony answered. “We get this guy and trade him for Jesse. Or at least make him tell us everything
he knows about the setup inside.

Where the guards are. If this whole thing is part of a plan to get you.”

Anthony let the man get a little head start, then pulled out onto the street and began following him.

“Do we have any kind of plan going here?” Rae asked, gripping the dashboard with both hands/ got to get to
Margarita Madness night
NEED TO MAKE ANNA
Barbie’s hair / -even though Anthony wasn’t speeding.

“I’ve got no plan until we see where he stops,”

Anthony answered. “I’m not going to try and run him off the road or anything.”

“Probably a good decision,” Rae muttered as Anthony kept on the man’s tail without getting too close, heading
through Little Five Points.

“He’s turning left up here,” Rae said, pointing toward the blinking signal.

“Yeah, I got that,” Anthony answered sarcastically. He got into the left lane. “I wish there was at least a car between
us here,” he commented as the man’s Toyota pulled out into the intersection.

“Wait. He’s doing a U-y,” Rae cried. But Anthony was already making a smooth U behind the Toyota.

“Good. He’s stopping at that gas station,”

Anthony said. “That means we’ll have at least a minute.” He pulled into the gas station, too, and parked by the air
hose, then got out and studied the tires like he was trying to decide if they needed air.

Rae watched as the man went into the minimart, then came back out with a key attached to a large piece of wood.

A second later he disappeared into the men’s room.

Anthony waited until the door shut behind him, then started to follow. Rae reached out and grabbed his arm,
holding him tight. “You can’t just go walking in there. He probably has a gun.”

Anthony pulled his arm away. “Which is why the bathroom’s the perfect place to go after him. He’s not going to be
holding his gun in there.” He headed straight for the bathroom.

“Anthony, I think you should wait,” Rae called after him. He didn’t even glance back at her.

Anthony forced himself to wait for a fifteen count before he stepped into the bathroom.

Luckily the guy hadn’t let the door close all the way, so the lock hadn’t caught. Immediately he spotted the guy in
front of the last urinal in the row.

He’d just about finished zipping himself up. Perfect.

Anthony lunged at him and tackled him low, slamming him to the floor. He planted one knee in the man’s chest,
pinning him.

“Tell me everything you know about Jesse Beven,” Anthony ordered. The man didn’t answer-at least not fast
enough. Anthony ground his knee harder into his chest. “Talk,” he ordered.

“I don’t know… what are you talking about?” the man choked out, sounding sort of dazed.

Very smart, Fascinelli, Anthony thought as he frisked the guy, finding nothing. Yeah, cut off his air, then ask him a
question. He lowered his knee a little and dug it into the man’s soft gut. The little jab of pain might clear his head.

“The kid you snatched.

Jesse. I want to hear everything from the beginning.”

“You got the wrong guy,” the man wheezed, a string of saliva dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

“I got all night, buddy,” Anthony told him, staring the man in the eye. He heard the bathroom door open wider and
jerked his head toward the sound. Rae stood in the doorway. “I don’t want you in here.

Leave!” Anthony barked.

Of course, Rae didn’t listen. “There are easier ways to get information,” she told Anthony as she made straight for
the man and knelt beside him.

Anthony’s stomach seized up as Rae pressed her fingertips against the scum bucket’s. Her face went blank for an
instant, then a series of expressions crossed her face so quickly, he could hardly identify them. Fear, greed, malice,
joy.

And then horror, horror as Rae ripped her fingers away. “Tie him up,” she ordered. “I don’t want him to be able to
move.”

Anthony didn’t have to be asked twice. He yanked off his belt, then straddled the man and used the belt to tie his
feet together. The man gave a weakass buck, but he didn’t have a chance of getting Anthony off him.

“Hurry,” Rae urged, sounding seriously freaked out.

“What’s the deal? Where’s Jesse?” Anthony asked her.

“He doesn’t have anything to do with Jesse. Just get him restrained and let’s get out of here. Then I’ll tell you
everything,” Rae answered.

Anthony jerked the man over onto his side, then pushed him onto his stomach and pulled his wrists together
behind his back. The man started trying to fight again, so Anthony had to give his head a light rap against the
cement. That kept the man quiet until Anthony had used the guy’s belt to get his hands tied together as tightly as his
feet.

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Rae cried.

Anthony climbed off the man, leaped to his feet, and rushed out of the bathroom, Rae right behind him. He
slammed the bathroom door shut, then spun to face her. “Okay, what?”

“The guy is part of a group using the warehouse as a crystal meth kitchen,” Rae burst out. “One screwup and
they could demolish half the neighborhood.”

“I’ll call the cops. Tell them where to find our friend and the kitchen,” Anthony said. He spotted a phone booth, one
of the old Superman-changingroom kind, and rushed over. This problem at least he could deal with. But the Jesse
situation… the Rae situation… Anthony wasn’t going to lie to himself.

He was in way over his head.

When he’d finished the call, he headed back over to Rae. “I guess we need to find another warehouse.

You up for more driving around, or-”

“Let’s go,” Rae answered. They both climbed into the car.

“We covered most of the area to the west of Little Five Points, so I figured we’d just start driving up and down the
streets to the east,” Anthony said.

“I’ll keep doing car watch,” Rae answered.

Anthony settled into a slow, methodical search.

Up one street for half an hour, back down the next one. Up and down. Up and down.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Rae burst out.

“Our friend in the blue Dodge just drove by.”

Rae jerked straight up in bed, her breath coming in harsh pants. She stared wildly around her room, half expecting
to see… she wasn’t even sure what.

The dream had been horrendous, but it had faded so fast that all she was left with was the sensation of someone-or something-coming after her. “You’re okay,” she muttered. But there was no way she was lying back down and
closing her eyes. Not when that dream could be lurking. She climbed out of bed and pulled on her robe, then
glanced at the clock. Quarter to one. She’d hardly been asleep any time at all, even though the dream had felt
endless.

Rae pushed a few curly strands of hair away from her face, sat down in front of her computer, and hit the power
button. She needed some kind of mindless game to distract her. All she could think about was that blue Dodge-who
was in it? Who was following her and Anthony? They’d tried to go after the car when she’d spotted it, but Anthony
had lost it after a few blocks of heavy traffic. So if the driver really was tracking her, he or she was still out there
somewhere…

Rae shook her head, then clicked on the icon for solitaire. But before she could start playing, the phone rang. She
snatched it up. “Hello?”

“It’s Anthony.”

His tone made the little hairs on her arms stand straight up.

“What? What happened?” she demanded.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” he answered. “It’s just-I took my car over to this place after I dropped you at home,
where I’ve done some work for extra cash. I wanted my friend to check things out, see if he could get a handle on
how that blue Dodge kept finding us.” He paused, and Rae pressed her lips together, afraid of what was coming.

“He found a bug in the car,” Anthony finished.

“And that’s no big deal?” Rae exclaimed.

“We already knew we were being followed,”

Anthony said. “We just didn’t know high-tech equipment was involved. Anyway, I got rid of it. And now I’ll be
looking for more, so that will make it a little harder on the Dodge guy.”

“Whoever that is,” Rae said.

“Yeah. Well, I just thought you should know, it’s under control. I’ve gotta go. See you tomorrow, okay?” Anthony
hung up without saying goodbye.

But a second later the phone rang again.

“Anthony?” Rae said as soon as she picked it up.

There was no answer. Only a low male laugh.

“Who is this?” Rae said, trying not to sound as scared as she was.

“I get it now,” a voice replied. Rae instantly recognized Marcus Salkow’s arrogant tone. A mixture of relief and a
new kind of dread washed over her.

“Rae’s got herself another guy.”

“Marcus, why are you calling?” Rae asked. He sounded lubricated-not off-his-butt drunk, but like he’d had a
couple of beers.

“I was making out with Dori the other night, and I called her Rae,” Marcus said. “I called her Rae,” he repeated, as if
she might have missed it the first time.

Rae opened her curtains halfway and cracked the window. She needed some air. “Why are you telling me this?

This is something between you and Dori.”

“Because…” The pause went on so long, Rae wanted to scream. “Because… I think I called her that because I
miss you,” Marcus admitted.

The confession was like a body blow. Rae didn’t think she’d be able to say anything, even if she knew what she
wanted to say.

“I know I really hurt you. I totally screwed up,” Marcus continued. “And no matter what happens, I want you to
know that I’m sorry. What I did to you… that’s the worst thing I’ve ever done to anybody.”

“Thanks,” Rae murmured, surprised to feel tears welling up in her eyes. It was just that this was too familiar, talking
to Marcus on the phone late at night.

When they’d been together, they’d talked like this all the time.