On the Scent (21 page)

“Do you have new security personnel, Miss Dawson?”

The bank manager, the same man she and Zach had gone through a couple of days ago, refused to take his gaze from her companion.

The question threw her, but Hannah recovered fast. “Um, yes, I do. This is Mr.—” Crap, what did she call him? “—James.”

The manager didn't blink. As she repeated the security code to him, he typed something into the computer. “Very good then.”

He led them to a private room and disappeared to retrieve her box from the vault. Once they were alone, her kidnapper swept a curious look over her. “Well done, Miss Dawson. You might get to see your friend soon after all.”

She lifted her chin. “How did you know Ellie had left the security code on her pets' collars?”

His right eyelid twitched as his lips tightened. The man she'd named Mr. James shrugged as he appeared to come to an internal decision on how much he was willing to reveal. “Roglitz. He shared all of the Fox's old tricks with me. Taught me everything he knew.”

“That's why you broke into my house and tried to take my cat and dog.”

“I didn't want the cat and dog. I only wanted their collars.” He shrugged in a what-the-hell kind of gesture. “Roglitz knew the old woman had held onto the LeBeau Diamond and he was going to use that to get back on his feet. Stupid man had a devil of a time finding her. When he saw her picture in the paper with those two rats after she died, he suspected she'd stored the jewel in a vault somewhere here in Atlanta. I thought it would be an easy job, in and out, but that damn dog of hers is more aggressive than it looks.”

A swell of pride for Costello lifted her shoulders.

“You would have never been able to get inside the vault without me. I don't understand.”

“So naïve.” He tsked. “We could've gotten into this vault if we'd known the jewel was here.”

“Then why didn't you?” Lord, she was going to get herself killed. Then again, her chances for survival were pretty slim. Might as well keep him talking while she could.

The man's mouth quirked into a half smile as he considered her. “We're on a bit of a deadline. Roglitz got cocky and promised our buyer we'd turn over the LeBeau Diamond within a month. They're not the type of people who give extensions, and, well, we never expected you to give us so much trouble.”

“Partners?” So there were others involved? “I thought you said Roglitz was dead?”

The man smirked. “Now he is.”

Hannah instinctively took a step back. “Why?” Her voice was barely a whisper, but he heard it.

He shrugged one shoulder. “I did him a favor. He spent most of his life plotting revenge, trying to find Ellie Nichols, so when she died, he didn't have much purpose left. All those years in prison, cluttering up our cell with notes and plans and newspaper clippings—” He suddenly stopped speaking and looked at her with widened eyes. Just as fast, he regained his composure. “Well, let's just say that when he botched our first attempt to get the collars from you, my patience had run thin.”

Our cell.
This man had been a cellmate of Roglitz. There had to be records indicating his identity. And he must have realized that.

“Considering you and I agreed to no questions earlier, you're good at getting answers, aren't you?” His eyes gleamed dangerously as they pierced into hers across the small space.

There was a knock and then the manager opened the door and slid the box onto the table.

“I'll give you some privacy, Miss Dawson.” With a curt nod at her captor, the older man disappeared again.

“Get the jewel,” the stranger told her. “Hand it to me.”

This was it. The moment of truth. She handed him the diamond, and he would kill her and Sarah both. What the hell did she do now?

She removed the bag containing the heavy gem and reluctantly passed it to him, an idea swimming around her head. Could she pull it off?

Probably not, but she had to try.

“I've lived up to my end. Where's Sarah?”

Tugging the diamond out of the bag, Mr. James examined it closely. Then he gave a slow shake of his head. “Not yet. Not until I'm safely away from here, remember?” His fingers pressed into her arm and shoved her toward the door. The creep must think she was dense to believe him.

He kept his grip on her as she spoke again to the bank manager and as they exited the building.

Hannah could have sworn she heard a bark in the distance that sounded like Costello, but that was crazy, wasn't it? Cars whizzed past them on the busy street, and the only people in sight were all scurrying in opposite directions.

Oh, Costello. And Abbott, too. Would Zach make sure they found a good home as she'd asked, or would he throw them aside now that his paycheck had been cancelled? She hoped she made it out of this, for their sakes alone, but the doubts were crowding her mind.

She had to think fast. No way was she going down without a fight.

The WALK sign came on and, still gripping her arm, the man shoved her forward across the street and snarled, “Pick up the pace. This is almost over.”

As they entered the parking garage, her gaze caught sight of a lime-green Beetle parked a few rows behind the Chevy. The dog she'd just been thinking about stood with his front paws on the dashboard, his toothy smile big and his fluffy tail wagging like crazy as he watched her pass.

Sweet heavens, was that Zach in the driver's seat, struggling to haul Costello back and out of sight? A surge of hope lifted her chest.

She felt the man at her side turn to follow her gaze, so she deliberately stumbled against him. This was her chance
.
Her fingers slid into the man's pocket the way E.J. had showed her. He swore and tugged her hard against his side. “Do that again, and I will get very angry. Understand?”

She nodded, holding her breath, but he didn't glance toward the Beetle again. He kept walking fast.

He had no idea she now had the diamond
.
Bloody hell, she'd done it!

“Driver's seat,” he instructed and watched her as she circled the car. They both opened their doors and slid into the vehicle in sync. “Very good, Miss Dawson.” He settled comfortably in his seat. He gestured to his right. “Head that way. Let's go see your friend, shall we?”

Hannah glanced in the rear view and started the car, feeling comforted now that she knew Zach would be following her.

She should have trusted him.

She hoped she'd get the chance to tell him that.

Zach herded the animals into the tan car Kellan was driving as soon as Hannah and her captor were out of sight. At least Kellan's ancient Toyota was a hell of lot less conspicuous than the damn Beetle.

Zach saw a single police car turn into the parking lot and creep past the first row of cars, scanning the area with a light. “You've got to be kidding me.” He reached for his phone and dialed Detective Ryan's replacement—Detective Flannery—as Kellan drove. “They're already leaving the damn bank. I've known snails who move faster than the APD.”

“We had units on the way to the bank when someone reported a fire four blocks over. Some of our guys had to reroute because it was a public building.”

Zach swore, and a weird thought popped into his head.
Deliberate arson. Probably meant as a distraction. This guy's good. Knows what he's doing. Must have a partner.

“You think it was meant as a distraction,” Zach asked, wondering if he'd actually picked up on the detective's mindset.

“Hard to tell. Where are they headed now?”

“Northeast on Peachtree.”

“I'll have a car pull them over. Stay out of the way, Collins. Do you hear me?”

Zach pressed END without answering.

They tailed the silver Chevy as it drove through the commercial district of downtown. After zigzagging through several streets, it pulled into the parking lot of some kind of industrial building. They kept a healthy distance, but never saw a police car approach.

What the hell was going on with the cops in this city?

Parking on the street, Kellan reached for his phone as Zach pushed to open his door. Kellan grabbed his arm. “We should wait for the police.” With a nod toward the dog and cat in the back seat, he added, “Besides, what about them?”

“Stay with them. Wait a few minutes and then pull in behind the Chevy. Block it in. No way am I letting this guy get outta here.”

Costello whined when Zach shut the door behind him, but he didn't look back.

The building was obviously abandoned, judging by the broken windows and lack of people around. One of the doors was cracked open, making it easy for him to slip inside. The crunch of broken glass beneath his feet stopped Zach from moving further, praying the sound hadn't carried far.

A feeling of déjà vu overcame him, and his mind yanked back to six months ago and another warehouse similar to this one. The man Zach had been hired to find evidence against in a white-collar Ponzi scheme had worked in an office inside a warehouse like this in the neighboring suburb of Kirkwood. Three people had ended up dead because of Zach's carelessness.

He couldn't let something like that happen again.

Voices echoed in the distance. Hannah. He thought she asked, “Where are we going?” but he wasn't sure.

Carefully, he followed the muffled conversation, playing closer attention to the debris on the floor.

He finally reached a point where he could understand them clearly. He was close. Real close.

“Hannah? I've never been so glad to see someone in my life.” Sarah's broken sob tugged at his insides. “Untie me, please.”

“Are you okay?” Hannah asked.

“I've been better. I've been worse. You?”

“I'm fine.” There was a brief pause. “You've got what you wanted. You brought me to my friend. We're even now.”

Zach pressed himself to the wall and waited, close to the entrance of one of the old offices inside the building. He listened for a fourth voice or more, but all he heard was Sarah, Hannah and the one man.

“Come on, Sarah. Let's get out of here.” Hannah's footsteps were loud and easy to follow.

“Not so fast, Miss Dawson.” The unmistakable sound of a gun being readied to fire filled the space. “I'm afraid we have a problem.”

“W-what kind of p-problem?” Hannah whispered.

“Oh, I'm sure you can figure it out.” More movement, but from who, Zach had no idea. “Perhaps if you had listened and not pried for information, I would've allowed you and your friend to walk out of here. As it is, I'm afraid you'll run straight to the police with what you know, and I can't have that, now, can I?”

“We won't tell anyone.” Sarah sounded frantic.

“Shut up.” The man yelled.

There was no sound, no movement, as Zach held his breath, his muscles tight and ready to spring into action.

“On your knees. Both of you.”

“Please.” Sarah whimpered.

“Do it!”

“Wait,” Hannah pleaded. “Maybe you want to think about this. If you kill us now, you'll never find out where I hid the diamond.”

Zach froze. What was she talking about?

The sound of clothes being shuffled echoed in the space. The man growled, “How did you —?” Zach edged closer to the door and risked a peek inside. Her captor was padding down his coat. With a growl, he grabbed Hannah by the hair and jerked her close. “Where is it?”

This was it. If he could draw the man's gunfire away from them, it might give the women a chance to run. The man stood with his back to him. It was now or never.

The solid impact of his body colliding with the gunman's was teeth-rattling. The weapon fired, the sound deafening in the small room, but Zach couldn't allow that to distract him. His ears hummed as he slammed the man into the wall and delivered a heavy punch that elicited a huff of breath from his opponent.

“Zach!”

He felt a moment's relief hearing Hannah screaming his name, knowing she was unharmed enough to call out. Had she been hit? Had Sarah?

With a roar, the other man elbowed Zach in the rib and rounded with a right hook that caught him in the jaw. He staggered back as red and white stars flashed in his vision.

A glimpse of movement to his left confirmed that the man was running for the door.

“Zach!” Both women screamed as he gave chase.

The man rammed through the outside door and stumbled over something, falling to the ground, scrambling to regain his feet. Zach blinked until he could see clearly again, sidestepping the body that lay outside the door.

Shit.

Kellan lay sprawled on the ground, and his associate made no sound as Hannah's attacker fell almost on top of him and kicked away from the body.

The man lifted his gun, aimed it right at Zach. A loud pop sounded and searing pain lanced through Zach's left side like nothing he'd ever felt before.

He instinctively hunched over and grabbed his middle. Behind him, footsteps crunched toward the doorway.

“No!” Hannah stumbled forward. Sarah grabbed her arm, tugging her back.

“Stay back, Hannah.” Zach held a hand up to the women. He took a step closer to the man, trying to put some cover between them and the gun.

“If you shoot him again, I'll never tell you where the jewel is,” Hannah warned.

The man stood, keeping the weapon trained on Zach, and struggled to catch his breath. His eyes darted toward the Chevy, which Kellan had blocked with his car, and back to Hannah. Zach saw that both Abbott and Costello were standing on the back seat of the old-model Toyota, watching them. Costello gave a ferocious bark that sent Abbott scattering for cover.

Zach met the man's eyes.
What are you gonna do now, pal?

The sound of police sirens in the distance were both a relief and an irritation. What the hell had taken them so long?