The Daughter-in-Law (38 page)

She hardly recognized him when he stepped through the front door and into the dimly lighted sitting room. His shirt collar was open far enough to show his undershirt, and the hair that fringed his bald pate poked out like thorns. His eyelids sagged, showing too much white.

“Thank God you came back!” He accelerated to her and gathered her into his arms. The embrace wasn’t at all passionate, but more like relatives meeting at a funeral. As he rocked her he gulped for air, fighting back the crying fit that was just beneath his throat. “I had to,” Nicole said. “I couldn’t just leave her ...” “Do you know where she is. Where they’d keep her?” “No, but I think I know who has her. The same bastard who was threatening me.”

He pushed her back. “Threatening you?” She nodded. “You’re not going to like this, Jack.” Nicole gave him a capsule version of Jimmy Farr’s Wall Street ambitions. She told him how he wanted her to ingratiate her way into Sound Holdings. “He knew about you and . . . me. He threatened to tell Alexandra and take our . . . affair . . . public.” “Oh, dear God . . . I’ve condemned everyone I care for ...” “No you haven’t. It’s not your fault.” Then she admitted, “It’s probably all mine. I should have taken Alexandra’s advice and . . . just left.”

Jack pulled her back into his embrace. “I’ve made such a mess of things.”

But when he let her go, his mood changed. “Now, what do we do? How do we get Pam back?”

“I’ve got to meet with him. And I’m going to have to give him
money. I think that will do it. He’s too smart to hurt Pam. He’ll be glad to turn her loose.”

“How do we get to him?” Jack demanded, his zest for action coming to the surface.

“
I
get to him,” she answered. “And I offer him a cut of
my
settlement. Taking it from me gives him more satisfaction and less money.”

He was surprised at her initiative. “How well do you know these people?”

“Too well,” she admitted.

Nicole lifted the telephone and dialed while Jack watched over her shoulder. “It’s me,” was all she said when the phone was answered.

Jimmy stood up from his desk, his phone cupped to his ear. “Well, well. I heard you had left the country. ”

“Not even close,” she lied. “I’ve been right here in town. That’s how I know you’re keeping a friend of mine as a house guest.”

“There’s no one staying with me,” he said for the benefit of anyone who might be eavesdropping on the call.

“So, how do we make this happen?” she asked.

“Where are you?”

She glanced at Jack and then back to the phone. “I’m at the town house.”

He laughed. “Walk to the Park Avenue corner at noon. Just you! Nobody else. I’ll pick you up.”

“I’ll be there.”

Jack tried to stop her from going. “I’m not going to let you walk into a meeting with a gangster. Anything could happen!” He insisted he was going with her.

“If you’re there, he’ll just drive past. We won’t get anywhere,” Nicole argued.

She kissed his cheek as she left for the meeting. Jack sat with his face in his hands for a few seconds. Then he called Alexandra, told her that Nicole had arrived and had gone to meet with her friends.

“Jack, we have an agreement. Greg is waiting for a phone call right now.”

“Damn it,” he yelled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know when you last called. I thought you’d contact me when Nicole arrived.”

They mumbled explanations and apologies, none of which made any difference. The fact was that Jack and Alexandra were in competition to set Pam free.

Nicole stood back against the building until she saw Jimmy’s sedan turning from the northbound lane. The door opened as the car was stopping and she stepped quickly inside, sliding into the seat next to Jimmy Farr.

“How nice to have you back, although I hardly recognize you. What have you done with your hair?” He was about to launch into a flourish of small talk, but she interrupted him with her prepared statement. “I’ve been kicked out,” she began. Then she told him that there was absolutely no way that she could penetrate the inner workings of Sound Holdings. “They’re paying me off with an agreement that orders me to get lost. So it’s over, Jimmy. All you can get for holding Pam Donner is a jail sentence.”

“I’m not holding anyone,” he said with a wink in case she was recording the conversation. “But weren’t you just a guest in Jack Donner’s town house? That doesn’t sound as if you’ve been kicked out.”

“I had to meet him somewhere,” she answered. “He told me about Pam. I offered to help get her back.”

“Who’s Pam?” he repeated.

“Oh, for God’s sake ...” She pushed to the edge of the seat. “I’m not wired. Search me so we can get this settled.”

He did, carefully rather than provocatively. When he had satisfied himself, he grabbed her by the hair and shook her violently. “What the fuck did you think you were pulling, Nicole? Did you think you were going to outsmart me?” He banged her head against the win-dowpane. “Nobody plays me for a fool. Nobody!” His free hand slapped across her face and then backhanded her. “I ought to leave you in a garbage Dumpster.” He slapped her again venting his pent-up rage. He was breathing hard when he let go of her and settled back into the corner of the seat.

Nicole touched the blood from the split in her lip. “What do you want?” she asked.

“All of it. Every fucking penny they gave you. I want it all in my hands right now.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “I don’t have it with me.”

“Then we’ll have to visit your bank, won’t we?”

“I told you, I’ve been cut off. There’s not going to be any more money. I have to keep some of it. A million is all I can give up.”

He laughed. “You think I give a damn about your problems? I said all of it, every last penny, if you ever want to see your friend again. You understand?”

She shook her head. “No deal, Jimmy. Just drop me off anywhere.”

“I’ll drop you out of a window, you bitch!”

“I’m talking about a million dollars with no one coming looking for you,” Nicole told him.

“I could have done that much in an hour if you had gotten inside Jack’s company. So, a million won’t cut it. It’s all or nothing, and ‘nothing’ gets you and your friend work in a Colombian whorehouse.”

“And it costs you a fortune. So why don’t you play it smart? Let the girl go, and I’ll split with you. That’s half of three million.”

His eyes narrowed. Three million. Was that what she got? Or was she bluffing? Could he squeeze more out of her? He decided to try. “Two million,” he announced.

“That’s more than I get to keep,” Nicole protested.

“You get to keep breathing. And you get your friend back.”

Nicole winced at her choices, letting Jimmy enjoy the hard bargain he was driving. “Okay,” she conceded, her tone indicating that she had no fight left in her.

He smiled, savoring the joy of his victory for a few seconds. Then he took a business card from his breast pocket and held it in focus while he punched in the telephone number. He lifted the receiver. Nicole had kept her eyes on the card and read Greg Lambert’s name. The Donners’ detective. Why was Jimmy Farr calling the Donners’ detective?

“It’s me,” Jimmy said, indicating that his call was expected. “We’ve got a deal, but it has to be right now. Where can I pick up the money?”

He listened, his expression going from pleased to angry. “What guarantees? These guys aren’t going to jump through hoops. If I give them the money they’ll give me the girl. I’m taking a chance. They might get the money and shoot all the witnesses. We’re all taking a
chance. So what’s it going to be? If you don’t need me, I’m going home. I’ve got a business to look after.” He listened again. He smiled. “Yeah, I know the place. Is that where the money is? Okay, in twenty minutes.”

“You have another deal,” Nicole yelled at him. “You bastard. You were just shaking me down.”

“That doesn’t change a thing. The price for little Pamela is their money and yours. I’ll get their money up front. So it’s still up to you to save your friend’s ass.”

SEVENTY

J
ACK WAS
already at Jonathan’s apartment when Greg Lambert arrived with the news. “It’s all set,” he reported. “Jimmy Farr is on his way over.” Jack grimaced, his lips pulled tightly over clenched teeth. “I swear I’m going to kill the son of a bitch!”

Alexandra was more in control. “There’s a problem, Greg,” she said. “Nicole has already gone to meet him. She’s the one he asked for, and she’s trying to make a deal for Pam.”

Lambert was stunned. “He didn’t mention Nicole. Maybe she never found him.”

“She found him,” Jack insisted. “She phoned him from my . . . office. Then she left to meet him. That had to be an hour ago.”

Alexandra sneered. “Very enterprising. He’s going to let both of us pay ransom.”

“No. Tell him we want Nicole back here,” Jack said.

Alexandra took issue. “He’ll deny he knows where Nicole is. Then what are we going to do?”

Lambert watched while the two of them argued. “He’ll be here in a few minutes. How do you want me to handle it?”

Alexandra answered instantly. “Give him the money and get our daughter back. Then we’ll worry about everything else.” Jack started to protest, then fell silent.

Nicole realized where they were heading as soon as the car turned onto Park Avenue. She sat silently trying to make sense out of what was happening. Jimmy was heading to Jonathan’s apartment to pick up Pam’s ransom money. Greg Lambert was meeting him there to make the payment. Why would Jimmy be putting himself at such risk, exposing himself and his identity? Unless it didn’t matter. Unless someone in the Donner household was working with him. But who? Was Greg Lambert, the loyal and resourceful servant,
striking out on his own? Not likely! Or had Alexandra decided that her daughter’s kidnapping would be a sure way to force Nicole’s return?

They pulled to a stop directly in front of the building, making no effort to hide Jimmy’s identity. The driver got out, exchanged a word with the doorman, and was welcomed inside as if he had been expected. Whatever Jimmy was up to, someone inside Jonathan’s family knew about it and was involved in it.

“How did you get to meet Alexandra?” she asked, hoping to catch him off guard.

“I’ve never had the pleasure,” he answered, keeping his eye on the door as he awaited the driver’s return.

“Then why is Lambert helping you?”

Jimmy Farr chuckled. “We’re both anxious for Pamela’s safe return.”

The driver reappeared, pausing while the doorman opened the door ahead of him. He carried a heavy satchel to Jimmy’s door and lifted it onto the seat. Jimmy opened the zipper and Nicole was able to look inside at the neat bundles of cash. Jimmy hardly spared the money a glance before zipping the bag closed.

“Aren’t you going to count it?” Nicole asked.

“When you’re dealing with gentlemen, there’s no need to count,” he answered. “But when we leave your bank, I’ll count very carefully. Now why don’t you give the driver the address?”

They parked across the street from the bank entrance. Nicole reached for the door handle, but Jimmy’s hand was on her shoulder. “Make a wire transfer,” he said. He handed her a check with the account data encoded at the bottom. The account name was one of his phantom corporations. “Then come back here. We’ll call my bank together and make sure the money has made it across.”

“What about Pam?”

“When I have the money, I’ll make a call. Then I’ll give you an address.”

“How do I know you’ll let her go?”

He patted the satchel of cash that rested at his feet. “When I have what I want, why would I keep her around?”

“And if I don’t come back?”

“Then neither will she.” He reached across her and pushed open the door.

Nicole tried to look confident as she crossed the street and went through the revolving door, but her legs felt weak and the taste of fear was welling up in her throat. Someone inside the family was working with her former boss, and he was enjoying the rush of power. He had millions at his feet, still more about to fall into his hands, and he was bubbling with confidence. She was his to order about, nothing more than a pawn in someone’s strategy. But whose? Who had brought her back from her escape and turned her over Jimmy Farr. And why? With all the Donner resources, the money she was about to pay for Pam’s release was a pittance. Obviously, her return was Jimmy’s price for joining the conspiracy, but whom was he conspiring with?

Alexandra was an obvious choice. She was still demanding punishment for Jonathan’s death. There was no way she could allow her prime suspect to get away, and with a sizable chunk of the family fortune as a bonus. Greg Lambert was the one who had run down her links with Farr, and he could certainly be the contact between the haughty grand dame and the vermin she would be reluctant to touch. But how could she ever deal with someone who had kidnapped her daughter?

Jack’s situation was exactly the opposite. Nicole had no trouble envisioning him mixing it up with a lowlife like Farr. He seemed to delight in his up-from-poverty background and even bragged about his less savory deals. But he was trying to distance himself from his affair with her. Why would he ever want to bring her back? No matter what price Jimmy demanded, Jack would want Nicole kept on the other side of the ocean.

She gave her name to the platform receptionist and asked for the officer who had handled her account. She watched the girl walk to one of the back desks, saw the officer jump to his feet, start toward her and then stop abruptly. He seemed suddenly confused. Of course! He had never seen her before in her dyed hair and cruise attire. It took him several seconds to recognize her through her changed appearance.

“Ah, Mrs. Donner. Please have a seat. It will take me just a second to bring up your records.” He began pecking at his keyboard, looking up at the screen after every stroke.

Maybe Lambert, Nicole thought. Wasn’t it possible that the tireless and faithful bulldog had decided to freelance for himself? He was the one who was supposed to be protecting Pam, so he would be in the best position to take her and hold her. He would also be the logical intermediary between Jack Donner and the kidnappers. But why would he need someone like Jimmy Farr? And why would he insist that she be prevented from escaping the country?