The Kiss after Midnight (The Midnight Trilogy) (7 page)

The woman continued on the same subject, but Tobias couldn’t concentrate on it. The news of Connor Murray’s slaying had filled every TV and radio news report for the nine days since it happened. He had been an influential man on Wall Street, but revelations had started to come out about his involvement with organized crime. He was implicated in money-laundering schemes, drugs, racketeering, human trafficking and all form of nastiness not expected of a blue-eyed Harvard graduate.

The list of people associated with his crimes had grown steadily over the course of a six-month investigation of him. It was only a matter of time before one of them killed him, Tobias had initially thought, and considering the influence of his enemies, it was highly unlikely that any witnesses would come forward.

The broadcast segued to a reporter who said a few words outside one of the financial institutions on Wall Street. She showed pictures of Murray ranging from his days at Harvard to his time as vice president of one of the big investment banks. He was a handsome man. His coiffed blond hair gave him a movie-star appeal. How deceiving looks were.

Tobias paid attention again when the anchorwoman reappeared on the screen.

“In other news, the body of a twenty-nine-year-old woman discovered yesterday in Pelham Bay Park has officially been identified. She is believed to be Penélope Salazar, girlfriend of mobster Antonio Cabrera, supposed heir to The Dominguez Criminal Organization.”

Tobias clutched his throat, bent over and vomited violently. His hands trembled as he took deep breaths, and his vision grew blurry. Penélope was dead. How the hell did that happen? The kind, affectionate woman he had seen only a few days ago had been murdered, a woman who got his heart racing every time he thought of her.

He walked toward the window, his mind shifting in multiple directions.
How can she be dead? I only saw her...The girlfriend of a mobster? That can’t be right. She said she lived with her brother. Fuck, fuck. Did her boyfriend kill her? What if they know I was with her? Shit. Shit.
Then he remembered Annabel. Surely she would have told them everything about him. What if they were on their way to kill him right now? What if he was a suspect?

He had never seen the doorman downstairs before. What if he was the one they’d sent to pull the trigger? He rushed to the door and tugged at it to make sure it was locked.
But they’ll probably have a key
. He pushed the couch against the door but wondered if it would hold. He poured himself a glass of vodka, unsure of what else to do. He gulped it down with trembling hands. Seconds later, he poured another one. The newscast showed the area around Pelham Bay Park. He concentrated again on the reporter’s words.

“The body was severely mutilated, making formal identification extremely difficult. Although a friend identified Penélope’s body yesterday morning, dental records and fingerprint analysis are also being used to assist. The NYPD has also reported that they have an actual suspect but are not yet divulging any information.”

Footage depicted a tall, tanned man with dark hair and a large tattoo of a prancing bull on his neck.

“They have not commented on whether Antonio Cabrera—seen here leaving a courtroom after being acquitted of assault and battery—is officially a suspect, but they have said that they have spoken at great length with Mr. Cabrera and he is officially helping them with their inquiries.”

Tobias was flustered. He knew that once DNA was taken, along with Annabel’s testament, they would realize he had been with her on the night before she died. He squeezed his head and paced. He had heard nasty things about The Dominguez Organization, especially Antonio Cabrera. If he were the suspect in Penélope’s murder, the gangster would most certainly want to see him killed.
Penélope. Oh fuck, Penélope. She can’t be dead. She just can’t.

He picked up his cell phone and dialed Chris. Again, it went straight to voice mail. “Fuck, fuck!” He dropped the phone and rummaged through the kitchen drawers until he found an old pack of cigarettes. He immediately lit one.

The sound of his ringing cell startled him. He ran tap water over the cigarette, threw it into the wastebasket and ran to the phone.

“Hello, Tobias,” a woman’s voice said. It was deep and somewhat muffled but sounded vaguely familiar.

“Who’s this?”

“A friend. Possibly the only friend you’ve got left.”

Tobias stood in the middle of his living room, unable to speak. His heart was beating so fast he thought he would pass out at any minute. He looked at his phone again, and the number still displayed as unknown.

“Who’s this?” he demanded. “How do you know my name?”

“I don’t have time to explain,” the woman said, “but you have probably four minutes to do exactly as I say.”

Tobias edged toward the window, leaned against the wall and peeked outside. Four police cars had pulled up across the street from his apartment. He ducked, panting rapidly.

“Listen to me,” the woman said. “You’ve got to act now or they’ll be there before you know it.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“First of all, I need to know if you have the memory stick.”

“The what? I don’t know what you mean.”

“Okay, it’s like this. You have something a lot of people want, and they’ll kill you for it.”

“What the fuck have I got?! And why are the police coming for me?”

“Stop fucking talking and listen! ... Now, I need you to look around your apartment for a memory stick. It looks like a fountain pen, but it opens in the middle and you should see a USB connector.”

“I don’t think there’s anything like that here.”

“There is. You just haven’t realized you have it yet.”

Tobias rushed to the couch, threw the cushions to the floor and searched every crevice. He lifted it up and looked underneath. “There’s nothing here.”

The woman didn’t speak for a few seconds. “Go to the bedroom.”

Tobias glanced toward the room, deep in thought, wondering who the woman was and how she knew so much about his situation.

“Don’t think,” she shouted, “just do it!”

Tobias rushed into the bedroom and emptied his drawers. Nothing. He searched behind the TV and in the wardrobe.

“You need to hurry,” the woman said. “You now have less than two minutes.”

Tobias started to breathe heavily as he imagined what the people coming for him would do. They could only be gangsters posing as police officers. He stood by the bed, trying to think of where else to look, and realized he had not checked under it.

He put the phone on the side table, crouched and lifted the bedstead. Nothing. Just then he remembered taking a silver pen from Lucas’ apartment Saturday morning, assuming it must have been his. He dashed back to the front room and rummaged through each compartment of his laptop bag before he finally saw it. A shiny silver object that looked very much like a fountain pen. He grabbed it and pulled the ends apart to expose a USB connector just as the woman had said.

He put the cell to his ear. “I’ve got it. It’s a USB stick.”

He heard the woman sigh. “You need to get out of there, but you can’t leave the building yet. You need to go to a neighbor’s place and wait there till I tell you.”

“But what am I going to tell them?”

“I don’t care. Make something up. You work on Wall Street, right? Just say anything, but you have to go now.”

Tobias dashed toward the door and moved the couch out of the way. As he reached for the handle, he paused and looked around the room, thinking about what to pack. He hurriedly put his laptop into its leather bag, grabbed his phone charger and left everything else. Slowly, he opened the door and looked down the hall in both directions. Silence. He then rushed to an apartment about ten steps away and knocked firmly. Nobody opened it, so he knocked again, this time much louder. The door opened and a dark-haired, middle-aged woman stood in front of him. He recognized her as a nurse he frequently said hello to when he’d come home from the nightclubs just as she was coming home, too. A bewildered look covered her face.

He was unable to speak. He had no idea what to say. Just then, the elevators on his floor made a sound similar to the striking of a bell. He charged into the flat, dragging her inside. She let out a mild scream before he placed his hand over her mouth and firmly closed the door.

She looked at him wide-eyed. He whispered into her ear, “I’m not going to hurt you, but please, stay quiet.”

She nodded and he eased his hand away from her mouth. He put his ear to the door and listened for footsteps. He counted at least four people walking along the corridor before all went quiet. He assumed they had reached his apartment. He heard a knock on his door, and another and another. The force with which the door was struck increased steadily. He heard someone shout something he couldn’t quite make out, but he was sure he heard his name mentioned.

His heart beat faster. He glanced at the woman seated on the floor opposite him with nothing but fear on her face. He raised his hands, trying to reassure her, before he heard the other woman’s voice on the phone again.

“What’s happening?” she said.

“They’re at my door. They’re banging on it.”

“Just stay calm. They’ll go soon.”

He glanced at the woman on the floor and edged away from the door. “What the hell is going on?” he whispered into the phone. “What are these people doing at my place?”

The woman didn’t speak for a few seconds. “The people at your door are the police. They think you killed Penélope.”

Tobias sunk to the floor. He breathed heavily, his mind barely able to function
. Shit, shit. They think it’s me. What do I do? What do I do?
“What the hell,” he said. “So I’m the suspect they talked about on the news.”

“Yes,” the woman said.

“But I didn’t do it.” He stood and walked toward the door. “Why am I hiding? It’ll just make me look guilty.”

“Listen to me, you fool. It’s not just the police after you. You see that memory stick you have? It contains some serious evidence against some pretty powerful people, and there’s no way they’ll let the police get their hands on it without killing you first.”

Tobias sunk back to the floor and grimaced. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. This can’t be happening. I don’t even know how the hell that memory stick got there.”

“Just stay calm. As long as you do what I say, you’ll be fine.”

Tobias continued taking deep breaths, noticing that the woman sitting opposite him did the same. After ten minutes, he could no longer hear footsteps or voices outside.

“What now?” he asked the woman on the phone. “I can’t hear anyone anymore.”

“Just stay there. It’s not safe yet. I’ll tell you when to leave.”

“But where are you? How will you know?”

“Trust me. I’ll get you out of this, but you have to do what I say.”

Tobias relaxed his back against the door, thoughts racing through his head. He noticed the woman opposite him trembling as she looked at him intently. “What’s your name?” he asked.

The woman opened her mouth to speak but quickly stopped herself.

“It’s okay. I swear I won’t hurt you.”

“Nancy.”

“Okay, Nancy. I’m going to go pretty soon. I know you have the right to tell the police what you want, but I’m begging you, please don’t say anything. They won’t ask you any questions, because they don’t know I’m here.”

Nancy stopped trembling. “What have you done? Why are they after you?”

Tobias rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “It’s so messed up. They think I did something I didn’t, and now these other guys are after—”

“That’s enough,” the woman on the phone shouted. “Do you want to get her involved? Just stay quiet until I tell you it’s safe to go. If you must chitchat, make it about something else. Hell, talk about the weather. Just don’t tell her anything important.”

Tobias stood up. “Then tell me what the hell is going on. I’m going out of my mind here.”

The woman didn’t respond.

Tobias looked at the phone’s display and saw that the call was still connected. “Hello? Hello?”

“Quiet,” the woman said.

Tobias leaned against the wall, and he and Nancy exchanged nervous looks.

“Okay. Tobias,” the woman on the phone said, “I want you to open the door now.”

He grabbed the door handle.

“Slowly. You can’t rush this.”

“Okay, okay.” He left his hand on the handle and glanced at Nancy. “What about her?” he whispered into the phone.

“Do you think she’ll talk?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then leave her, but you have to leave now.”

Tobias nodded at Nancy and walked out of the apartment with his laptop bag hung over his shoulder. “What now?”

The woman waited five seconds before responding. “I want you to take the eastern stairwell all the way to the ground floor and wait there.”

Tobias paused and glanced backward. He could be walking into a trap.
I have no choice. If I stay, I’m probably dead anyway.
“Are you sure it’s safe?”

“I’m waiting for you there now. It’s safe.”

Tobias took a deep breath and took steady steps toward the door in the easternmost section of the building. He stopped a number of times upon hearing voices in nearby flats. His breathing accelerated when a man walked out of an apartment carrying a large refuse bag.

“Someone just walked out,” Tobias said to the woman on the phone.

“Stay calm. Just walk like nothing’s wrong.”

Tobias placed the phone by his side and smiled at the man. Once he’d passed him, he rushed for the stairs and ran down. “Okay. I’m here now.”

“Just go on down like nothing’s wrong. I’ll see you at the bottom.”

“I can hear someone.”

“Who?”

“Hang on.” Tobias stopped and listened as footsteps drew closer. He saw the doorman he hadn’t recognized walking toward him. He took the phone from his ear and swallowed with a dry throat, both hands trembling. The man had the same blue blazer on, with a gold, triangular emblem on the breast, but his hat was gone. His head was bald and smooth. His stare seemed to tear through him.