The Portal ~ Large Print (12 page)

T
he hallway stretched
before Vivian, cool and dark as a train tunnel. Keeping one hand on the wall for guidance, she tried to keep a safe distance from Jarod, whose stench grew more rotten by the second.

Blindly, they inched forward, until reaching the balcony. Above, stars through the skylight gave the estate a twilight glow. Leon crouched at the top of the staircase. He held up his palm to say
stop
.

“Don’t make a sound,” he whispered. “I’m going down to check if it’s safe.”

“If you leave us here—” Jarod took several short breaths. “I will find you.”

“Of course you will.” Leon turned and moved silently downstairs.

Cody wrapped his arms around her neck so tightly, that she had trouble breathing.

“We’re almost there,” she whispered in his ear.

Still clutching his arm to his chest, Jarod leaned against the wall for support. He closed his eyes. Could one bullet in his shoulder have done so much damage? She hoped so. Leon reappeared at the foot of the stairs and waved them forward.

Halfway down, Jarod began staggering. She desperately tried to hold him up. As he tumbled, the stairway shook, finishing with a sickening thud as his head smacked the marble floor.

“Move,” Leon whisper shouted. He put Jarod’s arm over his shoulder, and she ran downstairs. Blood, black as motor oil in the dark, dripped from a gash in his forehead.

“He’s coming.” Cody gripped her hair and pulled it.

They ran to the double oak doors of the library. As Vivian walked inside, she held one arm forward to avoid bumping into anything. Leon shut the doors behind her.

“Mommy.”

“It’s okay, baby.” She kissed his cheek. “We’ll be safe soon.”

Leon clicked on his flashlight and handed it to her. The thin beam barely held back the darkness. He locked the doors to the library.

“He’s here,” Cody said.

“Where?” She shined the light around the library. “Where is he, baby?”

He pointed to the doors from which they’d just come.

“Open the panels to the safe room.” Leon began dragging Jarod under his arms. “I’ll meet you there.”

“The power is off.”

“It has its own backup battery,” he said. “Hurry.”

A rattle came from the door, and something flicked her face. Shining the beam over, she saw wood chips flitter to the ground. Another bullet hole punched through the door handle. Stromsky was right outside.

“Move now,” Leon shouted.

The light beam bounced erratically as she raced behind the center bookshelf. Feeling under Jarod’s desk, she pushed the switch. Twenty feet away, mechanized wall panels pushed outwards and slid to the side. Leon set Jarod down and keyed in the code. A piston released the inner vault doors.

Gunshots forced her to the ground. She smothered Cody underneath her. Glancing up, she saw Leon drag Jarod by his shirt, backing up as he fired his gun.

“Kill that light,” he shouted.

She clicked it off. Muzzle flashes strobed his body in the darkness. He took cover in the niche created by the safe room doors.

“Get in here,” he said to her.

As she stood, bullets cracked into the wood next to her head. She jumped back and shouted, “I can’t.”

“I’ll cover you.”

For a brief moment, the gunfire lulled. Metal clicks echoed in the darkness. More shots and the smell of burning powder. She smothered Cody with her arms and raced into the infrared glow of the panic room. Seconds later, Leon followed her in dragging Jarod. The doors wheezed shut.

“Is that it?” She struggled to catch her breath. In the reddish lights, the place looked like a government bomb shelter. “Can he get inside?”

“This room is only a deterrent.” Leon flipped three switches on the center console. A subsonic hum, barely audible, pulsed the air. Several overhead panel lights powered on. “It will buy us time.”

“How much?”

“No way to know,” he said.

Leon dragged Jarod to the center of the structure. Vivian almost felt secure inside these polished gunmetal walls. They were safe for now, but what if Erika tried to come inside. She’d never make it past Stromsky.

“Stay here.” She sat Cody on a leather swivel chair, bolted to the floor. “I need to make a phone call.”

Erika had to be warned. She moved over to the wall of video screens.

“Get me the first aid kit.” Leon pointed to a spiral staircase on the far side of the room. “It’s in the locker below.”

“My friend is outside waiting for me,” she said. “I have to stop her from coming in here.”

“That can wait.” Leon pulled a knife from his gray flack-jacket and cut Jarod’s polo shirt down the front. Blood drenched his chest. The wound wasn’t in his shoulder. It was over his left lung.

“I need to make this call,” she said. “Now how do I work this?”

“If we don’t stop the bleeding, he’ll die.” He pushed on the wound. “Please, I’d do it myself, but I can’t take the pressure off.”

“I won’t leave her out there for Stromsky.”

“What did you say?” He glared at her.

“I won’t leave her out there.” She picked up the phone and held it to her ear. No dial tone. “Where’s the power?”

“Who’s Stromsky?” Leon put a hand on his holstered firearm.

“What are you doing?”

“Did you hire him?”

“You think I had something to do with this?”

“Answer me,” Leon shouted.

“Stop it.” Cody ran over and slapped his arm. The man looked surprised. He took his hand from his gun. She raced over, picked up Cody, and put him on the leather couch in the corner.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Mommy’s fine.”

“Did you hire him?” Leon asked.

“No,” she said over her shoulder.

“How do you know his name?”

“He came to see me earlier.” She turned to face him. “Now I have to warn Erika, please.”

“Why is he here? Who does he work for?”

“Charlotte.”

“Why does Charlotte want her son dead?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care what that sick family wants.”

“Get this straight.” He pointed at her. “I don’t plan on dying down here tonight. First we’re going to bandage up Mr. Carmichael, and then you’re going to tell me everything.”

“You get this straight.” She fought back her tears. “I’ve spent the last year in hiding, praying that this bastard wouldn’t hurt us anymore. So don’t think for one second that I give a shit if he bleeds to death right here. Now are you going to help me make this call or not?”

“I’m sorry for you.” Leon glanced down at Jarod. “I truly am, but he’s not going to die on my watch. Just get the first aid kit. When you come back up, I’ll start the system. I need to call for backup, too.”

“Be ready.” She raced down the spiral staircase. Over to the corrugated metal locker against the far wall. Inside, she found the first aid kit. Maybe a dozen bulletproof vests hung below. For once, she was thankful for Jarod’s paranoia. She took three vests and the kit, and then raced back upstairs.

“Start it up,” Vivian said as she kneeled next to Leon.

“Hold here.” He moved her hands to Jarod’s chest.

As Leon walked over to the console, she couldn’t believe that she was helping save Jarod. Mister Vincent had told Cody that they needed him. And then that bastard had tried to kill her. It was all too confusing. For the time being, Leon had made it clear though. Jarod was to live.

Leon punched in a code. All of the security monitors maintained a black screen, except one, which showed the basement of the safe room.

“What’s wrong with them?” she asked, panicked that the doors would fail as well.

“Nothing.” He picked up the phone receiver. “The power’s still out, so there’s nothing to see outside. We have a dial tone though.”

After he called the police, he traded places with her. She grabbed the phone and punched in Erika’s cell. Thank God. It was ringing. Two rings.

“Answer the phone,” Vivian said. Please answer. Three rings.

“Viv,” Erika finally said.

“Whatever you do, do not come in here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Did you hear me?” Vivian said. “Don’t come in here.”

“And what’s wrong with my company?” a man responded. She’d recognize that British accent anywhere. Stromsky already had Erika.

“Don’t hurt her.”

“That will depend on you, dear. I will call you back in five minutes. See that you answer the phone.”

V
ivian hung up
with her stomach twisted in knots. If Erika was out there, where was Torres? Were the police already on their way? It didn’t matter. They had to rescue her. That arsenal downstairs would take care of Stromsky.

“What’s going on?” Leon asked.

The security monitors sprang to life. Stromsky must’ve needed the time to turn the estate’s power back on. None of the screens showed movement.

“He’s got her,” she said.

“My men are on their way.” He kneeled next to Jarod. “The police, too. We just have to hold out for fifteen minutes.”

“She’ll be dead by then,” Vivian said.

“Calm down.”

She took a deep breath and nearly gagged. Drenched in blood and sweat, Jarod smelled putrid. Like raw chicken left in the trash overnight. The polished black walls of molded Titanium, whatever the hell they were, seemed to trap the air.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

Glancing over, she saw Cody curled in a ball on the leather couch. Exhausted from the day’s events, he’d somehow passed out despite all this. He hadn’t sucked his thumb in over a year, but he was doing it now. Should she even let him sleep with that swollen cut on his head?

“I doubt that he has a concussion.” Leon seemed to read her thoughts.

“What does Stromsky want?” She began pacing. “Why isn’t he calling?”

“You need to relax.”

“How can you be so cold? Erika is my friend. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything to you.”

“Seven of my men are dead.” He tore open a gauze packet with his teeth and spit out the paper. “Clint Donovan was the best man at my wedding. Sometime later tonight, I have to go see his widow and explain why Jenny and Lisa are fatherless.”

So many nights, she’d prayed that Cody would never have to endure that conversation. She felt like an ass. Leon had risked his life for her and her son.

“I’m sorry.”

“I understand.” He wiped sweat from his lip with the back of his hand. “I do, but panicking isn’t going to change our situation.”

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked.

“This Stromsky wants something, or else she’d already be dead. Now I have to stop this bleeding. In the meantime, we just have to wait for his call.”

He twisted a bottle of water open, poured it over Jarod’s chest, and wiped sticky blood from the wound with gauze.

The phone rang.

“Keep him talking. You need to buy time until my men arrive.”

She took a deep breath. Two rings. Three. Then she picked up the phone.

“What do you want?”

“Such manners, young lady.” Stromsky walked into the center monitor. She recognized the library behind him. He was right outside the safe room doors, holding a cell to one ear. With his other hand, he aimed a long barreled gun off screen.

“Don’t hurt her,” she said.

“You didn’t uphold your end of our arrangement.” Stromsky looked into the camera. Even in the gray tone screen, his eyes seemed to retain their ice blue. “I instructed you about the consequences, didn’t I?”

“I did everything you asked.”

“You’ve spoken with the police. And you warned Mr. Carmichael of my arrival.”

Onscreen, he turned and pulled the cell away from his face. His voice sounded distant as he said, “Over here will be fine.”

Erika walked into view carrying two chairs. Her sweater was ripped at her shoulder, her hair frizzed. She set the chairs in front of the camera.

“If you touch her—”

“That will depend on you,” he said.

“Whatever business you have with Jarod, I want nothing to do with it.”

“Wonderful,” Stromsky said. “The last time I saw Mr. Carmichael, he didn’t appear to be doing so well. Death’s door, as they say. Send him out, and there will be no need for this unpleasantness to continue.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Yes,” he said. “The security guard will need some convincing.”

“What guarantees do I have that you won’t try to kill us if we open the door?”

“Five minutes.”

The line went dead.

In the monitor, Stromsky pulled a cord from his coat pocket and began tying Erika to the chair. There was no question in her mind. She wouldn’t watch her best friend, Cody’s godmother, be tortured and killed. Screw the warning. With Jarod passed out and Cody asleep, no one would be able to tell Mister Vincent what they were planning. Now all she had to do now was make Leon understand.

“I think the bullet’s in his lung.” He finished bandaging the wound and wiped his bloody hands on his black slacks. “There’s nothing more I can do. Now what does this Stromsky want?”

“He just wants Jarod.”

“My company is sending out specialists,” he said. “They’ll be here soon. The police, too.”

“It will be too late,” Vivian said. “We only have five minutes. He’s right outside the door.”

“What do you propose?” he asked. “Stage some half-cocked rescue attempt? For all we know, there are twenty more men waiting for us outside.”

“He said if we give up Jarod,” she whispered. “Then nobody else needs to die.”

“Absolutely not.” Leon shook his head vigorously. “I won’t kill the man I’m sworn to protect.”

“There’s nothing you can do,” she said. “Look at him. He’s going to die anyway.”

“That’s not for me to decide.”

“For once in his life,” she said. “Let Jarod do something decent. Let him die for his son.”

“This has nothing to do with Cody.”

“The hell it doesn’t. You were at the hospital that night. You saw my baby hooked up to that respirator.”

“What you’re talking about is murder to save our asses.”

“You know what a monster Jarod is.” She pointed to the wall of monitors. Center screen, Erika was bound to the chair. Dressed in all black, Stromsky sat next to her with his legs crossed. “She’s studying to be a doctor. On the weekends, she helps addicts rebuild their lives.”

“This man isn’t some amateur,” he said. “Do you think he’ll just let us go?”

“He said he only wants Jarod.”

“The second that we open those doors, he’ll try to come in. You don’t want someone like that anywhere near your son.”

“We can see everything that’s happening out there,” she said. “If he tries anything, we shut the door.”

“I can’t.” His voice softened, and she knew he wanted to do it. He just needed a reason.

“You should know what kind of man you’re protecting.” She hoped his religious rhetoric upstairs wasn’t for show. “After Jarod found us last night, he murdered three teenage boys in front of Cody and me. He killed my sister Tammy, too.”

“Bullshit,” Leon said.

“I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”

“I was with him here. All day and night.”

“If he was here like you say, then when did he find the time to take Cody from me?”

Leon stared down at Jarod’s broken body. He walked over, sat down on the couch, and scratched his crew cut.

“He’s a murderer,” she said.

The phone rang. Then again.

“Please,” Vivian said. “It’s the right thing.”

Leon stood and walked over to the console.

“If we’re going to do this,” he said. “I need to speak with Stromsky.”

As he picked up the receiver, she prayed for a break. Just one. She glanced at Cody, who slept soundly.

Please, don’t let Mister Vincent find out what we’re about to do.