Authors: Tori Carrington
S
HE FELT LIKE
a worm pierced three times and squirming on a rusty hook.
Dusk had fallen and Regina paced the length of her narrow apartment and back again, never realizing how small her place was until just that moment.
Of course, she’d never felt imprisoned before, either.
Nothing seemed capable of keeping her attention. Not the television. Not her study materials. Not the radio. All she could think about was that somewhere out there, Billy lurked, waiting to make his next move.
Her every cell shuddered.
She stepped to the curtain and peered through the crack she made. The police had pulled the squad car off night watch. She had the feeling Linc might have had something to do with that, but hadn’t asked him during his last call. Their conversations appeared to be getting briefer and briefer, with neither of them quite knowing what to say. It didn’t help that her nerves were stretched to the breaking point.
She resumed her pacing.
Her cell phone chirped from the sofa where she’d left it, causing her to jump. She gave an eye roll and picked it up, answering without looking at the display before it bounced to voice mail. She half hoped it was—and wasn’t—Linc.
“Hello?”
“Miss Dodson?” a professional-sounding female voice asked.
“Yes.”
The caller introduced herself as an emergency-care nurse from the Maine hospital where her mother was checked in. Regina’s heart skipped a beat, fearing the worst. She drifted over to the sofa, where she leaned against the arm, her hand slick against the phone.
It took her a moment to realize the nurse had stopped talking.
“Miss Dodson? Are you still there?”
She ran the woman’s words over in her mind. She hadn’t been told her mother had taken a turn for the worst; she’d been informed she was awake and doing well.
“Yes…yes.” Yes!
She knew a relief so complete her legs nearly refused to support her. She paced again, but this time for an entirely different reason.
“Can I speak with her?”
“I suppose a minute wouldn’t hurt. But bear in mind she’s still groggy…”
L
INC FELT LIKE THE
worst kind of intruder as he listened to the exchange between Regina and her mother on his cell phone. The conversation wasn’t long. And not much was said. But Regina’s relief and happiness were so apparent in her tearful words, it made his heart ache. As did the resolve so complete in her promise to come see her as soon as she could.
“I’m thinking about coming home, Mama. For good.”
Joan Dodson’s voice was weak. “I’d like that, honey. I’d like that a lot…”
Linc closed his phone where he leaned against the van, his throat suddenly tight with emotion.
Regina was considering moving back to Maine?
Jason came out of the motel office, shaking his head. “No go.”
Linc pulled in a deep breath and forced the unwanted thoughts away, determined to focus on the situation at hand.
Damn it, Johnson had to be somewhere. He wasn’t a ghost capable of appearing on command.
“Where to next?”
Linc rubbed his face with his hands, not having much luck ousting Regina or her words from his mind. “To the compound,” he said, fresh out of options.
“Yeah, good idea. Maybe you can grab a couple hours’ shut-eye on the cots in the back.”
Sleep was the last thing on his list. But he realized it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.
He was surprised when his cell phone rang as he walked around to the passenger’s side of the van.
Regina.
He paused before getting into the truck and took her call.
“She’s okay.”
Her two words the instant he answered made him smile, although the stinging in his chest intensified. “I assume you’re talking about your mother.”
“Of course, silly. Who else would I be talking about?”
She went over everything he’d essentially just heard, adding her thoughts along the way…and leaving out the part where she’d told her mother she might be coming home.
“I’m sorry. I’m babbling, aren’t I?” she said after a long pause.
“Feel free.”
“It’s just that when I hung up with her, the first person I thought about sharing the good news with was you.”
He liked that. He liked that a lot.
“Well…I guess you’re busy,” she said quietly. “So I won’t keep you.”
He was busy, but he didn’t want her to stop talking. Still, he said, “Okay.”
“All right, then. Goodbye.”
“Regina?” he said quickly.
“Yes?” He didn’t miss the hopeful note in her voice.
“I’m glad she’s okay.”
He could virtually see her smile. “Thanks. I am, too.”
He closed the phone and stood for a long moment, staring at the cars zipping by on the busy avenue, thinking about the randomness of life.
Jason honked the horn.
Linc glared at him through the window before opening the door and climbing into the van.
“Sorry,” his partner said.
“My ass. Do it again, and it will be your ass.”
Jason’s full-throated laugh filled the interior of the vehicle as he put it into gear and pulled out into traffic.
T
HE FOLLOWING MORNING
, Regina was fully prepared to jump out of her skin. While she warmed herself with the knowledge that her mom was doing better, she longed to pack a case and fly to see her, to verify with her own two eyes that she was going to be okay.
Instead, she was locked in her apartment like a bug in a roach motel, her feet stuck to the sticky paper.
Go to work? An option although she wasn’t scheduled this early. She normally worked the lunch shift, but that was still a good three hours away.
She picked up her cell phone, began to press the button for Linc, then changed her mind and put the phone down…only to pick it back up a moment later.
It rang before she could dial.
“Linc,” she said on an exhale. “I’m going insane.”
“I know, baby. I know.”
His words and endearment warmed her all over.
She realized the source of her agitation wasn’t merely being caged—it was from not being able to see him.
The thought caught her up short. She still hadn’t decided whether or not she could forgive him his betrayal. And if she did follow through on her talk of moving back to Maine…
But she had learned a long time ago that oftentimes, there was a huge disconnect between what the head wanted…and what her heart yearned for.
And her heart wanted Linc.
“We’ve put together a plan I want to run by you…”
She listened intently as he outlined an idea designed to bring Billy out into the open so Linc could grab him. It should have made her happy that action of some sort was being taken. Instead, she experienced a mix of sadness and fear.
Sadness that Linc thought she had the money.
Fear that Billy thought she did, too.
“Regina?” Linc’s voice said softly.
She realized she had yet to respond.
“Is that okay?”
She cleared her throat, blinking back sudden tears as her head and heart did battle yet again. “Um, yes. If you think it’s for the best.”
“Putting Johnson back behind bars is in everyone’s best interest.”
She nodded and then said, “Yes.”
“Can you be ready in an hour?”
She was ready to have all of this over with now.
She told him yes and then stood for a few minutes after hanging up, a curious numbness stealing over her limbs and robbing her of breath.
The question remained whether or not she was ready for what came after…
L
INC DID FORCE HIMSELF
to grab a couple of hours of sleep back at the compound, but then was straight at it again, so that when Jason came in at six-thirty, he was ready to hash out the details of the plan he was working on.
It hadn’t been an easy decision, putting Regina out there. But he figured she was anyway, whether he liked it or not. While his men were good, there were gaps in coverage that Johnson could take advantage of with a little care and close circumspection. Rather than wait around for Regina’s ex to find one, Linc decided it better to set a trap.
It just didn’t sit well with him that Regina was the bait.
He sat in the back of the cleaning van monitoring cameras while Jason handled communications. Regina had gone about her day apparently as scheduled—at least to anyone watching—going into work as usual. An hour in, he’d pulled the two vehicles tailing her…and then she’d left the diner after the lunch rush.
He’d questioned whether he should suggest she look antsy, but the moment she emerged from the diner, she appeared more on edge than he was comfortable with.
His back teeth felt fused together as Jason directed the secondary vehicles already in place to follow her.
It seemed to take an agonizing amount of time for Regina to drive the five blocks to the main branch of her bank when in reality it was only a few minutes. He didn’t like they’d done it in the middle of the day when traffic was heaviest, but if this was going to work, it had to look as casual as possible. And that meant he couldn’t stack the deck too heavily in his favor without tipping Johnson off.
Just before Regina was to turn the final corner, Jason directed Megan to come out of a nearby restaurant and get into her car, freeing up a spot directly across the street from the bank. Thankfully the financial institution was situated in the middle of a solid block of side-by-side buildings, which meant no hidden access. If Johnson nabbed her, he’d have to do so in plain sight. And that was exactly when Linc planned to grab the son of a bitch and send him back to prison where he belonged.
The plan was that Regina would go in and access a safe-deposit box set up in her name earlier in the day. A bag of money had been placed there and she was to take it out and then leave the bank, the bag in clear sight of anyone watching.
He absently rubbed the back of his neck, remembering how she’d visibly blanched when he outlined that part of the plan.
Regina parked her car as planned. But she didn’t immediately get out.
“What’s she doing?” Jason asked after a few minutes.
Linc squinted at the cameras poised at different angles. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t think Johnson gained access to her car again?”
He shook his head. “No. I got a camera in there, too. See.”
The shot showed she was by herself. She seemed to be toying with her cell phone and then answered it. Linc fumbled to take his out of his pocket, flicking it open. The number was blocked; the ID read Private. He punched the button to listen in on her conversation.
“…I want you to do exactly as I say…”
Johnson.
Shit!
Linc shouted for someone to get on a trace, double time…
R
EGINA SWORE SHE
could feel Billy’s breath on her ear even though they were speaking on the phone. She wiped her slick palms on the front of her waitress uniform, listening as he spoke. She began to look in the rearview mirror, trying to make out where Linc might be then reminded herself not to. She wasn’t supposed to appear as if she was aware anyone else was around.
“What do you want?” she whispered.
His taunting laugh touched her with icy fingers. “I want you to go into that bank and get my money. I’ll call you with the rest when you get out.”
“The police are watching me,” she lied.
“No, they’re not. They pulled patrol yesterday morning. But your boyfriend is watching. Now go in and do your business.”
As soon as she hung up, the phone vibrated. She pressed the button for speaker as Linc had directed her to.
“He’s bluffing. He doesn’t know I’m behind you.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not.”
“What do I do now?”
“Exactly as we talked about.”
It didn’t hit her until that moment what exactly she was doing. She was tempting the devil himself out of the shadows.
“He’s taking the bait, Regina. This will be over soon.”
That’s what she was afraid of…
L
INC HAD LITTLE DOUBT
Johnson was somewhere nearby. The knowledge edged up his adrenaline level. This was going to work.
“Get a lock on that cell?” he asked.
Jason shook his head. “No. Couldn’t home in on it before he cut off.”
Johnson had probably popped the battery the instant he disconnected, making any signal trace impossible. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if the man was using more than one cell phone for whatever he had in mind.
Linc paced the narrow length of the van and then leaned over to stare at the monitors, watching the front of the bank. Regina had looked and sounded more spooked than he had expected. Not that he could blame her, considering her last encounter with her no-good ex. Still, he battled an incredible urge to pull her out now and go back to trying to track Johnson in a way that had nothing to do with her.
“Here she comes,” Jason said unnecessarily, because Linc was already watching her exit the bank’s front doors clutching the bag they’d planted.
She watched for traffic and then crossed to her car.
“Okay, he’s going to be calling again. Be at the ready,” Linc told the crew.
Only, Billy didn’t call.
Regina sat in the car for a good five minutes in silence.
Linc called her and she answered immediately.
“What now?” she asked.
He didn’t want her going back to the diner. He didn’t want her anywhere out in public, period. Not because of the money—although that was a factor—but because he wanted her to be somewhere he could better protect her.
“Go home.”
“My place?”
“Yes.”
She disconnected and Jason shared the change in destination to the tails.
Damn. What was Johnson doing?
“That’s a hundred grand of Lazarus money she’s carrying,” Jason said casually.
Linc stared at him.
“Just sayin’.”
“Yeah, well, don’t.”
Savage shrugged and went back to directing the agents tailing her. One in front, two more behind and then, of course, them in the van.
He hated being so far behind her, but he didn’t dare risk getting closer for fear Johnson would spot him.
But odds were pretty good he already had.
The bank robbery Billy “the Bank Robber” Johnson had pulled in Boston had been a simple, straightforward deal, with little technology involved. But a check of what he’d been up to in prison verified Johnson had been busy bringing himself up to speed on modern tech. Book requests, electronics classes and computer logs had shown he’d taken quite an interest in his new pastime.
Linc would never have imagined he’d come so far so fast.
Ten minutes later, Regina parked at the curb outside her house and one tail drove past her to change places with the lead while the other pulled into a driveway a block and a half back.
“Chief?” Jason asked.
Linc ran his hand over his close-cropped hair, watching as cameras were readjusted, giving him a clean shot of Regina getting out of her car and walking to her apartment.
“Pass and park up a block.”
“He’ll spot us.”
“You think?” He pulled in a calming breath. “I’m betting he already knows we’re here. Better to be out in plain sight.”
“Got ya.”
Jason directed the driver to do as he asked and Linc opened the partition to the cab and leaned between the seats, staring through the windshield. As they passed, Regina looked over her shoulder, staring directly at him. The fear in her eyes was apparent. It was all he could do not to order the vehicle to stop so he could get out and go inside with her.
He went back to the control panel. “Anyone got anything?” he demanded.
Answers came back in the negative. No one had spotted anything out of the ordinary.
It appeared Johnson was a ghost…
R
EGINA FELT INSTANTLY
better once she was inside her own apartment with the alarm system armed.
She stood in the middle of the living room, still clutching the bag of money to her stomach. She stared at it and then put it down on the coffee table, her hands suddenly feeling dirty. She went into the bathroom and ran hot water, pumping a double helping of soap into her palm and scrubbing thoroughly. She looked at herself in the mirror and gave a start. She looked tired and scared. Both of which she was, of course. She merely hadn’t expected to see evidence of it on her face.
She dried her hands and took the pins out of her hair, fluffing the curly strands until she looked somewhat better.
Her cell vibrated. She lifted it to her ear thinking she didn’t have to put it on speaker again.
“What now?” she asked.
“Sit tight. Wait for him to contact you again.”
“No luck spotting him?”
A pause and then a solemn, “No.”
She pressed Disconnect and then leaned against the sink, giving in to the urge to close her eyes, however briefly.
Last night had been a long one. But now that a plan was actually in motion and Billy had contacted her, she felt better. She grimaced. “Better” didn’t quite make the grade. Rather, she felt…hopeful that all this would soon be over.
Still, she couldn’t help being afraid of what might happen next.
She opened the medicine cabinet and shook out a couple of pain relievers into her hand, then filled a cup with water. She closed the mirror—and started when she found she wasn’t alone in the room…
L
INC COULDN’T REMEMBER
a time when he’d felt more ill at ease…more out of control over a situation.
“Hang loose, man. We’ve got this covered,” Jason said from his seat at the communications panel.
“Something’s not right.”
“Of course it’s not. There’s some nutcase who’s got an X marked on your girl.”
Linc stared at the monitors. “No…no. It’s something else.”
“There is nothing else. She went into the apartment. She’s safe.”
Linc’s stomach dropped. Suddenly, he knew. He checked his firearm and made for the back doors.
“Where in the hell you going?”
“The son of a bitch is in there…”
R
EGINA’S HEART POUNDED
so hard against her rib cage she was half-afraid it would break right through.
Billy leered at her. “Yeah, figured you and your boyfriend were expecting me to make a move on the street. No one expected me to be here.” He held the gun he’d had the other day in one hand and the money bag in the other. “I was afraid this would be a ruse, but it’s not, is it?” He shook it. “Only I’m guessing it’s not all here. Where’s the rest of it?”
“There is no more,” Regina said, wishing she had thought to bring her own firearm in with her. She’d taken it off and left it in the car when she went into the bank. It still sat in her locked glove box, well out of reach and useless to her.
Billy stepped closer to her, his breath even more rancid than it had been the other day. Either that or she was more aware of it since he was standing in front of her rather than behind.
He maneuvered the bag so he was holding it with his right hand along with the gun and grabbed her chin, squeezing tight. “Where’s the rest of it?”
She jerked herself free of his grip. “That’s it. That’s all of it.”
She searched her brain for every self-defense move she’d learned over the past year and a half, but there was very little maneuvering room. He’d caught her off guard, rendering her capable of only reaction, not action.
“Move,” he said, motioning toward the bathroom door.
She eyed her cell phone on the sink counter.
“Leave it.”
She did. “You’ll never get out of here. You know that, don’t you?” she taunted, which probably wasn’t a good idea, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Sounds awfully close to ‘my boyfriend’s going to beat you up,’ for comfort, babe.” He grabbed her arm from behind and for a brief moment she was flush against him. The meager contents of her stomach rushed up into her throat at his obvious arousal. “But right now, I’m your boyfriend.” He pressed his face against her neck. “Miss me? I missed you. Can’t wait to show you how much…”
Her cell rang in the other room. Billy drew back to look at it, giving her just the opportunity she needed. She grabbed his right hand and pushed it down, stomping on his foot at the same time. He made a low growl but otherwise was unfazed outside a slight stumble back.
But that slight stumble was all she needed to put some much-needed distance between them, no matter how much the gun negated it. At least he was no longer touching her.
Just then the front door swung open wide and Linc filled the space.
“Down on all fours like the dog you are, Johnson. Your ass is mine…”