Lenny put his head to the side and studied her. “Promise you’ll be good?”
She nodded.
“If you aren’t, I
will
hurt you.”
“I promise.” Makay had already glimpsed what he was capable of, and she knew she had to be far more careful. Somewhere along the line he’d started doing drugs, maybe with one of the mindless women he pursued. That made him more dangerous and erratic as his need for money increased, but it also made him stupid and weak.
“What’s the number?” He dialed Lily’s and held the phone up to her ear.
No answer on either Lily’s home phone or cell so she must be in her van. “Lily,” she said when voicemail picked up, “it’s Makay. Look, I’ve run into a bit of a dilemma and—”
“Careful,” Lenny warned.
“And I have to be away for a few days. Will you please tell Nate I’m perfectly fine, but I’m setting some stuff up for him? Please take care of him.” A sob ripped from her sore throat, but Lenny was already jerking the phone from her lips.
“Come on.” Not looking at her, he jabbed a finger at the door. With a last glance at the folder he’d shown her, now decidedly scattered on the bed, Makay led the way from the room.
Lenny directed her to the kitchen where he made her sit at the table. He found some thin rope and tied first her legs and then her wrists to the chair. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was better than having her hands all the way behind her back.
Still not meeting her eyes, he went to a thin laptop on a desk in the kitchen. As she eyed it speculatively, he said, “There’s nothing on this to incriminate me, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m really careful that way.” Several pictures appeared on the screen. “Here, want to see your mother?”
Makay tried to swallow, knowing the pain now came not from being strangled but from the longing of the child she had once been. Her eyes hungrily devoured the pictures, any lingering doubt about Lenny finding her mother vanishing instantly. Their likeness was unmistakable. In the first picture the woman was young, not too much older than Makay was right now. Her cheek bones were more prominent and her face rounder, but she had the same tone of brown hair and her eyes were shaped like Makay’s. The biggest similarity was the slight gap between the two front teeth. In later pictures, the gap had been closed. The older woman appeared more assured, and she looked happy and relaxed. It was Makay as she might have been had she lived another life.
I’m glad I have Nate,
Makay thought fiercely, yet she didn’t blame the woman in the photos for choosing another direction. This woman had probably cried and agonized for months before making her decision.
She tried to make it right for me.
The pain in Makay’s heart eased.
Makay turned to look at Lenny, to thank him for showing her the picture, regardless of how incongruous it seemed to thank a man who had made her life miserable for so many years and now had tied her to a chair. Her smile vanished. Lenny was going through her backpack, and he’d found the envelope with the remaining money from her inheritance. “Oh, lookee here,” he said.
“It’s mine. A friend died and left it to me.”
Lenny grinned as he slipped the envelope into his pocket. “Insurance.”
Bitterness swept through Makay. “Right. You’ll probably use it for a hit.” Too bad she hadn’t left the fake bills she’d printed in there; those might have caused him trouble when he went to buy his white powder. “When did you start using?”
“None of your business,” he growled.
“At least tell me about Harrison’s sister. Did you find her? Is she really looking for her birth mother? Because even if Sherry doesn’t want to see her, Harrison would like to meet her if she’s looking for them. We could give him the information. He’d be less upset about paying you, I think.”
Lenny smirked and shook his head. “Stop it with the bleeding heart already. The girl has stinkingly great parents, a devoted older brother—also adopted—and works as a school teacher. She just got engaged. From everything I can tell, she doesn’t wonder in the least about where she came from or give a hoot about Sherry Matthews.”
One of the lucky ones.
Makay didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. At least she’d have good news for Sherry, if she ever got out of here. Sherry’s sacrifice had paid off for her baby girl.
Lenny took her cell phone from the backpack. “What’s the password? Come on. I already have the number on a note somewhere. I just don’t want to search for it.”
Makay told him the password and watched in frustration as he scrolled down her contacts. He copied one into his phone and started texting. “I’m telling your boyfriend that we’re going through with our original schedule. I left a note earlier saying that we’d put it off until Monday, but this changes everything. He and his mother better have the money by six tonight. That gives them two hours. I’ll text him later about where to leave the money.” He paused and then read aloud, “Be there or your stepfather is the next person I’ll call. Your loving half sister.” He pushed send. “Guess I’ll have to get rid of this phone tonight. Good thing it only has a few minutes left on it.”
Upturning her backpack, Lenny dumped the rest of her belongings onto the ground. “You don’t mind if I use your backpack to carry the money, do you? I promise to return it.”
Makay strained against the chair, wanting to slam her fist into his face regardless of the consequences. She’d never felt so helpless in her entire life, not even the first time Fern locked her out of the house. “I hate you.”
Lenny shrugged. “Liking me isn’t a job requirement. Now be a good girl and sit tight while I get things ready.”
On the counter where he’d placed it, Makay’s phone rang, and Lenny glanced at the readout. “Looks like lover boy is trying to reach you. Too bad you’ve gone out of town.”
It could just as well be Lily. “Let me answer it.”
“No.” Lenny slipped the phone into his pocket. “I’m through letting you do anything.”
Another hit of white powder, a stop in the bathroom, and three emails later, Lenny left the apartment to collect his fifty thousand dollars.
Chapter Twenty-Six
H
arrison gripped his cell phone tightly, his frustration mounting. First, there was the text he’d received at work, supposedly from his long lost half sister, telling him the blackmail payoff was back on for tonight even though there had been a note on the Beetle that morning saying it would be Monday instead. Apparently, Lenny had decided to use the cell phone number Harrison had given him with his first response to the blackmail letters, instead of leaving another note that Harrison might not see on time.
Then Makay hadn’t been at his place when he arrived home. Even so, he hadn’t really become worried until Lily called and told him about the strange message Makay had left on Lily’s cell phone.
“She would never leave Nate like this,” Lily said, her voice a little too loud in his ear. “Not without talking to him and packing a bag. Something is really wrong. I feel it. I’ve been worried ever since she said that she was going to deal with whatever it is, but this message really scared me. I think she was crying.”
Numbness spread over Harrison. “Thanks for calling. I think I might have a lead. I’ll call you later, or you call me if you hear anything.” He hung up without worrying about niceties and walked across the room to his mother, who was counting money into a reusable cloth grocery bag on his counter. “Makay is missing. I’ve called her three times in the past two hours, and now her friend said Makay left a message asking her to take care of Nate and didn’t say when she was coming back.”
Her hands stilled. “Well, since she’s presumably posing as my daughter, she’s going to have to pick this money up, right? Maybe that’s the reason for her silence.”
“I don’t know. It feels different. He texted instead of leaving a note. Why would he change tactics all of a sudden?” He pondered a few seconds in silence. “Unless he knows that we know about him.”
His mother’s hand closed over his. “I don’t see how it makes a difference. I have to pay him. You understand that, right?”
“Mom, I know you went through a really tough time, and I know you’re scared of Eli, but I can’t let Makay go on like this. With her I feel . . . it feels right. I’m pretty sure I love her. I know it’s quick, and I don’t plan on pushing things too fast, but I have to stand between her and this creep, even if that means taking her far away from here.”
“No!” Her face was pained. “Please, son. Don’t make any rash decisions.”
“It’s not a rash decision. Don’t you see? Nobody in Makay’s life has ever stood up for her. No one. She’s taken care of Nate all alone—a responsibility that should have been her father’s and stepmother’s. And now I find out she’s been used by that man for years. She almost got killed last time. It’s enough.”
“There’s nothing I can do!” Tears stood out in her eyes. “I want to help you, and I really like Makay. But I—” She broke off, picked up the money, and resumed counting, her jaw set.
Harrison took a deep breath. “You can help us end this. All we have to do is call the police right now. Maybe Eli will never know.”
“And if he does?” Her tears spilled over.
“If he can’t deal with it, maybe he doesn’t deserve you. Or any of us. Besides, you know how he feels about appearances. Unless this is splashed all over the papers, he can’t exactly make you wear a scarlet letter on your shirt.”
Not replying, she shoved the rest of the money into the grocery bag without counting it and handed it to him. “Just give it to them. When it’s over, we’ll figure out what to do for Makay.”
Harrison’s phone beeped, and he stared down at the message. “Looks like we’re out of time. He wants us to go back to that Albertsons, park in the same spot, and leave the money on the seat of our car.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes.” He scowled. “See? This isn’t at all like the guy’s typical setup. Makay says the payoffs are usually at a park.”
“Well, he must know about you two then, but that doesn’t mean Makay’s in trouble. Didn’t you say something about her going to a funeral today? Maybe she’s still there or at a gathering afterward. It might be too loud for her to hear her phone.” She sighed. “If Makay is in trouble, the best thing we can do for her is to not make this man angry. Let’s just give him the money and then we’ll look for her.”
Harrison wanted to remind her about the strange message Makay had left Lily, but he supposed the funeral might be out of town, and maybe Makay had decided once she arrived to stay overnight. “You sure seem anxious to give up this money.”
“I’m anxious to get my life back.”
Harrison sighed. “Okay, I need to change out of these dress pants, and then I’ll leave. You stay here—or go home. I don’t want you anywhere near that creep.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near him, either. But I don’t know what else to do. At least Albertsons will be busy this time of day, so it should be safe.”
Harrison shed his work clothes, choosing a pair of worn jeans and a collared shirt that had been washed enough times to feel soft. He dialed Makay again as he left the room. No answer. He wished he knew where she was and if she was in danger. Had one of her old marks found her? Or was something up with Lenny? The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. He wished he knew for certain Lenny was involved, because then he’d have a reason to crush the guy—a reason bigger than fifty thousand dollars—but his mother could be right that the safest thing for Makay was to follow through with the payoff.
His mother didn’t quite look him in the eye as he entered the living room. “Maybe I should go with you.”
“Why?”
“Because this whole thing is my fault.” Her face flushed, and her eyes welled again with tears.
He took her hands, and they felt fragile in his grip. “You made the best choice you could at the time. You have no idea where either of you would be if you’d made a different choice.”
“What if that choice takes you away from me now? I hate thinking of you and Makay having to leave Arizona to get away from that man.”
He hugged her. “I’ll always see you, no matter where I live. I love you, Mom.”
“And I love you.” She put her hand briefly on his cheek. “Be careful. I’ll wait for you here.”
“What about Eli?”
“He’s working late. He thinks I’m getting my hair done.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a bit then. Here goes.” Harrison strode to the door.
He followed the instructions in the text to the letter, parking the Beetle in the middle row at the end, leaving the bag of money on his seat, and going into the store. But he didn’t stop there. He sprinted to the back and ducked inside a door marked
employees only.
“Hey, you can’t come back here,” shouted a kid with long hair.
“I need a back door. Please.” Harrison lifted his hands. “I didn’t take anything from the store. There’s this guy out there following me—a real creep who’s been stalking my girl. Please, I need to get away.”
The teenager stared at him as if expecting him to whip out a pistol and point it at him.
“Please!”
Harrison was getting ready to run back to the front and see if he could find a window that allowed him a view of the car, when the kid said, “Okay, man. It’s over here.” He did something to a keypad before letting Harrison out.
“Thanks.”
Harrison ran the length of the building and then to the front edge of the side. He was barely in time to see Lenny, starting away from the Beetle, a grin on his sharp face and a backpack hanging awkwardly off one shoulder. No Makay.
Had he really thought she’d be there? No. And funeral or no, Lenny suddenly shaking things up meant something was horribly wrong. Harrison had to
do
something. He hurried forward, thinking to follow Lenny, but he’d barely reached the car when Lenny sped by in a red Jag, his middle finger lifted in his direction.
“Wait!” Harrison ran after the Jag, catching up as it slowed to a stop behind another car at the entrance to the parking lot. He pounded on the window. “Where’s Makay?”
“Forget her,” Lenny sneered through the glass. “She’s with me now.” He gunned his engine as the car ahead of him moved forward. In seconds, the Jag disappeared, leaving Harrison staring after it in helpless frustration.