Mistake Me Not

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Sorcha had led Lacie through the streets. Now they were heading down a long road into a retail district.

“Where are we going, Sorch?” Lacie asked.

Sorcha changed direction to yank Lacie between two buildings, down an alley to a perpendicular street.

Turned out her panic was justified. There, a few feet down the street, was a car: a beige Toyota with out of state plates. As Sorcha picked up speed, Lacie pulled her weight back to slow her.

A car door opened. The moment Sorcha let her go, Lacie realized Bruce was emerging from the front passenger door. Lacie slowed but Sorcha ran, launching herself into his arms. Joining her friend was inevitable, but she dragged her heels wishing for a phone or even a passer-by.

Lacie stopped further from the car than normal. She wasn’t ready to trust Bruce or cut off her exits.

“What is going on?” Sorcha asked Bruce. “I have no idea what to think. Are you in trouble?”

“I can’t explain here,” Bruce said. “Come with me, I’ll explain everything.”

Bruce reached for the rear passenger door handle.

“We’re not going to get in a car with you, Bruce,” Lacie said, stopping him in his tracks.

“Lacie,” Bruce said. “I’m sorry, what… what happened was terrible.”

“Why should we trust you, Bruce?” Lacie asked.

“You’re in danger,” Bruce said. “We’re all in danger.”

“Why are you here?” Lacie asked him.

“We found him,” Sorcha said. “This is all over now.”

The sun was low in the sky. The glare made it difficult to see who else might be in the car.

“It’s not over,” Lacie said. “Ask him what he was doing at Lewis.”

“I’ll explain everything,” Bruce said. “But it’s not safe here. We have to go.”

“You sent them to me,” Lacie said. “Last night, if they had found me, I’d probably be dead now. You gave me to them.”

As Lacie spoke, Sorcha retreated a few steps from Bruce.

“No,” Bruce said, trying to bring Sorcha back to his side. “You don’t understand what they’re like, what they’re capable of.”

“I’m the only one here with bruises courtesy of your friends,” Lacie said.

“They’re not my friends,” he said, beseeching Sorcha. “You have to trust me. I’ll explain everything.”

“Why the clandestine meeting?” Lacie asked. “Why didn’t you just go to Sorcha’s?”

“I got away from them. I have to go now because they’ll come after me.”

“You should be safe at Sorcha’s,” Lacie said. “Or did you give them her address too?”

“Come with me, Sorch,” Bruce said. “Come with me now.”

Lacie didn’t believe Bruce for a second. Her friend, on the other hand, would want to believe in him. It was written all over her face. Sorcha could be reckless, desperation could fuel her to make the wrong choice.

“We can help you,” Lacie said, trying to come up with a compromise.

“What?” Bruce asked. “You mean the police? No. No, you don’t understand these people.”

“Not the police,” Lacie said. “My friend, remember in that room, remember the man who was with me?”

Sorcha sighed. “You can’t trust Ryder to—”

“I do,” Lacie said. “You’re asking me to trust Bruce for you. If you’re wrong, we’ll both end up with a lot more than a few bruises.”

“What if he calls the cops?” Bruce asked.

“He won’t,” Lacie said. “You’re not exactly selling me on the idea of trusting you. If you’re worried about cops, you’ve confirmed that you’re involved in something illegal.”

“Sorcha, come with me,” Bruce pleaded.

Sorcha took a deep breath and tossed Lacie her purse. “Tell him to come alone.”

Lacie didn’t hesitate. She retrieved Sorcha’s phone and searched for Shep’s number because she didn’t have a number for Ryder. All she could hope was that Ryder was still at Sheppard Investigations. Tiffany wouldn’t have a direct number.

Bruce was getting more antsy; she might not have much time.

“Sorcha?” Shep answered the cell number she’d come across.

“It’s Lacie, where’s Ryder?”

“You don’t want to talk to me?”

“Cut the crap and put him on,” Lacie said.

Wind touched the line, and a car passed, suggesting that Shep had gone from inside to out.

“Baby?” Ryder said with clear desperation in his voice.

“I need you to—”

Lacie stopped when Bruce reached for the back passenger door.

“What, baby?” he asked. “What do you need me to do?”

“Come here alone,” she said. Sorcha moved away from Bruce but the two continued talking. “And fast.”

“Where?” he asked steady, objective, and clear.

“He’s here,” she whispered unsure if Bruce would hear her or if he cared while he and Sorcha argued. “Bruce, he called Sorcha. He wants us to get in his car, to go with him.”

“Do not get into that car, do you understand me?” Ryder said. “I don’t care what it takes. Do not get in that vehicle.”

“Okay.”

“Where?”

Reading him the street name from a dusty sign nearby, Lacie reiterated that he shouldn’t bring the police. He promised he would be there in minutes and told her to keep the line open.

Lacie kept the phone to her ear to buy some time, she didn’t want there to be any developments that might change the situation. The line had long since gone silent. Presumably, he’d muted his end, so she put the phone back in Sorcha’s purse.

Bruce was moving in closer. Lacie recognized Sorcha’s hair toss. Sorcha backed away, taking Bruce from the side of the car. Nice style… Except, damnit, Bruce swooped in for the kiss, taking hold of Sorcha, giving him just a little more control than Lacie liked. Bruce began to back up toward the car taking Sorcha with him. The pair remained lip locked. Somehow, it appeared to be more of a power struggle than a couple overcome with l**t.

Lacie considered her options. If the situation went south, there weren’t many. Ryder wanted her to stay put, but if Sorcha was forced into that car… The couple jarred apart when the truck raced up the street, skidding to a halt at Lacie’s side.

Less than ten seconds later, she was in his arms. Ryder crushed her against his chest. Her eyes flooded when she took in his scent. Throwing her arms around him, she wanted to crawl up him, to be inside him, a part of him. He took her face in his hands and jammed his mouth to hers with bruising strength that fueled her desperation for him.

“I’m sorry,” she said, tears were skidding down her face.

“You scared me,” he asserted. “Get in the truck.”

Immediately happy to follow this order, Lacie went to pass Ryder, but Bruce spoke up. “Hey now, wait a minute,” he said, coming toward them.

“What’s your game, Booth?” Ryder asked, subtly blocking Lacie’s body with his own.

Ryder’s words about giving his life for a client played through her mind. She didn’t want him losing his life for anyone, or anything, least of all for her.

“No game,” Bruce said. “But we’ve got a few things to clear up.”

Lacie heard the quiver in his voice. Fear. Why would Bruce be afraid?

“How about we let the women get in the truck and we can talk about this,” Ryder said. “We can deal with whatever’s going on.”

“I don’t know you,” Bruce said. “But I can’t let Lacie go with you.”

“What?” Lacie said, leaning back to see past Ryder.

Sorcha stepped away from Bruce. “What has Lacie got to do with anything?”

“I’m sorry,” Bruce said with apparent apology in his eyes, but it hung for only a moment.

“For what?” Sorcha asked.

Bruce grabbed Sorcha’s arm and yanked her body in front of his. He grabbed a g*n from his back and shoved the barrel against Sorcha’s temple.

“I have to ask you to come with me Lacie,” Bruce said.

Sorcha struggled. “You bastard.”

“You’re not going to hurt Sorcha,” Ryder said, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. “You’re not going to hurt anyone. We can help you.”

“No,” Bruce said. “No, you can’t help me.”

“Why do you want Lacie?” Sorcha asked still struggling.

Bruce increased his grip. “The boss wants her,” he said. “She saw him.”

“I was there that day too,” Ryder said.

“You didn’t see him,” Bruce said. “He doesn’t know you were there. No one told him about you.”

“So what am I doing here?” Ryder asked. “Why did you let Lacie phone me?”

“You have to stop investigating me. You have to leave it alone. Forget you heard my name.”

Ryder crept closer but kept himself between Lacie and the man with the g*n. “I’m not going to do that,” he said. “You don’t have it in you to hurt Sorcha. You know it and I know it.”

“I never meant for any of this to happen,” Bruce said.

His resolve was slipping, wasn’t it? She willed Bruce to drop the g*n.

Ryder spoke again. “Let her go. You’re not going to hurt her.”

Bruce’s hand loosened. Yes, they had a chance. If he would just…

Another man stepped from the shadow of the building at their side, then another got out of the car.

“He might not, but I will,” the shadow man said, c*****g his own g*n and pointing it at Sorcha.

The man from the car wrestled Bruce back into the vehicle, keeping hold of the screaming Sorcha all the time. When he turned his g*n on Sorcha, the shadow man trained his on Ryder.

“Get in the car, Lacie.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” Ryder asserted, moving closer still.

This was a show of protection or machismo. Someone was going to get hurt. The two most important people in her world were in danger. She was the only one who could get them out of it.

“You’ll let them go,” Lacie said.

Tension rippled through Ryder. He didn’t turn and kept his focus on the gunmen.

“Yes,” the shadow man said. “They have to call off the investigation.”

“They’ll call it off,” Lacie said. “No more digging.”

“Get in the car,” the shadow man said.

Lacie deliberately walked away from Ryder, around the back of his truck and onto the road so he couldn’t reach her.

“Do not get in that car,” Ryder demanded.

“She has no choice,” the shadow man said, strutting. “She doesn’t want a bullet in her best friend or her boyfriend.”

The goon kept manhandling Sorcha. They didn’t know shew as pregnant, Lacie was hyperaware of the child and how it could be hurt.

Lacie stopped when she got near the Toyota and looked at Ryder. He couldn’t move, there was a g*n on him. He would give his life for hers, but if he was killed, the gunmen would pile her into the car and get their way anyway.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed to him.

Rage radiated from him. She wanted to ease his anger, both of them were helpless. He might not see it the same way, but just like he would give his life for hers, she would give hers for him.

“I’ll find you,” he mouthed back.

This was the end. He didn’t think so, but there wouldn’t be any other outcome. Her heart swelled with grief, tears blurred her vision.

The car door opened fast, catching her in the ribs. Winded, there was no time to register the pain. She was tugged inside and forced into the middle of the backseat, between the man pulling her in and Bruce.

Doors slammed.

The air around them was muggy, humid. Laced with the smell of dirty, lowlife men. Outside, Sorcha screamed. Lacie tried to see out, but the man who’d pulled her inside, yanked her head to his lap to hold her down, her hair coiled in his fist.

A gunshot beyond the car made her jump. The man who held her laughed, then there was another shot. She tried to scream, to struggle and get away, but he squashed her against his groin. With his grip in her hair, he jerked her head to the side and stuffed a dirty rag into her mouth.

Lacie tried to spit it out, but he kept it in place. “Don’t you worry. You’ll have something better in your mouth soon enough,” he snarled, his erection growing against her cheek.

Once again, he turned her face downward, rubbing her over him. She gagged but couldn’t vomit with the rag in her mouth. All she could do was suffer the a***e.

Two doors slammed, then the car sped away. No words were exchanged. After a while, the rocking of the car lessened. Had they slowed down? Was that good?

A podgy hand slithered over her behind; she was glad of the jeans she’d put on. Whoever it was grabbed her hip, pulling her to her knees on the floor between the seats to smack her rear a couple of times.

“Boss is going to be happy with us,” a voice from the front said.

The man who still had a hold of her hair in the backseat adjusted himself, and her, to keep her face in his crotch.

“You did good work, Bruce,” the man who held her hair said then fondled her breast. “She’s perfect.”

“What the f**k!” Ryder exclaimed when the car careened around the corner and disappeared.

The thugs had shot out his two front tires. He got on the phone to Rocco giving him a license plate and a heading. His colleague should catch up with the car… he better. If they lost them… he had no idea where they were going.

“Oh my god,” Sorcha sobbed. “What do we do? What do we do?”

“What the hell were you thinking?” Ryder shouted. “Why did you bring her here? Lacie’s safety is paramount, you agreed with me!”

“It is! I know! I’m sorry,” Sorcha cried. “I thought… I thought… oh, what do we do? What are they going to do to her?”

“Use your imagination,” Ryder snarled, stepping in closer. “She won’t be the same when she gets back to us. She’ll never be the same again. What you’ve…”

Another car screamed around the corner onto the street. Yes. f**k. Ryder recognized Gabe at the wheel. The car stopped, Ryder shoved Sorcha into the backseat, then he leaped into the front.

“Where did they go?” Gabe asked.

“North,” Ryder said. “Best I can tell at least. If they’re heading to their new lair, it will be further out than the last one. They won’t come back this way.”

Gabe was already speeding toward the interstate. “Why come all this way for her? What does she know?”

“She saw the boss. He’s paranoid. Can only mean he has a reputation to protect.”

“Fear of jail?”

“Maybe,” Ryder said. “Doubt that’s his sole motivation. This is a lot of effort for one witness. He made his men come back here, close to Lewis, back to the scene of the crime. Booth left Lewis for a reason.”

“There’s money missing,” Sorcha piped up from the backseat, speaking through tears. “One of his friends told Shep that Lewis Fund and Investment are doing an audit and there’s money missing.”

“We knew that already,” Ryder barked.

Gabe flashed a frown in his direction. Taking his anger out on Sorcha wasn’t fair, but the memory of Lacie being hauled into that vehicle was too fresh for him to let it go.

“We have to phone the police,” Sorcha said. “I have to phone my father, and—”

“You phone them now and they kill her,” Gabe said.

“What?” Sorcha whispered.

“They don’t want us sniffing around,” Ryder said. “They told us to stop the investigation, they told us not to bring in the police. They have to be monitoring communication in some way. Even if they’re not, I can’t take that risk.”

“They don’t want us to investigate,” Sorcha sniffled. “They told us to stop too.”

“What do you want to do?” Ryder asked. “Go home and forget this happened? They’ll r**e her, do you understand that? Lots and lots of dirty, depraved men will use her to fulfill their sordid wants, each trying to outdo the others. They’ll r**e her. They’ll t*****e her. And then, they’ll kill her. Do you want that to happen?”

“No!” Sorcha screeched. “I’m sorry. Oh, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. What did I do! What will… oh, Lacie, I’m sorry!”

She continued to wail.

Ryder tried to tune her out. His adrenaline was too high to cope with her emotions.

“How long do you think we have?” Gabe asked quietly.

“Until they get her to wherever they’re going,” Ryder said, keeping his eyes trained on the road.

His jaw locked. He’d promised to keep Lacie safe and he’d failed. Blame belonged on his shoulders as much as it did on Sorcha’s. More so because he knew what these people were capable of. Sorcha was naïve; that was her only crime.

“Who have we got on our tail?” Ryder asked.

“Will is driving, but Toby’s with him.”

“Will,” Ryder said. “He’s back from California?”

“Just,” Gabe said. “Rocco’s ahead. He might have them.”

“Might not,” Ryder said.

“He was a street away when you called,” Gabe said. “He’ll have them.”

Ryder appreciated that Gabe was trying to be positive, but until he had Lacie in his arms again, he would work on the assumption that the worst would happen. That light of innocence in her had already dimmed after what she’d been subjected to at the hands of these men. If they got their hands on her again, he might never get her back. That innocence would be extinguished forever, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing he could do about it.