Silent Weapon Page 19

  I rubbed at my forehead, only then noting the ache there. I wondered if I’d hit my head somehow in the crash. I didn’t remember doing so. Maybe it was just the jolt or some odd way my neck got twisted during impact causing the discomfort just now.

  Branches moving in the distance snagged my attention, sent renewed fear rushing through my still-wobbly limbs. I grabbed Tiff, who had just pulled her underpants back into place and held her tight against me. “Shh,” I urged against her ear. I could feel her little heart pounding just as mine was.

  I held my breath, waited for a bear or other wild animal to emerge from nature’s screen.

  Vargas.

  I almost stumbled back a step. Caught myself just in time.

  My first instinct was to call out to him, but some deeper, more primitive feeling kept my lips firmly sealed. I kept my hand over Tiff’s eyes so she wouldn’t see, whispered softly for her to be very, very quiet. If she saw him she would want to call out to him, probably would before I could stop her. I couldn’t let that happen until I determined his intent. He and Cecilia were in this together—whatever this was. If Cecilia didn’t want me around, it made sense Vargas wouldn’t, either. My heart skipped a beat. He was likely the one she’d talked into tampering with my brakes—assuming that’s what had just happened.

  I had to be sure.

  Vargas made his way to the car and stuck his head in through the open driver’s side door.

  I watched and waited to see what he would do. My instincts continued to war inside me. What was I doing hiding like this? He was Cecilia’s lover, that was true, but the bottom line was that he worked for Hammond. I held Hammond’s daughter in my arms. There was no reason to believe Vargas wouldn’t take us back to the house. Was there?

  Still, I couldn’t get past the idea that he represented some kind of threat. The images of him and Cecilia having savage sex flitted one after the other through my mind. This man was working against Hammond behind his back. I felt certain of it after having seen the things he said to Cecilia in the throes of passion.

  There it was. That’s why I couldn’t trust him…couldn’t call out to him. The final look Cecilia had given me slammed into my brain next, along with the memory of my foot pressing hard on the brake pedal.

  They had caused this. I knew it…felt it in every cell in my body. Not only would Cecilia be rid of me, but Hammond would be devastated…leaving him vulnerable.

  Vargas pulled his cell phone from his pocket. I froze, focused on his lips. Maybe he would call for help. I didn’t mind being wrong…especially not right now.

  They’re not here.

  The fingers of his free hand fisted and slammed down on top of the car.

  I jerked at the ferocity behind the blow, held Tiffany tighter to my chest when she did the same.

  The car crashed, he said, his face a harsh mask of anger. But they got out. He listened for a moment. How the hell do I know? I’m telling you they’re not in the car. His mouth twisted brutally with fury in the seconds that followed. Don’t worry, I’ll find them. I’ll take care of it personally this time.

  We had to get out of there.

  Adrenaline pumped through my veins, prodding me to move. To hurry.

  I crouched down and turned Tiff’s face to mine while still holding her as tightly as I dared. I pressed my finger to my lips to indicate that she should be quiet, then I whispered, “We’re in danger. We have to try to get to help.”

  I heard someone talking…was it—?

  I touched my fingers to her lips to shush her. “Do you trust me to take good care of you?” I asked softly. I didn’t worry that she now had proof-positive that I could indeed read lips. Saving our lives was far more important just now than worrying about her knowing my lip-reading secret.

  She nodded, her eyes wide with uncertainty.

  “Then you have to do as I say. Be very, very quiet no matter what.”

  She nodded again.

  I wrapped her arms and legs around me. “Hold on tight.” She obeyed. I glanced back toward the car one last time and saw that Vargas was searching the area around it, likely looking for blood or some indication of a trail. It wouldn’t take him long to find the latter. I had to hurry, but more important, I had to be very, very quiet.

  Should be easy enough for a deaf woman, right? Yeah, right.

  I pressed my lips to Tiff’s ear and murmured, “If you hear me making noise, tug on my hair.” The child nodded her understanding.

  All I had to do was get away from Vargas and find a phone. Detective Barlow would take care of the rest.

  I started forward, choosing the path that appeared to offer the least resistance. The underbrush rubbed against my clothes. I moved as quickly as I dared, praying Tiff would warn me if I made too much noise.

  Deciding a straight path was not a good idea, I moved in a zigzag pattern.

  I tried to recall my days as a Girl Scout, but I couldn’t remember anything relevant to my current situation. I did recall vividly selling boxes and boxes of cookies. How hilarious was that?

  The farther I moved into the woods, away from the scene of the crash, the more confident I felt about my ability to do this. I moved faster and faster. I was a little winded from carrying Tiff, but I’d be okay.

  What if he was close behind me and I didn’t know it?

  I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around. The breath rammed in and out of my lungs as I visually searched the woods behind me.

  Tiffany drew back, a frown marring her pretty face. What’s wrong?

  I moistened my lips and steeled my nerves. I had to keep going, couldn’t let fear slow me down.

  “I have another job for you, Tiff.”

  She stared at me expectantly.

  “If you hear me making noise pull my hair like I said. Keep your eyes open, and if you see someone or something moving in the bushes behind us or running toward us, you yank extra hard, okay?”

  Her eyes rounded with terror. Is something after us?

  I summoned a smile for her benefit. “I don’t think so, but I just want to be sure.” I tapped my ear. “You know I can’t hear a thing, so I need your help.”

  She nodded.

  I pulled her close once more and started moving again, as fast as I dared. I lost all sense of time and direction, just kept going until my arms and legs felt rubbery with exhaustion.

  Tiff yanked on my hair.

  I ducked behind the closest tree. “What?” I whispered between ragged gasps for air.

  She looked uncertain how to tell me what she had to say. I hear something. She lifted her slim shoulders in a shrug. It sounds like a fountain…or water.

  For the second time recently I wished like hell I could hear again. Admittedly, hearing the sound of danger was a lot more important than hearing Barlow’s voice. I remembered wishing I could hear how he sounded.

  She pointed to my right. That way, I think.

  I don’t know why I considered it a good idea, but for some reason I wanted to find the water she thought she heard. Tiff had to give me a couple more directions but we finally found it. Nothing more than a wide, shallow stream. The water was crystal clear and upon seeing it my mind immediately conjured from memory the sound of flowing water.

  Tiff turned my face to hers. What do we do now?

  Maybe it was something I’d learned as a Girl Scout or maybe it was just another scene in a movie I’d once watched or a book I’d read, but some instinct made me want to follow the stream.

  I stepped into the cool water and started walking in the direction of the flow. Without the underbrush to slow me down I could walk much faster. The water wasn’t deep enough to work against me. All I had to do was keep going. Tiff would let me know if I started to splash too much.

  The sun had dropped below the treetops when I realized I couldn’t walk another step. I waded out of the water and dropped on the ground.

  Tiff raised her head from my shoulder and looked at me with a question in her eyes.
r />   “Sorry, sweetie, I have to rest. You listen and watch, okay?”

  She nodded, then laid her head back on my shoulder. I didn’t know how much watching she’d done for the last hour or so, but I felt fairly comfortable at this point. If Vargas had been going to find us I believe he would have by now. More likely he’d gone back for help.

  Another reality suddenly hit me. Tiffany and I couldn’t be allowed to survive. If we did, then Vargas and Cecilia’s attempt on our lives would be revealed. I sat up straight and looked around. No way would he give up until he found us. And he couldn’t go back for help. He couldn’t, not without signing his own death warrant.

  I stumbled back to my feet and started moving again. No way could I slow down considering what I now understood. We weren’t meant to survive the accident. One way or the other, I couldn’t be permitted to see Hammond again…to tell him what I knew.

  And all this time I’d worried that working undercover for the police would get me killed. Who would have thought that getting too close to a kid would present the most danger?

  It was almost dark and Tiffany was getting more frightened by the moment before we found our way to any sort of civilization.

  The road was a small, curving one that likely connected at some point to the road coming down the mountain that led from the prestigious Ledges. We’d reached the valley, and judging by the power lines overhead there would be houses somewhere on this road. All I had to do was find one with a telephone.

  Tiffany was restless in my arms. I reassured her over and over, but even I had grown anxious about my ability to get us through this.

  After another half hour or so I saw rectangular blocks of light in the distance. Windows. A house. My pace picked up, despite the exhaustion clawing at me.

  As I neared I could see an old model Ford truck in the driveway. It was too dark to make out the color. The house was more like a cabin, wooden siding, small and all alone on the road for as far as I could see. But lots of light poured from the unobscured windows.

  I hesitated a moment before climbing the porch steps to consider what I would say. Tiff shivered in my arms. I hugged her closer, hoping to warm her with my own body heat. The night was unseasonably cool.

  Finally, I gathered my courage and knocked on the door. I had to knock again before the porch light came on, making me blink. The door swung inward and an older man, maybe seventy-five or eighty, peered out at me.

  If you’re selling something I’m not interested.

  Like I’d be selling anything at this time of night. I pushed a smile into place. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir.” I shifted Tiffany to a different position to call his attention to her. “My car broke down. Do you mind if I use your phone?” God, please let him have a phone. “My little girl’s tired and scared, and to be honest, so am I.”

  He looked from me to the child and back. Come on in.

  Following him inside, I felt fragile with the overwhelming relief. I’d give most anything right now for a drink of water. Tiffany was likely thirsty as well. I didn’t know how far we’d walked.

  Phone’s over there. The man gestured to a table near the sofa, then he swung a suspicious stare back at me. It’s not long distance, is it?

  I didn’t think it was, but I couldn’t be sure until I tried it. Hell, I didn’t even know where we were.

  “I’ll be happy to pay you if it is.”

  He glanced at my arms, probably noting I didn’t have a purse since I’d left it on the ground where Tiff had taken her comfort break, but he nodded his okay.

  I lowered Tiffany to the floor but kept her hand firmly tucked into mine. She tugged on it when I would have headed for the phone. I looked down at her.

  I’m thirsty.

  I glanced at the man who waited nearby, dividing his attention between us and the television. Considering the program I’d interrupted, I estimated the time at around eight-thirty.

  “Is it all right if she has some water?”

  He nodded and trudged out of the room. To get the water, I presumed. I looked around and found a clock that confirmed my estimation of the time. Hammond would know something was wrong by now.

  I sat down on the sofa and picked up the receiver. Another reality broadsided me. I bit back a curse. I couldn’t use this phone.

  The old man returned with the water, a glass for Tiff and one for me. I thanked him and covertly took a sip from each glass. Tasted fine. Not that I imagined this old man would have any reason to want to drug either of us, but frankly I was past the point of trusting anyone. I drank until it was gone. When he’d taken the glasses back to the kitchen, I pulled Tiffany into my lap.

  “I need you to make this call for me.” I touched my ear. “I can’t hear, you know, and this phone doesn’t have a screen for me to read from.”

  Okay. She picked up the receiver and held it to her ear. You dial the number.

  “When the man answers,” I told her before entering the final digit of the number, “ask if it’s Detective Barlow. That’s who I want to talk to.”

  Tiff nodded.

  I entered the final number and waited, my pulse racing. I couldn’t help wondering if Vargas was still out there trying to pick up our trail.

  Tiffany’s eyes told me she’d heard a voice on the other end. Detective Barlow? she asked. Her face clouded with confusion and her gaze shot up to mine, but the single word she uttered was what stole my complete attention. Daddy?

  My heart jolted. I knew I’d dialed the number correctly. It should have been Steven Barlow on the other end of the line.

  Yes, Miss Merri is here with me.

  I wanted to grab the phone from her and demand to know how he’d gotten Barlow’s cell phone…but it would do no good. I couldn’t hear his response.

  Tiffany’s eyes widened with fear. Yes, Daddy, I’ll tell her. She turned the phone to her shoulder and looked up at me. She swallowed hard, her small throat working anxiously. Daddy said you’re to bring me to the warehouse on Eighth Avenue right now or your friend Detective Barlow will have to pay your bill.

  A new kind of terror exploded inside me. He had Barlow. I couldn’t imagine how…maybe he’d found his private number in my cell phone’s log. Oh, God. Wait, my mind rationalized. Steven Barlow was too smart to fall for any of Hammond’s tricks. And then I knew how he’d gotten trapped…they’d used me as bait, just as they were using him now.

  But how could I be certain?

  How could I confirm that they even had Barlow with them?

  “Tiff, tell your father that I need confirmation.”

  She frowned. What’s confirmation? She rubbed at her eyes. She was exhausted and confused. If you owe my dad money I’ll help you pay it back. I have a bunch of money in my piggy bank.

  My heart squeezed at her sweet offer. From the corner of my eye I saw the old man watching me. Unlike Tiffany he would know something was amiss, but I couldn’t worry about that right now.

  “Thank you, sweetie,” I said gently. “Now, tell your daddy I need confirmation.”

  Tiffany did as I instructed. In a few moments another odd look crossed her face. She peered up at me. I don’t know this voice. It’s a man.

  “Ask him if he’s Detective Barlow.”

  Tiff asked the question. He says yes.

  But it could be anyone. Tiff wouldn’t know the difference. “Ask him what’s the last thing he said to me.” My heart had climbed into my throat. If they had him…he was as good as dead.

  He said that… She asked him to say it again, then she looked at me. The two of you have unfinished business.

  I went ice cold.

  It was him.

  Tiffany seemed to be listening again. Confusion had cluttered her face once more when she turned back to me. He says he has faith in you and that he knows you won’t let him down. You know what to do.

  Tears blurred my ability to see, and for the first time since this had begun I wanted to give up. To lie down and cry and admit that I couldn’t do it
.

  I’d failed.

  It’s my daddy again, Tiff told me.

  I braced myself for whatever he had to say next.

  He said you have two hours. What does that mean, Miss Merri?

  I patted her and managed a shaky smile. “It’s just adult stuff. You tell your daddy I’ll be there but that he should remember I have what he wants.”

  Looking uncertain she did as I asked.

  A tremulous smile pulled at her lips. Love you, too. Bye, Daddy.

  Tiff handed the phone back to me. He told me not to tell you this part, but he said he knows where we are and that he’ll send a car for us. My daddy’ll help us.

  Oh, God. He’d traced the call. Barlow had told me that Hammond’s people stayed on the cutting edge of technology.

  I managed a smile to allay her worries. Telling her now that her father had no intention of saving me would be unconscionable. I patted the sofa. “Sit right here for me a minute, okay?”

  She scooted onto the sofa and I moved across the room to where the old man waited, his expression stern and growing more suspicious by the second.

  “Sir, I need your help.”

  Sounds like you need the police, he countered.

  “We don’t have time,” I said with as much urgency as I could infuse into my voice and still keep it low enough so Tiff wouldn’t hear. “There are very bad men on their way here right now. I’m sorry I’ve brought this trouble to your door, but they traced the call.” I lowered my voice some more. “They want to hurt us. I need to borrow your truck.”

  His gaze narrowed. I don’t let anyone else drive my truck.

  “Then would you drive us to a safe place?”

  He looked past me at the child sitting quietly on his sofa. What kinda trouble you two in?

  “Please, sir, I don’t have time to explain.”

  For three beats I felt certain he would refuse, but he surprised me. “All right. You take the girl on out there and get in the truck. I’ll get my shotgun.”

  I didn’t argue. We could use all the help we could get.