“Tell it to the judge, Riggs. I'm already nauseous from that conk on the head. Hearing another dose of your bullshit would really make me puke my guts out.”
“No, please. This is important. You've got to help me.”
“Help you? I've got to help who?” Connor limped slowly around Riggs's twitching form. He braced himself against the cane, wedged his foot beneath the other man and flopped him over.
Blood had run in rivulets across Ed's forehead and under his eyes, like a grisly carnival mask. “Not me,” he rasped. “Erin.”
Connor's face froze. “What are you talking about?”
“Erin?” Raine asked.
“His daughter,” Connor said, his voice almost unrecognizable. “What about Erin, Riggs? Spit it out. We've got things to do.”
“Novak's got her,” Ed rasped. “That's why I needed the Lazar girl. To do ... the trade.”
Connor's face abruptly drained of all color. “This isn't happening. Tell me this isn't happening, Riggs. Tell me you're shitting me.”
“If I can't make the trade, you've got to help Erin, McCloud.”
Connor's cane went spinning and clattering across the floor. He dropped down next to Ed and seized him by his jacket, hauling him up with a violent yank. “Novak got Erin, and you don't even call me? You stay quiet to save your own worthless hide? You fuck-up. You don't even deserve to call yourself her father. Why didn't you tell me before? “
Ed's eyes squeezed shut. “Too late,” he said, panting. “Couldn't risk it. Novak's men... watching. The whole thing had gone too far.”
“Yeah, well, the whole thing has just stopped. Right here,” Connor hissed. He let Ed drop to the floor with a thud, and struggled to his feet. Raine retrieved his cane and handed it to him. He took it, his mouth thin and hard with fury.
Ed opened his eyes again and fixed them on Raine. “Your icon on the system is a jewel,” he said. “I got the monitor from Victor. Saw the signal drive by this morning when the car left, but I knew you were still here. Victor wanted me to guard you. Keep you safe from Novak. Fucking joke. Like I could ever keep anybody safe from anything, in my whole life.” He panted, swallowed. “Then Novak got to me. With Erin.”
“Where is Erin now?” Connor asked.
“Crystal Mountain. With her friends,” Ed wheezed. “Lots of Novak's men. A guy named Georg has orders to ... to hurt her, if I don't deliver the Lazar girl. Please, McCloud. Erin always liked you. Idolized you. Do it for her, not for me. She's innocent. I'm not, but she is.”
Connor gestured for Raine to follow him and walked into the kitchen, oblivious to the mess of broken appliances and crockery. He opened a cupboard and dumped loose macaroni noodles out of a plastic container into his shaking hand until a set of keys dropped into it. “Here.” He put them into her hands. "It’s probably too late, but give it your best shot Turn right at the end of the driveway, follow the signs for Endicott Falls until you see Mosley Road south. Follow that for ten miles, and you'll see signs for the interstate.”
“You're going to go and rescue his daughter?”
His haggard face tightened with doubt “Davy and Sean and Seth are all three tough sons-of-bitches. They know what they're getting into,” he said, as if trying to convince himself “And you look like you can take care of yourself just fine, from what I can see. But Erin... she hasn't got a clue. I went to her graduation party, for God's sake.”
She gave him a quick, impulsive hug. “Good luck, Connor,” she said. “You're one of the good guys.”
“Oh, yeah? What's a good guy supposed to do with that?” He jerked his head towards the office, where Ed groaned and wheezed.
“Lock him in the attic,” she said coolly. “He's rolled his dice. He can take his chances with the rest of us.”
He gave her an admiring grin. “Spoken like a true heartless adventuress,” he said. “You're as tough as nails, Raine, you know that?”
“Not really, but it's sweet of you to say so,” she called back.
She found the hand monitor on the passenger seat of Riggs's car. She pulled out on the road in Seth's bronze Mercury, and drove as fast as she dared, with no driver's license and a stolen gun stuck prominently into her jeans. She had to get to him before Victor and Novak closed in.
Seth thought he was the hunter, but he was actually the prey.
Chapter 26
Davy punched the number for the third time, scowling. He snapped shut the mouthpiece. “Line's dead,” he said. “We can't get in touch with Connor.”
There was a brief, grim silence.
“That sucks.” Sean's voice was unusually thoughtful.
“Could be a coincidence,” Davy offered.
Seth snorted as he pulled off onto the exit that led to Lazar's usual marina. “Want to bet?”
“Nope,” Davy and Sean said in unison.
Seth's mind raced. “If you guys want to bow out now, be my guest,” he said. “I'll think no less of you for it. On the contrary. My opinion of your intelligence will rise. Sharply.”
Sean gave him a goofy grin and pulled his green ski mask down over his pretty boy face. “Get stuffed.”
“Yeah,” Davy said. “Ditto.”
Seth let out his breath in a long, silent sigh. The McClouds were like ticks. Once they dug in, they were hell to get rid of.
“So? What's the plan?” Sean sounded untroubled. “You can track the Corazon icon from here, can't you?” “Get my laptop out of the bag “ Seth said.
Sean opened up the laptop and logged on. “OK. X-Ray Specs is up and running. I've got the map on screen. Now what?”
“Click the top right button and wait for the prompt.”
"Password?”
“Retribution,” Seth muttered.
“Oooh,” Sean crooned. “That gives me the shivers.”
Seth scowled. “You're not supposed to be having this much fun.”
“Hey. Just because you're having woman problems, does that mean I have to be all down in the mouth? Lighten up, already.”
“Stop being a pain in the ass, Sean,” Davy said wearily.
“I’m a little brother. That's what we do best” Sean grimaced, and shot a pained look at Seth. “Oops. Sorry” he muttered.
“Just give me the goddamn laptop “ Seth growled. He reached back for it, but Sean kept a tight hold on it, humming cheerfully.
“Wait, wait” he said. “I see the... oh, man, bingo! You really do have a romantic streak, don't you?”
“What do you see?” Seth barked.
“The icon. A little heart with an arrow through it. The Corazon, right? One point three kilometers west and moving south, right along with us. We're practically on top of the guy. It's destiny.”
The parking attendant in the garage of the Lazar building leaped up when she got out of the car, his face a comical mask of alarm.
“Good morning, Jeremy,” she said. “I'm sorry I don't have my employee tags or my parking sticker with me today, but it doesn't matter. I promise I won't be long.”
“Huh?” Jeremy's jaw dropped comically. “Who?”
The elevator ride was a trip through an alternate universe. The people that surrounded her stared at her like she had two heads. They were so pressed and polished Their world was safe and comprehensible and controllable. She wanted to scream at them, warn them that their worst nightmares could materialize and jump out at them any time, with long, dripping yellow fangs bared. Oh yes, indeedy, they could, boys and girls.
She controlled herself with a huge effort of will. It was not her job to warn these people. Thank God her snarled-up hair was so big and frizzy today, long enough to cover up the gun stuck at the small of her back. The skimpy T-shirt certainly didn't cover anything. Her butt was practically hanging right out of the low-slung jeans.