Chapter Twenty
From the time on the answering machine and knowing she’d taken the time to shower and pack, Rafe figured Sara had at least a twenty-minute head start. He hadn’t needed his brother’s nudge to get him to go after her, but at least he’d gotten Nick to go to Angel.
He didn’t know what it was with the Mancuso brothers, but their love lives were in the toilet.
Or were they?
Ever the optimist, Rafe refused to believe he wouldn’t get through to Sara. He deliberately hadn’t pushed her about her feelings, wanting to give them time to cement whatever it was. So, just maybe, he could get past her panic after all.
He merged onto the main highway out of town and settled in for the long ride to New York. Ten minutes later, he saw a car that had pulled over on the side of the road. A car that looked just like Sara’s.
Concerned, he slowed down and pulled over, backing up until he was in front of the car. A quick look at the license plate confirmed it was Sara’s car.
Panic sliced through him, but he instructed himself to stay calm. Think. If she’d pulled over because of car trouble, wouldn’t she still be here now?
Unless she’d called someone to pick her up. But anyone in his family would have alerted him. In case he was wrong, he dialed Angel, Nick, even his parents, and Pirro and Aunt Vi. Nobody had heard from Sara, but they promised to call him if they did.
His mind immediately went to worst-case scenarios. Could Morley’s men have gotten to her?
Before panic enveloped him, he forced his training to kick in. Rethink the situation, he thought. Sara hadn’t heard from any of Morley’s men since the festival. The threat was out there, but there was no one with whom to attach a face, no one they’d seen out of the ordinary in town. So, though they’d had a plan, they’d become complacent. Sara even more so, since she’d taken off without a word.
Their plan—a plan which Sara had already deviated from—dictated that when she was summoned back to New York, they’d call Coop and have him tell Amanda to run the fake blog. Then they’d drive back to the city together.
Heart pounding, Rafe tried the reporter, hoping he’d heard from Sara. Sure enough, she’d been in touch and had told him to have Amanda go with the story, which she had. The blog post had been up for about half an hour. And Coop hadn’t heard from Sara since.
Promising to call when he found her, Rafe hung up.
He strode over to Sara’s car and tried to get inside. The door was locked, but a quick look through the windows told him nothing appeared amiss.
Next Rafe walked the perimeter of Sara’s car, taking note of the obvious skidmarks where another car had peeled out of there. Skidmarks that looked fresh.
Bingo.
She hadn’t been alone.
Shit. He immediately called the state police and reported that an NYPD police officer was missing, along with a brief roundup of the circumstances that had brought her here from the city. He detailed the location of the abandoned car on the side of the road, with the license plate.
He directed any further questions to Captain Hodges, then turned back to his own search and investigation.
Where the hell could they have taken her?
Rafe took one last slow walk around the area, keeping an eye on the ground for clues. He knew Sara well enough to know she wouldn’t go without a fight or at the very least without attempting to give him something to go on.
He saw an old bottle cap, gravel, dirt and rubber from a worn tire tread. He was about to give up when he caught sight of something blue. He knelt down and picked up a couple of blue pills. Pills that looked exactly like the Viagra Pirro had given him last week.
Anyone could drop Viagra, but could it be coincidence that he’d given her the same brand of pills for her to hold? She’d put them in her shorts pocket, and Rafe had forgotten all about them once they’d gotten home. Had she thrown them out? Or left them in her pocket?
Sara wasn’t big on doing laundry. She’d hand washed her bras and other things, but for regular clothes, she stalled as long as possible. Like him. And those shorts had been the ones she was wearing earlier in the day.
If she had left them in her pocket, would she have dropped them for him now?
And why?
If Morley’s men had come after her, she’d have no reason to leave the pills as a clue. He’d know or at least assume who’d taken her just by finding the abandoned car. She could have dropped her ring or her watch, or something more personal if she was just looking to confirm to him she’d been kidnapped.
But the pills?
He couldn’t see her dropping the tablets by accident, either. It just didn’t make sense.
In the distance, he heard sirens and knew the cops would be showing up to canvas the area. Rafe had no desire to get caught up in their manhunt and questioning. He could do Sara more good by being out looking for her than if he let himself get tied up here.
Shoving the pills into his pocket, he climbed into his car and headed back to town, all the while racking his brain, trying to come up with an explanation.
Why? Why would Sara deliberately drop the pills? There had to be a specific reason. What was she trying to tell him?
Think! he ordered himself in frustration.
Pills. Morley. The two things didn’t mesh. But the pills had led to Biff and Todd being arrested…so maybe her kidnapping wasn’t related to Morley after all. Biff and Todd were barely adults; prepsters looking to make an extra buck by being frontmen for drug dealers. And those big guys wouldn’t be happy that Pirro had ratted them out to his nephew, a cop, with a cop girlfriend.
Rafe gripped the steering wheel harder. Maybe Sara’s disappearance had everything to do with the drug sting instead of the more obvious Morley connection. Rafe’s reliable gut instinct told him that the drug connection made perfect sense. It also sickened him, since drug dealers would be a lot more violent than Morley’s men.
He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It still hadn’t been that long since Sara had been taken. Rafe could still find her in time if he could figure out where they’d taken her. Once again, Rafe’s mind turned to the pills as his clue. And the only place that came to mind were the deserted caves where the sting had gone down.
But a drive there would waste valuable time if she was somewhere else. Suddenly his cell phone rang. He glanced at the number and hit Send. “Talk to me, Nick.”
“Aunt Vi just called Angel in hysterics because you’d called her to say that Sara was missing and on her way out of town, but she could swear she saw her in the passenger seat of a woman’s car headed toward the old abandoned caves.”
His pulse kicked up rhythm, and he stepped on the gas. “Why didn’t she call me?” he asked.
“Because she’s Aunt Vi, and she’s always going to take the long way around a problem. Can I help?” Nick asked.
“No, I’ve got it. Thanks.” He disconnected his brother and redialed the state police, asking for immediate backup.
The abandoned caves would be the perfect place to get rid of a body, he thought, and nausea overwhelmed him. Ignoring the feeling, Rafe tore off the highway and through town, headed for the outskirts.
All the while, his head throbbed from the fear and panic racing through his brain, but one thought was prevalent above the others.
Rafe prayed he wasn’t too late.
Sara knew how to handle a perp, but Joy had taken her off guard. Worse, Sara still had no clue why Joy had been waiting for her, why the other woman had abducted her or what she wanted with her now. The one thing Sara did know—sitting in the passenger seat of Joy’s car, gun pointed at her stomach—was that she only had until they reached the tunnels to figure a way out of this mess.
“Can you tell me why I’m here?” Sara asked again.
“I said shut up!” Joy waved the gun as a reminder of why Sara should listen. “I need to concentrate until we’re out of town.”
Sara turned around to look out the side window.
“Eyes straight ahead. Hands in your lap, and don’t make eye contact with anyone as we drive through town,” Joy warned, slowing to heed the twenty-mile-per-hour speed limit.
Sara did as she was ordered. Just as she had from the minute Joy had pulled out the gun. The old standby rule, never leaving a place of kidnapping, went by the wayside when Joy had waved the weapon in Sara’s face and forced her into her car.
The only information Sara had gleaned so far was that Joy had been watching her from the day she’d arrived in town, and right now they were headed to the tunnels where the drug bust had gone down—apparently, Joy had seen that unfold, as well. At least Joy’s revelation about viewing the bust caused Sara to remember she had Pirro’s Viagra in her pocket. She’d had a split second to come up with the idea to leave Rafe a clue, dig out the pills and drop them on the ground before Joy had shoved her into her car and set off.
Whoever Joy was, she was more than a handful and way more than Sara had planned for. And that was the problem. She’d let her guard down around Rafe and kept it down in the one area of her life where she should have been more careful.
She never should have left Rafe sleeping and taken off on her own. When he woke up and realized she was gone, Sara would be lucky if he even wanted to come after her.
Sara had to assume she was on her own.
Joy finally pulled the car to a stop beneath the same trees where Rafe and Sara had hidden during the bust.
Joy climbed out of the car, came around and pulled Sara out, too. “Step away from the vehicle.”
Eye on the woman with the gun, Sara walked into a clearing, all the while looking around for something to use as a weapon. But there were no rocks or large tree branches nearby. There wasn’t an escape route, either, since Joy had full control of her gun, if not her faculties. Even if Sara made a run for it, Joy could take her down with one clean shot.
The one thing Sara knew she had to do was buy time. “Can I talk now?” she asked Joy, who’d ordered silence until they reached their destination.
“Oh. You’re one of those. You just need to know everything before you die.” Joy sighed, sounding put out and annoyed.
But as Sara knew, criminals usually loved to tell about their exploits and reveal how brilliant they were, and she assumed Joy was no different.
“Fine. Did you really think you’d get away with that stupid blog post telling the world you’re off on your honeymoon?” Joy asked.
Sara raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because like I told you, I know better. I’ve been here watching you.”
“But you haven’t told me why.” And the why might be the clue to getting out of here, Sara thought.
“Because John and I have a life to live, and I’m not going to let you get in the way.” Joy flipped her hair back defiantly.
“So, you’re John Morley’s mistress,” Sara said, comprehension dawning.
“Fiancée.”
“He didn’t wait long after offing his wife, did he?”
Joy narrowed her gaze. “All you need to worry about is that I outsmarted you. Cop versus cop, I come out ahead.”
Aha. Now they were getting to the bragging. “You’re a cop, too?”
Joy shifted her gaze, looking around to make sure they were still alone. “I was a corrections officer.”
Was. “What happened?”
“I was wrongly discharged for mental incapacity.” Joy sniffed as if the charge were offensive. “They just didn’t appreciate an independent woman.”
Sara figured the higher-ups in Joy’s department had read the woman correctly, considering she was armed, dangerous and holding Sara hostage.
“But Morley did, right? He appreciated everything about you,” Sara said, pushing Joy for more information.
“Of course. We planned everything. With Alicia gone and her money unfrozen, John could fix his business problems, and we’d live happily ever after.”
Sara thought she heard a car, then decided she was imagining things. “Sounds…perfect,” she said, refocusing on Joy.
The other woman nodded. “If only Alicia had died immediately, you wouldn’t be in this mess. Blame her.” Joy obviously missed Sara’s sarcasm completely.
“So, John sent you after me?” Sara asked, because Joy being here didn’t track with the man who’d approached her at the dance.
Joy rolled her eyes. “You are slow. Of course not. We women have to take things into our own hands, don’t we? He sent a man to scare you, but I’ve researched you. I know you don’t scare.”
“If you’ve been watching me, why did you wait so long?”
“I just knew to wait for the right moment. Just like I knew that blog story was a fake.”
Sara bit the inside of her cheek. “Can’t put anything over on you.”
Joy flushed with victory. “I knew John would buy the story and call his men off, but I’m smarter than that.”
“So you keep telling me.” The woman sounded more obsessed and insane than smart, but Sara respected dangerous even more. “Tell me something. How did you know when to pull over on the side of the road and wait for me?”
“When I heard John’s court date had been moved up, I knew to keep a closer eye on you. As soon as you loaded the suitcases into your car, I took up my position and waited. I knew it would only be a matter of time until you drove by, and I was right.” Joy’s eyes gleamed with pride.
Sara applauded. “Good for you.”
“I was worried I’d have to deal with your boyfriend, too, but you played right into my hands.”
Swell, Sara thought. She didn’t need the reminder that she’d made Joy’s life easier by stupidly bailing on Rafe and their well-thought-out plan. “And if Rafe and I had left town together?”
Joy shrugged. “I’d have gotten to you in the city,” she said matter-of-factly. “Okay, enough talking. Consider it your last request fulfilled.” She repositioned her hand, looking ready to shoot.
“So, now what? You’ll shoot me and leave my body by the tunnels and…what? Hope nobody connects you to me?”
“How will they?”
Sirens suddenly sounded in the distance. A combination of panic and relief washed over Sara.
Shock registered on Joy’s face. “How would they ever find us?”
Sara swallowed hard and decided to gamble. “You’re not as smart as you thought. I left Rafe a clue,” she said, goading the other woman, hoping to keep her talking and off balance so she wouldn’t shoot.
“And there’s no way out, so drop your weapon.” Rafe came up from behind, taking Joy off guard.
Sara, too. Apparently, she had heard a car in the distance earlier, and Rafe had snuck up on foot.
Surprised, Joy swung toward Rafe, then back to Sara, who had safely stepped out of reach.
Joy was caught in between them both and chose to focus on Rafe.
Each had a gun drawn on the other.
“Stalemate,” Rafe said.
“She’s Morley’s girlfriend,” Sara informed him.
“Fiancée.” Joy’s correction sounded inane in light of the situation, but the distinction clearly mattered to her.
From behind Joy, Sara met Rafe’s steady gaze.
She’d left him, and he’d come after her anyway. There would be time later to reflect on what that meant. For now, she knew what she had to do.
She just hoped she didn’t get Rafe shot in the process.
Sara gave Rafe an imperceptible nod.
“Drop!” she yelled at the same time she dove for the back of Joy’s legs, barreling into her and taking her down at the same time a gunshot sounded, deafening in its roar.
And heart-stopping in that Sara had no idea whose gun it came from, or who, if anyone, the bullet had hit.
Rafe read Sara’s mind, anticipated her action and was ready to duck when the order came. He hit the ground and rolled away from the woman’s aim. The shot missed, and he quickly rose to his feet.
Sara had the upper hand, but the other woman still had the weapon, which they were grappling for. Rafe stepped on the woman’s arm, and the gun fell from her hand. Sara scrambled on hands and knees for the weapon, grabbed hold of the gun and rose to her feet.
It was over by the time police cars surrounded them and screeched to a halt. It took another forty minutes to get the cops up to speed, the story straight, and Joy taken into custody.
Over an hour passed before Rafe and Sara had a minute alone.
From the moment he’d found her car on the side of the road until she’d taken possession of Joy’s gun, his only thought had been Sara’s survival. Once he’d accomplished that, the deal he’d made with his brother, to go after their women, took center stage. But Rafe had realized there was nothing left for him to say. He’d put everything out there for Sara, and by walking out on him earlier, she’d thrown it back in his face.
So, when he finally could speak, it wasn’t gratitude for her safety or praise in how she’d handled Joy that came out.
“I don’t know what the hell more you want from me!” Rafe exploded in anger instead.
Sara blinked in surprise before she quickly regained her composure. “I’m sorry.”
Her words didn’t deflate his feelings of hurt and betrayal. “For what? For not trusting me enough to get you home? For not believing in me enough to stick around? Or wait—maybe it’s for not loving me enough for all of the above?”
Sara opened her mouth, then closed it again. She drew a deep breath. “I do.”
“What?”
“I do love you.” Her voice trembled. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “It’s the trusting in the future I have a hard time with.”
He shook his head in disbelief. Only Sara could turn an I love you into something he couldn’t celebrate.
“Well, guess what? It’s just not good enough. I’ve put myself out there for you, shown you exactly what we could have together if you’d let down your guard—and you still question it?” He raised his hands in the air. “I’m finished. Come back to my place and get some sleep. I’ll follow you back to New York in the morning.” He turned to head back to his car.
“Rafe, wait.” Sara’s voice stopped him.
He turned around, but he wasn’t interested in whatever she had to say. “Look, I think we’re finished talking. And don’t worry. I’ll be sleeping in the extra room, so there will be no mixed signals from me from here on in.”
Because he couldn’t be in the same bed without touching her, and he wasn’t about to give more knowing he’d receive absolutely nothing in return.
After leaving Rafe’s, Nick stopped in town for flowers and headed over to Angel’s like a man on a mission—only to be stopped by a call from his brother telling him he’d found Sara’s car on the side of the road with no sign of her. Since then, the flowers sat on the counter—their meaning undiscussed—while Nick and Angel held vigil and waited for news on Sara.
“Good news?” Angel asked once Nick had hung up the phone with Rafe.
Nick shrugged. “Depends on your definition. Is Sara safe? Yes, she is. Are they back together? No, they aren’t.” The news was a kick in the gut on many levels. Because Nick had believed in Rafe’s ability to go after Sara and win.
Angel walked over to where Nick sat on the couch in the family room. “As long as Sara’s okay, the rest will come,” she said, her tone full of certainty.
“Will it? Really? Why are you so sure they can make it if we can’t? We have history. Not just in years together, but in shared experience and memories, good and bad. Yet we sit in that therapist’s office, and, if not for me, we’d be sitting in complete silence.” And he couldn’t take it another second.
“Why did you come here? Before we got the call about Sara, you showed up with flowers. Why?”
“Because I love you. Because you’re my wife, for better or for worse, and I want you back. And because I finally realize I’m not the one who placed this damn business between us—you did!” He rose and grasped her by the arms, so their faces were inches apart.
“You hate this place.”
“Only because you use it as a wall between us!” He counted to five, gathering his courage. “We lost another baby, and we never talked about it. You never cried. And I never pushed you. Instead, you turned to this business, and I complained that it took you away from me. But that’s not it at all.”
Angel shook her head. “Please don’t make me do this,” she said, her voice breaking along with his heart.
But he shook his head, bound and determined to force the issue once and for all. It was the only way.
“We lost two babies, and I’d never ask you to get pregnant again, to go through that kind of agony and loss again, but we lost something together. We lost the dream of a family. We didn’t grieve together. Hell, Angel, I don’t know if you even grieved alone!”
“I grieved in my own way.”
“But you didn’t cry.”
“Because I was afraid if I did, I’d never, ever stop!” she yelled at him, her voice breaking along with the damn wall she’d built up and kept between them.
Her shoulders shook, and she slid to the ground, aching sobs escaping. All Nick could do was settle in beside her, hold her tight, and be there while she mourned.
He prayed that when this was over, they could make a fresh start—and that this time, it would be together.