Be Careful What You Wish For (26 page)

Thuggy opened the back door and shoved me inside.

‘But what about Marmalade?’ Well, it was worth another try.

‘One more peep out of you, and I’ll shoot you in the car.’ Vinnie glanced up at me in the rearview mirror with spiteful eyes. ‘And don’t even think about escaping. These doors have child locks on them. You can’t get out unless I say you can.’ He started the ignition and drove off.

‘Do you have the child locks for Charrrrles?’ I smiled sweetly at Thuggy who didn’t seem to get it.

I stared out the window as we headed towards Vinnie’s house, wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this mess. I didn’t have a watch on so I didn’t have a clue how much time had passed since I left the message on Romeo’s voicemail and told Hacker to let Brad know I was going to Edward’s house. I didn’t know how long I’d been out of it for. It could’ve been just a few minutes, but judging by the size of my headache, it felt like hours. My mobile started vibrating again.

It was going to be too late now, though. By the time Romeo and Brad actually worked out that Vinnie had me, I’d be dead.

DEAD! Agh!

No, don’t think about it. Don’t say the D word. OK, I’m not saying it. I’m not saying it. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Bloody bugger fuck!

Chapter 18

‘OK, tell me where Levi is,’ Vinnie said. ‘And get on with it. I haven’t got all day.’

I was tied to a chair in Vinnie’s kitchen this time. It was becoming slightly repetitious now. Back in Edward’s house, I’d wished that he wouldn’t strangle me. Now I wasn’t so sure. Being strangled might be preferable to whatever Vinnie and Thuggy had in mind.

Be careful what you wish for.

Well I certainly had all day. Faced with the prospect of telling him and being killed instantly, or trying to keep Vinnie talking to delay it, I was going to take as long as I could. No contest. ‘What, so you can kill him because his usefulness has run out?’ I said. ‘He can’t box anymore because of you, so you’ve decided to stop manipulating him and just get rid of him instead?’

‘Who cares if he can’t box anymore.’ Vinnie slipped off his cashmere overcoat and handed it to Thuggy who hung it up on a coat stand in the corner of the room.

‘You must be crazy if you think I’m going to let Levi live now. He knows far too much about me, and I know he’s going to open his trap and tell everyone.’ Vinnie sat down in a chair opposite me, shaking his head with an expression on his face that looked like amusement. ‘I’ll tell you one thing.’ He pointed a finger at me.

‘Didn’t your parents ever tell you it’s rude to point?’ I said.

He jabbed his finger in my direction harder. ‘Listen to me!’

Thuggy glowered at me. ‘Listen!’

‘OK, OK, I’m listening.’

‘I’ll tell you one thing,’ Vinnie repeated.

‘You already said that,’ I said, hoping if I could just confuse them, we’d go around in circles all day and they’d wonder why they’d even kidnapped me in the first place and let me go. Thuggy had a brain the size of an amoeba. It wouldn’t take much to confuse him.

‘Shut up!’ Vinnie yelled, his face turning a nasty shade of pillar-box red. He looked like he was about to explode. Literally.

‘OK, I’m shutting up now,’ I said.

‘Levi will never get away with what he’s planning. Better men have tried to bring me down before and haven’t lived to tell the tale.’ A satisfied smile formed on Vinnie’s face.

‘What about women?’ I asked, thinking about Janice Skipper. Had she really been too stupid to build a case against Vinnie or had he paid her off somehow?

‘What?’ Vinnie’s forehead pinched into a frown.

‘Janice Skipper was investigating you a couple of years ago for illegal betting scams and the mysterious disappearances of some of your rivals.’ I tilted my head. ‘She couldn’t find anything on you. How weird is that?’

He cackled.

So did Thuggy.

‘She also stuffed up the accident report on Edward, which conveniently meant he could now do a runner with a fake identity. Did you pay her off?’

Vinnie stopped cackling, closely followed by Thuggy.

‘You have a very vivid imagination, Nosy. Very vivid indeed.’ Vinnie grinned. ‘I have a vivid imagination, too. I’ve thought up some really unusual ways to get rid of people.’ He tapped his nose like he was guarding a top state secret.

I ignored Vinnie’s threat and stared back at him as my mobile vibrated again. I sent telepathic thoughts to the phone to tell them where I was. OK, I was clutching at straws now, but a girl’s gotta do what she can when faced with impending death.

‘Tell me, did you like the nose and the fox’s head?’ He carried on.

Sick fucker! ‘Hardly what I’d call imaginative.’

He chuckled. ‘I thought it was very imaginative.’

Sick, yes, imaginative, no, but I didn’t want to debate his imagination much longer in case it gave him some ideas of nasty things to do to me.

‘What about the spiders?’ Vinnie said. ‘It took me a while to get hold of some of those.’ He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

I knew it! I knew Vinnie had put the sp...sp. No time to think about that now!

‘I know about the accident that killed Lisa Thomas,’ I said.

‘Exactly. So you know what Levi did that night.’ Vinnie tutted three times. ‘Levi was a very bad boy that night. I only did what was best for him and covered it up.’ He held his hands out, palms up. ‘I did him a big favour and this is how he repays me. Now he thinks he can blab to the world about me? ME?’ he spat. ‘The biggest sports promoter in history!’

‘But Levi wasn’t driving the car that night. He couldn’t even walk, let alone drive it.’ My gaze rested on Thuggy. ‘You were driving it.’ I gave him my best squinty-eyed glare.

‘So?’ Thuggy shrugged and stood protectively next to Vinnie.

‘You killed Lisa Thomas,’ I said to Thuggy.

‘So?’ Thuggy looked about as upset as if I’d just said he’d killed a fly.

What a twisted sicko.

I raised my chin, keeping my gaze on Thuggy steady. ‘And you killed Carl to shut him up because he found the photos in Vinnie’s safety box.’

‘So?’ Thuggy was on stuck record mode.

‘Stop wasting my time.’ Vinnie’s eyes narrowed to ruthless slits. ‘Where’s Levi?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘I’m only going to ask you one more time.’

I glanced surreptitiously around the room, looking for an escape route. To my right was a patio door that led to his vast garden. To my left was a doorway that led to the living room. Behind where Vinnie and Thuggy were, was a doorway to the grand hallway.

And I was tied to a chair in the middle of it all.

My neck gave an involuntary protest jerk. I didn’t want to end up with my throat slashed from ear to ear like Carl. I didn’t particularly want to end up strangled and hanged like Deborah.

‘Well, I think you do know.’ Vinnie crossed his legs and flicked an imaginary piece of fluff from his tailored trousers. ‘And I think you need a bit of persuasion to tell me. Charles?’ Vinnie nodded a silent instruction to Thuggy. ‘And make it extra painful. Don’t think I don’t know you were in my house, messing with Casper’s ashes.’ His face flushed with anger and he looked set to explode again. ‘You deserve to die just for desecrating his resting place.’

Thuggy pulled a long switchblade from his front pocket and pressed a button on the handle. The knife sprang out, glinting at me in all its pointy, serrated sharpness.

My brain did a mental shriek, and I nearly had a coronary on the spot. Horrible visions flashed through my head. Having all my fingers chopped off one by agonizingly painful one, or getting a nose-ectomy while I was still awake. I wondered what I’d look like at my funeral with no nose. It would have to be a closed casket, unless the undertakers could do wonders with fake noses these days.

I gulped and tried to stop my legs shaking. ‘You could do yourself an injury, leaving that in your pocket. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with knives? Why don’t you be a good boy and put it away.’

Thuggy bared his teeth at me like a great white shark going in for the kill.

‘No!’ I yelled. It wasn’t that I expected him to take any notice of me. It was just that I couldn’t not say it. It came out involuntarily and then my jaw dropped open as he walked towards me. Not because I was about to die, but because he was.

Brad stood in the doorway behind Thuggy and Vinnie, gun raised in his steady hand with a silencer on the end.

The knife in Thuggy’s hand edged closer to my neck.

Brad fired a shot in the back of Thuggy’s head.

Vinnie leaped from the chair and turned around to face Brad, knocking the chair over in the process.

Thuggy’s eyes widened and he collapsed to the floor, face first, with a loud thud.

Vinnie held his hands up in the air in surrender mode. ‘OK, OK, don’t shoot.’

Brad shot him slap bang in the middle of his forehead, execution style.

Vinnie fell to the floor to join Thuggy.

‘Oops. Too late. Now that’s what
I
call a TKO.’ Brad shoved the handgun in a shoulder holster and rushed towards me.

I was too stunned to speak. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t even do that. The adrenaline pumped so hard inside me that my temperature had shot up a hundred degrees. My head pounded like someone was throwing an axe around up there.

Brad crouched down in front of me. ‘Are you OK?’

I nodded blankly.

‘Are you hurt? He cupped my face in his hands.

I shook my head.

His eyes burned with urgency. ‘Say something! It’s not like you to be quiet. What did they do to you?’ He brushed the hair away from my forehead and kissed me.

‘Unh!’ Was all I could manage for a few moments until I got working control of my jaw. ‘What are you going to do with the bodies? You can’t leave them here.’

‘I know.’ Brad untied my ropes.

I rubbed at my wrists and pulled out my mobile, staring at the caller display. Four missed calls from Romeo. I couldn’t let him turn up here and find Vinnie and Thuggy.

‘Are you OK?’ Brad asked again.

I nodded. ‘I need to call Romeo. He’s been trying to get hold of me, and I don’t want him to see this.’

Brad stood up and punched in a number on his mobile as I called Romeo back.

‘EJ,’ Brad said, ‘I need something cleaned up.’

I heard him giving EJ directions to Vinnie’s house but Romeo picked up then so I wandered out into the grand hall to avoid him hearing Brad’s conversation.

‘Amber! Where the hell are you? I’ve been trying to get hold of you? Are you OK? I went to Edward’s but no one’s there.’

‘I’m fine. You need to get out to Heathrow Airport now. Edward’s got a flight booked to Rio and it leaves soon.’

‘Where are you? Are you sure you’re OK?’

I glanced over at Brad who was still on the phone. ‘I’m fine, really. I’m at Brad’s,’ I lied. I felt bad about fibbing to him, but I couldn’t risk Romeo finding out Brad had just killed Thuggy and Vinnie. Even if it was to save my life.

‘Go to the airport and make sure you get that bastard,’ I said.

‘I’ll call you later.’ Romeo hung up and left me staring at the phone.

And then it hit me. I’d been this close to getting whacked by Vinnie and Edward. A horrible numbness had crept into my bones and the tears began to fall. I was aware of my shoulders shaking, and once they started, it travelled all the way through my body. Even though I was warm, my teeth chattered uncontrollably like those fake wind up toys.

Brad hung up the phone, wrapping his strong arms around me. I rested my forehead on his shoulder, breathing in his warm, musky scent while the spasms wracked my body.

Chapter 19

I was alive and all was right with the world.

Well, almost.

Hacker, Tia, Brad, and I sat around Brad’s humongous flat screen TV, watching the news. I had a hot chocolate cupped in my hand, complete with double chocolate sprinkles and laced with brandy. I kept trying to concentrate on the same screen where this case had all started six days ago, but the brandy made me think of Letitia.

A grim-faced reporter interviewed Romeo outside the airport. In the background, Edward Kinghorn was being led in handcuffs to a waiting police car. I would let Romeo take the credit for discovering what really happened with the bank robbery and the illegal betting. He deserved it for what I was about to do to him. I already felt like a total bitch. Anything I could do to help Romeo might lessen the bitch feeling.

Yeah, right. Who are you kidding, Amber? You’re about to break his heart. You’re worse than a bitch.

Brad put an arm around my shoulder and drew me towards him, kissing the top of my head. ‘You did it, Foxy. I’m proud of you.’

‘Chin-chin.’ Tia clinked the rim of her champagne glass against my mug. ‘Congrats, Amber, you solved the case.’ She beamed at me. ‘You’re awesome! I just wish you’d let me get involved in the next one.’ She nudged my ribs with her elbow, grinning.

Tia had a love of all things dangerous. You wouldn’t think it to look at her, but when I was investigating the disappearance of her dad, she jumped out of burning buildings with me and all sorts,
and
she’d enjoyed it. Maybe she had a slight death wish, too. 

I smiled at her. ‘We’ll see. I don’t think you’re ready to deal with the likes of people like Vinnie Dawson yet.’

‘You rock, girl.’ Hacker sipped his orange juice. Since his body was his temple, he wouldn’t share our celebration with alcohol.

Celebration. It should’ve been, but it sure didn’t feel like it.

I rested my head on Brad’s shoulder, staring at the TV screen. OK, so I’d solved the bank robbery and discovered the truth about Levi and who’d killed Carl and Deborah. I’d found out who really killed Lisa Thomas all those years ago. But we still had to find Levi. He was the one whose life had been ruined by all of this. His and Letitia’s. What if Vinnie’s other cronies found him before I could? I had no doubt Vinnie would’ve put the word out to have Levi killed.

The reporter handed the show back to the TV studio and Romeo’s face disappeared from the screen.

‘And on a final note tonight,’ the studio reporter said. ‘The national postal strike ended late last night...’

Brad hit the
off
button on the remote control as my mobile rang.

‘Hey, Amber,’ Romeo said.

‘Hey back. I see you managed to catch Edward.’

‘Thanks to you. How’re you doing? I just wanted to make sure you’re OK.’

I closed my eyes and blew out a soft breath. ‘I’m good.’

‘I would come up and check for myself but I’m going to be tied up at the police station all night interviewing Edward.’

‘That’s fine. Really, I’m OK.’ I averted my gaze so I didn’t have to look at Brad. I was feeling way too guilty.

‘I’ll call you tomorrow, then. Take care and get some rest.’

‘Sure.’ I hung up and stared at the phone, knowing that tomorrow I couldn’t delay the inevitable anymore.

‘What’s wrong, Amber?’ Tia said. ‘Are you in shock because someone tried to kill you?’ Her eyes grew wide with worry.

‘No. It’s not like people haven’t tried to kill me before. I mean, it’s not up there on my fun list of things to do or anything, but…’ I trailed off. ‘I’m just worried about Levi. What if someone gets to him and Amanda before we do? We’ll never get the chance to tell him what really happened that night. And what about Letitia? She’s walking on a thin line at the moment. I don’t want something like this to completely tip her over the edge.’

Brad stroked my hair. ‘We’ll find him, Foxy. Don’t worry.’

But I wasn’t so sure.

Come on, Amber, pull yourself together. If anyone can find him, it’s you.

‘You’re right.’ I forced a smile and swigged my chocolate brandy, savouring the burning sensation as it slipped down my throat. ‘So how did you know where I was, anyway?’

Brad’s face flushed with anger. ‘I had to go back to the office because the battery on my mobile died unexpectedly. Hacker gave me your message as soon as I got there. He’d been trying to get hold of me for ages. I rushed to Edward’s, but no one was there by then. That’s when I noticed Vinnie’s signature toffees on the pavement outside, and I knew he had you.’ He held me tighter in his arms. ‘I can’t forgive myself for almost getting there too late.’

I nestled my head on his shoulder, feeling his soothing warmth seep into my bones. ‘It’s OK. You got there in time. That’s the main thing.’

‘It’s not OK,’ Brad said.

I gave Tia and Hacker a half-hearted smile. ‘Sorry, guys, but do you mind if we celebrate another time?’

‘Sure!’ Tia grabbed Hacker’s glass and placed both hers and his in the kitchen before kissing me goodbye on the cheek. She squeezed my arm. ‘See you tomorrow.’ She pulled Hacker out the door.

 ‘Romeo will know you killed Vinnie and Charles,’ I said to Brad when they’d gone, suddenly afraid that I’d lose him forever. I was finally getting used to the idea of us being together again, but what if he was taken away from me now? What if Romeo found evidence at the scene that tied Brad to the murders? Yes, Vinnie and Charles deserved it, but even so, Romeo was still a cop. Would he be able to overlook it? When he found out Brad and I were back together, would he want vengeance on Brad? No. I didn’t think he’d be after vengeance. He wasn’t that kind of guy. But he was still a cop and murder was murder.

Brad rubbed my back reassuringly. ‘He’ll know, but he won’t be able to tie it to me. Believe me, Foxy. It’s all taken care of. There won’t be any evidence at the scene.’

I yawned deeply, my lids suddenly feeling like lead. It had been a long day and the chloroform must’ve still been in my system, making me bone-numbingly tired. I felt like a woman just back from the dead. Not literally, though, thanks to Brad.

‘I’m going to get you to bed.’ Brad picked me up and carried me to the bedroom.

****

I slept that night cradled in Brad’s arms. Correction: Brad slept, I couldn’t. All I could think about was being strapped to that chair, about to die, and he’d saved my life. Weren’t there places in the world where you were indebted to someone who’d saved your life? Not that Brad would ever hold me to that, but still, I owed him big time now. I owed my life to him. It was about time I owed him my love.

And was that necessarily such a bad thing?

****

Brad woke me early the next morning. ‘Foxy, you’ve got to see this.’ He thrust a newspaper in my hand as Marmalade trotted in behind him and jumped on the bed, nudging my hand with his head.

I sat up in bed and took it, yawning and stroking Marmalade. My eyes settled on the headlines:
Boxing Champion and Author Expose the Biggest Illegal Sports Betting Scandal of the Century.

 
I glanced up at Brad.

‘Read it.’

So I did…

 
In a national exclusive, Levi Carter, Boxing Heavyweight Champion, and Amanda Forsythe, Award Winning Author, provide detailed evidence of illegal betting transactions across the country.

In an explosive new book by Levi Carter with the help of Amanda Forsythe as a ghost writer, powerful sports promoter Vinnie Dawson has been exposed for providing sporting tip-offs to numerous financial institutions and individuals in exchange for monetary rewards.

 It’s estimated that Dawson has obtained more than a billion pounds in his gambling ring. Also involved is Lee Dawson, Vinnie Dawson’s cousin, who owns a betting shop.

Vinnie Dawson was responsible for football match fixing, as well as staging knockout rounds in boxing matches, wrestling, and various other fights. The renowned Kinghorn Thomas Bank has also been exposed as one of the institutions involved. Information has come to light that Edward Kinghorn and Carl Thomas used their clients’ money to place such bets after receiving these tip-offs from Vinnie Dawson.

Included in the book is Vinnie Dawson’s shady past within the sporting underworld, and his various criminal activities in his attempt to control the international fight scene.

The information has now been handed over to the police who are carrying out an investigation. The book will be released when all official police enquiries have ceased – and it’s expected to be a bestseller.

After viewing the documents provided by Carter and Forsythe, a police spokesperson said they’d raided Vinnie Dawson’s home early this morning but have not been able to locate him.

The police are asking anyone with details of his whereabouts to contact them.

‘Wow!’ I took a moment to get my breath back. ‘Well Letitia will be pleased that Levi wasn’t having an affair with Amanda. They must’ve been working on this for months.’

Brad sat down on the edge of the bed. It sunk with his weight, pushing him closer towards me. He kissed me softly on the lips, and I thought I might actually melt.

He drew back and smiled at me, tracing a finger down my cheek. ‘I’m glad to have you back, Foxy.

I grinned back at him so hard my mouth hurt. ‘It’s good to be back.’

‘No wonder Levi took out the life insurance policy. He knew if Vinnie got a whiff of what he was up to, he’d be a dead man,’ Brad said.

I picked up the paper again, rereading the article. ‘Good for Levi. Do you think he’ll be safe now Vinnie’s dead and it’s all exposed?’

‘I hope so. Vinnie ran his gang on fear and violence if they didn’t do what he wanted. With him out of the way,’ Brad shrugged, ‘hopefully Levi will be able to get on with his life without being manipulated anymore.’

‘The only problem is that Levi still thinks he killed Lisa Thomas. We need to find him and let him know that he wasn’t responsible before he does something stupid. You should’ve seen him, Brad, when I spoke to him. It looked like he was wrestling with emotional turmoil. How long could he keep a secret like that without cracking up?’ 

A dark shadow flashed across Brad’s face. ‘Foxy, I know exactly what it feels like.’

Dur! Forehead slapping moment. Of course Brad knew what it felt like to keep a secret like that. He’d probably killed hundreds of people in his SAS career. And it was only a few hours ago that he’d killed Vinnie and Thuggy. Not that I felt any kind of sadness or remorse for them. They would’ve killed me without batting an eyelid. They didn’t deserve even a second of pity from me.

‘So you know something like this could tip Levi over the edge then?’ I grabbed Brad’s hand, squeezing it tight. ‘You know yourself about post-traumatic stress. Levi thinks he knocked down Lisa in a hit-and-run. Not that I’m condoning the fact that he stayed silent about it, I’m not at all, but technically he didn’t actually do anything wrong, other than keep this thing a secret for a long time. Levi was so drunk that night he probably didn’t even know Lisa had been knocked down and killed by Thuggy until the next day. It would’ve been too late for him to do anything then. It wasn’t like he could bring her back to life.’

‘But he thought he’d done something wrong and kept silent. What does that make him?’

I didn’t know the answer to that. Essentially, I thought Levi was the good guy that everyone close to him said he was. I couldn’t imagine carrying around a secret like that for four years. I couldn’t imagine the stress and damage it could cause him. Maybe Vinnie had threatened Levi that something would happen to Letitia if he ever came clean, I don’t know. Vinnie was blackmailing him about the contract so it was possible he was also threatening Levi to keep quiet. I wasn’t in Levi’s shoes, so I didn’t know what I’d do in that situation. It must’ve seemed like an impossible trap to be in.

But then I did know what it was like to keep a secret. I’d been keeping a secret for the last two years that I still wanted to be with Brad more than I wanted to breathe. And the worst thing is, I’d been trying to keep it a secret from myself. I wasn’t whole without him, and if it hadn’t been for this case, would I have ever finally come to terms with it?