Brand New Me (33 page)

Seifert gave her an unpleasant grin. Apparently, dental hygiene was not one of his strong points any more than it was with Broadus. “Broadus is paying me a million. Only he don’t know it yet. Course he won’t be around to watch neither.”

Terrific
. Crazy as Broadus was, Deirdre had a feeling he was preferable to Seifert. “My father will give you more.”

Seifert’s grin turned to a grimace. “No he won’t. All he’ll give me is a quick trip to Huntsville. Now sit down, Missy. I got stuff to do, and I don’t want you wandering around the house while I do it.”

His gaze slid down her body, leaving a track of invisible slime, and Deirdre’s nerves went on high alert. Being tied up around Seifert suddenly seemed like a very dangerous proposition.

She edged toward the fireplace. “Why can’t I just go back upstairs? You can lock the door again. I can’t get out.”

Seifert’s face darkened. “You don’t hear so good. I told you to sit down.” He stepped toward her, reaching for her shoulder.

Deirdre dodged away from him, moving sideways.

Seifert growled and grabbed again, one hand grazing her shoulder. “C’mere bitch. I got some plans for you.”

Deirdre jerked to the side, trying to pull away from him as his fingers fastened on the back of her neck, yanking her forward. And then Seifert jammed his mouth against hers, his teeth grinding against her lips.

She fought the wave of nausea that hit her along with Seifert’s breath, although vomiting in his face had a certain appeal. His fingers dug into her buttocks, jamming her pelvis against his as he tried to stick his tongue in her mouth.

Deirdre fumbled frantically along the fireplace shelves behind her, knocking over bottles and buttons before fastening onto one of the round rocks. It was surprisingly heavy. She brought it up swiftly and slammed it into the side of Seifert’s head.

He staggered back staring at her with furious eyes. She struck him again on the temple, as hard as she could. The rock cracked open in her hand and she realized it was hollow. Hollow or not, however, it seemed to be solid enough to do the job. Seifert’s knees buckled beneath him, and he collapsed slowly to the floor.

Deirdre closed her eyes for a moment, catching her breath. Her stomach was still roiling, but she ignored it as she tossed the remains of the rock to the floor beside Seifert. No time to be sick—time to get out of there.

Behind her, the front door crashed open. She turned to see the elongated figure of Milam Broadus standing in the doorway like one of the aliens in
Close Encounters
. “Woman,” he roared, “what have you done?”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Broadus pointed to the remains of the rock Deirdre had used on Seifert. “That,” he intoned, “was a cast iron cannon ball fired at the Battle of the Alamo. You just destroyed a priceless historic artifact.”

“Wasn’t much of a cannon ball if it fell apart when it hit something,” Deirdre snapped, edging back toward the shelves again. “And it was better that than being raped by your buddy.”

Broadus sucked in a breath. “That’s a lie. Seifert is a citizen of the Republic of Texas. He would never dishonor a lady. Of course—” his mouth contracted to a sneer, “—you’re obviously no lady.”

“Obviously.” She glanced back at the shelves, keeping Seifert’s body between Broadus and herself. “What else have you got here, Mr. Broadus?” She slid her hand along another shelf. “Any other priceless historic artifacts?”

Broadus’s face paled. “Get away from there!”

Her fingers closed on a piece of china and she darted to the side when he took a step toward her. “Looks like a plate. No name on the back, but I guess not all antique plates have them, right? Blue willow ware, I’d say. Gee, is that a picture of the Alamo?”

“Put that down,” he snarled.

“Not right now. I promise I’ll put it down fifty yards from your house, provided you step aside and let me out the front door. Otherwise, I might have to throw it against that wall.”

Broadus’s face transformed from pale to the color of eggplant in a matter of seconds. “You’re a fifth-generation Texan. How can you destroy your own heritage?”

“I’m a fifth-generation Texan who wants to get the fuck out of this house. Now what’s it gonna be, Mr. Broadus, me or this plate?”

Seifert moaned, and Broadus glanced at him. “Boone? Are you awake?”

“Seifert won’t be waking up for a while yet,” Deirdre said, hoping devoutly that she was telling the truth. “No help there. Now get away from the door.”

Broadus balanced on his tiptoes, clearly trying to decide whether the plate meant more to him than his potential million dollars. She tightened her grip on the plate’s edge, ready to let it fly if he took a step closer.

Suddenly Broadus himself flew through the air in front of her. For one odd moment, she wondered if he was a lot more physically fit than she’d thought. Taking a leap like that was really something for a man his age.

And then Tom was charging through the door after Broadus, planting one knee in the middle of his chest and clenching his hands around his throat. “Give me one good reason not to push your nose through to the other side of your head,” he growled.

Chico stepped into the room behind him, staring down at the prone figure of Seifert. He turned back to Deirdre. “You do this?”

She nodded, carefully replacing the plate on the shelf.

Chico’s smile reminded her of a proud parent regarding his offspring’s latest accomplishment. “Good work.”

Broadus had begun to squeak under Tom’s squeezing hands. His words were largely incoherent, but Deirdre thought she heard “stop”, “murder”, and “outrage” in no particular order. His face was back to eggplant again. She stepped forward and placed a hand on Tom’s shoulder. “Maybe you should loosen your grip.”

“Not a chance,” Tom growled.

Outside there was the sound of squealing brakes, followed by heavy footsteps on the porch. Chief Toleffson appeared in the doorway, with Nando close behind him.

“Let him go, Ames.” The chief’s voice sounded deceptively calm. Deirdre watched a muscle dance in his jaw.

Tom glanced up at him, then down at Broadus again. He stood slowly, only releasing the man’s throat at the last moment. Then he turned to Deirdre. “Are you all right?”

Deirdre licked her lips. She wanted to be civilized, sophisticated, blasé. After all, it was only a small, unsuccessful kidnapping.

Then Tom opened his arms, and she threw herself against him. At least she managed not to sniffle. His arms closed tight around her, pulling her in against the hard muscles of his chest. She felt the whisper of his lips brushing her forehead. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “You’re okay now.”

Toleffson sighed. “Okay, let’s gather up these two miserable excuses for criminals and get them back to town. Whole lot of law enforcement types want to talk to them, once they figure out who’s got jurisdiction.”

Broadus sat up, his eyes regaining some of their old snap. “I am a citizen of the Republic of Texas. I recognize no law but theirs.”

“I’m sure the Rangers will be delighted to hear that, seeing as how they’re currently fighting with the Feds over who gets to nail you to the wall.” Nando jerked Broadus to his feet, fastening his hands behind him.

Seifert groaned again, and Toleffson glanced down at him. “Who’s this? And who’s responsible for putting him out of commission?”

“I am,” Deirdre mumbled against Tom’s chest. “His name’s Seifert. He tried to…get familiar with me.”

She felt Tom’s chest muscles stiffen beneath her cheek. She put a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. I took care of it. I hit him with a cannonball.”

He stared down at her, his forehead furrowed. He looked as if he might like to check her for concussion.

Nando kicked a piece of crumpled metal on the floor next to Seifert’s prone body, grinning. “Oh man. He’s going to have a hell of a time living this down. Very nicely done, Ms. Brandenburg.”

“Put him in the car with Broadus,” the chief rumbled. “He’ll probably need a stop at the hospital—we can call ahead so Friesenhahn has a deputy waiting to keep him in custody. We’ll get all of this sorted out when we get back in town.”

He turned back to Tom and Deirdre. “Okay, Ames, given the way this turned out, I’m not going to haul you in, although I ought to throw you in a cell for obstructing my investigation. Now go back to Konigsburg and see if you can stay out of my sight for the rest of the week.”

Deirdre heard Tom sigh as he rubbed his cheek against her hair. “Okay, babe, let’s head back down. Clem’s waiting to hear that you’re okay, along with everybody else at the Faro.”

“I said you could go back to the Faro, Ames, not Ms. Brandenburg.” The chief’s voice had an undercurrent of steel.

Deirdre glanced up at him. “Are you arresting me?”

For a moment, the chief looked like he was on the verge of a grin, then he shook his head. “No ma’am, I’d say Seifert got just what was coming to him. But you’re the one at the center of this thing. We need you to tell a whole bunch of people what happened so they can sort out what to do with that sorry pair of assholes. Then you can go work the dinner shift at the Faro if you want to, although I’d advise you to go home and get some rest.”

“I’ll drive her,” Tom said in a clipped voice. The pressure of his arms around her shoulders was almost painful.

The chief turned toward him, unsmiling. “No, you won’t. She’ll ride down with us.”

“In the same car with Broadus and his buddy? I don’t think so. Better she rides with me and Chico.”

“She can ride in front.”

Deirdre licked her lips. “I’d really like to ride with Tom, Chief, if that’s all right with you.”

Tom and the chief stared at each other for another moment. Then Toleffson shrugged. “You can follow us. But no stops along the way. She comes straight to the station.”

Tom peered down at her. “Okay with you?”

“Okay. I’m not sure I’ll be awake when we get there, though.” Deirdre blew out a breath. Suddenly, she felt so tired she would have slumped if Tom hadn’t kept his arms around her.

Tom glanced up at the chief again. “Do you have to have her now?”

Toleffson sighed. “Yes, Ames, I have to have her now. But I’ll let her go as soon as I can. Now everybody get a move on so we can get this production underway.”

In the end, Tom sat in the parking lot at the police station. Toleffson wouldn’t let him inside, but he wouldn’t leave without Deirdre. In fact, he couldn’t leave without her—something inside wouldn’t let him. Harry and Chico opened the bar for the evening, with some help from Clem. According to Clem’s texts, Sylvia was being a pain in the ass, but Tom didn’t figure that was anything new. He slid down in his seat and closed his eyes for a few minutes that turned into a couple of hours. Finally, he woke when somebody knocked on his window.

Nando stood outside, grinning. “You ready to take her home, Ames?”

He’d been ready since he’d seen her standing across from Broadus, holding a plate in her hand like a Frisbee. He’d never been so close to killing somebody before—Broadus’s throat had felt like a toothpick. One good squeeze, and he’d have been history. It was only Deirdre’s soft hand on his shoulder that had stopped him from doing it.

Tom blew out a breath and pushed his door open.

Deirdre looked like she was one step away from being dead on her feet. Her eyes were at half-mast, and her skin was the color of library paste. Tom put his arm around her shoulders. “C’mon. We’ll go to my place. Doris is pining for you again.”

She winced slightly. “How can you tell?”

“Her beady little eyes take on a reminiscent gleam every time your name is mentioned.”

“Probably hunger.”

“Maybe. I can take care of that too—in your case, anyway. Clem said she sent over some quesadillas.”

Deirdre yawned. “Good, I’m starving. But I think I want to take a shower before I do anything else. I can still smell Broadus’s house on my clothes. Maybe we should stop at my place first so I can change.”

Tom had no intention of taking her anywhere but to his house. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you something while you shower.”

Tom called Docia while Deirdre took the longest shower in history. Or maybe it just seemed that way.

“Erik told us what happened. Is she okay?”

“Tired. Shaken up. But okay overall.”

“Do you need anything?”

He hesitated. “She’ll need some clothes. I brought her to my house and all she’s got are the ones she was wearing when Broadus…took her away.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Docia said firmly.

Actually, it was more like fifteen. Docia handed him a pair of jeans and a blouse along with some underwear. “They’re mine from pre-baby days, but she should be able to wear them for tonight if she rolls the pants up. Thanks, Tom. For everything.”

He sighed. “It was my pleasure, believe me.”

The clothes might have been from Docia’s pre-baby days, but they were still big enough to give Deirdre lots of room. She rolled up the cuffs of the jeans and the sleeves of the blouse, then sat at his kitchen table. He watched her eat three of Clem’s quesadillas along with a glass of iced tea. He himself had never felt less hungry in his life. He figured it was the adrenaline, which would probably wear off sometime in the middle of the night. Except, of course, it was already the middle of the night, or close to it.

“Did anything else happen at the Faro?” Deirdre raised an eyebrow.

“Anything else…?”

“With Craig, I mean.”

Tom sighed. Amazingly enough, he’d forgotten all about Craig Dempsey. Maybe that was one thing he could thank Broadus for. “No. It’s been quiet. Well, not quiet exactly. We were all worried about you.”

“How did you find me anyway?”

Tom rubbed his eyes and told her about Clem and how they’d figured out it couldn’t be Craig who’d kidnapped her and about Bobby Sue and Leon.

Deirdre’s brow furrowed. “Leon’s one of Broadus’s supporters?”

“Not anymore, he says. He and some other guys around town used to hang out with him, but Leon says he scared them off when he, and I quote, ‘went nutsy on us’.”

She sighed. “Thank god for his lousy blindfold.”