Driven by Fire (26 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

When she woke up the sun was high overhead and she was alone in the big bed. Of course she was. She managed to crawl out of bed—every muscle ached. The ride in the jeep wouldn’t have been enough, but he hadn’t let her alone that morning. They’d made love two more times, once in the shower, once over the side of the high bed, and when she’d gone to sleep after the final time he stayed with her, their bodies wrapped so closely together she couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.

She didn’t know how long she’d been alone. The bed felt cold and empty, her body felt drained. She took another shower, hoping it would give her some energy, and she found some of the new clothes still in the other room. She ignored the bed where he’d held her down and hurt her. What the fuck was her problem—Stockholm syndrome? She’d fallen in love with a man who’d tortured her, a man with a mean streak and a nasty tongue, and all her common sense didn’t make a bit of difference.

She didn’t have time to think about that, about him, about her. She had to get word to her brother that he mustn’t—absolutely mustn’t—come home, or the man she loved would kill him. At least she had the dubious relief that Ryder didn’t give a shit about her. Yes, he’d spent a lot of time in bed with her, but she wasn’t fool enough to think it meant anything. If she disappeared he’d forget all about her, and that was exactly what she was intending to do, once she warned Billy.

Ryder had said something to her, but in her sleep and sex-dazed mind she couldn’t remember. He’d probably ordered her to stay put, but that was the last thing she intended to do. He didn’t want her hanging around, mooning after him—he just didn’t want her to warn Billy.

As for her, she didn’t know what to believe. If Billy could safely go to prison, she wouldn’t do anything to stop it, but that likelihood was almost nil. Ryder would kill him if he could, the other inmates would take their rage out on him, and Billy would never stand up to the rigors of prison.

He was the only member of her family who still mattered, who still had a soul, and she couldn’t give him up so easily, not without concrete proof that he’d lied to her. She’d promised her mother she’d watch out for him, and letting Ryder get to him would be tantamount to breaking her mother’s trust. As long as there was a chance, no matter how unlikely, that Billy had been tricked and manipulated, then she had to save him. If she wanted him to stay alive, then she needed to get him to lay low, and there was only one person she could turn to for help.

Her father.

It was easier than she expected getting out of the Magazine Street house. She knew there were security cameras all over the place, but she knew the back stairs led to the garage. She wouldn’t steal a car, but the moment she got out on the street she could call a taxi and be gone before anyone even realized she’d left. It was the last and only thing she could do for her brother—dump the problem in her father’s lap, and then she could safely disappear.

It went like clockwork. No one seemed to notice as she slipped down the stairs, there was no sign of Ryder or any of his fellow Committee members, and by the time they were likely to notice, she was gone, she’d be halfway to her father’s house outside the city. She could only hope he was there—if he was off somewhere she’d leave him a message and have done with it. She’d already risked her life and betrayed her principles for her baby brother’s sake. There wasn’t any more she was willing to do.

When the taxi pulled up in front of her father’s ornate, slightly garish house, a cross between Tara and the Parthenon, she could see the Bentley and the Cadillac in the wide, circular driveway, and she knew Fabrizio was home.

She climbed out, overtipping the driver, and smoothed down her hair. She’d found another of the sundresses someone had bought her, and she’d dressed accordingly. Her father disapproved of women in pants, and she wasn’t interested in wasting time fighting with him. She simply needed to pass on the warning and leave. After that it was up to him.

The door opened before she could knock, and Tonino, her eldest brother, stood there, massive and unwelcoming. “So the prodigal child has come home,” he said. “What new trouble are you bringing us?”

“I think you bring home enough trouble as it is,” she said, pushing past him into the cool interior of the house. “Where’s Fabrizio?”

“I don’t think he wants to see you.”

“Well, I don’t want to see him. But I need to warn him about Billy.”

“What about Billy?” Tonino demanded.

“He screwed up, Tino,” she said, automatically using her ancient nickname for him, when she was six years old and he was her lordly teenage brother. “He’s part of the human-trafficking ring the police busted a couple of months ago, and they’ve got evidence against him.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Jenny took in a shocked breath. “Were you part of it too?”

Tonino looked annoyed. “Of course not. That’s filthy money—we don’t do things like that. Besides, our organization is already in place. But you know Billy—he’s still a kid, young and arrogant, and thinks he knows everything. Our father is very unhappy with him.”

“I need to see Fabrizio. To warn him.”

Tonino shook his massive head. He was built like a bull—well over six feet tall and two hundred fifty pounds, he looked like the same man who’d played football for Tulane. “He’s with someone.”

“I can’t wait,” she said, striding deeper into the house’s interior.

“Guess you’re going to have to, Sissy.” Billy’s voice came from the shadows, and Jenny froze, turning slowly to face him.

He looked the same—boyish, handsome, enthusiastic, and she almost went into his arms, until she noticed the petulant expression around his mouth.

“Billy,” she said breathlessly, panicked. “You were supposed to be overseas, out of reach of the US authorities.”

“No one’s ever out of reach of the Committee, and I have you to thank for that, don’t I?” he said in a sour voice. “If you’d given me back the smartphone when I asked for it then all this would have been avoided.”

Her heart sank. “I couldn’t,” she said miserably. “Don’t you realize what you did? You sold women and children into slavery. Most of those people won’t live that long, and yet you’re sitting on a profit made off them.”

“And a very nice profit it is,” he said with a shrug. “It’s their choice. They could have stayed in the pigsty villages and died young, or they can enjoy civilization for a few years. I know which one I’d pick,” he said with supreme indifference.

“You’re a monster,” she breathed, shocked.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m a businessman, like my father and brothers before me.”

“Not like me,” Tonino spoke up. “It’s dirty money.”

“You’re a pussy,” Billy said maliciously. “You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, you can’t make a profit without stepping on some toes. My partner and I know what we’re doing.”

“Your partner?”

“Soledad. You had no idea she was working for me, now did you? It took her too damned long to find the telephone after you refused to hand it over, but in the end she got it.”

“I smashed it,” Jenny said.

The momentary darkening of Billy’s eyes was terrifying. And then he smiled affably. “That’s all right. Most of the information is outdated by now. In fact, you’ve probably saved my life. No one will be able to prove anything even if they had the records I’d stored on that phone.”

“The Committee does.”

“Does what?” Billy demanded irritably.

“Has all the records on the smartphone. They dumped the information while I was staying in the house, and they’ll use it to hang you. You need to get out of here before you’re arrested.”

Billy laughed. “No one’s arresting me. You forget—Father’s paid for half the New Orleans police force. I’m not going anywhere until I feel like it. In fact, I’m safer from the Committee right here.”

Jenny looked at him as she saw the last vestige of her family crumble in front of her eyes. “How could you do this, Billy?” she demanded brokenly.

“Give me a break, Sissy! You always were such a bleeding heart. I told you, I’m ambitious. Father’s always discounted me, and I decided it was time he was taught a little lesson. No one should ever underestimate me.”

“You’ve betrayed all of us with this shit,” Tonino exploded, taking a step toward him.

“Never.” He turned a winning smile on Jenny. “I love my family, and you, sister mine, most of all. I could never hurt you.”

Relief swamped her. Thank God. Someone else had to have been behind the murder attempts . . .

“That’s why I hired someone else to kill you,” Billy continued
blithely, as if it made perfect sense. “After all, you were the only one who
knew I’d been part of the trafficking, and you wouldn’t give me
back
my cell phone. I don’t know why you were so selfish about it, Sissy. I wouldn’t have had to hire someone if you’d just been reasonable.”

Jenny swallowed, as something inside of her died. “I’m . . . I’m sorry.”

“Jesus, Billy,” Tonino said.

“No need to be sorry, Sissy. Everything’s taken care of. Even the Committee can’t touch me here, and I have the money to go anywhere I want. The only problem that remains is you.”

“Why me?” This all had a strange, Alice-Through-the-Looking-Glass kind of feel about it, her brother acting as if he were making perfect sense when every word out of his mouth was insane.

“Because you know the truth. Sooner or later you’re going to tell the wrong person and I’ll get caught, and I really can’t let that happen.”

“You’re my brother. Why would I want you to get caught?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t want me to,” he said sweetly. “You just can’t keep your fucking mouth closed.”

They were alone now in the giant foyer of her father’s garish house. Tonino had disappeared; it was just the two of them, and she felt sick inside.

“What are you going to do about it?” she asked, very calm and reasonable.

“I’m going to have to take care of you, of course. Father will understand. Family is family but business is business, and business comes first. If I get caught it reflects badly on Father, and he wouldn’t want you shooting off your fat mouth either.” The hateful words, in such a sweet tone, were eerie. The front door had three locks on it, but there was always the chance she could open it in time, and she could run very, very fast. That, or she could try to get to her father, but she’d be an easier target in the house, and there was no telling whether her father would protect her or not.

“Are you going to shoot me, Billy?” she asked. “Or is someone else coming to take care of me?”

“Unfortunately I don’t have time to call someone in. Tonino’s probably tattling to Father right now, and he might not think it was a good idea.” He reached behind his back and pulled out a Glock 25, just like the one her father carried. “If you kneel down on the floor I promise I won’t make it hurt.”

She stared at him in horror and disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. “You don’t mean it,” she said, hating the pleading sound in her voice.

“Of course I do.” Billy shook his head. “Don’t look so surprised, Sissy. I’m just a businessman, like father, cutting my losses. You should understand—you’re a member of this family.”

“Not anymore,” she said brokenly. He raised the gun, and Jenny closed her eyes.

“Keep away from her!” Ryder’s voice thundered through the cavernous hallway, and Jenny’s eyes flew open as shock and relief flooded her. She made an instinctive move toward him, but Billy intervened, grabbing her and pressing the gun against her temple. It was cold and hard, and all he had to do was pull the trigger and her life would disappear. She held herself very still.

“Who the hell are you?” Billy said disdainfully, glaring at Ryder. “I don’t think this is any of your business.”

“It wouldn’t make any difference to you,” Ryder said, moving into the hallway. “Leave her the fuck alone.”

She could see Tonino move behind him, and she realized that Ryder had been there all the time.

Billy laughed. “God, what a hero! You must be Ryder—my father told me about you and your pathetic attempts to find me. If you’re in love with my sister, then I’m sorry for you. She’s a waste of oxygen with no family loyalty. But I’m afraid you don’t have any say in the matter.”

Ryder didn’t even glance at her, his face cold and implacable. “I’m not in love with your sister, Billy. This is a job. You understand that, don’t you?”

Billy brightened. “Of course I do. I’m not sure Sissy does—she’s looking like you slapped her in the face. Did you think he was in love with you, Sissy? Men like us can’t afford to love anyone.”

“Ryder isn’t anything like you,” she said, ignoring the sharp pain in her chest. She wanted to weep. She’d been wrong about everything, about her brother’s innocence, about Ryder caring about her.

“Oh, I think he’s exactly like me. I’m guessing you slept with him—Father won’t like that. You know he thinks women are whores or Madonnas, and you’re supposed to be in the saintly category like our mother. I tried to explain to him that all women are whores at heart but he never believed me.” He swung the gun toward Ryder, and Jenny froze. He could kill them both with that small handgun, and he wouldn’t care. He was a Gauthier after all, amoral and heartless in his casual cruelty. “Don’t move any closer to her. I really don’t want to have to shoot you both.”

Ryder kept moving, slowly. “You’re not going to have any choice in the matter. You kill her then you might as well kill me, because I’ll rip your heart out if you do.”

Billy laughed, and there was a tinge of hysteria in his voice. “And you say you don’t love her. You’re just as weak as the rest of them!”

“My son, this is enough.”

Fabrizio Gauthier appeared behind Tonino, a small, dapper man with the face of a bulldog. “You will only make things worse. Your sister doesn’t understand. She has betrayed you and your entire family, but it is already too late. Put the gun down, Billy.”

Billy froze. Slowly, like a naughty child, he lowered the gun and set it on the shiny marble floor. He turned to look beseechingly at their father, and for a brief, shocked moment Jenny could see the little boy who’d opened Christmas presents with her, the child with the innocent eyes and sweet mouth.