High Stakes Seduction - Book 5 (19 page)

Please. Please let my phone be here.

I nudged around with my feet, not sure what I would find. There was a small obstruction on my left side that might be the right size for my purse, but I couldn't tell for sure.

I slipped off my shoes, grateful for once that I had heels on, and not something with shoelaces. I managed to push the shoes to the opposite side, then twisted my body as much as I was able, so I could use my foot to push the bulky object closer to my hand.

There wasn't much space, and I could barely even bend my knees. At the same time, there was no way in hell I was going to give up. I scrunched and shifted and turned and twisted, inch by precious inch, doing my best to shift the bulk upward. It seemed to take forever, but I had little else to do. So I focused all my attention on reaching my handbag.

Yes!
I found the strap of my purse, wrapping it through my fingers. I did my best to straighten out my body again and managed to pull the purse up far enough to drag it onto my stomach. Then I fumbled in the darkness, relying on my sense of touch to find the phone.

Then my finger wrapped around the familiar shape, and I cried out in relief. Pulling it out, I touched a button and suddenly there was light. It nearly blinded me after the total darkness, and I looked away quickly. I tipped the phone and looked around as best I could, squinting to protect my eyes from the brightness as I tried to see where I was. Definitely the inside of a casket, but I'd already guessed that.
Holy crap, these things are small.
Maybe I didn't want to see after all. I turned the phone back toward me again, and pressed the speed dial for home.

Please, Maria, be there. Pick it up! Pick it up!
I prayed.

My heart stopped as I heard a muffled noise close by. I froze and then jumped as someone knocked on the casket just above my face.

“
Knock, knock
, is there anyone home?” Walker said with a laugh. He knocked again, taunting me, and said, “Hellooooo?”

I quickly turned off the phone and shoved it back into my purse just as the top part of the coffin lid above my face was flung open. Light poured in, blinding me again with its brilliance. Without thinking, I pushed my purse as far down as I could, trying not to be too obvious.

"You must be tired of being in there," Walker almost growled at me, a sarcastic tinge to his whiny voice.

"Please let me out!” I hated the pleading in my voice, especially with this creep, but I couldn’t help it. “I haven't done anything to you."

He was silent for a moment. "You keep your damn mouth shut, and do as you're told, and I'll think about letting you out."

"Okay," I said, sniffing back a tear. As terrified as I was about what this man might do to me, I was more terrified of staying inside the casket. At least out there, I had a fighting chance.

He reached down to unlock the bottom portion of the casket's lid.
Finally! I'll get out of this awful, confining space
.

As I struggled to sit up in the tiny space, my phone started buzzing.
Oh shit!

"What's that?" He demanded, grabbing my purse and slamming the bottom part of the lid back down again. I struggled to get out of the top portion, using my arms to leverage myself up. But Walker held me back with one arm, while one of his goons shoved me back into the little box.

"No! Please!"
I screamed as they closed the lid on me again, plunging me back into the darkness and fear I thought I'd escaped.

Chapter Fifty

MARIA

I was at the kitchen sink, up to my elbows in sudsy dishwater when my phone started ringing. I ran my hands under the faucet and reached for a towel to dry off, at the same time reaching into the chair's pocket for the phone. But, hands still dripping, the phone slipped out of my soapy fingers crashing to the floor.

Shit!! What if it's Antonio or Ryan?

I leaned down to recover the phone, but the battery had popped out and danced across the floor, lodging itself under the counter on the far side. I grabbed a spatula out of the dish drainer, moving over to the cabinet. I used the utensil to sweep under the edge, scooping the battery out to where I could reach it.

Reinserting the battery, I pressed the on button and sat there, literally tapping my foot, waiting for the 'on' chime so I could see who'd called.
Come on
, I told the device,
this could be important!

Ding-ding-dingding
came the tone at last, and I scanned through the apps to find my call log. My heart leapt into my throat.

Angela! The call was from Angela!

I tapped the screen and hit redial as quickly as I could, feeling almost as if I was trying to catch her before she hung up.

Ring… Ring… Ring… Ring…

Maybe I accidentally hit the wrong number?
I brought the call log up again. Nope, that was the right number. I hit the call button again. This time, it went straight to voicemail. That could only mean she was already on a call, or the phone was turned off.

I tried it once more, and this time I left a voice message when she didn't answer. "Angela, this is Maria. Where are you? Sis, please call me as soon as you can! We're all so worried about you.
Where are you!?
Please call!"

I hung up the phone and wanted to cry. Angela had called, and I'd been unable to answer.
But it had been so close!

I immediately called Ryan'. He was the one person most closely connected with the police, and I was tired of waiting.

"Ryan, this is Maria," I said, spewing out the words before he could even say hello.

"What is it Maria? Have you heard from Angela?"

"Sort of. I just got a call from her cell phone. Well, that is, a call came in from her cell phone. But I couldn't get to the phone in time to answer before she hung up."

"Did she leave a message?"

"No. I called back as soon as I saw it was her, but I got voicemail. Ryan, I'm really worried."

"Okay, the D.A. is still here, I'll go see him right now. You stay there, if you get another call, let me know immediately." He hung up the phone, and I sat there for a moment wondering what in the world I might do to help. I hated waiting, but at the moment there didn't seem to be anything else I could do.

Except… pray for Angela's safe return.

Chapter Fifty-One

ANTONIO

"What more are you waiting for?" I demanded from the D.A. "You should have all the evidence you need at this point. Delaying it isn't going to help anything, it's only putting more people in danger."

"I understand you have a personal stake in this, Tony. But we need to make sure this sticks. I can't take any chances, it's got to be by the book."

Brad Stephens had been my friend for a long time, almost since we were kids. I owed a lot to him, and our friendship was important to me. But right now, I was willing to throw all of that away to make sure Angela was safe.

"Okay, fine. You asked me to help, and I've done what I could for you. I brought in Naomi to help make my part in this seem legitimate, even though you knew I couldn't stand to be around her any longer after what she'd done and who she'd become."

"She turned out to be a gem, huh? It was fascinating watching her operate."

"Going after you, that was voluntary on her part, I had nothing to do with it."

"Some women are drawn to power, and some just like corruption."

"Oh believe me, Brad, they promised to pay her well if she could bring you in."

He laughed. "It was fascinating watching her try. But thanks for the heads up, otherwise she might have blindsided me. Not that I'm generally attracted to women of that sort, but she certainly does have her charm."

Suddenly the door swung open. "Hey Brad, I'm sorry, but I need to talk to you."

The young man with sandy-colored hair stepped into the room, then stopped. A startled expression crossed his face when he spotted me.

"What is it Ryan?" asked the D.A.

"I need to talk to you right away. Privately," he eyed me suspiciously.

"Tell me what you want, Ryan. I don't have time for this right now. Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

"This is important… Oh hell. Look, can we talk about this in private? I don't really want to talk about it in front of… anyone." This time he glared at me.

"Sorry Ryan, unless this is highly confidential, I'm not going anywhere private with you. This is Antonio Mancini," he gestured in my direction. "He's an old and trusted friend. And he's helping me with a very important case right now. A case we were discussing before you burst in. So unless this has something to do with the president, or a bomb threat, or imminent danger, then you need to come back later."

Ryan continued to glare at me as he turned back to Stephens. "Just what kind of business does Mancini have with Wendell Walker?"

Stephens and I exchanged glances, both of us turning back to Ryan.

"What do you know about Walker?" Stephens asked.

"I know he's part of a hush-hush investigation that's going on, and so is your friend Mancini here." He stuck out his jaw defiantly.

"And what is your interest in the investigation?" asked Stephens.

"You know, I've always trusted you Stephens," Ryan said. "But now I'm starting to wonder. Just what is your part in this investigation, and how are you tied up with Mancini? I mean, which side of the investigation are you on anyway?"

Brad’s jaw tightened and a moment of silence stretched out. "Ryan, it's your job to be somewhat suspicious. So I'm not going to take offense at this. I ordered the investigation, and Mancini agreed to help me. He has contacts with the right people, contacts that proved to be beneficial. So, I'll ask you again, what's
your
interest in this investigation?"

Ryan's face was slightly flushed. It was obvious he didn't want to talk openly in front of me, but his hand was forced. If he wanted to discuss this with Stephens, then he would have to include me also.

"I'm worried. It's a girl I know." He turned toward me. "A girl you know also, Mancini." He hesitated for a moment as if deciding how to proceed, then looked directly at me. "I think she's been abducted by Walker and his goons."

"Angela," I said, a sharp stabbing pain in my chest. I took a deep breath. "What do you know?"

"Her sister called me, saying she'd gotten a call at the house."

"Is Angela okay?" I couldn't help my impatience.

"No. That is, I don't know. Her sister couldn't get to the phone in time before it stopped ringing. But it was Angela's cell phone. When she called back, she got voicemail."

"GPS," I said turning to Stephens. "We can track the GPS."

"It's worth a try," he agreed. "But I think we better make sure everything else is ready also. I suspect things will begin to move pretty quickly now.”

The D.A. reached to pick up the phone on his desk. And for the first time in several hours, I felt some small sense of relief.

"So what is Angela to you?" Ryan asked me. "I know you're her boss, but is there anything more I should know about?"

What could I say to this guy? I'd only recently discovered exactly what she meant to me. Was I ready or willing to share that with someone else? Especially another man I'd just met and knew nothing about?

"It's complicated…" I started. Then my cell phone rang. I looked at the ID.
Walker
. I held up a finger, motioning for Ryan to be quiet.

"Yes?" I said, waiting for Walker to tell me what he wanted.

"Who is this Ryan Burton?" came his response. "What is your ladyfriend doing, involved with the Assistant D.A.?"

"What are you talking about?" I managed, watching Ryan's face as I listened to Walker’s accusatory tone.

"I found his card in her purse. It appears your young friend has some connection with Ryan Burton, our Assistant D.A."

Dammit! He has her purse? That could only mean
…

"And that's a problem?" I asked as much as stated, trying to keep him talking as I interrupted my own train of thought.

"Look, Mancini, I don't really care how we get the D.A., but now
you're
getting sloppy if you think dangling that young girl in front of the Assistant D.A. is going to solve our problem. I don't have to tell you it isn't very smart to get too many people involved—unless you can control them, of course."

"Really?" I asked Walker. "Tell me when you've ever known me NOT to be in control?"

Walker laughed. "Good point," he said. "Well this time I've got a little insurance of my own going on—I'll hold on to the young lady until I'm sure I can still trust my friend,
Tony The Man
."

I looked over at Stephens. He was still on the phone with the police chief. I looked at Ryan who was watching me closely, suspicion in his eyes. I chose to ignore that for the moment. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my shaky nerves.