Return to Poughkeepsie (36 page)

“Are you?” She bit her lip.

“Of course I am.” Beckett traced the inside of her forearm gently.

Eve shook her head. “Don’t. You. Dare.” She twisted and yanked her wrist free.

She was still strong as fuck.

“Tell me why
you’re
here.” He watched as she seemed to teeter between leaving and staying.

“Because my family—your family—needed me.” Her gaze ripped through him.

“I was trying to be a better man.” He held her stare, trying to convey his intentions.

“I don’t have time for this. People are depending on me.” Eve seemed primed to run. “Are you back or what?”

“I don’t know what I am.” He put his hands in his pockets, not trusting them around her.

“I think that’s been your problem for a while.” She turned and opened the balcony door, leaving him to the view of the water.

God, he wanted her.

Eve almost tripped coming back inside. The fucking ball gown was pissing her off. She checked Ryan, who was still slumped in his chair. Her heart hurt for him. And then there was Beckett standing outside on the balcony. Beckett. Right behind her—after all these damn years. Her heart hurt
because
of him.

She approached Mary Ellen, who was remarkably still alive and talking to Primo, and tried to focus. Beckett had rocked Eve off her foundation. She could still taste the anticipation his body brought to hers. It was chemical. She needed a few minutes to collect herself, but that was time she didn’t have. Ryan had to get out of here.

“You should know better than to doubt me by now,” Mary Ellen told her brother as Eve joined them. “I’ve been following Daddy’s example all these years. Unlike copper over there,” she added, shifting her eyes over to Eve. “He was too
busy
to follow my instructions.” She looked like the cat that ate the canary.

Eve watched as Ryan came to a little. He coughed and hung his head again.

“I’ve got just a few more insights to share with the crowd,” Mary Ellen said, batting her eyes at each of them. “Would you excuse me for a moment?” She signaled the closest guard and headed back over to the podium in front of her video screens, which had all gone black.

“Okay, everyone.” Mary Ellen tapped the microphone. “Time to have a feel-better moment. I need you to understand, I’m here to help. I’m not heartless—at all.”

She snapped her fingers and grinned for a few seconds while nothing happened. Preparation for the moment took an extra-long time that reduced the “magic” quality she was clearly hoping for. By the time the last remaining kidnapped girl was revealed on the screen again, Mary Ellen’s smile must have been drying out her porcelain veneers. Her lips stuck around her next words:

“Pam Bookbinder may be released!”

A collective question rose up from the crowd, but sure enough, on the screen the guards freed the woman. She staggered to her feet.

“Sam Bookbinder? Your niece will be available for pickup at the flower shop in Oyster Bay in ten minutes. You may leave to collect her in just a moment. There’s just one other thing I’d like you to see…”

Mary Ellen remained at the podium, but the crowd had begun to rustle, clearly wondering what the hell was next. She tapped the microphone and kept tapping it long after everyone in the room had quieted down. Eve had to hold in her exasperated sigh.

“Thank you. Finally. I assure you, becoming quiet when I ask is the best choice.” Mary Ellen added a fake Marilyn Monroe-style giggle. “I think we all know at this point that I’m ready to take charge. And I’d like to add that there’s no one out of my reach. How about a police captain’s daughter? Much too risky, right? Not for me. You’ll recall my interest in Poughkeepsie from the beginning. You’ve been less than forthcoming about the whereabouts of Beckett Taylor, so I just had to test the waters myself. This lovely girl is not only a captain’s daughter, but someone close to Mr. Taylor…”

Eve used Beckett’s terrible wig as a way to track him in the crowd. When they locked eyes, he shook his head, standing by his earlier news on Livia.

“Believe me—” Mary Ellen seemed to be getting into her pontificating now “—I can say with absolute certainty that Beckett Taylor is dead, or at the very least he’s never coming back. Please turn your attention to the screen…”

A single screen took over for the three smaller ones, but when its image appeared, there was nothing but an empty chair—no woman and no kidnappers present.

The reaction was almost immediate as the crowd surged toward Mary Ellen. With no leverage left, and apparently not even much sense of what was going on, she no longer seemed scary in the least. Primo barked orders to his men, and Eve melted into the swirling crowd. Nearly as many seemed headed for the exits as were now calling for Mary Ellen’s head.

Eve crossed to the back of the room and marched straight up to the guard with Ryan. “I’ve got to get him to a safer place. The cops will be swarming this place soon.” She put her hand under Ryan’s arm.

“Wait, what?” The guard seemed confused.

“Don’t make a scene. We’re trying to get him out quiet.” Eve stepped forward aggressively, forgetting she was done up like a southern debutante.

“Not without Mary Ellen’s say so. And she told us to watch out for you.” He eyed her suspiciously.

“I just came from Mary Ellen,” Eve countered. “She’s a little busy right now, as you may have noticed.”

“I’ve got him.” Beckett swooped in and pulled Ryan to his feet.

“Ben, you best make sure you’re tuned into the local stations.” Eve forced a cocky smirk to her face. “Have you even noticed what’s going on here—or are you too busy jacking off?”

“Come on, baby. I’m going to need your help interrogating him.” Beckett nodded, and she slipped her arm around Ryan’s waist.

Before Ben could formulate a response, Beckett was moving toward the exit, with Ryan and Eve in tow. She caught Shark’s eye on the way across the room. “You got Micki?” she mouthed.

He nodded once and continued walking, as if he’d looked right through her.

Beckett yanked open a door and pulled Ryan into the hallway. He opened his phone, leaving Eve to settle Ryan on a fancy chair in what looked to be a reading room.

She checked his pupils and un-tucked his shirt, pushing his coat aside. She felt his hard abs and then an odd bump on his left rib cage. He winced.

“I think they broke your rib. Can you tell me your name?” Eve felt his arms and legs, which all seemed in working order.

“Still Ryan.” He managed a smile and squeezed her hand.

“It’s Ryan Morales, isn’t it?” Beckett was suddenly off the phone. “You’re a cop.”

Eve ignored him, focused on Ryan.

“You need to leave. Get out of here. I’ve got this.” Ryan looked into her eyes as he pulled out the container in his pocket.

“You’re going to take on this clusterfuck with my vagina knife?” She almost smiled.

Beckett shook his head. “They’re on lockdown. And this place is well guarded right now. I’ll go out there and distract them. Eve, you get him to my car. It’s a red Nissan GT-R.” He tossed the keys to her.

She caught them and stuffed them down her bodice. “Gimmie.” Eve took the tiny knife from Ryan and began hacking at her dress’s huge skirt.

Rather than leaving, Beckett put his hand over hers. “Let me.” He took the blade and grabbed a handful of her blue taffeta skirt. “Spin.”

She couldn’t see his eyes, but she recognized the smirk. This wasn’t the first time he’d cut clothes off her body. After a couple circles, he tossed a giant blob of material in the corner. Now Eve wore her blue bodice and the tight bottoms of her spandex slip. The heels were a pain in the ass, but there was nothing to be done about that now.

“Fuck that plan,” she said. “Get douchebags on the exits. I’m betting you didn’t come alone. Have them do some flash bangs all around.” Eve slipped her hands under Beckett’s jacket, freeing the gun she knew she’d find there. He grabbed her by the hair.

“You’re wasting time,” she told him. “This place is going to be lit up pretty soon, and Mary Ellen’s going to realize I’m not there to protect her—and that no one’s protecting Ryan anymore. We all need to go
now
.”

Beckett let go of her hair, and she stuffed the gun in her bosom on her way to the window. Although they were on the first floor, it was quite a drop. The music ground to a halt in the main room just as she opened the latch and swung the window out. It was so huge she could stand in it. She could see party guests scurrying to their cars.

Ryan had staggered to his feet. “Go. Take Guy Fieri with you. I’m fine.”

Eve gave him a dirty look.

Beckett finished texting and scoped out the terrain below. “You get down there, and I’ll lower the pansy to you.”

She shook her head. “No. Too far.”

Beckett grabbed the curtain and ripped. Eve ducked just as the entire window treatment came off the wall. He used the knife to slice a long portion from the rod. “Go. I got it.”

She turned and slid down, then let herself dangle from the end of the fabric, her knees scraping against the stone façade. She let go and bent her knees as she hit the ground. After a brief scuffle above her, Ryan emerged with a curtain wrapped around his back. He walked rappel-style down the side of the mansion for few feet before Beckett obviously ran out of material to feed him. Ryan slipped out from under the curtain and hit the ground with a groan. “Aw, fuck. That hurt.”

Eve pulled him to his feet and waited. Beckett peered over the edge of the window. “Get out here,” she hissed.

Beckett turned and pulled the same maneuver Eve had, but without the curtain to aid him. They all crouched behind the bushes until the first grenade popped and the screams began. Eve stood and pushed Ryan at Beckett.

“I’ll get the car.” She trotted over to Beckett’s ride, which was an easy find in candy apple red and parked like an asshole as usual. She pulled it off the driveway and onto the grass as the valet followed, hollering.

Beckett opened the door and slid Ryan into the backseat, slamming the door just as the man’s feet cleared the frame. He banged on the car and pointed for Eve to leave without him.

She shot the ground where the valet stood and growled at Beckett. “Get in the fucking car, fuckhead.”

He pulled open the passenger door and Eve took off, the force of gravity seating him and closing the door on his legs. He cursed and pushed it open, pulling his feet inside.

Eve passed him the gun, and he pulled out two more, handing one to Ryan. “You know how to work one of these, son?”

Ryan took the gun as Eve hit the button to slide her window down. More flash-bang grenades detonated, and the front gates began their motorized procedure to close. They would be hell to bust through once they shut.

“Get the gate men.” Eve put her high heel to the gas and slammed it to the floorboard.

Beckett and Ryan fired right up until the second they ducked. The car didn’t even slow, just plowed through the narrowing gate, metal-on-metal screeching down the sides.

Beckett was on the phone almost as soon as the Nissan got free, telling the douchebags to evacuate, and fast.

Eve checked the rearview mirror. Ryan slumped in the backseat. “Hey. You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Eve would’ve believed him if his eyes hadn’t rolled back in his head right after he said it.

Ninety minutes later, she pulled up to her father’s apartment building and knew she had to stop ignoring Beckett. Not like she was really ignoring him anyway. She’d never met someone so fucking present in the world. He took up all the space in the damn car, and he’d determined Ryan had a pulse and was breathing on their way back from Long Island, which is why Eve decided to bring him to her father first.

Given what had happened to her dad just outside his place of work, she didn’t entirely trust the hospital to keep someone safe. If Ryan needed surgery, that’d be another thing. Eve called her father again to let him know they’d actually arrived and she didn’t want to move Ryan unless she had to. After a few minutes he stumbled out the front door, wearing pajamas and completely confused.

“Why are you dressed like that? What’s going on? It’s the middle of the night!”