The Taxman Killeth (24 page)

“I did not. He fell against me
and...”

“And what?”

“You know he scared the hell out
of me. I thought he’d hurt me.”

“He wasn’t in any shape to do
you any harm, Trud. You’re bullshitting in front of your friend, here.”

Amy watched as Michael moved
into the kitchen area. Her wrists were stinging, and her fingers were starting
to become numb. She checked the door. He had only latched one lock, but how the
hell could she undo it? She tried to slip her hands through the rope, but the
knot only tightened. The telephone was a short distance away from her.
Certainly neither Trudy nor Michael were going to give her time to dial anyone.
She needed to make noise. Loud noise.

“This looks good.”

“Oh, God, Michael, that’s bigger
than the one you used on Joey.”

“Yeah, it would be sure to hit
something vital on the first or second try. Naw, I want something that will
take some time. We don’t want to rush it, do we, babe?”

The moment of silence chilled
Amy. She had managed to make it over to the window, which overlooked a small
garden. Third floor but doable. One might end up with a few broken bones but
still be alive. The window was closed, and Amy shut her eyes and flung her
shoulder full force against the glass. She heard the pane crack but not break.
Michael was dragging her across the floor before she could see if anyone had
seen or heard her.

“Do it, for Pete’s sake, and let’s
get out of here before she manages to attract attention.”

“Lights are out across the way
and no one’s in the yard.”

“Michael, please. This doesn’t
feel right, and you didn’t waste this much time on that bastard, Joey.”

“Joey didn’t take my family away
from me,” Michael yelled. “This bitch did.” He hit Amy several times with the
flat of his hand. “And you’re going to pay for it. I’m going to skin you with
this.” Michael held up her mother’s Christmas gift—a six-inch slicer. He ran
the edge of it across the shoulder, which was covered partially by her shredded
blouse. She heard the material give under the power and sharpness of the blade.

Michael’s breath was hot against
her cheek. She saw his eyes vacant with rage, his nostrils flared wide, his
tongue moistening his dry lips.

“Finish her and let’s get out of
here,” Trudy whispered.

Michael dropped his head and
barely touched Amy’s ear with his lips.

“No. Slow and painful,” he
breathed.

There was a sharp pain on her
left shoulder, and she gagged on the material in her mouth which had slipped
deeper into her throat. Amy kicked at air until Trudy grabbed her legs and
pressed them down on the sofa. A wet stream was soaking Amy’s blouse, and
Michael drew the metallic salty blade across her lips to confirm the horror of
the wound at her shoulder. The taste barely reached her tongue, which peeked
out from beneath the crumpled material used to silence her.

“Shit!”

Trudy let go of her legs and
Michael rose to his feet. Someone was breaking the door down. Amy tried to sit
up, but her shoulder hurt too much. There was a loud crash. Michael moved out
of view. She had to see what was happening. Amy was fighting the blinding pain
in her shoulder when Trudy hesitated, then quickly decided to change her
allegiance.

“I’m sorry, Amy. He forced me.
He said he would hurt me bad if I didn’t help him. You’ve seen what he can do.”

Trudy assisted Amy to a seated
position and undid the bonds on her wrists. Amy’s arms ached. Her fingers
tingled from the restoration of blood. She forced one hand to her face, where
she removed the wadded material from her mouth.

Her blurred vision focused on
the two men fighting on the floor. Todd had just forced the knife out of
Michael’s hand. Amy leapt for it. She wasn’t about to let either Trudy or
Michael retrieve it first. She lay across the cold steel and forced her numbed
hand to grab the handle. Someone touched her and Amy swung out haphazardly, but
she felt the blade make contact.

“She’s okay. She’s okay. Don’t
worry,” Trudy was speaking to someone.

Amy turned her head and saw Todd
reaching for her. Behind him stood Trudy, with blood running down her left arm.

“What the hell did he do to you?”
Todd fingered the bruises and welts on her face then ran his hand over the
wound on her shoulder. “Thank God, it’s not deep.”

“I told him not to...”

“Waste time,” Amy finished for
Trudy.

“Amy, I wouldn’t have let him...
I figured he’d scare you a little, so you’d tell him where his wife and kids
are. That’s all.”

“Like you scared my partner,
Joey Landis,” Todd said.

“How did you know about her and
Joey?” Amy asked.

“Morgan showed me a photograph
of the two of them together taken at the bar.”

Trudy started to run. Todd didn’t
bother to chase. He didn’t have to, because the police were just reaching the
top of the landing when she exited the apartment.

Todd held Amy close. He kissed
the bloodied wound and demanded an ambulance as soon as a policeman entered the
room.

Chapter 26

The Hospital

Amy waited impatiently in bed
for her treating physician to sign the appropriate papers to release her from
the hospital. She wasn’t an invalid, only badly bruised with a bit of skin
missing from her right shoulder. She had been warned by the medical staff that
the latter might leave a small scar, but it was far better than the drastic
measure of jumping out the window, which she had desperately attempted.

There was a light knock on the
door, and then Jennie poked her head into the room.

“You’re awake. Good. I didn’t
want to disturb you if you were asleep,” she said, pushing the door open. In
her arms was the brightest display of yellow and white daisies Amy had ever
seen.

“They’re lovely. I’m so glad you
came.”

“It’s my fault you’re here.”

“No. It’s Michael’s, and Trudy
put in her fair share also.”

“None of this would have
happened if I hadn’t opened my mouth.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I told Michael about Todd’s
work for the government. I even introduced Joey to Michael.”

“What I don’t understand is how
Joey could have been tricked into sending Todd on a fake job.”

“Joey had a drinking problem. He
also had a problem with money disappearing faster than he could earn it. That
woman who was seeing Michael talked Joey into joining them in a attempt to
blackmail some lawyer at your firm.”

“That’s right. Trudy found out
about Stuart Lester from Teddy.”

“She wanted to use Todd to
obtain the evidence they needed for the blackmail. However, Michael saw it as
an opportunity to get rid of two annoyances. He could kill Joey and blame it on
my brother.”

“After the date which Joey
helped arrange.”

“Trudy stayed late at work that
night and waited for you to leave with Todd. She then called Joey and told him
that you and my brother hadn’t hit it off. She demanded that he go over and see
if he could salvage the plan, since she was sure that only you could open up
the files to Todd. Michael was waiting for Joey. He talked Joey into letting
him into Todd’s apartment, said he wanted to speak to Todd about me and the
kids.” Here Jennie faltered. Several seconds passed before she was able to
continue. “They surmised you were helping my brother. Initially, Michael was
going to pay a visit to your apartment just to rough you up. Trudy swore that
was all that would be needed to keep you quiet. However, when you helped me,
that threw my husband over the line. The woman claimed she went along with it
because she was afraid of Michael. My bet is that you were making her nervous,
too, with all your questions.”

“But how did the police figure
all this out?”

“Todd said Michael’s tramp
turned state’s evidence against him.”

“Then I guess you won’t have to
stay at that shelter.”

“No. Todd is helping me find a
new place to live. The children and I are staying with him for the time being.”

“It must be crowded.”

“Todd said he wouldn’t be
staying for long. He’s even thinking about giving us his place for a time until
I get back on my feet. I’ve found a job through the crisis center, and I’ve
already written away to several colleges for admissions information.”

“That’s great.... I haven’t seen
Todd since he deposited me in the ambulance. I presume Todd has his old job
back.”

Jennie shrugged. There were a
few moments of silence between the two women.

“Those daisies are pretty. The
daisy is my favorite flower,” Amy said. “Listen, I’m going to need some
assistance in getting home. I’ve only been here two days and I could open a
florist shop,” she said, waving her hand in the direction of several vases of
flowers from her job and friends. “I’m waiting for the okay from the doctor,
and then I’ve got the number for a taxi service I’ve used in the past.” Amy
dragged Sam’s crumpled card from the bed stand drawer. It seemed unbelievable
that it had been found in the back pocket of the jeans she had worn into the
hospital.

“Can’t. I’ve left the children
downstairs in the waiting room with someone, and I’d better get back before
they cause a ruckus. But we’ll get together soon,” she said, kissing Amy
delicately on her wounded cheek.

A nurse opened the door before
Jennie reached it.

“You can get dressed, and I’ll
bring up a wheelchair for you. Should take me about forty minutes. Is that
enough time for you to get ready?”

“Plenty,” Amy answered. Her head
ached. The nurse disappeared. “Jennie, maybe you could stay a few minutes and
help me...”

“Sorry! I have to hurry.” Jennie
fled.

Feeling as if she had the
plague, Amy lowered her feet to the floor. Her head was woozy, but several days
in the hospital had given her the chance to make a decision about Todd. She
wasn’t going to let him off the hook. Jennie had said that he was planning on
leaving soon, probably on another assignment. Amy was determined to stop him.
Maybe she’d have to compromise and accept the kind of work he did, but she wasn’t
going to let him walk away from her completely.

She was in the bathroom fully
dressed and combing her hair when she heard the door to her room open.

“I’m almost finished. I have to
make a quick call for a cab and then we can lea...” Amy walked back into the
room and saw Todd standing in front of the bed, a dozen red roses clashing with
the aquamarine polo shirt he wore.

“Jennie said your favorite
flower is the daisy, but I—”

“That’s all right, because you’re
my favorite person. I would think the man I love should be, don’t you?”

“Yeah. About that love thing.”

“Oh, please, Todd, don’t try to
talk me out of being in love with you, because I can’t be. And I think if you
were honest with yourself you’d realize that—”

“I love you.”

“Exactly.”

The two stood and stared at each
other.

“I love you,” Todd repeated.

Amy wished her head didn’t feel
like pea soup, because she thought she might be missing something here.

“Been thinking a lot, and I can’t
imagine walking away from you. I kind of like the idea of mingling our dirty
laundry together in that little bedroom of yours.”

Amy moved closer to the bed and
sat down.

“Are you all right? Maybe they
are letting you out too soon. Want me to call the doctor?”

“No! You want to share laundry.
Is that why you’re giving your apartment to Jennie?”

“Well, not giving. She’d live
there temporarily until we wanted to sell the apartment and buy a bigger one
when we want to start a family.” Todd’s eyebrows rose.

“Start a family? What about your
employment?”

“No problem. I can beef it up
some so’s I can earn a decent living.”

“You mean go off on dangerous
missions linking you to strange women while I stay home and—”

“There’s a few women in the export
business, but they’re not so strange.”

“We are not talking about the
export business.”

“That’s the only business I’ll
be in, Amy. I promise you that. It seems the business was doing better than I
thought. Joey had taken care of all the financials for the company, and he was
siphoning the cash to pay his booze and gambling bills.”

“Oh. And these children you’re
planning. With whom are you having them?”

“Huh?”

“My mother would never approve
of an out-of-wedlock grandchild.”

“Good Lord, Amy. Of course we’ll
be married.”

“I haven’t been asked,” she
pouted.

“Suppose you’d like me to get
down on...” He could tell by her expression that she would.

Todd knelt down on one knee,
offered her the bouquet and asked her to marry him.

Amy accepted the flowers but did
not immediately accept the proposal.

“What is it, Amy?”

“Who makes breakfast in the
morning?”

Todd laughed and stood. He took
her in his arms and whispered,

“I’d do anything to keep you in
bed.”