Beloved Killer, page 9
Jay slipped his hand in the pocket of his jeans and offered her a pack of gum.
Nikki took a piece and unwrapped it. Saliva erupted at the first juicy bite, and she realized she was starving. She’d been too upset to eat anything today. “Are you hungry?”
Jay shook his head. His eyes were closed again and his face was pale.
“Sorry about bashing you with that bat. Your ribs hurting?”
“I don’t know. I can’t tell through the pain in my head.”
“Have more painkillers.” She got up to pour another glass of water and tap a couple more ibuprofen from the bottle. “I’m going to the vending machine by the office and get something to eat.”
Jay swallowed. “Keep your eyes open. I don’t believe anyone will find us here. Maybe they’re not even looking, but we can’t be too careful.”
Nikki nodded. “I will be,” she promised.
She returned from foraging a few minutes later with a couple of packets of cheese and crackers, some trail mix, and granola bars. She offered the goodies to Jay, but he shook his head.
“A little protein might make you feel better. Have some nuts and raisins.” She tossed a packet at him. It hit his chest and landed in his lap.
Reluctantly, he opened it and began nibbling. Pretty soon the trail mix was gone.
“See. I knew you were hungry. So…what next? We find a pay phone and call your boss, or are you planning on going to his house?”
“Yeah.”
“Which one?”
“Both.” He hesitated. “But I think we should wait a little longer.”
Nikki studied him. There was a reason he was delaying contacting his boss. Something was ticking away in his brain. “You want out of this, don’t you? And this might be an opportunity to walk away.”
“No. I wouldn’t do that,” he said without conviction.
“Because you owe him so much.”
“Yes.”
“Why? How exactly did he save your life? Tell me about it.”
Jay remained silent.
“Come on. I need a distraction to keep me from bouncing off the walls. I really want to understand what ties you to this guy.”
He licked his lips, a quick dart of the tongue that sent a crazy little sizzle of anticipation through her. Nikki held her breath as she waited for him to begin. But he still said nothing. Jay wasn’t the kind of man to share a personal story.
“I was ten when I began working for Kuypers’s outfit,” he said suddenly. “Eleven when he took me in.”
Chapter Thirteen
Even after all these years, and as out of it as he’d been that night, J could still remember the attack, or at least flashes of it. He’d been walking his route, the packet stuffed down the front of his jeans like he’d been taught to do to keep the money safe. It was late afternoon. A clear fall day that lulled him into a false sense of security.
“I think there were two guys. I used to think there were more, but when I went through it in my mind later, I figured there were probably only two.”
He remembered the terror of hands grabbing him, jerking him off his feet, a fist punching into his gut, driving the air out of him. Pain after pain burst through him as they pummeled and kicked, then carved the marks on his face as a calling card. Bombs exploding and leaving behind shrapnel so he could never forget.
“They were after the money I was carrying, but also sending a message. This was when Kuypers was starting out. It was a fight over territory. When these guys were through, they dropped me off where they knew Kuypers would find me, a way of letting him know they’d keep coming until they drove him out. But Kuypers is still here, and this other boss is long gone.”
“Damn.” Nikki’s soft exclamation made him bristle. He didn’t want her pity.
“So he took care of you and twisted your mind so he got you believing you mattered to him,” she said, as if she could see his entire life laid out in front of her. “You have to know that bastard doesn’t really care about you. He just uses you.”
So much for cooing sympathy. Nikki Larson didn’t pull any punches when she told the truth as she saw it. On some level, J knew she was right. But on other levels, he knew she was wrong too. Kuypers did look on him as a son in his own way. He cared. He would certainly care if J betrayed him by leaving.
J swung around to put his feet on the floor and started to stand.
“Oh, come on! You’re not going to get pissy because I said something you didn’t want to hear.”
“No. I’m going to take a piss.” He took one careful step, and his ankle nearly buckled.
“Let me help you.” Nikki bounced off the bed and was beside him in a second. Her arm slipped around his back. J leaned into her as he took another step. She grunted a little as she bore his weight.
“You are in bad shape, dude. I don’t know if you’re going to be able to walk on that leg by tomorrow.”
Together they hobbled to the bathroom.
“That’s good. I got it from here,” he said curtly before she could help him inside. Would she offer to hold his dick for him while he pissed? Would he mind if she did?
He closed the door and leaned against it while he simply breathed for a moment. His body was trashed, and now his mind was laid open and bleeding too. He wished he hadn’t let Nikki wheedle the story out of him. He’d given away too much.
“Hey, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.” Her voice came through the door right by his ear. “I tend to be really blunt. I’m working on it. But you know I’m right about your boss. He’s been molding you into his perfect soldier since you were a kid. I know it wouldn’t be easy to break away, but you can’t live your life under his control.”
God, this woman could talk. She never shut up. J hobbled over to the toilet and lifted the seat, letting the rush of urine drown out Nikki’s incessant voice.
By the time he’d finished washing up at the sink—a hot shower sounded great, but he doubted he could stand up long enough—Nikki had finally shut up. J waited a little longer, dreading going back into the barrage of her questions and opinions. But he couldn’t stay in the bathroom forever.
He opened the door and listened to the quiet murmur of the golf tournament on the TV and the traffic noises outside. Bracing a hand against the wall, he limped back to the bed where Nikki lay, watching television. She snapped a quick glance at him but didn’t get up to help this time. J made his own clumsy way to his side of the bed and collapsed onto it.
Silence grew like a hedge between them, becoming more impenetrable by the minute. Usually, J enjoyed silence. There was enough noise and chaos on the job that he appreciated quiet. But Nikki’s silence made him feel twitchy and restless.
“Good round,” he commented on the hole which had just been completed.
“Yeah.” Nikki studied the rankings being shown on the screen as if she were going to be quizzed on them later.
J did the unthinkable and resurrected their conversation. “You’re not wrong about Kuypers. But there’s more to him than what you’ve seen, and our relationship is…complicated.”
Nikki nodded. “Fair enough. It’s not my business to tell you what to do. Anyway, it’s not as if I care. We’re not BFFs.”
J could tell she was distancing herself from him, and suddenly he wanted her yammering insistence back. He longed for her to continue talking to him about anything.
“So now you know more about me than I do about you,” he said. “You grew up around here?”
“Yeah. We lived in subsidized housing over on Ervine, and my mom worked at the canning factory. Dad was always sinking money into some grand new scheme that inevitably failed, so Mom was the wage earner.” Nikki stared at the TV, toying with a lock of hair as she spoke. “She died in a car accident. Gone. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “After that, my dad started drinking more and stopped doing anything at all for a while.”
J wasn’t sure what to say. Some condolence for her loss? He wasn’t used to expressing words of sympathy, so he remained quiet, listening.
“I was fourteen, but I pretty much became his caretaker. Mom’s insurance money kept us afloat for a while. I squirreled away money so Dad wouldn’t drink it all up. Then one day he snapped out of it. Cleaned himself up and said he was going to look for a job. When he came back all excited about opening a bar, I had to support his dream. He named the place Mike’s Joint, and we moved into the apartment above it.
“The bar never was financially solvent, but at least it got my dad focused on something outside himself. He loved shooting the shit with his customers, playing king of the castle…and having booze at his fingertips. Meanwhile, I was counting the days until I graduated high school and could leave all that crap behind.”
She laughed bitterly. “But here I am again, smack in the middle of a crisis, and I can’t blame my dad this time. His debt may have started the ball rolling, but I gave in to Kuypers when I should’ve told him to take the damn bar, and just walked away like I always meant to.”
“You still could,” J echoed her words. “Leave town. Don’t ever come back.”
“I’m dead broke. I’ve sunk everything I have into that place. I don’t want to give it up now. Although I don’t know how many customers I’m going to have now that the place is shot up.” She rubbed her hand over her forehead. “And that’s the least of it. Eventually, cops will question me about what happened.”
J shook his head. “No evidence. The drugs are long gone. Only some bodies and bullet holes left behind. I told you, pretend you were out of town. When you got home, all this was a shock to you.”
“They’ll ask where I stayed, who I saw, and if I have a clue what caused the shootout at my bar.”
J wasn’t much of a liar. Despite his line of work, he’d never been arrested or interrogated by the police. “Swear you have no idea, and you don’t want to say who you were with because he’s married. Lawyer up and stick with your story.” He offered the two pieces of advice Kuypers had drilled into him on the chance J ever did get picked up for questioning. “The mistake people make is talking too much.”
J’s ankle was swelling. It felt hot and tight as if his skin might burst. His ribs didn’t feel much better, and his head still pounded. He wanted to let sleep erase worries about the future. He would’ve been content to spend the night here with Nikki, pretending the outside world didn’t exist. But he should at least call Kuypers and let him know he was alive. And he would…in just a few more minutes.
J closed his eyes and listened to the quiet applause of the crowd watching a small white ball land in a tiny hole. Simple satisfaction. Uncomplicated pleasure.
Chapter Fourteen
“Wake up. Nikki. We’ve got to go.”
The voice ripped her from her cocoon of deep sleep. She didn’t want to surface into consciousness, but Jay’s voice dragged her up. She recalled where she was, what had happened, and dread displaced oblivion.
She rubbed her bleary eyes. “I’m awake. Shut up.”
Jay was dressed and had his coat on as he loomed over the bed. Light filled the cracks between the blinds—daylight.
“Jesus. How long did we sleep?” She yawned.
“Too long. We have to go. I need to check in.” Jay’s body was a dark blot against the sunlight struggling to enter the room. It haloed him as if he were a fallen angel.
Nikki threw off the covers and searched for her socks and shoes on the floor. “You’re going to call?”
“No. We’ll go to him. We’ll be safe there.”
At the crime lord’s house, where guests were never invited? Once Nikki had seen where he lived, would she be allowed to leave?
“I’ve been thinking,” she said as she jammed one foot into a shoe. “Maybe we should go our separate ways now. I’ll do what you said, go home and act shocked at what happened. They can’t arrest me for being an innocent victim of crime.”
Jay held out her jacket. “Since we don’t know who’s behind this, it’s better if you go to Kuypers’s house with me until we sort it out. It could get ugly, and I don’t want you to end up collateral damage.”
Nikki slipped her arms into the sleeves as he held her jacket. “For my protection?”
“Yes. I think it’s best.”
What if I don’t? But Nikki realized she didn’t want to face this mess on her own. She didn’t want to run, didn’t know if the police could protect her, but felt strangely confident Jay could.
“Fine. Let me use the john first.”
Jay drove out of the city, following the curve of the river. Suburban neighborhoods sprouted up like lawn gnomes, and beyond those, the gated communities of the wealthy. Jay was quiet, and though that was nothing new, Nikki felt a subtle difference in the quality of his silence. She slanted a sideways glance at him. His expression was tense. Lines grooved the corners of his mouth, following the curve of the scars on his cheeks. One finger rhythmically tapped the steering wheel.
Damn, if Jay was afraid to face his master, she should be terrified.
“Are you sure about this?” Nikki asked after several quiet miles. “Kuypers might not be happy you brought me along.”
Jay continued to look forward. “It’ll be all right. You’re part of this now.”
Nikki opened her mouth to argue, but she’d thrown in her lot with Jay, made a giant leap in trusting him. She sincerely hoped she hadn’t made a mistake. Or that Jay wasn’t mistaken in placing faith in Kuypers.
The car slowed as it passed perhaps a quarter mile of wrought iron fence, artistry and protection combined. Jay turned into the drive and stopped at a gate where he punched in a code.
The gates didn’t open. A voice came out of the speaker. “We changed the code, Jay. I’ll let you in.”
The gate swung slowly inward, and Jay drove forward. The driveway was sheltered by tree branches making a long, green tunnel to a sprawling brick building. Walls shrouded with ivy gave the impression that the house had stood for centuries, but Nikki knew the area had only been developed in the last ten years.
“Wow. Looks like the set for some period drama.”
A small smile flickered over Jay’s mouth. “I think he fantasizes himself landed gentry. Mr. Kuypers wasn’t always rich.”
For the first time, Nikki could see Kuypers as a person instead of just a thorn in her side. He might be a low-life criminal, but he had vulnerabilities like anybody, weaknesses that maybe she could find a way to exploit.
Under the portico sheltering the massive front door, several men stood with assault rifles casually slung over their shoulders. The sense of unreality that had shrouded Nikki during the drive here disappeared. She was still deeply in danger, and she’d been clinging to Jay like some magic talisman that would keep her safe. But she didn’t really know him or what trap he might be leading her into.
Jay stopped the car, and several of the men approached.
“Where the hell have you been?” a large man with a shaved head demanded. “All hell breaks loose, and you disappear for hours. Boss is not happy.”
“Got held up.” Jay opened the door and got out.
Nikki followed his lead. She stood beside the car, avoiding the guards’ eyes as they all gave her a curious once-over. She felt vulnerable and incredibly stupid for agreeing to come here.
“I’m, uh, gonna need your weapon before you see him,” Cueball said. “New protocol.”
“Lost my gun. I’m unarmed,” Jay said, but he turned and placed his hands on the roof of the car while the guy frisked him.
“You too,” another man ordered Nikki.
She tried to act as if she did this sort of thing every day, and submitted to the pat down with poise, considering how her legs were trembling. When the goons were certain Jay and Nikki were unarmed, they escorted them into the house.
The front hall was another stage set from a historical drama. Nikki whispered to Jay, “Man loves his hunting paintings.”
Jay didn’t reply or even shoot her a reassuring look, so she was not reassured. In fact, her fear began to grow as she fully realized she’d marched right into the lion’s den—Kuypers’s literal den, which smelled of tobacco and leather. In fact, Kuypers’s features actually looked a little leonine, and he moved with regal assurance as he crossed the room toward them.
“You’re limping. What happened, Jacob?”
At first, Nikki thought he was addressing Cueball or one of the others, but then she realized he was addressing Jay.
In his usual brief way, Jay told about the ambush and the stolen heroin.
“So you jumped out the window and ran off with Miss Larson,” Kuypers said.
“Fell out, and she had to drag me away.”
Kuypers’s gaze swept over Nikki, leaving her skin crawling. “You helped him?”
“Well, he was…just lying there on the ground. I couldn’t let him get shot up.”
“Why not?” Kuypers sounded honestly curious. “You could have run. It’s not as if you owe any loyalty to me or my people.”
He was right, and Nikki couldn’t do anything except make a weak joke in response. “Guess I’ve watched too many war movies. Never leave a man behind.”
Kuypers’s eyes drilled into hers for several long moments before he finally returned his attention to Jay. “Why didn’t you call after you got someplace safe?”
“My phone was broken in the fall. Nikki had left hers behind, and there weren’t any pay phones nearby.”
Nikki interrupted. “Jay was barely conscious. I was terrified, and we needed a moment to recover, so I checked us into a motel.”
Kuypers eyebrows shot up. “Really? This gets better and better.”
“To rest. Jay has some cracked ribs, a head wound, and a twisted ankle. He should’ve gone to the hospital, but under the circumstances…” She could feel a bout of babbling coming on, so she clamped her teeth shut on any more words.
“So you bandaged him up? Very romantic.” Kuypers sat on the edge of a massive desk in front of a bank of windows overlooking a view of the river. “But this seems like a story someone might invent to cover his collusion with the men he was supposedly escaping from. It’s too strange not to be true, and with the added bonus of a wide-eyed ingénue to sell it.”
