Burning Love (Hell Yeah! Cajun Style), page 26
“Where is she now? Is she all right?”
“She says she’s fine, told me everything was okay and that it was her fault.”
“Don’t leave her. Don’t walk away from her. There’s something you don’t know.” He hated to break patient/doctor confidentiality, but this was too important.
“What?” She wasn’t suicidal, there was no way.
“Twice before, Harley has been rejected by a man because of the rapes. They felt she was tainted.” Several words of vehement protest from Beau colored the air. “That’s her greatest fear about you, you know.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Harley’s convinced that you’ll suddenly realize being with a rape victim is more trouble than it’s worth.”
After talking to Dane, Beau quickly made his way back to their room. Harley’s words kept coming back to him – “Don’t go. It won’t happen again. Please don’t let this change things between us.” Did she think he was about to turn his back on her over this? Hell, no. “Harley?”
She didn’t answer. Walking quickly from room to room, he frantically searched the suite. Everything she had brought with her was gone. There was no feminine toiletries in the bathroom, no clothes in her side of the closet. His heart was hammering in his chest. Her purse was gone. Her cell phones were gone. His phone lay there, right along side his wallet and change. And then he saw it – a note. Grabbing it, he hastily read the words. At first he didn’t understand – so he read them again. Terror washed over him like lava.
Once he had said there was no way she could scare him. He was wrong. Harley was on her way to face the work of a madman, again. And the worst part – she was convinced he didn’t want her.
Like a caged lion, he paced back and forth across the room. God, he had to do something. She would be in no frame of mind to diffuse a bomb. Jesus! Why hadn’t he stayed with her? Why hadn’t he talked it through, instead of running off and pouting like some adolescent? Didn’t she understand? It was him that had failed, not her. Beau’s chest ached like somebody had ripped his heart from its moorings.
He had to go to her. That was the only answer. He wasn’t ready to give her up to a misunderstanding much less a tragic, senseless death. Not going to happen. Running out to the truck, he started his pickup up and slammed it into gear. “Hold on, Baby. I’m coming. And once I get you back in my arms, I’m never going to let you go again.
*****
Flying north, Harley tried to calm down. This was no time to fall apart. There was time enough for that later. In her bag, her phone rang. Beau!! Grabbing it up, she dug it out – her whole body shaking. She didn’t even look at the number. “Beau?”
“No, someone else from your past. Hello, Nada Montoya. I’ve missed you.”
A voice from the grave. “Why are you doing this?”
“To get to you – am I succeeding?” Icy. Cold. Deadly.
“If you want me – why not come after me? Why put innocent people in jeopardy?” She was squeezing the phone so hard; she expected it to break in two. “I can make it easy on you – I’ll come to you.” After all, she had nothing to lose now – nothing.
“What would be the fun in that? You just come on to Baton Rouge. And keep the phone on – I have some special information. . . . just for you.” His venomous whisper caused her skin to crawl. Then he was gone.
*****
Beau was driving at break neck speed. He didn’t know what he would do if he were stopped. A trip that should take an hour was going to be a lot less. When his phone buzzed, he almost didn’t answer it. But what if it were Harley? He didn’t take time to look. “Harley?”
“No, it’s Dandi. What’s going on? Where are you?”
Knowing he couldn’t tell her the truth, he struggled for words. “I’m on my way to Baton Rouge. I don’t have time to talk.”
“I know something is up. You just got a strange phone call from a man named Waco. He said he was Harley’s partner and he told me to give you this message. He said that if you were half the man Harley thought you were, you’d come where she is. And when you get there – call this number.” She called it out to him. “Care to tell me why you and Harley aren’t together?”
“No, not now.” He entered the number in his phone.
“Indiana has filled me in on the man that’s after Harley. I couldn’t believe when he brought in that bomb detection squad, I thought I was going to faint.”
“Sweetie, I love you. But, I’m not in a talking mood right now.”
“All right. I understand. Whatever’s up, be careful. Please. You’re all I have.”
“I’ll do my best.”
After he laid the phone down, he muttered. “I may owe Waco an apology, after all.”
This was a trip he could make in the dark. LSU was his alma mater. He didn’t know if Crocker had made it his target because of him, but he had a funny feeling that was exactly what was going on. Because he was in prime in Harley’s life, everything he valued would be threatened. There were a number of people and things Beau loved, but Harley was his prize possession. Fox Crocker’s days were numbered; there was no doubt about it. Beau would see to that himself.
As he neared the college, there was no obvious indication that something was wrong. Maybe a few extra cop cars were milling around, but they were keeping it low key. Still, he wanted to get where he was going as quickly as possible. So, he made the call. “Waco.” It wasn’t Waco who answered, but the man seemed to understand his request and in a few minutes an escort came to lead him to a delivery entrance. Apparently he was now an honorary member of Socorro. Damn straight. He should have thought of that himself.
Driving down through campus, following a motorcycle cop, he could see the football stadium ahead of him. Clemson’s stadium was called Death Valley, but today that term might best apply to the home of the LSU Tigers. Some called this structure Deaf Valley because of the noise level achieved every Saturday night that a home game was played. It was considered to be the one stadium most unfriendly to a visiting team. Tiger Stadium held over 92000 people and renovations were underway to take that up another eight thousand. When full to capacity, population wise – it was the sixth largest ‘city’ in Louisiana.
In a few minutes, he was parked and led inside. “My God,” he breathed as he looked up into the stands. They were packed, and the roar of happy, excited people struck him as the saddest thing he ever saw. They had no idea what was going on. A cold dread swept over his body. It was the most damn eerie sensation he had ever felt. The lives of this huge crowd rested in the small, soft hands of the woman he loved and Beau wanted to bellow his anguish.
“Walk this way, Sir; it’ll be closer to cut through.” The cop got his attention. “They told me to take you to Socorro’s van.” They turned and went into the belly of the stadium, a web of halls and rooms. Infamous Governor Huey P. Long had been allocated money by the state to build dormitories, but none for stadium seating. So, he had fooled the system and ordered dorms be built in the stadium walls with seating above them. Later, the living quarters were changed to offices and storage. As they walked through the halls, they’re footsteps echoing – Beau heard an unmistakable sound he would recognize anywhere. It was muffled, but he knew what it was – a gunshot.
He didn’t walk – he ran.
*****
“Listen to me, Bitch.” Crocker’s voice snarled into the phone. “I told you no one was allowed to help you.”
“You shot him!” Harley screamed.
“Yes, I did. And I’d shoot you and let all these people die, but it’s more fun to watch you sweat.”
She shook – she quaked. What if Waco were dead? God, this was a nightmare. She put the phone on speaker and laid it down. Crocker was manic, but he might say something she could use. When she had first walked around the corner and seen this huge panel truck, she knew there were enough explosives in it to take down half the stadium. The Oklahoma City bombing instantly came to mind. Her first order of business had been to disable the mercury switch. She remembered where Crocker had said he would put it, if he were the one designing a car bomb. And it was right where he had mentioned, under the right fender, over the back tire. She had also found and destroyed the cell phone apparatus that cut off Crocker’s remote control of the bomb. He didn’t know that, though. And she wasn’t going to mention that to him – not yet anyway. She’d wait till she thought the time was right. He was as susceptible to mind games as she was. More so, hopefully. If he thought he still had the option to set off the bomb early, he wouldn’t be as reckless. Knowing their calls were being monitored, she longed to give the Baton Rouge Bomb Squad that info – just in case. Her main concern was that no one else get shot down like Waco, either. Crocker had her between a rock and a hard place – just the way he intended.
Opening the side panel, what she saw almost took her to her knees. Pallets of plastic explosives and bags of fertilizer were arranged in stacks that reached the ceiling and a control panel of wires and switches, designed to intimidate and overwhelm her stretched across the floor like a huge mixer board.
“How do you like my handiwork? It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
“It’s the work of a madman,” she answered. God, where did she start?
Her nerves were frazzled and whatever psychic ability she had seemed to be shorted out by the turmoil of her sorrow over Beau and Waco.
“I’ll tell you a secret – something you need to know before you go farther.”
“I’m waiting.” She was listening, as she examined the intricate mass of electronics.
“This is the simplest bomb you could ever diffuse. In fact, I have colored the wires red that you need to cut.”
Harley didn’t understand his statement; it couldn’t be that easy. “Okay, thank you.”
“Not so fast – there are two of them, one on each end. Listen carefully, this is important.” Harley’s skin crawled just from having to listen to his voice.
“Crocker, damn you. Tell me!”
He chuckled. “You have a choice, sweet Nada. I always loved your body, by the way. It’s a shame you’re a frigid bitch. How are you able to satisfy that Cajun of yours? I can’t imagine he finds any pleasure in your bed.”
“Shut-up, Crocker,” she snarled.
“Are you nervous, Nada? You should be. There’s a wire on your right side that will stop the detonation of the bomb.” She walked toward it. “Uh-uh – not so fast.”
It was obvious he was watching her. Harley looked up and around, trying to see him. “Where are you?”
“I’ve been living in your head for years. Haven’t I?” He laughed again. “Now, look all the way to the other end of the board.” Crocker’s voice took on a sick, sing-song quality. But, her eyes followed his direction. “All the way over there, where you can’t possibly reach them at the same time – is another switch. That one belongs solely to you.”
“I don’t understand,” she said that, but an image of herself choking and gasping for air was pulsing in her mind like a neon sign.
“You have a choice, Nada. Not a good choice, but a choice.” A sly snicker told of his enjoyment at her unbelievable predicament. “If you clip the wire that saves the stadium full of people, a vial of poisonous gas will be released right in your face. You will die in seconds.”
She had been right on the money. At least she knew her psychic abilities weren’t out of commission. “You’re a sick bastard, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.” He seemed to hesitate, just to play with her. “If you choose to cut the other wire on the left side, you save yourself – but everybody else may die. Thousands will be crushed by the falling stands and hundreds more will perish in the panic. You can’t be in two places at once. It’s impossible and I’ll shoot anyone who approaches to help you. So what’s it going to be? Will you pick – yourself or everyone else? If you could only be two places at once, but you can’t.”
What did he mean by that? Shaking her head, she tried to clear her mind. Harley chose to say nothing more to Crocker. She had the information she needed. Her heart was pounding and she felt desolate, alone and hopeless. More than anything she wanted to hold Beau one more time. She’d never see him again. Because Crocker knew how she would choose – there really was no alternative. Today, Nada Montoya would die.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Beau demanded. Several uniformed SWAT teams and Bomb Squad techs stood around listening to the transmitted conversations of Harley and Crocker. He had walked up at the end of their exchange and he wanted to know everything.
One burly man with a crew cut glanced at him. “She’s up shit creek without a paddle. This nutjob has built the perfect trap for her. Ms. Montoya can either save herself or everybody else – but not both.” Sweat was beading on the man’s forehead, clearly he was scared shitless. Beau glanced down at his pants, looking for a wet spot. Surely, the coward had pissed on himself.
Rage filled Beau. “Well, why in the hell aren’t you doing something about it? Why don’t you help her?” That these trained apes were standing there in relative safety while his little darling was fighting their battles for them absolutely infuriated him.
“She’s trained – she’ll make the right choice. Crocker has issued kill orders for anyone that tries to go to her aid. We’re afraid he’ll detonate the bomb early if we make a move.”
“Where’s her partner?” Maybe Waco could help him understand what was going on.
“Over there,” another man pointed to where an EMT was working on the fallen man.
Beau walked over and got as close as he could. “Waco, I’m Beau. I’m here to help. What do I need to know? What can I do?”
Waco opened pain filled eyes. “You can stop hurting Harley for one thing.”
“You don’t have to tell me that. I know I fucked up. What else?”
“I can promise you that she’s killed the mercury switch. Get out there and help her. I don’t know what’s going on – they’re not telling me everything, but she may need two hands.” Waco pinned him with a stare. “But what she needs most of all – so she can concentrate to do her job – is to know that you still want her in your life.”
“Can you tell these idiots to let me go to her? Will they listen to you?”
And then he heard her again; his baby’s voice was coming over the cop’s speakers. He hurried back to hear what she had to say. She was talking to Crocker. “Let me ask you something, just out of curiosity.”
“What do you want to know? I’ll tell you most anything now; consider it to be equivalent to your last meal.”
“Why didn’t you detonate the bomb when Waco walked out here, why did you choose to just shoot him?”
“Easy, I didn’t want our game to be over so soon.”
“I’m going over there to help her.” Beau announced flatly. “She belongs to me.”
“We can’t let you do that. Crocker will end this thing before we have a chance in hell to stop him.”
Beau had to hold himself back. “I don’t see WE doing anything but standing here while a little bit of a female charges into hell for you fuckin’ bloody morons.”
“Now, Mr. LeBlanc. . . there’s no need. . .”
Harley’s voice cut into their conversation as if she was addressing their concerns.
“I hate to tell you this, Crocker. But your mercury switch is dead. You are officially out of the loop. It’s in my hands now.”
“I still have the gun.”
“You won’t need that. No one is coming out to help me – it’s just me and you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Baby.” Beau glared at the policeman and one of them nodded his head and Beau took off. She didn’t know it, but the Calvary was officially on the way.
Chapter Eleven
Harley prayed. Her prayers probably didn’t go any higher than the ceiling, but she didn’t figure it would hurt to try. She prayed for a miracle. There was no way she would ever ask any of the others to come to her aid. They all had families and they might die getting to her. A Kevlar vest wouldn’t be a deterrent to Crocker. He would take a headshot. Still, she hoped – for a few more seconds, she hoped. And she prayed for Beau – that her death wouldn’t devastate him. She wanted him to be happy.
There was nothing else to do. She had examined everything. Crocker had won. She had to kill this bomb before it exploded and killed too many innocent lives to count. Rising, she went to stand by the wire that would shut this monstrosity down and end her life. “I love you, Beau.” She raised her clippers . . . and another shot rang out – and another. She jumped when somebody touched her.
“I love you, too, Harley.” Strong arms wrapped around her and hauled her back against his chest. “I’m here. What can I do?”
Turning in his arms, she hugged him hard. “You shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous.”
“I play with fire all the time, Baby. Just tell me what to do. I can follow orders. Let me save you.”
“You’re an answer to prayer. Did you know that?” She handed him some clippers and pointed for him to stand at the kill switch that would disable the panel truck bomb and she stayed next to the one that would release the gas. Maybe, if the noxious substance was released, he would be far enough away to escape harm. “And don’t breathe in when I clip this wire. Hold your breath. On the count of three - - on the word three – cut the wire.”
“One.” Their eyes met.
“Two.” Beau mouthed ‘I love you.”
“Three.” They both closed their eyes and SNIP.
It worked.
“It’s over,” she announced to the men who were listening. They swarmed the place hunting for Crocker, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She had had doubts about surviving this time. Serious doubts. Her life had been turned topsy-turvy and nothing had made any sense. But in the next moment, she was swept up in Beau’s arms and her world righted itself.
“I love you, I love you, I love you. I was wrong.”
He spread kisses all over her face and squeezed her so tight she could barely breathe. Her feet weren’t even touching the ground, he held her up in his arms and all she could do was cling to him and cry. “I can’t believe you came,” she marveled.
