Narrow Escape Read online

  “A girlfriend?” Aunt Luellen looked insulted. “How could he not say anything about that to me? Or to his mother?”

  Uncle Lew raised an eyebrow at her. “He said he didn’t want anybody knowing about his girlfriend, including his parents.”

  Aunt Luellen still looked peeved.

  “Did he say who his girlfriend was?”

  “No, and I respected his privacy. After living with Luellen for this long, I learned to value it.”

  “Hey!” she protested.

  Uncle Lew just gave her a cheeky grin.

  But Arissa could understand how Uncle Lew would have kept her brother’s secret. Her uncle wasn’t intimidated by his sister and he disapproved of her nosiness, so out of his own sense of privacy, he’d have allowed Mark his own secrets. Also, he hardly ever spoke to Arissa’s mom. He wouldn’t have had a chance to tell her after Mark’s death, and he certainly wouldn’t have told Aunt Luellen, ever.

  “What did you do with Mark’s things after he died?” Nathan’s voice had an anxious edge to it.

  “Since I wasn’t in my apartment very often, I left them in the guest room for almost a year. Then I just boxed everything up and put it in the garage. I know I ought to have given it to your mom, Arissa, but after I stuck everything in the garage, I forgot about it.”

  A nervous electricity raced through her arms. “Can we see it, Uncle Lew? We think there’s something there to do with Charity.”

  “Sure.” He rose to his feet. “I can take you now.”

  “They barely got here,” Aunt Luellen protested.

  “They might come back to see you,” Uncle Lew said carelessly over his shoulder as he exited the living room.

  “Thanks for everything, Aunt Luellen.” Arissa hastily kissed her aunt’s cheek and took Charity by the hand. “Say goodbye, Charity.”

  “Bye.”

  Aunt Luellen reached out a gnarled hand to finger the girl’s cheek. “You look just like your daddy,” she said gruffly.

  “Goodbye, Mrs. Delmore,” Nathan said.

  They met Uncle Lew outside where he stood by the SUV. “You drive,” he said to Nathan.

  He led them to a small section of Santa Rosa with several newish condos covering a couple blocks next to a tiny park. He had them pull in a driveway in front of a closed garage door.

  “Uncle Lew, this is a condo, not an apartment.”

  “Condo, apartment, what’s the difference?” He led them up a flight of stairs alongside the garage to the front door. It looked like the garage was the first floor, and then the condo itself was two floors.

  He breathed heavily as he unlocked his door. “Another reason why I’m going to live with your aunt,” he said to Arissa. “Getting too old for the stairs. Plus she’s getting on, too.”

  They entered into his living room, a small space that was rather bare, which Arissa would expect since Uncle Lew was rarely home. There was a nice television in the living room and a comfortable-looking leather recliner, and then one other wooden chair, but no sofa. The kitchen connected to the living room, and its counters were empty except for a microwave and a toaster. A flight of stairs led to the bedrooms above, but Uncle Lew took them to a door that looked like a coat closet, but proved to be a flight of stairs heading down to the garage.

  The dark area was piled with boxes, mostly. “Sorry for the mess,” Uncle Lew said as he flicked on the light and kicked at some boxes to shove them aside so they could walk further. He walked to two small boxes in the corner. “These are Mark’s.”

  Nathan picked up one box and Arissa got the other one. They went back to the living room, but Uncle Lew said, “Why don’t you two go to one of the bedrooms to look through those? Charity and I will watch TV here.”

  Arissa was surprised at his suggestion, but he continued, “I know you didn’t come all the way to NorCal just to ask your gorgon aunt about any old keys. Mark was in trouble, wasn’t he?”

  Arissa gave him a sad look, but didn’t answer.

  He patted her shoulder with an awkward, heavy hand. “When he came to me, I didn’t want to pry, but I wondered, even though his story about the girlfriend seemed legit. You’re not in trouble, are you?”

  “Probably the less we say to you, the better,” Nathan said.

  Uncle Lew shook his head, then his eye fell on Charity. “When I was packing up Mark’s things to put them in the garage, I came across a stuffed turtle.”

  “Mr. Green,” Charity suddenly said.

  Uncle Lew smiled, and his face became a mass of wrinkles again. “Is that his name? He looked like a Mr. Green to me, too. Anyway,” he said to Arissa, “I packed it in his boxes and forgot about it. But a few months ago, when Luellen told me about you adopting Mark’s daughter, I guessed he’d bought it for her. That’s why I dug it out and gave the turtle to Luellen to send to Charity for Christmas. I didn’t feel comfortable telling your mom where I got it from.”

  Tears prickled in Arissa’s eyes. Mark had bought it for his unborn daughter, and it had eventually made its way to her. “Thanks, Uncle Lew.”

  “No problem,” he said gruffly. He motioned up the stairs. “Go on up.”

  They quickly found the guest bedroom and set down the boxes. The room had a queen-size bed, a dresser and a bedside table, but nothing else. The closet only contained some hangers.

  Arissa shut the drawer of the bedside table. “I guess I was hoping to still find something of Mark’s in here.”

  “It was worth a try,” Nathan said. “Let’s look in these boxes.”

  It took only ten minutes for Arissa to realize what Mark had been up to. Her heart beat faster as she flipped through more pages. Then she found the name and phone number scribbled on a pad of paper: Doug T. Johnson, FBI.

  “He was collecting evidence against the LSL gang,” she breathed. “He was going to turn it in to the FBI.”

  Nathan sat back, his face slack as he stared at the blank wall. “He was working against the LSLs.”

  But not always. He had, indeed, been a mole for the LSLs, apparently for the money to pay off their mom’s medical bills. But then seven months before his death, he started collecting evidence that the FBI could use in an investigation to solidly prosecute the top officials in the gang, cutting off the dragon’s head.

  “It looks like he intended to give this to the FBI, then take Charity and Jemma and go into witness protection.” Nathan passed some papers to Arissa.

  “He started doing this when he found out Jemma was pregnant,” Arissa said.

  “This still doesn’t explain why the gang needs Charity.”

  They discovered that within minutes. “Nathan.” Arissa showed him some documents she’d discovered. “This looks like a police document.”

  He scanned it. “This is three million dollars in cash seized from an LSL drug house about six months before Mark died. It’s in the evidence locker... Wait a minute.” He read the next page.

  “It’s not in the evidence locker.” Arissa handed him the papers she’d just found. “It’s in an offshore bank account, owned by Mark.”

  Nathan looked closely at the sheet in his hand. “This is a copy of an email. Mark was tasked by the LSLs to get the money out of the evidence locker and return it to them. But it looks like after he got the money out, he never gave it to the gang.”

  “But the gang wouldn’t let him get away with that. They’d notice if he never showed up with the money he was supposed to give to them.”

  “Wait, I remember seeing something.” Nathan sifted through some papers on the bed beside him. “Here. I didn’t understand it at first, but now I think I do. Mark paid someone to hack in and doctor the gang’s accounting program and bank account so they wouldn’t notice the money wasn’t there.”

  Suddenly the pieces fell into place. “The move n
orth. If the gang really is moving, they have to move their money, too. And they’d finally notice they’re missing three million dollars. That’s why they’re only after Charity now, three years after Mark’s death.”

  They continued going through the papers, and Nathan said, “Arissa, I know why they had to take both you and Charity.”

  She saw a thick, legal-looking document in his hand.

  “I don’t know if I entirely understand this,” Nathan said, “but for Mark’s offshore bank account, he stipulated that only Charity can access it, and she has to be either of age or accompanied by her parents. Since they’re both dead, by her legal guardian.”

  “The LSLs need both of us to get back their three million dollars.”

  “And this contract requires a DNA test, so the child and guardian retrieving the money have to be related to Mark by blood. None of Charity’s mother’s family can access the account.”

  “That explains it. I wonder if they already flew to the bank and tried to access it with a fake child and guardian? They would have discovered about the DNA stipulation.”

  “Even if they don’t know that Charity’s mother’s family aren’t allowed access to the account, you’re her legal guardian. It’s on public record. If they had Charity, they couldn’t access the account without you.”

  “This was his nest egg. When he went into witness protection with his family, he’d have this money, unknown to the FBI.”

  “And if the gang found out about the stolen money, he’d be long gone.”

  “How’d the gang know it was Mark who stole the money?”

  “They probably tortured the info out of the accountant who hacked in and doctored the records.”

  A shiver passed through her. Yes, that sounded like the LSL gang. “Nathan, what do we do? We can’t give them the money, but if we don’t...we’re dead.”

  TWELVE

  Nathan had thought he’d have a surer plan once he found out what Mark had done. Instead, it just opened up a dark pit that they couldn’t escape from.

  He drove toward the cabin in the fading light of the afternoon, but even the bouncing of the uneven dirt track couldn’t distract him from the questions circling in his mind. What was the best thing for them to do?

  They had soon discovered that, although he’d collected a lot, Mark hadn’t amassed enough evidence for the FBI to solidly prosecute the LSL gang leaders. If any of them escaped conviction, the gang would live on and take out Arissa and Charity in revenge for Mark stealing the money. They had to turn the money in to the authorities, but it would anger the gang. Arissa and Charity would be unprotected and in danger.

  He didn’t know what to do.

  He turned the bend in the road and the cabin flashed into view through the trees. Maybe he just needed to sleep on it and the answer would come in the morning.

  As he climbed out of the vehicle, Charlie Granger appeared from around the corner of the cabin.

  With his gun pointed straight at them.

  “Hands up, Nathan.” His voice was still the same pleasant voice he’d always had, but now with a slight edge to it. “Throw your weapon on the ground and kick it to me.”

  He unholstered his Glock and did as Charlie said.

  “Your reserve weapon, too.”

  “I don’t—”

  Charlie fired and the bullet shattered the front window of the car. Charity shrieked and began to cry.

  Nathan dug his smaller pistol out of his ankle holster and kicked it toward Charlie. “How’d you find us?”

  “It was a lot harder than finding Liam’s place. That only took a little time because I didn’t know Liam was back in Sonoma until my mom bumped into Brady’s wife at the grocery store a couple days ago.”

  Nathan ground his teeth, but tried to will himself to calm down. He opened his mouth to ask another question, keep him talking, but then Charlie darted in and grabbed Charity from Arissa’s grasp.

  “Charity!”

  “Stay back!” Charlie motioned with his gun.

  Tears began to fall from Arissa’s eyes. “This cabin was supposed to be safe.”

  “It would have been if my mom hadn’t found out at church that Monica Grant is dating Shaun O’Neill. You know how those ladies love to talk about the families in town.”

  “This cabin isn’t even in the Grants’ name.” Nathan took a step but made it look as if he was just shifting his weight.

  “Do you really think it was that hard to talk to those ladies and find out about Becca Itoh’s family?”

  “You must be clever to have figured this all out.” Arissa’s voice sounded strange to Nathan’s ears, even clouded by her crying.

  Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “Nice try, babe. Flattery isn’t going to make me suddenly change my mind. Get in the car or I shoot the girl.”

  “No, you won’t.” Arissa’s eyes had also narrowed. “You kill her, the LSLs never get their money.”

  Charlie’s mouth tightened as Arissa called his bluff. He pointed the gun at Arissa, and Nathan’s heart slammed into high gear. “I can still shoot you.”

  “You need me because I’m Charity’s legal guardian. Charity can’t access the money without me.”

  Doubt flashed briefly across Charlie’s eyes. Nathan moved a step closer to him.

  Arissa continued, not looking at Nathan, holding Charlie’s attention. “If I die, Charity becomes a ward of the state. They appoint a new guardian, and if that guardian isn’t a blood relation of Mark’s, the bank won’t allow her access to the account.”

  Nathan wasn’t sure if all that about being a ward of the state was true, but Charlie apparently believed her. He realized his threat wasn’t giving him as much of an advantage as he thought, and the tip of the gun wavered a fraction of an inch.

  “Arissa, duck!” he shouted.

  Arissa dropped to the ground.

  Nathan tackled Charlie, and the two of them went down with Charity smashed between them and the ground. Hard earth bit into his elbow and slippery grass made his feet slide under him as he landed a punch to Charlie’s face.

  But Charlie didn’t have a glass jaw like the LSL members in the storage unit. He was dazed for barely a second before he retaliated with an elbow at Nathan’s temple.

  Nathan twisted but got part of the blow. Still, it was enough time for Charlie to grab at the gun where it had dropped into the grass only a few inches away.

  For a moment Nathan met Charlie’s wide eyes over the barrel of the gun. His breath caught, but he realized Charlie hadn’t fired.

  He had mentored Charlie. Their families had grown up together. Nathan had one chance. “You’re not a killer, Charlie.”

  Charlie froze for a moment that seemed like minutes, then his mouth pulled into a tight line, and he glanced down.

  Too late, Nathan realized what he was going to do. Before he could roll off Charlie, the younger man slammed the butt of the gun into Nathan’s injured thigh.

  The blow wouldn’t have been so painful if he hadn’t still been recovering from the attack by the LSL gang member from only a couple days before. As soon as Charlie hit him, Nathan was engulfed by pain that shot stars in front of his eyes, and the edges of his vision began to fade. No, he had to stay conscious. He fought to clear his muddled head, but his body wouldn’t respond to him. He dimly heard Charity and Arissa crying and screaming. Nathan managed to roll over, and from his vantage point near the ground he saw their legs under the edge of the open rear door of the car.

  Then he saw it. His Glock, in the grass where he’d kicked it closer to Charlie.

  Charity’s tiny feet disappeared as Charlie pushed her into the car, but Arissa began fighting him. She kicked at him, and the two of them were obviously struggling.

  Nathan’s hand closed over the Glock. He had
to make sure he aimed well. He didn’t want to hit Arissa.

  God, please help me.

  The prayer bubbled up from the depths of his soul. He felt rusty, but the words seemed to cover his hand and steady it as he aimed and shot.

  The bullet hit Charlie squarely in the calf.

  He roared. Blood droplets splayed. Arissa’s feet were suddenly flung away as if Charlie had pushed her down and away. Nathan tried to get to his feet, but the pain still radiated from his thigh, making his entire leg useless. Charlie closed the back door, then opened the passenger-side door. His feet disappeared as he launched himself into the SUV.

  No, he was getting away! Nathan gave an animal cry as he forced himself to his feet, his leg on fire. Charlie’s head was a dark blur moving from the passenger side to the driver’s side behind the bullet-shattered front windshield.

  Nathan fired at one of the front tires and missed. Charlie started the engine and threw it into gear.

  “Nathan!”

  Suddenly Arissa grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the way as Charlie gunned the car forward, hitting the wall of the cabin with the front bumper. Nathan and Arissa fell into the grass together, the impact jarring his leg.

  They could only watch as the SUV backed up and shot out of the clearing with a spray of dirt from the back wheels.

  Charity was gone.

  * * *

  Arissa felt as if she was clinging to the edge of a cliff, fingers clutching the bare rock, nothing but open space beneath her dangling feet. She was utterly helpless, utterly alone.

  She sat curled up in the chair in Detective Carter’s office, her face buried in tissues because she didn’t want to face the world, face reality.

  Charity was gone. Her darling, precious niece was gone.

  She felt as if the girl had been ripped out of her soul rather than ripped out of her arms. She’d seen Nathan stealthily move toward Charlie, had done her best to distract him, but it hadn’t been enough. She hadn’t done enough.