Knight In Black Leather by Gail Dayton (people reading books .txt) 📗

watched Eli negotiate, shivers running through her at the implacable expression in his eyes. He truly did think this Flash person would kill his friend. She wrapped her arms around herself, peering into the deep, cold, black night outside her car. It hadn't quite been real to her. People threatening to murder other people, using death for extortion purposes, was something that happened on television or in the movies.

Death was real. All too real. She knew that. But in her world, death came from illness or accident. Since she'd been working at the youth center, she'd become aware of another kind of death, ruthless heat-of-the-moment killing. But even that hadn't seemed quite real to her or she'd have been more afraid when those gang members confronted her the day Eli rescued her.

Or maybe she hadn't cared whether she lived or died.

"Ten thou," Eli said. "I got ten thousand cash I can deliver right now in exchange for Teresa."

Marilyn started to shake, not from the cold. Maybe in delayed reaction from the would-be muggers, a month late. Or maybe because, dear God, this man actually would kill Eli's friend if they didn't stop him somehow.

"Fifty?" Eli laughed. "She's not worth fifty grand." A pause. "Maybe. But it'll take time. Years. If you accept my offer, you'll have the money now, bulk sum, all at once, instead of waiting for it to trickle in."

This time, the pause was short. "Flash? Flash?" Eli swore and raised the phone like he wanted to throw it, didn't, and swore again. Obviously, he'd been hung up on.

"Now what?" Marilyn got her shakes back under control.

Eli handed her the phone. "Make the call."

Marilyn hesitated, then dialed 9-1-1.

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"

"Um--" She should have decided what to say, first. "A woman's life is in danger."

"What's your location?"

"My location?" Why did they want to know that? She looked out the windows, trying to see a street sign. Eli told her and she repeated it to the operator. "But the woman isn't here with me. She's been kidnapped. I don't know where he took her."

Marilyn gave the operator Teresa's name and Flash's--his real name turned out to be Dwayne Gardner--and where they'd last been seen. She told him her own name and address and Eli's phone number, and anything else he wanted to know that Eli approved. The operator told her to go home and let the police handle it. Marilyn agreed, then hung up.

"Where to now?"

"The river." Eli took his phone back and pocketed it.

"Which one?"

He sighed. "All of them."

The evening dragged on just like the afternoon had, with them driving slowly through the streets, hoping against hope that they'd see something, hear something, learn something that would tell them where Teresa was. Something that would allow them to find her, possibly save her life.

Eli commented once that he hoped Flash didn't decide to kill her before midnight, which made Marilyn stop the car short in the middle of the block and made the driver behind them jam on his brakes too and hit his horn in protest. She tried to summon up her anger again, but the dread was too strong in the dark. Eli didn't say anything more about that particular worry.

The clock purred toward midnight, and with every minute that ticked off, Marilyn felt sicker. They weren't going to find Teresa. They weren't going to stop him. Just before midnight, Eli set his cell phone on the seat between them.

"You expecting a call?" she asked.

"Wouldn't put it past him to gloat." Eli's voice was steel on stone, harder than she'd ever heard it. "Or call so I can hear it happen."

"Oh God." Marilyn's eyes filled with tears. She blinked furiously to hold them back, but one or two managed to escape.

Eli gripped her hand hard for a second. "Go back to Nicky's. It's as good a place as any to wait."

"Maybe the police will call." She wheeled the car away from the Allegheny River. "Maybe they found her."

"Maybe."

But she could tell he didn't believe it.

Eleven

***

Nicky's had closed hours ago and still Eli sat in Marilyn's car watching the place. It was useless, yeah, but pretty much everything he'd done today had been useless, so why worry about it now? Besides, Marilyn was asleep on his shoulder and he didn't feel like waking her up. Thank God nothing had happened to Marilyn while they wasted the day hunting Teresa. He felt bad enough as it was, but if it had been Marilyn...

He thrust the thought away. He didn't want to think it, it was too horrible. Eli turned his head and kissed her forehead, then brushed back the silver-sparkled darkness of her hair. While she slept, he could kiss her all he wanted--all he could reach, which was pretty much just her forehead--and she wouldn't stop him. It was cheating. Stealing, in a way. But it was only her forehead, so he figured it was a misdemeanor. Fine only, not even jail time.

His cell phone shrilled. He had to unlace his fingers from hers and fumble in his sling where he'd put it.

"Yeah. Court here."

"I'm calling for Marilyn Ballard." The voice sounded official. Cop-like. Fortunately, Marilyn was waking.

"Yeah, just a second." Eli nudged her with his shoulder and put the phone in her hand. "Sounds like cops," he said softly.

Marilyn nodded and pushed her hair out of her face, finishing her yawn before she put the phone to her ear. "This is Marilyn. Can I help you?"

As Eli watched, the polite interest on her face faded to white horror. Oh God. He knew it.

"Yes, of course," she said. "Now?"

And then, "All right. Where? I mean where is it? I've never been there." She nodded, handed the phone to Eli, scooted across the seat to her place behind the wheel and started the engine.

"They found a body." She confirmed what her expression had already told him. "They want us to come identify it."

"You can't. You don't know her." Eli didn't want Marilyn anywhere around dead bodies--murdered ones. He