Iris Johansen - Pandora's Daughter

Her heart was beating so hard that she could scarcely breathe. "Davy is supposed to be here. Where is he?"

"He wasn't as cooperative as the old guy. He fought me."

Panic soared through her. "What did you do to him?"

"He acted like an animal. I treated him like one." He strode back toward the doors of the ambulance. "Come and get him."

She was already beside him as he climbed into the ambulance. "Is he hurt?"

He jerked a white cover off a wire cage in the back of the ambulance. He jumped out of the ambulance. "A little, maybe. I wasn't gentle when I was stuffing him into that dog kennel."

Davy was bent almost double in the small dog carrier, his mouth taped shut.

"You bastard." She jumped into the ambulance and released the latch herself. "It's all right, Davy. You're safe." She helped him out of the cage and carefully removed the tape. His eyes were swollen from crying and his lip was cut. "It's okay." She hugged him close and rocked him. "You're going home to your Mama and daddy."

He was holding her tight. "I'm scared, Megan. They're bad people."

"Yes, they are. But you're not going to have to be with them anymore." Her hand stroked his hair. "Did… they hurt you, Davy?" Yes.

She tensed. "How?"

Davy looked at Darnell. "I bit him and he slapped me and cut my lip."

"What else?"

"They tied me up and put me in the dark."

"That's very bad. But no one else hurt you?"

He shook his head. "But I was awful scared."

Relief was surging through her. Thank you, God. "I know you were." She took him by the hand. "But it's over now. You're going to go home." She helped him out of the ambulance. "Can you be a good boy and come with me while I take a look at my friend? He's very sick."

"He's asleep," Davy said. "I saw him when they put him in the ambulance. When is he going to wake up?"

"Soon I hope." But she didn't know how much was truth or fiction in what Gardner had told her. Phillip was so pale. She took his wrist and checked his pulse. Slow but not fluttering. He smelled terrible, but not of infection. She could usually tell the difference when-

"He's alive." Darnell's gaze was on her face. "He's a tough old bird. I didn't think he'd make it."

"Yes, he's tough. He's stronger than you could ever be. You've delivered them. Now why don't you go away?"

"I'm supposed to stay here and be picked up with you by Molino." He smiled. "And shoot them both if I see you trying to get on the helicopter with them."

"I'm not going to try-" She lifted her head as she heard the helicopter. She said fiercely, "You stay away from them."

He leaned back against the ambulance and crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm not putting a hand on either of them as long as you do what you're supposed to do."

Her own hand gripped Phillip's, but she felt no response. She'd had so much hope when Gardner had called her. Had that window passed that would allow Phillip to come back? If he'd been present when that massacre of Gardner and the nurse had taken place, would it have made him want to withdraw permanently? Who knows? She couldn't think about that right now. All she could do was make sure he survived.

"Don't cry, Megan," Davy whispered.

She looked down at him. "I'm not crying." She blinked back the tears. "Or if I am, it's because I'm happy you're with me and everything is going to be fine." She knelt before him. "Now there's going to be a helicopter landing soon and you and my friend are going to get on it. When it lands, your mama and daddy will be waiting for you." She paused. "But I won't be able to go with you. Will you be a big boy and take care of my friend, Phillip?"

Davy looked at Darnell. "I heard what he was saying. He won't let you go?"

She didn't answer him. "But I'll come later. I promise you. Will you take care of Phillip?"

He nodded slowly. "That man won't hurt you?"

"No one is going to hurt me." She hugged him close. The roar of the helicopter was overhead now. She whispered, "I love you, Davy."

It took only five minutes to transfer Phillip into the helicopter and she stepped back to watch the aircraft lift off.

"What a lot of bother," Darnell said. "It would have been so much harder for Molino to get his hands on you if you hadn't been this stupid."

"Shut up."

"Molino wants to hurt you." Darnell was smiling maliciously. "It's all he could talk about when I went to pick up my cargo."

She ignored the bastard, her gaze fastened on the sky.

The helicopter carrying Phillip and Davy was almost out of sight.

Good bye, old friend. Please, get well. Good bye, Davy. Stay safe.

"IT'S THE WRONG BRIDGE," Harley said. "There's nothing like that cliff you described. Gentle hills. It has to be Jefferson Parks Bridge to the north."

"You're absolutely certain?" Renata asked. "If you're wrong, it will be too late to get there and back ahead of Molino. It's going to take me at least forty-five minutes to get from here to Jefferson Parks Bridge."

"Trust me. That house isn't near here."

She never trusted anyone but herself, dammit.

But this time it seemed she would have to trust Harley.

MOLINO'S BLUE-AND-WHITE HELICOPTER landed in the field fifteen minutes after Phillip and Davy had been airlifted out.

She stood straight, back straight, as the helicopter sat down. Don't let him know how frightened she was feeling. He'd like it too much.

Molino opened the door. "What a delight to see you again. You look a bit paler than last night. The sun isn't kind to you." He smiled. "I won't be kind to you either." He turned to Darnell. "Help her into the helicopter. We have to be off."

Darnell stepped forward, but Megan jerked away from him. "I don't want him touching me." She got into the helicopter. "He's as bad as you are."

"Oh, no, he doesn't compare to me in any category." He watched Darnell as he took a step toward the aircraft. "He's cocky and conceited and he makes mistakes. You would have been dead if he'd done his job properly."

Darnell's face flushed. "It wasn't my fault. I thought you realized that I wasn't-"

"I don't tolerate excuses, Darnell." Molino pulled a gun from his coat. "You always have to pay for your mistakes."

He shot him in the head.

Megan watched in shock as Darnell crumpled to the ground.

Molino shut the door. "Take off."

"SHIT!"

Grady watched Darnell's body fall to the ground. He didn't give a damn about Darnell's death, but it demonstrated how violent Molino's mind set was at the moment. He could have hoped that Molino would be in a less volatile state.

Less volatile? The son of a bitch was a sadistic maniac.

His phone rang as he was moving toward his car. Harley.

"It's Jefferson Parks Bridge," Harley said. "I'm flying over the area now. I can see a large cedar, two-story house on a cliff facing the river. I can't get too close because I don't want to be spotted but I think there's a helicopter pad to the west of the house. There's no helicopter on the pad."

"There will be in about forty minutes. Molino just picked up Megan. I'm going to meet with Venable now and we'll be on our way. Get the hell out of there. Where's Renata?"

"About fifteen miles from here." He paused. "There's only one road going up to the house and the cliff is almost a sheer drop. There are a few deep ridges near the top and a few dirt outcroppings, but there's no way anyone could climb it from below. There's lots of trees and brush on the hill, but it's going to be hard as hell to get Venable and his men to that house without being seen unless we wait until dark."

"No way. Do you know how much damage Molino could do to Megan while we're waiting for dark?"

"I know that there's a good chance he might kill her if you attack and he thinks he's going to lose everything."