Charmed and Dangerous Page 25

  Blanco scrambled to his feet, never letting go of Maddie’s waist.

  The tower trembled again.

  Her ribcage ached where his fingers dug in and her wrists burned from the chafe of the duct tape. But the pain was inconsequential considering they were on the verge of plunging to their deaths.

  She and Blanco stood on the south side of the open hole, directly opposite from the closed door.

  The stone walkway on either side of the hole was less than two feet wide. No bell remained in the recess above them, but there was a ratty old rope dangling from the empty cavity. She eyed it speculatively, just in case she was driven to desperate measures.

  Dream on. That decomposing rope wouldn’t hold a rag doll’s weight. Not that she could even grab for it with her hands bound.

  Slowly, the door creaked open.

  Maddie held her breath and waited for David to appear.

  He spoke before he stepped into view. “Let her go, Blanco.”

  “Let her go down the hole? Sure. No problem.” Blanco waltzed her to the edge again. Briefly Maddie closed her eyes, fighting nausea.

  “You drop her and I’ll kill you.”

  There he was.

  Her lover.

  Filling the doorway with his reassuring broad- shouldered presence, his duty weapon clutched in his good hand. He was soaked to the skin, his hair plastered to his head, his cast dark with dirt, but he was still the most incredible sight she had ever seen.

  David’s gaze met hers. Are you all right? he telegraphed with his eyes.

  She nodded.

  Blanco used her as a shield, ducking his head behind hers in case David took a notion to play sharpshooter. “You wanna see your girly alive again, I suggest you go back down those stairs, get in your boat and cruise away. Give me breathing room and I’ll leave her here on the island.”

  “No can do, Blanco.”

  “Why not?”

  Yeah, why not? It sounded like a terrific plan to Maddie.

  “For one thing,” David continued, “there’s a jail cell reserved in a United States federal prison with your name on it. You’ve got a nonrefundable one-way ticket to justice, pal, and I’m your travel agent.”

  Maddie rolled her eyes. Dandy. Just dandy. Was putting people behind bars the only thing David ever thought about?

  Not that Blanco didn’t deserve to get socked away for the rest of his life. Personally, she could really get into locking the cell door, incinerating the key and performing a celebratory clog dance. Yee-ha.

  But she was all for letting the creep get away if his escape spared their lives. Where did winning get you, if in the end, you were pushing up petunias?

  “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a Venetian stand-off,” Blanco said.

  “Looks like,” David replied tightly.

  “I think I’m going to call your bluff.”

  “How’s that?”

  “I want you to toss your gun into the sea,” Blanco said. “Or I’ll throw her down the hole, I swear I will.”

  “You’re not going to do that. Once your hostage is gone, you’re mine for the taking. And while I prefer to arrest you, killing you wouldn’t trouble me too much. I’ll take justice any way I can get it.”

  His hostage? Well that wasn’t a very romantic way to refer to her. She had a name for heaven’s sake. Why not use it?

  “And I don’t believe for one second you would jeopardize her life in order to get me.” Blanco sneered.

  “Why not? She’s been nothing but a royal pain-in-the-ass,” David said evenly.

  What? Now that wasn’t nice. Not nice at all. Maddie glared at him but he didn’t make eye contact. Why was he saying such things about her? She thought he liked her. She thought she liked him.

  Oh, who was she kidding? She was in love with him. But now, he was acting as if he didn’t care about her at all. She was going to have one helluva broken heart.

  Unless she ended up with a broken skull first.

  Blanco moved suddenly, yanking Maddie forward until her feet left the precarious perch and she was hovering directly over the abyss.

  Gulp!

  “No!” David shouted and lunged for Maddie as if to catch her.

  Ah, maybe he really did care. Her heart leaped.

  “Throw the gun away,” Blanco repeated.

  David’s gaze met Maddie’s. His jaw tightened. She saw the war of conflict in his eyes. This was a lose-lose situation and nothing could be worse for a guy who loved to win.

  “She’s getting awfully heavy lawman. Better make up your mind before I lose my grip.”

  “Put her feet back on solid ground.”

  “No.”

  David cocked the gun. The click of the hammer sent icicles through Maddie’s veins. “By dangling her over the hole you’ve left your head exposed. I have a clear shot.”

  “You kill me, she dies.”

  “She’s going to die anyway.”

  Blanco pondered this a moment. “Okay. I’ll pull her back, but you throw the gun away at the same time.”

  “All right.”

  “Step over to the right and pitch the gun through that window arch.”

  David sidled right and Blanco danced left heading for the open door, all the while holding Maddie over the opening. He had to be getting tired. What if he dropped her accidentally? Her mind raced. How to get out of this?

  “Keep going,” Blanco said and David inched farther away from the only means of escape.

  The tower shivered against their movements.

  This was bad. Really bad.

  “Now,” Blanco said.

  Simultaneously, David threw his gun over his shoulder while Blanco settled her feet onto the ground. The gun tumbled through the window arch and disappeared from view. A second later, they heard a distant splash.

  Blanco shoved her at David and bolted for the door.

  Maddie cried out as she fell, the yawning chasm waiting to gobble her up.

  “Maddie!”

  David grabbed for her and caught her by the ankle with his one good hand. Fear shoved his heart into his throat. She was dangling above a thirty-foot drop. He was the only thing between her and definite death. A nasty premonition of certain doom crawled over his scalp.

  He could not drop her, but already his fingers were growing numb from the effort of holding her up.

  “I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he said, surprised to hear how calm he sounded. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”

  But for how long?

  The tower rumbled.

  Chunks of the structure broke off. More rubble dusted them from above.

  “The stairwell’s pulling away from the tower!” she yelled. “We’ll never get down.”

  At that moment, the stairway separated from the tower and fell in upon itself. In the clamor of collapsing stone, they heard Blanco scream. The sounds daggered into his brain.

  He peered over the edge of the hole; saw that the bedsheet Maddie wore had peeled down over her head. Her hands, bound with duct tape, dangled below her head. She swung in the wind, trusting him. He was nauseous with fear. He could not let her go. He would not.

  You’ve got to do something now.

  His fingers cramped while his mind frantically searched for a solution. He reached into his back pocket with casted wrist and found his handcuffs. Grimly, he cuffed his left wrist to her ankle.

  “David! What are you doing?”

  “Sweetheart, I’m shackling myself to you. If you go down, I go down too.”

  “Don’t be a fool, save yourself.”

  “I don’t run away from trouble,” he said and reached out with his casted wrist to grab her other leg when it swung past.

  Now what?

  The pressure of her weight caused the handcuff to gnaw into his wrist so tight it was all he could do to keep from groaning in pain. His casted wrist wasn’t in much better shape. He gnashed his teeth.

  “How many incline sit-ups did you tell me you could do?” he
asked, willfully numbing his mind to the agonizing pain in his arms and hands.

  “Two hundred.”

  “Well here’s the good news, sweetheart, you’ve only got to do one. I’ve got your feet, I want you to sit up all the way. When you reach the level of the floor, I want you to slip your arms around my neck. Do you think you can do that?”

  She had to do it. It was their only chance.

  The pain in his wrists intensified as Maddie curled her elbows into her chest and rolled up. The fierce ache spread up his arms, through his shoulders and into his back until he was one throbbing mass of hurt.

  David heard her grunt over the exertion and he knew she was hurting too.

  “Come on, you can do it,” he said as much to himself as to her.

  He clenched his jaw, locked his legs around the stone pillar. She was close now. Almost through the opening. But the look of pain on her face matched the searing burn in his muscles.

  “Almost there.”

  Her skin was flushed red from the effort, the veins on her neck and forehead bulging.

  What if she couldn’t do it?

  Don’t think like that. She’ll make it.

  “Come on baby. Two hundred sit-ups. That’s it. You’re almost here.”

  She was breathing as hard as he was when her head came back through the hole and their eyes met.

  Instantly, they were one. One force, a team, lifting together.

  “Arms around my neck,” he whispered, scarcely able to breathe. He was hurting that badly.

  She separated her elbows as far apart as she could with her hands bound. She dropped her wrists behind his head, encircling his neck with her awkward embrace.

  Gathering the last bit of strength he possessed, David gave a mighty cry and rolled them both backward.

  Maddie cleared the hole.

  They lay on the stone floor, gasping for air. His hand was handcuffed to her ankle. Her arms were locked around his neck. Every muscle in their bodies twitched. They were covered in sweat and dust.

  “I’m okay, I’m alive,” Maddie keep repeating joyfully as he gently unlocked the handcuffs and then peeled off the duct tape. Her wrists were raw and bleeding and so were his. Their blood mingled.

  “Yeah.” He laughed, giddily. “Yeah.”

  “You saved me. You chained yourself to me.” She gazed deeply into his eyes and then he was kissing her with the most soulful kiss in the world, branding her with his lips.

  “You nearly died,” he whispered, burying his face in her hair and holding her close against him. “I almost lost you.”

  He was overwhelmed not only by what had just happened, but also by the intensity of emotion surging through him. Did she feel what he felt? Could he trust the power of their connection or was it merely a manifestation of surviving the worst together?

  Was this love?

  Boom, boom, boom went his heart.

  Creak, creak, creak went the bell tower.

  “We’re not out of the woods yet,” he murmured. “The stairwell collapsed. The tower is crumbling and we have no way down.”

  Maddie pulled back and stared at him, as if recognizing for the first time what a truly dangerous predicament they were in.

  David shifted onto his knees, grasped the wall to pull himself up. As he did, more stones broke free and the tower bobbled like a rocking horse.

  “Easy,” Maddie cautioned.

  He glanced over the edge of the window arch. “There’s only one way down.”

  His eyes met hers. He looked grim.

  “The water,” she whispered.

  He nodded. “We’re going to have to jump. Can you do it?”

  “I have a fear of drowning. Ever since Cassie’s accident.”

  “It’s our only chance,” he said. “I wouldn’t suggest it if we had a choice.”

  She rose to stand beside him, her body swaying along with the tower. On one side they could see the jagged rocks lying under the water. No jumping off there. She shifted her gaze to the other side.

  “What if it’s not deep enough?” She gulped.

  “We’ll be killed.”

  “Together.”

  “Yes.”

  “And what if we’re not killed? What if I drown?”

  “You won’t drown. I won’t let you,” he said gruffly.

  Maddie placed her right hand in his left. “I’m trusting you.”

  She couldn’t have paid him a grander compliment.

  “I swear I won’t let you down.”

  “This is big for me.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “So am I.”

  “You’ll be there for me?”

  “Have I ever let you down?” He kept his voice tender, his gaze steady.

  She looked deep into his eyes, peered far deeper into him than anyone had ever peered.

  More stones broke loose, smashing and bumping as they fell. The tower was going. If they waited much longer, the decision would be out of their hands.

  “Ready?” David whispered.

  Maddie took a deep breath and nodded.

  Together, they moved as close to the ledge as they could.

  “Arc your body outward,” David said. “Then roll your legs up and tuck your head down. A cannon ball isn’t the most graceful, but it’s our best chance for survival.”

  “All right.”

  She stood beside him, poised to jump. She glanced down. “I can’t.”

  “Don’t look at the water. Look at me.” He squeezed her hand tightly.

  Maddie wrenched her gaze from the water and met his eyes again. She was so brave! His heart wrenched with the intensity of his feelings for this courageous woman.

  “Atta girl. We’re just going to step off. We’re taking a stroll. That’s all. No big deal. You can do this.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Chapter

  TWENTY-FIVE

  AFTER CALLING IN the bomb threat, Cassie called the front desk and talked the concierge into buying her an outfit from the gift shop and charging it to Peyton’s account. The preppy black slacks and white wool sweater and sensible loafers were more like something Maddie would wear but she shrugged it off. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  Besides, she felt more responsible, more in control, more reliable these days. She might as well look the part. Once she’d acquired her new threads, she took the originals of the El Greco and the Cézanne that she’d hidden under her mattress after she’d made the double set of forgeries, rolled the canvases up in cardboard tubing and went to the Hotel International. Pretending to be Maddie, she claimed to have lost her room key. Once she had access to the room, she stashed the paintings in the open wall safe—good thing David hadn’t found a reason to use it yet—assigned the lock a combination code and sashayed out again.

  Mission accomplished. No one could accuse her of being in cahoots with Shriver now. Then she hurried over to the Vivaldi to find out what was happening over there.

  And she arrived just in time to see Levy and Philpot being taken from the hotel in handcuffs.

  Not wanting to be recognized, she dodged behind a statue and waited until the art brokers had been led away in handcuffs before slipping inside the building. Her heart hammered with excitement.

  Had they nabbed Shriver? Was he already in custody? Or had the elusive thief managed to give them the slip?

  The place was in chaos with cops and news media and hotel personnel running willy-nilly. To think she’d caused all this bedlam.

  Cassie grinned and tried to look inconspicuous as she slinked down the corridor toward the Rialto room.

  So far so good.

  She was almost there. She quickly skirted past a janitor’s closet that stood slightly ajar. She craned her neck, trying to get a peek around the burly door guard into the Rialto Room.

  That’s when a hand clamped over her mouth and an arm snaked around her waist and she was yanked backward into the janitor’s closet.

  Floating.
Drifting dreamily. Maddie was aware of the cold water, but oddly enough the frigid temperature didn’t register against her skin. Nor was she panicked about being face down in the water.

  Her eyes were closed and she didn’t try to open them. She didn’t want to see. She simply wanted to embrace this light airy feeling where nothing seemed hurried or dangerous or even real.

  Was she dead? Had she been killed by the fall from the disintegrating tower?

  Hmm. Well, this wasn’t so bad.

  Only one thing bothered her. Just one tiny flaw marred her peaceful flow. She was dead and she’d never told David that she loved him.

  Such a shame.

  That’s what you get for holding back. You had a chance for true love and you blew it.

  Then she started thinking of all the times she’d held back, afraid to take a risk, afraid of getting hurt, afraid to trust.

  And now here she was finally figuring out that dying was no big deal. Her biggest worst case scenario had come to pass and all she had were regrets for the opportunities she’d lost. The things she had never tried.

  I should have given it my all at the Olympics. I should have stopped playing cleanup for Cassie years ago and concentrated on taking care of myself.

  If she had her life to live over, knowing what she knew now, she would make some very different choices. She would dye her hair punk-rocker red just to see what it looked like. She would eat a doughnut now and again. She would strip off her clothes and dance naked in her backyard during a summer rainstorm.

  If only she had a second chance!

  Then she thought of the things she was never going to get to do. She’d never be able to apologize to Cassie for not letting her stand on her own two feet. She wouldn’t get to tell her father how much he’d hurt her when he’d abandoned the family. She wouldn’t see her mother one last time or teach another aerobics class or walk in a garden with the sun on her face. She’d never sing lullabies to her babies. Never send them off on their first day of school with a hug and a wave. She would never worry when they didn’t make curfew the day they got their driver’s license.

  Something inside her heart ripped. Babies made her think of being married and being married made her think of being in love and being in love made her think of David.

  She would never be able to tell David she loved him.