“My God! Hayley!” She turned to the man who had brought her here, a wiry Corsican thug. “Untie her right now!”
“Right away, Ma’am,” he said, but made no move.
A moan emanated from the far corner of the room. Fiona whirled around to see Mikey on the floor, hogtied and gagged. His face was bloody, had obviously been pummeled almost beyond recognition. Fiona knelt before Hayley, wiping the dried blood with the sleeve of her shirt.
“What’s going on? What’s happening?”
“I’m sorry, Fiona. So very sorry.”
The Corsican spoke. “Can we cut the chitchat? You’re giving me a migraine.”
The door burst open, and Luke Thompson was pushed inside. Like Fiona, he was untouched. When he saw her on the floor in front of Hayley, he crossed the room in two steps and pulled her up, held her close.
“Don’t say anything,” he murmured. “I’ll get us out of here.”
“Very heroic, Mr. Thompson,” said a voice from the darkness. A light snapped on to reveal Eddie Rivers, dressed impeccably in a dark blazer, beige slacks and conservative tie. “Although I’m not sure how you plan to accomplish that. My boys run a pretty tight ship here.”
“You’ll have a price,” Luke said. “Guys like you always have a price, and it isn’t always money.”
“We live in such a cynical age,” Eddie said. “I brought you here to do you a favor.”
“I bet you did,” Luke answered, not letting go of Fiona. “Your quarrel is with me. Let the other three go.”
“See, wrong again. Your quarrel is with these two bad apples, not me.” He indicated Hayley and the whimpering Mikey.
“Eddie, Mikey’s debt is paid. I paid it. Let him go,” Fiona exclaimed.
“What debt did you pay?” Hayley’s voice didn’t even sound like her own. “What are you talking about, Fiona?”
“She never told you what she did for you and your scumbag brother? I like that. This lady has real class.”
“Mikey, what is he talking about?” Hayley was screaming at Mikey’s inert body. “What debt did Fiona pay for you?”
“Didn’t you ever wonder why a classy lady like your friend here would dance in a dive like this? Not that I didn’t enjoy every little bump and grind.” Eddie smiled knowingly.
Luke held Fiona gently by both shoulders so he could look in her eyes. “Fiona, do you want to tell me what happened?”
Fiona gazed back at him, and with an imperceptible shake of her head said no.
“Omertà. See, just like in the good old days. But me, I didn’t take a vow of silence. Mikey was into me for forty grand. A very bad accident was about to befall him involving water. Deep water.”
“Forty thousand dollars, Mikey!” Hayley shrieked. “Is that true?”
There was no response from Mikey. The Corsican spoke. “I think he’s sleeping, Miss.”
Eddie went on, relishing his story. “He knew his sister didn't have any money, so he told his sob story to Fiona. He told her it would kill his sister if she found out. So he not only got Fiona to work off his debt, he got her to promise not to hurt her with the truth. The guy is good.”
A groan of pain escaped Hayley's lips. “NOOOO! That didn’t happen.”
“I assure you it did,” Eddie continued. “Now, I admit, I’d been trying to get this lady into that swing since the first day I laid eyes on her. So we made a deal. She kept her end. I kept mine. I wouldn’t have gotten involved, but he stole that DVD. I don’t like people stealing from me. And it was a personal favorite.”
Hayley could hardly process what she was hearing. “Fiona! Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Because we’re friends,” Fiona said softly.
“Are you?” Eddie said, enjoying this. “Hayley, tell her what good friends you are. Go ahead. Everyone loves a love story.”
Shame had replaced Hayley’s fear. A shame and regret which was so deep and genuine it was life-altering.
“It was me, Fiona. I had Mikey steal the tape of you in the swing. It was me who played it in front of all those people, me who ruined your reputation. I did it, not Eddie.”
Luke was about to rip Hayley out of her chair, but Fiona stopped him. “Let her be, Luke. She’s suffering enough.” She went and knelt before her friend. “I knew it was you, Hayley. Not right away, but I figured it out pretty quickly. And I think I know why.”
“Do you care to tell me?” Luke asked.
Fiona looked at Hayley, tiny, broken, lost. “Just business stuff. Girl stuff. It’s not important. Let it go.”
“Like I said, a class act,” Eddie Rivers announced, that knowing smile lingering on his face.
THIRTY
Fiona and Luke sat close together on the banks of the Delaware River, watching the sun set over the bridge that had changed their lives. The campfire at their feet had burned down to embers.
“Maybe this is not exactly the most romantic place for the start of a honeymoon,” Luke said.
“Speak for yourself,” Fiona answered swiftly. “There’s no place I would rather be.” She kissed his face, drew even closer.
“That’s good to know. The guy who owns the cabin can’t use it any more, because of all the publicity. So I bought it for you.”
Fiona began to laugh. “Our first home.”
“He threw in the Spam,” Luke said, chuckling with her.
“Life is good,” Fiona murmured.
Luke put his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. “Have you heard from Hayley?”
“I don’t expect to for a long time,” Fiona answered. “I have forgiven her. Now comes the hard part. She has to forgive herself.”
“I don’t suppose you’re ever going to tell me why she—”
Fiona cut him off. “Nope. Not important.”
He looked into those blue eyes of hers and got lost. “Want to go up?”
“Thought you’d never ask.”
They walked arm in arm up the bank toward the little fishing shack that had saved their lives.
“Why do you think Eddie Rivers let us go?”
“Bad risk-reward ratio. If anything happened to the four of us, he’d never have another day without a cop right in his face. Plus, I think he wanted to impress you.”
“He didn’t,” she said.
“That’s good. Because he’s going away for a very long time very soon.”
“You think?” Fiona couldn’t believe Luke had finally figured out how to get to Eddie.
“Mikey is going to testify.”
“Mikey?”
“Yes, Mikey. He didn’t like seeing his sister beaten up. Now, can you stop talking so we can get on with the honeymoon?”
She smiled up at him and mimed zipping her lips closed.
“That’s more like it,” Luke said, and led her into their safe haven with the oil-drum fireplace and the tin door.
THE END
Barbara Taylor Bradford, Treacherous (Kindle Single)
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends