Chapter Fourteen

 

The square-jawed biker kept the BMW in sight while remaining hidden behind other vehicles. Transient or not, he seemed to know the city. The adept way he tailed the mark told Toni he'd done this sort of thing before.

She clung to him, her hold tightening as they leaned into corners. He kept pace with the BMW, and soon they were on the outskirts of town. Suddenly, he veered off the main road and started up a hill. Signals went off in her brain. She didn't like this. They headed up a dusty, dirt road into a remote hilly area away from the BMW. Hanging on with only one arm, she pulled her purse close and opened the clasp. Her hand gripped the cold steel of the gun inside. The brawny biker was expert at pursuing unseen, and she hoped he didn't stop; she didn't want to put a hole in his raunchy hide.

He pointed. “That's your BMW behind the blue truck. We can follow unseen from up here without losing sight of them. This road rejoins the highway about a mile ahead.”

They reached the top of the hill and started down the other side. The sprawling city of Auckland and its two huge harbors spread out below like open butterfly wings. She relaxed and re-clasped her purse. “You've done this kind of thing before,” she shouted over the roaring engine and rushing air.

He turned his head to the side while looking straight ahead. “Yeah,” he said. “I worked for a P.I. in Arizona.”

“You're good.”

He shrugged. “Is that guy in the BMW your old man?”

“No.” She didn't feel the need to explain. The less strangers knew the better.

He glanced at his watch. “Ya owe me another fifty.”

“Trust me. You'll get it.”

“I'm not worried. If ya don't pay me...” His voice trailed away. Then he laughed boisterously.

“You'll be paid!” She wondered how he'd like walking bowlegged.

When they joined the main road again, the biker pulled directly behind a white delivery truck and kept pace with it. The BMW turned, and so did the truck. They entered a run-down industrial area. The streets were almost deserted. Most of the buildings were boarded up. When the truck turned a corner, the biker swung into the BMW's left rear blind spot briefly and then pulled his motorcycle up behind a pile of crushed wrecked cars that rested on three railway flat-beds. The BMW continued another half block, then stopped.

“What now?” the biker asked.

“We have to get closer.”

“Okay. Give'em a chance to get inside, and then I'll take ya right to the door. Now, where's my other fifty?”

She thrust the money into his waiting palm. He stuffed it into the breast pocket of his jacket and started walking his motorcycle to the end of the third flat bed. She followed.

They’d reached the far end of the last flat bed and moved closer to the BMW. Ashley's secretary had parked it in front of a rust-corroded, corrugated steel warehouse. The building's dented double doors extended high enough to allow a semi-truck to enter. Ashley and her husky secretary walked toward the pedestrian door and disappeared inside.

“Get on,” the biker said.Suddenly, a pick-up truck came around the corner on two wheels. Toni froze. The vehicle sped down the street and skidded to a stop in front of the warehouse. Three men got out. The curly-haired man with a beer belly held a gun to the ribs of the man in the center.

Toni gasped. Rad!

“Guns?” The biker’s eyes narrowed. “What's coming down here?”

“I work for the man in the center. They're going to kill him.”

The biker frowned and rubbed his unshaven face. “This is where I cut out!”

“You can't go. We have to save him.”

He cleared his throat. “I'll pass on this one.”

“Then call the constable. There's too many of them for me to handle alone.”

“No way. Me and the pigs ain't the best of friends.”

Toni put her hands on her hips and glared at him. From his oily black hair and piercing bloodshot eyes to his black scuffed boots, he was a Hell's Angel type no one would want to meet in a dark alley. “You look tough, but you're a wimp!”

“Yeah, a live wimp!” He started the motorcycle and slowly turned it around. Then he revved the engine. “Hope it works out for you.”

“Wait!” she shouted.

He looked back briefly. She coughed as he left her standing in the wake of exhaust fumes. Toni dug in her purse for her cell phone. It was missing. She looked up and down the street for a phone booth. There was none in sight.

She bit the corner of her lip. At this very minute, Rad's captor's might be beating him, maybe even getting ready to kill him. She inhaled deeply and headed for the rear of the building. All the windows were high transoms. Thinking ahead, she grabbed an oily rag dangling from the fence and then picked up scattered pieces of paper caught at the base. When she got to the rear door she put the rag and paper in a pile, jamming some of both under the space beneath the door. It only took a second to find the matches at the bottom of her purse. She lit two and dropped them at opposite corners of the paper. Flames broke out and licked at the door.

Without waiting, she ran to the front of the building. When she reached the door, she paused and listened. At first, she could hear only her own heavy breathing. Then she heard shouts at the rear of the warehouse. Ignoring her racing heart, she eased the door open, and with gun drawn, she slipped inside. There was a gunshot.

She froze. Then forced herself to keep going. She spied a razor cutter used to open cardboard boxes on a work bench. This might come in handy. She closed it and tucked it into her pocket. Staying behind the row of crates along the wall, she followed the sound of voices until she reached a metal stairway leading to a scaffold that circled the warehouse. She removed her boots, tucked them under her arm and started silently up the steps.

From the top of the scaffold, she stared down at Rad and his four captors who stood in a semicircle only a few feet from him. Rad sat on a crate with his hands bound behind his back and a gag in his mouth. The right side of his face was swollen. The sleeve of his white sweater looked grayish, and his black slacks had a streak of dirt just below the knee; but there was no blood. Thank God.

“I put the fire out,” the man with the jeweled belt said. “Must've been vandals. My shot in the air oughtta keep the punks away.”

“Can't take chances,” the balding man with bushy sideburns said. “I'll circle outside the building to make sure they're gone.”

When he stepped into the direct light Toni saw the blueberry birthmark on his right cheek. The driver of the semi! That side of his face had been away from her in the management office, but she could see it clearly now. She watched him until he was out of sight.

She shivered, remembering the heavy blow to her jaw when she'd tried to stop him from getting into the semi-truck. He was a bruiser with no compulsion about hitting a woman. Even if he were the only one she had to contend with, rescuing Rad would be difficult, but with all the others there it would be nearly impossible. She needed to plan her move carefully.

Toni slipped on her boots while she listened to what the others were saying.

“I don't like this,” Jessi Ashley said. “What you do to Murdoch is your business. But I don't want to know about it.”

“Duke said to bring you here,” the husky secretary said. “You're in as deep as the rest of us now.”

“Damn him! Duke promised I wouldn't be involved in the rough stuff.”

“Promises made in bed aren't worth much, Jessi,” the secretary said. “You're disgusting,” Jessi said. “I shouldn't have let Duke talk me into hiring you.”

“Shut up! Both of you, or I'll shut you up,” the man with the jeweled belt said. He looked at his watch. “Duke should be here any second with the paper he wants Murdoch to sign.”

Toni's heart raced. She couldn't wait. In a few minutes the man with the blueberry birthmark would be back, and Duke, whoever he was, would be there, too. Three would be easier to take down than five. Crouching and peering between the bars of the railing, she studied them. The woman wouldn't give her much trouble. Though immoral and dishonest, Toni didn’t size Jessi Ashley up as a killer. The most dangerous was the guy wearing the belt with the missing stone. But the secretary was no lightweight either.

Slowly Toni rose. Sweat dampened her palms and trickled down her spine. Her sweater clung to her back. After securing her purse by putting the strap over her head, she tucked her gun in the waistband of her slacks. Then she grabbed a heavy chain hooked to the railing of the scaffold. She calculated that if unwound to its full length it would extend about six feet off the floor. She unhooked it, clasped it firmly, said a little prayer, and jumped. The chain swung out like a pendulum. Her feet connected with the secretary's jaw, and when he fell backward he slammed into the other man. Both men hit the concrete hard. Rad's eyes widened; then he stood and butted Jessi in the stomach with his head. She doubled over and went down.

Toni had no control of the chain as it continued its sweep. Dropping off just before it connected with a stack of crates, she rolled, got to her feet, and drew her gun. “Freeze,” she said, edging toward Rad. Although Jessi sat groggily on the floor and the brawny secretary and the other man seemed to be unconscious, Toni wasn't taking any chances. She kept her gun ready.

Quickly, she opened the razor carton-cutter she'd found earlier and slashed Rad's ropes. He removed his gag. “How did you find me?”

“It a long story—”

The barrel of a gun jabbed into her back. “Drop the gun, girlie.” She recognized the raw-edged voice. It was the man with the blueberry birthmark. A sinking feeling washed over her. She’d failed.

Suddenly, Toni heard an explosion. The double doors of the building fell inward. Dust rose in rolling gusts. The concrete floor vibrated. An acrid stench of nitroglycerin and ammonium nitrate permeated the air. Out of the smoke and confusion, the biker who had brought her there and a dozen other armed bikers roared into the building.

Someone shot the gun from the hands of man with the blueberry birthmark.

Relief and gratitude washed over her. Because of the blare of roaring bikes, she conveyed her thanks to the biker with a thumbs up sign.

“Get on,” the biker said. He aimed his gun at the man with the blueberry birthmark, then nodded toward the bear-like, bearded man on the motorcycle behind him. “Your boss can ride with Bogeyman.”

****

Shaking his head and wondering how Toni had pulled this off, Rad straddled the Harley, and gripped Bogeyman’s wide, steel-jeweled belt on both sides. He couldn't reach all the way around. The man's roll of fat hung over on his fingers.

Bogeyman turned his head sideways and shouted to Rad, “Ever been on a Harley?”

Rad hadn't yet caught his breath. His throat was dry, and his voice came out hoarse. “Used to own one.”

“Good. Hold tight. I ride rough.”

Another biker passed. He was a giant with midnight skin and pearly teeth. He rode close to the guy with the blueberry birthmark, almost hitting him. The next rider, a wiry wolf-faced man, grazed Blueberry with his motorcycle and knocked him down. The woman cringed next to the crates, looking as if she wished she could disappear.

Rad wondered who she was. More important how had Toni found him? He'd been stunned to see her swinging down on the thick chain. Now being rescued by a motorcycle gang, it was so unreal. Who were these bikers, and where had Toni met them?

They didn't look like the kind of men a lady like Toni would know, even a lady detective. He was used to being around rough men, but none like these. He wouldn't want to be alone in a dark alley with any of them. How had Toni secured their help?

He shook his head. From the moment Toni swung onto the scene, she had absolutely glowed. Her green eyes had never been brighter. If she'd had any fear, it hadn’t shown. He was astounded by the chain of events, and completely awed by her. She was so amazing, so beautiful.

He and Bogeyman swerved behind Toni and the lead biker. Toni's auburn hair and her mint scarf began to flutter as they gained a little speed. Her back was straight and proud.

The rest of the gang of bikers followed and circled the inside of the building. Then the motorcycles roared out the same way they had come in, while the woman and the man with the blueberry birthmark stared in shock.

****

“They won't be following us,” the lead biker told Toni. “We punctured their tires.” Toni clung to the biker as they headed out of the industrial area and onto the highway. She glanced back at Rad. He gripped Bogeyman's belt with a look of self-possession. Rad looked natural on a Harley, and handsome. Though undoubtedly confused by all this, he remained flexible enough to go with it and ask questions later.

She felt a quiver of satisfaction. The biker had come through for her after all. Toni leaned forward and tilted her head until she could see his profile. “What made you come back?” she shouted.

“When I saw you go in there alone, I had to help someone with that much guts.”

“Thanks. What do I call you?”

“The gang calls me Butcher.”

She decided against asking how he got the name.

Butcher turned his head to the side and shouted, “I promised the gang a hundred each to leave their pool game. Any problem with that?”

“No problem. I guess if I said there was, you'd take us back and let them kill us.”

Butcher laughed riotously, neither confirming nor denying anything.

Toni directed him to her office, and he followed her inside while Rad and the gang waited at the curb.

Her office staff stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed as she and Butcher entered. “Butcher, this is my office manager, Chuck, secretary, Eve, and researcher Leonard.” They all nodded silently like puppets. “Chuck, would you please get Butcher a cup of coffee while I get some papers from my office?”

Chuck looked apprehensive. “Is everything all right?”

“Great. Butcher just saved my life.”

Toni's office manager looked unconvinced, but he led Butcher to the coffee- maker while Toni went alone into her private office to get the cash.

Chuck waited by the door until she returned. He adjusted the glasses on his nose. “You were right,” he whispered. “An unusual amount of land has been taken over by Orthodox Bell Tower Corporation, aka Bell Corporation. Not only in the area where your step-dad had his farm, but in the surrounding acreage where Mr. Murdoch's station is located.”

Toni touched Chuck's hand. “Good work. I knew we'd find a connection.”

“The problem is,” Chuck said, “the ownership is so tangled and buried in documents that I haven't yet determined who the top man is.”

“Keep digging. It's important.”

Chuck nodded and handed Toni two folders. “These are the profiles on Tinihanga and Taureka. No police records on either man, but they both are gamblers. Big stakes. I was able to track the gambling through the snapshots of the vouchers you sent in. The men play craps on the River Rat and are frequent heavy losers. Tinihanga also has a more serious and very expensive addiction, a woman named Maria Te Pano. It's all in the reports.”

“Remind me to give you a bonus, Chuck.”

He beamed.

“Interesting client,” Chuck said, glancing at Butcher.

“Smile at him,” Toni whispered teasingly. “He gets really upset when people don't smile.”

A stiff, too-wide grin spread across Chuck's face.

Toni handed Butcher the envelope, and as she expected, he counted the cash.

“Hope we meet again, Mr. Butcher,” Chuck said, with a broad smile frozen on his face.

Butcher made a thumbs up sign.

“Your assistant smiles a lot,” Butcher told Toni as they walked downstairs.

“He's a happy guy,” Toni said with amusement in her voice.