Forever in My Heart Read online

  “In case you forgot, he’s barricaded in the confessional,” Vicky snapped.

  “Yeah, well just in case anyone else tries to bother us, you’ll be coming with us,” Jimmy replied. “Let’s roll, boys.”

  She struggled when Tommy tried pulling her forward.

  No way was she going to be taken hostage again.

  She pretended to trip, and when Tommy’s grip loosened, she pivoted and rammed her shoulder into his chest and they both toppled to the ground. Jumping up, she kneed him in the groin. “Asshole.”

  “Ahhh.” Grabbing the family jewels, Tommy writhed on the ground.

  She ran to the baptismal font in front of Jamie’s door and shoved. Hell if it wasn’t heavy, and she only managed to move it a few inches. It was enough to see Jamie’s face.

  “Run,” he mouthed.

  She froze at the sound of the gun clicking.

  “Step away real slow, pretty little darling. You don’t want Snake here to break your fingers, do you? Then how would you make all your delicious desserts?” Jimmy said.

  She spun and raised her arms, prepared to defend herself against their next attack. “You have the drive. Just go.”

  “The cops are on their way, Jimmy,” Jamie called. “Get out before they get here.”

  “He’s right, Jimmy.” Tommy stood, still rubbing at his sore groin. Vicky hoped he wouldn’t be able to get it up for a long time. “The bitch will be more trouble than she’s worth. It’ll be difficult not to draw any attention to ourselves at the wharf if we’re dragging her ass with us.”

  “Shut the fuck up and let me think,” Jimmy thundered.

  “Leave her, man. Tommy’s right, she’ll only slow you down,” Jamie said.

  “You’ve got too much to say, man.” Jimmy pointed the gun to the partially opened doorway and pulled the trigger.

  “Nooooo!” Vicky shouted.

  Jamie swerved, and she heard a thud from the confessional.

  “Jamie?” she yelled.

  He didn’t respond.

  “Jamie!” she yelled louder but he still didn’t answer.

  Please, dear God, don’t let him be dead.

  Jimmy nodded at Snake. “Put her in the truck.”

  They were going to take her, and three against one meant she was unable to stop them. But she sure as hell wasn’t about to make it easy for them. Snake lunged for her and grabbing one of his arms, she twisted around and elbowed him in the gut while knocking the knife he held out of his hands. Rather than trying to retrieve it, he grabbed her. Snake’s hands were like two vises holding her arms imprisoned. The more she twisted and fought, the tighter his grip got.

  Tommy approached her. She saw the punch coming and was able to move her head slightly, but still caught the brunt of it on her jaw. She cried out a moment before everything went dark.

  ****

  It was quiet when Jamie awoke. He lifted himself up and bit back the groan that threatened to escape his lips. His head pounded from where he hit it on the wall when trying to avoid the bullet from Jimmy’s gun. Sitting on the bench, he held his head and tried to blink away the double vision he had. That was some hit he’d gotten if it knocked him out.

  Then he remembered. Those assholes had Vicky. Fuck!

  Reaching up to where his left arm throbbed, he pulled away a handful of blood. Based on the long gash he felt, the bullet had grazed him rather than entered.

  He pushed against the door, favoring his right shoulder. It moved a little thanks to Vicky getting it started for him.

  Movement outside the room had him peeking out the slight crack in the doorway into the church and suddenly Nick was there, pushing away whatever blocked the door. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, but they grabbed Vicky.”

  “Motherfuckers!” With one forceful shove, the door was clear.

  “You’ve been shot.” Nick examined Jamie’s arm. “Looks to be a surface wound. I don’t see any signs of penetration. You’re a lucky son of a bitch, DiSilva.”

  With Vicky taken, he didn’t feel one bit lucky.

  “Vicky found the flash drive in one of the confessionals, and now they’ve taken her.”

  “Where?”

  “Tommy mentioned the wharf, which was a nickname Sal had for an abandoned warehouse over on State Road he used to frequent.”

  “You know how to get there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can you move?”

  Only death was going to stop Jamie from getting to and saving the woman he loved. And he wasn’t preparing to check out any time soon.

  “I’m good.”

  “Then let’s roll.”

  In Nick’s SUV, Jamie rooted through the first aid kit while Nick called in an APB and back-up to meet them at the warehouse. Finding antiseptic, Jamie cleaned the wound, which hurt like a son of a bitch, the best he could.

  Nick slammed the car in drive and squealed out of the parking space. “There should be cut up T-shirts in a bag in the glove compartment, too. You can use them to stop the flow of blood.”

  “You get shot at a lot, huh?”

  “Just another day.” Nick cut between cars as he shifted lanes. “Did they hurt Vicky?”

  “She put up a helluva fight. Knocked a gun out of Jimmy’s hand and kneed Tommy in the balls.”

  Nick snorted. “I’m not surprised. I helped train her. She kicked my ass plenty of times.”

  “She was still conscious before I went down.” Jamie prayed she was okay and wouldn’t do something dumb to provoke them to hurt her worse—or kill her.

  “I know you’re worried—hell, I am, too—but Vick’s resourceful. She knows you’ll do whatever it takes to get to her.”

  Damn straight he would.

  “It’s up here on the right,” Jamie said.

  Nick parked the SUV and pointed ahead to his left. “Looks like there’s a back lot.” Nick withdrew his Glock and turned to Jamie. “You carrying?”

  “I was at the carnival before the church. Not exactly the place for a gun.”

  “I can’t give you anything, man.”

  “No problem.” Jamie reached into his pocket and withdrew the knife he’d found under a pew. “I’m covered.”

  “That’ll work. Stay behind me.”

  “Where are the reinforcements you called?”

  “Fuck if I know. We’re not waiting.”

  Jamie liked Nick’s style. He wasn’t the stick-up-the-ass I-follow-the-rules kind of cop Jamie had pegged him as being. And that was a good thing.

  They moved quietly through the abandoned warehouses. Rounding a corner, they saw Snake standing guard outside one.

  Gotcha, sucker.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Vicky stirred and willed her foggy brain to clear. Her jaw throbbed, and she vaguely remembered Tommy decking her. Opening her mouth, she winced only slightly from the pain. Hopefully a sign the bastard hadn’t broken her jaw.

  She peeked through heavy lids enough to take in her surroundings. The room was large, hot, and musty. Jimmy and Tommy stood a few feet away huddled around a laptop on a cardboard box.

  Jimmy inserted the flash drive. “It’s all here, dude. Safe and sound like Sal told us.”

  “Too bad he didn’t tell us what to do next,” Tommy said.

  “Don’t be an idiot. We contact this guy. First with a letter—an email. Then we arrange for a swap, his money for these pictures.”

  “What about the bimbo, here?”

  Jimmy was silent, but Vicky could feel his beady eyes roaming down her body. She had to suppress a shudder. How the hell was she going to escape, even if she could figure out where they’d taken her? They mentioned something about the wharf, but she didn’t know what that meant. Chances were Jamie didn’t know where it was, either.

  What if Jamie was still unconscious and still trapped inside the confessional? Tears stung her eyes. She hoped he wasn’t shot—or worse, dead. Had he called the cops, or at least Nick, before getting to t
he church like he said? Was that true or bullshit he fed to Jimmy?

  God, please let him be okay.

  “Hey, princess. Wake up.” Tommy kicked her side.

  She groaned, which wasn’t hard to do, since in addition to her aching jaw, she now had another pain to add to her growing inventory. Her eyes fluttered opened. She wanted to scramble to her feet but figured that would make her injuries hurt even more and give Jimmy and Tommy a reason to put their slimy hands on her.

  “Where am I?” she asked.

  “Don’t you go worrying about that or asking too many questions,” Jimmy ordered.

  She needed to stall.

  “After all this time, don’t I have a right to see what you’ve been so desperate to recover? It’s not like you’re going to let me walk out of here, right?”

  “She’s got a point, Jimbo. We can’t let her go now, can we?” Tommy said.

  Taking a chance, Vicky sat up slowly. She used her hands to press into the spot on her side where Tommy kicked her. First chance she got, she was going to repay him for that.

  Come on, Jamie. Please figure out where they’ve taken me and get your ass over here with Nick and the cops.

  “Who’s in the pictures?” Vicky pressed.

  Jimmy stared at Tommy and shrugged. “They’re pictures of Coach Rider in some not very proper poses with his students.”

  “The St. Joe’s basketball coach? You have pictures with him getting it on with a student? Probably happens more than you think.”

  “Maybe, but this is a male student and the kid is definitely not willing.”

  Vicky’s eyes widened. “What! You have pictures of a college coach sodomizing a male student?”

  Jimmy held up the CD and sneered. “Students. More than one, babe. Got it on video, too.”

  The implication of what he had struck Vicky. He was going to blackmail the coach in return for handing over the pictures and CD. What about those poor boys? Why hadn’t they come forward? Maybe Jimmy’s plan was to blackmail them, too.

  “Wait a minute. Coach Rider retired maybe fifteen years ago when Nick was going to school there. These pictures are from then?”

  “Yup. Got a time and date stamp on them and everything.”

  “Who took them? Sal?”

  “Sal was always a sneaky bastard. He liked to lurk and catch people doing things they weren’t supposed to do and then get them to pay for being stupid,” Jimmy said.

  “It was better than stealing because we didn’t have to worry about fencing the junk,” Tommy said.

  “I suppose allowing a sick bastard to get away with raping young students didn’t seem horrible to you?”

  “It sucks for the kids. I knew a few of them, too. Explains why their lives are so fucked up now,” Jimmy said.

  Nauseous, Vicky had to bite down on the bile that rose to her throat. She’d expected them to have a list of drug dealers or drop-offs but never this. This was so…sick. For both the coach who did it as well as these clowns for trying to profit from the pain caused.

  “Let’s go.” Tommy reached down and grabbed her arm.

  Vicky winced and pain shot up her arm from where Snake had already grabbed her.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Some place where you won’t have to worry your pretty little head over all this information,” Jimmy said.

  Tommy laughed and together they sounded like hyenas. A cold sweat broke out over her. Vicky hoped Jamie had enough time to find her here because once they left, so did any hope of her being rescued.

  ****

  Jamie hadn’t always been a patient person. His instinct was to react first and think later, but nine years in the army had taught him the art of patience. Many a time he’d lurked in the dark all night waiting for something to happen. Sometimes it did, and other times it didn’t. Regardless, a well-trained soldier didn’t leave his post unless ordered to.

  Now he leaned against the side of a cargo carrier and waited for Jimmy to make a move to leave, hopefully with Vicky in tow. Nick had stepped away to talk with the reinforcements who’d finally arrived. By now, the whole area should be secured and blocked.

  Nick jogged back and gestured with his hands palm up, nodding toward the warehouse. Jamie shook his head. No sign of anything other than Snake’s bald head.

  They had already worked out that when Jimmy came out, Nick and Jamie would backtrack in order to allow them to reach their car. Once there, they would be surrounded.

  A door opened, and Jamie went on full alert. Nick signaled him to head toward the entrance, which he did. The nasty gash on his arm still hurt, but it was a dull ache thanks to the three Motrin he popped on the ride over. He was still intermittently dizzy, though, which probably meant he had a concussion.

  Jamie paused behind a trash bin to fight the wave of nausea that suddenly hit him. He inhaled deeply and willed the discomfort away.

  The quartet walked past him, and Jamie winced at the way Snake was practically dragging Vicky. Was she hurt or intentionally walking with a limp?

  “Move your ass, bitch,” Tommy growled.

  “I’m moving as fast as I can,” Vicky said.

  They were halfway to the car. What was Nick waiting for?

  “Yeah, well let’s see if this speeds you up some.” Jimmy reached out a hand and smacked her cheek. The sound reverberated in the semi-darkness.

  Before Jamie realized what he was doing, he stormed out to get Vicky. He’d had enough of this bullshit. “Let her go,” he snarled.

  “DiSilva. I should have known you’d find a way out of that room,” Jimmy said.

  “Confessed all your sins have you?” Tommy added.

  “For your sake I hope so, because you’re going to join your brothers in the grave,” Jimmy said and pointed his gun at Jamie.

  “Noooo,” Vicky screamed and rushed Jimmy.

  Jamie moved forward, knife at the ready. Vicky tackled Jimmy, the gun going off in the process, at the same time Jamie leapt onto a surprised Jimmy. The three of them fell to the ground while Snake and Tommy tried to separate them. Then all hell broke loose as the cops yelled, “Freeze.”

  ****

  When Vicky heard Jamie’s voice, she knew Jimmy wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him. Throwing herself at Jimmy to ward off such an attack was pure instinct. She hadn’t been expecting Jamie to come at him, too.

  “Vicky, are you all right?” Nick asked, rushing over to her side.

  She rubbed her head where she banged it on the concrete when she fell. “I think so.” She twisted to find Jamie. He lay a few yards away, not moving. She felt sick. He couldn’t be dead.

  Pushing to her feet, she started forward only to trip and fall. “Jamie!” She crawled to him and froze when she saw blood. “Nick, hurry, Jamie’s hurt.”

  Nick crouched beside her and checked for Jamie’s pulse. “He’s alive.”

  “There’s so much blood. We need an ambulance.”

  “One’s on the way.” Nick yanked his shirt over his head and pressed it against Jamie’s side. “Your man has a gash on his side, probably from that knife.”

  Vicky paled with the realization Jamie was hurt. “How bad is it?”

  “Not sure yet. I need to keep applying pressure here, so he doesn’t lose more blood than he already has.”

  She grabbed Jamie’s hand and leaned close. “Jamie, can you hear me?”

  He stirred and groaned. “Vick?”

  “I’m here, baby. You’re going to be fine.”

  He blinked open his eyes. “You okay?”

  “Just some scrapes.”

  “Jimmy?”

  “Is in police custody, along with his buddies,” Nick added. “You’ve got yourself a nice knife wound in addition to the gunshot scrape. The ambulance will be here any minute.”

  “Hate hospitals,” Jamie mumbled.

  “I know you do.” She kissed his forehead. “I’ll be with you.”

  The paramedics arrived, and Nick pulled her aside so they coul
d examine Jamie. Her hands shook as she watched them put him on the stretcher.

  “I’m going with him,” she said.

  She expected him to argue and was surprised when he nodded. “I want you to get checked out, too. You scraped up your knees, and I want your head examined. You had a pretty hard fall.”

  At the hospital Vicky had no choice but to allow the ER staff to take Jamie to an exam room. One of the nurses took her into a cubicle and treated her wounds. While her head had a bump from where she fell, she didn’t have a concussion. Her jaw did have a nice bruise from where Tommy had decked her.

  In the waiting room, she paced while Nick spoke on the phone. When he was done, he came over and put an arm around her.

  “Jimmy and his buddies were booked and are in holding. We have enough charges to hold them without bail,” Nick said.

  “What happens to the pictures of Coach Rider?”

  “We’ll bring him in and question him. He can’t debate the truth once he sees the video. There’s no mistaking it’s him in the pictures. In one he’s wearing a shirt with his name stitched in the corner. It’s sick to watch from what I’m told. Once we identify the students, we’ll question them and see if they’ll testify. It will be an ugly mess and a black spot on St. Joe’s reputation and the basketball program.”

  “I feel bad for those boys and their families. To dredge this up after all these years is going to be painful for them.”

  “Or maybe a relief, especially if they’ve kept it a secret. Without a counselor or someone to help them deal with the pain and embarrassment of what they went through, their lives could already be seriously messed up. Having it come out may actually be a relief.”

  Vicky hadn’t considered that but could see how it could be true.

  “I’m glad this is finally over, and we can get on with our lives.”

  “Speaking of which, where does that leave you with DiSilva?”

  Good question and one she didn’t have an answer to.

  “I’m not sure. We had a pretty huge fight earlier.”

  “Did it involve our sister?”

  “Her along with baggage from my marriage.”