Come and Find Me A Novel of Suspense - By Hallie Ephron Page 0,87

see that much cash, they don’t ask questions. Besides, you gave me power of attorney.”

“I must have been delusional.”

“That and more. For months. Neither of us realized . . . we didn’t anticipate how incapacitated you’d be.” Was that a flicker of contrition? Jake looked away. “Yeah, that took us by surprise. Made things much more complicated than they needed to be.”

As Jake glanced back over to where the missing hard disks would have been, his fists clenched. Quickly Diana checked the outside surveillance feeds. Still nothing.

“You’re actually a lot like Daniel,” Jake went on. “You’ve got that idealistic, visionary thing going on but you don’t want to get your hands dirty making it happen.”

“So you got them dirty for me?”

Jake stared back at her. “Filthy. And just try proving that you didn’t know what was going on. Your virtual fingerprints are everywhere. I made sure of that.” He gave her an affable smile. “By the way, great meeting this afternoon. Excellent presentation. You had them eating out of our hands.”

“Glad you enjoyed it. Because that’s the last performance I’m going to give. It’s over.”

He held her gaze. “You think? This is my show, not yours. It goes on with or without Daniel and with or without you.”

“But will it go on without you?” she said. Finally Jake blinked. “Because Daniel did one more thing before he ran off. He called the police. You’re wanted for kidnapping. Assault. Extortion.”

Jake’s laugh sounded empty.

“You’re lucky you caught an earlier flight,” Diana went on. “The police were at the airport, waiting to arrest you when you got off the plane. Daniel didn’t know you caught an earlier flight. They’re on their way here right now.”

“You’re making that up.” He grabbed Diana by the arm and hauled her over to where he could tab through the surveillance screens.

“You think so? Why don’t you just stick around and find out?” She looked past him to the doorway, where the metal door hung from a single hinge.

Jake spun around. The doorway was empty. He squeezed her arm. “What the hell are you playing at? I told Daniel to cut his losses. Too bad he didn’t—” He froze. Distant scuffling footsteps grew louder, more distinct.

Jake’s fingers loosened on her arm as one police officer came into view. There was another one behind him. And another. Ashley brought up the rear.

Diana couldn’t help smiling. Ashley was wearing the second outfit—Nadia’s leather jacket and jeans. She rushed over to Diana and hugged her. Then she turned and pointed to Jake.

“That’s him! That’s the man who kidnapped me. He drugged me and held me here for a week. God knows what he did to me while I was unconscious.”

“You crazy bitch,” Jake said. “No one did anything to you while you were unconscious. And it wasn’t me who kidnapped you.”

“There’s plenty of evidence,” Diana said to the police officer in the lead, “upstairs in the other building. I can show you the place where my sister was held. The drugs she was given. There is surveillance footage that shows this man drugging her. And video that shows him grabbing her at Copley Square.”

“I swear to God,” Jake said, holding up his hands and backing away, “none of this was my idea. The man you want is Daniel Schechter.” One of the officers grabbed his wrist and cuffed it, then turned him around and cuffed both hands behind his back.

Jake scowled at Diana. “Tell them. Tell them about Daniel. He was here. With us. This whole setup was his idea.”

“If he was here, then his fingerprints would be,” Diana said. “Go ahead,” she said to one of the officers. “Dust the place. You’ll find his.” She jerked a thumb at Jake. “And you’ll find mine. But I’m quite sure you won’t find this person Daniel’s.”

Though she no longer needed a costume or an alternate identity to make her feel powerful and resilient, Diana grabbed Nadia’s jacket from the floor. She slipped it on. She loved that soft leather, and there was nothing quite like clothing that was custom made.

“Besides, how could Daniel Schechter have had anything to do with this? He’s dead. Don’t you remember?” she said, her gaze locked on Jake. “And I have his ashes to prove it.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

As Ashley drove home, Diana kept a tight grip on the door handle. Unnerving as it had been driving a Hummer on I-93 North, riding along I-93 South in the middle of the night in the Mini Cooper felt like zipping