Escape To Sunset - Sharon Hamilton Page 0,51
of her. You don’t need to worry.”
He reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket and took out a thick envelope. Natalia saw the gun strapped to his side. He was about to present her with a lot of money, but the money didn’t mean anything anymore. As her hand went forward to accept his gift, she lunged, grabbed the gun from his holster and shot him right above the bridge of his nose.
As the first man fell backward, Carmen let out a blood-curdling scream, which distracted the second one, who had begun unholstering his weapon. Natalia did as she’d read in her detective novels. She held the revolver with both hands and shot, hitting the man in the throat. He stumbled forward, trying to reach out to grab Natalia, and would have, if she hadn’t backed up just enough so he fell to his knees, clutched his throat, tried to stop the blood spurting from his neck and fell on his belly. She aimed the barrel at the tiny bald spot centered at the back of his head and pulled the trigger.
Chapter 14
“What the hell’s the matter with you, Kiley?” Corbin Newman III screamed into the phone. “We expected you back in Portland today. That’s what you told Chief Rayburn, which I relied on, since you didn’t have the courtesy to return my call as you promised! You promised, God dammit! And since your number was disconnected, we had no way to check in.”
“That’s why I’m calling, to let you know.”
“You’ve left me in a pickle, little lady. I’m not happy about all of this. There’s a very real chance the paper’s going to get sued over your allegations—unsubstantiated allegations now since you couldn’t be bothered with completing your investigation.”
“That’s not fair. You published it early.” Kiley had never heard him so angry.
“Oh, fuck You! You’re the one who dug up all this dirt. Problem is, I trusted you with the details. I promised the chief you’d be bringing all that in. I got the mayor all over my ass and more attorneys and other media outlets interested in me, personally, dragging Rosalie and her radio station through the mud as well, than if I’d cured Herpes or something.”
“Corbin, listen to me. The facts are true. All the facts stand,” she insisted.
“Really? Well, where are all those sources? You better have them all wrapped up, checked, and double checked. You better have fingerprints and blood samples because you’re going to have to help defend all of us in court. These guys don’t mess around. I think you’re about to be arrested.”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“Really? Have you talked to the chief?”
“He’s going to be my next call.”
“I don’t know this for sure, but I think they’re sending someone out to interview you, someone from the F.B.I.”
“But they don’t know where I am.”
Kiley heard papers rustling in the background. “How does 917 Beach Access Road do for you? Is that close enough?”
That was the address of her rental bungalow. Now she saw how Jason had been right. She should have contacted the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office days ago, when she first came out to Florida.
“I don’t understand why all this is centered on me, Corbin. Everything I said in my articles is true. I have the tapes and the interview notes. And I can’t be made to produce them, to protect my sources. But I can voluntarily turn them over to law enforcement. I want to cooperate. We’re all on the same side.”
“You would think so, wouldn’t you? This is worse than a hornet’s nest. People are going to die.”
“Pardon? I don’t understand.”
“This morning. There’s been a shooting. Two property owners were shot in their own building. One of those centers.”
“Which one?”
“On Canal road, warehouse district, close to the river.”
Kiley knew about the shelter but hadn’t interviewed the staff yet. It was one of the places she asked Carmen to check out.
“How could I be involved in that? I’m not in Portland, Corbin.”
“There were no girls there. Looks like there had been, but everyone’s disappeared. If what you suspected is true, someone could be cleaning up loose ends. All those girls you thought you wanted to help are disappearing faster than my first marriage. They’re scattering. We’re not going to have any witnesses.”
“Where did you get this information from?”
“Well, not from the mayor. He’s not talking to me anymore. He told me personally he was going to see to it I paid for creating this stain on the good city of