The Cove
Page 75

At that moment Sally moaned and opened her eyes. It was dark. She heard men’s voices, lots of them. Then she heard James.
“No,” she said. “No, it’s not possible you caught me. I didn’t think it could be you. I was wrong again.”
He leaned down over her and said one inch from her nose, “I caught you, all right. And this is the last time I’m going to do it. Now just be quiet and lie still.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed she was a criminal,” Simpson said. “She looks as innocent and sweet as my kid sister.”
“Yeah, well, you never know. It’s taken us a long time to catch up with her. We didn’t know she’d gotten hold of a bike. She was in a car six hours ago.
“All right, Sally, are you all right? Anything hurt? Nothing’s broken, right? Can’t you take off her helmet now?”
“Okay, but let’s do it real carefully.”
Once the helmet was off, she breathed a sigh of relief. “My head hurts,” she said. “Nothing else does except my shoulder. Is it broken?”
The biker felt it very gently. “No, not even dislocated. You probably landed on it. It’ll be sore for a while. I think you should go to the hospital and make sure there are no internal injuries.”
“No,” she said. “I want to get on my bike and get out of here. I’ve got to get away from this man. He betrayed me.”
“What do you mean, he betrayed you?”
“He drew me in and made me trust him. I even slept with him one night, but that was in Oregon. Then he had the gall to tell me he’d lied to me, he was an FBI agent. He told me that here, not in Oregon.”
“You’re sure her brains aren’t scrambled?” Dillon asked, pressing a bit closer.
“She made perfectly good sense,” Quinlan said. “If you can’t add anything sensible, Dillon, just keep quiet.”
Quinlan touched the biker’s arm. “Thanks for your help. The four of you can go now.”
“Can I see identification?”
Quinlan smiled through his teeth. “Sure thing. Dillon, show the man our ID again. He didn’t get a good enough look the first time.”
The biker studied it closely, then nodded. He looked back down at Sally, who’d propped herself up on her elbows. “I still can’t believe she’s a crook.”
“You should see her grandmother. A glacier, that old lady. She’s the head of the counterfeiting ring. Leads her husband around by the ear. She’s a terror, and this one is going to be just like her.”
Once the bikers had roared off, Quinlan said to Sally, “We’re going to take you to the hospital now.”
“No.”
“Don’t be an idiot. You could have hurt your innards.”
“If you force me to a hospital, I’ll announce to the world who I am and who you are.”
“No, you won’t.”
“Try me.”
He realized he was being blackmailed, but not for anything he had done. She would be the only one to be hurt if she did as she promised. He believed her.
“How are you, Sally?”
“Dillon? You were the jerk driving the Porsche? And James was sitting right beside you telling you what to do. I should have known. Well, I did know, deep down.”
“Yeah,” Dillon said, wondering why it didn’t occur to her to give him any of the credit. “Let me help you up. You don’t look half bad in Quinlan’s coat. A little long, but other than that, it’s a perfect fit. Anyone who can ride a motorcycle like you do has to have the broadest shoulders in the land.”
“How did you find me? Oh, dear, my head.” She shook her head, then blinked her eyes. “It’s just a bit of a headache. My shoulder hurts a little, but that’s all. No hospital.”
Quinlan couldn’t stand to see her weaving around, his coat torn at the left shoulder, two buttons popped on her blouse. “You’re not wearing a bra.”
Sally looked down at the gaping blouse. There was no way she could pull it together. She just buttoned James’s coat. “Dillon got me a training bra when he went out and bought all these charming duds that are three sizes too small. I couldn’t even get the thing fastened.”
“Well, I didn’t know what size. Sorry it didn’t get the job done.”
She kicked him in the shin.
“I didn’t mean it like that, dammit,” he said, rubbing his leg. “I’ll think of something and tell you later.”
“You’d better not.”