Free The Diamond Affair by Carolyn Scott Page A

appeared.
    Jake spun the
wheel and turned down a side street. The bullet pinged off the back bumper and
tires squealed behind him. It seemed Frankie was going to follow him despite
Jake's threat. He had to hand it to Beauvoir's man, he was determined.
    He also would
have memorized Jake's license plates by now. With Beauvoir's contacts it would
be easy to find out who owned the car and from that learn Jake's address.
    Ruby would be a
sitting duck.
    Jake swiped a
bead of sweat from his brow and pressed his foot to the floor. But the SUV didn't
have the speed of the sports car and it soon came up behind him. This time, he
was ready. He pushed the button to lower his window. The sports car swerved out
from behind the SUV and came up alongside. With only its hood in his sight,
Jake aimed.
    A horn blared on
his other side and he instinctively turned his head. Car lights blinded him. He
hit the brakes and spun the wheel but the SUV was going too fast to stop and it
went into a roll. Without a seatbelt, Jake was tossed around the cabin. His
body slammed into the roof, the dashboard, the doors. Pain, that familiar
enemy, ripped through his shoulders, chest and head.
    When the SUV came
to a groaning halt at the side of the road, he tried to stay focused, tried to
stay awake, even though his brain was hammering against his skull.
    He had to get out
of the car. Had to shoot that sonofabitch before he got to Ruby.
    The last thing
Jake heard before everything went black was the screech of the sports car's
tires as it sped away.
    ***
    Ruby rubbed her
eyes and glanced at the green display of the clock beside her bed. It was after
two. She'd decided to get some sleep after Jake left but something had woken
her.
    The doorbell. She
climbed out of bed, yawned, and padded to the front door. The bell rang again.
    "All right,
Jake," she said, fluffing up her bed-hair, "I'm coming." She
unlocked the door. "Didn't you take a key—?"
    The door opened. A
big, sweaty body barreled through and grabbed her, spinning her around and
pinning her against a well-padded stomach. It wasn't Jake. Jake didn't smell or
feel like that. And Jake would have a key.
    Stupid idiot !
    "Good
evening, Mizz Jones. Expecting someone?" The big, sweaty body belonged to
Fat Frankie. And he was pointing a gun at her temple.

 
     
    CHAPTER 8
    Fat Frankie drove
fast along the Calder Highway out of Melbourne. From the middle of the back
seat, with her hands tied together in front of her, Ruby could see the road
ahead and knew exactly where she was.
    Then he turned
off the main road and onto a narrow one surrounded on both sides by tall gum
trees, their branches meeting overhead in a twisted embrace. She guessed them
to be close to the regional center of Bendigo, but far enough away that only
farms and unpopulated bushland surrounded them.
    Oh God. Why had
she opened the door? Her sleepy brain had got confused, remembering that she'd
opened the door to Jake earlier in the day when he'd given her his keys.
    Stupid, dumb,
idiot!
    Now she was
heading God knows where with a thug, and Jake was...somewhere. Something had
gone wrong. Sickeningly wrong. When she'd questioned Frankie, he'd mentioned an
accident then laughed. No matter how hard she'd tried to get him to talk, he
said nothing more. Jake could be injured, lying in a ditch or in hospital. Or
he could be dead.
    A fist punched
through her chest and squeezed her heart. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't stop
the tears tumbling down her cheeks. A sob caught in her tight throat and she
choked, spluttering snot all over her knees.
    "You're not
going to puke are you?" Frankie said, trying to see her in the rear view
mirror.
    Puking meant
pulling over. If she could catch him off-guard she might be able to escape. "Yes."
    He swore and
wound down his window. "Make sure you get the floor and not the seats. This
upholstery was expensive." He didn't even slow down.
    Ruby lowered her
head and cried harder.
    The car turned
onto a smaller gravel