by Dale Mayer
He beamed at her. “Maybe not,” he said, “but thanks for the thought.”
Gavin stared at Rosalina, trying to figure her out. She was the one who had been kidnapped, but she was right there at all times, trying to help. There wasn’t much she could do, but the fact that she’d even come after him had said a lot about her character. Sure it was foolish and had put her in unnecessary danger, but she hadn’t necessarily known he was looking for a trap. She’d only been thinking about him walking into one. He looked down at the man, sobbing at his feet. “We need to get a cleaning crew in here,” he said. “A lot will be involved.”
“And they won’t be very happy about it,” she said quietly. “Are you sure you don’t want to call Steve?”
He shot her a look and shook his head. “We’ll keep Steve out of the loop, but we’ve got people coming.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I trust Shane,” he said, with a smile. And, sure enough, in the distance, he could hear emergency vehicles coming. He reached down and grabbed the injured man by the back of his collar, lifted him to his feet, and prepared to join the others. Gavin’s weapon was now holstered in his back waistband, and he marched his captive to where Shane was.
Shane raised his eyebrows when he saw him. “So, a trap?”
“Well, he definitely pulled a gun on me,” Gavin said. “The question is whether he really understood what he was doing or not.”
“Of course I didn’t,” the man blubbered. “I thought you were coming back to kill me.”
“Right,” Gavin said, completely not believing him.
At that, even Rosalina laughed and said, “Then no need to try to kill him, was there?”
“I didn’t know who was who,” he pleaded. “I was lying there, with my eyes closed. You didn’t have to break my arm.”
“You didn’t have to try to kill me,” Gavin said, giving him a shove so he ended up heading toward Shane, who moved the longshoreman ahead and out of the building. From there they stood and watched as the government vehicles piled in around them. Several men came forward, frowns on their faces. Gavin understood because nobody liked to see anybody on their side that they didn’t know and didn’t understand. All these secret government departments that nobody wanted to keep a secret, but it didn’t change the fact that sometimes the local authorities needed the assistance of these secret entities. He gave a brief report and explained what was going on and then said, “Now we’re leaving.”
One of the men protested. “We’ll need a lot more information than you’ve provided here.”
“Then you can call me,” he said, calmly leading Rosalina to the vehicle. “And make sure you actually have questions and aren’t wasting my time.”
One of the men snorted and said, “Fucking spies.”
Gavin stopped. Turned. “Well, I better not have heard what you just said.” Gavin’s gaze was hard and direct. “I guess you guys have forgotten what team we’re on and who almost got shot up in there.”
They just glared at him.
“Yeah, I thought so,” Gavin snapped. He hopped into the driver’s side, his nerves already needing an outlet. With Rosalina in the back seat and Shane beside him, Gavin backed up, turned around, and pulled away. “They never change, do they?” he muttered.
Shane shook his head. “Of course not. But, if you were on their side, dealing with the everyday secret stuff going on in a city this size, and then in comes something even more secret, you’d be pissed too.”
“I guess,” Gavin said, relaxing. “I tend to forget that, even though we’re on the same side, different levels are here and everywhere.”
“I don’t understand any of it,” Rosalina said from the back. “Why the cloak-and-dagger stuff anyway?”
“Because the locals have rules,” he said. “They are bound by certain restrictions that we aren’t. So we have more leeway to get the job done.”
“You snapped his arm, like it was a twig,” she muttered.
“Well, it was either that,” he said, “or have my head explode, like a melon. I prefer the twig analogy.”
Shane nodded. “A good point,” he agreed. “We can go in there, and we can raise Cain and all kinds of hell, but we still have to protect ourselves. We’re not here to hurt civilians. We’re not here to hurt anybody—other than bad guys who are putting guns to our heads,” he said, by way of explanation.
Gavin thought it fell far short of what all they did, but, as long as it kept Rosalina happy, he was good.
“So, what do we even know now after all this?” she asked.
Gavin looked at Shane, but he was busy on his phone. “Make sure we get cameras of this area from the time they were all kidnapped to this morning, when Rosalina’s parents were moved.”
“Yeah, looking for the links now,” he said. “Got to be some cameras around this place.”
“Why would they bring my parents here?” Rosalina asked.
“I would ask you the same question,” Gavin said, as he pulled into traffic. “Most likely it was an empty location that wouldn’t link to them.”
“Right. I don’t think they have any relationship at all with the docks,” she said. “It’s not like we’re importing and exporting anything.”
“Maybe not,” he said, “but you never really understand what kind of businesses people are in.”
“Well, you can say that again,” she said. “I definitely don’t. I’m all about the research.”
“And who would be all about the ordering, shipping, and receiving?” he asked quietly, looking at her in the rearview mirror. She stared up at him, her eyes darker than he’d seen them before. He figured it was stress fatigue or even the nightmare of what she’d just seen.
She shrugged. “We have a purchaser, or buyer, whatever you want to call him. So I guess him. But I don’t know that he does anything other than handle the mundane stuff of getting more test tubes and pencils,” she said in exasperation. “For the level of something like this, it would be much more. It has to be much bigger than that.”
“So, you tell me,” Gavin said. “This is your company. This is your field. What would make it bigger?”
She sank back against the upholstery and turned her face to stare out the window.
But he could see the wheels churning in the back of her brain. It was a fascinating process. He never really thought that superintelligence would appeal to him, and he wasn’t sure that was the draw here as much as how it was packaged and how she utilized it. He loved the fact that she was straight to the point, honest, and up-front. And he really had to like somebody willing to come to his rescue. As ill-equipped as she may have been and whether he needed it or not, still she came. He didn’t think she was the kind to jump after lame ducks in the world, but she’d certainly jumped after him.
“I can’t imagine,” she said. “We didn’t need any more investment money,” she said. “We were approached, I believe, by a couple companies who wanted to invest, but my father declined.”
“Well, that could be interesting,” Shane said, twisting in his seat to look at her. “Do you remember who they were?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t think I was ever even told directly. Just something I heard being discussed.”
“Who would be discussing that kind of stuff?”
“Employees discuss everything,” she said drily. “Whether they know anything about a topic or not. Honestly it’s one of the reasons I keep to my little corner. Because there we can keep the discussions to science.”
“Instead of really boring stuff, like management, financial analysis, and all that, huh?” Shane teased.
“Okay, so maybe I’ve led a far-too-simplistic life,” she said, “but I’m following my passion and am happy doing it. Supposedly other competent people were taking care of the rest of it. And, if that is their passion, all the more power to them,” she said. “I don’t want to feel guilty for doing the stuff that I do.”
“I agree totally,” Gavin
said smoothly. “But some of these discussions may very well be pertinent to what’s going on right now.”
“Maybe,” she said, “or maybe it’s got nothing to do with it.”
“Won’t know until we find out,” he said. “So, who would know?”
“Well, my father of course,” she said, “but, then again, so would my sister.”
“Did you have nothing to do with the business side of it?”
She shook her head. “No,” she said, “nothing.”
“Did you show up for the shareholders’ meetings?”
She stared at him in horror. “You’ve got to be kidding. Have you seen those things? No way. Dad forced me to go when I was assigned my shares, and I showed up. It was nothing but a zoo of pasty-faced people, lying through their teeth, yet smiling, as if they were best of friends. No, not my kind of deal at all.”
“Wow,” Shane said. “They aren’t all that bad.”
“Well, that’s the only memory I have of the one time I went,” she said. “It’s enough to keep me away forever.”
“Well, it’s enough to use as an excuse to keep you away forever,” Gavin said.
At that, she broke into a laugh. “True enough,” she said. “It was ten years ago, and I don’t even know if the board members are the same people I met back then.”
“Not likely,” he said. “And, if you think about it, they would probably be different people anyway, just because of the number of years that have passed.”
“True enough, but, at the same time, I can’t see spending my time dealing with that kind of political gerrymandering on purpose.”
“Understood,” Gavin said. “Shane, did we get back much on any of the board members?”
Shane shook his head. “Nothing interesting. Background stuff and contact numbers.”
“You’re not calling them, are you? We have to keep this quiet,” she said, horrified.
“What do you care if the whole world knows what happened to your parents?” Gavin asked, his tone taking on an edge. “Surely you want us to do anything we can to get them back safe.”
“But how will involving more of the company keep them safe?” she asked, staring at him in the rearview mirror.
“I don’t know,” he said. “How will it hurt them?”
“Because, if somebody in the company is involved,” she snapped, “they might just decide to kill my parents, so they can’t tell what’s happened to them.”
“Exactly,” Gavin said, with a smile. “Which is why we probably won’t talk to anybody, but I was hoping there might be somebody you thought was trustworthy.”
“They are people,” she said. “That makes them all snakes.”
Chapter 8
Rosalina was still struck by the swift simplicity and ease with which Gavin had snapped that man’s arm. Even as the guy had been led away, clutching his arm and bawling his eyes out, Gavin had appeared completely unaffected. She didn’t know if that was just a requisite for the work he did, and he really was unaffected, or if it was a mechanism that helped him to keep his sanity when regularly dealing with the kind of violence he was exposed to. She understood the need for force at times but still found it shocking, up close and personal like that.
So far they still had no clue what had happened to her parents, yet they were closer, she admitted to herself. The fact that her parents had been at that hangar was huge. Now what they needed was forensics to explain who else was there. Surely somebody had to have known something. Between the dead men and those who were left, she wasn’t sure anybody did though. At least not anybody still left to speak.
And how absolutely distressing was it that so much was going on in this world right now. She was getting a little more worn down every time she heard of more. She’d insisted on coming, but, now in the dark, she wondered what was next. She leaned forward and asked, “Are we going back to the hotel?”
Shane nodded. “You and Gavin are,” he said. “I’m going to police headquarters and see if I can get any information out of our prisoners.”
“And I’ll,” Gavin said, “research their backgrounds.”
“Do you really think they’ll talk?” she asked.
“I’m hoping the one will talk to me,” Shane said. “It’s not like I broke his arm.” He ended it with a smile on his face.
“So it should probably be me,” Gavin said, “because he’ll know I’ll break his other arm.”
She realized he probably would too. “I wish the violence wasn’t necessary,” she said quietly.
“Right,” he said. “In that case maybe you should stay at the hotel for sure because this is the kind of world we’re living in right now.”
“I know that. I’m not a child, and I realize we use violence to get answers from violent people. I just wish that wasn’t needed.”
“Understood.” They took several more corners, and the hotel loomed in front of them. She felt such a sense of relief to know that they could hopefully put the nightmarish outing behind them.
As she stepped from the car, she said, “I guess I’m really looking forward to grabbing some sleep. Just a few moments to step out of this craziness.”
Gavin grabbed her arm gently and nudged her toward the front doors. “We’ll get that right now.”
But, even as she watched, Shane exited the passenger side, hopped into the driver’s side, and took off. She stared after him, confused. “Shouldn’t you be going with him?”
“Nope,” Gavin said, as he hooked his arm a little more securely with hers, bringing her gaze to his, and urged her through the double glass doors that opened automatically in front of them.
“What if he’s in danger?” she asked, twisting to look behind at the disappearing car.
“Well, thank you very much for being concerned,” Gavin said, as he led her toward the elevators. “But, at this point in time, this is what needs to happen.”
“I don’t need looking after,” she said slowly, searching his face, wondering if that was the reason for sending Shane off alone.
“So says you.” Gavin tapped the elevator button that would take them to the third floor, where her room was. As soon as the door opened, he checked the hallway and led her to her room. There he held out his hand, and she gave him the key. He opened the door but entered first, with a finger to his lips, and left her at the open doorway. She frowned, realizing what he was looking for and half expecting to see an intruder in there. He did a quick pass through her room, then brought her in.
Checking the hotel hallway again, he locked the door behind her. She moved into the room and noted the trolley was still here with their dishes. She quickly packed it up, setting aside the sweet desserts and adding them to the stash of croissants and muffins she pulled from her purse. Now that she was back to relative safety again, and, although she might very well need some more food, she wasn’t sure she could get anything down with her stomach as upset as it was. Gavin pushed the cart back outside, and she didn’t see what he did, but he was gone a bit longer than it took to just put it out in the hallway. When he reentered, she stared at him. “Where did you put the cart?”
“Out in the hallway but a few doors down. We don’t really need anybody to know that we’re here.”
“Security cameras?”
He smiled, shook his head, and said, “I fixed the one on this floor before we came off the elevator.”
She sighed. “Is everything so easily hackable these days?”
“Unfortunately,” he said, “it’s all so-too-easily hackable. That’s the way of the world right now.”
“Well, it sucks.” She sagged at the end of the bed and gave her face a scrub with her palms. “I need sleep,” she announced. “My brain is fuzzy.”
“Do you want a shower first?”
She shook her head and, walking to her dresser, pulled out her pajamas. “No,” she said. “I just need to rest.” She went into the bathroom and, after a few minutes, came out with her robe around her and slipped into bed, tossin
g away the robe, and curling up under the blankets. “Are you staying all night?”
“I sure am,” he said.
She looked over at the table and saw that he’d cleared it off and already had added his laptop, papers, and something else, maybe a tablet or a phone beside him. Yawning, she asked, “How can you just keep going?”
“I need to,” he said. “You know the kidnappers won’t give a shit about sleeping.”
Immediately she felt guilty for getting some sleep. “Why haven’t they contacted us?”
“Because they don’t want anything from you,” he said, his gaze piercing her in the half light. “This isn’t about you. It’s about them.”
“If they don’t want anything from us, meaning like a power move or money, what could they possibly want from my parents?”
“Information—or for them to do something that they don’t need anybody else’s signatures for.”
At that, she slowly sat up and said, “You mean, like change their will or sell shares?”
“Sign contracts,” he said. “Make agreements under duress. Sign confessions.”
She stared at him. “My poor parents.”
“Agreements made under duress aren’t legal under the law,” he said, “which would require your parents to fight it afterward, unless the threat was big enough that they wouldn’t for fear of the threat being acted upon.”
“Meaning that, they could be killed if they tried to fight it?”
“Most parents don’t give a crap,” he said, “but, if a threat were made to kill you or your sister—”
“They would cave in immediately,” she said, nodding. “It’s who they are.”
“I get that,” he said. “And, for that reason alone, they’ve probably picked up your parents as part of the process to get to the end of what they need done.”
“But, if they gave somebody shares, and it was under duress, and my parents couldn’t fight it afterward, surely somebody else could do something to stop it.”
“To remove the threat, you have to remove the threatened end result,” he said, “usually going after the people behind it. So, for example, say somebody wanted control of your family’s company and needed to redistribute shares for control of the company. They become this new dark horse, somebody put into power in a company.”
