“Okay, send our love to those kiddos, and let Tommy know when you get back that we are all going fishing, just the guys.”
“Will do,” she smiled and pushed her chair back as Abe helped her up. They waved and kissed others as they were the first to make their getaway.
Dude and Cheyenne left next, and they said their good byes as well. He and Caroline nursed what was left of their beers and listened to the laughter all around them as the patrons continued to cheer for Benny and Jessyka’s big win tonight.
As Wolf finished the last of his beer and pulled Caroline up to her feet, he felt proud to be this group’s leader. They were his family. And tonight was just one more fun evening of sharing memories, and rooting each other on. Despite the laughing and teasing, and the funny text messages to their friends on the other coast, they were all proud of Benny and happy for him. He’d just hung up the phone with Tex ten minutes earlier, and all was good in Bayview. Tex reported that he hadn’t seen anything suspicious and everyone was tucked safely into bed while he did another perimeter search. Doors and windows were locked up tight like a drum. He’d even set up a motion detector on the road that led to the farm. It was a small little device he’d been able to set up with no problems, and he always had one on hand in his kit when he traveled. It sent an alert to his computer and his watch if kick started. Wolf knew Benny and Jessyka’s kids were safe in Tex’s hands. He also was glad Cookie was with him in Connecticut and then Massachusetts until they got home.
Knowing his guys were safe made him able to sleep at night. Though he had other plans with Caroline before sleep would take him tonight.
* * *
Tex sat down at the kitchen table where his lukewarm coffee now sat, next to his open and powered up laptop. He had just completed yet another perimeter search. He didn’t think it was necessary, and he thought the danger was over, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Not with Benny’s kids. Or anyone’s for that matter. The two girls, Sara and Suzie, had their earrings in and he would always know where they were. And John wore his little leather bracelet with the unassuming clasp that contained the tracker that would always allow him to know where he was at all times. And right now they were upstairs asleep, along with two of Benny’s aunts, Suzie and Sandra. After The Cook Off ended tonight, Benny’s Aunt Jenny had gone out with John Walker, the foreman who helped run their farm. It was cute to see the way the older couple was in love with each other. He knew he would feel exactly the same way about his Melody twenty, thirty, hell even fifty years from now, if they were lucky to live that long.
The blips on the screen were steady. He switched screens and saw two small dots in Pennsylvania. That was home for him. He watched the blinking white lights on the dark screen. Akilah had come down stairs one evening and had seen him watching six dots in Turkey just a few months ago. She asked what they were, and he explained as much as he could without telling her too much about the mission. She understood and asked to see her own dot, as she fondled the earrings he had given her at their adoption ceremony in Philadelphia. He showed her, and she put her one arm around him and hugged him. “I love you, Dad.”
He’d hugged her back. “You too, kiddo. With all my heart.” Tex squeezed his eyes shut tight and blinked back the tears. He did love her. Her and Melody. They were his world. He watched the white dot that showed him Melody moving. It was just after one AM. She didn’t go far. He smiled, knowing she was making one of her many trips to the bathroom. She was in the final trimester of her pregnancy. Their baby would be here soon. Their family was growing.
He tapped the keys and saw eight blinking lights at Aces Bar & Grill. He did the math. It was just after ten there. They were inside the bar or in the parking lot, and he knew that some must be on their way home now. His laptop could track any one of their friends and family. It was his job to keep them all safe, and that was his number one priority. He took this part of his job more seriously than anything else. The bond he had with these men, their wives, and their families was so strong. Though not blood, in his eyes they were his family. He switched back to the two blips, soon to be three tucked safely away in Pennsylvania. Melody was back in bed. Her bathroom trip completed, the baby sitting on her bladder safely ensconced inside her mother’s womb. Melody and Akilah were the reason he was alive, and now he would soon be living for his second daughter. He couldn’t wait to see this child, his child, the one he and Melody had created. A miracle. They had tried so long to get pregnant, and finally they had been blessed when Melody had found out she was pregnant on their Tampa vacation all those months ago.
Tex pulled the plug on his fully charged laptop and carried it with him into the living room. He set it on the small table beside the sofa and plopped down. It would stay charged all night, but he put it into power save mode just in case. His wrist watch would vibrate if the blips on the screen went twenty miles out of their designated areas. The watch would also vibrate if the motion detector was set off on the road leading to the farm. Jenny said she would come home in the morning to make breakfast for everyone around seven. He shut his eyes and slept. He could sleep on command, trained to sleep when he could after years as a Navy SEAL. But he was also a light sleeper. The kids would be safe and so would Benny’s aunts.
He felt himself sinking into the abyss of sleep. Two more days and Benny, Jessyka, Fiona and Cookie would be back, and his babysitting job would be complete. He smiled as he faded the rest of the way into REM, and then he could go back home to Melody, and Akilah, and baby. Crap, he had almost forgotten the dog. He snickered to himself. Never. The dog, Baby, was part of the family too.
CHAPTER 20
Lisa was furious with herself. She tried not to dwell on it as she carefully watched the exit of the studio where Good Morning America was taped and broadcast. The little car she had ripped off had given her nothing but trouble. She hadn’t contemplated that when she took the junkiest looking car off the used car lot. She just figured it wouldn’t be missed. It had spit out black smoke the entire ride to New York City and she hadn’t pushed it for that reason, well that, and the fact that she didn’t want to alert the police to the stolen vehicle.
An old boyfriend taught her how to hot wire a car. They had taken a few and sold them for a couple of bucks to get high on occasion. But the slow going and her late night antics had made her late. She hadn’t been able to get a good spot down the block from the studio as she planned. She had to park around the corner. Now she was going to have to wait outside and watch for Benny and whoever he was with to come outside. Then she would rush to her car around the corner and hope to heck she was quick enough, wasn’t spotted, and then veer around the corner so fast to try to run him down. She hadn’t been able to think of another plan and just didn’t want to blow this chance. It could be her last.
An autumn breeze tickled her face and she reached up to tuck a loose fluff of wispy hair back into her ball cap. Her blond hair was tucked up into a bun, but a strand had come loose. She sported a Boston Red Sox cap and didn’t think she stood out although she was in the heart of New York. Chuck had left the cap in her trailer once and she hadn’t returned it yet. The man was a huge fan and had many ball caps. She’d thought about running into one of the shops and buying something less conspicuous, but did not want to miss Benny coming out while she was inside. She also did not have much cash left on her. She had used most of it on the tolls, and did not want to use her own identification and have the police be able to track her down via her purchases like she saw them do on television. There were plenty of Boston fans in New York she figured, and tried not to think about that.
She saw the Mystic limo parked out front of the studio, and she also vaguely could see the driver. She didn’t recognize the man. He appeared to be looking at his phone. His window was open and he was enjoying the cool weather. But seeing that limo also made her aware that Benny would indeed come out this way as she presumed. She put the Styrofoam container she carried to her lips, and sipped the now cold coffee s
he had procured from a deli down the block two hours earlier and glanced at her watch.
It was nearly ten o’clock and she assumed the taping was over, or Benny’s segment at least. He could come out at any minute. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach. Her revenge could happen any time. She would finally get payback for Brian and for Tabitha, and for her. The lone survivor of the catastrophe being Jessyka. Her eyes narrowed venomously, like a snake poised on striking. Every muscle in her body was tense and alive, and her senses were on overdrive. When the door to the studio opened, she stood straighter and slid behind the newsstand nearby. She waited and she watched as the door opened wider.
* * *
Benny mopped his brow back stage. He had been nervous before, but once he was seated before the hosts of Good Morning America, Lara Spencer and Amy Robach made him feel right at ease. They had asked about his recipes, his aunts, and what he would do with his windfall. They had aired clips of the show, and even asked about the suspicious onions. He had been warned by the police not to mention the poison as it was an active investigation, so he had made light of it, just saying he felt they hadn’t smelled right.
“Well, you are the chef. You ought to know!” He’d smiled and laughed with her, though not knowing who had been behind that continued to bother him, and he hoped the police continued to look into the matter.
Talking with Cookie on the drive over, both were still nervous, thinking it had to have been one of the eliminated contestants from that round. The police were digging into their backgrounds as well. But so far, they had not been able to make a solid connection to any of the contestants and the drug that was used.
Amy was speaking, and laughing after showing some footage of him in the dressing room getting ready for the show. It was that moment when the make-up artist suggested eye liner. “Oh my goodness, I didn’t know they filmed that.”
“I can see how tense you are. But Benny,” Amy chimed in, “you have to admit seeing a Navy SEAL in a make-up chair makes for great TV footage.”
“Oh yeah, it sure does, but I will never live this down.” He was laughing with the hosts, but knew his friends back home were dying.
Both of the anchors laughed. “My cousin was in the Marines, so believe me, I know. I bet your buddies will be getting you make-up for Christmas this year.”
Benny laughed. “Now that you mentioned it, I’m sure they will.” The light-hearted banter came easy with the two women. It was just like hanging out at Caroline’s house, though across from him were four men with mounted cameras and swing operators that glided them across the room soundlessly. It was so surreal.
“How about showing us one of your famous recipes?” Lara suggested.
Benny readily agreed. The shows backstage people had prepped all the ingredients for him for his now famous Loaded Mashed Potato Appetizer. In fact, some were prepared ahead of time and ready to come out of the oven.
He followed Lara and Amy over to the kitchen set. He talked about each ingredient, and had them help with the chopping and the mixing. “You are good at this, Benny. Have you ever thought about your own cooking show?”
“Oh goodness, Lara. No. I like to cook, but being in front of the cameras all the time would drive me nuts. You saw me. I almost punched that make-up artist for suggesting I wear eye liner.”
Lara laughed as she helped scoop the concoction they had created into the small muffin tin.
Benny took the full tray from her and walked over to the oven mounted into the wall of the set. Amy followed.
“Oh boy, does that smell good.”
Benny smiled. “That’s the Vermont Cheddar.”
He put the tray inside and took out the tray of already finished hors d’oeuvres. He plated several as the ladies looked on. He saw Jessyka wink at him out of the corner of his eye. She was standing with Fiona in the hallway just out of view from the cameras. She gave him a thumbs up sign letting him know how good he was doing.
He winked back. Fiona clutched Jessyka’s hand and smiled. Behind her was Cookie, grinning crookedly. He was eating this up. His first row view of the filming would be the fodder of lots of smack talking back home and he wanted to remember every glorious detail to tell the guys about it.
* * *
There he was! Benny, and Jessyka right beside him. Following them was that other couple from the casino.
She had to act now. Now or never. Lisa dropped the coffee into the trash can and rounded the corner as quickly as she could without drawing too much attention to herself.
Her little blue junker was right…
But it wasn’t. She glanced up the block and saw the car being pulled along by a tow truck a quarter mile up the road before it was swallowed up out of sight by a city bus.
Her heart plummeted into her stomach, and she cursed out loud not caring who around her heard her. Then she flipped back around and headed back in the direction she had just come from. She watched as Benny pulled open the car door and first Jessyka and then the other woman got into the over-sized limousine. The driver was still inside. Next, the other large man got it, and Lisa knew that this would have been the moment she rounded the corner. She would have been able to plow him down while he held open the door as the other larger man got inside. Benny would have had to wait a moment like he was doing now for the man to settle inside and push over.
It had been her one shot and she had blown it. She nearly passed out as in slow motion Benny ducked his head down and climbed inside. She imagined herself plowing into him with the small car as his body hit her front fender, and the door was ripped off its hinges. She imagined the sickening crunch of bone as Benny’s body flew over her car. She imagined his scream of pain and Jessyka’s shrieks as he bounced on the pavement once before collapsing in a broken and distorted heap behind her blue car. She imagined looking in the rearview mirror as she careened down the street and saw Jessyka look towards her car once before she scrambled out of the limo and ran as best as the gimp could towards her husband’s lifeless body. In the fading distance she could just make out the circle of blood spilling out from around the corpse in an ever growing puddle. Her smile looked back at her from the rearview mirror. She had finally gotten satisfaction.
But that was all just another fantasy. A fantasy that would not come to pass.
What in the hell was she going to do? She watched as Benny finished climbing inside and watched his hand pull the door closed behind him safely. Safe inside the limousine loaned to them by the casino.
She couldn’t let him get away. She couldn’t.
Just like in the movies, she put her fingers to her lips and whistled. A passing cab pulled over and she got in.
“Where to, lady?”
She mumbled. “I just missed my friends,” she lied. “Follow that limo.”
The cabbie looked back at her with a strange expression. “Can’t you just call them on your cell phone?” he asked, but pulled out from the curb.
“Um, yes,” she stumbled at a loss for words. “But, um, that would ruin the surprise.” She caught herself just in time, then went on to explain to the nosey cab driver. “I got in town a day early and wanted to surprise them.”
He nodded. “Okay, sure lady.” The cab driver still sounded doubtful as the limo pulled forward into the faster lane and he made the switch as well. “Any idea where they are headed?”
Lisa shook her head, and hoped they would stop and not head straight back to Connecticut, but knew her luck was against her. She didn’t have that kind of money, and she’d have to do something crazy to the cab driver if the limo headed out of the city.
Just then she heard a sharp whistle and saw a police officer on horseback cross the traffic, and the cab driver was forced to stop.
“Sorry lady,” the cab driver mumbled and watched as the police officer directed traffic. A horse drawn carriage crossed the four lanes of traffic. “We got to let them pass. It is a tourist town,” he shrugged nonchalantly as four carriages passed and then the police office
r waved them forward. But by that time, the limo was long gone.
Lisa was about to cry. She grabbed her last twenty out of her purse and pushed it through the small slot in the shield that separated her from the driver up front. “Here. I guess I will just jump out and call them.” The cab driver shrugged once more as his passenger got out in traffic. He glanced at the police officer and was glad for the ladies sake he was looking the other way. Jaywalking like that was totally illegal and she could have gotten a ticket, or at the very least a stern talking too by the mounted officer. He pocketed the twenty and pulled forward watching the woman who had just vacated his cab walk down the block in the other direction.
Briefly, he felt bad that her plans to surprise her friends had backfired, but he didn’t think about her for too long. He saw a couple halfway down the block and the man had his hand up in the air. His next fare, he calculated, as he slid into the curb side pickup zone. The lady with the wicked scars was long gone from his thoughts as he greeted the young couple who hopped into his cab and asked to be driven to Central Park. He nodded after resetting the meter, and once more slid into New York traffic with ease.
* * *
Lisa woke with a start. Her phone was ringing and from her pounding head it must have been wringing for some time. The shrillness of it in the silence of the room grated on her.
“Hello?” she ground out, her throat like sand paper. She saw the full ashtray brimming with cigarette butts. She had gotten home in the late afternoon. She had broken down and grabbed the train, and then a bus to Hartford. From there she had called Chuck. He dropped her off and didn’t question her as she requested and then he went into work. She got drunk and smoked two entire packs of cigarettes it seemed.
“Yes, hello. Is this Heidi?” the voice asked.
Heidi? She recognized her supervisor’s voice. “Yes. Sherry. It’s me.” She cleared her throat before speaking and glanced at the clock, seeing it was only 8 PM. She wondered if they wanted her to come in for an extra shift. She couldn’t do it. She was drunk and just not in the right frame of mind.
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Betting on Benny (Kindle Worlds) (Mystic Nights Book 6) Page 13
