The Line: The Complete Series

by Nikki Rose

“Not nearly long enough,” I chuckled. “Sorry that was just such an inspired performance, I felt compelled to applaud.”

  Hana blushed and went back to stirring something on the stove.

  “What are you cooking? It smells amazing.” I rounded the island and walked over to her side.

  “The one breakfast I know how to make. Gravy biscuits, bacon, and scrambled eggs, courtesy of my grandma.”

  “I didn’t know you could cook.”

  “It's not something you should eat everyday so I don’t cook it often. Being here, I felt inspired.”

  “When did you get all this?”

  “I borrowed it from Mrs. Steves. She always keeps a fully stocked pantry and fridge. I told her I’d pay her back before we left but she insisted we not bother ourselves with it.”

  “She’s so kind.”

  “She really is. I made some coffee if you want some.”

  “Sure, thanks.” I poured a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter beside the stove. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Thanks, but I’m just finishing up.”

  “It’s so weird. I’m usually always the first one up.”

  “Yeah, but you were up late on that call with Hunter. What time did you finally get to bed?”

  “I don’t even think I checked the time.”

  “Was everything okay?”

  “Yeah, Hunter found the guys who were after you before. We should be safe now.”

  “Were they the ones who framed you?”

  “No. They were actually friends of the man who died. They blamed me for the death.”

  “Oh wow,” Hana said as she plated the food and set it on the table. “So that means we can go back to my house?”

  “Yeah. Once we get back, I need to go meet Chris too. He’s got some other information on a possible lead in the bombing.”

  “Oh, that’s great. So, when are you planning on us going back?” I could tell by her tone and expression that Hana wasn’t ready to leave her grandmother’s home.

  I helped Hana carry the cups and juice to the table. “Well, I had figured we could head out after breakfast but then I started thinking, things have been so crazy and it's really nice being here. What would you think about staying just one more night then we can dive back into our regular craziness?”

  “Really?” Hana’s whole face lit up and I knew I’d made the right choice.

  I nodded and she grinned big.

  We sat down to enjoy the delicious breakfast Hana had cooked for us.

  I took my first bite of the biscuit with gravy and groaned. “This is amazing.”

  “Thanks. They are made from scratch.”

  “And here I thought I was the only one who could cook between us.”

  “Well, I’m sort of a one trick pony. My grandma taught me how to cook this when I stayed here with her. The rest of the time I spent running around outside or painting as I got a little older.”

  “How old were you when you started painting?” I took a bite of my eggs.

  “Eleven when I really started more seriously.”

  “Wow, so young.”

  “My grandma was the one who got me started. She used to sit outside to unwind, she’d set up her easel and I’d watch her work for hours. It was almost magical to me to see how she could take a blank canvas and create something so beautiful. Eventually, as I got older, she started setting up a second canvas for me to paint with her.”

  “That’s really sweet.”

  Hana nodded, taking a big bite of her breakfast. We continued eating and chatting throughout the morning. She found some old photo albums tucked away on her grandma’s shelf. Spending time getting to know Hana on a deeper level was more enjoyable than I’d imagined it would be. I loved to listen to her reminisce about her childhood stays in that old house and watch her smile and laugh at a particularly special memory.

  We were looking through the last of the pictures when Hana closed the album and looked up at me with a bit of determination. “You feel like going for a hike?”

  “Sure. I’ve been cooped up a lot the past couple of weeks. I could use some fresh air.”

  “Perfect. Let me throw my shoes on and grab a couple waters and we can be on our way.”

  “Sounds great.”

  We walked through the dense woods just on the back side of Hana’s grandmother’s property. At least, I assumed it was still her property. It was hard to tell where the line might be drawn when everywhere we looked, it was trees. Hana walked a few feet up ahead of me, leading our way through the barely existent walking trail.

  “You can tell it's been a while since anyone has been up this way.”

  “Yeah. I used to play in these woods all the time as a kid but it's been years.”

  Hana stopped up a head where the ground suddenly shot up in front of her. I made it to her side and looked up.

  “It’s kind of steep. You have to watch your footing.” She looked up at me and smiled, “you up for it?”

  “I never back down from a challenge.”

  “Good.”

  We climbed the steep trail that wound between trees and overgrowth until we finally reached the leveled top and was welcomed by a breathtaking view of a wide, winding river, rolling hills, and treetops as far out as we could see.

  “This is amazing.”

  “This was a major deciding factor when my grandma and grandpa first bought this land.”

  “I can imagine. It’s stunning, but why wouldn’t they have built their house farther back this way. They could have made this their back-porch view.”

  “They could have, but then it wouldn’t be as special. They wanted the view to be worth the hike it took to get to it. When you have to put in the work, it makes the reward that much sweeter.”

  “That makes sense. It sounds like your grandparents were smart people.”

  “Where do you think I get it from?” she smirked and I chuckled.

  I sat down near the edge, overlooking the beautiful view and Hana joined me. She handed me a bottle of water which I took gratefully.

  “Cheers,” I smiled and tapped my plastic bottle against hers before we both drank.

  The sun began to set just over the ridge, painting the sky with swirls of pinks, oranges, and purple.

  "This needs to be your next painting." I inclined my head, not looking toward our view.

  "I actually did paint it years ago."

  "Really? I'd love to see it."

  "It's probably still somewhere in the house. I'll have to look for it."

  "Hey, Hana. I wanted to talk to you. About last night."

  Her brow crinkled as she tried to figure out what I was talking about.

  "About that kiss..." the fact that she hadn't even realized what I was talking about had me questioning if I should have even mentioned it. Maybe she wasn't reading as much into it as I had thought.

  "Oh, that?" Her cheeks turned pink. "Don't worry about it. I know it was just one of those in the moment things." She waved her hand casually and looked back out at the evening sky.

  I gazed at her for a moment, captured by her beauty overshadowing the backdrop of the sunset and let out a sigh. Hana glanced at me and I just smiled and nodded, putting on a stoic face.

  Hana shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

  "It's getting chilly. We should probably get back before we have absolutely no light to see our way back."

  "Yeah. It will be pretty dark already in the thicker part of the woods. I brought flashlights though." She pulled out two matching Maglites from the same bag she had retrieved our water bottles from and we started back down the trail.

  CHAPTER 13

  Hana

  Once we were back in town, we drove out to a designated parking garage just after lunch with me in the driver's seat and Mason once again in the trunk of my car. It was weird to think how I was getting used to driving around with someone in my trunk. It was a testament to how strange the last couple of weeks ha
d been.

  We waited for Chris to get out of his car and slip into the backseat of mine before Mason opened the middle partition. Chris slipped a file folder from his bag and pulled out a picture.

  “Do you recognize this man? Have you seen him following you or happened to notice him showing up at places you frequent?”

  “Donovan Evans. No. Not that I can recall. This is the guy Hunter mentioned that you found?”

  Chris nodded. “But he’s not working alone. He has no connection to you for this to be something personal. We think someone hired him based solely on his ability to look like you.”

  “Any luck finding him?”

  “The address in the DMV records isn’t current and as far as we can tell, he hasn’t had any utilities turned on in his name in the last six months.”

  “So, it was a fake?”

  “Or he just failed to update his address.”

  “What about his known contacts? Any connection there?”

  “I have his phone records. I was wondering if you could review them over the next day or so and let me know if anything catches your eye.”

  “Yeah, sure thing. It’s not like I have much more I can do right now.”

  “Just know we are working as fast as we can to clear you. I know its tough sitting around not doing anything. Any work you can do from the house, I’ll try to send your way. It helps to keep busy.”

  “Thanks, man. Anything else?”

  “We are checking with past employers and known acquaintances to see if we can get to know Donnie a little better.”

  Chris’s phone rang and he held up a finger. “This is one of the guys on our team. I need to see what’s going on. One sec.” Chris swiped to answer the phone and placed it to his ear, “Hey James, what’s up?”

  We could hear some indiscernible chatter on the line and Chris’s face dropped.

  “Wait, slow down. Who took her?” I tensed at his words even though I didn’t know who he was talking about.

  “No. Don’t do anything until we get there. Yeah, we’re on our way.”

  Chris ended the call, a grave expression on his face. “I need you to take me somewhere. Now.”

  “Where? What’s going on?”

  “I’ll explain everything,” Chris leaned up between the two front seats and programmed an address into my GPS. “I need to call Hunter. Just drive.”

  I sped out of the parking garage, following the GPS to a house in the suburbs just outside the city. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I could tell by the sound in Chris’s voice that it was better for me to not waste time asking questions.

  Chris dialed on his phone and I listened in curiously. “Hunter. I need you to meet me at James’s house. I’m on my way there now. Someone’s taken Natalie. No, they haven’t made contact yet. Get Mikey to set up a trace on incoming calls from James’s phone.”

  With our head start, we beat Hunter to the house. The small cottage-style house was like a picture with its whitewashed fence and flower boxes lining each window.

  A man I assumed was James anxiously answered the door.

  “Mason? What the hell are you doing here? We’ve got half the agency out looking for you.”

  “He knows.” Chris interjected. “I also told him that we know it wasn’t him and are working to try to figure out who set him up, but let’s handle one crisis at a time. Can we come in?”

  “Yeah of course. Come in,” James stepped out of the way and let us inside.

  He paced the floor anxiously while we all took seats in the cozy living room. The decor definitely had a woman's touch. There were lots of throw pillows and fuzzy blankets tossed around the arms of couches and chairs making the home cozy and inviting.

  “Have they made any contact?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Okay man. Start from the beginning. Tell us what happened.

  I was heading to work this morning. I left her at the house like always. She was about to go grocery shopping. She was supposed to be picking up dinner for tonight. I realized that I forgot my extra clip so I turned around to go get it. They must have been watching and waiting for me to leave because I couldn’t have been gone for more than fifteen minutes.

  “When I got home, the front door was opened, the table in the foyer was knocked over and the glass vase was shattered on the ground. She was gone.”

  James paced the floor like a caged tiger at the zoo. Anxiety rolled off him like waves that made me sick to my stomach.

  “You said they had to have been watching. Why don’t we walk outside for a minute and see if you can remember anything else?” Chris said, clasping his hand on James’s shoulder and he nodded.

  “I’ll stay inside. The last thing we need is someone spotting me here,” Mason looked miserable.

  Just as Chris opened the door to lead James outside, James’s phone began to ring.

  James hurried to pull the phone from his pocket and looked down at the screen. “It’s a video chat.”

  “Hold it so we can see too. Something in the background could help us find out where they are calling from,” Mason stood up from the couch so he could see and I peeked between him and Chris, curious to see too.

  James swiped to answer the call. A very attractive albeit disheveled woman was tied with rope to an old wooden chair. Her eyes were large and wet with tears both shed and unshed with mascara streaks running down her face. Movement in the far right of the screen drew my attention. There was someone standing next to her, all we could see was a black sleeve and glove.

  “James? Oh my gosh, James. I’m so scared. I’m sorry. I tried to—” something outside the frame caught her attention, her gaze darting to whatever it was and she flinched before forcing herself to calm down.

  “Natalie, it's okay. Where are you? Who took you?” James’ voice was desperate.

  A gloved hand rose in the frame and came down to strike Natalie across the face hard enough that her head slung to one side and she let out a sob.

  “They say that if you ask any more questions about where I am or who took me, they will hit me again,” her voice quivered and she let out a sob.

  “What do they want?”

  She looked over at something off the screen again, like she was looking for cues on what she could say then looked back to the screen.

  “They want information.”

  “What kind of information?”

  “They want information on the agency. Access codes, financials, security protocol, and chain of command to start with.”

  “To start with?”

  “Yes. They say they won’t let me go until you’ve given them all the information they want. If you don’t...” a sob escaped her lips and she squinted the tears that were clearly burning her eyes. Her lip quivered and she took in a shaky breath. “They will be in touch to let you know where to send the information. They know this is a tough decision for you to make and there may be some red tape to cut through, so they are giving you forty-eight hours. They said that if you don’t give them the information they want, they will start sending you pieces of me until either they get what they want or run out of pieces.” her words broke and she began to sob uncontrollably just before the call ended.

  “Shit,” James yelled and lifted the phone like he was going to throw it but Mason grabbed his arm and stopped him.

  “They are going to be in touch but not if you smash your phone.”

  “Natalie doesn't deserve this. She's just trying to help me have a normal life.”

  “We know,” Chris gave James an understanding look directly into his eyes to let him know he wasn’t alone and that he understood.

  James walked to the couch and plopped down, resting his head in his hands. “She didn't know what she was getting into when we first got together but even after we got married and I told her about the agency and about what I did for a living she was so supportive if not a little afraid for my safety.”

  “I always knew that there was a chance I wouldn't come
home to her when I left for a mission but I never thought that I'd lose her. It was always supposed to be me. James dropped down into a seat holding his head in his hands with his face toward the floor.”

  Chris stood and walked over to him, placing his hand on James shoulder in a show of support while Mason stared down at the floor. “We'll get her back man. It's what we do.”

  If I hadn't already begun to trust Mason, seeing this exchange did it for me. These men were not criminals and kidnappers, they were good. They fought to protect others. They were on the good side.

  I wanted to help them anyway I could but I wasn't sure what I could do. It wasn't like I had a special set of skills that would help in a situation like this. I was an artist but if driving my car and sneaking Mason to secret meetings would help them, that’s what I would do.

  CHAPTER 14

  Mason

  I hated to see my friend in so much pain. Our small unit was more like a brotherhood. We were family which made Natalie family too. When someone messed with one of our own, they messed with us all.

  I was glad when Hunter arrived. We could use all the help we could get and he was one of the best.

  “So, what exactly were their demands?” Hunter sat on the chair across from James and leaned forward.

  “They want information on the agency. Access codes, financials, security protocol,” I explained coolly before James could. He was too close to the case, hell we all were but this was his wife and he was too emotional to think clearly.

  “Security protocol?” Hunter leaned forward with more interest.

  “That would also include emergency protocols, right?” Hunter raised a brow.

  “That one was the odd one out.”

  “How so? They gave me a whole list of intel they want on the agency. That was just one of many.”

  “Yeah, but it's the only one that stands out,” Chris commented.

  “The others are probably to cover what they are really after,” Hunter looked distant as he spoke.

  “Shit,” I let out a sigh and everyone looked at me. “They’re planning to attack the agency.”

  “What?” James sat up straighter and looked at me with wide eyes. I was surprised he hadn’t figured it out himself but then again, he was distraught about Natalie.