The Line: The Complete Series

by Nikki Rose

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Thank you both for being here. I know we’ve only just met, Hana, but I’m glad you’ve been here.”

  “Me too,” I couldn’t help myself and I wrapped my arms around James’ neck and gave him a big hug. I’d known these guys less than a month but I was already feeling like one of them. They were a great group of men who did extraordinary things and I was glad to have the chance to get to know them.

  Mason and I said goodbye to James, Hunter, and the other guys before he climbed into the trunk and I drove us home.

  CHAPTER 17

  Mason

  The next morning, I was up before the sun. I’d barely dozed off a time or two all-night even after Hana had finally fallen asleep. Neither of us had gotten much rest. As I sat in the kitchen drinking my third cup of coffee, Hana finally walked in at nearly eleven.

  “Good morning, sleepy head.”

  “Morning,” she mumbled and rubbed her eyes. She pulled her unkempt waves up into a messy bun as she walked toward the coffee pot.

  “Here, let me.” I jumped up and made it to the coffee before her. “You, sit.”

  “It’s okay, I can—”

  “I got it.”

  “Thanks,” her voice was wary.

  “You didn’t sleep much last night, huh?”

  “No. Not after the night we had.”

  “Me either.” I’d noticed in mornings passed how she took her coffee. Two sugars and a splash of cream so I made her coffee without even asking how she took it.

  “I figured you’d be used to seeing things like that.”

  “You never get used to seeing something so horrible, especially when it's someone you know.”

  “I’m sorry. Here I am taking all this so bad and this is someone you actually know.”

  I sat her coffee in front of her and covered her hand with mine, “It’s okay. It’s never an easy thing. Your concern for someone you don’t know says a lot about you.”

  She gave me a small smile but her eyes were weak and tired.

  “Do you want me to cook something for breakfast?”

  “No. I don’t think I could eat anything right now.”

  “I’m really sorry that you had to see that video yesterday.”

  “I’m just sorry for James and especially Natalie. Do you think they...?”

  “No. What they did was to prove a point and to scare us. They were letting us know they were serious and they wouldn’t hesitate to punish her if we tried to trick them again. They want something from us or from James. Otherwise they wouldn’t have kept her alive at all.”

  “But you can’t give them what they want.”

  “I know. That’s why we are trying to do everything we can to stall while we try to find them. If we can get her back, then they have no leverage.”

  “Do you think you’ll find them before they hurt her again?”

  “I don’t know,” I let out a sigh. I hated to tell Hana that. I knew she was hoping for an answer that could give her hope but I needed to be honest with her.

  Hana was quieter than I’d ever seen her. She silently gazed into her cup of coffee, taking a sip at varying intervals until it was almost empty.

  “Can I fix you another cup?”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  “I know it's hard to think of anything other than last night but you need to try to distract yourself. Maybe you should spend some time painting today?” I talked to her while making her coffee.

  “I don’t really feel up to it. I might just sit and watch some T.V.”

  “Okay. I have some calls to make to the guys but once I’m done, maybe I can join you?” I handed her the freshly filled mug.

  “Yeah, sure.” She stood up and walked into the living room with her cup of coffee.

  I was just hanging up from my call with Chris when Hana called me from the living room.

  “Mason? I think you need to come see this.”

  I hurried into the living room unsure of what I might find. On the television screen was a picture of me with red letters across the screen: $20,000 reward to anyone offering information that leads to an arrest of an armed and dangerous man wanted for the recent marina bombing.

  Shit. Twenty thousand dollars was a lot of money. It could motivate a lot of people to turn me in and I had too much to worry about already with the Natalie situation.

  “It’s more important than ever that we keep people from seeing me until we can figure out who’s framing me.”

  “I agree. Money motivates.”

  “Exact—” I was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. I held up a finger for Hana to wait as I peeked through a window to try to see who it might be.

  On the side of the road were three police cars. My heart raced, pumping adrenaline into my veins. I turned to her and mouthed the word, “police.”

  Hana’s eyes widened and she mouthed back, “what do we do?”

  I stepped closer to her and whispered, “I need to hide. You answer the door. Act casual and stay calm whatever you do. They will be able to spot if you are nervous and it will make you look guilty.”

  “Where are you going to hide?”

  “It’s better if you don’t know. That way you won’t have any tells. If they want to search the house, make sure they have a search warrant before letting them in.”

  “Okay.”

  “Count to sixty then answer the door,” and with those instructions, I rushed with quiet steps out of the room.

  While doing some of the work around the house, I’d noted possible hiding spots. There was a small crawl space under the house but to get to that, I’d have to make it outside and with three cars, they were most likely surrounding the house. The attic was a possibility but would take too long to get to. The one that came to my mind was the strong wooden storage shelves mounted to the ceiling of the garage.

  When I organized the garage after moving everything around to fit my car, I’d taken a few minutes to also arrange the shelf with space behind the storage boxes. It would offer me cover. I hurried into the garage, careful to make sure the door closed quietly behind me. I couldn’t use a step ladder because that would be a dead giveaway so instead, I lifted myself up onto the shelf and was glad I hadn’t skipped our chin-ups during workouts. Once I was situated behind the boxes, I scooted another box to block my feet from being exposed and worked to calm my breathing.

  The waiting was excruciating even with my training. I held my breath while the police searched the garage.

  “As I said. There’s no one here but me,” I recognized Hana’s voice.

  “The house looks clear,” one policeman said.

  “Seems that tip was just another wild goose chase.”

  “We always get the crazies or the greedy callers hoping to make a quick buck at the taxpayers’ expense.”

  “Thank you for your time, ma’am.”

  “Of course. Let me walk you out.”

  The garage door clicked shut again. The voices from inside the house had grown silent for several minutes yet I still waited, hoping Hana would be quick to come back inside. I waited a few more minutes before I finally climbed down.

  There was no sign of police when I peeked into the kitchen, so I stepped inside. I kept close to the walls, staying out of the line of sight of the other room. Unfortunately, that also meant that I couldn’t see into the rooms either. I peeked around the corner into the living room. Clear.

  Once in the living room, I peeked out the window into the front yard. The police cars were still there. They all stood outside on the front lawn talking with Hana. Anxiety built as I waited and watched them talk, just wanting her to come back inside and them to go on their way. I hated hiding in the shadows. I was ready for my name to be cleared so that I could go back to my normal life. Except, as I watched her standing there talking with the police officers, the warm breeze blowing a few loose tendrils of her messy hair, that I didn’t want to just go back to my old life. I wanted her in it.

>   Suddenly, Hana jumped as if she’d been shocked. She took a step to the side then the other side. The police stepped back, watching her suspiciously. What are you doing? As she swatted her hand, I realized what she was doing. She was swatting bees. She’d jumped because one had stung her. I watched from the window intently as she motioned with her hands, telling the cops what was going on but they were slow to respond.

  To my horror, she put her hand up to rest on her collar bones, just under her neck before crumpling to the grass. One policeman ran to her, yelling for the others. They were making a call assumingly for emergency medical responders. That would take too long. A flash of yellow in a kitchen draw came to mind and I ran into the kitchen to retrieve her EpiPen.

  I ran through the house, opening the pen as I busted through the front door and leapt down the four steps onto the walkway. Not caring about the police surrounding us, I dropped to my knees beside her. I pushed her shorts up her thigh, and pushed the pen against the large muscle in her leg. I held it there for a count of ten before removing it. She wasn’t conscious. I held my breath waiting but she wasn’t waking up.

  Moments later, ambulance sirens echoed down the road. They pushed me out of the way and loaded her onto a stretcher.

  “I’m going with her.”

  “Are you a relative?”

  “No, I’m—”

  “Sir, we need you to stay here with us,” one of the officers interrupted from behind me.

  My jaw clenched but if I made a scene, it would only take away precious moments needed to get her to help.

  I pinned the EMS worker with a stern glare, “take good care of her.”

  He nodded and I backed away from the ambulance so that he could close the door. I watched as the ambulance drove away as if nothing else in the world existed. I should have been with her in the ambulance. I needed to watch over her and make sure she was safe.

  I let out an aggravated sigh and turned around to find two of the police officers holding guns pointed at me.

  “Sir, I need you to put your hands on your head and get down on your knees slowly,” the middle officer without a gun ordered.

  I followed his instruction, his voice fading off as he read me my rights that I knew so well. I knew that was coming the moment I made the decision to get the EpiPen and as long as she was safe, I was okay with that.

  CHAPTER 18

  Hana

  A beeping sound filled my ears and pulled me from a strange, dreamless sleep. I struggled to open my eyes but my eyelids were heavy and weak. Bright light pierced through when I finally managed to open them into two small slits, causing me to shut them tight again. Blinking, I let my eyes adjust. Where am I? I tried to swallow but my throat felt like sandpaper.

  As I finally came around, my vision focused in on the stark white hospital room. The monitor gave a rhythmic beep that matched the rhythm of my pulse. A male figure sat slumped over in a chair in the corner.

  “Mason?”

  The man looked up revealing not Mason but James.

  “Nah, it's just me.”

  “James? What are you doing here?”

  “Making sure you’re alright.”

  “What happened?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “I remember being at home. The police came to search the house. Oh no. Did something happen with the police? Where’s Mason?”

  James’s face fell, his shoulders slumping forward and my heart sank.

  “James, what happened?”

  “You walked the police outside and were stung by multiple yellow jackets. Apparently, there was a nest in the yard that was disturbed when you were walking out. Mason saw you collapse from the window. He knew the ambulance wouldn’t make it in time so he ran outside and administered the EpiPen.”

  The dots were finally starting to connect in my mind. “He ran out of the house?”

  “Yes.”

  “In front of the police?”

  “Yes.”

  My stomach twisted and my ears roared as I swallowed down the nausea rising in my throat. “Mason’s been arrested?”

  James nodded solemnly. “He called me and asked that I come to the hospital and keep an eye on you,” James stood up and walked over to my bed, looking over his shoulder conspiratorially. “He also wanted me to let you know that he told the police the truth. That he forced his way into your home, tied you up, and forced you to let him stay there so he could hide out.”

  “But—”

  James held up his hand to stop me. “Once they find out you're awake, the police are going to want to question you. You need to make sure your stories match. Mason already told them that that was how things went down. All you have to do is tell that part of the story and leave the last few days out.”

  “What about Mason? How much trouble is he in?”

  “The guys are still looking for the lookalike. If we find him, that should be enough of a lead to get us what we need to get him out. We just need that break. But, until then, Mason wanted me to tell you to stay strong and stick to the story. He will be a lot better if he knows you are safe and out of trouble.”

  “I need to see him.”

  “Mason?”

  “Yes. When can I get out of here? I need to go see him.”

  “The doctors said as long as there weren’t any more complications, that they’d be releasing you tomorrow, but Hana, you can’t go visit Mason.”

  “Why not? I need to see him.”

  “It will make you look guilty. Why would you go visit him if he held you against your will in your home?”

  I let out a frustrated sigh and sat back in bed. I was still feeling pretty groggy and was clearly still overlooking the obvious. “That’s a good point, but I need to see him.”

  “You’ll get to see him as soon as we clear him. I might be able to arrange a phone call but they will be monitored so that might be tricky. We might have to use a burner phone and have you go by a different name or something.”

  “Anything would be better than nothing.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. I just don’t want to leave you alone right now in case—” James went silent and looked toward the door. He tensed, his back straightening and he instinctively took a step closer to my bed where he could put his hand on my arm.

  Just then, two very official looking detectives came into view. One woman and one man, both about middle aged and looked very serious.

  “Good afternoon, Ms. Moore. I’m Detective Bryant and this is my partner Detective Grant,” the male detective spoke lightly while the woman offered a smile.

  “Are you feeling up to talk to us for a few minutes?” Detective Grant asked as she approached the side of my bed farthest from James.

  “I don’t think this is a good time. She’s still very groggy—” James started but Detective Bryant cut him off.

  “We won’t take too long. We understand that you’ve been through quite an ordeal. We just have a few questions then we will let you get back to resting and recuperating.”

  “Okay...” I was hesitant to answer their questions but at the same time, I was ready to get it over with.

  “Can you tell us about the events that occurred on September thirteenth?” Detective Grant asked.

  “September thirteenth?”

  “Yes.”

  I glanced at James then back to the detectives.

  “Maybe we should get your friend to step outside while we ask you these questions.”

  “No,” I said too quickly and Detective Bryant raised his eyebrow. “I’d like for him to stay.”

  “So, September thirteenth?” Detective Grant urged.

  “On September thirteenth, I was in my home painting. I placed my usual take out order from The Great Dragon and went back to my work while I waited. When the food arrived, I answered the door.”

  “And who was at the door?”

  “A man with my take-out order.”

  “And had you ever seen this man before?”

&
nbsp; “No.”

  “So, a man you don’t know shows up at your door and you just let him into your home?”

  “No. He had my order. He knew the exact amount the meal always was. So, I turned around to get the money from my purse.”

  “And is that when he pulled a gun on you?”

  “Pulled a—no.” James said Mason had told me to tell the truth for the first couple days so either the police were just filling in the blanks themselves or they were trying to catch an inconsistency.

  “Okay, so then what happened?”

  “I turned around and saw him standing inside the living room. He acted normal but I found it strange that he had just walked into the house. He smelled like smoke and had ashes on him. He said he had to drive through an area with a lot of smoke and needed water so I got him water.”

  “When did you suspect that something wasn’t right?”

  “I heard sirens. Between that and the fact that he seemed to be interjecting himself into my home, I got a feeling that something was off.”

  “And what happened next?”

  “I asked if he was really a delivery man, which is when he confirmed that he wasn’t so I tried to hit him over the head with a lamp.”

  “Wow, that was very brave of you. Were you able to hit him?”

  “No, but the lamp broke and I managed to cut him with a jagged piece. After that, he still managed to get the piece of lamp away from me. He used zip ties I keep in my kitchen drawer to tie me up.”

  “What about the time that your landlord came over or the time that the police came asking if you had seen someone matching his description? Why didn’t you tell them so they could help you?”

  “He hid just out of sight from the door with a gun. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, including myself so I did what he said and lied.”

  “So, you lied to the police because you were in fear for your safety?”

  “Yes.”

  “And during all this time, there was never a time you could have reached out and asked someone for help or gotten away?”

  “No.”

  “Even when he sent you on errands without him present?”