by Nikki Rose
“I’m going to wait around here and make sure he’s doing okay unless you need something?”
“No. Try to get some rest and keep a good eye on him. Let us know if there are any changes. “
“Will do. You guys be safe”
“We will.”
Mason hung up with Hunter. He looked so weary and exhausted.
“Let’s get you to bed.”
“I like the sound of that but I don’t know if I’ll have the energy tonight,” He teased.
“Alright funny guy. Come on. Time for sleep.” I took his arm, pulled him up off the couch, and led him to the bedroom.
“Well now that doesn’t sound like nearly as much fun,” he sounded almost drunk from exhaustion.
“It will be a lot more fun once we both get some rest.”
“That’s true. I do like you energetic.” He tugged me to him and kissed me gently before we both climbed into bed.
He rolled onto his back and pulled me against his side so that my head rested on his shoulder, my hand instinctively found its place just over his heart and it didn't take long for me to doze off to the rhythm of his heartbeat.
CHAPTER 25
Hana
“Hana, wake up. Wake up,” Mason whispered loudly, stirring me from my dreams. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep but judging by how late we’d gone to bed and the dusk colored light seeping into the room, it hadn’t been long.
I rolled onto my back and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, finally bringing the world back into focus. Mason was dressed, his brow scrunched with worry.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s James.”
I shot up straight in bed, “What happened?” “I’m not exactly sure. Hunter called. I need to meet him and don’t have much time but I didn’t want to just disappear in case you woke up while I was gone.”
I tossed the blanket off of me, and threw my legs over the side of the bed.
“I’m going with you.”
“No, this could be dangerous.”
“I don’t care. I’m going.”
“No. You’re not. You are staying here and I’ll call you when I know something.”
“Mason, I am going with you. You said you were in a hurry. We don’t have time to argue about this. I’m a part of this thing now too so I’m going.”
Mason’s resolve faded before my eyes, “hurry, get dressed.”
I hopped out of bed and threw on my clothes from the night before, not caring that they were slightly crumpled from their place on the floor. I threw on a pair of tennis shoes, grabbed my purse, and through my hair up in a messy bun on my way out the door.
Mason and I hopped in the car. He didn’t waste any time and was pulling out onto my street before I even had time to buckle.
Mason pulled up the GPS on his phone and sped out onto the road.
“So, what did Hunter say?”
“He said that something happened. He didn’t want to say what over the phone because it might not be secure. He emailed me the address to meet him. I’m not sure what’s going on other than it's about James.”
“Do you think it's Natalie? Do you think they...?” I couldn’t even get the horrible words from my mouth.
“I don’t know. We could speculate all kinds of things but we won’t know for sure until we get there so there’s no reason to let ourselves get upset now.”
I nodded. Mason was right. There was no reason to get upset over possibilities and might-be’s. We just needed to stay calm and get there as soon as we could.
We pulled up to a small pool hall. All the lights were out, including the neon open sign in the front window but Mason didn’t park there. He pulled around back where two other cars were parked near a back exit.
We climbed out of the car and Mason grabbed a faded dark green bag from the trunk before leading me to the door. He knocked a series of rhythmic knocks and the door opened revealing Hunter and farther into the dimly lit storage room, was the Director. We hurried inside and Hunter locked the door behind us.
“Director, I thought you were gone with Caroline,” Mason looked between the two men curiously.
He motioned at an old round table with four chairs in the makeshift breakroom-slash-storage room and sat down. “I was but this is too important to leave to just anyone. I left her with my brother-in-law out of state so she’ll be safe.”
“What happened?” Mason and I took our seats after them.
“Petrov escaped.”
“What? How? I thought he was in a maximum-security facility.”
“He was moved off site for...questioning. He was due to be transported back tomorrow. The details of his escape are uncertain at the moment but this was recovered from the tap on James’ phone by our guy.”
Director Applegate slid his phone over to us and I leaned in to Mason to get a better view. It was another video of Natalie and I found myself holding my breath as we watched.
“James? I’m okay,” she sniffled, trying to keep calm. “The men holding me are really mad about how you tricked them with the files but they said they are merciful and decided not to kill me as long as you do what they say.”
“What is it? Natalie, I’m so sorry. I’ll do anything,” James’ voice was pained and desperate.
“They want you to help one of their friends escape from a remote holding facility.”
“One of their friends? Who?”
“Someone named Petrov. They said you’d know who he was. That your team put him away. They say that your team is torturing him.”
“Natalie, I can’t. You don’t understand, that guy is a really bad guy. I would be putting so many lives at risk.”
“I know. I told them you’d never help them with something like this. That you are a man of honor,” her voice cracked slightly. “And, I wouldn’t ask this for me. It’s just—” she cringed as though the words she was trying to say were burning in her throat. “I’m pregnant.”
“Shit,” Mason stopped the video and looked up at the Director. “She’s pregnant?”
“We’re not sure. They could just be making her say that as a way to get James to do what they want. I don’t even know if they were trying—”
“They were,” Mason interrupted.
“They were? You’re sure?”
“James had been talking about wanting to start a family for about a year now. He finally convinced Natalie to toss out the birth control six months ago. He told me one night over drinks. He was so excited.”
“Damn. Well, that explains the rest then,” Hunter added.
“How much trouble is James in?” I could tell Mason was worried by the sound of his voice.
Director Applegate rubbed a hand over his face showing his first sign of stress. “I’m not sure. As far as helping Petrov, I can appeal to the courts for him that he was under duress but if the Russians are involved, court could be the least of his problems.”
“We need to find him. Does the video say anything about how he’s going to get Natalie back?”
“They said once he delivered Petrov to them safely, that they would release Natalie.”
“A hostage swap? Those things never go well.” Mason spoke to the Director but Hunter sat back in quiet contemplation.
“I know that. James knows that too but what does he have to lose at this point? If he doesn’t try then he’ll blame himself for the death of not only his wife but of his unborn child.”
“He’s in an impossible situation and he’s going to get himself killed.”
“Not if we can help him.”
“We need to find out where this meet is going down.”
“I’ve got Mikey tracing his phone but it must be off. Same with his car’s GPS.”
“Of course, it is. He's been trained by the same people we have. But he's emotional and reckless. We need to catch a slip up or start thinking outside of our training.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Call Mikey. Get him to send us any
thing he's got on Petrov. Places he used to go, any real estate he owns. If his name is connected in any way, I want those files.”
“You think they could be meeting at one of Petrov's places?”
“I think Petrov is one of, if not the top dog. Whatever is going on people are trying to get him back at any cost because he's the one pulling the strings and he’s got loyal people on the outside.”
“We also need to get any information they might have obtained during questioning while Petrov was in custody,” Hunter added.
“Good thinking.”
Director Applegate pulled out his phone, dialed, placed it on speaker phone, and sat it in the middle of the table.
“Director?” the voice came through the speaker on the phone.
“Mikey, hey I'm here with some colleagues and we need anything and everything on Petrov. Real estate holdings, locations he frequented even just a couple times. We also need anything and everything he might have said during his incarceration in questioning.”
“You got it. Whatever you need. I was actually going to call you with something.”
“What do you have for me?”
“I was able to identify some background noise in the last correspondence between James and Natalie.”
“On James's side or Natalie's?”
“Natalie's. James's phone was accessed from his house at the time of the call. His GPS was deactivated after that. I eliminated the vocal sounds which took up most of the tape. I enhance the background sounds. The first two videos I wasn't able to get anything but this time there was a slight sound in the background. I was able to use some enhancing techniques that wouldn't be admissible in court...”
“We're less worried about court and more worried about stopping James from doing something stupid. If we can get to Natalie first then James has no reason to turn over Petrov to the Russians.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“So, what was it in the background?”
“I was able to isolate the sound of a ship horn.”
“A ship horn?”
“They're near water. What’s even better is that I was able to isolate the horn enough to run it through a sound recognition software. The type of ship horn that was heard in the video was from a larger vessel. I checked the records and they're only three marinas in the area that would have ships that large.”
“We need to send team members to all three?”
“No, sir. I contacted the shipyards and only one of them had ships that fit the criteria at the time of the call.”
“So that narrows down our search.”
“But not enough. Do you have any idea how many ships, boats, shipping containers we would have to search?”
“A lot but it's a start.”
“I'll send out a team to do a sweep but I want us to take point. We need to stop him before he gets close and get Natalie out of there so he doesn't become combatant. Have a heli with thermal imaging to scan the ships and containers. That should help narrow things down.”
“You got it boss,” and with that, Mikey hung up.
“Let’s go. I’ll make the rest of the calls on the road.” Director Applegate stood quickly. We all jumped up from the table and followed him out to our cars.
CHAPTER 26
Mason
It didn’t take us long to get to the marina with the way me and my team drove. The sun was just starting to peek up over the water when we arrived. I turned to Hana and braced myself for an argument.
“I need you to stay in the car. This is way too dangerous for you to be out. I wish I could have gotten you to stay behind but I knew you’d fight me. Please don’t fight me on this?”
“Okay,” she spoke softly.
“Okay? That’s it? Really? No arguments?”
“Do you want me to argue?”
“No. Not at all.”
“I’m not completely unreasonable. I know this is way outside my abilities.”
“I just don’t want anything to happen to you. Try to stay down out of sight. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I went to get out of the car but her worried voice stopped me. “Mason?”
I turned back to her, looking into deeply pained eyes, “please be careful. I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”
I cupped the side of her face, forcing her gaze to meet mine, “I will be fine. This is what I do.” With those words, I pressed my lips hard against hers sealing my words with the kiss.
I pried myself from her, resting my forehead against hers. My heart ached with the unspoken words I wished I could say. I love you. But the words couldn’t make it past my lips. It was too soon. I’d scare her away. I’d never felt before the way I did for her in that moment. The way I had from the first time I saw her smile.
“Come back to me,” she whispered almost against my lips.
“Always,” it was a vow. I kissed her one more time before forcing myself out of the car.
Missions had always been simple for me. I’d never worried but that time, I worried. I worried something would happen to her. I worried something would happen to myself and how hard that would be on her. I had to force those thoughts from my mind. Doubt like that could be just enough of a distraction to get myself killed.
I left Hana in the car with instructions to stay low. Hunter was already there with the Director and several of our men.
I hated the loud helicopter overhead. It was disguised as a news chopper but whoever was behind taking Natalie wouldn't be fooled that easily. It had its purpose though.
The helicopter was armed with a state-of-the-art heat sensor. They were checking for any sign of life at the shipyard which would be rare during such an off time. It gave us an edge when most of the shipyard was filled with cargo containers, they could easily be hiding in. Having the chopper, even if they had some warning, we'd find them and they wouldn't kill their only hostage.
Just in case they had thought ahead and used a thermoshield on the container they were using, several teams of our men swept through the yard, checking the containers around the outer edge and methodically moving in. That way if they tried to escape, we’d have a perimeter around the entire lot.
I was the leader of my three-man team and I motioned silently to my guys directing them which way to move. We were like a well-oiled machine, every team within the agency. We moved like liquid flowing from row to row, checking each shipping container one by one.
“Alpha one we’ve registered a heat signature fifteen clicks at your three,” the helicopter pilot's voice came through my earpiece. Alpha one was my team so I motioned for them to follow me.
We made it to the container and I silently counted to three, my guys at the ready, with guns aimed as I lifted the roller type door. A man startled, looking like a caged rat, trapped and panicked. His eyes were wide as he realized there was no place to go. He put up his hands but as we took a step, he tried to side step one of my men and run past him. I ran after him but before I could do anything, my man closest to the suspect had already wrestled him to the ground.
He quickly handcuffed the man while the third on my team radioed in that we had a man in custody. I rolled the cuffed man onto his back and stared down at his wide, terror filled eyes.
“Where’s the girl?” I demanded.
“YA ne govoryu po-angliyski. Tol'ko russkiy,” the man sputtered out. Lucky for him I spoke Russian as well.
“Bullshit. You speak English. You all do. Now, where is the girl?” I demanded with even less patience the second time.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen any girl,” he spoke with a very thick Russian accent.
“So, you can speak English. Tell me where the girl is, now,” I roared.
“I swear to you, I don’t know where she is.”
“You’re a lying piece of shit,” I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up close to my face. “You tell me where she is right now or I will lock you in a cell in the darkest corner that people wil
l forget you are there as you rot away into nothing.”
I wasn’t playing around with this guy. He was our only lead. Not only Natalie but James was at stake if we didn’t find her and I wasn’t about to lose a man who was like a brother to me.
I reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet looking for any clue of a meet up place, a telephone number, even his name would be more than I knew at that moment.
“Vlas Ivanov,” I stated firmly, wanting him to know that I knew his name so there would be no hiding from me. “What’s this?” I pulled out a picture of a woman holding a small girl who looked no older than four.
Vlas thrashed toward the picture like he was trying to get it but his hands were still bound behind him.
“They must be important to you with a reaction like that. Are they here in America?” He glared at me but said nothing. “Still in Russia? The little girl, she’s what, four, five? Adorable. I bet she misses her papa It would be a shame if she never got to see you again just because you didn’t give me a few innocent answers.”
“Dog,” he spat the insult at me but I didn’t care. I was in my interrogation zone. I had to get intel from him and I didn’t have time to waste. I needed to up the stakes.
I smiled at him then knocked him across his face with the butt of my gun so that his cheek split and trickled a small amount of blood.
“What do you think your Russian friends might do if they find out you talked to me? Is that what you are afraid of? Would they kill you? Cut you up in little pieces and deliver each one piece by piece to your family back home? Would they make you watch as they killed your family first before they put you out of your misery?”
“They would do so much more than that. Much more than you could ever do to me. I won’t tell you anything.”
“That’s the beauty of it though. I don’t have to do anything to you. All I have to do is make it seem like you told me what I wanted to know then they can take care of the rest. Are they watching us now? I can set you back up on your feet, help dust you off, offer you a pat on the back and something to drink. Maybe I’ll even smile and shake your hand before setting you free and rushing off like I know exactly where they are. If they see that, they’ll move and if I don’t find them, they’ll just assume they dodged me. But they’ll know you helped me out.”
