by T. K. Lukas
“Yes, and I’m grateful,” she sniffed, dabbing at her eyes. “Sid, how’re you holding up through all this?”
“Holding up—just—I guess, in shock. I’m so sorry about your house.”
“Like you, I’m in shock. I cried myself to sleep last night, thinking about all that was lost in the fire. All the memories. The photographs. My sons’ baby clothes I’d been saving to some day pass down to grandchildren. The chair I rocked my babies in. I still have the memories, and I’ll get over it. It’ll just take time. It’d be a different story had Trevor and Gunner not made it out. I don’t know what I’d do if…” Eli’s voice trailed away.
“I’m so sorry, Eli. I wish there were something I could do,” Sidney consoled. “And your wigs! I should send you the one you loaned me.”
“Oh honey, I think you need that one more than I do. Besides, I’ve been thinking about changing my hair color, anyway. Maybe I’ll rise from the ashes and come up a mysterious brunette, or a fiery redhead.”
“That’s Mama,” said Trevor. “She takes things in stride and comes out smiling.”
“Eli, I admire your spirit, and I’m sorry for your loss. If I can help in any way, just let me know,” said Markus.
“Thank you. I’ve already contacted my insurance agent. Everything will be fine.”
“Trevor, how long will you stay in the hospital?” asked Markus.
“Doc wants me to stay until tomorrow, but I’m leaving today, with or without his blessing.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to leave? What’s one more day?”
“One more day that could be better spent putting a plan in place. My first thought is to get Mama out of the country. Her passport, which she can get tomorrow, is in the safety deposit box at the bank. Today, however, we need to buy some clothes and essentials. There’s a lot to do. I can’t sit around here.”
“All right. I agree. Let’s discuss a comprehensive plan for both of you. Are you up for coming to Alpine, once Eli is safely on her way to…where are you sending her?”
“My brothers are in England at a soccer symposium in York. Mama is giving me a thumbs up and a smile of approval.”
“Perfect. I could use another set of eyes and ears here to help me, if you’re willing. You need to get the hell out of Fort Worth, anyway, but with extreme caution. Covertness is essential.”
Trevor chuckled and said sarcastically, “My hearing and my left eye might not be much use to you, but I’ll gladly offer the service of my right.”
“Sorry, buddy. I forgot.”
“I forget sometimes, too. Anyway, I agree on coming to Alpine. What’re your thoughts on a plan of execution?”
Markus laid out his strategy, thinking aloud, and taking notes as he went. When Trevor brought up the subject of stopping at the Fire Department to show his appreciation, Markus advised to forgo that social call. The fewer the stops made, the greater their chance of disappearing successfully.
Trevor and Eli followed his instructions precisely, including rescinding his request for the doctor’s discharge orders. To anyone who might call the hospital seeking information, it would be preferable for it to appear that the patient was still there.
As soon as the call ended, Eli went to the hospital’s gift shop and purchased two Dallas Cowboy’s ball caps she’d spied in the display window earlier. She donned the cap, Trevor his, along with T-shirts she’d purchased announcing the wearer was the proud parent of a new baby daughter. They exited the hospital through the emergency room door where there’d likely be more people coming in and going out, making it easier to blend in with a crowd.
Having left Eli’s Range Rover in the hospital’s parking garage, they took a taxi to a car rental facility where Eli rented a small compact. With one stop at Target where they picked up suitcases, clothes, and other necessary supplies, and then another stop at a veterinary clinic to have Gunner checked over, their errands were complete.
They drove to the Hyatt Regency Hotel located within the gates of the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, all the while keeping an eye on the rearview mirror, making sure they hadn’t been followed. There they would wait for the delivery of a boarding pass for Eli on a nonstop flight to London’s Heathrow airport. Included in the delivery would be a train ticket from London north to York. Markus’s contact would purchase them in Eli’s name but would pay using an untraceable credit card issued under an assumed name. He promised a courier would have it to her no later than 10:00 A.M., and told Trevor to look for an email with further instructions for him.
The following morning, after obtaining Eli’s passport her boarding pass, they dropped off the rental car and took a shuttle bus to the terminal. Waiting for the three o’clock departure time would be an excruciating test of nerves. As she and Trevor hugged goodbye, he encouraged her to have a Bloody Mary to relax. She followed his advice. Then had a second.
Trevor had received Markus’s email earlier on his cellphone. As instructed, he hailed a taxi, and he and Gunner made their way to Fort Worth’s Meacham Field Airport where Markus had arranged for a private flight to Alpine. The pilot, a retired Marine who went by the nickname “Vader” because of his raspy voice, ran a small air taxi service. He owed Markus a favor and was happy to help—anything for a fellow Marine—and, anything to get more flight time.
According to Federal Aviation Administration regulations for flights leaving out of Meacham Field, a flight plan had to be filed for departures using instrument flight rules. Vader filed it as required; however, it was filed showing Taos, New Mexico as the destination. Once out of the terminal controlled airspace, the plan called for Vader to cancel his IFR route and continue on via visual flight rules. Doing so would make it easier to keep his plane’s movements from being tracked to Alpine. When asked if he wanted to receive flight following service from the air traffic controller, Vader politely declined.
Soon after the twin engine Beech Baron’s wheels cleared the runway and they were safely airborne, Trevor breathed a sigh of relief. He gave Gunner a new chew toy and then closed his eyes, leaning back in his seat. For the first time since waking up in the hospital almost thirty-eight hours earlier, he let his mind and body relax.
*****
After the plane cleared the end of the runway and banked left, Anton held binoculars to his eyes and read aloud the plane’s tail number. He stood next to a black sedan parked near the tarmac, the same black sedan that had followed Eli and Trevor when they’d left the hospital. The same black sedan that had shadowed their every move, unobserved. The person sitting in the back seat nodded as he scribbled the numbers down on a pad of personalized stationary. The embossed letterhead showed a knight wearing armor and sitting astride a black warhorse, the initials C. W. K., III written in dark red script.
CHAPTER 18
Alpine
Sidney powered off her cellphone, watching Markus intently as he finished scrawling a few notes, at times chewing on the eraser end of his pencil or tapping it against his palm. It would be good to see Trevor tomorrow, she thought. And, she was filled with relief that Eli soon would be safely out of the country.
Sitting with her back against the headboard of Markus’s bed, different thoughts played out in her mind. She thought about the Mistletoe bungalow, the home Eli had loved dearly and where her family had forged a lifetime of happy memories. Their home being burned to the ground devastated Sidney. She felt responsible that it was her text message to Trevor that had led the arsonist there.
Stranger therapy wasn’t very therapeutic, at least not for Trevor.
She wished she’d kept her mouth shut and her personal misery to herself. If she’d turned down Trevor’s invitation of unburdening her worries on him, he and Eli would have been spared this catastrophe.
Would Aleck still be alive?
“Hey, where’d you go? You’re a million miles away.” Markus placed a hand on her arm as he turned to face her, setting his pencil and notebook aside.
“Not that far,
only about four hundred miles, give or take. My mind was back in Fort Worth, wondering if Aleck might still be alive and Eli’s house still standing had I not entangled Trevor in my disastrous life. I feel responsible for—”
“Don’t, Sidney. You’re not responsible. It was a tragedy, no doubt, Aleck’s murder, Eli’s house. But you can’t take the blame for the actions of a deranged maniac.”
“I understand where you’re coming from. I get it. But still, look at the chaos that trailed behind in my wake when I left Fort Worth.”
“But still, nothing. You fled a dangerous situation, running from that evil bastard of a husband. He’ll be held accountable. Trust me.” The severe look he leveled on her conveyed as much.
“Whether I trust you or not is irrelevant.” Sidney drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her shoulders rose and fell as she filled her lungs, then expelled the air forcefully. “Some evil bastards, to borrow your phrase, have ways of circumventing laws, especially when they know the laws inside and out.”
“I don’t blame you for being cynical. But it would be nice to hear you say you trust me—not for my sake—but for yours. Giving your trust to someone and having them prove you right by honoring that trust validates you.”
“Before your so-called plan of validating me occurs, I need to get back to the point of trusting myself. Of listening to my gut.” Sidney fought back tears. “That’s the only validation I need right now.”
Markus stood, picking up his notebook. “You listened to your gut and followed Trevor’s advice to come here. That was exactly the right move. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get on the computer for a bit. I have some coordinating to do with Eli’s plane ticket and getting Trevor here.”
“Back to the bat cave?”
Markus chuckled. “Yes, to the bat cave.”
“I need to get a message to my cousin, to let her know what’s going on. I’ve been afraid to call her, afraid that Winston somehow has eyes and ears on her, too. Is it possible that you could contact her safely?”
“I can make that happen. She can only be told you’re okay. Not where you are.”
“I understand. Do you need her email, physical address, or phone number?”
“I already have her info. I’ll request an agent contact her in person to deliver your message. It’ll be done discretely. They know what they’re doing.”
“You already have Jessi’s information?”
“Yes.” Markus gave a slow nod.
“How did you come by that?” Sidney peered up at him with a puzzled expression.
“Through my contact in the Company. A background check was in order for anyone who might be under pressure from Winston. His involvement with the Río Negro cartel leaves everyone subject to scrutiny. Even family.”
“Jessi’s like a sister. She would never have anything to do with Winston or his shady business ventures.”
“Shady? They’re much darker than shady. They’re downright black.”
“All right. I agree. But I can assure you, Jessi is as innocent as a lamb.”
“A lamb in distress might bleat what they know to the person applying pressure. It happens all the time.”
Sidney considered this. Yet, she couldn’t fathom her cousin not having her back. They’d grown up together like sisters, and were still each other’s best friend. No, she decided, Jessi would never betray her, no matter what type of strain she was under. Besides, who would put pressure on her in the first place? And, why? If Winston did have someone watching Jessi, then he would know that the two were no longer in communication.
Sidney took the notepad from Markus and jotted a quick message, signing it: L & L from the M. P. Handing it to him, she said, “This is what I want to tell Jessi. It’s okay if you read it. Nothing classified or top secret.”
He scanned the note, and then raised his eyebrows. “I’ll make sure she gets it. L and L from the M. P.?”
“Love and laughter from the Mountain Princess. Signing it this way, she’ll know it’s legitimate and from me.”
“Is that a super top-secret code name?” Markus asked, half in jest.
“When I was a young girl, my grandfather started calling me his little mountain princess. We were vacationing in Alaska, flying over Mount Denali, and my father had a heart attack at the controls of the Piper Super Cub he’d rented for the day. We crashed on the side of the mountain. It killed my mother, too. Grandfather used to make up stories and draw fantastical, fanciful pictures of a mountain princess who floated on snowflakes far above all the scary things below.”
“That must have been awful. I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“I bet you already knew all about it, though. I’m sure you did a background check on me, as well. Why wouldn’t you?”
Markus’s expression didn’t convey affirmation or denial. He held her eye contact for a long moment before offering only a few carefully chosen words, “I didn’t know about your being nicknamed The Mountain Princess.”
“But you know everything else about me. Thank you for confirming my suspicion.” She didn’t feel shocked or perturbed that he’d done a background check on her. If the tables were turned, she’d have done the same thing.
“I’d be a fool to think I know everything about you. I have a feeling that’s a complicated subject requiring further exploration,” he said with a teasing tone to his voice.
The way his slow drawl melted over the words “further exploration,” caused all sorts of images to flash through her mind. She fought to refocus on the conversation and tried not to stammer.
“And, Grandfather shortened it—he shortened it to just ‘Princess.’ From the time I was a little girl until the day he died, that’s what he called me.”
“Well, Princess, if you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of business now. I won’t be long.”
“While you’re doing that, I think I’ll go to my room and shower.” Sidney stood to leave, wishing he’d say more about what he found out about her background, yet knowing he would not.
“Are you okay being alone? You can use my shower if you want.”
She put on a brave smile. “Thanks for offering. I’m fine now, in the light of day. It was just last night that I was afraid to be alone.”
“It’s okay to be afraid. Only sociopaths don’t feel fear. I’m glad you’re not a sociopath,” Markus teased.
“I’ve experienced more fear than I care to admit, which must indicate that you’re safe with me.”
“Likewise.” He gave her a momentary flash of a grin.
Sidney picked up her boots off the floor, and as she made her way across the room, she paused. “What’s the saying on that John Wayne poster hanging in the barn apartment? The poster in the bedroom?”
“Ah, yes. Words to live by. It reads, ‘Courage is being afraid but saddling up anyway.’”
“Yes, that’s the one. I’m adopting that as my motto.” She jutted her chin in defiant affirmation. “Um, is it okay if I leave the bedroom doors open while I shower? Just in case…”
“Sure. Leave all the doors open, if you want.”
*****
Fog covered the upper half of the mirror hanging above the vanity sink. Because the door was wide open into her bedroom, steam escaped the cozy bathroom before leaving its full mark on the glassy surface.
Sidney rushed through the tasks of hair washing, body scrubbing, and leg shaving before hurriedly turning the faucets off. She’d left the shower’s glass doors cracked open to have a better view of what lay beyond. The custom doors were etched with a landscape scene of pine trees and mountains. The scene soothed her, and she imagined what those pine trees might smell like after a soft rain. With the doors open, the spray from the shower soaked the towels she had spread on the floor.
She stood at the sink, one towel wrapped around her body and another wound around her head. Swiping a hand across the foggy mirror, she peered at her wet, distorted image. “I’m courageous—afrai
d—but saddling up anyway.” She solemnly spoke the words to the woman in the mirror staring back at her.
Glass shattered from somewhere outside her room. She jerked around, the unnerving sound ripping her from the image in the mirror. Her breath caught in her throat. Where did that come from? She gripped the doorframe with both hands and eased cautiously into her bedroom—listening—waiting—her pulse pounding in her ears.
She thought about closing and locking her bedroom door. But then what? Why didn’t she have the Taser with her? Or any weapon, for that matter. Standing frozen in place, trying to figure out what to do, she stared at the window and considered crawling out. It would be a long two-story drop to the ground below, and then a short sprint to the truck and her Taser. She weighed the odds, realizing that the likely possibility of a broken ankle would make escaping difficult.
A voice, followed by a familiar noise broke through her fear. She heard Markus shouting a few choice curse words, and then the sound of what she gathered to be a vacuum cleaner. Releasing the breath she’d been holding, Sidney eased out into the hallway and peeked into Markus’s room. He was on his knees, half in and half out of the bathroom, using a cordless vacuum to suck up shards of broken glass scattered across the slate tile floor.
“I may be a bit jumpy, but that scared the crap out of me.” She walked into the room, her hand clutching at the towel around her body. “What happened?”
“Sorry to scare you. I guess my shaving mirror wasn’t attached to the wall securely enough. Careful, don’t walk any closer. I wouldn’t want you to cut your feet.” He stood and turned, his body bare except for the jeans hanging loose and low on his hips.
“I hope that doesn’t mean seven years of bad luck.” Sidney was acutely aware of her own lack of clothing as she felt his eyes sweep up and down her towel-cloaked body.
“I’m not superstitious, but I am a believer in luck, both bad, and good.”
“I concur. Need some help?”
“No thanks. I’ve got it.” His eyes lingered for a long moment before he turned his attention back to the mess on the bathroom floor.
