Off Guard: A clean action adventure book

by Glen Robins

Scripps Cancer Research Patient Clinic, La Jolla, California

  June 17, 10:22 a.m. Pacific Time

  Every attempt to soothe her failed. Another hour of small talk and family stories went by without a call from Rob and now Emily was anxious beyond consolation. No amount of calming from Henry nor Sarah nor either of Collin’s siblings was able to quell the nervous energy that kept Emily pacing the room and chattering. “Why isn’t he answering?” she kept asking. “This is so unlike him. He promised he would be here this morning. Rob always keeps his promises.”

  Henry gave it one more try. “You know Rob, Emily. Always making a deal or setting up a meeting.” Henry chuckled to himself, then added, “Or a tee time.”

  “Yeah, but he would at least return my calls, wouldn’t he? Even if he were busy, he wouldn’t be that rude. I just know he wouldn’t.”

  “My guess is he’s in the middle of something important. Why don’t we all go for a little walk outside? I think you ladies need some fresh air,” said Henry.

  “Yeah,” added Megan. “The fog’s burned off and the sun is out. Let’s get out of here and enjoy some sunshine.”

  Just then the young nurse knocked and entered. After taking vitals and checking with the attending physician, she gave the family the OK to stroll around outside so long as Sarah had a walker.

  Outside, the last remnants of “June Gloom” lingered along the ridges to the west, across Interstate 5. It was common place for fog to envelope the coastal cities this time of year. Typically, the sun would burn it off by noon. All that remained of the fog bank was a very thin, wispy layer of gray clouds that looked like strands of silk pulled apart and laid across the hilltops.

  Emily took a deep breath as she surveyed her surroundings. Two buildings to the south and across the eastern parking lot was where she had been abducted just three days earlier. Megan and Richard each held an elbow as they helped their mother walk along ahead of Emily and Henry. Sarah was obviously unfamiliar and uncomfortable with using a walker. Eyeing Emily from the side, Henry fell into step with her as they sauntered behind the trio.

  “You holding up OK there young lady?” he asked.

  “Sure. I’m doing fine,” she said after a slight hesitation.

  “You don’t seem too convinced.”

  “I’m still worried about Rob. I can’t shake the feeling that something has gone wrong just because it’s so unlike him to not show up when he said he would. And for him to not even call me back . . . It’s just completely out of character for him. Don’t you agree?”

  “I’m sure he’s fine. Rob’s a big boy. He can take care of himself,” Henry said with confidence and a hint of pride.

  “I was just really hoping he would show up. He promised we’d talk.”

  Henry nodded slowly but didn’t say anything for a few steps. “In the meantime, maybe the fresh air and sunshine will do you some good.”

  “Well, this is the first time I’ve been outside since . . .”

  “That’s what I figured.” Henry took two more strides before continuing his thought. “Your office is near here, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. The next building over.” Emily gestured ahead of them and to her left.

  “Tell me what you like most about your work.”

  A smile spread across her face and she pulled in a deep breath. “Where should I start? I love everything about it. The science. The research. The people. The pace. The idea of curing cancer and saving lives. The whole thing is exciting and invigorating.”

  “What is it that makes your work invigorating?” Henry asked, keying in on the last word in her description.

  “The challenge, I guess. There’s always something new to learn or some new angle to apply to my research. You know, the idea of trying to solve a complex problem one piece at a time is a huge challenge and I find that invigorating.”

  “I’ll bet it is. It must take a great deal of patience, too. I’d imagine the breakthroughs you’ve had lately didn’t just happen overnight.”

  “You’re right about that. They’ve been a long time coming.”

  They neared a grove of trees, bisected by an access road. Across the road, Henry could see benches lining another walking path and recognized it from the description he’d heard.

  “Is this where it happened? Is this where those animals grabbed you?”

  “Yes. Over there. On my way to that stand of trees.” She motioned with the flip of her wrist, but kept her gaze at nothing in particular, somewhere out in front of Henry.

  “Is it too soon?” Henry asked, shortening his stride.

  Emily matched his slower speed and looked up into his face. “Honestly, I don’t know what to think right now. About anything. I can’t stop replaying what happened. It just goes round and round in my head. It invades my dreams and almost every waking thought. I’ve never been scared of anything before. But, then again, I’ve never really faced evil like that. I guess I’ve lived a sheltered life. Inside a bubble, as they say. But now that bubble has burst and I don’t know how to repair it. I need it—that security and safety I’m used to feeling. I need things to go back to the way they were so I can live my life again.”

  “You’ll get it back, Emily. You do well with challenges. Overcoming the trauma of what you’ve been through is just another challenge for you to overcome. With the same tenacious approach you take to your work and the same amount of patience you use with your experiments, you will push back the fear and normalcy will return. I promise. Time will help you put things in perspective and regain your bearings. It always does. So will talking like this.”

  “I’ve never been so scared before, so unable to move forward. Sometimes I don’t feel connected to anything, like I’m just floating. Everything feels wrong. I don’t even know how to begin fixing it.”

  “Well, I suspect you can’t force it. Three days is not a long time when you’re dealing with something this traumatic. You’ll have to take one step at a time and let yourself heal rather than applying undue pressure.” Henry nodded toward Sarah. “Like she’s doing now. Find joy in the simple things and take it slow.”

  Emily turned toward Sarah, who was flanked by her two oldest children. Her steps were measured and deliberate, but she beamed at each of her kids as they talked. “Sarah has this unbelievable resilience. Look at how unfazed she seems to be. She’s laughing and smiling almost as if nothing happened. She never loses hope; never seems to get flustered. She just rises above it all.”

  A grin spread across Henry’s face. “Yep. That’s my Sarah. Strong, resilient, and full of hope.” He turned toward Emily and stopped, waiting for her to look at him. “You’re an awful lot like her, you know.”

  Emily forced a smile. “I wish I was, but I’m not. I don’t have that kind of strength.”

  “Ah, but you do. Maybe you don’t see it, but I do. Look what you’ve done with your life. Look at how far you’ve come—all on your own. When your parents died, Sarah and I worried that would derail your college education and send you into a tailspin. Grief and pain can do that. But you fought through it. In high school, I worried that your brother, with all his problems, would drag you down, too. While he was getting arrested, you were setting yourself up for future success. You were becoming the valedictorian and getting yourself accepted to Harvard. And he was stealing and doing drugs and driving fast cars. You’ve had some real opposition in your life, Emily. You’ve come through it all. You’ll come through this as well.”

  Tears welled up in Emily’s eyes and her head began to droop. Henry stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She tried to hold back, but when her cheek met his chest, it was like a dam had burst. Like a father and daughter, they embraced for several minutes until Emily could collect herself.

  Henry pulled a clean handkerchief from a pocket and held it out to her. Emily thanked him and wiped her eyes, cheeks, nose, and chin. “I guess I really needed that.”

  “Yeah, they come in handy, don’t they? But your genera
tion has never appreciated the usefulness of a handkerchief.”

  Henry’s knowing innocence coaxed a giggle out of her. “That, too,” she said, flapping the hanky.

  “I can’t say I understand everything you’re going through, but knowing what I know about you, I’d be willing to bet my retirement that you’re going to come out of this just fine.”

  “Thanks. Coming from someone I admire as much as you, that really means a lot to me.”

  Henry turned in the direction of the others, keeping one arm around Emily’s shoulders, and continued their stroll. No words were said. None were needed. A comfortable silence ensued and Emily smiled at the sun above.

  Chapter Eight

  In the air above southeastern Mexico

  June 17, 12:45 p.m. Local Time; 10:45 a.m. Pacific Time

  The metallic chunking sound of a soda can being opened pulled Collin’s attention away from the lush greenery below. The scenery had been nearly the same for most of the two hours since they left Belize City. He had noticed a few patches where the vegetation had been cleared to reveal whitish-brownish pyramid-shaped buildings.

  “Mayan ruins, they say,” interrupted the pilot. His speech was slow, his words slurred together a bit, and his voice sounded weird to Collin. “Pretty fascinating. Thousands of years old. Built with far less technology than we have today, yet they remain standing. Our homes these days are lucky to last sixty or seventy years.”

  “Yeah, but I’m more worried about whether I’ll die of heat stroke before we make it to our next refuel stop.”

  “Want some of this?” the pilot offered his blue-and-silver can of Red Bull. “It’s all we got.”

  “Sure, I’ll drink just about anything at this point,” said Collin, taking the can from him. Sweat beaded up on his forehead and ran in rivulets down his nose and cheeks. His T-shirt was soaked, as well. Collin studied the pilot as he took a drink from the can. Normally, he hated the taste of the red elixir, but its wetness, even warm, trumped the flavor. “You doing OK? You look like you’re in pretty rough shape yourself.”

  The pilot’s face was red and he, too, was drenched with sweat. His eyes had a glassy quality to them, as well. “I’ll be fine. I do this a lot, so I’m used to it. These things,” the pilot said as he took back the can from Collin, “these things are life savers.” He chugged the rest of the can and smacked his lips. “That ought to keep me going long enough to get us to Villahermosa.” He chuckled. “At least, it better.”

  “How much longer? It seems like we’ve been in the air forever.”

  “Sounds like the grown-up version of ‘Are we there yet?’” the pilot said with a snort.

  “I suppose so. It’s just that I’m missing my Game Boy and DVD player to keep me entertained.”

  The pilot, who was probably in his sixties, laughed. “You grew up in a different era than I did. We had to endure the family car rides without any of that stuff. Talk about long trips. Geez.”

  “Yeah, kids these days have it way better than I did, even,” Collin laughed, then stopped short as he thought about his family.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Collin lied. “Just a random thought hit me. I should call to check in and get an update,” said Collin, looking at his watch.

  “Why not? You got nothing better to do.”

  Collin pulled his phone out and powered it up. He noticed the time and realized they had crossed over into Mexico and changed time zones. When Lukas answered, he reeled off a list of questions he had been pondering the past couple of hours. “How’s my mom doing? And Emily? Are they home yet? When will they be released? When can I talk to them?”

  “Whoa, hold on there, cowboy. That’s a lot of questions in one breath. Let me answer as best I can. First, your mom and Emily were still in the hospital, receiving treatments for dehydration, cuts, and possible infections, last I heard. They’re both traumatized, so a counselor has gotten involved, but I don’t have an update on a possible discharge date. As far as talking to them, I don’t think that would be a good idea at this point. The less they know, the better.”

  “I would feel so much better if I could just talk with them and hear their voices. It would help me and I’m sure it would help them, especially my mother.”

  “For now, we need to stick to our plan and get you to a safe place where we can get you ready for the next phase of our plan. OK? I don’t know who might be monitoring their calls and I’d rather keep things quiet for the time being.”

  “What did you mean you didn’t have an update? Hasn’t Rob kept you informed?”

  Lukas hesitated momentarily, just long enough for Collin to catch it. “Yes, he has. That information is all from his latest report.”

  “Which was when?”

  “Just hours ago,” said Lukas.

  “How many hours ago?”

  Lukas sighed. “I haven’t heard from him yet today. Our last conversation was after he left the hospital last night.”

  “Why haven’t you heard from him today? It’s what, ten forty-five in California?”

  “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation. I’m sure he’ll check in very soon.”

  “That makes no sense coming from you. You always know what’s happening. Have you tracked his phone? Do you know where he is and what he’s doing?”

  “I have. He’s at your parents’ house. He’s been there quite a while with no activity on his phone. I know he went to pick up their mail and check on the house earlier this morning. Maybe he’s taking a nap.”

  “It’s not like you to not know every detail.”

  “When he doesn’t answer his phone for hours, it’s very difficult to know every detail,” Lukas said, the exasperation leaking into his tone of voice. “All I can tell you at this point is that I’m working on reestablishing communication with him. I’ll let you know more when I find out what’s going on. OK?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” said Collin, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. “I was hoping for some good news to take my mind off the heat and dehydration here.”

  “Hang in there, pal. You’ll be landing on a remote airstrip our people control out in the countryside. They’ll supply you with whatever you need, OK?”

  “Good, we need water, lots of ice-cold water. We need Diet Coke. Sandwiches with lots of meat and cheese or hamburgers or tamales. Just something with some protein and some flavor. Some fruit would be good, too. Whatever they’ve got. I’m not picky.”

  “You’re not, huh? I’ll see what they can do. I’ll talk to you again after you land there in Villahermosa.”

  ****

  Los Angeles, California

  June 17, 10:50 a.m. Pacific Time; 6:50 p.m. London Time

  Reggie’s phone clattered on the desk as it rang and vibrated. Engrossed in an online search, he didn’t answer it right away. Annoyed, McCoy looked at the buzzing phone and said, “Looks like our boy is back on the case.”

  Reggie glanced at the phone and smiled. “I knew it.” He picked up the phone, swiped the screen, and said, “How can I help you, Agent Lancaster?”

  Reggie pulled the phone away from his ear and tapped the speaker icon so Spinner could listen in. “This thing won’t go away, no matter how hard I try to forget it.”

  “You found something, didn’t you Nic?” Reggie’s voice was laced with that “I told you so” tone.

  “I did. Just as I was ready to hang this one up I got a lead—something you should find very interesting.”

  “I’m listening, Nic.”

  “I’ve been rooting around for hours trying to find something worthwhile. Then this little occurrence comes to my attention, thanks to our tech guys here. I don’t have all the answers on it yet, but I have a few angles I’m pursuing. I just wanted to bring you guys in the loop, hoping you might also have an angle or two.”

  “OK, let’s hear what you’ve got,” said Reggie, trying to appreciate the British way of setting things up before getting to the point
.

  “Well, it seems that a single prop airplane carrying a pilot and a copilot or, perhaps, a passenger, flew into the small municipal airport at Belize City earlier today—at 15:46 GMT, to be exact. Nothing unusual there, right? The unusual thing about this landing is that the security cameras that usually record all takeoffs and landings were shut off as this little Cessna approached.”

  “OK, that is weird. What else do we know?” Reggie looked at McCoy with raised eyebrows. Spinner smoothed his mustache, but didn’t utter a word.

  “Like I said, the plane was on approach when the camera cut out. But, I was able to get a still frame from the last second of the recording. I zoomed in on the faces of the pilot and copilot,” said Nic. The sound of tapping on a keyboard could be heard in the background. “There. Check it out. I’m sending you a blow up of the photo now.”

  A text message popped up on Reggie’s phone. He opened it and stared in disbelief at the grainy yet discernable photo on his screen. He pointed at it and Spinner leaned in for a better view. “That looks like Collin Cook, Nic. How in the world did you find this?”

  “It’s too hard to explain, but I can tell you our IT staff are brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”

  “So you’re trying to figure out how and why the cameras were turned off as this plane came in? Is that what I’m hearing?”

  “Yes, I am trying to determine why the cameras were off. I’ve got messages out to a number of folks in the UK and Belize. Perhaps you folks at the FBI might have some ideas, as well. Thought it worth a try.”

  “Thanks, Nic. We’ll do some digging on our end, too. There’s got to be someone clearing the way for him. If we were able to find out who’s helping him, that may give us a clue about where he’s going and why.”

  “Right. My thoughts exactly. I’ll keep working my contacts here. Maybe you can do the same. Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll be back in the game.” Nic sounded both exultant and exhausted.

  “Yep. Keep in touch. Thanks for the call.”

  Spinner stood up straight and began to pace the floor, rubbing his mustache again. “That sly little devil. Shutting down airport cameras so he can land undetected in Belize. You think maybe he’s hired himself a plane and a pilot and is just hopping his way back home?”