Rick started to move forward slightly but Xena lay down onhis feet and pressed her body against his.
“Kelly, tell her to get up,” Rick hissed.
“She senses danger for you. Don’t forget there are threemore men in the house. Let’s just stay where we are and see what happens next.”
“Why didn’t you just shoot me in the house?” they heard Gregask sarcastically. “Why this big charade?”
They could see Caldwell’s face twist in a sardonic smile.“Blood is so messy to clean up.”
“So where are you taking me?” Greg shifted slightly on theballs of his feet, as if preparing to take on his attackers.
“For a short ride in the helicopter. Come on.”
“We have to move,” Mike said. “We can’t let them take himaway from here.”
“Watch for the others in the house.”
But as Rick moved forward Xena rose, shoved hard against himand flattened him to the ground.
“Hey!” He struggled to keep his voice low. “Kelly, I toldyou to get her off of me.”
“Remember the dream?” she reminded him. “The first bulletcould be for you.”
Chapter Fifteen
As they stood motionless, trying to decide what their nextmove should be, a small animal ran across their feet, rustling the leaves ofthe huge plants surrounding them.
Caldwell’s head turned. “What’s that? Is someone there?”
“I only wish,” Jordan said. “Maybe someone who could get meout of this mess.”
Caldwell motioned to one of the guards. “Take a look. Seewhat’s there. I can’t believe anyone could breach the security here but I’m nottaking any chances. If you see someone, just shoot him.”
The guard strode across the small stretch of lawn, his gunhand raised. “Who’s there? Come out and show yourself.”
Xena moved enough to let him inch himself to one side, Kellyand Mike shifting to the other, all of them trying to blend into the foliage.They waited silently as the guard pushed the wide leaves aside. The moment hestepped into an area between them all, Rick raised his hand and brought thebutt of the gun down on the man’s head. The guard grunted and folded to theground.
“Well, that tears it,” Mike said. “Kelly, stand point withyour rifle.”
He pulled a roll of heavy duct tape from one of his manypockets and in seconds he and Rick had the man securely bound with tape acrosshis mouth.
“What did you find?” Caldwell shouted. “Answer me, damn it.Is anyone there?”
Rick stepped forward, his gun pointed at the three men.“Fancy meeting you here, Matt. Or should I say Matthias.”
A strange expression, part respect and part regret, flittedacross Caldwell’s face. “So you figured it out. Why am I not surprised? Whatdid you do with my guard?”
“He’s taking a little nap right now.”
Rick shifted his stance, making sure everyone could see thegun in his hand. “Who’d have believed it. Matthias Grant. The invisible man.Alias Matt Caldwell. I’d guess Camellia Cay is a good place to wash your moneythrough while you’re providing a safe haven for the high-priced crooks of theworld. And the ideal place for you to send Greg here to hide out until the heatwas off.”
Greg Jordan started toward him but the guard next to himgrabbed his arm and shoved the gun into his ribs, forcing him to kneel on theterrace. Greg looked at Rick helplessly. “Man, am I glad to see you. Get me outof here, will you? This crazy asshole wants to kill me.”
“I think he plans to get rid of you and drop your body intothe Caribbean from that chopper,” Rick told him. “Right, Matt? After the wayyou made a fool out of me I might even help him.”
“Give it up, Rick,” Matt said. “You’re outnumbered. Even youaren’t crazy enough to try this alone.”
“Who said I’m alone?”
Mike and Kelly stepped into the clearing, Mike with his gunraised, Kelly holding her rifle. Beside them Xena stood at alert.
The guard looked from Greg and Matt to the group that hadjust emerged, uncertainty flashing across his face.
“Well, well.” Caldwell’s mouth twisted in a humorless grin.“Just keep your gun on Jordan,” he told the guard. “I’ll take care of theothers.”
“You and what army. In case you hadn’t noticed, you’re theone who’s a little outnumbered,” Rick said. He looked at Matt Caldwell, a manwho had not only been a client but a friend and a bitter taste rose in hismouth. “You’re the last person I expected to find involved in this mess. Whenis enough money enough? And how the hell do you expect to get away with it?”
“I thought you’d be dead by now, Rick,” the man told him. “Ihad it all set up for you to take the blame and we’d all have been home free.Too bad you don’t kill off that easily. And too bad Greg here couldn’t get thejob done.”
“You know I have to take you back.”
“I don’t think so.” His smile was anything but pleasant.“Right now my wife and children are mourning my death in an automobileaccident, distraught because the car exploded and my body was burned so badlythey’ll have to have a closed casket funeral.”
“So you’ve added one more death to your list of bodies?”
“Regrettable but necessary. I asked one of the men at theoffice to drive my car home, then followed him and shot out the tires and thegas tank. I assure you I’ve made arrangements for his family to be wellcompensated. Just as mine will be.”
“It’s not about money for everyone, Matt,” Mike said fromhis position close to Greg. “Not everyone has that same driving greed. And poorCharlie. You’ve certainly left him holding a big bag.”
Matt lifted one shoulder. “He’ll come out all right. Nothingpoints to him and the shipment was heavily insured. You ruined a good thing,Rick. I’m walking away from the perfect life it took me a long time to build.”
“I’m not the one who did this. You are.”
“Time to stop talking.” Caldwell raised his voice. “You’dbetter come out of the house now. I need you out here.”
Two more men emerged from the house, guns in hand.
“Shoot them,” Caldwell commanded, nodding toward Rick andthe others.
Both men raised their guns but that was as far as they got.The streak of black and white was almost a blur as Xena launched herself at thetwo new guards, taking them both down. Their guns discharged harmlessly and Mikeraced forward, picking the guns up and keeping them pointed at the downedbodies before anyone else could move.
Rick and Kelly kept their own guns pointed at the littlegroup in front of them. “Mike, make sure those guys are out of commission.”
“Turn face down,” Mike ordered them. “Hands outstretched.Legs wide.” He kicked at one booted foot. “Do it. Now.”
With Xena growling next to them, the guards were only tooeager to comply.
“Devil dog,” one of them muttered.
Rick looked back at Matt. “Better tell your guard here todrop his gun. He’s outnumbered three to one. And you know what I cando.” He hollered over his shoulder, “Get Xena back beside you, Red.”
“Xena, come,” Kelly called.
But Xena, suddenly alert, had risen from her position. Evenbefore the words left Kelly’s mouth she raced to where Matt Caldwell wassliding one hand into his pocket. With a growl she sank her teeth into theman’s arm and carried him to the ground. The man’s scream was like somethingnot entirely human.
“Get this dog off me! Call it off! Jesus, Latrobe, itpractically bit my hand off!” Caldwell pounded Xena’s head with his other fistbut to no avail.
Rick moved quickly to where Xena had the man pinned down,reached into Caldwell’s pocket and withdrew a small pistol. He looked at Xenawhose jaws still gripped Caldwell’s flesh.
“Good girl.” Something flashed between them and Rick couldhave sworn the dog lowered one eye and winked. He shook his head, clearing whatwas surely a mistake.
Kelly meanwhile disarmed the fourth guard and ordered himdown on the ground with the others. Wh
en Jordan, obviously not intimidated by awoman, gathered himself to rise, she fired a bullet into the terrace inchesfrom his knees.
“Want to try again?” she asked. “Next time I’ll pick abetter target.” She pointed the rifle square at his groin, then allowed herselfa quick glance at Mike and Rick. “Not bad shooting for a girl, right?”
“Red, you can be on my team any time,” Rick told her.
He picked up Caldwell’s gun and signaled Xena to release thearm.
“I ought to let her tear your head off,” he told hiserstwhile client.
“How the hell did it know I had a gun?” the man askedbetween moans.
“What’s the matter, haven’t you ever met a psychic dogbefore?”
Xena stood patiently at his side, awaiting her next command.
“Xena, guard,” Kelly ordered and pointed to Jordan.
“Get that damn dog away from me,” he hollered as Xenaknocked him down and pressed him to the ground. “I don’t want it chewing on menext.”
It took some fancy maneuvering but with Xena’s assistanceand Kelly’s menacing rifle, they managed to get everyone secured with duct tapeso Mike could fetch the helicopter. When the houseman appeared, drawn by thenoise, he took one look at what was going on and fled back inside the house.Kelly followed him, cracking him over the head with her rifle.
“Just so he doesn’t cause a problem,” she told the others.“We don’t need to kill him. Just incapacitate him until we can get out ofhere.”
Xena, relieved of guard duties, had come to stand next toKelly, lifting her head in a signal to bend down to her. When Kelly looked upworry lines creased her face.
“Caldwell or Grant or whatever you want to call him has morepeople coming as soon as it’s light. Xena says we need to hustle.”
“The dog told you that?” Caldwell was incredulous.“You talk to a dog?”
“Yeah,” Mike grinned. ”She’s our group leader.”
Rick took a moment to pull Kelly close to him and give her aquick kiss. “You amaze me, Red. Totally amaze me.”
“My father insisted I learn to be self-reliant,” she told him.
“He did a damned good job.”
At that moment the sound of rotors split the air, thefamiliar Whap! Whap! Whap! Kelly and Rick looked at the sky anxiouslyuntil they recognized the Phoenix chopper, thankful it wasn’t Caldwell’s ride.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Mike yelled as he droppedto the ground to help them load up.
They left the guards bound and gagged on the terrace,figuring the houseman could untie them when he came to and moved Caldwell andJordan, securely bound, into the rear of the chopper. Both men were swearing ateach other and complaining about their wounds. Kelly signaled Xena, who satdirectly next to them, teeth bared, as the rest of them buckled in and thechopper rose at last into the fading night sky.
* * * * *
The scene at the airfield was chaos when they arrived. Rickhad called Dan from the plane to fill him in and tell him what they needed.
“There appears to be a mob scene outside the gate,” Mikepointed out, indicating the gathering of vans and SUVs.
“I told Dan exactly who to let in and to keep the rest ofthem out. We’ve got enough people inside the gates,” Rick noted, thenpointed to a number of men in jeans and Phoenix shirts stationed both insideand outside the fence. “Also, he’s called in a couple of our teams to providesecurity.”
As soon as the rotors stopped moving, a contingent of men inblack suits marched to the cabin door. Rick slid it open and pointed to therear. “There’s your cargo.”
One of the men, part of the team that had dogged Dan allthis time, looked at Rick with a grim expression on his face. “You just savedyour ass on this one, Latrobe. You were this far from a vacation atLeavenworth.”
“Sorry to disappoint you but I think you’ve got bigger fishthan me right here.”
Dan had been given the very distinct pleasure of calling theAttorney General and telling him what was going on.
“You’d better have plenty of people from DOJ meeting thehelicopter,” he told the man. ”And no arresting Rick,” he warned, “or we’lljust take off and haul our cargo someplace else.”
It helped that Troy had arrived with Zarife al-Dulami, stillsobbing at his disgrace, and Denny Hammond, who decided he needed to tradeinformation to save his own neck.
“Get that damn dog away from us,” Greg Jordan was shouting,as Xena let loose with her signature growl.
Another of the men in black stared at Xena. “You took a dogon this mission?”
“Sure.” Rick grinned at him. Then he repeated Mike’s words.“She’s our group leader. Not to mention the fact that she’s psychic. Lets usknow when we’re in danger.”
“Yeah, right. Pull the other one.”
“You don’t believe me?” Rick winked at Kelly. “Just ask thedog.”
It took well over an hour to sort everything out, explaineveryone’s role in the debacle and convince them that it started with MattCaldwell aka Matthias Grant. But Dan had given them a heads-up on that too andat the DOJ offices agents had been set to work at once digging into the man’sbackground. By the time the helo landed, they’d relayed enough information tothe men on site to convince them this wasn’t some kind of hoax.
And of course they had Zarife singing loud and clear anddemanding he be allowed to talk to his father.
“You think Jordan will keep his mouth shut abouteverything?” Mike asked as the last of the vehicles pulled away.
Rick shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s too angry atthe realization that Caldwell was going to kill him and dispose of his body.”
“What do you plan to do about the mob outside there?” Harryasked. He’d been hanging back, waiting until everyone else had left the field.
“I called my friend in the FAA and asked for some helpgetting rid of the news helicopters. Mike’s going to chopper us all to Rick’splace, where I have a thick steak waiting for Xena.”
The dog looked up at him and barked, then curled her lips back.
Dan looked at Kelly. “Is she smiling at me?”
“Absolutely. You said the magic word. Steak.”
* * * * *
They were all at Rick’s house, including Faith and Mia whohad been flown in by Ed. Rick, Kelly and Mike had crashed the minute they hitthe bedrooms, sleeping most of the day. Now, showered and dressed, they weregathered in the dining room. When Rick had called Dan to say they were on theirway back, he’d bought enough steaks for everyone as well as several bottles ofwine. After the weeks of tension and looming disaster, for a change they hadsomething big to celebrate.
They divided up the stacks of newspapers Harry had picked upon the way to the house, scanning them for any reports of what happened andamazed at how quickly the reporters had turned the story around. Every frontpage was filled with details of the trip to Camellia Cay and the scandalousnews that had emerged from it.
“It’s the age of electronics,” Dan commented. “Reporterswrite their stories on laptops before they even leave the site, send it to theeditors who move it along to the layout people and presto! You have anewspaper.”
The television in the living room was tuned to Fox News. Onthe screen was a photo of Matt Caldwell and off-camera someone was describingthe rise and fall of the contractor as well as his secret life. The photo wasreplaced by a shot of the Caldwell house with a caption that read “Family inseclusion”.
“I’ll bet they are,” Faith said. “Those poor people. They’llbe a long time getting over this.”
“I called Charlie Grainger as soon as I got off the phonewith all of you,” Dan told them. “Woke him up and went to his house while youwere flying back here. Talk about someone being devastated. He’s a broken man.I spoke to the Attorney General about it when I got him up too. He says Charliewill be okay as far as his contracts are concerned and I told Charlie we’d helphim keep things on track in Iraq.”
“I still don’t unde
rstand,” Faith put in. “According to whaty’all said, Matthias Grant was wanted for trafficking in blood diamonds so hebuilt himself this little fortress on Camellia Cay where others like him couldhide out when they needed to. Why did he build a whole new identity forhimself?”
“From the little I got out of him, I gather he felt likehe’d built himself a prison and he wanted to create a new personality. He had alittle plastic surgery, just enough to alter his face slightly. Met Charlie atsome fundraiser and Charlie introduced him to the woman he married. Then he andCharlie went into business together. The situation in Iraq was made for him.”
Mike made a sound of disgust. “He had it all. The good life.More money than he could ever spend. He just couldn’t resist the thrill, theadrenaline rush. And I guess he thought he had it all fixed so he’d get outclean.”
“Over my dead body,” Rick put in. “Literally.” He stretchedand looked across the table at Kelly. “I’m taking a couple of weeks of downtime, guys. Take me out of the mix for a while, okay?”
“Doing anything special?” Faith teased.
“Nothing I care to discuss,” he grinned.
Kelly blushed and they all laughed.
“But I do have some news,” he went on. “Kelly’s decided tosell the place in Maine and we’re going to look for land in Virginia where shecan build her kennels again.” He winked at her. “And a house.”
“And work with you on how dogs like Xena can fit into yourPsi department,” Kelly added. “Faith, I plan to call your aunt and see how wecan get The Lotus Circle involved too.”
Mia leaned down to Xena, who was sitting between her andKelly. “What’s that you say, girl? You heard wedding bells? Hmm. Well, I can’tsay I’m surprised.”
“Man, you don’t waste any time, do you?” Mark joked.
Kelly turned to him, her face dead serious. “Life’s toounpredictable to waste time, Mark. Rick and I talked about it. When somethingis right, it’s right.”
Dan held up his hands. “You’re absolutely right.”
“Hell,” Rick said. “We’ve known each other longer than youand Mia did when you tied the knot.”
Dan reached for his wife’s hand and gave her a smolderinglook. There was no doubt how well their marriage was working out.
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