by Dale Mayer
“I know.” She walked slowly back to where the cooked bacon was, scooped up a handful, and started munching.
“Hey, let me finish that,” he said, as he walked back over. “While I do this, you go pack.”
“Nothing to pack,” she said.
“Well, there is, but we don’t have a whole lot of time, before we’ll be gone.”
She nodded but ignored him. Mostly because she was processing all this, was frozen, couldn’t really do anything right now. But she did notice that Hatch got up quickly, packed up their laptops and paperwork, separated things out, and then disappeared into the bedrooms. “He’s coming too, isn’t he?”
“Yes, we’re both going,” he said. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I just, it feels so disjointed and weird right now.”
“Everything that’s happened to you is kind of on the weird side,” he said, with a note of humor. “Make sure you have your medicine where you can get to it. Your antibiotics and the painkillers. It’ll be a rough journey.”
“It shouldn’t be that bad,” she said.
He gave her a rueful smile. “Going home fast,” he said, “doesn’t mean it’ll be comfortable.”
She nodded. “I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I’ll prepare myself for anything, as long as I get to Dad.”
“Well, it won’t matter how much you prepare,” he said, “this flight won’t be the same as any of your others. Now sit, and let’s eat.”
A quick two hours later, he secured her buckle in the military cargo plane, near the back, where a few jumper seats were. He was right beside her, and Hatch was on the other side. Their bags had been strapped in too. He’d warned her it wouldn’t be terribly comfortable, and she’d been surprised when they didn’t go through the same security that she would have expected on a commercial flight. But the main thing was that they were on a US military base and heading home as soon as they could.
But they were in for a couple long hard flights.
They were heading from Canada to Seattle and then making a couple more stops on the way to Florida, to her dad’s house. And it would be a full day.
Killian murmured and said, “It’ll be a long flight. You might as well try to close your eyes.”
Her eyes were already bloodshot from worry and fear over her father, which Killian understood, but it wouldn’t help if she crashed.
“Remember,” he said. “You need your strength for what is to come. You’re no help if you’re not capable of doing what we need you to do.”
She nodded ever-so-slowly and whispered, “I’m trying.”
“I know you are, but you have to listen to me and try to rest as much as you can.”
Immediately she closed her eyes. He reached over and popped the headset on her ears, so that it would muffle any loud noises. This cargo plane would get even louder, depending on what kind of turbulence they encountered. The best thing she could do was sleep, if she could.
He sat back, texting as much as he could to get through to the bosses, as they sat here, figuring out a plan.
As soon as she nodded off, he unbuckled, walked to Hatch, sat down, and asked, “Any ideas? We need a plan.”
“Good luck with that,” he said.
“Until we get any orders or further intel, we don’t have anything to go on.”
“It’s always that way, isn’t it?” Hatch said. “It’s a pain in the ass, really.”
“I’m tired of these guys jerking our chains.”
“Well, I don’t understand what happened to the two agents protecting her father,” Hatch said.
“I asked for details, and all I got was that neither of the men were in any condition to talk.”
“If Max left them alive, I’ll take that as a good thing,” Hatch said. “Because this asshole doesn’t like to leave anybody talking, I don’t think.”
“I feel sorry for the old guy. This has got to be a dad’s worst nightmare. Not only is his daughter not safe but he’ll be used to get her back to Max, and her father knows his daughter well enough that she would do anything to save him.”
“And we can’t let her,” he said quietly.
“I know,” Killian murmured.
“But how will you convince her of that?”
“There is no convincing her. She doesn’t get it. She’s a distraught daughter worried about her father. And she can hate me all she wants, but I can’t give her over to Max in these circumstances.”
“And the guilt will eat at her for the rest of her life.”
“I know. I do know that,” Killian said. “And that’s not terribly nice for me either. I don’t want to live with that on my conscience, but I would never let her sacrifice her own life to save his.”
“No,” Hatch said. “And it’s even harder because she’s sweet on you.”
“I don’t know about that, but this deal is likely to kill that off in a heartbeat,” he said, his tone harsh.
“Maybe not,” he said. “She knows that you’re doing everything you can to help both her and her dad.”
“But what she wants, and what I want, will be very different things,” Killian said. “But my will must prevail.”
“I know, but we have to trust that something will work out.”
“I get it. I’m just not too sure how any of it’ll go.”
Chapter 8
Stacey thought that the cargo plane wouldn’t be that bad, but it was terrible. She struggled with the noise; she struggled with the landing. Everything was just so uncomfortable. By the time they finally landed in Seattle, she was tired and stressed and in more pain again. She constantly clung to Killian’s side, and that bothered her too.
Finally he asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She shrugged. “I used to be an independent woman,” she said. “Now I find myself looking for boogeymen around every corner, and I don’t like it. That’s not who I am. Not who I want to be.”
“But to be extra cautious is the smart thing to do right now,” he said. “Let’s not forget that you’ve been attacked twice, and your father is being held by a sadistic bastard who’s looking to have you back in his clutches.”
“Great,” she said. “Thanks. That really helps a lot.”
Hatch laughed out loud in delight at her retort, while Killian smiled gently, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and tucked her up close. “We’re doing what we can to keep you both safe.”
She nodded, as the guys helped her off the plane, and she took a slow deep breath of fresh air. “So where to?”
“The next leg is to Redding, California,” Hatch said. “We need to get you to the safe-deposit box and to the material that you stole.”
She winced. “You know? When you put it that way, it’s kind of easy to see why Max is pissed off at me.”
“He’s pissed off because you took proof of his illegal activities,” he said. “Simple as that.”
“Maybe,” she said.
“We leave in forty minutes,” Killian said, “so walk around a bit, stretch your legs.”
She nodded, did what she could to loosen up her legs, without loosening up her stitches. Finally in California and freed of yet another cargo plane, she was happy to walk again, even if sore. In the rental car, she gave the guys directions to the bank. Once there, she asked the teller for access to her box. It took a few minutes of waiting before somebody came and led her and Killian into the private safe-deposit box access area.
Left alone now, she asked, “Where’s Hatch?”
“Checking for Max’s friends. Trying to look like he’s not with us,” he said. “Just so we have a little more distance between us.”
“Is that safe?”
“We have our team watching via satellite and any street cams, so it gives Hatch the freedom to move around a little bit more,” he said. “Having someone on the ground to watch our backs is good, yet he’s not right beside us. So he’s less likely to become a target himself.”
“Oh, goo
d,” she said instantly. “The last thing I want is anybody else to be a target.”
“A little late for that,” he said quietly.
“I know, and that makes me feel even worse,” she said.
“Enough of that. It serves no purpose,” he said. “Open this thing up, and let’s get going.”
She nodded and got into it and handed him the flash drive on top.
“Why did you take this? What’s on it?”
She shrugged. “No idea. It was on his desk, so I took it too.”
He shook his head. “Jesus, no wonder he’s pissed.”
“Here’s the ledger too,” she said, pulling out the big book. Then she helped him take a photo of every page, before slipping the large ledger into the tote bag she carried like an oversize purse.
Closing the safe-deposit box, they returned to the front part of the bank, where she thanked the teller.
As they walked outside and got into the rental car, she said, “I don’t even know what’s on the memory stick. I didn’t even take time to look.”
“Maybe that’s to your benefit,” he said. “As soon as we get back to the plane, on the flight, I’ll copy everything, so we’ve got a backup.”
“You should do it before we leave,” she said. “The internet will be terrible in the air.”
“I know.”
Safely back at the cargo plane, they were allowed to board, and he sat in the back and quickly uploaded the contents of the flash drive and sent it all off to Jerricho. Then Killian sent all the photographs of the ledger pages he had taken, with a message explaining where they had gotten it all from. As soon as he was done, he noted Hatch, sitting on the far side, ignoring them.
“He does that role really well, doesn’t he?”
“Hey, when you use these transport planes,” he said, “you could be with anybody. You really have no idea who else is on board.”
“I guess.”
Killian asked, “What’s the matter? You want to go sit with him?”
She shook her head. “Nope, no offense to him, but I’d much rather be with you.”
“Why is that?” he asked in surprise.
“Because I like you,” she said. “I feel safe here.”
“Good,” he said. “At least you understand that I won’t hurt you.”
“Well, it’ll take me a while to really trust at that level,” she said sadly, “but you don’t seem like the kind of a guy who would hurt women.”
“So, because you’ve made one bad decision, you’re afraid you have permanent bad judgment, and you’ll make another—or what?”
She looked at him and nodded. “That’s exactly right. I don’t want to be a fool all over again.”
“Are you worried about being a fool or about making a decision that’s so wrong that you’ll get hurt again?”
“See? That’s even more to the point,” she said. “I just don’t want to dwell on the pain I went through.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” he said quietly. “Look. There’s no pressure to do anything or to make any big decisions about your future. How about just taking every day from now on for what it is and to make it as good as it can be. That will help.”
“Maybe,” she said. “I’m just not so sure where any of this will go.”
“Well, let’s hope it will lead to a whole new life, just for you.”
“As long as it includes my father at my side, that’s fine,” she said.
He shook his head. “I don’t know anything about your father, your father’s health, or any of the other circumstances that he might be dealing with,” he said. “So I can’t guarantee that for you at all. Obviously that what’s we hope for, but you know better than anybody just what this man Max is like.”
She nodded grimly. “He is an asshole, and he thrives on causing pain.”
“Exactly,” he said, “so just know that we’re are doing the best we can for you and for your father.”
“I guess I have no choice.” With a long cleansing exhale, she gave herself a little shake and changed the subject. Looking at Killian, she asked, “So what will you do after all this is over?”
“Probably head back home and wait for the next job,” he said cheerfully.
“No plans to ever get married, have a family, or have what other people call a normal life?”
“Well, that’s in the plans—at some point in time,” he said. “Somewhere out in the future is what I’ve always thought.”
She laughed. “I was the same way,” she said. “I was just too busy, and then all of a sudden I met him, and it seemed like he was the one, so I just jumped in with both feet.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” he reminded her.
“Have you ever been married?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Never, not even close.”
“Ah, are you the shy type, afraid of commitment?”
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I was just waiting for a person who would make me change my mind.”
“And you still haven’t met her?”
“No,” he said. “Well, maybe. What do I know?”
She looked at him sideways. “Well, I know it’s not me,” she said, “because I’m no bargain at all.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Well, I’ll try not to worry, but everything is just so messed up now.”
He smiled at her and said, “You’re not a bad deal or somehow tainted, so just stop it.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “When you feel like such a failure, it’s hard to see anything positive.”
“You’ll get past that too,” he said firmly.
She grinned at him. “Well, in that case,” she said, “do you want to go out for coffee or something, when this is over?”
He looked at her in surprise and started to laugh.
She frowned immediately. “I didn’t mean it as a joke.”
He struggled to stop his laughter, but joy filled his heart. “I’m not laughing at you,” he said. “I’m laughing at how quickly you turn from one subject to another. You’re like a chess player, moves ahead of the rest.”
“I’ve always been lightning fast in my thinking,” she murmured. “But that’s still not an answer.”
“Yes. The answer is yes. I would absolutely love to,” he said. She looked at him in surprise, and he stared at her and asked, “What? You weren’t expecting that for an answer?”
She shook her head. “No, I really wasn’t.”
“Why not?” he asked curiously.
She shrugged. “Because I guess I see myself as damaged, not what anybody else will want now.”
“Well, you can park that idea,” he said. “You’re dynamite to be around. You’re a very sexy, healthy, beautiful woman, and your heart is in the right place.”
“Is it though?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he said. “So enough of that.”
She slowly nodded. “Okay, … a really nice coffee spot that I love is just a few minutes from the beach in Florida where Dad lives, so I often pick up a coffee there, then go sit by the water.”
“That sounds lovely,” he said. “I have to admit that I’m more of a take-out-coffee guy, going for a walk with it, than to sit in a coffee shop and talk for hours.”
“All that inaction would kill you, wouldn’t it?”
He grinned. “It’s not that so much, as I just really like being outdoors. I’m a more of a doer in life, than a sitter.”
“The world needs sitters too,” she said.
“Absolutely it does,” he murmured. “But you know that, if you’re not the kind of person who can sit there quietly and do nothing, it’s almost a punishment.”
They spoke for a little bit longer, and then she nodded. “I’m getting tired again, but I’m a little scared of nodding off. That last plane was so uncomfortable. I got a kink in my neck from it.”
He said, “Here. Use my shoulder.”
She looked at him and said, “That might just be a li
ttle too dangerous.”
“Why is that?” he asked.
“Because I could probably get really comfy, and I don’t really want to lean on anybody at this point in time in my life.”
“You have to sometimes, in life,” he said. “And, if there was ever a time to lean on somebody, it’s right now. We’re here to help. We’re safe, and we’re people you can absolutely trust. So close your eyes, relax, and get some rest.”
And she did just that.
Killian saw Hatch grinning from ear to ear. Rolling his eyes, Killian just ignored his buddy. Two other enlisted men were in the front of the cargo plane, on the other side. Killian had heard them talking, but, as long as Hatch was here, keeping watch, it was fine.
Killian checked his phone, but nothing was back from the team. He sent out a message, looking for an update on the father, looking for an update on any of the information they’d requested. Some of it was slow to come, but the team had found two other kidnapping cases in British Columbia, matching a similar pattern as the guy who had kidnapped Stacey the second time, including the leg injuries. It still blew Killian away that somebody would take advantage of a woman suffering so badly. But now, with all these cases lining up, it had caught the interest of the RCMP, and they were also looking into some of the cases farther up the coastline.
Which was good.
They needed to hear back from Alaska too, from the governor of the other nearby territories as well. And, with everybody lined up, there should be an all-points bulletin out for this guy.
The trouble was, nobody really had a good description. All of the women were being interviewed again, looking for some description, and sketches were being made and called into play. To think that somebody had done this for so long was ludicrous. But it made Killian feel a lot better to think the authorities were getting around to this guy.
He hadn’t told Stacey yet that they were stopping in Texas. Killian had an itch to get into Max’s house.
After the landing, he had to wake her up as they taxied toward the deplaning area. She yawned, looked at him, and stretched, saying, “Well, that went better than I thought.”
“See? Leaning on someone is good,” he teased.
