Eli grabbed Stacy before she could run for Niki. “Don’t, Stacy. We need to get you to the house. When we come to the end of the treeline, we’re not going to have any cover, so I want you to run as fast as you can up those stairs and in through the kitchen. You got it?” he asked.
“Okay,” she said. They came to the end of the trees and Eli looked around.
“Go!” he said, and they took off running.
The radio cracked on the helicopter. “I’ve got the girl in my sight. Land the chopper below the house.”
Stacy and Eli were almost to the steps when an assailant stepped out from the side of the house. Gunfire erupted and Eli and Stacy both ducked, but it was not coming from behind them. Carlos was at the top of the stairs firing at the man. Eli turned around and sprayed the assailant with his M-16 just as the fourth gunman jumped out from the bushes and grabbed Stacy, knocking the gun out of her hand. Stacy screamed and when Eli turned back his heart stopped. The man had his pistol pressed up against Stacy’s temple and he was dragging her backwards toward the beach.
Niki was almost to the edge of the trees when he heard Stacy screaming. “Stacy!” he yelled. He ran out into the open and came to a dead stop. The helicopter was landing on the beach.
“Niki!” Stacy screamed. She was fighting to get away, kicking and screaming, and biting the man’s arm, but nothing deterred him from his progress towards the helicopter.
Niki moved in the man’s direction.
“Take another step and she gets a bullet through her head,” the man shouted.
Niki froze in place helpless as he watched the man drag Stacy to the helicopter.
“We’ll find you, Stacy,” Niki yelled, as a man inside reached down and pulled her into the helicopter. As soon as there was a clear shot all three men opened fire on the man who had dragged her away. The helicopter took off and sand blew everywhere.
“No!” Niki roared. He ran down to where the helicopter had taken off and emptied his 9mm into the lifeless body lying in the sand, then he threw the gun to the ground and grabbed Eli’s M-16. Eli and Carlos stood back as Niki emptied Eli’s gun into the man, then Niki dropped down on his knees in the sand. “Goddammit!” he yelled, holding his head in his hands. He turned and looked at Carlos, devastated. “How could I let them take her?”
“There was nothing you could do, Niki. He would have killed her,” Carlos said.
“We’ll get her back,” Eli said. He reached down and pulled on Niki’s arm. “Come on. We have work to do.”
They got back to the house and Jason came in the front door as the others were coming in through the kitchen. Niki stormed through the kitchen and kicked open the door that led into the corridor, knocking it off its hinges, and when he came through the doorway, Jason had his M-16 leveled at him.
“Shit!” Jason said, lowering the gun. Niki looked awful. “What happened?” Jason asked.
“They took her,” Niki said, looking around for something to break. He turned around and punched the wall.
“We’ll get her back,” Jason said. He asked Eli, “Have you called the pilot?”
“No. We just walked in. You find anyone else?”
“No,” Jason said.
“We got three more,” Eli told him.
Jason shook his head. “I’ll call the pilot and tell him to come back.” Jason pointed at Niki. “He needs to calm down,” he told Eli. “Get him a drink.”
Niki turned to Eli, “You need to run the prints on each one of those mother fuckers,” he told him.
“I know,” Eli said, then he asked Jason, “Where’s the first guy’s body?”
“I’ll get it,” Jason said. “Let me deal with the pilot first, then Carlos and I will round up the bodies.” Jason waited until the others left, then he picked up a chair and slammed it against the wall, splintering the wood into pieces.
Niki, Eli and Carlos went into the living room and Eli poured Niki a drink. Niki was standing at the French doors looking out at the water and Eli came up beside him.
“We’re going to get her back, Niki,” Eli said, handing him the drink.
“I know,” he said, not looking at his brother. He took the drink and downed it, then he set the glass down on a table. “When this is over, I’m going to kill her father.”
“I know,” Eli said.
“I’m going to get packed,” Niki said. “We’ll leave for San Antonio as soon as the plane gets here. Can you run the prints by then?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Eli said.
Niki left Eli and Carlos and went back to his bedroom. It still smelled faintly of flowers from when Stacy had showered last, and the place felt empty without her. Niki’s stomach was in knots and there was a lump in his throat he couldn’t get rid of. He sat down on the bed and took some deep breaths trying to calm down, then he reached over and picked up Stacy’s pillow and buried his head in it. There was a knock on the door and Carlos came in and walked back into the bedroom. He sat down in the chair, but didn’t say anything.
“What am I going to do if they kill her before I find her?” Niki said.
“I don’t get the feeling they plan on killing her,” Carlos said. He hesitated then continued. “Stacy’s trying to contact me, Niki.”
Niki snapped his head around to Carlos. He had always been skeptical of Carlos’ psychic powers, but he had seen them work too many times to dismiss them. “What are you telling me, Carlos?”
“I can feel her trying to get through to me,” Carlos said. “But I need something of hers, something personal or something that she’s handled.”
Niki looked around the room and spotted the jewelry she had removed to go diving. “Her jewelry, ” he said, looking at Carlos. There was a watch, a ring and a necklace with a St. Christopher charm. Niki scooped them up and deposited them in Carlos’ hand. “Can you find her with these?” Niki asked, desperately.
“They’re perfect,” Carlos said, clenching them safely in his fist. “I’m going to do my best, Niki.”
“I’ll call you from Texas to see what you’ve come up with,” Niki said.
Carlos hesitated. “There’s something else, Niki,” Carlos said. “Did Stacy talk to you about her father?” Carlos asked, knowing he was stirring up a hornet’s nest.
Just the mention of the man made Niki crazy. “What about him?” he asked, angrily.
“It’s difficult for me to tell you this, because I know how you are going to react, but Stacy didn’t want you to kill him,” he said, as delicately as possible.
“You’re fucking kidding!” Niki said, raising his voice. “The man hired someone to kill his own daughter! What kind of man does something like that?” Niki said angrily, then he continued. “You know, Carlos, what we did was wrong – kidnapping Stacy. It was so wrong. But do you think for one second that if any of us had met Stacy before, we would have agreed to kidnap her or do anything that might end up hurting her?” he asked. “No fucking way! And do you know why? Because she’s the most fascinating woman any of us has ever met,” he said. “Stacy is that man’s own flesh and blood for God’s sake! He held her in his arms when she was a baby and he watched her grow up into a beautiful woman. He knows her Carlos, and look what he did to her. The man doesn’t deserve to live!” Niki said angrily.
“I agree with everything you’re saying, Niki,” Carlos said. “Stacy has unwittingly captured all of our hearts like I would have never thought possible. And to tell you the truth, nothing would give me greater satisfaction than to kill the man myself. But I felt it was my duty to let you know that, for whatever reason, Stacy didn’t want that.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” Niki said, angrily. “But I can’t make any promises.”
“I’ll let you get packed,” Carlos said, and he got up and left.
Niki picked up the duffel bag that was still packed from his last trip and started to repack. He needed to distance himself from this situation and think of this as merely another job. They had been paid
huge sums of money to track people down before, and that was precisely what they were doing now. The only difference was that he happened to be in love with the person they were tracking. He finished packing, then sat down on the bed and looked around the room. Everything reminded him of Stacy. He thought back to when he had opened his door and she had landed on the floor at his feet, and it made him smile. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, looking up at him defiantly with those dangerous green eyes. He had wanted to grab her and kiss her even back then. Or in the kitchen when she had slapped the shit out of him for cutting her hair. He never would have put up with that from someone else. The more he thought about it, Niki realized that Stacy had had him wrapped around her little finger from the very beginning. Maybe Carlos was right. Maybe she was his soul mate. One thing was for sure, Niki was going to get Stacy back no matter what it took. There was no other option. He grabbed his bag and closed the door behind him. Next time he came back, it would be with Stacy.
Eli had hacked into the FBI databank and was running the fingerprints from the four men they had killed. The first three came up blank, but he hit pay dirt on the last. He ran a printout and logged off, then went to find Niki.
“I got something,” Eli said, when Niki finally showed up in the living room. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“In the tower. I was watching for the plane,” he said, preoccupied. Niki went to the bar and poured himself a drink. “What’d you find?” Niki asked.
“One of the guys has a connection with the National Liberation Army,” Eli said.
“Shit,” Niki muttered under his breath. “He was Colombian?” Niki asked.
“Yeah, and he was suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of an American citizen in Bogota some years back. The woman is still missing. He was also a known drug trafficker.”
“Who did he work for?” Niki asked.
“I don’t know. That’s all I have,” Eli said.
Niki was silent while he thought. “You need to stay here and see what else you can dig up. It won’t take three of us to deal with Stacy’s father,” Niki said.
Jason came in and dumped his bag by the door. “You get anything off the prints?” Jason asked Eli, and Eli filled him in. Jason shook his head. “You know what it sounds like, don’t you?” he asked, looking from Eli to Niki.
They both did, but neither wanted to say it out loud, and when neither Niki nor Eli spoke, Jason continued. “Someone’s trading Stacy for drugs.”
“That would be my guess,” Niki agreed.
“It makes sense,” Jason said, spelling it out. “Stacy’s father pays someone to kill her, but the guy can make twice as much by faking her death and trading her to some sick fuck who has a fetish for red hair or green eyes or whatever. Those Colombian drug lords are sick mother fuckers.”
Niki turned to Eli. “Do a search on women who have been kidnapped in Colombia during the last ten years, and make a list of those that have anything in common with Stacy,” Niki said, “be it hair color, eyes, age, height, anything, and see what you come up with.”
They could hear the plane and Niki and Jason grabbed their bags. “I’ll drive you over,” Eli said. Carlos met them at the foyer and put his hand on Niki’s shoulder. “Good luck.”
Chapter 23
Niki and Jason boarded the plane and headed to San Antonio.
“Did you know that there is a greater risk of being kidnapped in Colombia than in any other country in the world?” Jason asked Niki.
“I knew it was up there,” Niki said.
“Last stats I heard, there were over 200 kidnappings in a year alone.” Jason said. “And that doesn’t include the ones that were kidnapped elsewhere and taken to Colombia,” he added.
“I just hope we’re wrong,” Niki said. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat and rubbed his temples. “I just can’t believe this shit is happening. It’s all so surreal,” he said. “The whole damn thing.”
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” Jason agreed.
“If she’s in Colombia, I won’t ask any of you to go with me,” Niki said. “This isn’t part of the job any more. It’s strictly personal.”
“You wouldn’t have to ask, whether it’s personal or not, and if you were thinking straight, you’d know that,” Jason said. He was quiet for a minute before speaking again. “I think you should let me question Stacy’s father. You’re too close to all this and it might cloud your judgment,” he said.
“What do you think I’m going to do?” Niki asked. “Kill him before he talks?”
“Well that would fuck things up,” Jason laughed.
“Yeah it would, wouldn’t it?” Niki agreed. “I don’t know, maybe you’re right. We don’t have to decide right now.”
The mere fact that Niki considered Jason’s suggestion let Jason know how far gone Niki was. “You really love her, don’t you?” he asked.
“For lack of a better word,” Niki said.
“That’s good,” Jason said, thoughtfully. “It’s about time you found a nice girl and settled down.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Niki asked.
“Just what I said. You’ve got to settle down sometime. Or did you plan on being a criminal all your life?” Jason asked.
Niki didn’t answer.
“You’ve got money; you’ve had your thrills. So it boils down to this: would you rather die a lonely old man or have a beautiful wife and lots of little kids running around to keep you young,” Jason asked. “I know which one I’m choosing.”
Niki looked over at Jason. “I didn’t know you wanted kids.”
“Of course I want kids. We all want kids,” Jason said. “Meeting the beautiful wife is the tricky part. You got lucky.”
“Maybe Stacy has a friend,” Niki said.
“Yeah,” Jason smiled deviously. “And she’ll owe me a favor after we rescue her.”
“I don’t know about that, but she’d probably call it even,” Niki said. He changed the subject. “Did you arrange for a car?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s at the airport,” Jason said. “I got us rooms downtown at La Mansion.”
“Stacy’s father lives in an area called Monte Vista. It’s an upscale old neighborhood, maybe ten, fifteen minutes from the airport,” Niki said. He looked at his watch. “It’s going to be 6:00 before we land. I think we should kill a couple of hours and pay our visit after dark.”
“It’s your call,” Jason said.
The plane landed and a black Mercedes was waiting for them. Niki got behind the wheel and they headed out of the airport and south on 281. They checked into the hotel and walked down to the Riverwalk where the San Antonio River snakes its way around downtown, with trendy restaurants, bars and gift shops lining its banks.
“What are you hungry for?” Niki asked.
“How does Mexican sound?” Jason asked. “A guy at the hotel said to try Casa Rio. It’s down here somewhere.”
“I’m not hungry, so whatever you want.”
They made their way along the Riverwalk checking out the restaurants and bars. Some had loud music blaring and others were more sedate. They passed Dick’s Last Resort just as one of its rowdy patrons stumbled out of the bar, right into the river and everyone around cheered and clapped.
They found Casa Rio and sat outside under one of the colorful umbrellas, overlooking the river. Barges full of tourists were cruising up and down the river, some of the people were eating and drinking and others were just taking in the sights. Niki and Jason both ordered margaritas and sat back watching the crowd.
“I’d like to come back here under different circumstances,” Jason said.
“Yeah, it seems like a cool place. It’s weird thinking of Stacy as being from here,” Niki said.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess because I’ve never seen her in any setting but ours,” Niki said.
Jason finished eating
and they walked back to the hotel and the valet brought the Merc around. Monte Vista was easy to find and Niki drove slowly past the house several times before parking in the street three houses down. Niki was getting pumped like he always did before a job. The adrenaline was starting to flow and he could feel the rush beginning.
There were lights on in a front room downstairs, which Niki assumed to be a living room, and in a back room upstairs, which he took to be a bedroom. They headed around to the back of the house and looked through the window on the kitchen door. There was no sign of anyone, so Jason picked the lock and he and Niki went inside, closing and locking the door behind them.
Niki and Jason crept silently through the house looking for Stacy’s father, but the house was empty. They ended up in Stacy’s father’s bedroom and Niki was looking through the man’s things.
“We’ll wait in here,” Niki said.
“What’d you decide?” Jason asked. “You want me to question him?”
“No. I’m okay,” Niki said, and Jason didn’t argue. He’d never known Niki to lose his cool during a job and he knew that if Niki said he could handle it, he could.
It was just after 10:00 when the man got home, and it was another 15 minutes before he made his way upstairs. He had been drinking and he reeked of stale beer when he barreled into his bedroom. The room was dark and when he hit the light switch, it took him a few seconds to realize that someone was sitting in the chair in his bedroom.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” he exclaimed.
“Waiting for you,” Niki said calmly.
Jason moved in from behind and pulled one of Trent’s arms up behind his back, immobilizing him, then he hooked his right arm around Trent’s neck and got him in a chokehold. Niki got up from the chair and slowly approached Stacy’s father.
Trent was terrified. “There’s money in the safe. I’ll open it for you,” he stammered. “You can take it all,” he said, trying to bargain with them.
Niki was in Trent’s face. “We don’t want your money,” he said calmly. He reached down and picked up Trent’s free hand and broke his little finger with a hideous snap, and Trent yelled out in pain. “I trust I have your attention?” Niki asked.
Back on Solid Ground Page 17
