by Dale Mayer
“But the information is going to be securely locked down on the military servers so it won’t be on the laptop anyway,” Fred argued. “Honestly this is a stupid job.”
“But it’s very well paid. We’ve done some stupid shit for others who were willing to pay, so why not this one. Ours is not to wonder why.”
“Right. I still think she’s trouble and we should just dump her.” Fred turned the van around a corner with a hard enough turn that Tesla rolled over. She made her body flop limp in case they were watching.
Fred continued. “We could recover from the laptop theft easily enough, but kidnapping this woman, there’s no going back if we’re pulled over.”
“So we make sure to not get pulled over,” Steve said agreeably.
“And yet we’re surrounded by cops. We’ve passed two and another is driving ahead of us,” Fred snapped. “And no one knows she’s missing yet. What’s it going to be like when they do know?”
“You’re being paranoid. Don’t lose your nerve. I know we’ve only been involved in small time stuff up to now, but this is a big payoff for us. I need the money to go back east. This is my ticket home.”
“Yeah, I hear you, but there are some big prisons back there too – and I don’t want to end up in any of them.”
“I’m not going to prison,” Steve snapped. “Hell, no way. Not again.”
Tesla listened to the two men argue over the risks of this bigger job, but no amount of silent urging on her part had them divulging any more information. And she needed it. How else could she screw up their plans?
A hard turn had her rolling again. This time off the item she’d been lying on. And yet it seemed to be up against the back of her thigh.
Her gaze widened as she remembered. She’d been on the phone when she’d been hit from behind. She’d fallen to her knees gasping but had managed to shove the phone into her pants before being dragged outside. With everything still fuzzy, she had forgotten.
What a game changer this was. She grinned. Now she had to figure out how to get it into her hands. And dare she try and use it? She rolled over on the next corner so she was jammed up against the side of the vehicle with her hands out of sight from the men. She worked to free her wrists. She had to find a way to grab her phone before the men realized she still had it on her. Why hadn’t she gotten dressed properly? Her comfy pj bottoms with dancing snowmen on them were hardly what she’d choose to be wearing right now – if she’d known she was going to get kidnapped. They had no pockets.
But she had a cell phone…and that tantalizing hope of a better end put a big smile on her face.
*
Mason stared at Dane as he said, “Security cameras caught the van leaving seven minutes before we arrived at your house. They got her out of here before we could confirm she was missing…”
“I called,” Mason argued. “I called right away when she got cut off in the middle of the conversation.”
“And security was on it fast, but they didn’t get a lockdown in effect as they had no confirmation someone was missing,” Swede said in a calm voice. “We’ll find her.”
Mason’s brain wouldn’t get the message. He stared at Dane in blind shock. “So it’s gone?”
Dane nodded. “They are tracking it on the city cameras.”
“Almost twenty minutes ago.” He shook his head. “Surely that’s not possible. Jesus, do you have any idea how far they could have gone in that time?”
Silence. As a rhetorical question it brought up all too many bad memories.
Dane’s phone buzzed. He walked a few steps away so he could hear and answered it. Mason tried to pull himself out of the stupor. He turned to the office as if it would supply answers he had yet to find. He studied the layout and could see in his mind how this played out. Tesla focused like no one else he’d ever seen. When she got into her work, she was one hundred and fifty percent in. Nothing shook her out. Anyone could have crept up behind her and snatched her up. She’d have gone down kicking and screaming, and she’d take every opportunity to escape that she could. Speaking of which, where was her phone?
He bent to look beneath the desk. No sign of it. He searched the office and then slowly straightened, wondering. Could she have escaped with it? Was that possible? Surely the men would remove it from her. More likely they had it and would use it to contact the base for a ransom – or as a warning.
But he couldn’t stop thinking that maybe she had it on her.
“Mason?” Swede asked. “What did you find?”
“Nothing. And that’s the point. Her cell phone is missing.”
“Are you thinking she managed to keep it?” Swede frowned as he swung around looking for the missing item. “More likely the kidnappers snatched it up.”
“I can only hope she has it. We can track it then.” Mason charged out of the small office as his phone rang. Snatching it up, he said, “Hello.”
“Mason, did she tell you what she was working on?” Mason frowned and answered the commander slowly. “Not really. Just that she needed to work on something and wanted no distractions.”
“Good to know she didn’t say anything, but in this moment I wish she had.”
“Why?” Mason made no attempt to hold back his sharp tone. “If you know something, sir…”
“She felt someone was corrupting her program. I don’t understand it, but according to her there were changes made she didn’t authorize.”
Mason didn’t understand all of that either, but if Tesla said someone was messing in her code then someone was. He knew her inside and out. She was the best programmer he’d ever heard about and had created programs for the military that would be astronomical in terms of saving lives. This had been the problem before.
“Espionage?”
“Terrorism.”
He sucked in his breath. “Tweaks to the program to hurt not help?”
“That’s what Tesla was afraid of. She stayed home today intent on finding out who it was.”
He waited, looking for more information but none came. “Inside job?”
A heavy sigh was followed by a cough. “You didn’t hear that from me.”
Damn it. “What are you doing to find this person?”
“Since she came to me yesterday, I’ve set up an investigation of all the people who have access. So far there are no red flags of those here today.”
“And of those not there right now?”
“That’s more problematic. Both Farrow and Michelson are not in the office. Farrow is sick and Michelson is on vacation.”
“I need addresses right now.”
“I have them here.” There was a rustle of papers and the commander repeated the addresses to him. “I don’t know what to say about either of these men. They’ve got long service records. There are no flags anywhere in their history or personal life. We take great care with who we let on this project. Tesla is most particular.”
“Did she not like either of these men?”
There was an odd silence.
“Commander?” Mason said in a curt voice. “I need to know everything.”
“She had a few go arounds with Farrow. They didn’t see eye to eye on most issues. Farrow has been here for years and Tesla…well…”
“Right, she was new, it was her baby and she had the power to make changes that maybe he didn’t agree with.”
“Exactly.”
“And Michelson?”
“He’s a bit of a hardhead. He’d been working on a similar program himself and didn’t like her coming on board the way she did.” The commander added apologetically, “But hers was far superior.”
“I’ll let you know if we find anything.” And he hung up. He’d already walked outside, his feet leading the way, and found the men already in the vehicles, engines on. Dane was driving his truck and waiting for him. Mason walked to Swede and gave him the first address then hopped in beside Dane. “We’ll take Farrow’s place.”
And they zipped to the other side o
f town.
Farrow didn’t live on base. Being out from under the watchful military eye gave him more leeway to cause trouble.
Chapter 4
How long were they going to keep driving? If it were her, she’d have switched vehicles by now. She worried about Mason. How was he coping? At least he’d know she was in trouble, having been on the phone with her when she’d been attacked. And he was smart. He already had a plan. She knew he did. He was like that. He got this stuff.
She should learn more. At least she should if she was going to keep ending up in trouble. Go figure. All she was trying to do was help people. And there seemed to be no end of people trying to stop her from doing that. Like what the hell?
Her mind returned to the number of people who knew she was working at home today. She’d have vouched for all of them who had access to her project. They were all good hardworking men. Sure, she’d had a couple of initial problems. She’d stepped in with a shiny program that everyone was thrilled about, and she, as the programmer, had been given a lot of leeway. She’d never taken advantage of it though.
There’d been a few men with seniority who hadn’t appreciated a young woman stepping above them. They’d implied she’d slept her way to the top, but she was a civilian and the ladder was very different for her.
And she’d never do what they’d insinuated either. The only man she had plans to sleep with was Mason.
Speaking of Mason, he had to be going nuts right now. Had he picked up her trail yet? Then again why would he? She didn’t have a clue who was behind this and she hadn’t told him about her current worry, so unless the commander was willing to open up about it, then he’d know nothing.
She rested her arms again. Her wrists were slick from trying to free them. As she relaxed her shoulders something in the bindings gave way. Her arm stiff and numb from the awkward position fell flat along her side, and waves of pain rolled through her. After that, getting the other arm free was easy. She carefully shifted until she could reach her phone and on the next corner rolled so she was facing the wall. Quickly she sent several texts to Mason. She turned the volume off and told him what she could. As she texted she realized there wasn’t much she could say. Or time to say anything as her battery was almost dead. Hopefully they were tracking it. She gave him a description of both men and their names and that she was untied but they were traveling away from the base – fast. And that someone named Grant was waiting for her to be delivered.
She relayed the bits of conversation she could, then hearing someone else talking she slipped the phone into her underwear and tried to make it look like she was still unconscious. Except for her freed hands.
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, there’s so much shit back here I can barely make her out, but she appears to be unconscious again.”
“Good. Maybe she had a delayed reaction to your blow.”
“Or she’s faking it,” Steve said.
“Not likely. How hard did you hit her the last time?” Fred asked in worried tones. “We need her alive and well.”
“She is. But she’s slippery.”
“How can she be? She’s just a geek programmer who knows nothing but code.”
“Right.” The two men laughed.
In the back, listening, Tesla realized there was one thing that was new. Since she’d met and fallen in love with Mason, she’d learned more than she thought. Including some self-defense. She’d found Judo was more her style over Karate. Mason had been supportive as long as she picked a discipline she enjoyed and learned how to protect herself.
She hadn’t gotten very far in her training yet, but she knew a little bit. Most likely just enough to get into trouble. The thing was she doubted these two men knew any martial arts. They had the small time thug look to them. Brutish. It was the man, Grant, who’d hired them that she wanted. She was tired of being viewed as a pawn in someone else’s game. She didn’t need this shit.
And she wanted to get back to Mason and her work. Before Mason, programming was her life. Now Mason was her life and the programs – her babies. She wasn’t sure she was ready to start a real family so until then this worked well.
If Mason had to live without her…he’d never forgive himself if something happened to her. If their positions were reversed she wasn’t sure she could go on alone. She’d been alone for so long. Now he was there for her…to lose that would be horrible.
He loved her as much as she loved him. She’d been wondering if she should nudge toward a more permanent relationship but held back, not wanting to push his buttons. They’d moved in together months ago and she’d loved every minute of it. There was nothing nicer than waking up to him sleeping beside her.
And these assholes were looking to take that away from them.
Anger simmered.
Her phone buzzed in her pants. She shifted to study the men up front. Was it safe to answer? And caught one of them staring at her.
“Oh well now. Look who’s awake.” He snorted. “You’re not going anywhere, so you might as well go back to sleep.”
She rolled back over and closed her eyes, trying to block out his raucous laughter.
*
Mason knocked on Farrow’s door then finding it unlocked, raced inside. He wanted this guy to be the guilty party. Anyone who had a problem with Tesla had a problem with him. She was a godsend to everyone, and this guy needed to play nice.
The living room was empty. Dane went one way and he went another. They met in the kitchen. Nothing.
“I’ll check the garage.”
“I’ll go upstairs.” Mason raced up the stairs. There was an emptiness to the house. Had the guy skipped town? Supposedly he was sick – but was he? Or was he just playing hooky and if so – why?
At the top floor he checked the spare room then the master bedroom. The bed was mussed as if he had recently gotten out of it, but the room and the adjoining bathroom were both empty.
“Mason,” Dane called from below. “Found him.”
Mason took the stairs two at a time then followed Dane into the garage.
And came to a dead stop.
Dane pointed at the newer SUV parked close to the door. A man sat upright in the driver’s seat with a nice clean bullet hole through the windshield and through his forehead.
“Ah hell.”
He set the wheel in motion, calling in the police and then stepped back slightly to call the commander and fill him in.
“I’m waiting on an update from Swede who went to the Michelson address.” He smiled ferociously and added, “Then I’m going to tear Farrow’s world apart. He didn’t kill himself, so chances are good he was part of the kidnapping.”
“We’ll backtrack his work and see what we can find.”
Mason had to be happy with that. The military investigation would galvanize into action, but there were still processes and procedures to be followed. And right now he didn’t give a damn about them. Dane had already checked Farrow’s garage over. Mason turned his attention to the body and opened the truck door, reaching around to the back of the man’s pants to find his wallet. His cell phone was in his shirt pocket. Tossing the phone to Dane, Mason checked the wallet. Some small bills, several credit cards, a receipt from the corner deli and a folded note. He opened it up. “There’s a phone number on this.”
He walked over to Dane who was studying Farrow’s contacts and recent phone calls.
“He made a call thirty minutes before you called Tesla.”
“To who?” Dane glanced at the number on the paper and compared it to the number on Farrow’s phone, and said, “To that number.”
“No name?”
“No.”
Mason snorted and hit the dial button on the phone. “Let’s see who it is.”
The phone rang and rang until finally an irate voice answered. “I told you not to call me again.”
Silence.
“Sorry, I thought I’d ask again.” Mason grasped at straws of what to say.
&
nbsp; “Ask again? Like hell. We’ve been…who is this?” The voice went from angry to suspicious. “Who are you?”
“Farrow,” Mason said in a calm voice. “I just called you an hour ago.”
“You might have then but that’s not you now…” The voice snorted. “Do you think I’m stupid? Dead men don’t make phone calls.”
And he hung up.
“Well now we know who killed Farrow.” Dane shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“Not really. We just know this guy on the phone knew he was dead. And who is he?” Mason studied the paper in his hand and memorized the number. “We should be able to track the owner down.”
At sounds of vehicles arriving, the two men walked outside where they explained the situation to the police. Mason handed over the paper, wallet and cell phone. Then he and Dane left.
“I’m surprised you gave them everything.”
Mason nodded. “I memorized the number and in his contacts was the other coworker, Michelson.”
His phone rang. “Swede, what’s up?” Mason asked, hoping they’d found something – anything at the other address.
“Nothing unfortunately,” Swede said. “No sign of him, but there’s a small suitcase, empty on the floor in his bedroom and it appears there are clothes missing from the dresser and closet.”
“He’s supposed to be on holiday so maybe he’s gone for a few days.”
“Maybe, but the neighbor looks after his dog for him and this time there was no such request.”
“Is the dog still there?”
“Yes, but it’s locked outside.”
“Damn. So no way to know if he’s bolted or if he’s coming back. If he cares for the dog he’s coming back.”
“Not necessarily. He knows the neighbors will take care of it. Besides, the place is immaculate. Like he barely lived in it.”
“How long has he lived there?” Mason hopped into the passenger side of Dane’s truck as Dane fired up the engine and pulled out of the driveway. It took a bit of maneuvering to get through the ball up of cars, but eventually they were moving freely down the road. “We’re on our way to you,” Mason said. “But I have a number I’d like you to look up if you can.” Mason explained what they’d found. “Any luck on tracking Tesla’s phone?”
