The Enigma Series Boxed Set

by Tierney James

  Could Enigma think she possessed more information than she actual had? Perhaps they planned to use her family as leverage for her cooperation in something illegal against her country. Maybe they weren’t with the government at all, but some private vigilante organization that took the law into their own hands.

  Taking deep breaths she turned up the air conditioner so it blew full force into her face. Checking the rear view mirror for a tail (Tessa couldn’t believe she was even thinking such a thing could happen to her), she started to relax just a little. Knowing full well it would only be a matter of time before Vernon found her on some of his futuristic spy toys, Tessa tried to make a plan.

  She’d have to find a secure line that Enigma couldn’t stop her from calling Robert and warn him to leave Tahoe. The bio sheet stated some unsettling characteristics: dangerous, sociopath tendencies, assassin, known IRA soldier and chameleon extraordinaire. Pretty, younger than herself, Tessa remembered the picture of Honey, pale brownish red hair that had been pushed behind her ears. A cool narrow smile spread across thin lips and a kind of deadened pain filled her eyes. Freckles across her nose gave the woman a kind of youthful wholesomeness. There was no way of telling how long ago the photo had been taken.

  It was the second photo that had confused Tessa the most. The man named Mansur, looked to be of Middle-Eastern descent. Why would someone like that be watching her family? Before she could read anything of value, Tessa had heard Glenda Coleman returning with their drinks. She wasn’t going to sit by and let the lies continue to mount up. Just when she’d started to trust Captain Hunter, even like him a little, she realized everything that had occurred was shaded in half truths. Maybe Enigma was a government sponsored assassination agency that the CIA didn’t even know about. You’ve got too much imagination, Tess, Robert always said.

  Startled by the ringing of the stolen Enigma phone, Tessa lifted it to see a picture of the captain frowning. It was a live feed.

  “Tessa, I know you’re upset,” he started firmly.

  “You lied to me, Chase,” she screamed at the phone. “You lied about my family being safe!”

  “Tessa, you need to find a place to pull over. Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you. Let me explain.” His voice, calm and reasonable, irritated Tessa.

  “Go to hell,” Tessa threw the phone against the passenger door, bouncing it back to the cup holder.

  ~ ~ ~

  Zoric couldn’t help but grin as he turned his eyes away from his friend. “Pretty strong language from an innocent, don’t you think?” He knew this woman both fascinated and confused Chase Hunter. That was a first. He was a man used to being admired, respected and even sought after by beautiful women. Even Sam, a prize in her own right, could not resist making herself available to the elusive captain of the Enigma team. Yet, Chase never let anyone get too close, especially a woman. Zoric understood that. Women made men weak, forcing them to see their own shortcomings and vulnerability.

  Maybe if he hadn’t loved his wife and daughters so much he wouldn’t have morphed into such a monster, he reasoned. Their love had made him whole. When that had vanished in the length of time that it took to bomb the playground where his daughters played, a hideous demon of revenge crushed the joy of living from his life.

  He’d done many unconscionable things since that time. If it hadn’t been for Chase Hunter, he’d been hanged, shot and butchered by now. Their warped bond of friendship forced Zoric to put his life back together. Although far from trusting, his willingness to think about the future carried him forward. Love could leave a hole the size of a bomb induced crater in you if things went wrong. Zoric still longed to feel his wife’s loving arms wrap around him and the laughter of his little girls. They were the only good memory he had left.

  Zoric eyed his friend briefly. He knew the murder of Chase’s parents and the tragic death of his sister kept others at arm’s length. Don’t get too close. Nothing is forever. 911 proved to Chase once and for all that he should keep his feelings in check.

  Afghanistan had also taken a toll on his friend. Zoric had not been allowed to go, but Chase would share that life when he’d had too much to drink. It had been a long time since he’d heard his friend laugh. Yet in the last few days he’d heard Chase burst into light hearted laughter with Tessa Scott. Maybe the simple fact that she was clueless about the terror around her made Chase feel normal.

  Of course, a man could get lost in those blue eyes. Chase had been protective of her, warning Zoric not to be so forward. She’d shown uncommon bravery for a civilian in Knoxville. How she’d stood up for them, saved the pregnant woman’s life and protected one of the Chase’s men had been nothing less than a miracle. Now as he turned his eyes back on Chase he watched the soldier’s jaw clench over and over. The veins of his hands bulged as he gripped the stirring wheel.

  “You are worried.” His thick east European accent said matter-of-factly. “I think this woman is smart and will be careful. She has a lot to live for, my friend. You should’ve told her the truth—about everything.”

  Chase cut his dangerous dark eyes quickly to his friend then back to the road. “I’m going to wring her neck when I catch her,” he growled through gritted teeth.

  Zoric shrugged. “I think you shouldn’t let this woman get to you. After all, she is just a woman.”

  Chase accelerated around an eighteen wheeler. “Just a woman,” he stormed. “She’s a menace. Let’s just put her in charge of Homeland Security. She’ll scare the hell out of any terrorist outfit thinking about another attack. Then within six months our troubles will be over. Let’s hope the Israelis don’t make her an offer she can’t refuse. And I’m not letting her get to me,” he fumed.

  ~ ~ ~

  The blinking light indicated low fuel. Taking the second exit to Auburn, Tessa passed two gas stations near the highway in case Chase was following her. She turned the phone off, hadn’t opted for the On Star and hadn’t made any obvious moves they would expect. But then again, everything Enigma set out to do was to over compensate for the unexpected. She wondered if her picture was now displayed at Enigma with an overlay of red crosshairs with the words Know Your Enemy.

  The quaint town of Auburn, filled with cozy shops and cottage like restaurants, bustled with Friday tourists from Sacramento. Tessa found an out of the way gas station and pulled in slowly, making sure no one had followed her. As always she turned off the car and slipped the key in her pocket.

  Several times when Sean Patrick was an infant she’d locked the key in the car and had developed the habit of not stepping out of the vehicle until the window was rolled down enough to reach in and unlock the door. Paranoid, Robert teased. Of course, Robert didn’t travel with children or understand the amount of trouble they could get into. Tessa smiled. I bet by now he knows, she thought cynically. She longed to hold them in her arms one more time before Enigma found her and locked her up.

  Tessa kept watch over the area with a keen eye, expecting Chase’s Hummer to materialize any second. When it didn’t she tried to reassure herself that there was no way they could track her. Her mind switched gears when something caught her eye moving across the street into a large parking lot.

  A slow-moving vehicle, a late model Volvo, drove around the lot several times before parking in the back row, furthest from the street. Tessa didn’t think it odd that they backed into the spot since she always tried to do the same thing to avoid having to look over the heads of children and flying McDonald straws. It made it so easy when you needed to leave.

  At least four spots up front were open and yet the Volvo parked in the back. Two men exited from the backseat and looked around as if waiting for something. Tessa leaned down and looked across her front seat so as not to be seen. Someone still inside the car popped the trunk. The man farthest from her reached into the backseat and pulled an old man out onto wobbly legs. The other thug, as Tessa started to call him, lifted the trunk lid and helped shove the man inside. The old guy hadn’t put u
p a fight.

  When the trunk slammed shut two other men casually exited the car. One appeared to be in charge for the other three didn’t move until he walked forward toward the Chinese restaurant on the side street. The leader then turned his face in Tessa’s direction before slipping on his sunglasses like a movie star in disguise. There was no mistaking that the man in the sunglasses was the same man in the photo at Enigma. Essid. Where was Enigma when you needed them?

  ~ ~ ~

  “It’s Tessa, Chase. She’s calling you.” Zoric gave the picture before him his yellow smile as he clicked to respond. “Tessa, are you safe?” Zoric tried to sound sincere and concerned; both difficult emotions for him.

  “Zoric?”

  “Yes, Tessa Scott.” Just then another picture of a license plate of a black Volvo appeared on the phone screen. She must be right on top of the vehicle to get such a picture.

  “Essid is here!” she said in an excited whisper. “I saw them put Mr. Crawley in the trunk!”

  Chase grabbed the phone away from his partner. “Listen to me, Tessa. You need to get away from that car and find a safe place. I’ll come get you, then take care of Mr. Crawley. Do you understand?”

  “I was across the street from the Exxon station in Auburn. Essid and his thugs went into the China Garden restaurant about ten minutes ago. I’m going to help Mr. Crawley. He’ll die in the trunk. It’s an oven in there.”

  “No! Tessa, these people are dangerous. If they catch you…”

  “No time, Chase. Hurry. My blue Equinox is parked next to theirs. It’ll be easy to get him inside that way. He looked pretty frail.”

  “Don’t disconnect, Tessa!” And then she was gone. “Dear God in Heaven,” Chase yelled as he hit the stirring wheel with his fist. “She’s going to get herself killed.” He slowed seeing an accident ahead. Traffic began to back up as flashing lights appeared on the scene. “I guess we won’t be getting any help from the locals,” Chase said as he spied the exit ramp just out of reach.

  The highway blocked any forward momentum. Not wasting another minute, Chase pulled off onto the shoulder of the road, down a ditch and up onto an outer road. Tires squealed at his sudden exhilaration toward the small town where he feared all hell was about to break loose.

  Would Tessa heed his warning or do what she usually did, seize the moment? With no understanding concerning the magnitude of her impetuous behavior, Tessa had so far been able to survive the last few days’ events unscathed. Either she had incredible luck or those angels she mentioned, were looking after her. Would it hurt if he prayed they continued to chart her course?

  Why had this woman been the victim of such random terror events, plunging her into his life? He wondered if this was God’s way of retaliating for his open disregard for religion and faith. His parents certainly had crammed that way of life down his throat right up until the time they were killed by the Chinese soldiers.

  His faith regenerated from the love of his little sister who never faltered in her faithfulness to God. Then he’d found her dead in her apartment, overdosed on heroine. The police said she’d been experimenting like a lot other college kids. But Chase knew she’d been murdered by a man she’d been seeing. The evidence said otherwise and the case closed as did the remaining scrap of faith he carried precariously in his heart.

  Fast forward to three days ago and Tessa Scott opens her front door, pretty as a soap commercial, the smell of baked bread earlier in the morning wafting through the house, pictures of family on the wall, and a view of the garden he couldn’t get out of his head. The surreal feeling of coming home stunned him so suddenly that he had nearly forgotten the reason he’d rang the doorbell.

  The reluctant cloak of courage Tessa displayed over these past few days earned Chase’s admiration. Tessa, unaware of the profound effect her tenacity had on Chase, forced him to acknowledge for the first time in years that there really might be good in the world. That good was none other than Tessa Scott. And now he was afraid of losing her.

  ~ ~ ~

  Having parked in the sun, the trunk’s temperature moved toward 140 degrees. Could Mr. Crawley here her speaking to him? What did it matter? Those men were monsters and this is where he would die, robbing them of his assistance to further their terror. Why were they abusing him?

  “Mr. Crawley! It’s me! Tessa!” She tried the doors of the car and found them locked so the hope of popping the trunk faded quickly. “I’m going to get you out. Can you hear me?”

  Mr. Crawley sounded dazed and confused. “Mrs. Scott?” His weak voice, probably from exhaustion and thirst, could barely be heard.

  Tessa instructed Mr. Crawley to look for a cable beneath some carpeting. Nothing. “Okay, look behind a panel of sheet metal and pull the cable.”

  A click followed and Tessa lifted the lid to see a withered and bruised old man she hardly recognized. Mr. Crawley had always looked fit and clean whenever she’d seen him. Here lie a dirty, scared human who looked more like a homeless person who had roamed the streets for months.

  Struggling to get him out of the trunk, perspiration began to form on her back and arms. She’d left her car running so the air conditioner would cool off her passenger. As she helped him slide into the front seat she handed the old man a bottle of cool water. “Drink slowly, Mr. Crawley.”

  “How…how…” he swallowed the water, “did you find me?”

  A shadow slowly fell across her body. “Yes, indeed, Mrs. Scott,” came a calm and calculating voice. “How did you find us?”

  Tessa turned slowly to see Essid standing a few feet from her with his arms crossed in front of him.

  Chapter 19

  T he president of the United States, Buck Austin, stared out the windows of the oval office pondering his upcoming meeting with his Home Land Security Secretary. The secret organization, Enigma, which he’d conceived as the CIA Director would be the topic of conversation. Enigma was a source of pride for him. There were things the CIA could no longer accomplish thanks to the former President Chavez, the first Mexican American president.

  A liberal of monumental proportions, the former president began making rigid rules for the secret organization after a wealthy website entrepreneur released stolen documents, emails and text messages from the State Department and the Pentagon. Ten corporations began to meet secretly with the director to form Enigma, fully funded by their billions of dollars in order to make the country a safer place to live. Having secured legal documents preventing sponsors from interfering with the work that occurred under the Enigma title, the president felt confident its director would operate freely.

  He knew that greed motivated the initial interest and backing of Enigma, not national security. Geopolitical conflicts around the world stunted business growth. But the president soon proved to them that a safer America was good for business. The organization would fall under the protection of Homeland Security. Only the director of that cabinet post and the president would know the full extent of their reach and capabilities. The CIA, NSA, and FBI knew of Enigma, but continued to dance around the truth of its purpose, only knowing that their own work benefited from the secretive, sometimes questionable means in which Enigma operated.

  Even before Buck Austin took office, Enigma began to set up shop in universities all over the country. Here the brightest and most talented people were recruited and trained, all the while working toward a more educated populace. Nothing suspicious about intellects wanting to attend a university.

  The coming and goings of political and military personnel trying to better themselves would appear to be nothing out of the ordinary. Benign activities failed to draw attention from the liberal media. Now located at over twenty universities throughout the country, Enigma had become the watchdog of Homeland Security. Even though most of the employees of these institutions continued to be uninformed of their proximity to the everyday job of protecting the county, they worked and complained as you might find in any other place of employment. The authenticity o
f wanting a raise, more time off, lower tuition, and more help, provided a deceptive cloak that added a layer of protection needed by Enigma.

  The commander-in-chief reflected on his predecessor. In spite of the fact that Chavez had been a one term president, enough damage had been done to national security, military preparedness and contacts abroad, that now, Buck Austin, began pushing all his agencies to make up for four years of complacent head-in-the-sand politics. His no nonsense attitude toward terrorism was perceived as a little over the top, but that’s why the American people had chosen him. They loved that western sheriff mentality he brought from Texas to Washington D.C.

  Although the press presented the president as rude and arrogant, the American public felt like for once, someone was on their side. It was often said he had the manners of Harry Truman, the imagination of Ronald Reagan, the savvy of George Herbert Bush and the patience of General Patton. No one totally liked him, but everyone respected him. When his staff began looking ahead to the next election and tried to tone down his rhetoric, President Austin made it perfectly clear he’d not jeopardize the country’s future by worrying about the next caucus in Iowa.

  Every Enigma section had a director, but they all answered to Benjamin Clark. The president didn’t like many people in politics, especially congress, but he admired Benjamin Clark and trusted him completely. He didn’t care that the prime minister of Israel was Ben’s half-brother. In his opinion it was more of an asset rather than a conflict of interest.

  Tobias Stewart, the Homeland Security Secretary, entered the president’s office and extended his hand. “Mr. President.”