by P. G. Van
“Sid, if this guy is the core guy, he should have security around as we do… does he?” she challenged.
Sid turned on his walkie-talkie and spoke into it without taking his eyes off her. “Do we have a perimeter?”
“Around the block, sir.”
“Any suspicious activity?”
“No, sir.”
“See, I think he is the guy we need to watch,” she taunted.
“I can have him watched, there is no need for you to talk to him.” He folded his arms adamantly in front of his chest.
“To confirm he is the guy I took to the hospital, so you are not watching the wrong person… again.” She laughed.
“Not cool.”
“Sid, please find me some clothes.” She looked around the room.
He pointed to the bathroom door. “The closet is to the right.”
“What? How do you…”
He dismissed her question. “Move now. I want to see if he will recognize you.”
“Okay, okay.” She ran into the bathroom laughing and opened the door to a small walk-in closet full of women’s clothes. She looked at the extravagant clothes all around and wondered if there were any casual clothes. She spotted a dresser and pulled a couple of the drawers open.
She pulled a bra and a pair of athletic pants. She pulled on the pants stretching them to the maximum. She wasn’t chubby but had wide hips that needed a bigger size, and she took off the t-shirt to put on the bra. The bra was easily two cups and a size smaller than hers making the strap dig into her flesh. She let out a breath debating whether to put on her wet bra laying on the shower floor from the previous night and decided against it. Stepping out of the closet, she slipped the t-shirt back on.
“Okay, what am I doing?” She adjusted the strap so it would stop digging into her skin.
Sid had put on his t-shirt and pulled on his shorts before tucking his gun into the waistband of his shorts. “Put on your shoes and go for a run around the block.”
“Am I talking to him?”
“I want you to run in front of him to see if he would recognize you or if his behavior changes.” Sid stopped when his walkie-talkie beeped.
“Go, John.”
“No hits, sir.”
“Anything on him?”
“He is clear, no weapons,” the calm voice confirmed.
“Hang tight, and I want eyes around. The Swan is in motion,” he ordered.
“Stop calling me that.” She swatted before bending to pull on her shoes.
“Baby, do you have to show me your ass when I’m going nuts about putting you in front of a potential bad guy?” He slapped her on her bottom.
“Sid, these frigging pants are too small for me, and this is all I could find.”
“Oh, yeah, Serena is size obsessed.” He laughed.
“Serena? Is this her house?”
“Yes, Serena Johnson. Serena is a doctor, works for the city hospital. You are her cousin, visiting from San Francisco.” He opened the door slightly and peeked.
“Is he still there?”
“Yes. If he doesn’t recognize you, just walk past him and follow the trail.”
“Okay. Why am I here at my cousin’s house without her?”
He ignored her question. “John, do we have eyes and ears on him?”
“Go, sir.”
Sid put the walkie-talkie away and kissed her hard. “Baby, I can’t believe I am letting you do this.”
“You don’t want to go with me?” she pouted.
“No. I will be listening to your conversation and only a few feet away.” He hugged her before letting her out of the door, and the door shut behind her.
“Promise you won’t shoot anyone today,” she whispered.
“No promises. Keep walking, babe.”
She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and started a brisk walk. She walked away from the man on the other side of the internal street and walked along the circular street for a couple of minutes keeping an eye on the man. She crossed the street and walked toward the man, her heart thumping in her chest deafening her. She had no idea where Sid or the man he was talking to was, but she walked on the green, dewy grass in the man’s line of sight.
She felt the man’s eyes on her and waited a few minutes before turning to look at him as she walked briskly. When her eyes met his, his face broke into a smile, and he waved. “Hey!”
“Hello?” She stopped walking and gave him a questioning look.
“Amy,” he called out walking toward her.
She smiled back like she had just recognized him and noticed the scar on his face from a flesh wound. It gave her the double assurance he was the man she drove to the hospital.
“Oh, my, so sorry I didn’t recognize you. How are you? Are you recovered from your fun night?”
He placed his palm on his chest and bowed to her. “Thanks to you! I’m all good.”
“Oh… don’t say that.” She managed to smile.
“Do you live in the area? I haven’t seen you here before,” he asked his voice suspicious.
“I am a visitor. I can’t afford such a nice home. My apartment is being treated for bugs, and I’m crashing on my cousin’s couch for a few days.”
“Oh, who is your cousin?”
“Serena.” She squatted to pet the beautiful dog. “Is this a boy or a girl?”
“Boy. Is your cousin Serena Jensen?” The way he said her name seemed like he wanted her to correct the last name.
“I think you’re saying Johnson, but it sounds better with your cool accent.” She laughed convinced he was connected to the rebel group based on the caution in his voice.
“You are right, I always mix up Serena’s last name.” He smiled.
“This is a great community.” She blurted looking around the houses hoping to spot Sid, but no one was in sight. She realized the joggers were gone; the elderly couple with the stroller was nowhere in sight.
“Yeah, it’s nice. Look, I need to go, but thanks again for your help that night. I did try to get in touch with you after I got discharged from the hospital but couldn’t find you.”
“Oh, you looked me up online?” She stood up skewing her eyes in the sun.
“Well, I… I remembered your license plate and tried to look you up but couldn’t find you. I needed to thank you.”
She knew he had looked her up for the memory card he placed in her van. She smiled wondering what Sid was doing and how long she was about to continue the conversation. She was feeling uncomfortable, but the man seemed to be at ease.
“Oh, you don’t need to thank me, but we can keep in touch. I don’t have my phone on me, but I can give you my phone number.”
“That’ll be great.” He pulled his phone out and unlocked it to punch in her number. As if that was a queue, she heard the screech of the tires as a black van came to a halt at the edge of the greenery.
The man abruptly put his phone in her hands. “Please leave, and if someone calls for me, please tell them ‘Tim is in Hawaii.’ Please.”
“What is going on? Who are those people?” She acted shocked when she saw a dozen men dressed in black run toward them. He whistled under his breath, and the sweet looking dog took off charging at the men.
“Amy, run,” he whispered before turning to look at the men approaching him.
She turned and walked away and heard his pleas. “Take my wallet. Please don’t hurt me.”
She was amazed his dog didn’t defend its owner. The dog was sitting on the grass by the van watching the activity like nothing bothered it. She wondered if the men used a silent whistle or something similar.
“She’s innocent, let her go.” He heard the man call out behind her making her turn.
A rock hard body that was no stranger to hers rammed into her knocking her to the grass. His lips grazed her cheek. “You’re one hot spy. Too bad you can’t work for me.”
“Cut it out. Get off me,” she growled into Sid’s ear.
“I c
an’t because I’m taking you in, too.” He dug his teeth into her ear. “As my personal prisoner.”
“Good idea!” she whimpered as he carried her over his shoulder into another van.”
He slumped her body on the back seat and slid in next to her slamming the sliding door shut. “Take us to Safe Haven, John.”
“Yes, sir,” a muffled voice called out from the driver’s seat through the glass separation.
“What kind of a vehicle is this? It’s like a limo and van got together and had a baby.” She laughed pulling his arm closer around her.
“You did good, Amy. I think we have our first link to the Barkha Group, and I have a new theory about how they made it to the ranch.”
“And his phone and he wanted me to tell whoever called that he was in Hawaii.” She placed the phone in his hand.
“Sounds like a code for whoever is working with him. I’m going to turn it off, so it’s not traceable.”
“It feels like you waited for him to ask me my number and barged in.” She laughed as he threw the phone into the back pocket of the seat.
“How dare he ask my girlfriend her phone number?” he growled nuzzling her ear.
“Where is his dog?”
“It’s with him.”
“What is your new theory?” She nuzzled his neck.
“They didn’t find you because of the pictures the other interns posted online.” He gritted his teeth.
“But the guy told me he could not find me with the license plate, was he lying?”
“He wasn’t lying. They couldn’t trace you with the license plate because your dad had a fake address for it.”
“Oh, how did they find me? How did they make it to the ranch?” Her heart started to thud.
“I have a mole on my team, and I need to find out who that is.” He gritted his teeth.
“How will you find him, and is he one of the guys in the other van?”
“There is no mole on John’s team. I grew up with these guys, and they all lost a family member to the rebel group. It has to be the additional security we hired for the ranch or someone on the Ambassador’s security team.”
“How do we find that mole? You had a load of people following us?” Her voice trembled with fear, fear for her family that was still on the road.
“Your buddy from the park will help us identify the mole in return for his freedom.”
Chapter 17
Amy looked out of the darkened windows as they rode along a scenic route. She zoned out as soon as Sid started talking on his phone. From time to time she picked up on the anger in his voice as he gave instructions on how to get the data that would help them identify the mole. Halfway through the conversation, Sid cursed when he realized the mole was someone part of the Ambassador’s security team from the Embassy and not the temporary team as suspected.
“John, this is bad,” he growled.
“Do we still want to go to Safe Haven?” John asked his voice wavering for the first time.
“Yes. Is the Ambassador in town?”
“She is away but should be back tomorrow, sir.”
“Okay, I want a secure channel ready by the time we reach Safe Haven. I need to speak to the Eagle,” he ordered making Amy chuckle.
“What’s so funny?”
“Why do you have to talk like that? Doesn’t the Eagle have a real name?”
He leaned closer to her. “The Eagle is the President of Edenridge.”
“Oh, you get to talk to the President?”
“My boss.”
“Do I get to say hi?” she teased.
“The meeting is for him to talk to you.” He kissed her cheek. Her stomach clenched in apprehension at the thought of talking to someone who would validate her identity as someone other that who she really was, and she gripped his arm digging her fingers into his flesh.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want any of this, Sid. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I just want to be the person I am and not someone I cannot be.” She rested her cheek against his bicep.
“Amy, you can’t deny who you are, but I can’t force you to be someone you don’t want to be. You will still need to talk to the President.” He ran the pad of his thumb on her chin.
“Okay, only for a few minutes,” she grumbled.
“Sure, whatever you say.” He laughed reaching into the back of the van and pulled a garment bag toward him. He pulled out a suit similar to what he had worn to the law firm a few days ago.
“You are going to wear that, and I have to stay in this bra that feels like it’s made out of cacti?” she whispered.
“You can take it off if it’s bothering you.” He chuckled.
“You don’t get to change. I don’t care if your boss fires you for not showing up in uniform.” She took the suit from him and put it back on the back seat.
“John, are you ready for a new boss?” He pushed the button to talk to his teammate.
“I know I will get a new boss when you become the President, sir.”
“John, not again. Don’t talk to me rest of the way.” He turned the communication switch off.
“What? You are going to be the President?”
He laughed shaking his head. “Not happening. I’m a soldier.”
“You could be the President if you wanted to?” she asked curiously.
“It’s not what I’m meant to do.”
“If you think I need to be the Queen even though I don’t feel like I am one, why should it be different for you?” Her question sliced him on the inside. He was voted as the next best candidate for the presidency by the entire country in the preliminary elections three times in a row. He knew the people of his country wanted him to be the President but for the wrong reason. He knew the people voted him for what he did to eliminate the leader in Barkha, but he considered it his duty to serve and do what was needed to protect the people. The president of a nation needed a lot more restraint than what he had, and he knew it was best to be a soldier.
“It’s different,” his voice was a whisper.
“No, it is not. If people think I need to be the Queen just for being born into the family, you fought for them, Sid. They want a leader like you.” She pulled away to look at him.
“No, they don’t.” It was growl that sent shivers down her spine.
She took a soft yet deep breath taking in the fury in his eyes wrapped in guilt and a darker emotion. She watched his chest heave and held his gaze waiting for him to speak.
“I am a killer, a cold-blooded killer who had no remorse or fear when I watched a human being’s head explode right in front of my eyes. Even as a nineteen-year-old, I was satisfied, and I couldn’t look away from the blood and gore even as I was being taken to safety. It was sick, but even to this date, it gives me pleasure… the fact that I ended that life gives me fucking goosebumps.” He gritted his teeth looking away from her.
Her breath got stuck in her throat when she realized what he was dealing with and had been for years. She unclicked her seatbelt to put her arms around his neck, straddling his waist. She grazed her lips on his cheek like she wanted to soothe away all the pain. “If I were in your shoes, I would have blown the heads of the three men who tried to kidnap me, but you didn’t. I’m sure it was harder for you to shoot not to kill. You had a lot of courage to do what you did as a nineteen-year-old, and you did what was right.”
“I want to kill everyone. I want to bomb the crap out of the entire region even if it kills innocent people.” His breath hissed blowing heat over her skin.
“If you could bomb the crap out of the region, why didn’t you already? You have the power to do it. Why are you convincing a small town girl to be the Queen?” She challenged kissing his cheek. She felt the burn on her waist from his fingertips digging into her flesh and knew she hit the nail on the head.
Over the years, he had molded himself to be a weapon, constantly trying to defend his country. He had trained himself to be ruthless for the safety
of the people. He had no mercy on people when it came to betrayal, but he could not allow himself to pull the trigger the night before in the parking lot. The only thing he could think of doing was to blow the heads of the three men who were in the process of abducting Amy, but something stopped him. He knew it was something deep inside stopping him from taking another life, a voice reminding him of how he would end up being a monster if he didn’t stop taking lives. He wanted to be a soldier but craved for normalcy. Nothing about his life has been normal, until he met Amy. She managed to revive something he had only felt as a child—serenity. She was a Swan.
Almost an hour of riding through winding roads, they pulled into a private driveway with dense greenery on both sides. A few feet up the driveway, some uniformed men guarded a checkpoint. They opened the metal gate letting the van they were in along with the five other vehicles following them.
“John, get the conference started with the Eagle,” Sid spoke into the microphone.
“Roger that, sir.”
“Amy, we are at the Embassy, and we will be safe here. Your mom and dad will meet us here in a day or two based on how the activity varies in the area.”
“Okay.” She was nervous, and her voice was barely a whisper.
“Are you okay?”
“I… It’s weird. I have no connection with my biological parents, but I can’t wait to see their pictures.”
He kissed her on the forehead. “It’s all good. You may get some attention at the Embassy so brace yourself for it.”
“What kind of attention?”
“We have a few hundred people living on the Embassy grounds, and I’m told they are gathered at the main building for you.”
“Oh, no, I can’t handle that.”
“Yes, you can. All you need to do is wave back when they wave to you.”
“Okay… I just hope they don’t do anything else.”
He laughed shaking his head. “You’ve watched too many princess movies.”
“Whatever!”
They drove past a few more checkpoints before driving toward what looked like a historical building surrounded by gardens with the path they drove on lined by perfectly trimmed hedges.
