“Third operative is online. Explain what is happening at his safe house. I'm out.” Archangel's barked order preceded an audible click on the line.
“Bossy, isn't he?” the woman's voice mused.
“I think he has the right. May I ask what's happening?” This person on the phone wasn't Moriah. Moriah had a deep sexual huskiness to her voice. This woman was… perky.
“Right. Okay, we needed to relocate the woman and her son. There is a mission going on that you are not cleared for but, suffice to say, we needed someplace no one would look.”
“I'm not cleared for? Are you sure?”
“Okay, technically, you're cleared, but you don't have a need to know. Specific enough for you?”
“I deal in facts.”
“As do I. The fact is you don't have a need to know.”
“Indeed. But I am involved because Moriah offered up my safe house. Good to know.”
“It was an informed decision. Look, this woman and her son have been dealt a fucking raw deal. They need to know they are secure and safe. We listed and rejected twenty different locations. Yours was selected because it is on no one's radar.”
“For a reason,” Lycos ground out.
“I need you to watch out for them. We don't have reason to suspect they were trailed.”
“There is a tracking device in her phone.”
“Mine. I wanted to make sure she made it. The phone is new. The rental's GPS has been obliterated, and it has been purchased by a shell company from the rental agency. Nothing that can be traced back to Guardian or the woman.”
“A lot of trouble to go through for someone who has just been dealt a raw deal.”
“She has an eleven year old son. That kid, he's family.”
“Whose family?”
There was a long pause. “Our family. Watch out for him.”
“I'm on deck. I won't be here much longer.” He was hot for an assignment. He’d sent the signal a week ago and checked his dead drop three times a day, as required.
“I'll handle that with Archangel and Anubis.”
“Bengal?”
“I can handle Bengal.” She laughed, a slow, sexy laugh.
Lycos leaned back in his chair. This woman was the one Bengal had married, Jewell King. So, the kid was important enough for them to pull him from the rotation and violate the sanctity of one of his safe houses.
“What is the level of threat to the woman and her child?”
“That is unknown at this time. We'll need...” The woman blew out a long breath of air before she continued, “... a month, no, at least two months, before we will know for sure. It could be nothing, but we need to make sure that boy and his mother are safe.”
“Who is the child's father?”
“That is not important. What is important is who his brothers are.”
“And?”
“And they are family.”
He chuckled, “I could find out.”
She returned the laugh, “I've heard you’re good with computers.”
“That's what I've been told.” He had several highly refined talents: computers, building things with his hands, killing people. You name it, he could master it. He enjoyed a challenge. Usually. What was unfolding now? Not so much. He didn't do kids. Hell, he barely did people. Kids were... different, messy... obnoxious.
“Don't try. We don't want anything to trigger a reaction from those who could be watching. The people we are shielding them from are as good as we are.”
“As good… or better?”
“God, I hope they aren't better, that shit keeps me up at night.”
“I’ll ask again, what is the threat level to these assets?”
She sighed. “We don't know. This could all be overkill, but information is unclear and what we do have is... well, it is swirling. We don't have a serious grip on anything right now. Bengal or Anubis will reach out to you if we determine it is a nonissue.”
“I copy, and if it is an issue?”
“Well, then I guess your talents will come into play.”
“Is that authorization?” He followed Guardian's mandates—all of them—all of the time. “I will have that sent to you. Not my department.”
He could hear the woman typing in the background. Multitasking. He could like this chick.
“There, the circumstances and request have been forwarded to Archangel. The rest is on him.”
“Roger.” Lycos leaned forward to disconnect the call.
“Hey, for what it’s worth, I'm sorry. I know what it’s like to have someone thrust into your life without your knowledge or approval.”
“And yet you did it.”
“I did. I had to,” the woman admitted.
“Because they are family.”
“Because they were in danger and, yes, they are family. And wow, did I just have a revelation. I need to go apologize to my brothers.” She laughed a little.
Lycos smiled despite himself. He did like Bengal's wife. Maybe he'd like her a little more if she hadn't dropped a woman and her child in his lap.
“Tell Moriah she owes me an explanation when she has the time.”
“Yeah? Well, she's busy for the foreseeable future.”
“This request doesn't come with an expiration date.”
“Noted.”
“Third operative is clear.” Lycos disconnected the call and hit the switch to fold and lower his satellite antenna. A smaller directional antenna rotated toward the safe house.
He leaned back in his chair and mentally flicked through the phone call. A swipe of his fingers jiggled the mouse and activated the computer screen. He minimized the architectural plans he'd been working on and toggled through the camera system, opening the video surrounding the log cabin. He’d mounted and then camouflaged ten wildlife cameras around the safe house. He activated them, one-by-one.
The assets were sitting on the front porch again. He nodded to himself and worked through the cameras. With the wildlife cameras, he could monitor their comings and goings without making contact.
He watched as the woman threw back her head and laughed. Her short mop of curls swirled around her face. Lycos sighed and swiveled in his chair. They didn't have enough supplies to last a week, let alone a couple months. That was going to be a problem.
He gazed up through the natural crevice skylight he'd constructed in his office. The low hanging clouds rolled past indicating coming snow, or possibly rain, depending on Mother Nature's fickle ass. Lycos groaned and glanced back at the cameras displayed on his monitors. When he went through everything this morning, there hadn’t been a stitch of clothing appropriate for the kind of winter they’d encounter in the mountains in either of the closets.
Fuck him. He needed to head down the mountain. Food and clothing, for two months. Real winter clothing, not the jackets he'd seen. Sixty days. Fifty-nine if he counted today. Lycos nodded to himself and grabbed the keys to his truck. He had to walk one hell of a distance to get to his vehicle, but such was the price for living in a mountain. One he'd gladly pay.
He glanced at the camera again. The assets would be fine for a day. He looked at his watch. Two days. By the time he got off the mountain, it would be late, and then he'd still have to drive into a city that had what he needed. He'd be back tomorrow night, late. God, he hoped the woman had enough common sense to stay out of the weather.
He headed down the incline to the lower portion of his home. She'd made it out of New York. She'd made it to the top of the mountain. He was banking on her being cautious and hoping the fear he sensed this morning held for a few more days. He didn't have an option. Winter at these elevations wasn't the temperate climate they were currently experiencing. When winter came, it would dump a fuck-ton of snow. Assets not having proper clothes was an issue, and if shit went south and they had to make a run? They'd freeze before they escaped. Not. An. Option.
Chapter 5
“Mom, look!” Ethan whispered as he pointed to the sky.
/> A shooting star blazed across the heavens.
“I saw it!” she whispered back. They lay on the porch under two blankets and stared out at the vast array of stars. In the city, seeing one or two stars was an event, here... oh, beautiful heavens... the multitude!
“Did you make a wish?” Ethan turned his head to look at her, his eyes wide and happy.
“I didn't. Was I supposed to?”
“Uh huh. I did. I wished for a real dad.”
Bethanie blinked back her shock. “Oh, baby.”
“Sorry?”
“No. Don’t be sorry for feeling what you feel.”
He turned back to the sky and nodded to himself. “When I grow up, I'm going to be a good dad. I'll play with my kids and go to their things at school. I'll hug them a lot.”
Bethanie reached out and took her son's hand in hers. She squeezed it and whispered, “You'll be one of the best dads ever.”
Ethan squeezed her hand back. “Yeah, I’m going to try.”
“Sometimes trying your best is the only thing you can do.” She blinked back the tears that obliterated the stars from her eyes. Her son was such an old soul. His maturity should have been a wonderment, but it wasn't. Life for both of them had been hard. She'd tried to shield Ethan from Harvey, tried to make up for his lack of a father figure. She’d had no idea how badly she'd failed—until now.
Ethan yawned and pointed up at the sky. “I read a book at school that said the stars group together to form constellations. In old times, people made up stories about hunters in the sky, but really, the constellations were ways for people to navigate.” He pointed his finger. “That is the North Star, so that is the Big Dipper, and if you follow it, you can find the Little Dipper.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Bethanie smiled as she looked up at the sky.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“When did you get so smart?”
He laughed a little. “I grew up, Mom. It happens.”
“Yeah, it does.” Sometimes sooner than people wanted, that was for sure.
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“When are we going to get permission to get back online. I mean, we left in the middle of the night. James has got to be freaking out. We had plans to do our science project next weekend.”
“Oh, I don't know. I wouldn't expect for at least two weeks or so. They want to make sure we are safe. I’m sure your teacher will assign James another partner. It will work out.” Please, God, let it work out.
Ethan rolled onto his belly and lifted up on his elbows. “I'm going to get really bored.”
“Nope. I brought books, board games, and you have all your video games and movies. Plus, we have all this nature. I can't see us getting bored, even if we are not connected to the world.” Bethanie turned her head toward her son. “No phones, no internet. That means no Facebook, no online games.”
“You just want to go hunting for all that weird cra… uh stuff in the forest.”
“Language.”
“Mom, crap isn't a bad word.”
“I still don't like it.”
Ethan sighed heavily and rolled toward her. “I want to go home.”
“I know. So do I, and we will. We just need to take a time out for a while.”
“But we can go back, right?”
“Yes, we can go back.” The lie stuck in her throat. There was no way to know if they'd be able to go back to their life... or how she was going to pay for his private school, their apartment, insurance, food... anything. She glanced up and caught a glimpse of a shooting star. She closed her eyes and made a frantic wish. It was simple and held everything she'd ever wanted in one breathless, silent plea. Please, God, let us be safe and happy.
Ethan yawned again. She got up and held out a hand. “Come on, bedtime.”
“Can I sleep here?”
“No way. We sleep inside with the doors and windows locked.” The sounds of nocturnal animals in the woods made her jumpy. Sleeping out here? No, she'd be awake all night and keeping up with her son took energy. She needed sleep.
“Okay.” He reached up, and she helped pull him to his feet. “Are we going exploring again tomorrow? Somewhere different?”
“Sure. But we need to figure out how to mark our way if we go off the big path.” They'd stuck to the big path for the last two days. She wasn't surprised that Ethan wanted to see and do more. He’d been patient as she gathered bits and pieces of trees and bushes. It was almost winter, and the evergreen variety of foliage was amazing. She had several books that she used to look up the species of plants in the region.
“We can leave a marker, tie a cloth to tree limbs.” Ethan yawned as he shuffled into the house.
Bethanie gathered the blankets and shut the door behind them. She threw the deadbolt and locked the mechanism on the door handle.
“Excellent idea. Let’s talk about it in the morning. Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed.” When the bathroom door shut, she made the rounds. Windows in the kitchen, living room, his bedroom and hers, all double checked. She went back into the kitchen for a glass of water and glanced at the back door. She knew it was locked but still reached over and made sure the deadbolt and locking mechanism on the handle were engaged.
A ghost of a shiver raised gooseflesh on her arms. What she wouldn't give to know they were safe... to be able to sleep without waking in fear at the slightest sound. The door to the bathroom opened, breaking her from the grasp of her fear.
“Okay. Pajamas and then bed.” She waited until he slid under the covers and put the water on his bedside table.
“G'night, Momma.”
She smiled and bent down to kiss his forehead. She was still Momma when he was tired or sick. “Night, Ethan. I love you.”
“Love you,” he parroted, his eyes already closed and body heavy with sleep.
She went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth before she grabbed a novel she'd been reading and settled into the corner of the couch in the front room. It was too early for her to even try to sleep. This late in the fall, darkness came early, and without the constant barrage of television, with the exercise of their exploration, and the fresh air, Ethan had crawled into bed at eight-thirty.
Losing herself in the world of magic, elves, fae and happily ever after, it took a moment for her to realize something was wrong. Jolting forward on the couch she strained to listen. She could hear Ethan's small snores, but there was something more... a car!
Her legs hit the floor, and she launched across the room. Swatting the light switch, she plunged the room into darkness. Her head snapped to the hall where the bathroom light shone like a beacon. She ran down the hall and flipped it off.
Phone! She scrambled into her room and grabbed her phone off her dresser. Her fingers squeezed the side button, willing the device to power up. As the face illuminated, she held it to her chest and tiptoed back down the hallway to the front room.
She pushed to the far side of the window to see down the long road that rounded the mountain. “Oh, no. No, no, no...” whispering words into the darkness didn't stop the shine of headlights that approached. The hand that held her phone shook against her chest.
She glanced at the face of her phone, swiping it open. There was a button that looked like a game. She had only to open the icon to send an emergency distress signal. The women had told her to use it only as a last resort if she or Ethan were in life-threatening danger. She slammed the illuminated face of the phone against her chest again and tried to breathe.
The truck made no attempt to hide its approach. It pulled into the clearing in front of the cabin right next to the vehicle she'd driven here. Oh, heavens, she should have hidden the car! The engine shut off. From where she stood, she could see the huge truck clearly.
“Oh, God...” the whimpered plea strangled from her as she watched a massive man drop down from the elevated truck. He shut the driver's side door and headed straight for the porch.
Her back hit the w
all. She heard his steps as they mounted the stairs and walked across the porch. A startled gasp caught in her throat when a soft knock sounded on the door.
“Bethanie Clark, I'm with Guardian. I have supplies for you and your son.”
It took several seconds for the words to make sense. She glanced at the door but didn't move. It could be a trick. This man could be one of Harvey's enemies.
“Look, I know you're scared. You used a six-digit code to get the keys out of the metal box. One of the women you talked to is about your height, but she has long black hair and an attitude. She's Asian and talks as little as humanly possible. If I wanted to hurt you or your son I wouldn't have driven into the clearing. I would have waited until you were asleep, broken in, and done what I needed to do. I have keys to this cabin. I built it.”
A rattle of metal sounded outside the door, and she watched in horror as the deadbolt twisted to the open position and then locked again. The lock embedded in the doorknob twisted open and then locked again.
“I have food and clothing. I'll put it on the steps and leave. You'll need to bring it in. It’s going to rain or maybe snow tonight.”
She heard footsteps track across the porch and down the steps.
“He brought us food?”
“Holy shit! Ethan!” Her heart exploded. She grabbed her chest and him at the same time.
“Are you scared?” Ethan whispered as she smooshed him against her.
She hissed, “Yes, of course, I'm scared, and you scared me more!”
“Shit, sorry.”
She could hear the concern in his voice. She drew deep, ragged breaths and tried to calm down. “It's okay.” No, it wasn't okay.
She pulled him into the corner with her and kept him close as she watched the man make trip after trip to the porch. When he finished the last of his trips, there were six huge coolers and at least thirty bags of groceries on the porch. Three large boxes on the other side of the porch held God only knew what.
He made one last trek across the clearing and walked up to the door again. He turned and looked directly at them, although she knew in the darkness they couldn't be seen.
Lycos (Guardian Security Shadow World Book 3) Page 4
