Deadly Escape_A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  “Thanks, you too.” That wasn’t exactly true, but what else could I say?

  He focused behind me. “And you must be Ramos. This is an unexpected pleasure. I’ve wanted to thank you in person for your service, but I’ve never had the opportunity.” He held out his hand for Ramos to shake. With hardened eyes and a stone cold face, Ramos shook Wells’s hand, but it wasn’t exactly friendly.

  Turning from Ramos, Wells acted like he hadn’t noticed Ramos’s barely contained animosity, but deep down it shook him up a little. A small worry that he’d let a poisonous snake into his house nagged at him, but he tamped it down as a necessary evil.

  He glanced back at me with a small smile on his lips, hoping I was worth it. “I’m sure you both have questions. Please sit down. Between the three of us, we’ll explain what’s going on.” He ushered us to an oval-shaped table with leather-upholstered chairs. As we took our seats, he glanced at Sloan.

  “Thanks Sloan. You may go.”

  Yikes. She stiffened, and her jaw clenched. She could hardly believe he was dismissing her. What about Ramos? He could stay? Her lips thinned with outrage but, with a quick nod, she exited the room. I glanced at Ramos. He felt bad for Sloan, especially given the fact that he was there and she wasn’t, but he supposed that Wells was making a point.

  Just to see if he was right, I listened to Wells. He was thinking that Sloan had messed up by letting Ramos come. He could have let her stay but, after her mistake, he wasn’t in the mood. Still, he could use her interest in Ramos to his advantage later. With both Blake and Gabriel vouching for Ramos, and my insistence that he come, Wells didn’t have much of a choice in letting Ramos stay, even if it ruffled some feathers. But he wasn’t the director of the CIA for nothing.

  Wow. Ramos got it right. His treatment of Sloan seemed a little harsh to me, but Wells was the big boss around here. It also sounded like Sloan must have told them that bringing Ramos was my idea. It made sense, and kept the focus off of him, so I had to give her credit for that. So did that mean I had more power over this situation than I thought?

  “Shall we get started?” Wells asked. At our nods, he glanced at Gabriel. “Why don’t you tell them what’s going on?” Then his gaze met mine, and he was thinking that if I really had premonitions like everyone thought, wouldn’t I already know? Of course, if what I did was anything like remote viewing, it might take more effort on my part to come up with anything.

  Remote viewing? What the heck was that?

  “Of course,” Gabriel said. He glanced at me, taking in my worried expression, and his eyes softened. He was thinking that I shouldn’t worry. He would never tell anyone my secret. Then he felt bad that he had to bring Cypher back into my life.

  “Cypher?” I blurted. “He’s here?” Shock rippled through me. It really was about him. I’d been worried about that on the flight here, but I never thought it would happen. This was bad. Did this mean I had to see him again? Just the thought of looking into his black-hearted gaze sent ripples of ice down my spine.

  I listened real close to them, but only picked up surprise from Wells, and satisfaction from Blake, that I’d come through with my premonitions. Then Wells narrowed his eyes, thinking there was no way I could have known, but, since Gabriel was here in the room, I could have guessed as much. Still, he thought it hard to fake the surprise on my face.

  Ramos was thinking that I needed to keep my cool. He worried I’d give my secret away. I sent him a slight nod and focused on Gabriel. He was thinking the same thing as Ramos, but figured it matched with my ruse of having premonitions, so it should be all right.

  Damn! They were right, but what the heck. This was Cypher, my worst nightmare.

  “Don’t worry chéri,” Gabriel said, taking my hands. “He is in custody, but I had to bring him to the states. He is here because he agreed to share information about several planned terrorist attacks in the United States. He is cooperating, but I do not trust him. Since you were so valuable to us in Paris…” He shrugged. “They thought we could work together again.”

  I found it hard to swallow and pulled my hands from his. “Uh…could I get a drink of water?”

  Blake jumped up. “I’ll get it.” Guilt washed over him that he’d talked Wells into this. But, after observing Cypher, Blake knew something was off and convinced Wells that my help was necessary.

  Gabriel had been easier to convince, because I’d been so valuable to him in Paris. But that didn’t make asking me any easier. Still, he’d agreed just that morning, and now here I was, being asked to speak to someone who probably wanted me dead. No wonder I looked a little shell-shocked.

  I thought Blake made a good point. He opened a bottle of water and set it in front of me. I thanked him and drank about half of it, then glanced at each of them. “All right. I’ll help. How do you want to do this?”

  Gabriel smiled, grateful I wasn’t too upset with him. He alone understood how this needed to happen, and I hoped he’d be able to persuade the others without giving my ability away.

  “I know you need to be in the same room with him, and I know it would be nice if he didn’t see you, but I’m afraid it can’t be avoided. But don’t worry, there is no way he can harm you. You will be safe.”

  My throat dried up just thinking about sitting in the same room with him. Hearing what he thought about me would be pretty bad, but what could I say? Put me behind a screen where he couldn’t look at me? How would I explain that?

  Gabriel watched me closely, picking up the raw fear in my eyes, and he rushed to reassure me that I would be fine. “Cypher will be under heavy guard. You have nothing to fear from him. You can sit in a corner behind him, like you did before, with a notebook and pen. The room is large enough that you won’t be too close to him, and he won’t be able to look at you.”

  Gabriel was also thinking that my presence could shake up Cypher enough to know that he couldn’t get away with anything. Gabriel hated the idea that he could make a deal with the U.S. Didn’t they know he was one of the worst terrorists in the world? Gabriel secretly wanted him to fail. If Cypher was bluffing, I could make sure that happened.

  “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  “Ah! Merci, ma chérie. It will be easy, you will see. Nothing to worry about. Yes?”

  I smiled at his enthusiasm, grateful to be on his side. “Sure, as long as you’re the one asking the questions.”

  “Très bien.” He glanced at Wells and Blake. “Are we ready to proceed?”

  “I believe so,” Wells said, glancing my way. It interested him that I was so willing to work with Gabriel. He planned on being in the room as well, but decided not to tell me that yet.

  “Wait,” I said. “We’re doing this right now?”

  Gabriel shrugged. “Oui. Why not get it over with?”

  He made a good point, but it was all happening so fast. “Uh…okay…but before we go ahead, I have a few questions. I’d like to know how long you’re planning to keep me…” I paused to glance at Ramos. “Us…here. Sloan wouldn’t let me call my family, and I need to let them know where I am and when I’ll be home. I know Ramos needs to check in as well.” I glanced at my watch. “My kids should be home from school by now, and they’ll wonder where I am.”

  Gabriel’s eyes widened. They hadn’t given me a choice in coming? That was a surprise to him. Blake had the grace to glance away with guilt.

  Wells just nodded. “Of course, I understand. We have to keep this under wraps until we’re done, so you can tell them where you are, but not what you’re doing here, or who’s involved.”

  I nodded, and he continued. “Good. We’ll give you both a few minutes to make your calls, then we’ll get started with the interrogation. That should take an hour or two. You’ll need to stay overnight, but we’ve made reservations for you at a hotel, and we’ll be happy to furnish things you might need for your stay. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll fly you both home in the morning.”

  “Okay. I can work with that.” I g
lanced at Ramos. “Does that work for you?”

  He nodded, appreciating that I involved him in the deal.

  Wells stood and motioned to a door at the other end of the room. “You can use my assistant’s office. I’ll have him step out to give you some privacy.”

  I glanced at Ramos. He was thinking that I should go first, so I followed Wells to the door. His assistant quickly left the room through a door into the hall, happy to take a break. With both doors shut, I sank down into the chair, relieved to have some privacy.

  I called my kids first, since they’d wonder where I was before Chris would even know I was gone. Josh answered right away, and we chatted for a minute before I got to the point. “The reason I’m calling is because I’m in Washington DC. You remember special agent Blake Beauchaine?”

  “Uh…I think so.”

  “Well, he needed my help with something important, and a bunch of CIA agents showed up at work and whisked me off in a jet. Crazy huh?”

  “Wow. What for?”

  “I can’t tell you that because it’s top secret. That’s how cool I am.” I let out a nervous laugh, so he knew I didn’t really mean it. “Anyway, I won’t be home until tomorrow. I haven’t called Dad yet, but if you want to order a pizza for dinner, I’ll let him know when I call him.”

  “Okay. I can do that.”

  “Good. Thanks, hon. Is Savannah there? I’d like to tell her too.”

  He turned the phone over to Savannah, and I explained the whole thing again. She seemed more impressed with the whole thing, so I thought that was a bonus in the coolness factor.

  I called Chris next. He wasn’t quite as impressed as the kids. “They just showed up?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t have much of a choice. I’m sorry I can’t tell you what’s going on, but they promised I’d be home tomorrow.” I explained that Josh was ordering a pizza, and Chris assured me he’d leave work early.

  “What about Leo Tedesco?” he asked.

  I told him about my visit with the lawyer and what I’d found out. “I called Dimples with the information, so I think that, with the lead to Erika Reva, they’ll track Leo down. At least Uncle Joey and Jackie left for New York early, so they’re safe.”

  He sighed. “I wish I knew what was going on with you. Is there anyone there that I know?”

  “Well…I don’t think I can say, but you do know at least one special agent, so I think it’s safe to say that.” For some reason, I didn’t want to tell him that Ramos was here with me too. Even if I knew I’d have to tell him at some point, now didn’t seem like a good time.

  “Blake. Okay. That helps. Well, call me later tonight if you can. If not, I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope you can tell me more by then.”

  “I do too. Bye honey. I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  I opened the door to find both Wells and Gabriel gone, and Ramos talking to Blake. Ramos was filling him in on Leo Tedesco’s escape. From Blake, I picked up surprise and guilt that he hadn’t answered any of Uncle Joey’s phone calls. He’d purposefully done so because he thought I might have told Uncle Joey that he’d called me, and he didn’t want to get in an argument.

  Ramos needed to talk to Ricky, so he went into the office, leaving me with Blake. A wave of guilt came from his mind, but he tempered it with thoughts of how important this could be to our country. Besides, it was my own fault. If I hadn’t done such a great job in Paris, I wouldn’t be here now.

  “Was bringing me here what you were talking about when you called me a few weeks ago?” I asked him.

  “No. I had no idea Cypher was coming then. Wells wanted to meet you after looking over my report on what happened in Paris. I called because I thought you should know.”

  “Did you tell him about my premonitions?” I already knew the answer to that, but I wanted Blake to squirm a little.

  “Yeah. Sorry.”

  “Well, not much we can do about it now. I just don’t want to make this a habit.”

  His brows creased together in a wince. “I know. I’m sorry to spring Cypher on you like that.”

  “Yeah. That was a surprise. But something’s been bothering me. Why would he suddenly decide to tell us about a bunch of terrorist attacks here? Did he want to make some kind of a deal? I can’t imagine that you guys would agree to a deal with him. He can’t be trusted, and after all the people he’s killed, he should rot in jail for the rest of his life.”

  “I know. It bothers me too, and it’s one of the reasons I wanted you involved. I think he has ulterior motives. He may be willing to share some intel, but there has to be more to it. You might be the only one who can figure it out.” What I’d done in Paris had been nothing short of a miracle.

  I sighed. Too bad he knew about that. I thought Gabriel wasn’t going to say anything.

  “I tried to keep you out of it, Shelby. But this is out of my control. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s okay. I just hate to be in the same room as Cypher again. He really hates me.”

  “I understand. I’m glad Gabriel’s here. I don’t think he wanted to bring Cypher, but how can you say no when it comes to saving lives?”

  “But if Cypher was willing to share, why didn’t he just tell the authorities what he knew from his prison in France?”

  “I know what you mean.” Blake nodded. “But that was the stipulation of his willingness to share. He wanted to come back to the states. He said the reason for coming back here was so that he could see his family and tell them he was sorry.”

  “No way. He was fine all those years when they thought he was dead. Why would that change now? He doesn’t care about them.”

  It troubled Blake as well. “That’s why I’m glad you’re here.”

  Ramos came back into the room, grateful that Ricky could take over for him until he got back. If Manetto hadn’t gone to New York, he would have stayed behind. Now that he knew Cypher was here, he was sure glad he’d come. That guy needed to die.

  I happened to agree with that sentiment, which probably meant I’d turned all the way to the dark side. Great. Now I was going to hell for sure.

  Blake spoke to Ramos. “Just so you know, Wells wasn’t pleased that you came, but he’s letting you stay to keep Shelby happy.” With that explanation, he turned to me. “You ready? I’m supposed to take you to the building where we’re keeping him. It’s a high-security lock up that’s only a short walk from here.”

  “All right, let’s go.” I wasn’t ready, and never would be, so I might as well get it over with.

  Chapter 6

  We followed Blake to the back of the building and out a door that entered a small courtyard. A connecting sidewalk led to a smaller building. Blake swiped his key card through the reader, and the heavy door unlocked. He held it open for us, and we entered a small command center staffed by a few men and women in camo fatigues.

  Desks along one wall held computer monitors with surveillance of the area, including the holding cells and interrogation rooms. A quick glance at the nearest monitor sent chills down my spine. Cypher prowled the small, square room. His head had been shaved to a quarter-inch shadow, and his beard was gone, leaving his face cold and calculating.

  A soldier greeted Blake, and I managed to pull my gaze away from the monster who haunted my dreams. Seeing him gave me the creeps, and I wasn’t sure I could do this. The soldier opened a door on the other side of the office, and I followed Blake through on slightly trembling legs. The long hallway led to the holding cells. Doors with barred windows lined one side of the hall. On the other side was a large interrogation room.

  Blake turned into the interrogation room, and I hesitated for just a moment before stepping inside. I could hardly believe that I was really here, ready to face that awful man again. A trickle of sweat ran down my back, and my mouth went dry.

  A metal desk, with chairs on either side, sat in the middle of the room. Another chair was placed in the corner for me with a notebook and pen sitting on top of it. In the c
eiling directly above my chair, a surveillance camera looked out on the room, with another in the opposite corner.

  Wells and Gabriel spoke in hushed tones, but broke off their conversation as we entered. “There you are,” Gabriel said and motioned me closer. Noticing my pale face, his brows drew together in concern. “We have a chair for you over there. Go ahead and sit down. Cypher will sit on this side of the table so he can’t look at you during the interview.”

  I nodded, and then picked up a plan from Wells to move the camera above me to focus on what I wrote so he could study it later. He hoped that, combined with the questions that triggered my premonitions, it would help him understand how I got my premonitions.

  Not liking the sound of that, I pulled myself together. “Uh…okay, but could we move the chair to that corner instead? And maybe get a small table for me? It’s easier to write my impressions if I have a table, and I’ll be more comfortable.”

  Gabriel didn’t understand why I wanted to move, but quickly agreed, willing to do anything that would get me through this moment. “Of course.” He glanced at Wells. “You can do this for her?”

  Wells’ brows drew together, and he opened his mouth to object, but changed his mind and nodded instead. He didn’t want to seem unreasonable, but he didn’t like losing out on a good strategy. Did I figure it out, or was it just a coincidence? “I’ll get someone to bring in a table.”

  “Thanks,” I said, sending him a grateful smile. “Could I get a diet soda too?”

  That caught him off guard, and I hoped I hadn’t gone too far. But darn it…I was doing him a favor, and this was a big deal. Plus, my mouth was dry. This whole thing was going to be awful, and a Diet Coke wasn’t too much to ask, right?

  “Sure.” He stomped from the room, thinking he wasn’t a damn waiter, and he didn’t like taking orders from anyone.

  I tried not to smile. Ramos was thinking I sure had balls…uh…guts. He didn’t know why I’d wanted to make those changes, but he trusted there was a good reason. I motioned my head toward the surveillance camera, and it clicked. He nodded, totally impressed that I stood up for myself.