by Powers, Jade
Drake grunted, a dark frown marring his face. He said, “Minka has first priority. I’ve got calls to McFarland. Someone knows who is behind this, and they are going to tell me. They have our mind-control tech. Bryce was running from the kidnapper’s and planted the sphere on a college student. They kidnapped her off the campus at the University of Miami and a socialite as well. Bastards must have seen the socialite flirting at me during that party last August. We can’t fight every front, but I’m not leaving Miami when Tom is in danger. And I damn well will get that sphere back.”
“Can’t you back off for a few days? Just a few days. Just take the plane on a hop to Atlanta. Please.” Sven hated that he was begging. Sven’s stomach felt like a big, lumpy knot. The thought of never seeing Minka again tortured him. The thought that he might be responsible for her death destroyed him.
“We’ll back off. You take the jet to Spokane. See what you can find out about Minka. We’ll withdraw until Minka is safe. I won’t be able to back off for long.” Drake said.
“What will you do?” Sven wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He never imagined Drake would lie to him, but that mind control tech in the hands of a corporation who might not be loyal to the United States would eat Drake alive.
Drake sighed, “Bryce wants to stay at the university. He has an apartment. He’ll take classes next semester. In the meantime, he’s planning to do his own sleuthing to get his dad back. I’ll take one of our cars out of Miami. I have a friend who might be able to shed some light on the situation.”
Sven felt a bit of the pressure fade. Not that he would relax until Minka was safe. He said, “Thank you. I don’t feel right taking the jet on personal business. I can do economy.”
Drake insisted that Sven take it. It was the fastest way to Spokane. The whole situation scared the hell out of Sven. Minka could be dead already, and it was his fault. He had introduced Minka to his world without warning, and his world was a dangerous one.
MINKA SAW HER DEATH in the cold eyes of a GQ soldier who would have been hot if he’d had a personality at all. He had already pulled out his weapon. Her life would be over in about fifty steps. He forced her to stand, dragging her away from the table while the other soldiers looked on.
“Wait!” Minka dug her feet into the linoleum, her sneaker catching a tear that stopped the soldier and sent her sprawling.
He pulled out his gun, cocked the hammer, and pointed it directly at her head. Minka said, “I can help you!”
“Let’s hear what she has to say,” said the leader. Minka thought she might explode with fear. The soldier hadn’t put away his gun. He hadn’t changed his stance. Minka was a breath away from the morgue. She had nothing. Nothing to barter. Nothing they needed.
Her voice shook when she said, “You need someone who doesn’t look like a soldier. I could go shopping for you. I could do whatever customer service or typing you need. Besides, if you kill me, people will ask questions. They’ll start to pay attention. They may even notice that a dozen military men were in the area.”
The scary executioner man started laughing, a raucous grating sound.
Minka stayed on her hands and knees cringing in expectation of either a blow or a gun shot after realizing how much of an idiot she was. These men could care less about shopping or customer service or anything. And they certainly would have planned exactly how far they were willing to go.
“So we should just let you go?” The silver-haired leader asked, taunting her.
“I won’t say anything. Who would believe me anyway? And I’m leaving Spokane.” Minka didn’t beg. She wouldn’t sink that low. Oh, hell, offering to work for them was probably lower, but Minka wanted to live.
“Okay. Tell you what. You can be a courier. I’ll give an address and a message. Hold out your hand.” The leader was all business now. Minka felt a fleeting relief that the worst was over.
She held out her hand.
One of the soldiers behind her grabbed her arm and stabbed her in the forearm with a huge needle, bigger than any she had seen before. She gasped as she watched the plunger move down. Something caught on her skin as it plunged in.
Minka bit her lip to keep from screaming.
“Turn it on and show her.” The leader ordered.
The soldier who stabbed her opened a laptop. It looked fairly heavy and had a large screen. A map of the United States with each state outlined in white appeared on the screen. A hundred tiny dots sat on the map.
The soldier zoomed into Washington State and then into the upper middle of the state. Five dots hovered there. The soldier said, “This is you. If you try to run, we will find you. If you tell anyone about us, we will hunt them. From now on, we will know where you go and what you do. You’re tagged.”
It was an affront against everything she believed in. Minka swallowed her complaints. She would have to find a way past their tracking device when she was safely away.
“What do you want me to do?” Minka asked.
“Take this envelope. There is a homeless man who wanders along fifth street in Tacoma. Red hair, beard, small frame. Tell him you have a car. If he replies that he has an elephant, give him this envelope. This is for his eyes only.”
“Then what?” Minka asked.
“You’re done with us.” The soldier said. His eyes narrowed and Minka felt as if she had been sized up and found wanting.
“How do I get rid of this thing in my arm?” Minka asked. “I mean when you’re done with me.”
“You don’t. If we want it out, we’ll cut it out for you.” This from the man who would have executed her.
“I’ll do it.” Minka was thinking that she would cut it out herself when she was done working for them. Her answer served two purposes, even if she was also agreeing to play delivery girl for them.
“Don’t get tempted to peek.” It was definitely a taunt. Minka folded the envelope and shoved it in her jacket.
“What if he’s not there?” Minka asked.
“He is. We have him on the tracker, too. He has his orders. He’ll be there. Come along. I’ll take you back to your vehicle,” This from the leader.
Minka climbed into the car, feeling invisible chains tighten even as she fastened her seatbelt. These men were more than military. They were some secret group, dangerous and deadly, maybe a gang.
“You thirsty?”
It was the first kind thing anyone had said to her since she had been kidnapped.
“Yes.” Minka said.
He flipped the tab on a coke, smiling at the sound. He fumbled for a second. At first she thought he might drop the can, but she couldn’t really see what he was doing. Handing her the can, he said, “I’m sorry things couldn’t have turned out differently.”
Minka nodded and then drank deeply. It had been hours since she’d had anything to eat or drink. The back of her throat burned from the carbonation, but something was wrong. Instead of super-sweet syrup, she tasted bitterness. It was too late to stop. She’d already downed a few swallows when she realized the taste was off.
Somewhere between one moment and the next she lost consciousness. The can slipped from her fingers.
SVEN STARED OUT THE window of the jet watching the clouds skim under the wings. He was still hours from Minka’s last known position. His fingers tapped anxiously against his thighs. He replayed his actions in Miami. Had his phone calls to Minka given her to the enemy? The fear that it had was a cold punch to the gut. And the only question that mattered...would they release Minka once Drake left Miami?
As the plane circled the sky to land in Spokane, Sven planned his actions. So far, nothing added up. Minka’s coworker, Alice, said she quit her job and drove off in a U-Haul. When Sven had called Alice, she was kind enough to give him Minka’s mother’s phone number with a warning, “Minka isn’t really in a good space to date right now. Did you get the message she left for you?”
“Not yet. Thanks for the number.” Sven said, and hung up on her before they could get into a lo
ng conversation about his personal life. He called Minka’s mother, getting the answering machine. He left a message.
Sven considered taking the jet to one of the private landing strips between Spokane and Seattle, but landed in Spokane to start.
Minka had disappeared somewhere between Spokane and Ellensburg. That highway was one long stretch of rolling farmland punctuated by small towns. Kidnappers just didn’t hang out in small towns. There were too many busybodies and interested people. Maybe if there was a farm or ranch off the highway. It could be possible, but not for long. One run for food and the game would be over.
Sven spoke to the pilot, a man he had known for years, “We may go up again. Hang tight.”
“Will do. We should refuel.”
Sven nodded.
He spent the next fifteen minutes following up on calls made earlier. None of his contacts had seen anything suspicious on the road. He finally got a report of a U-Haul at the rest stop just before the pass, but Minka would have gone to her mom’s house in Ellensburg which was before the Chehalis rest stop. The location didn’t fit. Sven didn’t have much time. He had to figure this out.
As a last resort, Sven dialed Lee.
“Do you have a way of reaching the kidnappers?” Sven said, barely exchanging greetings before getting to the point.
“They gave me a number to call, but they said it would no longer work after three weeks. It’s been longer.” Lee’s voice sounded strained on the other end of the line.
“Can you call? Please? I need to know that Minka is okay.”
Sven was glad Lee didn’t say something like, If you did what they asked, I’m sure she’ll be fine. Sven had made a huge mistake. He knew it. He felt it. The kidnappers hadn’t called with a second threat or further instructions. In the depths of his being, all of his instincts were telling him that he had to reach Minka now.
“Okay. What number should I use if they want to call you?”
Sven rattled off the number to Drake’s personal line, installed on the jet. They’d have to change all of the numbers after this mess.
Lee said, “I’ll call you right back.”
He walked back and forth from the door to Drake’s private office and bedroom to the area where he and the other staff traveled when on board. Sven considered his options. Unfortunately, there weren’t many. Patience being one of the few true options, and one he didn’t excel at.
When the phone rang, Sven practically fell over himself answering, “What did you find?”
“My contact answered. He said they already let Minka go. She’s on the road.”
“To where?”
“He didn’t have any details, only that she was no longer with her kidnappers.”
Sven spoke with the pilot. They would change their flight to Ellensburg where Minka’s mother lived.
One more call. Hopefully she would answer this time.
Minka’s mother greeted Sven like they were old friends. Sven said, “I hear Minka is moving back home? I’m hoping to talk to her.”
“She called yesterday and said she’d be delayed, and called today and said she was driving to Tacoma first, which is ridiculous as we’re just on the way. I told her to at least drop off her things here first, but she said she had something to do there.”
“Did she say how long she would be?” Sven asked.
“A few days at the most, then she’ll move to Ellensburg to stay.”
Sven thought about the abandoned U-Haul. Something about the whole situation didn’t sit right. The person behind Tom’s kidnapping and the sphere liked to play games with people’s lives, preferring extortion to direct assault. If Minka were driving to Tacoma past her mom’s house, she was doing it because of a threat. Sven had that small itch in the brain that said something was wrong, and Sven always listened to his intuition.
Always.
MINKA WOKE UP IN A Ford Mercury with keys in the ignition at the rest stop near Yakima. Her body still felt heavy from the effects of whatever that asshole had doused her with. Her U-Haul was nowhere to be found. Minka wondered if she had just lost all of her worldly possessions. At least she was alive. She drove I-90 with both hands on the steering wheel and a flutter in her heart. It would just figure that she escaped years of Joe’s brutality and then the paramilitary group’s strange kidnapping only to crash because she felt spacey.
The letter tugged at her awareness, like a lure brightly sparkling atop peaceful waters. Of course it was a trap. Of course her knowledge of what was in that letter would kill her, but Minka couldn’t help but be curious. Minka shut down her temptation.
While she didn’t look, her imagination was free to soar. Maybe some paramilitary group had grabbed her thinking to capitalize on her relationship with Sven. With a sigh, Minka realized that her heart was broken. It was one thing to leave Sven and head to her mother’s house of her own choice, leaving town to start a new life. It was a different thing altogether to be abandoned by a creep who could care less about her.
They said Sven knew she had been kidnapped.
Whatever Sven’s actions, that military group was going to kill her. Minka wasn’t even sure why they stopped at her request to bargain. Maybe Sven’s betrayal had given her just enough pathos to convince them that she was harmless. Either way, driving to Tacoma to meet some homeless guy and give him a letter sounded like the most outlandish thing Minka had ever heard.
They were probably laughing at her.
Hard.
Because she was a fool for playing along.
She passed a police car with flashing lights who pulled over some speed racer. It occurred to Minka that her captors might have given her a stolen car. At least she had a full tank of gas. Minka gritted her teeth and focused on the road ahead. This wasn’t going to be some fun road trip. She had to focus. If she could remember the image of the guy she delivered the envelope to, maybe she could do a police sketch, catch the bastards.
She turned on the radio and found a station that she could live with. A couple hours later she was on the 512 freeway between Puyallup and Tacoma and wondering what the hell crazy course of action she had taken. Her upper arm constantly ached, a reminder that she was a tracked guinea pig. When this was done, she’d go to a doctor, and ask him to remove the metal in her arm.
She found a decent parking spot several streets away from the cross street where she would supposedly meet this homeless man. The parking was free on this particular side street, even though she was a mile from where she needed to be. She would just have to walk. The air would do her good. Minka felt claustrophobic from recent events. Walking down the sidewalk made her feel alive.
The day was cold and full of moisture with a quiet breeze that ruffled her hair. The air smelled like the harbor, not salty or fresh enough to have a clean ocean scent, but better than most big cities. When she thought of turning back, the pain in her arm reminded Minka of the cost of her supposed freedom.
She walked for an hour circling back and forth between brick and stone buildings that dated to the 1900’s. She was almost ready to give up when she found a man matching the description. It took her another ten minutes to build up the courage to approach him.
He had the serial killer stare and mumbled like a crazy person. He looked homeless with a shabby coat and torn-up shoes. Minka wanted to get the letter in his hands and leave. But that would mean talking to him, which she definitely did not want to do. With a deep breath, she made her approach, feeling like a fool when she said, “I have a car.”
Something flickered behind that glassy stare, an awareness. The man said, “I have an elephant.”
It was so surreal, this cat-and-mouse spy game. Minka handed him the letter, glad it was finally over. She would go to a clinic in Tacoma and get the tracking device removed first thing. Then head to her mom’s. She would try to find a boring job and live a boring life.
The man scanned the letter, his eyes darting across the words with a hyperactive glance that made Minka wonder if he eve
n read it.
Not her business. Glad to be done, Minka turned away.
Minka didn’t even know what hit her. Knife in hand, the homeless man attacked. At first she thought that the guy had punched her in the gut. The knife entered and exited three times before Minka realized that he was stabbing her. She wore a fluffy coat that took some of the force of the knife. At least two women screamed, and a business man in suit and tie shouted.
With a start, Minka ran. She felt the warm blood soaking her shirt, dribbling down her stomach. Her body took a while to react to the shock of getting stabbed. She went from feeling nothing to pain.
Another blow from behind and Minka stopped moving.
Chapter 20
SVEN FIDGETED THE WHOLE flight to SeaTac. The damn trip wasn’t long, but each minute stretched until the hour seemed unbearable. He called the car rental agency. As the plane landed, Sven wondered how he would find Minka. Seattle was a huge city.
A call from Florida came in as soon as the airplane came to a complete stop on the runway.
“Drake,” Sven didn’t say anything more.
The line was silent for too long. It was the kind of pause that preceded bad news. Sven wondered if Drake had caught Tom’s trail and needed him back. Swallowing, Sven considered hanging up on his best friend. A childish thing to do, but he wasn’t about to be recalled to Miami this close to Minka.
“You said the name of the woman you met was Minka Rook?” Drake asked.
Sven’s heart sank. Was she an asset put in place to seduce and fool him? The bigger fool because not only did the seduction work, but somehow she managed to sink those lovely claws into his heart. No way would he be able to extract himself from the feelings without pain and loss.
Warily, he said, “Yeessss?”
“She was flown to Harborview. Multiple stab wounds and a head injury. I’m sorry, Sven. She’s in surgery now. It doesn’t look good.” Drake rushed the last few words. They had been friends for so long. Drake had to know how tightly Sven guarded his heart, how out of character it was for him to fall for a woman, any woman whether on assignment or not.
