Coveted Kiss (Savage Security Book 3)

by Karen Tjebben

  Melina’s nerves jittered as she set Omar’s credit card and receipt back on the table. She nodded slightly and walked to another customer a few tables away. She couldn’t wait for him to leave. Some nights Omar would hang out at his table until closing, just sipping on coffee that she had to continually refill. She didn’t want him lingering around because she was afraid that he’d follow her into the dark night. She’d be happy when he was gone.

  Omar Zafar didn’t like the appearance of the two men who’d entered the restaurant. He’d never seen them before, but they looked like military. They held themselves with the arrogance that had been drilled into them by their superiors. He knew their hands had blood on them, just like his own.

  Omar squeezed his body out from behind the table and inserted his credit card into his wallet. Shoving his wallet into his back pocket, he eyed the two men as he made his way out of the door. He’d keep an eye out for them. They could end up being a problem that he needed to solve.

  Melina returned to their table, balancing a platter of food on each hand. “Here you are, gentlemen. Enjoy,” she added with a smile and then walked away.

  Jack ripped off a section of the soft pita bread and shoved it into his mouth. He was glad when the man in the corner had walked out. He could finally do some looking around. He cocked his head in the direction of the hallway and stood.

  Mike stabbed a piece of beef with his fork. Melina had been right. The platter had been a great choice. He chewed the spicy meat as Jack walked away from the table and disappeared down the hallway. He’d keep a lookout from the table.

  Jack made his way down the short hallway. Three doors stood before him. Two of the doors bore the universal signs of restrooms, the other door was labeled with a “Private – Do Not Enter” sign. Too bad Jack had never been good at following directions.

  Turning the knob, Jack realized that it was locked. That wouldn’t be a problem. Taking a quick glance, he retrieved his lock-picking tools from his pocket and turned the lock. After another glance down the hallway, he opened the door. Wooden stairs descended in front of him. He eased onto the top step and silently closed the door behind him. The stairway was dark, so he pulled out the tiny flashlight he carried around.

  A narrow beam of light cut a swath through the darkness. He made his way down the steps, alert for anything. At the base of the stairs, he knew he’d hit the jackpot. Shelving lined the wall. Boxes of spices and cans of food filled the shelves, but Jack couldn’t help but notice the unlabeled brown boxes. They seemed out of place among the food items.

  Melina opened the cupboard in the kitchen looking for napkins. There was a lull in the restaurant, and she wanted to get an early start on refilling the napkin containers. If she finished her duties early, she’d be allowed to leave earlier than usual. She wanted to get home to catch the holiday special on television.

  With a frustrated sigh, she shut the cupboard and realized that she was stuck. The basement contained boxes of napkins, but she wasn’t allowed down there. She hadn’t asked why when she’d been told that the basement was off limits. Some questions were better left unasked. She’d seen Omar stand guard and disappear behind the basement door. She didn’t want to know what was down there.

  Seeing Mariam, Suliman’s wife, at the cash register, Melina approached the co-owner of Sultan’s Feast. “Excuse me, Mrs. Shah.”

  Mariam turned to face Melina. She’d always liked the college student. Melina was a hard worker, and Mariam would miss her when she graduated and moved on to medical school. “Yes, Melina,” Mariam replied.

  Melina smiled and spoke softly, “We are out of napkins. Are there more in the basement?”

  Mariam sighed. She’d been stressed all day. She wasn’t sure what her brother-in-law, Adeel, had been up to, but she wasn’t happy that he’d spent the previous night in the basement, and then that ugly Omar had been skulking around too. She just hoped that whatever Adeel was up to wouldn’t have negative consequences for them.

  “Yes, I’ll get them,” Mariam replied, patting Melina’s hand. “Check the guests’ beverages. See who needs refills. When you’re done with that, you may go home.” Melina had talked all week about the holiday special on television. She didn’t want the her to miss it.

  Melina nodded and beamed, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Mariam replied, patting Melina’s hand.

  Melina quickly surveyed the dining room. One of the two muscular men was absent while the other was focused on his cell phone. She shook her head in disgust. People were too caught up with their phones and technology. She saw it all the time, couples and families eating together but never saying a word because their eyes were locked on the little screen in their hands.

  Shit! Mike had overheard the two women talking at the cash register. Of all the times for the woman to head to the basement. He watched her disappear down the hallway and then he stood. He’d have to contain this.

  Mariam dug into her pocket for the key to the basement. She hated going down there. She knew Adeel kept some things down there, but she’d never looked in the boxes. She had a feeling that she didn’t want to know what was in them. She was powerless to do anything about it, so she didn’t see the reason to add the weight of knowledge to her heart.

  Jack strode to the shelves and pulled out a box. Lifting it, he noted that it was much heavier than he expected. Setting it on the table in the center of the room, he pulled back the lid and lit the interior of the box with his flashlight.

  Shoving the key into the keyhole, Mariam turned the key and opened the door. She hit the light switch, illuminating the stairs and the bowels of the storage room.

  Jack’s head snapped up when the lights clicked on. Looking around for a place to hide, he saw a pile of stacked boxes and stood behind it.

  Mariam’s shoes clicked softly on the wooden stairs. Anger still fumed in her. Suliman’s brother Adeel was the worst kind of Muslim. Adeel had no respect for anyone who differed the slightest from his beliefs. She was grateful that her husband was a good man and pitied Amani for having to put up with Adeel’s ignorant foolishness.

  Stepping onto the concrete floor, Mariam bypassed Adeel’s mysterious boxes and headed for the shelf on the opposite side of the room. She’d wanted to peek into Adeel’s boxes on several occasions, but she believed the saying that curiosity killed the cat, so she faithfully pretended that the boxes weren’t there.

  Once she’d stumbled upon boxes of ammo, and that had been bad enough. Since then, she’d always been careful to avert her eyes. She didn’t want to accidently become aware of anything that had no business being in their basement.

  Mike eased his way down the stairs, just waiting for one of boards to creak and announce his presence.

  Jack watched Mariam from the shadows of the stack of boxes. She’d gone straight to the napkins, grabbed a box of them and turned around. Her eyes narrowed on the box sitting on the table.

  Anger at seeing the big box sitting on the table fueled her. If Adeel was going to leave his stuff here, he could at least have the decency to keep it out of the way. Stepping up to the table, she set the box of napkins on the little table and pulled back the lid.

  Her heart raced as she gripped the heavy cardboard of the box as she processed its contents. Guns of all kinds filled the box. Why would Adeel need all those guns?

  Mike silently approached her from behind as she was absorbed with the contents of the box. Stepping up behind her, he slid one hand around her face and covered her mouth. The other hand snaked around her waist and held her to him.

  Fear flooded Mariam when the hand clamped over her mouth. She tried to push back and knock the stranger off-balance, but it didn’t work. Digging her nails into his arm, she tried to pry herself free, but he was too strong. Grunting and struggling did no good. His arm that encircled her waist just pulled her more tightly against him.

  Jack stepped out of the shadows and approached her with his finger pressed against his lips, signa
ling her to be quiet. He hated the fear he saw in her eyes. They didn’t want to hurt her, but they needed to know what was going on.

  Jack recognized her from her license. “Mariam,” he soothed, stretching out his hand in a calming gesture. “We aren’t going to hurt you. But we do need to ask you some questions.”

  The hand over her mouth smelled of spices, and she’d instantly recognized the patron that approached her from the shadows as one of the two men who’d entered earlier. She concluded that the dark haired one held her against him. Tears flooded her eyes as her heart raced.

  Jack stepped next to her, doing his best not to appear threatening. “I’m going to search you for weapons.” He held out his hands, letting her see that they were empty. “Don’t panic,” he soothed and shook his head.

  At his words, her eyes widened and her chest heaved as he patted her down. She’d never been so humiliated as she stood there defenseless.

  Jack felt the cell phone in her pocket and pulled it out. Tapping the home button, he realized it was locked. He held the phone up to her. “I need you to unlock this.”

  The way he said it left no question of choice for her. She nodded and let go of the arm that covered her mouth. She held out shaky hands to accept the phone.

  Jack set the phone in her hand and she used her fingerprint to unlock the cell. Taking it back, he said, “Thank you.”

  Glancing over the home screen on the phone, he looked at her again and said, “Would you like to sit?” He pointed at the empty chair beside the table. “My friend will let you go, but you have to promise to be quiet. Can I trust you?”

  Mike hated this. He felt like a fucking bully scaring this woman, but they didn’t want her drawing attention to them. He also wasn’t sure how long they’d have until Omar returned to the restaurant, possibly with reinforcements. When she nodded yes to Jack’s question and blinked, her tears moistened Mike’s hand.

  18

  Tyson drove slowly through the streets of Adeel Shah’s neighborhood. The sun lay low on the horizon and streaked the sky with orange, red, and purple hues. Street lights were on, lighting the sidewalks that meandered through the area. Most of the homes had been built during or shortly after World War II. The quaint bungalow style homes were dated, but most were well maintained. He slowed as he approached Adeel’s house and took in the surroundings.

  Ryan liked this side of Carrisburg. It was the opposite of the up-and-coming area he lived in, but there was a history to this side of town that couldn’t be denied. Ryan noted that Adeel’s roof shingles showed their age. Mold darkened them. The flower beds around the bungalow were filled with bushes. A camellia bush caught his attention. The fragrant white flowers contrasted with the waxy green leaves. Mature trees offered shade and beauty, but Ryan was sure they could be a problem in an ice storm or blizzard. The trees would drop branches in a large storm. This side of Carrisburg frequently lost power in big storms due to the aging trees in the established neighborhoods.

  “I don’t see a car,” Tyson said.

  “According to the DMV, they only have one car.” How many families made due with one car? He couldn’t imagine having to share a car with a spouse. The thought alone felt confining.

  Tyson circled the block and eased the truck to a stop at the end of the road.

  “I’ll go to the door and see if anyone is at home,” Ryan said. “You go around back. I’ll let you know if it’s clear.”

  Tyson nodded as he slid his Bluetooth earpiece on. They’d be able to communicate at a distance as they checked out the house. “Testing. Testing,” Tyson whispered.

  “Good to go,” Ryan replied with a head nod and slid out of the truck.

  Tyson wandered along the sidewalk towards the neighbor’s house. He would cut through the backyard to get to Adeel’s backyard.

  Ryan casually walked down the sidewalk with his hands shoved in his pockets as he approached Adeel’s house. He glanced around to look for snoopy neighbors. No one was outside, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a busybody keeping tabs on the street from behind a curtained window.

  Ryan walked up the front step and rang the doorbell. Taking a step back so he didn’t crowd the doorway, he waited with his hands behind his back. He didn’t think Adeel was home since the car was missing, but he wasn’t sure about the wife, Amani.

  After a minute, he stepped forward and pressed the doorbell again. “No answer,” he whispered to Tyson through the earpiece.

  Tyson crept through the holly bushes that lined the back of the house. “Shit!” he cursed under his breath when one of the pointed leaves scratched the top of his hand. A thin line of blood rose on his dark skin. He hated holly. As a boy, he couldn’t even guess how many times the holly bushes had torn up his skin as he played with his sisters in the yard. He didn’t understand how any parent could purposely plant that hazardous evergreen in their yard.

  “Holly?” Ryan said with a hint of laughter in his voice. He’d noticed the holly plants scattered throughout the landscaping. He also knew how much Tyson hated it.

  Tyson peeked through a window. He hadn’t seen any movement, and no noise filtered through the walls. If the wife was home, she was keeping quiet. “Going in,” Tyson said.

  “Be there in a minute,” Ryan replied, walking away from the front door. He strolled down the sidewalk and casually made his way to the backyard through the neighbor’s backyard.

  Standing, Tyson took the few steps to the sliding glass door as he pulled on plastic gloves. Curtains hung over the glass, so he couldn’t see inside, but he did notice that the sliding door didn’t have a bar in the track to keep someone from opening it. That was a mistake.

  Tyson jimmied the sliding door open and slid through the opening. Stepping into the kitchen, he froze and listened for any hint of another person. Looking around, he noticed a wooden bar leaning in the corner beside the sliding door. He shook his head at the mistake and wandered further into the kitchen.

  Everything was clean. The counters were spotless, except for a little stack of papers in the corner by the phone. Tyson picked up the stack and flipped through it. Most of it was junk mail and coupons for local restaurants.

  Ryan slid into the kitchen and closed the sliding door behind him. He’d also donned plastic gloves like Tyson’s. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small piece of paper flutter to the ground as Tyson flipped through the stack of papers.

  Ryan closed the distance between them and knelt, picking up the piece of paper from the floor. It had been torn from lined paper and held only a phone number. “Look at this,” he said to Tyson, holding the scrap of paper out to him.

  Tyson set the stack of papers down on the counter and read the numbers. “Local number.”

  “I’ll send it to Logan. Let’s see what he can find.” Ryan took out his cell and set the scrap of paper on the counter. He took a photo of it and sent it off to Logan. Logan would find out who the number belonged to. He hoped it wasn’t a burner phone.

  The men exited the kitchen and entered a small hallway. A family room was on one side and a short hallway extended down the other side. A few closed doors were visible from their location. Tyson stepped into the family room. “I’ll go through here. You find the master bedroom.”

  With a nod, Ryan walked down the hallway and opened the first door on the left. It was a small bathroom with a shower/tub combo. He shut the door and went to the next door. Pushing it open, he stepped into the master bedroom. A queen-sized bed took up most of the floor space. A dresser and mirror lined one of the walls. The closet doors stood open and empty hangers lay on the bed. He stepped further into the room and peeked into the en suite bathroom. It was small, but it did hold a shower and toilet. There were no toothbrushes on the sink counter. He opened the cabinet that was affixed to the wall and noted that the toothbrushes weren’t stored out of sight either.

  Adeel and Amani had split.

  Meanwhile, Tyson lifted the sofa cushions in the family room to search for
anything that would resemble a clue. Finding nothing, he stepped over to the recliner and noted a stack of coasters and a decorative glass dish sitting on the side table between the sofa and recliner. A pair of simple hoop earrings lay in the dish.

  “Looks like they left,” Ryan’s voice echoed through Tyson’s mic.

  Tyson went down the hallway and opened the first door on the right. A small suitcase lay on the twin-sized bed. It was a popular brand and style, and just one piece of a set. The larger suitcases were missing. “Agreed. Suitcases are gone.”

  Ryan noticed a trashcan nestled between the toilet and sink in the master bath. Leaning over, he picked it up and carried it to the bed.

  Tyson joined him as he dumped the contents of the trashcan on the bed. “That’s gross, man,” Tyson said as he scrunched up his face. He didn’t have OCD, but he wouldn’t like the idea of bathroom garbage on his bed.

  Ryan gave him a cocky grin. “You think they’re coming back?” He shook his head. He wouldn’t want someone to dump garbage on his bed either, but this man was part of a plot to kill them. Etiquette didn’t top his priority list.

  They’d searched garbage before, and it typically gave them some insight into their marks. People seemed to think that just because you threw something away that it wouldn’t come back to bite you in the ass.

  Tyson picked up a wad of tissues between two fingers and tossed it back into the trash can. Then he pulled out the strings of dental floss and tossed them back into the trashcan.

  Ryan sighed as he picked up a used condom. “Looks like there’s still love for our aging terrorist.” He laughed and tossed the condom back in the trashcan.

  Tyson picked up another wad of tissues and tossed them back in the trashcan. “Man, I don’t even want to know what’s on those tissues,” he said with a head shake. Because they’d rummaged through so much nastiness in life, he’d developed a thick skin to all things gross. Regardless, he was thankful he had gloves on.