Tangled Mark

by Becky Harmon

  Nikki gave her a shocked look. “And that’s the story?”

  Mel laughed. “Okay, we didn’t sleep together. I was just checking to see if you were still listening.”

  “Oh, I’m listening.”

  “Another US doctor had his sights on Jan. He had pursued her in the past when she was still married, and she was concerned he would be more of a problem now that she wasn’t married anymore.” Mel sighed. “And he was. After the first night we moved to a different floor, and I started sleeping on the couch.”

  “He got into the room?”

  “Oh yes. That first night he talked the desk clerk into giving him a key, and he strolled right in. Luckily, she and I were sitting in the living room.” She waved her hand around. “Just chatting. We hadn’t gone to our separate bedrooms yet.”

  “Did you kick his ass?”

  “No, I was very professional. At least I was at first. I escorted him out of the room and explained what would happen if he tried that stunt again. Two days later, he cornered her in between seminars. I was maintaining my distance, trying to be discreet, and it took me several seconds to arrive on the scene. He had his hand over her mouth and the other one under her shirt.”

  “Geez. Did you kick his ass then?”

  “Oh yeah. Well, actually it was his nose I broke.”

  Nikki shook her head. “I am constantly amazed at how people behave.”

  “He filed a complaint saying she led him on and I acted irrationally, but we were able to produce statements from several people who had witnessed his behavior. Even the desk clerk that he had talked the key out of gave a statement.”

  “So, you and Jan are friends now?”

  “I guess you could say that. It’s not like we get together outside of work, but we call if we need something. I’ll even do security for her if she asks.” Mel glanced quickly at Nikki. “You’re not jealous, are you?”

  “Of course not. I know you have lots of women in your past. Just so I’m the only one in your present.”

  Mel smiled. “I think you’re all I can handle.”

  Nikki typed on her iPad. “I could use some coffee. How about you?”

  “Sure. There’s a shop on the corner behind us.”

  Nikki nodded. “Yep, I see that.” She slid out of the car and headed for the coffee shop.

  Chapter Thirty

  Nikki returned and handed Mel one of the tall containers of black coffee she was carrying. After removing the lids, both inhaled, enjoying the aroma before taking sips.

  “Tell me about your family,” Mel said.

  Nikki frowned at her. “You followed me to their house!” she said vehemently. “Besides, you read my file. Tell me about yours.”

  “Okay.” Mel smiled at getting Nikki riled so easily and then her face grew serious. “My father was killed when I was fifteen, and my mother raised me and my seven-year-old sister alone. Mom lives in Tennessee, and my sister plays college football in the Atlantic Coast Conference.”

  Nikki’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard of her. Tallahassee University, right?”

  “That’s her.”

  “Cool.” Nikki hesitated, not sure if she should inquire about Mel’s father or not.

  “He was a career soldier killed in the line of duty.” Mel answered without her asking.

  “That’s tough.”

  “For you as well,” Mel said softly. “You were only ten when your parents died.”

  “Yeah, it’s hard to remember them sometimes. I have a few memories, but they’re mostly from pictures.”

  “But your foster parents were good to you?”

  “They were. I struggled for a year or two after my parents were killed. I didn’t want anyone in my life but, luckily, they were persistent, and I eventually moved in with them permanently.”

  “But you weren’t adopted?”

  “No.”

  “Why?” Mel pushed.

  Nikki rubbed her face. She’d only had this discussion with a few people in her life. Bob and Sandra, of course, and then later the therapist at Flagler. She glanced at Mel and saw only compassion on her face. “At first I was afraid to love anything for fear it would be taken away, but later it just didn’t feel necessary. They knew I loved them and they were my parents. An official decree didn’t seem important.”

  “No siblings, right?”

  Nikki was relieved at the change in topics. “Yep. I’m an only child.”

  “Spoiled rotten then?”

  Nikki laughed. “Are you asking or telling?”

  “I don’t think I want to answer.”

  Brad’s voice echoed through their headsets. “Hey, Nik. We should probably make a run back to the hotel and check out. I don’t want to be moving around close to the pickup time.”

  Nikki looked at her watch. “I’m ready when you are.”

  “Okay then. Mel, let’s swap.”

  “On my way.” Mel picked up Nikki’s hand and held it to her mouth. “Don’t forget me before I get back to Florida.”

  “No chance.”

  Mel kissed her fingers before placing Nikki’s hand back on her own leg. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her hotel room key. “Take this and you can shower in my room.”

  Nikki nodded.

  Brad pulled open Mel’s door, and she slid out, punching him in the arm. “Take care of my girl.” She didn’t wait for a response but took off at a jog.

  Brad slid in beside Nikki. “I’m ready for this mission to be over. How about you?”

  “Yeah, my eyes are burning, and I feel like I have been up for days.”

  They drove the short distance back to the hotel in silence. Nikki grabbed her bag from Brad’s room and crossed the hall. When she opened the door the silence consumed her. It felt like an ominous sign and Nikki couldn’t help shivering. She placed her bag on the bed and turned on the shower. Stripping out of her suit, she placed it into the laundry bag and stepped into the shower. The water was cool, and Nikki wasted no time under the spray. She was happy to pull on her comfortable jeans and running shoes instead of a suit and heels. Noticing a travel-sized bottle of lavender body spray on the bathroom counter, Nikki sprayed a small amount on her wrist. The fragrance immediately engulfed her and images of Mel crashed in on her. The first time she had experienced the scent was in the bar the night Mel had kissed her. At the time, she hadn’t made the connection with Mel, but now, seeing the bottle, she remembered all the times she had smelled it. She spritzed her neck and under her shirt before placing the bottle back on the counter.

  Looking around the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, she noticed Mel’s burgundy shirt, dark with dried blood, hanging across the back of a chair. She crossed the room and gently touched the collar, trying not to think about how much worse Mel could have been injured. Clearing the morose thoughts from her head, she turned to leave and noticed a hotel notepad and pen lying on the desk. She picked up the pen as she subconsciously began to compose a heartfelt letter to Mel, but then laughed at herself. Not appropriate and there certainly wasn’t time so she wrote two words, “Yours, Cupcake.” She tucked the paper between the clean shirts in Mel’s suitcase.

  She grabbed her bag and returned to Brad’s room. While Nikki checked out of the hotel, returning all the room keys except for Mel’s, Brad stepped into the restaurant and placed a take-out order. After a security check on the sedan, they returned to the surveillance site. Back within range of their communication devices, they informed Mel and Liam that they had returned with food.

  Almost as soon as they parked, Mel appeared at Nikki’s door, stuck her head through the open window and passed their borrowed communication equipment to Nikki. She started to speak and then closed her eyes. Nikki watched her sniff the air and knew she was smelling the lavender body spray. Mel opened her eyes, smiled at Nikki and then looked at Brad. “Damn, you smell good, Agent Morton.”

  “Why thank you, Agent Carter.” Brad grinned. “I’ve been told I clean up w
ell.”

  Nikki rolled her eyes at both of them and looked at Mel, motioning toward the backseat. “Climb in.”

  Mel frowned at her. “The backseat, really?”

  “Get in, Carter. I want to check your arm.”

  “I’m fi—” Mel started.

  Nikki glared at her and Mel climbed silently into the backseat. Nikki climbed out and followed her, closing the door behind them.

  She motioned with her hand for Mel to remove her shirt. “Don’t make me do it for you.”

  “Isn’t this uncomfortable?” Mel smiled as she met Brad’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

  He winked at her. “It’s just getting good.”

  Nikki glared at him as she removed the old bandage and added more antiseptic. Taping a new bandage on, she helped Mel slide her arm back into the shirt. Mel sat back on the seat and buttoned her shirt. “You guys okay to hold down the fort here? We want to go check out the location where the package exchange will take place.”

  “No problem,” Brad answered.

  Nikki nodded as she passed Mel her hotel room key, grasping her hand in a quick squeeze before letting go.

  Mel gave her a wink before returning to her conversation with Brad. “We’ll run over there now and then come back for a while.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “We’d like to follow Abbott, but there’s always the chance he’s not the person you’re meeting.”

  “That’s true,” Brad grumbled.

  Mel climbed out, taking a bag of food, and gave them a wave. Nikki slid out and back into the front seat. “Carter and I found a coffee shop on the corner. Interested?”

  “Sure,” Brad agreed. “Liam and I have been hitting that place since the first night. Not a very pleasant man running it, but they have a nice variety of drinks. Today, I feel like black coffee though.”

  “Be right back.” Nikki closed the car door behind her.

  Brad studied the green door leading to the apartment building housing Daniel Abbott before digging into the bag of food.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “I think if we park on the street we’ll be able to see who enters the alley.” Mel stared down the alley toward the brick wall blocking the end of the street.

  “If it is Abbott, why’d he choose a dead-end alley with no escape route?” Liam questioned.

  “I sure as hell don’t know. He’s been so nervous and now he’s confident about getting in and out with us tailing him.” Mel sighed. “What are we missing?”

  “I wish I knew.” Liam started walking toward the car. “Let’s head back.”

  Mel followed him.

  * * *

  Nikki returned and passed a large cup to Brad. They sipped their coffee and ate their food in silence. Nikki’s thoughts kept returning to Mel and Liam preparing to catch whoever they would be meeting. None of this situation seemed right to Nikki, especially Josh’s part in the whole thing. She’d always liked Josh as an on-site leader. He was clear and concise with his orders and until all of this she had believed the missions had been successful.

  Nikki’s cell phone buzzed and she checked the readout. Punching the on button, she greeted Mel.

  “What’s up, Carter?”

  “We’re back.”

  “That didn’t take long,” Nikki commented with a puzzled look at Brad.

  “No, there wasn’t much to see. It’s a dead-end alley.”

  “A dead-end alley,” Nikki said aloud for Brad’s benefit. “No escape route? That seems crazy.”

  “We thought so too. Maybe it’s not Daniel,” Mel contemplated.

  “Maybe this is just a normal package pickup and it’s not connected,” Brad said to Nikki.

  Nikki nodded and repeated his comment into the phone. “Maybe it’s not connected to all of this.”

  “Maybe…” Mel’s voice trailed off, clearly thinking about the possibility. “I guess we’ll find out when we pick up the guy. It should be easy to tell if he’s involved or not.”

  “Give us a call when you guys are clear and, if we need to, we can open the package,” Nikki suggested. Brad raised his eyebrows and Nikki gave him a shrug. “We need to clear this whole situation up. I don’t like not knowing who to trust, especially within our own organization.”

  Brad nodded his agreement.

  “Okay,” Mel answered. “We’ll give you guys a call when we’re clear here.”

  “Be careful,” Nikki said softly.

  “You guys too.”

  Nikki slid her phone back into her pocket and pulled out the iPad. Taking a sip of coffee, she looked at Brad. “Let’s head on over there now. We have about forty-five minutes and I wouldn’t mind being early.”

  Brad nodded and slipped the sedan into gear. Nikki gave Liam a mock salute as they passed. She tried to look at Mel too, but the dark windows blocked her. Liam, sitting in the driver’s seat, was barely visible.

  * * *

  “Let’s give him about thirty minutes. If he doesn’t come out and start toward the pickup location, we’ll head over there to nab us another potential suspect.” Liam shoved the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth.

  “Works for me.” Mel sat silently for several seconds. “Did you touch base with Dayton at the embassy?”

  “Yeah, he said to park in the garage. There’s a room in the northeast corner we can use. No one should bother us since it’s Shabbat and even the embassy is closed. He said he would give the marine guard a heads-up that we might be doing an interrogation there so we won’t get hassled.”

  “Right, the Sabbath day. Most things are closed from sundown to sundown.” Mel gathered their trash and stuffed it back in the bag. “I’m going to hit the coffee shop on the corner before it closes too. Want something?”

  “A black coffee would be great. Thanks. Keep your phone handy and I’ll call if I have movement.”

  “Roger that.”

  She walked briskly to the corner and entered the small shop. She took in more of the shop than she had been able to during her first visit when following Abbott. It appeared to be completely empty. Mel felt a twinge of discomfort at this. She remembered the man behind the counter and watched him as he again studied her closely. His face was blank when she placed their order, and he immediately turned his back, filling both cups with coffee before setting them on the counter in front of her. His eyes flicked back and forth from her to the cash register as he rang up her order and mumbled the total cost. She paid him and picked up the coffee cups to leave. Turning back, she attempted one last time to give him a smile but froze at the look of hatred in his eyes. He quickly turned away, clearly unnerved at having been caught. Mel hesitantly turned and left the shop. Her mind whirling at the oddity of his behavior, she returned to the car.

  She passed Liam a cup. “No movement?”

  “All is quiet,” he said, removing the lid and taking a sip of the coffee. “Hmm…that’s good.” Noticing Mel’s silence, he glanced at her. “Everything okay?”

  She frowned. “Yeah, I guess so. Just had a weird encounter with the man in the coffee shop.”

  “The skinny guy behind the counter?”

  “That’s him. I’d swear he just gave me a death stare.”

  Liam laughed. “I noticed he was a bit standoffish when I was in there earlier.” Liam held up his cup. “But his coffee is good. And he sells delicious croissants and muffins in the mornings.”

  Mel nodded as she took a sip of the steaming coffee. She had to admit the coffee was good. They drank in silence as they each watched the street around them. Mel’s mind wandered across many topics, never settling on any specific one. She glanced at Liam when he dropped his half-full cup onto the floorboard of the car. “Liam?” she slurred as everything in front of her went blurry.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Brad backed the car into the alley and turned off the ignition. “I don’t like this, but I’ll ram him if we have to get out fast.”

  Nikki took a sip of her now cold coffee and grimaced. It felt like
acid as it hit her stomach. Her nerves were on edge as she worried about Mel and Liam. She glanced around again as if she would be able to see them. Brad watched her for a second and looked back at the empty alley. “You probably won’t be able to see them, Nik. I doubt they’ll take him down until we leave.”

  “I know, but I have a bad feeling about all of this.” Nikki glanced at her watch. “Five minutes.” She took a drink of coffee and grimaced again. Opening her car door, she dumped the remaining coffee on the ground. “That stuff sucks when it’s cold.”

  Brad’s smile faded as a white van pulled into the alley. “Here we go.”

  “I see two people,” Nikki said softly as the van pulled to a stop in front of them. As she and Brad climbed out of the sedan, she casually shrugged her shoulders, repositioning the pistol in her shoulder holster to make sure it was free of any restrictions in case she needed to pull it.

  “You make contact and I’ll cover you.” Brad leaned against the car, looking relaxed. “Keep cool, Nik. Just another pickup. We do this all the time.”

  She nodded, never taking her eyes off the men in the vehicle. Their lips were moving and they seemed to be having an argument. After a few minutes, the driver rolled down his window and motioned her forward. Nikki approached slowly and from an angle to allow Brad an unobstructed view of the two men. The driver pulled a manila envelope from the dashboard and passed it out the window to her. She took the envelope and began retracing her path back to the car. Conversation wasn’t necessary; she had seen all she needed to. The driver was Daniel Abbott. The passenger’s face was familiar as well, even though she couldn’t place him right away. Their heated conversation had resumed as she left, but she was unable to identify any of the words they spoke. She slid into the sedan and Brad joined her. Together they watched the white van back out of the alley and speed away.

  Nikki took a deep breath as she tossed the manila envelope on top of her bag in the backseat. “It was Abbott.” She looked around the alley. “I wonder where Liam and Carter are.” She glanced at Brad. “Should I text them that he has another guy with him?”