Tangled Mark

by Becky Harmon

  Angela read the note aloud. “Three brothers?”

  “Yes, three brothers.” Nikki closed her eyes. “Maybe Daniel Abbott has two brothers. Maybe one of them was with him at the package pickup yesterday.”

  Angela stood up. “Todd, can you dig into Daniel Abbott’s family?”

  “Sure.” He nodded as his fingers flew across the keyboard.

  Nikki touched Angela’s arm. “I want to confront Josh.”

  Angela frowned.

  “It’s time. We need to know where he stands and what he knows.”

  “You can talk to Bowden about it,” Angela suggested.

  “Talk to me about what?”

  Nikki looked up as Bowden approached them. “I want to confront Josh. Show him the evidence and see what he has to say.”

  “I guess you can do that since he should be arriving here any minute.” She looked at Angela. “Stay with her. From this point forward, she’s your responsibility. I don’t want her going off half-cocked.”

  Angela didn’t seem happy, but she nodded and motioned Nikki back to her seat at the table. She poured two fresh mugs of coffee and set one in front of Nikki before sitting down across from her. Nikki’s phone rang and she looked at the ID screen. “It’s Brad.”

  “You can’t tell him where you are,” Angela stated and motioned for her to pick up the call.

  “Hey, Brad.”

  “Do you know anything new?” Brad asked.

  “I’m working on it. Nothing new yet though.”

  He sighed. “Are you at Flagler? I want to come in and help you. I can’t stand sitting here doing nothing.”

  “No, I’m not at Flagler. I’m with Carter’s team. I’ll let you know when we have something.”

  Brad hesitated. “Okay, but call if I can help.”

  Nikki stood and stepped away from Angela. “If I return to Israel, you’ll go with me?”

  “Without permission?”

  “With or without,” Nikki stated firmly.

  “Yes,” Brad answered without delay. “Call me.”

  Nikki disconnected the call. She knew she could count on Brad, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to them traveling without permission. She looked up as the elevator doors opened. Josh, escorted by two Flagler agents, passed through the room before heading down the hallway. Nikki looked at Angela, and she stood as Bowden approached Todd. She patted him on the shoulder as she passed him. “Just keep working on it, Todd.” She looked at Angela and Nikki. “We missed him.”

  “Abbott?” Angela asked.

  “Yep. When the team went to the coffee shop they said not only was Abbott not there but the shop was closed.”

  “What?” Nikki calculated the time in her head. “It’s not even midnight over there.”

  “Yes.” Bowden agreed. “And the sign on the door said they were open until midnight every day but Friday.”

  Nikki slapped her hand to her forehead and dropped into the closest chair. “Oh wow. I knew he looked familiar.”

  “Who looked familiar?” Angela asked and even Todd looked up from his computer monitor.

  “The cranky man behind the counter in the coffee shop was the passenger in the van when we made the pickup.”

  Bowden touched her shoulder. “Are you sure?”

  Nikki nodded and looked at Todd. “Find out who owns that coffee shop and how they’re connected to Daniel Abbott.”

  Todd looked at Bowden, and she nodded her agreement to the request. “Let’s go talk to Mr. Houston.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The door at the top of the stairs opened and Mel and Liam scurried into their false captive positions. The light from the upstairs room silhouetted the three men coming down the stairs. “We should just let them die,” one of the men said in broken English.

  “Then our work will have been for nothing,” the third man said in perfect English. He motioned the other two men forward with the pistol in his hand. “Just give them the food and we’ll figure out what step to take next.”

  Mel looked up into the face of the man from the coffee shop as he dropped a bag in front of her. She felt the impact of his boot in her stomach as the pain soared through her ribs. She sucked in a breath and fought to maintain consciousness.

  Liam roared to his feet and charged the man with the pistol, pushing him to the floor. Mel tried to stand and fight with him, but the world was spinning as she staggered to her feet. She punched the coffee-shop man in the face, and he stepped back holding his jaw. Before she could move closer to swing again, he pulled a pistol from his jacket pocket and fired a shot.

  Mel quickly stepped back into the shadows and was thankful the wall was there to hold her upright. Out of his line of sight, she circled around behind him. The beam of the flashlight caught her as she kicked her leg in an arc and the flashlight clattered across the room. The pain in her side exploded and she fell against the wall, trying to prepare for her next strike.

  “Everyone stop,” Daniel Abbott demanded, clicking the hammer on the pistol in his hand. He motioned to the man fighting with Liam. “Tie them up again and let’s get out of here.”

  “Gladly.” The man stood and picked up his pistol from the floor, bringing it down hard on top of Liam’s head.

  Mel’s stomach roiled at the sound, and she dropped beside Liam. His eyelids fluttered before closing completely. The men grabbed Mel and secured her arms and legs before tying them together again. She tried not to moan as they grasped her bullet wound before pushing her stomach and face into the dirt.

  Liam did not make any sounds as they tied him up and then stomped back up the stairs. Mel heard the door slam as they left the house. She inched her way closer to Liam, the ropes cutting into her wrists with each movement. Ignoring the pain, she slid behind Liam and started working on the ropes holding his hands and feet together.

  Within minutes, her fingers were bleeding. She leaned her head against Liam’s shoulder. The knots were tighter this time and she probably wouldn’t be able to untie them. It had taken every ounce of her strength to stand and fight. Her vision was blurred and every breath caused a stab of severe pain. She had no idea how long they had been down here without food and water. Her head ached and she fought to remain conscious.

  She had tried to avoid thinking about Nikki, but now she didn’t have Liam’s voice to distract her. Nikki was stubborn and Mel knew she would try to track them down. She only hoped Nikki hadn’t realized they were missing until she had left Israel. Mel couldn’t allow herself to even think Nikki might be out there now tracking these guys on the streets of Tel Aviv. For her own sanity, she had to believe Nikki was safe and back in the States. If she was able to reach out to someone on Mel’s team, maybe they would keep her out of trouble. Bowden’s team never worked with other departments, but Nikki could be persuasive when she was properly motivated. Mel sighed. Unfortunately, Nikki might not be able to locate someone from Mel’s team.

  She thought about the last time she had seen Nikki and how she had smiled when they parted. She thought about how soft her hair was to the touch and how she smelled. How her body looked and felt when she was aroused. When she thought about never being able to touch her again, her heart ached. She immediately sat up. This was not the end. She would find a way out of here. She had been in worse situations. Afghanistan was worse, but these guys didn’t work for Donala. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and forced herself to think clearly. Remembering the flashlight, she pushed herself onto her knees and began slowly crawling across the floor. Unable to hold her balance with her arms behind her back, she toppled forward and landed with her face in the dirt. She was thirsty and desperately needed a bathroom, but first she had to get these ropes off again.

  * * *

  Nikki watched through the glass as Bowden banged on the table again. “You are not answering me honestly, Josh. We already know you have had contact with them. You can’t deny that, so just tell us who they are.”

  “I don’t know what you
’re talking about,” Josh stated firmly.

  Bowden stood and motioned through the mirror for Nikki and Angela to come in. She’d decided, it seemed, that it was time to let Josh see the damage he had caused up close. Nikki entered first, hesitating in the doorway. She appraised Josh with stony eyes before sitting down across from him. Bowden and Angela leaned against the wall out of his line of sight.

  “I respected you, Josh. I followed every order you gave me without question.”

  He started to speak and she held up a hand. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to get involved with them, but now you are. And you might be the only link we have to Agent Carter and Agent Russo. Tell me who they are, Josh.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Nikki fought to control her temper. Unless she planned to beat it out of him, and she knew it might come to that, she needed to keep calm. “Okay, you don’t know who they are. Tell me how you get in touch with them then.”

  “I—”

  “Josh,” Nikki cut him off, “think before you speak. They’ve already killed at least one person and now you hold the lives of two agents in your hands.”

  “I—”

  “Josh,” Nikki cut him off again. “I trusted you with my safety, and now I find out you continually put me and my team in harm’s way.”

  “Not really, Nikki. It was all harmless,” Josh defended himself.

  “Was Tehran harmless, Josh?” Nikki rose to her feet, causing Bowden to place a hand on Angela’s arm to keep her from interfering.

  “Tehran?”

  “Almost a year ago, you sent Brad and me to Tehran to bring home a package. Then you changed your mind and we left it at a bus depot.”

  Josh nodded. “Yeah, I remember.” He shrugged. “So?”

  “So?” Nikki banged her hands on the table. “Are you going to tell me that package wasn’t a bomb?”

  Angela looked at Bowden in surprise.

  Josh’s face went pale. “I didn’t know. I mean…that’s not what they said.” His voice was stronger now. “I asked them and they denied it.”

  “Tell me what you did, Josh.” Nikki leaned down into his face. “Tell me now!”

  “They only wanted a small amount of information. They already had details, so I wasn’t giving them that much more.”

  “You didn’t wonder how they got the information they had.”

  Josh shrugged. “It seemed harmless.”

  Nikki wanted to scream. “There’s that word again, Josh. Harmless. Nothing about this was or is harmless. Are they holding the agents?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “But they sent you pictures, right? What were you supposed to do with the pictures?”

  “They just wanted me to identify the people in them and to know if they worked for Flagler.”

  “And did you?” Nikki asked vehemently.

  “They haven’t called for the information yet, and besides, the picture was too grainy. I was unable to make a positive identification.”

  Slowly Nikki registered what Josh said. “They haven’t called you?”

  “No.”

  “Is that how you make contact with them?”

  Nikki tensed as he reached into his pocket. She felt defenseless without her pistol. Josh pulled out a cell phone and tossed it on the table. Angela grabbed the phone and left the room.

  “You never call them? What if you need to deliver information?”

  “No, they call me with the request and then call me back to get the information.”

  Nikki glanced at Bowden. “There’s someone else at the Pensacola office involved.” She looked back at Josh. “Someone who has been calling Daniel Abbott from our office and Mr. Flagler’s.”

  Josh’s eye’s widened. “They used Mr. Flagler’s office? Even I don’t have access to it.”

  “Just harmless. Right, Josh.” Nikki stormed out of the room with Bowden following her.

  * * *

  Mel tightly gripped the small piece of metal, now covered in her blood, sliding it back and forth on the ropes that held Liam. She estimated it had been an hour or more since the men had left and Liam had been knocked unconscious. The small piece of metal which she had found in the spot where the flashlight had broken worked almost as a knife. She slid her fingers between Liam and the rope to protect him from being cut. The ropes holding Liam’s feet and arms together had been severed and she was now working on the bindings around his hands.

  Liam groaned and Mel sawed faster. “Liam.” She nudged his body with her shoulder. He groaned again. “Liam,” she said urgently.

  “What?” he croaked.

  “How’s your head?” she asked with relief.

  “On fire.”

  “Just lay still. I almost have your hands free.”

  He lay silently from several minutes while she sawed at the ropes. “I’m sorry, Mel,” he said softly.

  “Liam?”

  “When I saw him kick you, I couldn’t stand it. I should have waited until we could do a more coordinated attack.”

  “It is okay, Liam. We’ll get these ropes off again and then we’ll surprise them.”

  “What are you cutting with?”

  “A piece of metal from the broken flashlight.”

  “Sweet. What about the food they had brought us? Did they take it back with them?”

  “No. Just a second.” She pushed the metal through the rope slicing into her hand again. “There, your arms are free.”

  Liam groaned and slowly sat up. “My turn.” Sliding the piece of metal from her hand he began sawing at her ropes. His process was faster since his arms were free and he was able to put tension on the ropes.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Angela slid into the chair next to her, placing a deli sandwich and a bottle of water in front of her.

  “Thanks,” Nikki said, glancing at her watch. She couldn’t stop her mind from calculating the time in Israel. It was already Sunday morning there. She had been thinking for hours that she needed to return to Israel. She needed to be closer to Mel. Time was passing too fast; she had been held for more than thirty-six hours already. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about what kind of situation they might be facing now. She shook her head and rubbed her hand over her face. Glancing at Angela she asked. “Has Todd found anything?”

  “He hasn’t been able to tie the coffee-shop owner to Daniel Abbott yet.”

  “But we know his name now?”

  Angela rolled her eyes. “We have a name, but it doesn’t have any past records. It’s like it only appeared about five years ago.”

  Nikki frowned. She looked around the room and noticed more people had arrived. Almost every computer had a technician in front of it, and each was typing frantically. Angela followed her gaze. “Everyone has been called in now. I don’t think anyone figured out how serious this was at first. We all thought it was one man working alone to make Flagler look bad.”

  Nikki remembered Mel saying Mr. Flagler’s reputation was being attacked internationally. Mel. Mel waited in Israel for her to find her. She needed to return. “I want to go back to Israel.” Nikki looked at Angela. “Do you think Bowden will approve it?”

  Angela touched her arm as she stood. “I can ask.”

  Nikki nodded. She stared at the sandwich Angela had placed in front of her. The thought of food made her stomach queasy, but she opened the bottle of water and took a sip.

  Angela touched her shoulder as she sat back down beside her. She nodded toward the elevator, and Nikki looked up as Mr. Flagler walked into the room. He stopped to talk with Bowden, and together they approached the table where Nikki and Angela sat.

  He sat down across from them. Nikki stared into his bloodshot eyes. He had sent Liam and Mel to Israel and now their lives could be on the line. The stress and worry Nikki felt was reflected back at her from his face. He gave her a gentle smile. “How are you doing, Agent Mitchell?”

  “I’ve been better, sir.”

  Bowden introduced Angela
, and he shook her hand. He glanced at the three of them. “I was hoping you ladies could give me a summary of where things stand now.”

  Bowden and Angela ran through the technical details and Nikki walked through all of the events of the last several days. Nikki glanced at him when she finished. “Sir, Agent Carter believed this attack wasn’t directed at Flagler, but at you personally.”

  He nodded. “I’ve been exploring that possibility myself.” He pulled a data stick from his pocket and passed it to Nikki. “That’s all of the missions I handled personally. Starting in the beginning when I was boots on the ground for each one we accepted.”

  Nikki inserted the data stick into her computer and loaded it through the Flagler search engine. She began typing, and Angela leaned over her shoulder for a better view. Nikki glanced at her and then at the keyboard before quickly typing two words.

  “Middle East?” Angela nodded. “Okay. It’s a place to start.”

  Nikki frowned. “Yeah, but that’s too many to read through. We need to narrow it down even more.”

  “Since kills aren’t recorded, try sniper missions,” Angela suggested.

  Nikki entered the request focusing on the computer screen as they all waited for the search results. “One hundred and fifty.”

  Angela groaned. “That’s still too many. We don’t have time to read them all.”

  Nikki glanced at Mr. Flagler. “Sir, do you remember a mission in Tel Aviv about twenty years ago. A man and his daughter were killed.”

  “Twenty years ago?” He was silent for a few minutes. “I did work as a sniper back then.” He frowned at her. “Do you think this is because of someone I killed? I didn’t kill any kids.”

  Nikki entered a date range based on the newspaper article Mel had saved on her laptop. While the computer searched, she pulled up the article and turned the computer around allowing Mr. Flagler and Bowden to read it. They both looked up at her when they finished and Mr. Flagler spoke first. His face was flushed and he spoke softly. “It was me, but I didn’t know his daughter was on his lap. I remember his name.” He shook his head. “Hell, he was making a bomb with her sitting right there. That’s so crazy.”