He almost asked what it was worth to her, but catching himself, he looked back at Michael and decided to hold his tongue.
Brian, still confused, made one last attempt to get a straight answer out of someone. “Why… are these scorpion guys… coming… after me? What the hell do they want?”
Drawing a deep breath, Tori felt defeated. Shifting her gaze towards him, she tried to break it to him gently. “Me,” she chirped softly. Reaching over, she gave the picture of the young girl with the bright smile a tap with her knuckle, “This… is me.”
It was Brian’s turn to laugh.
“Oh my God, you’re claiming to be my sister? Well, I got news for you honey; you’re not gonna get your hands on me or my fortune that way.” Stopping abruptly, he looked over at Michael, his brow furrowed deeply, “Are you in on this? You are, aren’t you! Is this what the two o’ you’ve been up to? Trying to figure out how to get your clutches on what we have?”
He used his hand to waft around, indicating the band members and their luxurious house. His eyes darted back and forth between the couple, his tone full of venom.
Michael remained calm, only blinking at the man. Surely this asshole remembers I’m here because he requested me.
Brian ranted on, “Well it ain’t gonna work, ‘cause she’s dead. She died and she’s buried next to our parents. That’s the other people in the pictures.” Brian’s voice changed, beginning to sound strained as he pointed at the shelves. His face had become drawn into a grimace, and Tori knew he didn’t believe her, and why should he?
She studied him for a moment, her mind still a muddle of conflicting thoughts and ideas. She wanted him to be safe, as she knew what could happen to him. She wanted the Scorpions to be dealt with, and she knew how hard that would be. Faced with those facts, she knew what she had to do. Turning to Eli, she commanded, “I want my weapons back.”
Eli stared at her. “You know I can’t do that,” he spoke as if he were talking to a child.
Surging towards him, she hissed loudly, “You don’t have a choice. You either hand ‘em over, or I’m gonna show you what I can do with just my bare hands.” Her face flushed, and he could see the veins in her neck as she threatened him with bodily harm. Reaching inside his jacket, he produced the pistol and knife that he had confiscated from her that morning in Texas.
Taking the knife from him first, Tori gave the button a push, allowing the blade to pop out the end. Giving it a quick inspection, she closed it with the same action and bent over to tuck it inside her boot. Standing straight again, she took the .9-mm pistol from him. Dropping the clip out to inspect it as well, she spoke to Michael in their covert language.
“Get them out of here. Please. Take them someplace safe.” She lifted the back of her jacket and placed the pistol into the waistline of her pants in the small of her back and straightened herself.
“Where are you going?” Michael countered.
Pausing, Tori allowed herself to look down at his lips, then brought her gaze back to his eyes; “Hunting.” Leaning forwards, she kissed him with a quick peck on the lips, and he reached to catch her arm and hold her there for an instant.
“I’ll take them to our place,” he told her, still in German, “Come home when you can. We’ll be waiting.”
Tori gave him a solid nod and headed for the door, Eli trailing along behind. He didn’t understand what they had said, but it didn’t matter. She was leaving, and he had a strong feeling she was finally going to take care of that job they had been needing for her to do.
Time to Hide
Michael watched as his wife exited the room, an uneasy feeling churning in his gut. Spinning the ring on his left hand with his thumb, he knew they may have had all the time together they were ever going to get. Pulling himself back to the situation at hand, he straightened himself and began to bark orders.
“All right, we need to get the hell out of here. You guys go get two changes of clothes and throw them in a bag. Nothing flashy. And grab whatever cash is lying around as well. You got five minutes.” He held up two fingers, talking to all four members of Indelible, who stood staring at him as if he were sprouting extra limbs. At their failure to respond, he tried again, “Look, you guys wanted me to come here, and I’m here. Get your asses movin’!”
The four men exchanged glances and began to talk amongst themselves as they left the room and made their way upstairs, giving the impression they were going to comply. Michael followed them in an effort to speed their progress. He had no desire to come face to face with the Scorpions, should they return, and getting the guys to a secure location was his priority.
Cody threw his items into a dark grey gym bag, muttering to himself the entire time. Exiting his bedroom, he found Michael in the hall and decided to have his say. “Why exactly are we leaving? Because that crazy girl, who you married, thinks she’s Brian’s sister?”
Michael gave him a lengthy stare, his expression unreadable, waiting for the others to join them.
It took closer to twenty minutes for everyone to assemble, but eventually they were ready to depart. Leading them down through the warren of rooms and hallways, Michael headed up the group, looking around the house at the various individuals who were dispersed throughout the building, collecting evidence and poking around. He knew it would be foolish for the Scorpions to attack them there, but as soon as they were out, it would become more dangerous.
Stopping in the lobby, Michael asked in a monotone voice, “Is your plane where we can get to it?”
Studying his former employee, something about his flat calm had begun to unnerve Brian. Michael had been their head bodyguard for over four years, and damn good at what he did. Any danger they had ever faced had been addressed with the cold, calculated stillness he saw before him, and he considered how the threat could be very real.
“Sure,” he nodded, “Do we need to fire it up and have it ready?”
“Yeah,” Michael agreed, “Have them prepare for our arrival and file a flight plan for your place in Florida. We’ll travel by other means from there.”
Moving to comply, Brian disappeared into one of the side rooms, leaving the remaining three band members standing in awkward silence. None of them really understood what was going on, but having developed a deep trust of the man who gave them orders, they did not dare question him further. Besides, their newest head of security had been murdered, so where else were they going to turn?
When Brian returned, he informed them he had also called for their car, and it should be around front momentarily. Wanting to be sure they would have everything they needed, Michael went down the checklist again: clothes, phones, chargers, and cash.
“Meh, we can pull cash out or use our credit cards,” Chuck interjected dubiously, not seeing the significance of their situation.
Shaking his head, Michael stipulated they would not be using any plastic once they left the airport. You don’t know it guys, but you’re about to disappear.
“When we get where we’re going, we’ll be taken care of, so bring what you have and it’ll be enough,” he explained, thinking about the small town and the people who had accepted the couple so readily. They would be in good cover once they got there, and he had enough money in the bank, they could hide for a long time if they had to. Longer than these four spoiled men could probably handle.
Michael pulled his bag from under the table, where it sat alone. Heading out the front door, the group climbed into the long black car and shifted into their seats, the strain thick in the air. Running long fingers through his nearly black pelt, Brian finally demanded, “You really think that girl is my sister? I mean, how the hell would that be possible? She was in the car with my parents.” His voice held deep emotion, and they could see he was riding on an emotional roller coaster; “We buried her.”
Michael bobbed his head in understanding, but having met the Dragons and Eddie Farrell, he knew nothing was ever what it seemed. Taking a moment to choose the precise words, “Ther
e may have been a little girl’s body in the car, but if Eddie wanted her, you can bet he had devised a plan to cover his tracks. The only way to know for sure would be to have you tested. I can make a call… see what we can do to get the ball rolling… keep it quiet too, if you want.”
Brian slowly nodded his agreement. “Yeah, we gotta know, one way or the other.” He looked out the window, still too unnerved to contemplate what the impact of any results might be.
Borrowing Cody’s cell, Michael retrieved Terral Huffman’s card from his wallet and called the store in LA to enlist the help of the former federal agent. He gave Terry a brief explanation of what had transpired and what he needed. “You think you can help us get him tested without having too many people know?” he finally asked.
“Sure,” Terry quickly agreed, “You’ll need to have his blood drawn in Florida and sent over to an FBI branch. I’ll take care of making the contacts from here and get the results to you when they come in, no problem.”
“We really appreciate that, and we’ll have it there as soon as we’re able.”
“No worries. Tell Tori we miss her,” Terry’s voice grew quieter at the sentimental thought.
“Sure thing, you know she misses all of you, too.”
Hanging up the device, he gave Brian a small smile, and explained how they were going to get the blood sample submitted and it would all be taken care of, “And I’d like to hear your story; how your family died. Maybe once we’re on the plane. I know it may not be easy to talk about, but it’ll really help to get a fix on our situation.”
Michael had been curious about Tori’s true identity for many months. Confident her origins had finally been found, he held his excitement in check, eager to find out all he could about the accident that had ended the family’s lives and set her history in motion.
Brian only nodded. Chewing his knuckle, he kept an eye out the window as they rolled along, his mind turning feverishly. Son of a bitch. This is gonna make things pretty fucking awkward if it turns out to be true. Michael my brother-in-law and Tori my sister. There’s some good news.
Exiting the car at the airport, the group made their way through the crowded terminal and quickly passed through security. A few of the airport team joined them as they made their way, weaving through the tunnels inside the back areas of the labyrinth until they came out in a small area for private planes, where they climbed the stairs to board their Citation X. Skipping up the steps, Michael could feel himself relax at the almost routine activity, realizing he had actually enjoyed some parts of his old job.
Their plane not as luxurious as some private jets, the guys had always preferred to do their partying on the ground. It served its purpose, quite comfortable for the few hours the group spent in flights from place to place when the need arose.
Taking their seats, Chuck and Cody moved to the back group of chairs, taking the pair that faced the front of the craft. Collin and Brian took the next set of two forward facing with two empties behind them that faced the back of the plane.
Michael sat in a rear facing seat in the front so he could see all of the men as they traveled. Surveying them as they fastened their seatbelts for the taxi onto the runway, he smiled to himself. Well, they seem to be taking this sudden turn of events in stride.
By the time the plane had leveled out, Brian had gathered his memories, and prepared to recount what had happened to his family. “It was summer,” he began, “And it was late June. My parents had driven me to visit my grandparents for a few weeks of my vacation. Nikki had just turned five in May and would be starting school in the fall.” He appeared tense, wringing his hands repeatedly.
Michael nodded, “Nikki is your sister?”
“Yeah,” Brian confirmed, “She was,” he paused for several minutes, staring out the small portal to his right while he considered his words. Finally, his eyes shifting nervously, he confessed, “Ok, look. I had a lot of guilt about her dying when I was a kid. She followed me around incessantly when we were little. I could never get rid of her and she was annoying as fuck. I mean, she never shut up. Always talking and asking questions.”
“I was ten that summer and all I wanted was to get away from her,” he angrily defended his actions to the group. “So when she wanted to stay too, I threw a fit. It was my vacation, not hers.”
Michael watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed before he finished the thought, his voice trailing away by the end. “If I had allowed her to stay, she wouldn’t have been in that car when the accident happened. Basically… it was my fault she died.” The small space grew eerily silent, as that had been part of the story his band mates had never heard.
Michael could see the pain etched in his face. Trying to put him at ease, he shook his head slightly, “That may not be true. It may be the fact she was in the car that the accident took place.” Brian gave him a startled look, which Michael waved off, “We can talk about that later. For now, you can go on.”
Brian nodded, inhaling deeply and allowing the air to release noisily through his nostrils. “We got the call that night. The police came and asked a lot of questions, as I wasn’t in the car and that seemed to raise some suspicions; at least at first.”
“Apparently, they had stopped at a café to eat on the way home… and there were several people who recalled seeing them as it was right before the accident. Now, knowing my sister, she was pouting or giving them grief because she hadn’t gotten her way. She was a spoiled brat and pulled that crap a lot.”
Pausing, he rubbed his hands together, still obviously tense, “Anyways, they left the diner, and sometime after that the car crashed and burned. I mean burned to the ground, all three of them inside of it. The only thing that survived was her teddy bear, which you probably saw on the shelf in my office.”
“How did the toy survive?” Michael interrupted him, “If the car burned completely?”
“How should I know?” Brian shrugged, “They found it on the ground at the scene. That’s all I can tell you; that, and I had to convince them to let me have it, because they investigated the crash for several months before it was deemed an accident. We buried them together in a small cemetery there close to my grandparents and I lived with them until they both passed away about ten years ago. I still own the property. I lease it to a family who runs the farm.”
The group sat for several minutes, quietly digesting his story. Michael ran his fingers tensely through his sandy curls as he recalled Tori’s description of her nightmares. Yeah, she talked about a diner in her dream… and she described the car, engulfed in flames. He felt certain she was this man’s sister, believed to be dead. He realized this meant some other family’s little girl had been buried next to Tori and Brian’s parents.
It also meant no one would ever have located her through missing children records. Hell, no one was even looking for her as she was already thought to be dead. Eyeing his newly found brother-in-law, he knew this would be a struggle to come to terms with, for everyone. Damn, Eddie was a smart son of a bitch.
Shortly thereafter, the plane landed at MIA. Exiting the craft, the group discussed their arrival at Brian’s beach front property, when Michael interrupted their conversation sternly, “We aren’t going to the house here. We’re just trying to cover our tracks a bit.” Leading them out of the terminal, the group took a minivan taxi to a bus terminal and bought tickets to a smaller town in northern Florida.
The guys became confused but followed him on instinct. He had been amazing at his job of protecting them in the past and they trusted him whole-heartedly. Climbing onto the bus, the group spread out and didn’t bother to talk, each man left to consider what had taken place and how this would affect their future if they were forced into hiding for very long.
Four days later, they arrived at the tiny house and shop in Texas. Looking around the quaint apartment that Tori had decorated, a strange feeling came over Brian, and he considered what it would mean if she were really Nikki, back from the dead. They had made
a stop at a lab to have his blood drawn in Florida, and he had been anxious to get the results ever since.
Finding her guitar in the closet of the smaller bedroom, he brought it out with the intention of playing it. Seeing Michael’s icy stare at the notion, he thought better of it and placed it in its tiny stand in the corner. Man, this really sucks, he muttered to himself. He had claimed the couch as his part of the accommodations and flopped down there in utter disgust.
Ghost of the Past
Eli followed Tori as she left the group standing in the small study. The couple had dropped their packs by the front door as they entered, and she paused there long enough to split the money tucked inside Michael’s bag, taking about twenty thousand for herself. Lifting her own pack onto her shoulder, she made her way down the hall to exit out the back door and through the extensive back yard.
Aware that Eli still followed her, she stopped next to a group of trees, swinging around to confront him. “I want some God damned answers!” She kept her rage under control, but barely so. “How long have you known that man was my brother?”
He ran his fingers through his dark hair, blue eyes swimming as they avoided meeting hers. “Listen,” he chose his options carefully. “We had been investigating the Dragons, among other groups, for a long time. We had no idea how they were all really connected until you were found and shed some light on things. Edward and Gerald Farrell were part of the original investigation. Now, all of that information is classified and I really can’t go into details with you.”
Tori’s gaze grew stone cold, but she didn’t interrupt as he pushed on.
“We really didn’t know about your family or where you came from. And, I hate to say it was convenient, but it was decided it was better if you remained, shall we say, disconnected, from your past life. There were lots of unanswered questions and we needed you to fill in the blanks.”
Shifting his gaze to the ground beneath them, Eli looked uncomfortable, confessing how he had used her. “I really felt bad about the way things turned out. Honestly, you meant a great deal to me, but by the end I got the feeling I was the one being played. You seemed so happy to move on to LA, like I really meant nothing to you. And now you’re married to Michael, and that just makes it even worse. Like I was easy to forget.”
A New Life Series - Finisher Set Page 3
