“Can you get The Butcher off Nikki’s back?”
“Perhaps, but I doubt it. He’s been paid to fulfill the contract. His reputation is at stake.”
“Thanks, Ivan. I appreciate everything you’re doing,” Nikki said.
“As do I,” Jason added before saying goodbye and ending the call.
The forlorn expression on her face broke his heart. He pulled her up into his arms once more.
“Hey, this is good news. We have a motive now. Carlotta obviously blamed Sam for her misery and wanted to take away his happiness. She must have known The Butcher had worked for her father, so she hired him for this job. As to how she saw the ring, maybe Ivan’s right, and she reads the newspaper. You know what they say about a woman scorned. Imagine how angry she must be at the man who stole so much from her.”
“And that entitles her to do the same to me? What kind of warped world do those people live in? I may not think Sam was a good father, but I have no reason to think he’s a thief or even associated with them. Isn’t it equally possible he bought the ring without knowing its history? If that’s the case he and our son and daughter died for nothing. Until you question this Carlotta, you won’t even know if she’s the one who hired The Butcher. This may just be another dead end.”
“Don’t look at it that way.” Jason felt helpless, aware of his own role in her loss. His guilty secret would have to go to the grave with him. “We’ll catch him, and once we have him in custody, this will all be over. We’ll arrest his employer, too. My money says it’ll be Carlotta.”
“Will it be over? Will the nightmares end? Will knowing why she did this awful thing bring back my son and my infant daughter?”
“No,” he answered, “nothing can bring them back, but you have Mandy and you can make a new life for yourself. The Butcher is bound to make his move soon. It’s been three weeks since news that you were still alive made the paper and, at Brad’s request, Irene will hold a press conference next week saying they plan to wake you within a few days. They’d expected The Butcher to try something by now. Since he hasn’t, they’re going to force his hand.”
Nikki shivered. “I hope they get the bastard. I want this over.”
Jason placed his cheek against her hair. “So do I, Nikki. I won’t rest until that monster has been brought to justice for everything he’s done.”
He stood there holding her in his arms, absorbing her heat, praying she’d never know the whole truth about that night. He rubbed small soothing circles on her back until her breathing quieted.
A few minutes later, Nikki pushed out of his arms. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes bright with unshed tears.
“Do you know if either of the men found in the tent in Auburn wore an earring in his left ear?”
“Not offhand, but that information should be in the autopsy report.” He missed the feel of her in his arms, but he was glad she was pushing through her sadness. “Why do you want to know that?”
“I remembered something from the dream last night. I’m wondering if it was one of those men.”
“Let me call up the information you want. I don’t remember an earring, but I wasn’t looking for one.” He quickly scanned the computer file, and while tattoos and other piercings were accounted for, there was no mention of an earring in either man’s left ear.
The information deflated her.
“Maybe The Butcher wears an earring,” he commented. “Lots of men do these days. Can you describe the man you saw in your dream?”
“I saw two—one of them is faceless, but the other is ugly, his face filled with hatred. I drew what I remembered. The sketch is in my pad.”
He picked her up and carried her into the other room. Mandy sat at the table, fully engrossed watching Cassie peel potatoes.
Nikki handed him the sketch. There was no way this man could be real, let alone The Butcher. A disfigured monster like that would be easily remembered. The bald head was crisscrossed with scars, the face distorted. In fact, the monster could have easily have had a third eye among the marks on his face. The earring was the only identifiable object on the man other than what appeared to be a hunter’s camouflage suit.
“Not much help, is it?” she asked, no doubt clueing in to his thoughts from his facial expression.
“Honey,” the endearment sounded natural and felt right. “I have no doubt this is the monster you see in your dreams. If he was one of the men in your kitchen that night, I doubt we’ll identify him from this. If I recalled something that looked like that, I would have nightmares, too. That monster is real to you, just as real as the angel you claim comes into the dreams and scares him away. I saw the picture you drew at the hospital. Irene said it could be me, but it isn’t. I’m no more an angel than the man in this picture can be The Butcher. A man who looks like this wouldn’t be able to come and go as he pleases. I’m sorry. I’ll tell Brad about the earring and the camo suit. It isn’t much, but every clue, no matter how small, counts.”
He glanced at the sketch once more. She’d called him an angel, an answer to prayer, that time he’d arranged for her rescue after the tree had fallen. Maybe she’d recognized him that night from then, and that was the memory fueling her angel fantasy. One of these days, when this was over, he would tell her how she’d sneaked into his heart that night.
Chapter Sixteen
Nikki put away her sketch pad. She’d been drawing Mandy and Danny playing in the snow under Nathan’s watchful eye. Over the last few days, she’d made several illustrations of her daughter doing various activities. Her favorite ones were those with Jason in them, too.
“The pup seems to be managing better in the snow,” Cassie said coming up behind her. “I guess since it’s packed now, it’s easier on him.”
“I didn’t hear you come down. Finished packing?”
“For now.” She rubbed her back, and Nikki frowned.
“Back bothering you again?”
“Yeah, and I’ve had a few Braxton Hicks contractions too. It goes with the territory, I guess. According to Nathan, it’s normal for them to get stronger in the last trimester. The baby’s due in five weeks or so, and I guess I’m just anxious. I’m starting to feel uncomfortable.”
Nikki chuckled. “Let me guess. Morning sickness replaced by heartburn? I had that too.”
The memory surprised her. It was the first one she’d had in days.
Cassie nodded. “I’ll be glad to get home. I don’t even have a crib ready for the baby. Jason’s arranged for Nathan to stay with me until after I deliver, and we have lots to do. I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too. Who’s taking Nathan’s place?”
“I don’t know—an FBI agent, I think. He’ll come back in the car we’ll use to get to the airport.” She sniffed the air appreciatively. “What smells so good?”
Nikki, now able to get around, albeit slowly, on her own had volunteered to look after the meals.
“That’s my signature slow cooker pot roast. I baked rolls, and there’s an apple pie for dessert.”
“It’s hard to believe it’s only been four weeks since you came out of that coma. You’ve made astonishing progress.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever have the control over my left hand that I have over my right—there’s not much feeling in my ring finger, and the circulation is poor. I found that out the other day when Nathan let me go outside. The same thing goes for my eye. If I close my right eye, my vision’s blurry, but with both eyes open, I can see just fine. I’ll look into getting those glasses Nathan mentioned when I get back to Larosa.”
Nikki heard Jason’s cellphone ring and looked at her watch. It was after four. She heard Jason close the door, somewhat surprised by the action. Whenever Brad or Ivan had called in the past, he’d invited her to listen in on the call. The fact that he didn’t this time concerned her.
She’d been expecting them to phone any day with news concerning what the Interpol agents had learned. She turned when the door opened.
<
br /> Jason came into the room his face a mask of suppressed emotion, but she saw the muscle in his jaw jump.
“Cassie, go upstairs and wake Angie and Troy. I’ll get Nathan and Mandy inside. We’ve got unwanted company coming tonight.”
* * *
Jason leaned against the counter and waited impatiently for his meager team to settle. Nikki placed a full carafe of coffee on the table next to a large plate of cookies, but she couldn’t hide the fact that her hand shook slightly. Angie and Troy entered the kitchen and reached eagerly for the caffeine. Nathan whispered to Cassie.
“Come with me, Mandy.” Cassie reached for the child’s hand. “The grown-ups need to talk, and I have to finish packing. You can help me.”
“Are they going to argue?” Mandy asked, her lower lip trembling. “Is Jason going to yell at Mommy? Daddy always sent me up to my room when he was going to discuss with Mommy. Discuss is a grown-up word for fight.” Tears filled her eyes.
Jason hurried over to her and got down on one knee. He pulled the little girl into his arms and hugged her.
“I’m not mad at your mommy, and I’m not going to yell at her, I promise. We just have to talk about something important, and it wouldn’t be fun for you or Cassie. I’m sure if you take some of your storybooks with you, she can read them to you, too.” He used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a lone tear on her cheek, and reached for a cookie.
Mandy took the cookie, nodded solemnly, ran to the sofa where she’d left a couple of books earlier, and then followed Cassie upstairs. He let out the breath he’d been holding. Neither the child nor the expectant mother needed to hear this.
The call coming in from the San Francisco bureau number had thrown him, as had hearing Brad’s clipped voice. She hadn’t said much except that the jig was up and they’d better get ready. After asking him to call back, she gave him a new cell number. He’d copied it down and planned to phone as soon as the team settled. While he’d debated the wisdom of allowing Nikki to hear this, it was her life on the line, the choice should be hers.
“Are you sure you want to hear all the details of what’s happened?” he asked. He’d promised her the truth. There’d be no other secrets between them except the one he could never reveal.
“Yes.” Her voice was firm even if her hands still trembled slightly. “My life and Mandy’s are at stake here. You said I was part of the team, so let me do what I can to help.”
He nodded, dialed the cellphone, and set it on speaker. Brad picked up on the first ring.
“Is the team there?” Her voice was edgy.
“We are, so since we aren’t going to play nice-nice, tell me what has you thinking we have unwelcome guests on the way.”
“There were shots fired at the hospital this morning,” she began. “Security found a custodian with his throat slit in one of the washrooms on the neurology floor. The guard reported it immediately, and they found a man trying to inject a neurotoxin into Nikki’s IV line. There was an altercation. He’s dead.”
“If The Butcher’s dead, that’s good news,” Jason interrupted, unable to keep the frustration out of his voice. Obviously, there was something else at play here. He hated getting briefings like this, but Brad, an analyst, liked to lay out all the facts in the order she thought made the most sense.
“It wasn’t The Butcher. The man was identified quickly. His name is Joe Willis, a local hit man.”
“Damn. He sub-contracted the job. Ivan did say getting others to do his dirty work was part of the man’s MO.” Jason ran his fingers through his hair. “Has the hospital made a statement? Have they blown Nikki’s cover?”
“So far the hospital has kept quiet about it, but there has been a lot of speculation in the media. People heard the gunfire. We won’t be able to keep a lid on this any longer.”
“Why? What else happened?”
“One of Dr. Marion’s nurses didn’t show up for work today. She’d been off for two days. When she didn’t answer her phone, I sent a couple of guys to check it out. She was home, but she’d been badly beaten, her throat slit like the others.”
Nikki gasped. “Oh my God.” Tears pooled in her eyes. He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, but he needed to hear the rest, so he shook his head instead, trying to convey that she wasn’t to blame. Nikki wrapped her arms around herself.
“Nikki, this wasn’t your fault,” Brad continued, voicing Jason’s thoughts aloud. “If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I didn’t see this coming, and I should have. A man who’s eluded Interpol for ten years wouldn’t be easy to catch. The coroner says the girl’s been dead twenty-four hours. The Butcher knew Nikki wasn’t in the hospital.”
The line was quiet. Brad’s a deep, shuddering breath was audible over the phone line. He’d heard the emotion in her voice.
“Jason, the bastard set up Willis and gave himself time to find you.”
“Even if he knew the woman wasn’t Nikki, the nurse couldn’t tell him anything, so how can he have found us?”
“He has my cellphone, the one I used to call you. He has your number, and any good tech can triangulate your location with the information on that phone.”
“What the hell do you mean he has your phone? How’d he get it?”
Jason clenched his fist, his frustration giving way to fear. His stomach roiled, and he regretted that last cookie.
“I don’t know, damn it. I don’t know!” Brad was angry, but Jason knew it was directed at herself and not him. “The cellphone was locked in a drawer in my office. I know it was. When I went to call you after I got word about the nurse, the drawer was open and the phone gone. We’ve turned this place upside down searching for it. We’re checking security tapes, but so far nothing. The techs have done what they can to deactivate the device from here, but...”
“It’s not your fault, Brad. He’s smarter than we thought, and you’re right. We should have known better. We’ll double security tonight and leave in the morning. Can you have another safe house ready for us?”
“Yes, but be careful. I have no idea how he got inside this office. He’s a ghost.”
Jason hung up the phone and silently let out a string of expletives that would have earned him a mouthful of soap as a kid. It took him a few minutes to control his anger and get his breathing back to normal.
He looked around the room at his protection detail. Three men and a woman. What the hell had he been thinking? He shook his head. Thomas Lincoln might be an ass and a crook, but he was right about one thing. This place wasn’t safe. What had seemed like the ideal hiding place now felt like an isolated, vulnerable death trap.
There were too many different ways to gain access to the house, and no way to get out without being spotted. Why hadn’t he built that enclosed walkway to the garage he’d thought about last summer? At least then, they could’ve safely gained access to the vehicles. It was dark out. Leaving now, with a potential killer out there waiting to put them in his crosshairs, would be suicide.
Although all the men and Angie were armed, the weapons hadn’t been drawn or obvious since the first few days. The lack of activity had lulled them all into a false sense of security. His behavior had to be adding to Nikki’s fear, but he couldn’t help it.
“I refueled the generator earlier,” Nathan said, breaking the silence. “The SUV’s all gassed up, too. If we have to leave suddenly, we’re good to go.”
Nikki looked at Jason through tear-filled eyes. He was beyond caring about professionalism. She needed comforting, and he needed to hold her.
“He won’t get you. I swear by everything I hold sacred, he won’t lay a hand on you or Mandy.”
He cradled her, feeling her terror in the rapid beating of her heart.
“Okay.” Troy spoke firmly, taking charge of the situation. “We’ve got company coming. He’s one man—we’re four highly trained professionals, two of us former military special-ops. We can protect them for one night, and then Brad will provide another location. This guy does
n’t know what she looks like, right? Maybe she can go into Witness Protection.”
Jason considered the idea, but the thought of losing Nikki, never seeing her again, was painful. If she walked out of his life now, he’d never know if they might have had a future together, but she’d be safe and alive. Unlike Erika and Denise.
“It wouldn’t matter,” she interrupted. “It seems The Butcher’s resources are unlimited. He would find me sooner or later, and how many others would die while he searched? I refuse to be responsible for any more deaths including Mandy’s or mine.”
Jason tightened his arms around her and placed a quick kiss on her hair. It took courage to stand and fight, and Nikki was a fighter. Hasn’t he known that from the beginning?
“Then it ends here,” Troy said and reached for more coffee. “We need a plan of action for tonight.”
“From what Ivan says,” Jason began, “The Butcher doesn’t work alone. He brings in local muscle to help him, and then leaves those bodies behind as well.”
Nikki shuddered, but Jason kept his arms firmly around her waist.
Troy stood and paced. “Then, he won’t be alone. We’d better figure out how to defend this place. Let’s start by closing the storm shutters. It’s a good thing we didn’t take down the outside ones last week. We’ll put the plywood up in the master bedroom, too. Nathan and I will set up down here. Angie, take the side bedroom with the balcony facing the garage. Anyone coming from that direction is yours. Remember, shoot first, and ask questions later. Jason, you’ll take the back bedroom. I don’t think anyone will come at us from there, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Damn, what I wouldn’t give for another half-dozen men right now. It’s going to get cold in here, so dress warmly. Firing through glass won’t just slow the momentum of the bullet, it’ll deflect it. We can’t afford to miss. Every shot has to count.”
Nikki had turned her body within his arms, standing with her back to him. He could see the horror on her face reflected in the glass front of the microwave oven, feel it in the way she trembled against him.
On His Watch (Vengeance Is Mine Book 1) Page 21
