An Unlikely Hero (1)

by Tierney James

  In those days Chase lived in a mountain village among Afghan freedom fighters who opposed the Taliban. When several young girls went missing Chase led the men out on a search. After two days they were found beaten and raped by Taliban insurgents. Weeks later a Taliban informant pointed the finger at a Libyan named Essid who’d been in the area spreading a little cheer with his deep pockets. His reward had been the two young girls. After tiring of them he’d freely given them to the ruthless Taliban. Chase made it his mission to hunt Essid down so the village could seek their own form of revenge. After six months Essid found himself in a jail in Kandahar, along with several of his followers. After being transferred to Pakistan, where Chase planned to interrogate him, Essid escaped with the help of a Pakistani soldier. Apparently the promise of a bribe bought his freedom. The little justice that survived came when Essid shot the Pakistani for not being true to his job.

  “Mr. Crawley must have told them it was in my yard,” Tessa realized. “Last night my little girl said she saw a falling star. It must have been the bomb.” Tessa shivered at the thought of what might have happened if it had exploded.

  “Did she say it fell in the yard?” Chase inquired as he moved toward the backyard. He entered Mr. Crawley’s backyard through French doors onto a covered patio. Two lawn chairs, a small charcoal grill and a TV tray was all that occupied the large concrete space. No flowers, little grass, several live oaks that had seen better days, gave the yard an abandoned feel.

  Tessa followed quickly after Chase like an anxious puppy. “I donno. Maybe. I thought she’d seen a meteor so I had her make a wish.” She walked to the tall white picket fence where Mr. Crawley had bombarded her with another list of complaints only this morning. She looked over into her beautiful yard full of flowers and felt her heart lurch, remembering her children playing tag and whiffle ball. Silently she said a prayer of thanks that her family was safely in the mountains away from the unfolding nightmare. Just to hold the children and kiss their sweaty little heads would seem like paradise. The touch of Robert’s hand holding hers as they’d strolled into church last Sunday now felt like the most romantic experience of a life time. In her heart she whispered, “I love you, Robert. I’m sorry.”

  “Something?” Chase broke through her reverie as he came up close enough to slightly brush against her arm. He quickly stepped aside as if he’d been stung by one of the honeybees floating about the white butterfly bush in the Scott yard. His voice, serious and direct, held little emotion or concern. This appeared to be just another day to him.

  Startled, Tessa cleared her throat to explain how Mr. Crawley had seemed crankier than usual when he’d found out she’d not left with her family. There was the list of complaints and finger pointing, but Tessa had, as always, smiled, nodded and promised to do better. “But look,” she pointed down at the ground. “My sprinklers go off around three in the morning. That way by the time the children come out to play they don’t track mud into the house. I never noticed earlier but there are muddy footprints going away from the fence. Someone came over the fence into my yard, tracked in the flower beds then came back. See,” she pointed behind her, “there are several more steps before the grass managed to take it off. I bet you’ll find traces of it on the rug in his mudroom.”

  Both turned and traced the footsteps back into the mudroom. “Get a man in here, Claudia to see if there’s any trace of radiation,” ordered Chase. “I bet our little nuisance is buried in Mrs. Scott’s flower garden.”

  The captain continued through the house looking for a clue as to why Mr. Crawley had been a target. “There are no pictures of him or a family.”

  Tessa nodded and sadly looked out the family room window where Mr. Crawley had a perfect view of her backyard. He must have watched them daily. Maybe he even enjoyed all their noise, baseball games and bar-b-ques. Tessa found some news clippings lying on the coffee table. Respectfully, one by one, she lifted them up to read.

  Sean Patrick Scott scores the winning run for Little Tigers!

  Three area teachers receive award for excellence in teaching.

  Local family volunteers at homeless shelter for Thanksgiving.

  There were others: all about the Scotts. They had been lovingly clipped and preserved in plastic covers. They were the only family he had. His only way to interact with the Scotts had been to complain. The feeling of regret swelled inside her. All this time she’d thought him a cranky, disgruntled neighbor.

  “Looks like you’ve got a stalker,” came the dispassionate voice of Claudia.

  Tessa frowned defensively as Claudia lifted, and then tossed one of the articles recklessly on the couch. Quickly, Tessa retrieved it and replaced it back with the others. “Don’t touch these,” she warned. “They have nothing to do with this mess or your little secret covert group of thugs!”

  Claudia’s eyebrows arched in confusion hearing a voice tone change. She cut her eyes toward Chase to receive a nod. With a shrug, the librarian moved on, quietly giving directions to others throughout the house.

  As he made a call, Chase checked his watch then motioned for Tessa to follow him outside the house. Surprised at the sun on the horizon, she guessed the captain wanted her to get settled so he could get back to work. He had been relatively quiet since she’d insulted his organization and Claudia. The thought occurred to her that Enigma probably didn’t have many witnesses to their operation. Tessa imagined nothing good would come of this encounter with Enigma even after she’d placed herself in harm’s way several times over the last ten hours.

  “Now what?” Tessa asked, sticking her hands in her jean pockets. The evening air was growing cool. She’d forgotten to throw a sweater in her bag. A slight shiver forced her hands out of her pockets so she could hug her elbows up against her chest.

  “There are no photos of Mr. Crawley. I suspect he worked for a government agency that helped erase his identity.”

  “CIA?” Tessa just couldn’t imagine Mr. Crawley working for the CIA.

  Chase smothered a chuckled. “Civilians always think of the CIA as erasing identities. There are other government groups that are pretty fond of that too.”

  “Like Enigma? By the way, is Chase Hunter your real name?”

  The sudden appearance of tiny lines at the corners of his brown eyes indicated Chase fought back narrowing them in frustration. “Let’s focus on Mr. Crawley. Obviously he has some attachment to you and your family.” Tessa wasn’t very good at hiding her feelings or emotions in those pretty blue eyes. He saw the worry and distress replace her obstinate attitude toward him. “Ride with me back to Sacramento and tell me everything you know about your neighbor. In the meantime, I’ll have Vernon try to locate what he’s been up to.”

  Tessa nodded in surrender. “Okay.” She saw the surprise in Chase’s eyes. He’d expected another confrontation. “If I can help find Mr. Crawley then I’m in. He tried to warn me. I’m afraid he might die alone. Those men are trying to destroy my way of life.”

  Tessa climbed into the black Hummer when Chase opened the door for her. “I want to talk to my family.”

  “Soon.” Chase said as he got behind the wheel and started the engine. “He’s been trying to reach you all day.”

  Tessa’s eyes widened with optimism. “Really! How…”

  “All your calls have been forwarded to my phone for security purposes. You can’t inform him of any of today’s events. Understand?” His voice left no room for misunderstanding.

  “Understood, Captain Hunter.” She gave a mocking salute.

  Deep inside her, Tessa smiled, knowing a friendly voice who loved her would go a long way to brighten her mood. Even though the air conditioning roared to life, Tessa lowered her window to feel the night air free her of the fear that threatened to drown her.

  Again she prayed silently. “Please watch over my family, God and the people of California. And keep this man” her eyes cut to Chase, “safe and clear headed because I’m terrified.”

  Robert tuck
ed his daughter into her feather bed and kissed her forehead. “Love you, sweetie! Sleep tight!”

  “Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” she giggled. Then a frown came across her cherub face as her lips pushed out into a pout. “I miss Mommy, Daddy. Call her again. I wanna say good night.”

  Robert smiled weakly. He hadn’t been able to reach her all day or any of her girlfriends. He’d left messages on the land line and her cell. Where could she be? Was Tessa so angry with him that she couldn’t even check to see how her children made it through the day?

  He dialed again as he stroked Heather’s curly hair and realized it was the same texture as Tessa’s. She looked so much like her mother, the way she pouted, smiled, laughed. Everything. In that moment his heart filled with love for his wife and all that she did for them every day without ever hearing a thank you from him. His three kids were amazing because of her. Lord knows, he hadn’t been there to aid in the raising. Today had been an eye opener. There hadn’t been much time to relax as he’d single handedly become activities director for the family. Would he be able to last two weeks?

  Robert stood suddenly as he realized he had a connection on his phone. “Tessa?”

  “I wanna talk to Mommy!” Heather said throwing back the covers.

  “Tessa?” he said again.

  Chase Hunter held out the phone to Tessa just as they’d pulled into an underground parking garage near the Sacramento capital. As she grabbed for it, Chase pulled it back in warning. “Remember what we discussed, Mrs. Scott.”

  She nodded quickly like a small anxious child as she took the phone. “Hello! Robert!” Tessa wasn’t sure she’d be able to contain the flood of tears.

  “Tessa! Where have you been?” The worry in his voice was evident. Before he could say another word Heather stole the phone.

  “Mommy! Mommy!”

  Tessa laughed. The speaker remained on so Chase could hear every word. “Yes, sweetie! I love you. Have you had a good day?”

  “Oh yes! Daddy has been so fun!”

  Tessa almost regretted hearing that little bit of praise. “Really? What have you been doing?” Heather began talking so fast that Tessa couldn’t begin to translate. All she could do was laugh. Seconds later the boys were on, talking about the boat, hiking and the puke in the backseat just before a squabble broke out over who caught the biggest fish.

  “Love you!

  “You too, Mom!”

  She heard Robert shoo them off to bed. When the sound of a screen door slammed, Tessa knew he must be on the front porch of their little rented cabin. How peaceful it must be there so near the lake. No dirty bombs to worry about. No missing neighbors or terrorists. No secret government organization holding you hostage. Her eyes went to Chase who stared at nothing through the windshield, but listened to every word she spoke. “Robert?” she said softly.

  “I’ve been worried. Why didn’t you answer your phone all day?”

  “Sorry. I’ve been busy.”

  “Did you get started on the painting? Oh and I forgot to pay the electric bill. Could you take care of that?”

  Tessa frowned. “No. I didn’t get started on the painting.”

  Robert sighed as he sat down in one of the rockers. “Did you play around with your girlfriends?” He regretted sounding flippant as soon as he’d opened his mouth.

  “Well if you must know, I’ve been chasing down terrorists,” she retorted lightly as Chase turned his narrowed brown eyes on her. “Yes. They tried to take me hostage but the plumber saved me by shooting up the house. Thankfully, old Mr. Crawley intervened and they took him instead.”

  “Good. Maybe now you can get some work done,” he chuckled nervously. “You always had a cute flare for the dramatic.” Robert cleared his throat. “The kids miss you, honey. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”

  Tessa smiled and pressed the phone closer as if caressing Robert’s cheek. “Oh, Robert. I’m sorry too.”

  Robert chuckled. “Maybe you could come up after you’re finished painting the house!” he said cheerfully.

  Tessa pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it as if some mysterious information had just entered the universe. “Are you kidding me!” she said lowly, hoping that Chase Hunter couldn’t tell her anger had risen to new heights.

  Again a nervous chuckle. “Of course I’m kidding, honey!” Robert’s rocker squeaked as he began to rock. He had no way of knowing a formidable Enigma captain was guiding his wife through a maze of secret tunnels below the streets of Sacramento. It wasn’t until Robert heard a strangely familiar ding that he inquired. “Was that an elevator?” He stopped rocking. What could Tessa be doing?

  Tessa watched the stern faced captain breathe on an identification pad to enter through the clear doors of a busy control room filled with people, all monitoring computer screens or overhead flat screens you would normally see at a convention. “Elevator? Oh, that’s right; you’ve been gone so long you no longer recognize the sound of a microwave.” Tessa sounded almost light hearted as she teased her husband. She wasn’t going to straight out lie to him. “Guess you really do need me!”

  Robert sighed. “Yes, more than anything.”

  “Call me tomorrow, Robert. Kiss the kids for me. I’m beat. Love you!” Tessa clicked off before her husband could brow beat her into joining them at Lake Tahoe. Raising her chin in defiance once more at the suspicious captain, Tessa nonchalantly handed back his phone. “Happy?”

  Taking the phone he looked down into her manipulating blue eyes that made him more than a little uneasy. “Charming!” he snapped.

  Together they pushed through another set of doors. Tessa burst into laughter. The sound of Chase Hunter’s sarcastic response caused a release of the day’s terrifying tension. As they neared the inner offices, he blew his breath on another security pad before placing his hand on some kind of sensor. A green ribbon of light appeared and scanned his entire body. “Charming?” She choked back the laughter as steel doors slowly opened. He pulled her in after him.

  “Why is that so funny?”

  She looked around her small enclosure, all shiny, sterile and non-descript. Chase put his hands on his hips, a gesture Tessa began to recognize as Chase’s way of evaluating a situation. “You’re a big strong guy with killer brown eyes.” Again she chuckled, trying to figure out where they were. “You look like someone who eats nails and barbwire for breakfast. And then you say something like ‘charming’.”

  This time when she started to laugh, Chase found himself intoxicated by the sound and joined in just as the opposite side of the tiny room opened into the inner office of Benjamin Clark. Tessa found his deep, warm laugh somehow comforting as they turned to face the Enigma team that Captain Chase Hunter commanded. Some of them stood, others sat at a desk, but all of them froze and looked at the two when the sound of their laughter filled the room.

  Benjamin Clark frowned as he eyed his team leader with one thick eyebrow arched in confusion and aggravation. Chase quickly soured as he met the hawk like eyes of his boss. “Having a good time, Captain Hunter?”

  “No sir.”

  “I should hope not.” His eyes went to Tessa Scott, standing like a high school beauty queen next to the warrior who had been to hell and back. He realized by her wandering gaze she struggled to make sense of her surroundings. Earlier in the day she’d been in, as yet, an unused part of the Enigma headquarters. Tessa had now been exposed to the hub of their work. He wasn’t sure what he ultimately would need to do about that problem.

  Benjamin could count the times he’d heard Captain Chase Hunter laugh out loud and this was the second time today. He watched Tessa wither under his fierce gaze as she stepped a little back and behind the captain. Benjamin didn’t like surprises. Mrs. Scott was proving to be an interesting encounter. He turned his stocky body to stand before the entire team. The wall behind him transformed into a computer screen.

  A map appeared of Grass Valley. Points were marked as to the location of Tessa and Mr. Cr
awley’s house. The site of the unexpected launch was marked in red. Tessa realized how close she’d lived to the terrorist. Although her neighborhood was a gated community, the one behind her was not. The house in question had not been that far away. Why would someone living in such a beautiful place want to destroy it? How could a life be so filled with hate and hopelessness that the only option was destruction?

  “Mrs. Scott?” Benjamin Clark singled her out. She straightened, leery of what she may have done wrong again. “You were right. There were traces of radioactivity in the mud.” He saw the anxiety in her eyes. “Fortunately the levels were very small. And,” he nodded toward her as he turned his back on them once more, “thanks to Mrs. Scott, we did find a small dirty bomb in her flower bed.”

  All eyes turned her way. Zoric, the villainous looking man she’d encountered earlier in the day, smirked a satisfied “well done.” Vernon, the computer genius gave her a wink and thumbs up. Sam, the stunningly beautiful woman she’d been captured by at the elevator, only eyed her with contempt before turning her large cat like eyes back to their boss.

  But it was Chase Hunter she timidly looked at for approval. His acknowledgement failed to come. She turned her eyes back to Benjamin. He went on to say the bomb appeared to have landed in Mr. Crawley’s yard near the fence. “It appears Mr. Crawley buried it in your yard, Mrs. Scott. Given that he made comments about you not leaving on vacation with your family indicates he thought it would be safe there.” Benjamin moved to the edge of his mahogany desk and leaned on the edge. “We think Mr. Crawley knew what it was and used one of your son’s toys to trick the terrorists. We suspect he’d had contact with these men before, maybe wanting advice. Why he didn’t call authorities is a little suspect.” He took a deep breath then ran his hand across his face as if wiping away cobwebs. “It’s on the way to the lab for further evaluation. At this point we don’t know for sure if there is another bomb.”