He looked at Troy. “Man, you just don’t know how happy I am to see you. What happened? Somebody get this man a seat and a drink.”
“I’m all right,” Troy said as he took a seat in one of the brown leather chairs.
“Victor, did you get our main target?” Sean asked.
“No, he got away, but I did kill his sidekick.”
Troy said, “We don’t have much time. They are plotting something and whatever it is, it’ll affect everybody in the DFW area. They want to send a message to the rest of the country.”
“Do you know when this is supposed to happen?” Before Sean could get his answer his cell phone rang. “Quiet, everybody.”
Sean put the phone on speaker.
“I guess I’ll have to figure out another way for you to give me that ten million dollars,” Troy and Savannah’s kidnapper said.
“We got what we wanted so we have nothing else to talk about,” Sean said.
“If you hang up the phone, the lives of a million people will be in jeopardy.”
Mike used the computer to see if he could trace the call. Sean said, “What do you want? Ten million today. Five million tomorrow. What do you want to go away and forget whatever is going through your sick mind?”
“We are not going away. The government tried to get rid of us, but we’re still standing. I want what’s rightfully mine,” the man on the other end said.
“And that’s what?”
“Freedom. Freedom from taxes and to live my life without the government always in my business.”
“Why don’t you just move to another country and you wouldn’t have to worry about it?” Sean asked.
“You can stop trying to track me. As you can tell, I’m hard to catch up with.”
Mike shook his head to indicate no luck in tracing it.
Sean said, “Again, move if you don’t like it here.”
“My forefathers helped build this country and I will not be run from my birthright.”
Sean knew there was no rationalizing with an irrational-minded person. Driskoll was definitely not a normal person. “Norman . . . I can call you Norman?”
“As long as I can call you Sean.”
“Well, now that we’re on a first-name basis, tell me, Norman, what will the ten million dollars guarantee?”
“Since you have your friend and his girlfriend back, I think I want more than that. Let’s see, how much do you think it’s worth to save DFW?”
“I don’t have time to play this game with you. Call me back when you have something to say.”
There was a pause. Then the guy known as Norman yelled, “Do you think this is a game? Do you remember what happened in 2009? Were we playing? Do you want to see the same thing happen here? It’s up to you, Sean.”
Sean’s mind flashed back to four years ago. The memory of that organization going on a killing spree lingered in his mind. They targeted all of the mayors within the state of Arizona. It was a blood path. Some they were able to save but there were those who weren’t, and the state of Arizona would never be the same. Sean had no idea of what Norman had planned this go-around, but whatever it was, he knew it wasn’t going to be good. Death was surely inevitable if he was involved.
Sean thought taking out the second-in-command had crippled the organization, but now it seemed like they were back with even more treacherous things in mind.
“Your buddy there, Troy, has something implanted in him that may have the answers so if I were you, I would make sure he sought medical attention.” With that, Norman hung up.
Troy’s hand flew to his right shoulder. He took the shirt off.
Jason examined it. “There’s an insertion.”
Troy said, “Dial 972-555-9492 for me.”
Fifteen minutes later, Sean was driving Troy to one of the local hospitals. Troy’s contact would be the one to remove the insertion in a secure and safe room.
Sean said, “Man, you need to call Savannah. She’s worried sick about you.”
“What if what’s in my arm is deadly? I don’t know if I can take seeing a worried look on her face. It may be best for her to think that I was still held hostage.”
“Okay, I know that thing in your arm must be messing with your brain, because, man, that’s just ludicrous.”
“Man, I love that woman more than anything in this world. I’ve already caused her enough pain. It may be best that she finds her someone else,” Troy said while looking out the window.
“Delusions must be another sign of what’s planted in your arm. Good thing we just pulled up in front of the hospital.”
Sean parked the car and he and Troy went to the basement floor of the hospital as instructed. Waiting for them was a tall, lanky dude in a white lab coat. Troy made the introductions.
“Sean, this is Doctor Menchan. I met him while working the Manking assignment.”
Dr. Menchan responded, “I love seeing you but not under these circumstances.”
“Ditto,” the doctor gave Sean a mask to put on.
“Just in case,” he said.
The doctor and his assistant put on masks. Troy lay on the operating table on his side.
While Troy was distracted, Sean called Montana. “Good news. Troy’s alive.”
The excitement coming from Montana made Sean glad he called. He continued, “We’re at the hospital now getting him checked out. Tell Savannah. I didn’t want her to worry another minute.”
“What hospital?” Montana asked.
“That I can’t tell you. I will call you when he gets out of surgery.”
“Surgery? What kind of surgery?” Montana asked.
“I’ll tell you everything later. I got to go. Just let her know. Please.” Sean ended the call before he blurted out their location. When it came to Montana, he was weak and he wasn’t afraid to admit it.
Sean waited outside of the surgery room while the doctor removed the tracking device.
15
The safe house was in a secluded neighborhood. To gain access a person had to stop at the guard shack. The house looked like any other house except it had bulletproof windows and each room had weapons just in case whoever was in the safehouse got ambushed. There was also twenty-four hour security.
Montana watched Savannah toss and turn in the strange bed. She didn’t want to disturb her but maybe she would rest better if she knew Troy was safe. “Vanna, wake up.” Montana gently shook her.
Savannah shot straight up in the bed. Fear filled her eyes. “What! What!”
“Calm down, sis. I have good news.”
“I could use some good news. I kept having this nightmare of Troy.”
Montana didn’t allow her to continue. “Troy’s been located. He’s in surgery right now but as soon as Sean knows something he is going to call me back.”
Savannah’s legs fell to the side of the bed. She looked for her shoes. “I can’t just sit here. I got to get to him.”
“I don’t know what hospital so we need to chill until Sean calls me back.”
Savannah screamed, “Get Sean on the phone pronto!”
Montana obeyed her older sister and dialed Sean’s number, but was unsuccessful in reaching him. Her back-to-back calls were all going straight to voice mail. Something told her that Sean didn’t want to be reached, or he was sending all of her calls to voice mail manually.
Montana’s role now was to calm her sister down. “Look, Vanna. At least we know he’s safe and sound. Lie back down. He’s going to need you and you’re not going to be any good if you don’t get some rest.”
Montana needed to take her own advice. It hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours since learning of Savannah and Troy’s abduction but her body felt like she had been up for a week.
Montana said, “Let’s make a deal. If you lie down, I’ll lie down. My phone is right here. Sean promised to call me with an update.”
Reluctantly, Savannah got back in the bed.
Montana leaned her head back on the pillo
w. She closed her eyes and thanked God again for Savannah being there and also for Troy’s safe return. She didn’t know when she dozed off but when she woke up, sunlight beamed through the curtains. She turned over but Savannah was no longer lying next to her. Montana had to ask herself if the last twenty-four hours had been a bad dream.
She looked up when the bedroom door opened and Savannah walked in, using a towel to dry her dripping wet hair. “I couldn’t sleep anymore so I got up and took me a long shower and washed my hair.”
“Is Asia still asleep?” Montana asked.
“No. She’s cooking us breakfast.”
Montana felt guilty. She was usually the first one up. It had been that way since they were little. She guessed she was more exhausted than she knew. She picked up her phone from the nightstand. There were a couple of missed calls but none from Sean. Several of her employees were wondering if she was coming into the office today.
She called her secretary and told her she would be taking a few days off and decided to follow suit on what Savannah did by taking a bath. She could hear Asia and Savannah talking after she changed into the clothes that were at the safe house. Tonight, she planned on staying at her own house.
She dialed Sean’s number. She needed an update. She was tired of waiting. She didn’t get a response. The front door flew open. There stood Sean and Troy. She was so happy to see Troy. He had a few bruises and looked a little pale. She ran up to him and hugged her future brother-in-law.
“Troy, I’m so glad to see you.”
Savannah must have heard them. She almost knocked Montana over to get to Troy. Montana moved out of the way and watched the happy reunion. Savannah couldn’t take her hands off Troy’s face. Troy couldn’t take his hands off her face.
“Thanks for making my sister happy,” Montana said to Sean.
Sean grabbed Montana’s hand and led her into another room. “I’m sorry about not calling you back. Troy had to have emergency surgery.”
“Troy looks fine now. What kind of surgery did he have?” Montana asked.
“A chip was placed in him. The doctor ran some tests to make sure there weren’t any chemicals in his system. I’m glad to report there weren’t any. I heard that Asia is good with computers so we’re going to need her to help us decode some things that are on the chip.”
“She’s a computer guru. That’s probably why her and Mike get along. They are both geeks.”
“She’s a pretty geek.”
“Oh, so you’ve been checking out my sister?” Montana tilted her head to the side and raised her right eye.
“Jealous are we?” Sean asked.
“Never that,” Montana said as she crossed her arms.
“I love to see you pout. Come here.” Sean didn’t wait for her permission. He pulled her in his arms and for a third time kissed her like there was no tomorrow.
Montana’s hand fell down to her side. She reached her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Their tongues danced in and out of each other’s mouths. The room spun as Montana got lost in Sean’s kiss. If she hadn’t known better, she could have sworn she heard Sean moan, or were the moans coming from her?
Sean broke their kiss. “Montana, when I get around you I lose all self-control.”
“I’m the one who’s usually in control. I wasn’t expecting all of this. We barely know anything about each other,” Montana said.
“Then I say after all of this is over, we should,” Sean responded.
“It’s a date.” Montana smiled. “Now let’s go find Asia so we can see what’s on the disk.”
Montana left the room knowing that Sean was watching her. She couldn’t help but smile.
16
“Did you cook enough for two hungry fellows?” Sean asked as Asia slipped the chip into the device on the computer.
“I cooked enough to feed an army. You’ll have to warm it up though,” she responded.
“I’m going to do that. I’ll be right back.” Sean left Asia alone and went to the kitchen. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until now. He piled his plate full of food and warmed it up in the microwave.
Asia had a perplexed look on her face. He tried to stay out of her way and keep conversation to a minimum because he didn’t like to be bothered whenever he was troubleshooting something.
He ate his food, hoping Asia would be able to figure out what was on the disk.
“Sean, I think I got it,” she said.
He placed the plate on the table in front of him and went to stand behind her.
She pointed at the screen. “This is a formula or something.” Asia used the mouse and scrolled down on the screen. “Oh my God.” Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Let me get here,” Sean said as he read over her shoulder.
He and Asia switched positions. Sean pulled out his cell phone. “The battery’s dead. Can I borrow your phone?” he asked.
Asia pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to him. He dialed Mike’s number. “Mike, we got a serious problem. Norman is planning on using biological warfare chemicals. Right now what I don’t know is if it’s going to be airborne, or how he plans on using it.”
Mike responded, “Let me get some experts rounded up. Meet me at the office ASAP.”
Sean said, “In the meantime, I’m going to contact Homeland Security. They need to be aware of what we might be up against.”
Asia said, “What can I do?”
“Make a copy of this for me and put it on one of these flash drives. We’re going to keep the original.”
“How many copies?”
Sean got out of the chair so Asia could do what he asked. “For now, make three.”
Sean went back into the room where Savannah, Troy, and Montana were. “I got word that your places are safe. Troy, I think it’s best that you stay either with me or here at this safe house.”
Montana said, “They can stay with me. There’s plenty of room.”
Troy looked at Savannah. “Works for me,” Savannah said.
“Now that’s settled, as soon as Asia finishes, I’m going to drop you all off and head to the office.”
Asia entered the room and handed Sean the flash drives. She then placed the small chip in his other hand. “Did you tell them?” she asked Sean.
Sean hadn’t, and had planned on doing so when they were in the car. “Not yet, but we can discuss it on the way to Montana’s. I need to hurry up and get to the office.”
After everyone was comfortably in the SUV, Sean got everyone up to speed.
Troy said, “It’s going to be the water supply. Now everything makes sense.” Troy recalled hearing a conversation when his captors thought he was unconscious after one of their beatings. “I heard Norman mention something about ‘if we can get them to drink it, it’ll work faster.’ It has to be what they were speaking of.”
Sean and Troy double-checked to make sure Montana’s place was secure before allowing them inside. Sean said, “One of our men will be watching the house at all times. I don’t want any of you to worry.”
Troy said, “Sean, I’m going with you.”
Savannah tried to plead with Troy to stay, but he wasn’t having it. “I will be back. If anything happens, I’ll call you.”
Savannah pouted. Sean left them to work things out on their own. He said his good-byes to Asia and Montana. Montana looked like she wanted to say something else, but she didn’t.
Troy met him at the car. Troy said, “Mike wants us to meet him at the Federal Building on Midway. Homeland Security has a lot of questions for us.”
Sean eased the SUV into busy Dallas traffic on Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway. “I’m hoping Norman calls me back. Man, this can cause an epidemic beyond anything we’ve ever seen,” he admitted.
When they arrived, Sean removed his weapon and placed it in his glove compartment. They went through the normal security and were led to the fifth floor of the Federal Building. When he and Troy entered the room through a gray steel door, alread
y seated inside were three men in dark blue suits, and a woman, with her hair in a bun, wearing a brown suit.
“Have a seat, gentlemen,” one of the men said.
Sean looked at Troy right before they both took seats.
The man who had told them to take a seat introduced himself. “I’m Agent Sleeves and we understand you have some information that we need.”
Troy took the lead while Sean tried to assess the people in the room. Although they were supposed to have the same goals to catch the bad guys, Sean learned a long time ago that everyone wasn’t trustworthy. Some would have their own personal agendas and didn’t care who they hurt to achieve them, Troy briefly told them what had transpired in the last twenty-four hours.
Agent Sleeves said, “We should have been informed.”
“Agent Sleeves, my team was more than capable of handling the situation,” Troy said.
Sean took that moment to interject. “Look, we can go back and forth on this, or we can work together and share information so we can avoid a catastrophic situation.”
Sean retrieved one of the flash drives and placed it in front of Agent Sleeves. “This is what they plan to use. Like Mike informed you, they plan on putting this in the water supply. When? We don’t know. That’s why we’re contacting you.”
Agent Sleeves handed it to one of the other men in the room. He placed the flash drive in the laptop that was sitting in front of him. He said, “I just sent the info to Davis. He’ll be able to tell us exactly what it is.”
“Driskoll is behind this. I know for a fact because Norman has been in contact with me. Troy here has confirmed it as well.”
“Driskoll was disbanded,” Agent Sleeves stated in a matter-of-fact voice.
“Disbanded and now back with even more sinister things in mind,” Sean added.
Troy looked down at his new phone. He used one hand to scroll through the numbers in his history on the phone. “Agent Sleeves, we need your people to brief the mayor of Dallas, and the surrounding area representatives, of a possible danger.”
“If we do that, we’ll have mass panic. Until we know more, I think it’s best that we keep this information under wraps.”
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