Sean got up first. He extended his hand and helped her stand up out of the bed. He couldn’t help admiring her round naked body. She had curves in all the right places and if she didn’t take her fine self into the bathroom, he would lose all resolve again. “Go, you’re too tempting,” he blurted out.
Montana picked up her discarded clothes and went to the bathroom. Sean retrieved some clothes from his closet and went downstairs to wash up.
He beat Montana to the front door. He called out her name, but there was no answer. “Montana.”
Still no answer.
Sean pulled out his gun and held it up as he eased through the hallway. He ran smack into Montana. “Ooh, Sean, you scared me.”
Sean sighed. He placed his gun down to his side. “Montana, I thought something had happened to you.”
“No. I probably didn’t hear you because I had your fan on in the bathroom. I didn’t want you to hear me. Well, let’s just say I was taking care of business.”
Sean blurted out laughing. “You’re something else. Come on. I got everything I need.”
Sean locked up his house and they headed to the designated safe house.
Troy, Asia, and Savannah were already there. He could tell by the curious looks they probably figured out they took a detour since it took them so long to get there.
Troy pulled Sean to the side. “I can tell from the magical glow you both have y’all were up to a little something something,” Troy teased.
Sean ignored him. “Any news on Norman yet?”
“Let me make a few phone calls,” Troy said.
Sean gave the sisters a tour of the safe house. “The panic room is located here so if someone intrudes while we’re gone, just make it to this room.”
Sean flipped the light on so they could see. He continued to say, “There’s a staircase that winds around. Then if need be follow the tunnel and it’ll take you to one of the nearby fields and there’s a car there full of gas. The key is located by the door.”
“Sean, man, come here,” Troy yelled.
“Close this for me,” Sean looked at Montana and said. Sean rushed to where Troy was standing.
Troy looked furious. “I just got a phone call. The convoy was attacked. Norman is back on the loose.”
Sean clinched his fist. “This is what I was afraid was going to happen.” Sean called Mike. “Mike, we’re going to level five.”
Troy stated, “When you want something done right, you do it yourself.”
Sean’s phone rang. The word “restricted” flashed across the screen. Norman’s evil laugh sounded in his ear.
“You know you can’t keep a good man down. Did you think you could keep me locked up? I’m a god in my world and my people will do whatever it takes. Did you find that note?”
“Norman, there’s not a cave deep enough. If it takes me years, I will find you.”
“One other thing. You might have all of the vials, but I still have the formula. My man will be making up another batch and this time, Mr. Patterson, you will not be able to stop us.”
The phone went dead. Sean felt like throwing his phone across the room. “We got to catch this dude before he really goes through with this threat,” Sean said.
Asia interrupted, “Why don’t y’all concentrate on finding him and we”—Asia pointed to her two sisters and then to herself—“will look for the scientist he’s using to make the stuff.”
“No. I don’t want any of you involved. You all need to stay out of it,” Sean immediately disagreed.
“We need to work together on this. You two can’t be all over the place,” Savannah interjected.
Troy kept his mouth shut. Sean wanted to know why Troy wasn’t backing him up on this. Sean looked at Montana. Montana looked away. “Troy, come on, man.”
Troy rubbed his left eyebrow. “As much as I don’t want my baby to be in harm’s way, I’m confident that they can handle themselves.”
“No. They just got lucky, man. Anything can happen. They are not equipped for battle,” Sean protested.
Montana said, “Speak for yourself. We’re prepared to do whatever it takes. If you feel we need more training, then train us; but I think me and my sisters are more than capable of handling this ‘mad scientist.’”
Sean blurted out, “We don’t have time for that.”
Asia pushed her iPad in front of Sean. “I’ve been doing my own research trying to figure out where those vials could have been made. I’ve narrowed it down to several places. These are the three sites that he may have someone working on it at. I need access to your database so I can do some background checks on the employees.”
“Get with Mike and he’ll get you all the access you need,” Troy stated.
Sean didn’t want to cave in, but as more and more of their men were getting killed, he reluctantly gave in and said, “You ladies handle the scientist. Troy and I will go track down Norman. We need to keep the lines of communication open.”
Troy added, “But instead of calling, text the person, because either of us could be in a position where a ringing or vibrating phone could interfere with our operations.”
Sean said, “Everybody look at your watch. It’s sixteen hundred right now. Everybody got that.”
All of the heads in the room acknowledged the time. He continued, “Due to the nature of this, someone from both sides will be in contact with at least one person via text and inform the party of what’s going on. If trouble arises . . . type in nine-one-one.”
The sisters saluted Sean. Troy said, “You can take my car. It’s on full.” Troy handed Savannah his keys. “The red key is for this door.” Troy pulled Savannah in for a long kiss.
Sean, not wanting to feel left out, pulled Montana in for even a longer kiss.
Asia cleared her throat. “Hellooo. We got some criminals to catch, people.”
Sean followed Troy out of the safe house in search of his nemesis, Norman.
33
Montana was having second thoughts about their plans on tracking down the scientist. “I don’t know why I let you two talk me into this,” she repeated over and over as they pulled up to one of the laboratories on Asia’s list.
She did a quick glance of herself in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and she had on some thick Coke-bottle glasses. She looked like a complete nerd.
“Those Coke bottles are cameras. We just need you to get in there and get a lay of the place for us,” Asia said.
“Get in and get out,” Montana said to herself as she walked up the walkway to the pharmaceutical building.
The guard stopped her. “Ma’am. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
“I just started,” Montana said. She pulled out the fake badge Asia had made. The guard scanned it. Montana held her breath until she heard the door click.
“Don’t forget to enter your code to get through the other door.”
Montana clenched her teeth; Asia hadn’t said anything about a code. She had to think quick on her feet. “I forgot my notebook inside. It has all of that information. Is it possible you can enter the code for me?” she asked.
The guard said, “Well, Ms. Applegate, maybe you should wait until your supervisor is here because I’m really not supposed to do that.”
Montana pulled out some fake tears. “But, this is my first day. I really need this job. My rent’s overdue and if I don’t have my rent in two weeks, I’m on the streets.”
The guard felt sorry for Montana. “Calm down. I’ll let you in this time, but remember, you must have your code the next time. So don’t forget your folder.”
Montana straightened up her face. “God bless you and I won’t. I promise.”
Montana watched the guard enter the code and filed it in her memory for future use, just in case. She used the badge to access other parts of the lab. She went to the location according to the layout that Asia had shown her but the lab area was empty. She looked around to see if there was any trace of anything.
“Miss, you’re not supposed to be in here,” an older man wearing a white lab smock said.
“I was looking for . . .” Montana couldn’t recall the man’s name. She was stuck.
“Braylon? Braylon got fired last week. We discovered he was using company equipment and time to work on his own private projects. That’s not tolerated here.”
“I went to school with Braylon. He’s the one who told me about the job here,” Montana lied.
“Well, we hated to lose him, but we have to trust our employees.”
“Do you know how I can reach him? I really just wanted to thank him,” Montana stated.
“What’s your name?” the man asked.
“Ms. Applegate. Lisa Applegate.”
“Well, Lisa, I wasn’t aware we hired anyone new. I’m supposed to be notified of all new hires. But that’s what happens when your company sells out to a bigger and larger corporation. I won’t complain though. I still got a job in this bad economy.”
Montana was shaking her head in agreement, hoping he would hurry up and give her the information she needed.
“Wait right here. I think I have it somewhere.”
While he was gone to look for the information, Montana decided to skim through the things that were left in the lab. She picked up a yellow steno pad and slipped it in her pocket. She placed an empty used vial in one of the plastic bags and slipped it into her other pocket.
“Lisa,” the scientist yelled out several times.
It took a moment for the name to register in Montana’s head. “Oh, yes. I’m sorry, my mind was a million miles away.”
“Well, young lady, when you’re in the lab, you have to focus. Don’t be letting your mind wander like that,” he said, giving her a verbal reprimand.
“Oh, I won’t.”
“I wrote down his phone number for you. I have his address, but you’ll have to get that from him.” He handed her the yellow slip of paper.
“Oh, thank you. This is more than enough. I just wanted to call him anyway,” Montana assured him. She slipped the paper into her white lab coat pocket.
“Well, I’m about to shut it down. If there’s nothing else, you can follow me out.”
“I need to use the bathroom first. I got a long ride home.”
“Oh, I understand. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Just flip that switch when you leave.”
Montana detoured to the women’s bathroom and pretended that she had to use it by staying in there as long as she thought it would normally take. She went through the motions of flushing the toilet and washing her hands.
When she exited the bathroom, the hallway was dark except for the light beaming from the office she needed to enter. She slipped in the room undetected. She went through the files and wrote down the name and number of the man they were looking for. Montana slipped back out of the room and rushed down the hallway at a fast pace. Her brisk walk was almost at a sprint as she flipped the light off and exited the building.
She smiled at the security guard as she walked by. He waved. She waved back. She tried to monitor her pace as she walked back to the car where Savannah and Asia waited.
Montana didn’t exhale until she was safely in the passenger seat. She pulled out the yellow sticky note and handed it to Asia, who was sitting in the back. “Bingo.”
“Yes.” Asia grabbed it and then entered the name and number in her iPad. “Ladies, we’re going to take a little trip to McKinney.”
Savannah’s eyes got big. “Sis, you can sit this one out, if you want,” Montana said. “Asia and I can handle this.”
Savannah shook her head. “No. I’m okay. I just had a flashback moment.”
Montana knew what she meant. She had a flashback too.
34
Sean’s pulse rate rose as he raced up the highway toward Oklahoma. They were trying to get in the area before nightfall. Norman wasn’t stupid enough to stay out in the wide open. He had been worried about the ladies but Savannah had checked in with Troy so that eased some of his concern.
Troy said, “I think that’s them.”
“Where?” Sean asked.
Troy pointed in the opposite direction. Sean had to try not to bring attention to themselves so he couldn’t whip his vehicle around via the center lane like he wanted. Instead he sped up and got off on the next exit and did a U-turn. He sped up in traffic until he was a few cars behind.
“We got positive ID,” Troy told Mike while Sean made sure he stayed a good distance away. “We’re on 35 heading south. We’re about thirty miles from the Texas-Oklahoma state line.”
“Check this out, Troy,” Sean said.
Another vehicle with dark-tinted windows sped past them and then jumped behind the vehicle they were following.
“I wonder if he was in that one,” Troy said.
“He’s in one of them. Either way, we’re going to locate Norman. Norman is not getting out of my sight.”
Troy’s phone alerted him to another text message. “That’s Vanna. She wants me to call her if I can.” Troy dialed Savannah’s number. “Baby, what’s up?”
“We got positive ID on the guy who created those vials. He’s no longer working at the company. They fired him last week. Asia’s tracked down where he lives but, before proceeding, I wanted to let you know what’s going on.”
Sean was glad to see that they both were successful at locating their suspects but apprehending both could be deadly. “Proceed with caution,” he said. “Since he knows how to make biological chemical weapons, there’s no telling what trick he will use if he feels threatened.”
Savannah responded, “Montana’s working on our disguises now. Don’t worry. We’re going in as a team. Asia’s the lookout. We’ll check in right before we start the next phase of our operation.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Troy said. They ended the call.
Sean thought out loud, “I hope they aren’t biting off more than they can chew.”
Troy responded, “My girl’s bad. She can handle herself. Montana’s no joke either. Let’s let the ladies do their thing and we’ll do ours. Come on, man, I need you to focus on this one hundred percent.”
Sean knew Troy was right. He couldn’t afford to think about what Montana was doing. One mistake and Norman would be lost, or worse, other people could lose their lives. They were now reentering Texas.
“Are our men in place? That roadblock shouldn’t be too far ahead,” Sean said.
Troy confirmed with Mike that everything was set. “Slow down, man. We should be coming up on it.”
Just as Troy predicted, the roadblock had cars slowing down. Troy got in the left lane, however, and jumped back in the right lane so he would only be one car length away from Norman and his convoy.
“There go the boys in blue,” Sean said. “Hope this works.”
Mike said over the speaker phone. “They are doing random checks. I gave them the description of the two vehicles Troy described so they should be stopped here shortly.”
“Bingo. It’s time, fellows,” Troy said.
The cars came to a complete stop. Sean pulled over slightly on the shoulder. One of the officers walked back to his car. “Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to get out of the car.” The state trooper looked at Troy. “And you too, sir.”
Neither Troy or Sean moved.
“How did I do? Y’all like my Texas accent?” Franklin asked as he pretended to be interrogating them.
“What’s the 411?” Sean asked.
“Confirmed Norman is in the lead car. We’re holding them as long as we can. How do you think we should proceed?”
“Make sure the one Norman is in has a flat tire and we’ll take it from here.”
“Yes, sir. Sir, you two can get back in your vehicle now.”
Sean and Troy smiled and pretended to do as directed.
Once Franklin carried out the order to stick something in the tire of the car Norman was in, Sean drove slowly behind and watched as the car wobbled a little before
pulling over to the side of the road.
The traffic was stopped so that if any weapons were fired, hopefully no one would get hurt.
Sean and Troy eased out of their cars, ready to fire their weapons as their men ambushed both vehicles and pulled out everyone in the cars without incident.
Norman and Sean’s eyes locked. “So we meet again,” Norman said as a sinister smile crossed his face.
“This time, I’m going to make sure you stay locked up,” Sean said as he pulled Norman’s arms behind his back and placed the handcuffs around his wrist.
“Ouch. You don’t want me to sue you for mishandling of a prisoner, do you?”
“You’re a fugitive so I’m sure no one cares,” Sean responded.
“I almost got away with it but I underestimated you, Sean Patterson.”
“That you did.”
Sean wasn’t concerned about the other prisoners. He pushed Norman through the barricade. Troy opened up the back door. Sean pushed Norman’s head down while pushing him in the back. Troy said, “I’ll sit with him. He might try to get some ideas.” Troy slid in the back of the car next to Norman.
“You want to talk bad now but you wasn’t talking so bad when we were beating your ass now were you?” Norman sneered.
“Sean, hurry up and get us to Dallas before I save the taxpayers’ money,” Troy said.
Sean looked in the rearview mirror. He knew what Troy meant. It was taking everything within him not to press his semiautomatic weapon to Norman’s dome and pull the trigger.
He imagined doing so and smiled.
Norman was looking at him in the rearview mirror but his smile faded when he saw Sean’s smile.
Sean said to himself, Checkmate.
35
Montana and Savannah made sure they were properly equipped with weapons, mace, and cell phones.
“I feel like Nicki Minaj in this disguise,” Savannah said as she glanced at herself in the full-length mirror.
“I did do a good job, didn’t I?” Montana laughed.
“I’m like the perfect clay, can be molded into perfection,” Savannah said with confidence.
Both sisters laughed.
Montana's Way Page 12
