by Matt Lincoln
“He was cool. He liked to get into trouble with me. But he liked to play nice too. You know, flirt with the nurses and buddy up the blokes.” This guy didn’t approve of that, apparently. His tone denoted more than a little distaste for Arik’s actions. He didn’t have much of an accent, but I could detect hints of French pronunciation here and there.
“I understand that there was one nurse in particular that Arik liked. What can you tell me about her?” I liked that he was willing to talk, but such openness was peculiar in itself. This guy wanted to tell me whatever, and that might have been another issue I needed to keep tabs on.
He made a scoffing sound. “Yeah, they were all over each other. She got in trouble a few times for it, but they just kept it up.”
“What do you mean, ‘in trouble’?” I imagined that this could be a factor in a lot of this. I put my phone back into my pocket to concentrate on his voice.
“You know, she got sent to the overnight shift, blocked from interaction with male guests, that sort of thing. It didn’t last long.” He shifted against the tree, then sat down on the ground. I remained standing on the opposite side. “I think she complained to someone higher up and got back where she wanted to be. I don’t know for sure. That’s just what I saw.”
“So, Remy, or is it Renny? Sorry, I should have asked sooner.” I felt bad about that.
“It’s Remy.” He sounded like he was used to having to clarify.
“Okay, Remy, how did it get so far that Arik and Mia planned on leaving here together?” It was a helluva jump from secret teen romance to illegally leaving rehab, a job, and whole lives behind.
Remy was shifting uncomfortably where he sat. I could hear the movement and worried that he’d get scared off and leave. But instead, he sighed and spilled it. “He came to me and asked me what he could do. I told him, ‘nothing, man.’ Stay here, do your stint, and once you get home, then figure it out. I mean, she’s just a girl, you know? Why get all dumb and crazy over one girl?”
“Bet he didn’t like that.” Sometimes you’ve got to sympathize to get more.
“He didn’t. He stopped talking to me for a while. Then one day, he comes up to me and hands me this badass ring with, like, a hundred diamonds on it or something. It was old, you know, but he said that it was worth a lot. Then he said, he’d see me around, and I thought maybe he had gotten transferred to another facility because of Mia.”
“When was this?” It sounded like Arik had an itchy hand to me. I was sure that the way he’d acquired that ring hadn’t been aboveboard. “And do you still have the ring?”
“That was just a few days ago. The day before he left here.” Remy didn’t appear to have any idea what had happened to Arik. Either that, or he was not too bad of an actor.
“What about the ring he gave you?” If we could trace it and find out where or who it came from, that might help us track down the next mystery.
“Oh, I traded that thing! I told you that it was worth a lot. I got like, a ton of cigarettes and Italian candy bars for it. Plus, a weeks’ worth of points to be outside like this.” He seemed enormously proud of that.
My good mood vanished. “Who did you trade it to? Which staff member?” It had to be someone with access to the outside and to whatever rewards the patients got.
“Shailene. But she’s on vacation now. Won’t be back for a few days.” Remy started to struggle up off the ground. He must have been through telling me what he was willing to.
“Thank you, Remy. Good luck with your treatment here.” I reached out to shake his hand, but he put his hands into his pockets and shook his head.
“Better not. Tell Arik I said hey, huh?” He spun around to walk away, looking extremely nervous and self-conscious as he went.
I found it a little too convenient that the woman Remy traded away an expensive ring to was someone who was suddenly unavailable to speak to. He might have been feeding me a line the whole time, and there wasn’t a straightforward way to find out. I just had to hope that Eve had gotten some connecting info that might help us locate Arik and Mia.
I headed back to the rental car and found Eve there already. She was leaning against the hood, looking over the building with interest. She smiled when she saw me. “Hello, ‘colleague.’ Feeling better?”
“Fresh air does it every time.” I didn’t mind playing along for a bit more. It couldn’t hurt if we were being watched or overheard. I didn’t want to mention it to her, but I’d sensed some extra eyes on us ever since we’d gotten here. I expected security cameras in a place like this, but there was another element, too. Something much more personal.
I slid into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle up. Eve buckled into the passenger’s seat, looking ready for anything to come her way. I was half tempted to ask if she wanted to take a drive along the coast, but I knew we had more important things to discuss. Maybe later.
“So, what did you find out, Madame Sleuth?” I teased.
“Well, Arik was a model guest here up until a week ago. And Mia was a great nurse that was in line for a promotion.” She waited for me to respond to that.
“You’re kidding me? So, she wasn’t dissatisfied or unhappy with the job?” I had thought that unhappiness might have been a perspective worth exploring. A young woman jumping into anything to get out of a lousy job seemed a likely scenario. It wasn’t like it never happened.
“Not at all. She was excited by the doctor’s accounts. He said she’d even asked for a couple of days off to visit family on the other islands to share her good news.” Eve seemed skeptical, though. “I mean, that could be a cover story for the center, but I saw the writeup. She was obviously an excellent nurse with a good future here.”
This made me more certain that Mia wasn’t in on the kidnapping, but it was more enigmatic that she’d been running away with Arik. “As for Remy, he didn’t have anything bad to say about her or Arik. He doesn’t know about the abduction, though. Thinks that Arik just got transferred or left. But Arik may have another friend or connection outside the facility.”
I told her about the ring and the trades going on. She didn’t seem surprised about that. “I haven’t seen a lockdown hospital or treatment center that didn’t have its own little black-market scheme going on. People are always going to find a way to get what they want if they want it bad enough.”
I stole a look at her before reacting or speaking. “I’d like to disagree, but I can’t. So, where do we go from here?” I had my ideas, but I could go that alone if she wanted to go a different route.
“I was going to see Mia’s relatives, but I don’t think it would do any good now. I think that Arik was the target, and she was just collateral evidence that they didn’t want to leave behind. Whoever ‘they’ are.” Eve leaned deep into her seat and sighed. “What about you? Where’s your mind taking you?”
I wasn’t going to tell her everything that I was thinking about. To me, there was just still too much that didn’t add up or fit together. “I think you need to find out who the Judge’s enemies are that had the means to pull this off.” My answer was plain and simple, but that was what my instincts were telling me. In the absence of facts, I was going to go with my gut, at least for now.
“Okay, then.” She looked back over at me with a flirtatious grin. “Mind dropping me back at my hotel so that I can go over whatever my office has sent me?”
“Not a problem.” I thought about it, then decided to go for it and ask her to dinner. She was an interesting person that I really wanted to get to know a bit better. All I could hope for was that she might find the same about me. “Would you like to meet me for dinner at about six? It’ll give us both a chance to rest, regroup, and check our intel?”
Eve blushed just enough to notice. “Yeah, that would be great. Meet in the lobby again?”
“Sounds good. Looking forward to it.” No need to pretend about that.
“Me too.” She closed her eyes, and I let the conversation end there. We’d have
plenty of time for more tonight.
Chapter 12
Jake
I walked into the safe house to see Xavier alone at the bar by the kitchen. He looked up to acknowledge me and then went right back to what he was doing with his laptop. “Any luck with the lawyer?”
I got a bottle of water out of the fridge and took a second to process my answer. “We got into Arik’s rehab center and asked some questions. We found more loose ends that may or may not lead us somewhere. You?”
Xavier shook his head slightly. “I got some decent info on the Judge and Kippy, though, if you want to hear it.”
“That should go without saying.” I nodded out toward the main balcony. “So, where’s Rosa and Doc? They should be in on this, too, don’t you think?”
“They already know everything. They’re out doing some recon.” Xavier typed in a few more strokes on the keyboard and then turned to look at me. “That building you all went into yesterday, that had the broken crates you told me about? Well, it’s been marked as a crime scene, and no one can get near it. That’s okay, though, because then the locals can maybe start to find this Hemez guy.”
That seemed like good news to me. “That would be stellar. If he’s got heat coming at him from more than one side, maybe this will help find Arik and Mia sooner.”
Xavier made a “tsk” sound and shook his head at me. “Probably not, Header. I dug up the records on this Hemez guy, and there’s no way that he’s connected enough or frankly smart enough to do this alone. He’s very small-time crime. He’s never left the Azores, as far as I can see. And there’s nothing to suggest that he’d be working a long game with the Judge.”
“He’s a small fish in a small pond going after smaller fish, is what I’m hearing.” That left us without a clear link to him and Arik’s mother, along with any legal matters that could match up. I didn’t like how this was unfolding. “Then Hemez is a middleman to someone else. Someone who knew or found out about Arik’s plans to run away with Mia and took advantage of all of them.”
“That’s all I can guess,” Xavier agreed.
I needed to know what Eve was working on with that, but it was way too soon to call her and ask. I’d only recently dropped her back at her hotel, and no doubt, she’d need time to make calls and find out more. There was someone else I needed to speak to, and I seriously didn’t want to do it.
“Any word from Ozoa?” I hated that she might be helpful in this circumstance.
“Not that I know of. She just kind of comes and goes as she pleases.” Xavier laughed at something privately. “Maybe you have to say her name three times or stand in front of a mirror to get her attention.”
Now that was an image. “She does sort of just show up when we least want to see her, doesn’t she?” That gave me an idea that bothered the hell out of me. She might be having us watched.
I pulled out my phone, turned it back on, and dialed Doc. “Hey. Where are you two at?”
“Watching the police investigating the warehouse scene from a safe and concealed position. And we’re not the only ones. Your new best friend is also in the area.” Doc sounded amused at that.
“Ozoa is there? Any way that you can make contact and get her to meet with us?” There was a coincidence, and then there was whatever this was. I strongly disliked it.
“I’ll ask nicely. When?” I heard Doc’s muffled voice as he asked Rosa to make contact with Kippy.
“The sooner, the better. I have a dinner date that I refuse to push back or reschedule. Have her come back with the two of you if she’s willing. We need to discuss the Hemez problem.” I hoped that by now, Kippy would have some info on Arik’s location, as well.
“Let me guess, you and the lawyer hit it off? Why am I not surprised?” Doc was probably smirking to himself. I could almost see the mocking head shake through the phone.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. See you soon, Doc. Tell Rosa that I miss her.” I hung up, grinning to myself. I nodded at Xavier. “I’m going to grab a shower. They know where Ozoa is and are supposed to bring her with them. We’ll try to get this all ironed out this afternoon.”
“Okay, boss.” Xavier continued on his computer as I headed for my room.
When Rosa, Doc, and Kippy returned, they all looked less than pleased. I could see my team’s point of view, but Kippy’s mood was more mysterious. She came in and plopped down on the couch, taking up enough room to avoid sharing. Rosa signed hello and glad to be back to Xavier and me while Doc headed straight for the kitchen and to the coffee pot.
I sat down opposite Kippy to engage. “I thought that you were going to get back to us once you got Arik and Mia’s phones. What gives?”
“Doc wouldn’t give me his digits.” She winked over at him. “And I had a lot of stuff going on, copain. But the good news is,” She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a phone, “Arik’s phone still works.”
“And he doesn’t have it on him, obviously, so how is that supposed to help us find him?” I wasn’t interested in her theatrics any longer. “Can you just skip to the end where you tell us how to find him so that we can do this?”
The teasing mannerisms of her behavior dropped immediately. Kippy sat up straight on the couch and leaned forward. She turned from an annoying joke to a focused threat in seconds. I hadn’t seen this before, and it was a new aspect that I’d wondered about. She could have been just as much a force against us as supposedly with us.
“The tracker places his shoes on a boat outside of the harbor,” she said. “A freelance fuel tanker without a call sign and attached to a private frequency. We’re not going to be able to get to him just by sailing out there. They don’t like new customers, and they don’t like Americans.” Her voice was monotone. This was the “all business” Ozoa I’d been anxious to deal with.
Doc broke into the tension with the obvious question. “How do you locate him with his shoes, exactly?”
Kippy sneered and answered. “I told you that his memory wasn’t so great? So, he has these tiny trackers placed into his favorite items. Those shoes are one of them. He said they cost five grand or something ridiculous like that. It’s hooked up to a transmitter on his phone that will ping the location within a mile. I wish that I could say it hasn’t come in handy too many times before, but I’d be lying.”
Rosa saw an opening. Arik has a lot of… high-end tech and plenty of people watching out for him. How did he ever get kidnapped in the first place?
“That’s the question, Red. It doesn’t make any sense to me, either. With everything that kid had access to and placed on him for his own security, this never should have happened. I told the Judge as much. Not a word.” Kippy’s jaw clenched in memory of it.
“Then, we need to get him back and ask him ourselves if we’re ever going to figure this out.” I saw no other option than to move now and get Arik out, fast. “Ozoa, can you take us to the location for scouting?” That would mean canceling my date with Eve and finding a decent way of explaining why. But the mission always came first, and Arik and Mia’s safety trumped everything, even the personal aspects.
“I can.” She looked more like herself now, and the sharpened edge was dissolving.
I turned to my team and spoke very carefully. I chose each word for a reason. “We’ll monitor this boat from the docks to get a feel for what we’re up against. Then we’ll regroup here in two hours and form a plan. Xavier? I need you to gather up our gear and have it all checked by the time we get back. Understood?”
Then I looked at Rosa. “I want you to oversee the intel from the harbor. Text us everything. Doc,” I locked eyes with him, “Get a medkit together in case we need to treat Arik and Mia on site. I’m going to go for a swim or do some sightseeing around the area.”
They understood what Ozoa couldn’t, which was that we already had a plan when it came to intelligence gathering. We pursued a standard line of operation that worked for us and had always produced results. An outsider would only hear what we told them a
nd think nothing of it. It was a good way for us to maintain the secrecy and integrity of our team and Wraith.
Kippy was waiting patiently for orders I didn’t think she’d be following, anyway. I could probably talk and suggest options and plans to her all day, and I still think that there would only be a minute chance of her doing any of it.
“Ozoa, what’s your part in this? What can you bring us?” I didn’t want to involve her in anything vital, as there was no way of knowing if she’d follow through.
She was already getting up to leave. “I’ll get as close as I can to the boat. I have a few gadgets that might give us an aerial view if we’re lucky.” She was at the door but stopped briefly to finish her thought. “Good luck. See you all in two.”
The minute she left, we sprang into action. There wasn’t any time to lose.
Chapter 13
Jake
I didn’t want to alarm Eve with the details, but I called her up to cancel our plans for that evening. Her voice was cheerful when she answered the phone, but I knew it wouldn’t last long.
“Hey, Eve. Can we take a rain check on dinner tonight? We’re following up on some sensitive leads. I’ll get back to you with any news as soon as I can. I’m so sorry about this. I was really looking forward to seeing you again tonight.”
“I understand. Thanks for letting me know.” She was disappointed. I could hear it in her voice. “I guess that the specifics are too complicated to mention, so just be careful, okay?”
“I will. And I’ll make dinner up to you soon.” I had every intention of keeping that promise, too.
After I hung up the phone, I met with Doc in the living room as Rosa and Xavier were still preparing for their end of the mission. The intel was solid, and we had made effective use of that two hours to scout the ship Kippy believed Arik and Mia to be on. I had drawn diagrams of good and bad entrance goals, dead spots, and blackout points. Xavier had also been able to match ship designs fairly well, and I was confident that we had an advantage going in tonight.
