Jed folded up the maps. “They’ll find me eventually. I know they’ll send out a tracker. Right now, training Grace is all that matters. And getting this mission completed. I want those responsible cancelled. For Emma. For the others.”
Nick nodded. They were all in danger as long as these people knew some way to get to them. “I’ll break the code soon, I swear it. I refuse to let those Chinese characters get to me. There’s a link in there somewhere. I can feel it.”
“Extrapolate,” Jed ordered. “That’s why we’re here. We move from what we know to the unknown.”
Nick turned around and kneeled on one knee as he scooped sand through his hand. It felt cool to the touch and he deliberately concentrated on the exercise, scooping a handful, then letting it trickle out. “After getting the encryption code, I made the copies and gave them to Emma to distribute to the rest of our team. Then we spread out, each with one for decoding and backup. That’s the last time I saw them. I was out there and while waiting for instructions from Command, I attempted to break the code.”
“Did you call Command or try to reach them by computer or phone, so they were able to trace you?”
“No. All I did was the initial decoding interface, and run a random overview. Nothing unusual.”
“What warned you?”
Nick dusted his hands. “You know my programs are different from the others. I have my own warning system. There was an incoming missile.”
“Incoming?”
“Yeah, underwater.”
“So you were targeted by an outside explosive, not pre-wired.”
Nick nodded. “Right, but there would still have to be a tag somewhere on the boat for them to know the exact spot to hit. It was too well-planned, as if they were out there hunting for us, knowing they would get us.” He ran impatient fingers through his wind-dried hair. “Maybe I need a refresher course in Chinese. Maybe I overlooked some important double meaning. I’ve tried every damned sequence.”
“You can reread those books you lent Grace,” Jed suggested.
“She’s done with those? She’s good with languages, you know. I’ve seen her memorize those pictograms in one sitting. She probably has the encryption code in her head by now, the way she was staring at the program so intently that afternoon.”
Jed’s silver eyes narrowed a fraction. “She gave me a message to pass along to you before we left. I didn’t think it strange then, because you were talking to Jay, but it did sound cryptic, now that I think about it.”
Nick grinned crookedly. “I wonder where she got that from.”
“She instructed me to thank you for the books, and to tell you the Chinese have an interesting way of writing.”
“She’s your daughter. Was that supposed to have an underlying message?”
Jed repeated the message, then arched a dark brow. “What were the books about?”
“Just essays, reprinted newspaper arti...cles....”
Nick suddenly sat back on his haunches, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger. His curse was short and explicit. Silver eyes met Nick’s blue-gray ones when he opened them.
“I assume my daughter has caused some trouble?”
“Trouble,” snorted Nick, his mind racing. “Hell, Trouble has been playing her father’s little mind games.”
“Oh?”
“An interesting way of writing,” Nick repeated Grace’s message again.
Jed’s eyes glittered in the sunlight. “You’ve already tried right to left, the way they do it. Error, remember?”
“Yeah, but Trouble meant the books and articles I gave her. Chinese newspapers read up and down, Jed.” His lopsided grin was rueful. “I’ll bet if we just connect the pictograms up and down….” He stood up, his eyes far away. “Let’s go. I need to get back to Jaymee’s place.”
“Not yet. Our plan was to retrace your steps. We’ll start with you getting to shore and work our way to your getting the small apartment.” Jed stood up, jamming his sunglasses on his nose. “I need that piece of information to assimilate.”
“All right,” Nick agreed.
Jed’s specialty was information assimilation, assessing how the other side thought and compacting massive chunks of information into relevant details. Simplification, followed by the process to extrapolate cause or effect. Very useful for an assassin. No one could get into an enemy’s mind like his cousin, and certainly, very few could rival the Ice Man when it came to silent elimination.
Jed would find and target the enemy from within. As all Viruses were trained to do, Nick acknowledged. Invade and disappear. That was why all these attacks on them were unacceptable. No one was supposed to know about the Virus Program.
It had to be something tied with the targets and their relatives, Nick darkly concluded. Emma was Diamond’s wife. Jed said one other victim was a relative too. Winters was using his brother’s boat. Jed. Unlike the others, he didn’t have anyone vulnerable. Until now. A sense of protectiveness burned fiercely in him. He had to find these bastards and eliminate them. There was no way he would let Jaymee be jeopardized by unknown assailants who, one day, might link her to him. Even after he disappeared from her life. His eyes darkened at the thought.
***
Jaymee tried to hide her fear. The gun against the small of her back felt hard and cold, and she knew her captors wouldn’t hesitate using it. It was in their eyes, the way they marched her to the house, the swift slap one of them gave her when she made an unexpected move.
She hadn’t asked any questions. She had known instinctively these men were after Nick, that they were looking for him now. For the first time, she was actually grateful he wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity. Maybe things did happen for a good reason.
“Open the door,” the one holding the gun commanded.
It shouldn’t be locked, but Jaymee took the opportunity to make as much noise as possible. She had to warn Grace somehow. Pushing at the door, she said to her captors, “The house isn’t lived in.”
“Perfect hiding place,” the other man commented, his voice echoing through the empty house. “I wonder why he rented the little apartment when he has this.”
Jaymee blinked in relief. Another reason to thank God. If she hadn’t argued with Jed, Grace would be in Nick’s apartment and these men would have gotten her.
“Decoy, of course,” the one holding her replied, pushing Jaymee roughly into a chair. “Now, Miss Barrows, you’ll tell us what you know.”
“I don’t know what you want to know,” she managed to say in a steady voice. “Please, do you have to point that thing at me?”
The armed man studied her for a second, then put the weapon away. He was a big man, and his expensive suit didn’t hide his physique. He stepped closer, and Jaymee smelled the musky cologne that clung to him. It made her more afraid somehow, and she wanted to vomit.
“Do you understand what I can do to you if you don’t cooperate?” His voice was quietly menacing. “I’ll break every bone in your body, starting with your little finger.”
Jaymee swallowed. She looked at him in the eye. “I still don’t know what you want.”
“The man you hired recently.”
“Nick?” Jaymee feigned surprise. “My new helper? But he’s gone.”
“Don’t lie to us, please. The two men we talked to told us you fired them because you’re sweet on this man.”
Damn Rich and Chuck, Jaymee silently cursed, even as fear unfurled in her stomach when the big man in front of her moved even nearer.
“I don’t really want to hurt you too much,” he continued, “but I will, if you won’t tell us where he is.”
“I’m telling the truth!” She was. She didn’t know where Nick and Jed went off to. “He left two days ago, said he was tired of roofing work.”
“Just like that.” Disbelief in his voice.
Jaymee shrugged. “Transients are like that in Florida. They make cheap labor.”
“And eas
y bed partners?” the other man sneered.
He pulled up another chair, and sat astride it. Leaning forward, he twirled a few strands of Jaymee’s hair in his fingers. She forced herself to sit very still.
“Keep your mind on getting our guy, Les,” the first man said.
“There are other ways to make her talk.”
“No. Go check out the rest of the house and see whether you can find any trace of him, or the board.”
Les reluctantly released her hair, and stood up. “What if he’s really gone?”
“Then we wait for the next time he plays with the encryption board. We’ll get him.”
Jaymee kept her eyes blank, trying not to show any emotions that might betray her. She dared not look in any direction, in case they saw clues of Grace’s presence. Her heart was beating so loudly, she had trouble paying attention to their conversation. She tried to calm down by counting slowly.
Nick, don’t play with the board, wherever you are. She didn’t fully understand it, but somehow, handling the encryption board would bring Nick danger. The foreboding feeling spread as she realized she was asking for the impossible.
Nick.
It was a hopeless silent scream.
***
Nick felt restless as they reached his efficiency. He wanted to see Jaymee, needed to hold her in his arms. A heavy sinking feeling settled in his gut as he faced the fact he’d have to live with this yearning for the rest of his life. He could only hope time would dull the edges.
He clamped down on all thought of personal needs. They had no place in his job.
“This is it,” he told Jed. “I laid low for a few weeks. After deciding to remain ‘dead’ until I could get word to you, I went to look for a job that wouldn’t call attention to me being a stranger in town.”
Jed cocked his head. “Roofing isn’t exactly your forte. I’d thought you’d try out something electrical, for computer parts.”
Nick shrugged and gave a wolfish grin. “No openings. Besides, my new job had unexpected fringe benefits.”
“A waste of this efficiency, then.” Jed took out the key to unlock the door.
“True,” Nick agreed, “but under the circumstances... don’t move.”
The last two words came out in a hiss, as his trained eye caught the signs. Jed stood very still, his hand still turning the knob, the door ajar wide enough for him to walk into the apartment. He nodded in comprehension at Nick’s nod toward the doorknob, keeping it turned clockwise while Nick slipped under his arm.
“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said we’d to stick close together,” Nick commented as he squeezed his muscular frame between Jed’s body and the door to peer behind it. “Ahh...”
He was silent for a minute as he studied the device.
“Can you disengage it?”
Nick passed him a mocking look. “As long as you don’t release the knob, we’ll be fine.” Because this was what he was trained to do, the cocky façade of the Programmer fell in place seamlessly, as he slid into the apartment to have a closer look at the little trap laid out for him. He knew it was for him, of course. Eyeing the gadget, he told his cousin, “Five minutes.”
“Good. If I may add that Jaymee and Grace are in danger, perhaps you can hurry a little?”
“Damn you, Jed. What have you assimilated from all this?”
“I’ll tell you as you work, to keep your nerves steady,” Jed said, with the calm assurance of complete confidence Nick would get them out of this jam.
Nick was already on his knees, studying the contraption wired to the knob. “What do you mean Jaymee is in danger?” His voice was soft, his hands steady.
“Extrapolate.”
“Damn you, Jed.” Nick slowly took off the plastic cover.
“What happens every time before some explosives show up in your wake?”
Gently. Gently. He unscrewed the panel covering the wires.
“I’m working here. Why don’t you tell me?”
Cockiness was essential when walking on the edge. Fear would only breed nervousness. Every COS commando’s first lesson was cockiness at all times, especially when death was close.
“What important thing did you do before they found you?”
Which wire? Nick hesitated with his wire-clipper. His hand was very steady as he hummed under his breath.
“I was...” The clipper moved nearer to a wire. He cut through in one clean motion, then held his breath. Adrenaline rushed through, as he knew it would, as it always did. Standing up, he continued, “You may release the knob now.”
Jed let go and stepped in to take a look. “Four minutes. You’re getting slow.”
“You distracted me with a question.” Nick breathed in deeply, settling the lightness in his head. “Each time before they found me, I was trying to decode the encryption board.” He cursed as realization dawned. “You mean I have been calling them myself every time?”
Jed nodded. “On the boat. Here, the night I arrived.”
“Shit. In the kitchen of Jaymee’s house.” Nick was already out the door. Oh God. He had brought them to Jaymee’s house. They ran back outside. The Jeep’s gears screeched in protest as Nick backed out of the parking lot.
“A homing device triggered every time you tried to break the code. They were counting on everyone to try many times, so they could cancel each one of you.” Jed went on with his analysis in the same calm tone of voice, as if Nick wasn’t driving at breakneck speed, breaking down all the assimilated information. “Emma and Winters could have been doing the same. You were warned because of your own computer system the first time. You probably sent them a signal from the efficiency, and this time, because you spent the night with Jaymee, you avoided them again. Luck saved you, Programmer.”
He didn’t add Jaymee and Grace were the next probable victims.
“I’ll kill them if they got to Jaymee and Gracie,” Nick said, his eyes on the road.
Jed’s eyes were unreadable as he stared ahead. “They lay a finger on Grace, and they are mine. Every single one of them.”
Luck. He didn’t need luck for himself. Nick cursed at himself over and over as he stepped on the accelerator. A homing device, Jesus. And they’d been gone over two days, ample enough time for the enemy to trace to that location. This wasn’t such a big town, and the right people would easily direct anyone to Jaymee’s house, if they were asked. For the first time, he forgot about his training. Fear for Jaymee’s safety clutched at his heart, at his very soul.
***
Thirsty and weary, Jaymee sat quietly on a chair in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Her two captors had searched every room and Grace’s and her tools on the floor had caught their attention. Their assumption, though, was wrong.
“Two sets of tools?” the one with the strong cologne inquired, eyebrows raised. “If he was supposed to be gone, why didn’t he take his tools with him?”
If they looked closely, they would realize the belts were sized too small for a man, but Jaymee hadn’t any intention of pointing that out to them. At least Grace was safe. She had no idea where the teenager could be hiding.
“The tools are mine,” she told them truthfully.
“Or, he might actually be back soon,” the one named Les said, “although I’m getting tired of standing around waiting.”
A muffled sound came from inside the other man’s jacket, and reaching in, he pulled out a slim cell phone. “Yeah,” he answered in a curt voice. “Nothing to report, except this is a male, probably the leader of the three.” He paused, listening to the speaker on the line. “He’s still deciphering the e-board. We’re now at the last place he used it, but he isn’t here.” Pause. “I’m still not sure whether he’s gone or not.” Pause. “Fine, I’ll cover the bases. I’m pretty sure this one is the last of the three, so once we get him, Les and I expect full payment.”
He flipped the phone shut. Jaymee eyed him warily as he approached, then slowly circled her. The more she listened to the
m, the more it was apparent these men didn’t even know exactly who Nick was. They were after three people, and he was one of them.
Didn’t Nick tell her two people who worked with him were dead? Cold sweat ran down the back of her neck. She knew without a doubt this man was going to kill her too.
“What do you intend to do with me?” she asked quietly. She wouldn’t show him how afraid she was.
Something akin to admiration lurked in the stranger’s eyes as he looked down at her. “You should be frightened, lady. Your fate is in my hands.” He touched her hair tumbling around her shoulders in mass disarray, having come loose from their rough handling. “Such pretty hair. Dark flame. Are you afraid of fire?”
Sick to her stomach, Jaymee clenched her hands in her lap. She jutted her chin defiantly, her eyes blazing contemptuously. “Melodramatic threats don’t scare me.”
He laughed and held on to her hair tightly. “Too bad I don’t have time to play with you, lady. I have much to do, just in case your man does return.”
“I told you, he isn’t going to come back!”
His killing eyes were pitiless. “Then you will die alone,” he told her.
***
Please let her be alive. Nick prayed as he drove. Unused to desperate measures, he was forced to acknowledge, for the first time in his life, he feared failure.
“She should be home cooking dinner for her father right now,” he said to no one in particular. “She works like clockwork.”
Jed hadn’t said anything since making his analysis. He’d turned inward, aloof, preparing himself for battle.
The Jeep made a cloud of dust down the unpaved road and the brakes squealed as Nick turned into Jaymee’s ranch house. To his relief, he saw her blue truck there, as well as Dicker’s vehicle and another one. Chuck’s and Rich’s truck, if he remembered right. Yes, he could see them on the front porch, talking to Jaymee’s father. Frowning, he searched for Jaymee’s familiar figure as he turned off the engine and jumped out. He could hear Jed’s steps behind him as he stepped toward the group of men, all of whom had turned at his noisy arrival.
Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers Page 40
