Tropical Safeguard (Men Of The Secret Service)

by Stella Kelly

  From a distance, he saw Katrina’s face contort in fear and his rage grew uncontrollably. When Katrina spotted Cole approach from behind, her face couldn’t hide her relief and the wiry man instinctively turned in Cole’s direction. He naturally led with the gun and as he turned, Cole grabbed it and punched him simultaneously, knocking him off balance and confiscating his gun in one fluid motion. Bewildered yet still conscious, the man struggled to get back to his feet. Katrina took a few steps back as he flailed around, half crawling until he found his footing and came up into a half run. As Cole ran after him, Katrina looked toward the mansion, certain they would be seen. She was thankful for the wall of cedar hedge that separated their position from view. Cole tackled him into the grass, landing squarely on him with a strong hand clasping his mouth. The man’s eyes were wide in fear, his breathing heavy.

  “Where’s the boy?” Cole demanded through clenched teeth.

  The man shook his head and raised his eyebrows, denying Cole his answer.

  “I’ll ask you again, where did they take him?”

  Again, the man shook his head and remained silent. Cole’s swift jab to his stomach made him fold in agony. It took a moment for him to regain his breath.

  “Where?”

  Cole released his hand slightly so the man could talk.

  “A motel near some park. I don’t know the name.”

  Cole hit the man again.

  “I swear, I don’t know!”

  Katrina hunched down beside Cole, leery and looking over her shoulder constantly. “What are we going to do with him?”

  Before he could answer, the man managed to free his arm and as he did he pulled a knife from his pocket and swiped at the air in front of Cole. Cole pushed his arm back, knocking the knife from his grip and hit him in the face again. They struggled, rolling in the grass as Katrina stood back helplessly. With a swift move, Cole moved the man’s neck in a direction that was silent yet deadly and he fell limp into the grass. Shocked, Katrina’s mouth gaped as she watched Cole take his wrists and drag him into the thick brush at the side of the property. His body was completely hidden from view. When Cole emerged from the thicket, he carried the man’s walkie-talkie.

  Without a word, Cole took Katrina’s hand and led her toward the garage with the remaining SUV.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When they entered the immaculate four-car garage, they suddenly heard a man’s voice crackle to life on the walkie-talkie. Cole turned the volume up and listened.

  “Holden, are you there? Come in Holden. Any activity?”

  Katrina looked over at Cole in a panic. “They’ll know something’s off if we don’t answer.”

  “True.” Cole had to agree that Holden not answering would certainly cause suspicion and paranoia among the captors. It was not a good situation for the hostages to have edgy, irate men with nothing to lose guarding them. “We’ll have to write a note impersonating Holden.”

  “And say what?”

  “That he couldn’t handle the pressure, that he decided to leave, that he wanted out, whatever we need to write to convince them.”

  The voice on the walkie-talkie demanded a response. The man’s voice was growing more and more agitated.

  “We need a paper and pen though,” Katrina looked around, frazzled by the immaculately clean garage with not a trace of anything useable.

  “The SUV’s open. Maybe we’ll find what we need.” Cole opened the door and rummaged through the glove compartment. “Jackpot.” Pulling out a pen and pad of paper, he chicken-scratched a brief note explaining Holden’s absence. Folding it, he tucked it into his breast pocket. “I have to shove this under the front door somehow.”

  Discretely closing the door of the SUV, Cole leaned his back against the vehicle and faced Katrina. He could see the goosebumps from a few feet away. “Come here,” he motioned for her to enter his arms. Stepping forward, Katrina brought herself against him as he wrapped his arms around her back. “We have to find you some clothes. I’m sorry I didn’t grab you anything inside. I was a little distracted by what was going on.”

  “That’s okay.” Katrina nuzzled into the spot below his chin, comforted. “Can we take the SUV and get the hell out of here? I’m willing to smash through the front gate if that’s what it takes.”

  “I know that sounds like a logical thing to do, but we can’t or the captors will panic. There’s no telling what they’ll do to the hostages then.”

  “You’re right. But we can’t stay in this garage forever.” Looking out the open garage door, Katrina noticed the haze hovering above the cliff. The sun was already starting its descent in the late afternoon and it wouldn’t be long now before it grew dark. “It’s already almost five,” she said, looking at her sport watch. “We don’t have much daylight left.” Being November, the sun always began to descend around this time, and quickly.

  “George’s cottage. We can find you some clothes while I contact my team with numbers and wait for answers.”

  Katrina felt a vicious anxiety mounting below the surface. How could they wait it out when her friends were in danger? “Can’t we do something to help the hostages?”

  “No. We have to be smart. Most of our operations involve waiting, planning, being strategic so no one gets hurt. You have to make the captors think they have the upper hand.”

  As they stood holding on to each other, the sound of men’s voices grew louder. Cole and Katrina turned and saw the two men from earlier driving the golf cart around the front of the grounds in search of their missing friend. The larger of the two was calling his name. Katrina and Cole crouched down in front of the SUV, out of sight.

  “We have to get to the cottage. As soon as they leave, we’ll make a run for it.”

  Standing in the front foyer of George’s cottage, Katrina was grateful for the descending sun and the unlocked front door. As Cole stealthily delivered the fake letter from Holden, she made a bee-line to George’s room and grabbed a long navy button down, throwing it on in haste. On her tiny frame, it was like a dress that came to just above her knees. She shivered, rubbing her arms up and down to generate warmth. When she heard the front door open, her heart picked up pace and a ripple of fear sent a shudder through her body as she froze in place. She fostered no comfortable assumptions that it was Cole. She wasn’t about to assume anything under the circumstances.

  “It’s me,” Cole reassured as if to read her mind.

  They both stood in the kitchen, the silence of the place eerie and surrounding them.

  “This seems like as good a place as any. We can hide out here and get our bearings.”

  Katrina leaned her back against the counter. “So those men on the cliff said Kensing denied you were here. Do you think they bought it?”

  “My guess is Kensing will tell them the second agent was sent home because he wasn’t needed. That’s happened before and it’s something I can see him saying.”

  “But what about our rooms? They’ll figure it out if they do a headcount, right?” Katrina’s paranoia settled in with the setting sun. She wanted nothing more than to leave the mansion and go to the police. But intrinsically, she believed in Cole’s decisions.

  “Don’t be so sure. From what I could hear, they didn’t sound very intelligent. There was some internal bickering too. Our rooms are so sparse, they may just think they’re spare rooms in case of extra guests.”

  “Yes, my room is anything but personal. I have no pictures in frames, no albums, nothing. I didn’t want anyone knowing anything about me…other than my name, which I now see should have been changed. But that doesn’t matter any more thanks to you.”

  “It was the least I could do.”

  “So, you’ll place a call to your team then?”

  “Yes, I’ll call my team right now. I can always count on my colleagues, like agent Kirk Hannlon, to follow through and get the job done thoroughly and quickly.” He paced the small room as he pulled the earpiece from his pocket and placed it in his ear.
Clicking it, he soon had a response.

  “Agent Hannlon.”

  “Kirk, it’s Cole.”

  “Are you alone and protected?”

  “I killed one of the men and hid his body. Now there are six in total. They’ve taken the boy to a motel off the property.”

  “So four at the property and two at the motel?”

  “Yes. Should I take them out?”

  “Are you fully armed?”

  “I have a machine gun and my Glock.”

  “Maybe you should wait for us, Cole. Better to be safe than sorry. Did you find out anything about Agent Kensing?”

  “There’s no sign of Kensing. I suspect the worst, but I may go and investigate further.”

  “So you’re in this completely alone then.”

  “Looks that way.”

  “I’m not liking those odds my friend. Maybe…”

  “I’m going to find the boy, Kirk, and take care of that. I assume you were about to say that, right?”

  “You know your team, Cole. I wish we could be there already, but at least we’re on our way.”

  “I’ll leave the mansion to you then and put my energy into finding the boy. If you could tell Intel that their ringleader is David Wilco for a trace. There’s also a Holden, the man I killed, and a Gatten. I’ll contact you shortly with more detailed info.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Also, Wilco mentioned a money transfer of five million.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Wait, Kirk, I don’t want to draw any suspicion for the hostages. Don’t rush-stop the transaction just yet. If they have the money, it can always be returned. If anything, them waiting for the money gives us more time.”

  “You’re right, good call.”

  “So I’ll leave this with you then. As difficult as it is for me to leave knowing those people are in danger, I know you’ll be here when you can.”

  “We’re a minimum of two hours away though, Cole. You’re on your own until then.”

  “I’ll manage. I just wish I could handle this on my own. If only Kensing was with me. I’m pretty worried about him.”

  “You can only do so much. Rest assured, we’re on our way.”

  “I’ll be in touch.” Cole clicked the earphone off.

  Katrina watched him, impressed. He normally seemed so tense. Perhaps being in a life or death situation calmed his nerves – his own private form of meditation.

  “This little cottage must be all that remains from the original property. It’s funny how nice they’ve made it on the outside but it’s a complete throwback on the inside. Who knew?”

  “Yeah, it looks so contemporary on the outside,” Cole said as he cautiously scanned the scene outside from the kitchen window. “I’m a little paranoid now that it’s getting dark. We can’t see them sneaking up on us.”

  “I’m pretty hypersensitive at the moment too. You’re used to this kind of heightened stress,” Katrina said, but then thought about it. “Come to think of it, so am I. I just never acknowledged it I guess. I’m used to feeling on the edge at all times. Never knowing when something bad is going to happen.”

  Cole watched her face twist with unpleasant thoughts. He felt a deep sadness that she had to go through even more drama after what had gone down last night. “I promise things will get better, Katrina. I don’t know the outcome here, but I want you to know that I’ll do everything I can to make it all turn out. I want good things for you.”

  Katrina smiled, “I know what you’re saying is genuine and it gives me hope, Cole. Even though we’ve practically just met, I feel as if I’ve known you a lifetime already. I just hope this ends well.”

  “Trust me, Spitfire, this is far from the end for us,” he said, sitting at the kitchen table.

  Katrina sat across from him as the sun descended before their eyes and the room grew darker. “In a few minutes we’ll be shuffling around here in the dark.”

  They sat in silence, wondering what could possibly happen next, when the sound of voices made them freeze.

  “Someone’s coming,” Katrina sprang to her feet.

  A second later the walkie-talkie crackled. “Wilco, we’re just patrolling around this cottage now. If the door’s open, we’ll check it out. Over.”

  Cole turned the volume down low.

  “Gatten, the guy who lives in it says the door should be open. Over.”

  “Be back soon then. Over.”

  “In the closet,” Cole instructed as he turned the walkie-talkie off. Drawing his gun, he pulled Katrina into a close embrace and shut the door. Their bodies pressed together in the tight space and their breathing soon fell into a similar rhythm. The sound of George’s front door creaking open made Katrina’s heart skip a beat and she turned rigid. “Easy,” Cole whispered into her ear. His breath caressed her lobe and she at once felt calmer. Cole was here, his body pressed against her. He would protect her, defend her. They could hear the men stumbling around the small cottage, searching for nothing in particular.

  “Turn a light on, will ya?”

  “There, that’s better,” Gatten said.

  Cole could tell by their voices they were the men from the golf cart earlier.

  “This is a nice little place to escape Wilco’s bossy barking,” Gatten commented. They could hear the sound of a lighter clicking on and then shutting followed shortly by the smell of smoke. The husky man blew into the air. “Ahhh, my little break finally.”

  “How long do you think this’ll take?”

  “What, gettin’ the money?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Who knows. The bitch says it’s a cakewalk. She don’t know squat though. All dollied up and high maintenance. She ain’t been around enough. Thinks this is just another day on the job or something.”

  “So you’ve seen her then?”

  “Yeah, I seen her alright,” Gatten huffed.

  Both men remained silent for a while, the sound of blowing smoke the only thing they could hear from the closet. It was as if time stood still. Katrina could feel her legs tremble and was afraid she’d lose her balance. The men pulled the kitchen chairs out and sat a mere five feet from the closet. Katrina gasped and then bit her bottom lip, preying they hadn’t heard. Inside the closet was pitch. She couldn’t even see Cole, but luckily she felt his presence looming over her protectively as he pressed his body into hers, closer than close. If they were going to die, she was happy it was with him.

  “Think we can come out here every once in a while to get away from Wilco’s demands?”

  “Don’t see why not. Not for a while again though. Wilco wants us all to keep watch of the hostages so he can make a few calls in private. Says things are moving along nicely.”

  There was a long pause as Gatten took a drag. Cole and Katrina inched closer, their chests pressing against each other, hearts beating together. Katrina silently prayed the men would move along quickly. She was finding it hard to breathe, hard to keep still. Sweat broke out on her forehead and her mouth grew dry. She decided to try and relax as if she were meditating to prevent slipping into a massive panic attack. That is, until she felt Cole’s lips on hers. The kiss was gentle and sweet at first, catching her off guard, and then it went deep and meaningful. She was thankful for the distraction.

  “Hey, someone has some attitude, am I right?” Juvie suddenly blurted, piercing the silence and making Katrina emerge from any level of forced calm.

  “Who, Red?”

  “Yeah, he’s gettin’ a little big for his britches, doncha think?”

  “I guess. It’s not like he’s Wilco’s right-hand man or anything.”

  “Thinks he is.”

  “It’s probably cause they spent the most time together inside. They know each other better than anyone. Maybe that’s why he feels like the ace in the hole.”

  “Maybe.”

  “I don’t give a damn who’s leading this thing, s’long as I don’t get caught cause I’ll be heading for the real deal this tim
e. No more Juvie. I’m gettin’ too old now.”

  “We’ll have to change your nickname then.” Gatten chuckled and then coughed his smoker’s hack.

  “I still can’t believe Holden bailed though.”

  “Yeah? I’m not surprised at all.”

  “Why not?”

  “He does have a history of taking off when you need him,” Gatten informed. Cole and Katrina pondered the irony, realizing they’d framed the right guy.

  “I’ve never worked with him, so, wouldn’t know.”

  “Whatever, his loss. He better keep his mouth shut though or I’ll personally track him down and do some damage. Only a damn coward would do somethin’ like that.”

  Katrina detected the venom in Gatten’s words.

  “Yeah, coward,” Juvie echoed, trying his best to stay on Gatten’s good side.

  Cole and Katrina heard what sounded like a cigarette stomping on the tabletop.

  “Better get goin’. Wilco’ll give us flack if we don’t.”

  The chairs scraped backward and then the sound of heavy footsteps resonated. The door opened with a creak and then slammed shut. The men’s voices trailed farther away, yet Cole and Katrina remained in the closet a moment longer before opening the door. Once out, Katrina took a full breath, the feeling of claustrophobia leaving her finally.

  “They said they’d be back, Cole,” she worried. “What are we going to do?”

  “We have a little time. We can use it to plan our next move.”

  Katrina looked down at the cigarette butt on the kitchen table. The men had been so close. Cole turned the walkie-talkie back up, straining to listen but only hearing static.

  “Will we try to rescue the others then? The odds are stacked against us, don’t you think?”

  “Yes. That’s why I’m waiting for my team. It’s far too risky to attempt anything on our own. Our best approach is Jimmy. We can save the little guy while my team is on the way. Personally, that’s my goal. I just want to wait until my team’s a little closer before I plan my next move. It depends when and how help will arrive for the others.”