Waiting... On You (Force Recon Marines)

by S A Monk

  She tilted her head back and looked up at him. “What do you think is happening, Nick?”

  He stared down at her and shook his head, perplexed. “Something more than friendship, I think.”

  She smiled softly. “I’d say so.”

  “Love?”

  He felt every muscle in her body tense and freeze, and wondered why. Was that an unpleasant or frightening notion to her? He tried to read her expression. He had no experience at analyzing a woman’s feelings, so he didn’t know what her reaction said. He tried to ask her.

  “So what do you think?” He lifted her chin so she’d look at him. “What’s happening here?”

  She wouldn’t hold his inquisitive gaze and glanced away with a nervous laugh. “I can’t tell you how you feel, Nick.”

  He felt her move away from him and hated it, so he teased her to lighten the mood. “Why not? You’re the genius.”

  She shot him a sharp, defensive look. “I’m not a mind reader. And I’m not a genius.”

  Nick heard the anger in her voice and figured he’d blown it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like....” He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t have any experience with all this relationship stuff,” he sighed in self-disgust, then looked over at her. “Let’s just enjoy ourselves and see what happens, shall we?”

  “Sure.”

  But she didn’t sound too thrilled about it. Nick rolled onto his side again and pulled her back into his arms. “Screw all this talk,” he finally decided. “I’d rather make love to you one more time before we check out and catch the ferry home.”

  He looked so adorable in his confusion, then his eagerness to keep it simple, she had to laugh. “You sound so male!” she chided him. “If it gets too complicated, just get back to the basics, right?”

  “Damn right! Keep it straight and simple.”

  “Oh, it’s straight, all right!”

  She snuggled into his big, warm, hard body, and they didn’t get out of the bed until an hour before check-out time. Then they almost missed that because they showered together and took advantage of the tiled seat.

  By the time, they got on the ferry to return to Port Angeles, they were both physically drained. After parking the Harley on the lower deck, they went up to the top floor lounge and found a vacant, cushioned bench seat in a quiet corner. Nick sat down with his back against one wall and his legs outstretched along the seat. With one knee bent to rest against the wall behind the seat, he positioned Hanna to sit in the vee of his long legs. She settled herself against him and laid her head back against his chest, then closed her eyes. His arms closed around her as he closed his, too, with a deep yawn. His chin dropped to rest on the top of her head. Comfortable and thoroughly content, they both fell asleep for the duration of the ride across the strait.

  NICK KNEW WHAT HE HAD TO DO if he was going to find his younger brother. As much as he deplored it, he had to make a deal with Yancy Masters. Li Chen wasn’t going to announce where to find Lance. The drug lord might want them both dead, but he also wanted to play with them, like a cat with a mouse before the kill. Chen needed to feel he was superior and that he completely controlled the situation. It was the way he operated.

  Nick had learned over the years that if you wanted to capture an adversary, you had to know how he thought and behaved. And he’d gone after a lot of enemies in his career as a Force Recon Marine. Hunting and apprehending military foes, terrorists, and drug kingpins had been one of his primary duties. That part of his military career was always highly classified. This time it was highly personal.

  Li Chen had been holding Lance for over a month now. There was no telling what kind of condition his brother was in. Knowing the Triad, they were drugging him, torturing him, or just plain beating the crap out of him on a regular basis. He was done playing by Chen’s game plan. Since Yancy was a multi-million dollar customer of the drug lord, he had to know where Chen’s base of operations was located. If Nick had to put a few million dollars’ worth of heroin into Masters’ hands to get his brother back, he would. Temporarily, at least. Yancy could be tracked down by the DEA afterwards and relieved of his product, hopefully before it was sold on the streets.

  With this in mind, Nick called Yancy at his bar. The biker didn’t sound surprised to hear from him. He greeted Nick with an angry tirade about the wiretaps he’d uncovered. Nick dismissed the reaction, pleased that Yancy hadn’t found all his bugs, only his phone taps. Instead, he told Yancy that he had something that he was looking for. Intrigued, the bartender arranged a meeting.

  When Nick entered his mother’s kitchen that evening, he stopped abruptly in the doorway. Unnoticed by the women and children, he stared at the scene before him. His heart tightened involuntarily. Katie was in a high chair, gumming a biscuit, and Christopher was sitting in the chair beside her, trying to feed her Cheerios. His mother, Colleen, Christine, and Hanna were putting the finishing touches on dinner.

  He was a lucky man to have such a wonderful, close-knit family and such good friends. Not every man was as lucky.

  He wanted to come through for the people before him. He wanted to bring his brother home safe and sound for his mother and nephew. For Colleen and her granddaughters, he wanted to clear Dylan’s name and bring them justice so they could have some closure. They were depending on him, and he vowed not to fail them.

  His gaze slid to Hanna. He’d spent the night in her arms on three occasions now, and while he cherished their sexual intimacies and wanted more of them, he also realized now that a long distance friendship wasn’t going to be enough anymore. It had been hard to leave her three years ago. Now, he figured it damn well might be nearly impossible to leave her behind, here in Port George, when he received his next duty station and assignment. Even though his mind was filled with plans to rescue his brother, it was also filled with thoughts of a future together with Hanna. How they’d work that out had yet to be determined, but he was considering the possibilities. Her career was as important as his, and he had to figure out how the two might blend together.

  Not surprisingly, Christopher was the one to finally spot him. “Uncle Nick!” He set aside his box of Cheerios and rushed into his uncle’s out-stretched arms.

  Nick swung him high up in the air and kissed him. He loved his nephew so much, he dearly hoped he would be able to reunite him with his dad in a few days. God forbid he’d have to take Lance’s place, but if the worst happened, he knew he’d do that in a heartbeat.

  Once he set him on his feet, he let Christopher take his hand and walk him over to the kitchen table, where they sat down next to Katie in the high chair. She was another precious little package he had fallen in love with over the past three weeks.

  “So, what are we eating here, princess?” He eyed the bits of gooey, gummed food and grimaced. “Looks nasty.” The baby grabbed his forefinger and pulled it to her mouth instead. She sucked on it hard, surprising Nick. “Lord, wait ‘til you get teeth, young lady!”

  Hanna came over to the table and sat down across from him. Her hand slid to cover his.

  “Did you get a nap?” Her smile was tender, concerned.

  Nick wanted to drown in it. “No. I called Yancy.”

  The smile disappeared. “And?”

  “And I’m meeting him later tonight to talk about a trade.” His voice was low, but the other women heard what he said to Hanna. Jessie came over to the table and asked him what was happening. Every woman at the table was staring at him now. Each was interested in reply to Hanna’s question. “I have some heroin Yancy wants,” he informed them because Hanna was the only one who knew that. “I’m going to give it to him if he’ll tell me where Lance is being held.”

  “Oh, Nick, I hate to see him get more of the stuff,” his mother exclaimed, troubled. “And do you think he’ll even know where Lance is?”

  “It’s likely he will,” he assured his mother. “And I’m going to make sure the DEA picks Yancy up as soon as possible after I
get what I want.”

  “Where are you meeting him?” Hanna asked.

  “At his place on Shelter Island.”

  “With all those armed men?” Her face was creased with worry. “Take me.”

  “No.” His answer was emphatic. “It’s much too risky.” He stared at her and enfolded her hand in both of his. “I’ll be fine, Hanna. I promise.”

  Christopher was watching, big-eyed. “Uncle Nick? You going to get Daddy?”

  Nick ruffled his hair. “Real soon, sport. Real soon.”

  NICK TOOK THE ZODIAC TO SHELTER ISLAND. He drove it up to Yancy’s private dock at eleven o’clock that night and stopped under the single pole light, cut the engine, then leaped over the side to tie the craft off. In the backpack he shouldered, there were the two tubes of China White, only not quite as full as Nick had found them.

  Where the pier met the beach, there was a small boathouse that had been renovated into a guardhouse. Two armed men stepped out and frisked him, then searched his backpack. Failing to find the Ka-Bar inside his boot, they escorted him up the path to the house.

  The big turn-of-the-century house had been completely remodeled. Yancy lived very well for a bar owner, but then Nick had been in the house before and already knew how the dealer lived. Only a crooked sheriff and police chief would fail to question where a man such as Yancy Masters got the money to live so lavishly. It sickened Nick that the community he had grown up in was run by such men. But he meant to change that soon. As far as he was concerned, tonight was the first step in making that change.

  The two guards, one behind Nick and one in front of him, walked him through the house, to a room at the back. Big double doors opened into a richly appointed office. Yancy sat behind a large oak desk in an Italian leather swivel chair. He didn’t bother to greet Nick when he entered. He just motioned him to a chair in front of the desk.

  The guards stepped back to stand behind him, one on either side of the double doors. Having them at his back made Nick uneasy. He angled his chair so he could keep the men in his peripheral vision.

  “Let’s see what you brought me,” Yancy prompted.

  Nick took the two tubes out of his backpack and set them on the desk in front of him. He watched Yancy rise out of his chair to unscrew the lids on the tubes and pull out the plastic bags inside.

  “This isn’t all of it, Kelly! What kind of game are you playing?”

  Nick lifted an eyebrow at the display of temper. “One that guarantees my health until I get what I came for. This is a trade, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it is.” In a mercurial change of mood, Yancy laughed and sat back down. “Damn, too bad you’re a straight arrow, Colonel. I’d rather do business with you than that slant-eyed Chinaman.” He gathered the bags and tubes close to him, then looked over his desk at his guest. “So when do I get the rest?”

  “It’s already here. I’ll tell you where once you tell me where to find my brother.”

  “Been out here before, have you?” Yancy commented, chuckling. When Nick only stared at him, he added, “We found all the little bugs you planted.” Opening his desk drawer, he pulled out a plastic bag of small electronic devices. “What I want to know is who you shared all this information with that you collected? That pretty little doctor you been hanging around with? The feds?”

  “Is this part of the trade?”

  “Not really.” Yancy moved his big shoulders in a shrug. “I’ve decided I’m not doing business here anymore. My partners have turned uncooperative and unappreciative. Time to move on— with a twenty million dollar start. And I figure you don’t want the feds involved in this until you get your brother back. By then, I’ll be long gone.”

  “You figured right,” Nick concurred dryly. “So, do you know where my brother is?”

  “I think so.” Yancy got up and walked to a cabinet behind his desk. After unlocking it, he returned with a map of Vancouver Island, which he laid out on his desktop. “I don’t like what Chen is doing with Lance anyhow. It mucked up the whole operation, and Lance didn’t need to be involved in this. If Li has a beef with you, he should take it up with you, the way I see it.”

  Nick didn’t respond to the man’s opinion on the matter. He rose from his chair, went around the desk to stand beside Yancy, and leaned over the map he had spread out. Yancy directed his attention to a particular spot on the map, pointing to it with his diamond-ringed forefinger.

  “Chen’s got a compound at the northern end of Vancouver Island, on the western side, below Cape Scott Provincial Park,” he stated. “Here, five miles beyond the fishing village of Stormy Harbour. I’ve been there once. I was taken in by helicopter. There’s a private landing strip on the property. The house sits on a bluff overlooking this finger shaped inlet, at the mouth of Quatsino Sound. The only way to reach the compound is by boat, airplane, or on foot.”

  “That’s pretty damn remote country,” Nick commented, surprised that Li Chen had chosen such a place to do business from. “Why is he operating out of somewhere like that?”

  “His freighters can bring their loads over from the Triangle, sail up this little sheltered inlet,” he indicated, moving his finger on the map, “anchor in the bay below his house, then be unloaded by his men. The remoteness of the region suits Chen. He’s well hidden, and he can fly his refined product out when it’s ready for distribution in Vancouver, or he can send it back out on the freighter to us. It’s a perfect location really. He’s got a big house up there, quarters for his men, a lab and processing plant, an airport— like I said, a compound.”

  “How many men?”

  Yancy shrugged. “I don’t know— maybe a couple dozen and the workers at the lab.”

  “Do you know for a fact that Lance is being held here?” Nick lifted his narrowed eyes to Yancy.

  “I haven’t seen him, but Chen says he’s with him, and that’s where Chen is all the time.”

  “He doesn’t operate out of Vancouver at all?”

  “Not personally. That’s why he never gets caught. He isn’t where the stuff is distributed.”

  Nick remembered a similar operation in Thailand two years ago. “Just where the stuff is manufactured,” he commented more to himself than the man across from him.

  Yancy nodded and sat back down. “That’s right.” He gave Nick a long considering look. “You know, Colonel, your chances of getting your brother out of that place are slim to none.”

  Nick stared back at him and sent him a quick mirthless grin. “We’ll see.”

  “Well, strange as it sounds, I wish you luck. Chen is a nasty arrogant bastard. I’d like to see you take him down for good.” Yancy stood up and walked around his desk. “Now where can I find the rest of my product, Colonel?”

  Nick rose. The meeting was obviously over, as far as Yancy was concerned. “Your men gonna let me leave here in one piece?”

  “You have my word on it.”

  Nick nodded. “The remainder of the heroin is in your maintenance shed out back, the one with the double lock on it. There are two bags in the empty redwood barrel.”

  Yancy exploded with laughter and slapped Nick on the shoulder. “I suppose you didn’t have any trouble gettin’ past those locks, did you?”

  “Not too much.”

  The two men at the double doors, stepped aside as Yancy ushered Nick out. “Well, damn, Colonel! Hope you get Lance back safe and sound. But that’s something I’ll probably never know since I’ll be long gone by the time you leave for Vancouver Island.”

  The four men walked to the front door together, then separated. Yancy and his men went around to the back of the house, while Nick retraced his steps to the pier and his Zodiac, surprised that he didn’t see any of Yancy’s guards along the way.

  HANNA WAS SITTING AT THE KITCHEN TABLE with Nick’s mother when he came through the back door at one o’clock in the morning. He smiled when he saw them.

  “This is getting to be a nice habit— the two of you two waiting up for me. Better be
careful. I might get used to it.”

  Hanna’s smile was warm and tender and relieved. His mother’s was anxious.

  “What did Yancy tell you, son?”

  Nick took a seat between the two women. “He thinks Chen is holding Lance on Vancouver Island. He showed me the compound on the map.”

  “Do you think the information is accurate?” Jessie asked worriedly.

  “From all he told me— yes, I do. It would be the ideal location to hold someone without anyone finding out.”

  “Do you want a cup of coffee?” Hanna checked. When he shook his head no, she asked, “So, exactly where on Vancouver Island is Chen keeping Lance?”

  Nick raked a hand through his short hair tiredly. “At a compound he owns at the northwestern end, just below Cape Scott. It’s above a little fishing village called Stormy Harbour. Have you ever been there?”

  “I don’t think so. If it’s where I think, I’ve probably sailed by it, though.”

  “Just north and east of the mouth of Quatsino Sound,” Nick clarified. “There’s a finger shaped inlet that hooks around and above Stormy Harbour.”

  Hanna’s brows were furrowed in thought. “I’ve sailed into Quatsino Sound and south to Port Alice. It’s gorgeous country, but very rugged and remote. The weather’s really unpredictable, too, although less so in the summer. Lots of rain and wind.”

  “We used to dive with Sean off the northern end of Cape Scott— where all those old sunken ships are, off Shipwreck Point, remember?” Nick asked.

  “Yeah. I’ve dived there with Lance. He likes to salvage in that area.”

  Nick stared at her for a long moment. There it was again. Another reference to what she and his younger brother did together. He didn’t remember her ever mentioning so many shared activities with Lance in her letters.

  Sighing, Jessie rose slowly and stiffly from her chair. “Well, I’m going to bed, you two,” she informed them. “Let me know when you’ll be leaving to get your brother, son.”

  “Uncle Nick?” Christopher’s sleepy little voice came from entryway into the dark living room. “Did the bad men tell you where to find Daddy?” The little boy rubbed his eyes and climbed up onto his uncle’s lap, looking trustingly up into his face.