He studied my face for a reaction to what he was telling me.
“That’s not who I am, but who I was, still, I’ll understand if my past is a deal breaker.”
We were sitting together on the sofa in the living room, a bottle of wine on the coffee table before us, and a blazing fire to warm the chilled night. I snuggled closer and laid my head on his shoulder.
“Keep talking.”
“All right, well, although I had stopped going to school in the fourth grade, I had always been a reader and I loved anything to do with history and philosophy. By the time I was sixteen I knew that my life was being wasted. After struggling with it for a while, I went to someone for help.”
“Who?”
“His name was Walter Calvin. He was a former priest. He ran a refuge for people who wanted to leave the gangs, but when I first went to him, he refused me.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I wasn’t just a street soldier; I was an officer in the gang. Walter thought that I was up to something.”
“So, what did you do?”
“I tried leaving on my own and it didn’t go over well. The other gang leaders wanted me dead and they nearly made it happen with a drive-by shooting. After that, Walter believed me. The next day I was at a camp out in the Texas desert, which is where he taught people like me the skills we would need to transition. It was also where I realized that I liked to paint.”
“And so, you got a second chance?”
“It was more like a rebirth. Walter Calvin became my father, priest, teacher, and my life counselor, all rolled into one. I owe what I am today to his guidance.”
“How long were you at the camp?”
“I stayed at the camp for years and worked as a counselor, and later I moved to El Paso and became a bounty hunter.”
“You were a bounty hunter?”
“For a short time, and then I worked as a bodyguard, but that ended when I started hiding people and offering my brand of witness protection. Now I have to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.”
“I thought that you worked for Chaney, the mobster, you helped him out with Ernesto Roberts last year.”
“That was a favor for a friend. I once saved Chaney’s daughter from a guy who jumped her in a parking lot. We’ve been friendly ever since.”
“Chaney, or his daughter?”
He smiled. “At one time it was both, but the daughter and I parted ways a while ago.”
“When did you buy this house, and why? It’s so big.”
“Where did you grow up?”
“Me? In Landsville, on a farm.”
“With chickens and pigs and such?”
“No pigs, but we do have chickens, it’s a small farm and my family has always rented out the land to the farm next to ours.”
“I grew up eight to a room in tiny apartments and drug dens. The only pets I saw were roaches and rats. I bought this place because it’s so different from where I grew up, and I’ll probably farm it someday, I also want to learn how to ride a horse.”
“I can teach you to ride, and I love horses.”
“I’m going to hold you to that when I get better; it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”
One of Lawson’s men came down the hall, stood in the doorway, then cleared his throat. His name was Burns. Of the three agents guarding us, he was the most senior, also the most personable, while the other two stayed to themselves.
“Yes?” Ramón said.
“Lawson is on his way here; he asked me to tell you.”
“Is there news about Natalie Stone?” I asked.
“I don’t believe so, but Thomas will fill you in.”
“Thank you,” Ramón said, and Burns went back to the kitchen.
“I hope they caught her,” I said.
“Why, are you getting cabin fever?”
“No, surprisingly no, but I worry that they’ll try to hurt you again. You still have information that she wants badly.”
“Personally, I hope they never find her.”
“Why not?”
“Because then maybe you’ll never leave here.”
Lawson showed and gave us news.
“One of the men arrested at the club has decided to make a deal and talk. The first thing he told us is that Stone is obsessed with getting her daughter back. She won’t stop coming after you until you reveal her daughter’s location. The second thing he said is that there are more men on the way, and with that in mind, I’d like to move you two out of here and to someplace safe. We can find look-a-likes to play you.”
“Look-a-likes? That won’t fool anyone watching through a scope,” I said.
“Well keep them inside, mostly; it’s for your own protection.”
I looked at Ramón.
“Do you want to go? Because I don’t.”
“No, you’re right, body doubles won’t fool anyone, and besides, they’re trying to capture me again, not kill me.”
Lawson sighed. “I thought you’d say that. In any event, we’ve rented a house half a mile away and I’m placing back-up inside it. If they do attack, we’ll have reinforcements ready.”
Another week went by without incident, but as we were outside walking about the property, Ramón surprised me by breaking into a run. When I caught up to him, he smiled.
“That felt good, and there was no pain; I think I’m finally on the mend.”
“That’s good to know,” I said.
Later that night, I tapped on the connecting door between our two bedrooms. I had debated wearing a negligee, but I didn’t want to broadcast my expectations or move too quickly if he still wasn’t… up to it. I was barefoot and wearing a pair of shorts along with a T-shirt that displayed my midriff.
Ramón opened the door and smiled.
“I was hoping you’d stop by; there’s something I want to show you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?”
“You have a dirty mind, thank God, but it’s actually something else.”
He handed me a handmade card. It was from Amy, Becca’s daughter. It showed her and Ramón together in a park-like setting. It was well drawn, and a step-up from her earlier artwork.
“It’s good, huh?” Ramón said, “I think that kid might be another artist.”
“Becca says that Amy still talks about you all the time.”
“There was an invite for dinner included with the card; I think I’ll stop by and see them once Natalie Stone has been handled.”
“They’d like that, can I come too?”
“You mean like a couple?”
I walked over and sat on the bed.
“Yes, like a couple.”
I moved my things into his bedroom the next day.
Two days later, I was beginning to think that Natalie Stone’s plans had changed, but then she sent an army at us.
Lawson was there. He had come calling to tell us that he had cancelled the back-up troops at the rented house because they were needed elsewhere. Then, we introduced to a man that he simply called, Jace. Lawson told us that Jace was a special consultant who would be staying with us. Jace was so young that I had been thinking Lawson had brought his son along.
Jace looked me over from tip to tail, but it was not so much a leering as a stare of admiration.
As we all walked Lawson out to his vehicle, they struck.
A yellow school bus turned at the corner and came slowly down the street; no one thought anything of it, until Ramón stated a fact.
“Lawson.”
“Yes?”
“This road dead ends at the Miller farm, and we’re the only two homes on the street. Neither one of us has kids.”
Lawson spoke to his men. “Check it out.”
Two of the men broke off and headed for the school bus. As they stepped off the curb, the door slid back on the bus and armed men in camouflage fatigues began pouring out.
The two men that were headed toward the bus went down in a torrent of bullets
as everyone else dived behind Lawson’s SUV, accept for Jace. Jace took out a gun and scrambled beneath the vehicle. Lawson pointed toward the front door of the house, and his man, Burns, shook his head.
“We’ll never make it, Thomas, we’re pinned down.”
I looked at the gun in Lawson’s hand, then reached over and flipped off the safety.
He sent me an embarrassed grin.
“I’m not a field agent.”
“You are today.”
He nodded at me and then fired a shot as he peeked around the car.
“I counted eight men,” he said grimly.
Ramón was unarmed, but I had been wearing a snub-nosed .38 in an ankle holster. I leaned around the car and fired a shot that entered the left eye of an attacker.
“Now there are seven.”
Losing one of their own seemed to madden our attackers. They simultaneously emptied their magazines at the rear of the vehicle. Ramón pressed me to the ground and covered me with his body. I feared the worst when I heard a shout of pain, but it wasn’t Ramón who cried out, it was Burns, he had taken a bullet to the chest.
Lawson called to him. “Hang in there, Jerry, and we’ll get you help.”
Burns wheezed in reply and grimaced from the pain of his wound, as Ramón reached over and plucked his weapon from the ground.
The firing died down, but then resumed, however this time the sound had changed. It was Jace, and he was firing a Desert Eagle. He had scrambled out from beneath the car and shot the men as they changed magazines. He then dived back beneath the vehicle, and as he came out the rear to join us, he was grinning.
“I got three of the fuckers.”
I grabbed Lawson’s arm.
“It’s four against four now, we’ll never have a better chance, but we have to take the fight to them. If we stay here and snipe at them we’ll run out of ammo, and for all we know there are more coming.”
Lawson appeared a bit lost and looked over at Jace.
“What do you think?”
“She’s right, but it can’t be a frontal assault; we need to divide their attention first. I’ll do that by running to that oak tree by the curb.”
I looked over at the tree.
“It’s too far.”
“I can make it, and while they’re aiming for me, you can take them out.”
I held up my gun. “I got lucky once, but this gun is no good for distance.”
Jace shoved the Desert Eagle at me as he took my gun.
“Use mine, there’s one chambered and four left in the mag.”
“They’re coming!” Ramón shouted, and he and Lawson fired.
Jace looked at me. “Ready?”
“Yes, but you’d better run like hell.”
He sent me a wink and said, “Go!”
He sprinted out from behind the car and I stepped out an instant later. All four gunmen were training their weapons on him. I locked my arms, took aim, and fired.
My first shot was a little high, but the .50 slug still ravaged an ear of one of the men. My next shots hit center mass on man two and man three. Ramón hit the last man twice in the stomach, but not before the thug had fired a shot that sent Jace tumbling past the tree and into the road, where he laid still.
I had taken a step to go check on Jace, when the man I’d wounded in the ear fired a volley of shots.
I dived back behind the car. “I’m out!”
Ramón held up his weapon and shook his head, as Lawson did the same.
The man with the bloody ear inched closer, but when no one fired at him, he figured it out.
“You’re all out of ammo, aren’t you?”
Ramón kissed me.
“Run! Gun or not, I’ll hold him off long enough for you to get away.”
“I’m not running; we’ll face him together.”
He shook his head. “Such a woman.”
The man appeared in front of us with a bloody left ear. He pointed at me and Ramón.
“You two she wants alive, but you…”
He shoved Lawson to the ground with a kick then aimed his gun at him. He never got the chance to fire. Jace shot him twice from behind, and then came limping over, as the heel of one boot was missing.
He sent me a wink.
“Good shooting hot stuff, but that last prick got lucky and made me trip, knocked the damn wind out of me. Yo, Lawson, why are you sitting on the ground?”
Lawson held out his hand and Jace grabbed it and helped him up, but when he tried to let go, Lawson held on.
“Thank you, Jace.”
“Anytime, boss man.”
Agent Burns survived the shootout but was in critical condition.
Ramón and I were escorted to the FBI offices in Fort Worth and told that Lawson would be joining us soon. Soon turned into over an hour, but then Jace arrived with cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes.
“Lawson sent me to keep you company and I figured you’d be hungry.”
“Thanks, Jace, how is Burns doing?”
“That bullet jacked him up, but they say he’ll live. Lawson stayed to talk with the guy’s wife.”
“You saved us out there, Jace. If you ever need anything, just ask,” Ramón said.
“This Natalie chick really wants you, huh? But she lost eight more, how many can she have left?”
Ramón and I looked at each other.
“That’s a good question,” he said.
When Lawson showed up a half hour later, Ramón and I asked him how large Natalie’s organization was.
“As you can imagine, it’s a little difficult to know for certain, but Stone’s outfit has been in tatters since her husband betrayed her. Those men we faced today were mercenaries, so it looks like she’s been forced to hire out. We’ve also uncovered evidence that suggests she’s back in Europe, London to be precise.”
“Then that’s where we’re going,” I said.
“Yes,” Ramón said, “We’re through waiting around for an attack. It’s time we took the fight to her.”
Lawson stared at us as if he thought we might be joking.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes, but we’ll need your help. For starters, we’d like any info you have on her organization, such as known members and where we’re likely to find them.”
“The two of you want to take on a terrorist organization. That insane!”
“No, Lawson, it’s more or less what I do. I’m a bounty hunter; I track criminals for a living. Natalie Stone is just one more criminal and she won’t even see us coming, especially with your help.”
Lawson reached into his briefcase and took out an envelope, which he then handed to me.
“That’s the key card for a hotel suite. For your safety, two sheriff’s deputies will escort you there and stand guard. I will meet with you tomorrow morning and we’ll talk, but understand that in no way, shape, or form, can I condone what you’re planning. I would advise you to forget the idea. Are we clear?”
I sighed. “We’re clear, but what makes you think that the hotel will be safer than returning to the house?”
“It’s just for one night. In fact, enjoy it, order room service, get a massage, you both deserve it after what you went through today.”
Later, at the hotel, Ramón and I lay in bed and talked.
We had just made love, and the two of us were still so new together that it continued to be an event. I lay in his arms as he placed soft kisses on my cheek.
“Ramón?”
“I’ll need more time, dear; I’m still not a hundred percent you know.”
I laughed. “I wasn’t thinking of that, although I’ll get back to you on that when you’re ready.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“Natalie Stone. I want the bitch; she’s tried to hurt you one too many times.”
“Finding her without Lawson’s help might prove impossible, plus, we’d be hunting her on her own turf, and that’s always dangerous.”
“Yes, but what’
s the alternative? Sit around and wait for her to attack again? That’s not exactly my style.”
“I hear you,” he leaned over and kissed me hard on the lips. “We’ll go.”
“To London?”
“To London, and Europe will never be the same.”
Chapter 10
When Lawson arrived the next morning, he had another man with him, an analyst named Knutson. Knutson was the go-to-guy on Natalie Stone.
“You’re helping us?” I said.
“Yes, I think you have a chance of doing what we haven’t, what we can’t legally do. But understand, this is all off the books and your government in no way condones your actions.”
“What changed your mind?” Ramón said.
“Oh, I always thought the idea had merit, but I was in a strange office in an unfamiliar city where they employ spies. I wasn’t about to agree to it where it might have been overheard, or possibly even recorded.”
I walked over and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you, Lawson; we thought we’d have to do this alone.”
“You’re welcome, now let’s get to work, Knutson?”
Knutson was a slim man in a black suit. He had a well-trimmed goatee and a head of graying brown hair, cut short. His voice was a deep baritone and seemed fitting for the serious business we were about to discuss.
Knutson took out an 8x10 photo of Natalie Stone.
“Stone runs a terrorist group that has roots with the IRA in Ireland. Over the years their goals of terror have morphed closer to those of profit. The organization funds itself by committing bank robbery and other types of thief, although they have been tied to three acts of terrorism just within the last eighteen months.”
“You say that she seems more concerned about profit than terror, does that mean that she lives very well?”
“Oh yes, Miss Steele, we have reports of her staying at many four and five-star hotels, of course, never in the same one too long or under the same identity.”
Ramón nodded at that news.
“That’s good to know, her need for luxury will make her easier to find.”
Blue Steele Box Set Page 18
