Maya paced the office, wondering what had happened to Nik. The warrant proceedings were now set in motion and who knew how long the desk-jockeys at the courthouse would require before they’d be ready to be picked up. Hoping to speed things along, she’d gone to the boss for help in pushing it.
“I’ll get them moving on the warrant,” Ron had said, “but I gotta ask…You know what you’re doing with this one, Agent?”
“Yes, sir. Everything we can. I appreciate you giving the go-ahead to Lassiter. It’s good to have eyes on the place.”
“I agree. It’s why you got it. Just so you know, the brass is riding me hard me on this case. It’s an international embarrassment. Since you’re the one in the field, I’m passing the pressure on to you and Max. Don’t let me down.”
“No, sir. We’re on it.”
“You’d better be. Go do your job.”
Leaving his office still in one piece, she accepted that she’d done everything she could to get authorization to snoop through Smith’s files. Policy procedures took their own sweet time.
Waiting for Nik, she’d decided to take another run at Birdy Bard and was met with a nervous, frightened criminal and the same crafty lawyer who had rescued Smith Senior’s ass the day before. “If you promise us a deal, we might be willing to share.”
Not intending to play their silly games this time, Maya started, “I need you to know one important factor that might cut your client some slack. We realize he didn’t have a gun and he never shot anyone. If I remember correctly, he spent most of the time unconscious. And that could play in his favor. But don’t kid yourself, he will do time… Unless he can tell me about the container he was to pick up last night. The number and which ship delivered it? If he was willing to share that information, I, personally, will see to it that his assistance is taken into consideration when it comes time to plea-bargaining. ”
Whispering—along with muttered arguments and hand gesturing followed. Maya watched closely and knew there would be no help here. Birdy didn’t know the answers.
Meanwhile, they had one of the killers, John Stocker, from the night before, in the interview room, sitting, sweating—waiting to be questioned. She itched to get in there, but she’d made a promise to Nik.
Finally, to pass the time, she picked up the phone and called the hospital. Butterball, as he’d been affectionately dubbed by Nik the night before, but whose real name was Bubba Jones, was still there under guard and she checked to see when they figured he’d be ready to answer some questions. The nurse was almost positive the doctor would give her clearance, but he wouldn’t be available to sign off on it until after lunch. Since Maya intended to be busy the rest of the morning, it worked for her.
As she lowered the phone, a coughing noise caught her attention. Becky trounced in, frustration apparent by her attitude and in her expression. Slumping in the only chair not covered with files, she pouted and then griped.
“I’ve been going through every avenue I can think of to come up with a manifest from Maurice’s brother, Lee Smith’s company, Lee Electrical, out of Singapore. I’ve pursued every container he’s shipped for the last week and I’ve come up with zilch. Then I ran a search for any of the businesses listed in the holding company that Smith & Sons are connected with and that was a bust also.”
“Sweet Jesus, Becky. If those girls arrived yesterday, they’re running out of time.”
“I know. It’s why everyone is working so freakin’ hard to try and find a lead. Do you have any idea how many containers enter that terminal every day from all over the world? It’s like looking for one specific diamond in a trunkful.”
“Shit!”
“You can say that again. It’s been a real slog. I’ve even gotten help from a few of the others who are better at the computer than me, and still nothing.”
“Becky, get real. There’s no one better than you. If you say there aren’t any containers arriving in New Orleans from Lee Electric then… hold it!”
“Hold what?”
“They aren’t arriving in New Orleans. That’s why they were taking the truck. They were going to make the pickup at another terminal. What’s the closest one from here?”
“Port of South Louisiana is a huge terminal. It’s one of the biggest in the western hemisphere. I’d say we’re about an hour’s drive.”
“The sneaky bastards. Could it be possible?”
“I’m on it!” Energy renewed, Becky flew to her feet and headed for the door in time to meet up with Nik.
“Hey, ladybug.” Nik greeted the girl and looked shocked when she placed a big smooch on his cheek before commenting. “You can charge me with sexual harassment, or just accept that I’m nuts about your partner and don’t like kissing women. In case she isn’t listening, tell her for me, she’s one super-good detective.”
Nik’s comical expression made Maya laugh. Or was it the humming in her brain that spoke volumes. They were onto something. She just knew it.
“Should I even ask?” Nik pointed at the departing computer whiz.
Taking her time, Maya told Nik what they’d stumbled onto. Hearing him add his admiration for her quick thinking made her stammer and find her cheeks warming.
“It was a… a reasonable conclusion, not rocket science.”
“True. But you thought of it and others didn’t. That makes you one of the FBI’s brainiest, and I might add—hottest, commodities.”
“Sugar, you can quit your sweet-talking. You’re already booked in for special treatment tonight. By the way, what took you so long getting here?”
Nik brought her up to date on his discussion with Julian, leaving out the parts that made him uncomfortable. Especially about destitute old Bob, the snoop he’d never even noticed.
“So now you realize that Juli
isn’t
a gay dancer who helped some girls one night. Could have told you that a long time ago.”
Nik crossed his arms, the jacket of his light gray suit stressed from his bulging muscles. “Then why didn’t you?”
“Cause when I ran a search on him, Julian Freed didn’t exist.”
“Melee, will you let us have some water now? It’s been hours and it’s so hot, I’m having difficulty breathing.” Kanya had finally stopped crying hours ago and now lay in abject misery in a fetal position on her mattress.
“She wants to keep it all for her and her little friend.” Sneering, Vanida, a tall girl whose mouth had already begun to show lines from always wearing a frown, tormented Melee like she’d done from day one.
Because Melee had taken over leadership, the malcontent had argued, belittled, stirring the pot and getting the others riled. She started another harangue once again. “You are fooling the others with your loving attention, bitch, but you don’t fool me. All you care about is yourself.”
“That’s not true. If I hadn’t stopped everyone, the food would have been gone the first day and so would’ve the water.” Melee tried to make them all see the truth. Earnestly, she stared from one to the other. “I’ve done it f-for you, to keep you well. Other than Solada, not one of you has tried to help.”
“What is there to do? Pass out the food, of which I’m sure you keep more for
yourself
than you share amongst the rest of us.” Malicious and vindictive, Vanida stressed the word to get her meaning across.
“You know that isn’t true, Vanida.” Calmly, Melee turned and surveyed the faces of the other girls all showing interest in the outcome of the newest battle. “I’ve kept the food beside me to protect everyone’s portions and you’ve all watched whenever I’ve gone into the supply. The only other reason I touch the boxes is to get the mulch to add to the toilets, and as bad as the stench is, without me adding that, we would all have been poisoned by now.”
“Oh, you’re just
so
perfect, aren’t you?” Screaming now, Vanida’s hand struck Melee, sending her head reeling to the side.
With a cry of alarm, Solada, the youngest, stood to protect her friend, only to fall to the floor.
Melee pushed Vanida backward so she could bend over the child. She cradled her and stroked her head. “She’s burning up.” Swinging around, Melee searched for the last bottle. “We must give her the water.”
Kanya spoke up. “She can have my share.”
“Mine too.” The others piped up and added their agreement. Worried about the youngest, they circled around the girl who’d won everyone’s heart with her kindness and pretty songs that had kept them all amused during the long, dark hours.
With Kanya’s help, Melee gently carried Solada to her own clean mattress and laid her down. She poured a small amount of the water into a cup and held it to the girl’s lips, forcing much of it into her mouth. Then she undid the girl’s blouse and wet a cloth to hold against her overheated skin.
Melee had no real nursing experience, but she sensed that Solada was in real trouble. She wasn’t just dehydrated, there was something else affecting her.
Murmurs of affection and worry circulated the group and caught her attention. “Someone will come soon. You know we have landed. The small windows at the top of the container now show the blue sky, rather than the darkness from being inside the ship.”
Kanya added. “Yes, and since the last few hours, there’s slightly more fresh air. Has anyone else noticed it? Maybe we should try yelling again for help?”
Vanida piped up from the corner where she’d retreated. “Who has any voice left? None of us can speak above a whisper anymore, we’re so dry. And you’re giving all of our water to that brat.”
Before Melee could respond, four others turned on the complainer. “Shut up, Vanida. You haven’t stopped whining since we woke up in this hellhole.”
“We don’t want to hear it anymore.”
“We must all stick together.”
Vanida, pushed to her limits, broke down and howled. “Do you know what they plan on doing to us? We’ll be forced to be prostitutes, letting any disgusting man do what he wants. And there’ll be nothing we can do about it. I hate men. I’d rather be dead.”
Melee’s soft voice answered with a phrase that everyone had heard all their lives. “What will be, will be.”
John Stocker was a true psychopath, high-functioning and clever.
Maya had only met one before, but she knew it immediately after they entered the interview room. His aura was a thick gray veering on black, and his reptilian eyes were windows into a heartless soul.
Shivers of apprehension raced over her body, and she looked to see if the surrounding negative energy was affecting Nik and saw that it was. Rather than his customary lounging, her partner’s arms were crossed and he stood close, ready.
Ignoring the voice in her head that told her to get the hell out of there, she pulled out the chair across from the smiling man, placed her files on the table between them and closed the buttons on her light jacket.
“Hello, Agent Barnes. How nice of you to come and speak to me personally.”
“This is no friendly visit, Mr. Stocker. I have a few questions I’d like you to answer.”
“Ask them. If I can help you, sweetheart, it’ll be my pleasure.”
Maya glanced at Nik with a distinct warning in her stare.
Don’t let him play you.
“Oh, you can answer them all right. But will you? For instance, who is your boss?”
“Next question.”
“Where were you going last night?”
“Pass.”
“Why did you shoot those officers?”
“Because they were there. Next.”
“You’re having fun, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I am. I don’t get to visit with a sexy woman like you very often. And when I do, they certainly aren’t wasting time asking me stupid questions.”
“Agent Foster!” Maya held her hand out toward Nik to stop his obvious intention of defending her. The ice in his pale blue eyes reminded her of a picture she’d once seen of an Alaskan glacier: cold, bitterly cold.
Feeling as if filth had seeped into her pores and only a long, hot shower with disinfectant soap would ever make her feel clean again, but remembering the hostages, Maya persevered. “Mr. Stocker, this may be a joke to you, but it’s very important to us that we find a container Mr. Bard was sent to collect last night. If you could please tell us about it, we’d look kindly on that help as a reason to—shall we say—make special arrangements with the prosecuting attorney.”
“If those special arrangements would include a night alone with your luscious body, I’d be sorely tempted to answer. As it is, I don’t believe that will ever happen. Therefore, Agent Bitch, I regretfully decline your generosity.”
Incensed eyes filled with disgust, Maya stepped in front of Nik before he could touch Stocker. Leaning closer to the sicko, she spoke softly. “Your poor mother must have hated you.”
When the animal lunged, Nik moved. The old saying about greased lightning came to Maya’s mind when he dove between her and the hands reaching for her throat. One backhand with the power of his arm behind it had Stocker, who was much smaller, flying against the wall.
Just then the door flung open and two burly officers rushed in to control the raging beast. Subdued and handcuffed, they pushed the furious fiend out of the room.
“I’d say that went well.” Maya’s trembling hands lifted her hair off her neck as she crossed her fingers at the back of her head.
“What did you say to him?” Nik went toward her, then hesitated. She sensed him stopping and waiting.
“Something I’m not too proud of. He pissed me off and all I could think of was those poor little girls in the hands of such an animal.” Maya dithered about sharing with Nik how low she’d stooped but then thought better of it. He had to realize she had a temper. If he still wanted to be with her after he learned what she was capable of when angry, it might mean he could care for her no matter what. And maybe he’d stay the course, not leave like her step-daddies had done all her life.
Besides… if her behavior scared him off, so be it. She didn’t want a weak man who couldn’t take the hard in her along with the soft.
By her behavior, Nik sensed they had come to some kind of a milestone. When Maya hesitated to tell him what she’d said that had set Stocker off, he didn’t push—just waited. He’d seen her anger, felt the bristling energy that had lit her fuse. In her job, he knew there were many days when the fury simmered. And normally, she kept it controlled. It was what he admired about the woman—her total professionalism.
Yet there was a side of her that was all female softness and loving heart. Her hesitation made him worry. Set his heart to beating faster and the bile in his stomach to start seething.
She finally admitted, “I’m ashamed for playing his game.”
When she confessed to what had inflamed Stocker, he felt nothing but pride for the fact that she’d had the balls to stand up to the creep.
What worried him the most was her choosing the one conviction that had followed him all his life. His father had hated
him
. Had he been so unlovable? Suddenly, rather than accepting the fact—he questioned the reason and came up with a truth that lightened his spirit.
It had nothing to do with him
…
never had
.
It was his father’s disability. The man had been a psychopath, the same as their prisoner. And Nik wasn’t anything like him, never could be. He had a heart. He loved.
Like a caterpillar escaping the imprisonment of his self-made cocoon, Nik shed the fear that had shadowed him every day. Acceptance flooded in; he was nothing like that wicked Bastard, he was normal and could have what other men cherished—a future with a wife and babies, a home of his own.
Peace descended and made him feel lightheaded.
“Nik…. Hey, partner!”
Calling him “partner” as she’d begun to do at the office, so as not to let the cat out of the bag, Maya had to speak twice to get his attention. He read the anxiety in her eyes and knew instantly what had put it there.
“Maya, I was thinking about what you said and how it reminded me of my old man. He hated me too and being his son was a nightmare. If Stocker had a mother like him, I almost feel pity for the little boy. But no blasted way in hell do I feel sorry for a grown man who chose to be a waste of skin. So, don’t be afraid that I’ll look down on you for losing it. I admire that you even took him on.”
“Truly? You had me worried when you didn’t say anything. I’m far from perfect, sugar. But I’ll never leave if you give me good reasons to stay.”
Unconsciously, he reached for her and stopped when she put her hands on his chest to hold him off. “Keep that thought, Baudin. Always…”