“Thanks. I’ll just be a minute.”
Kate tried to shut the door, but the bald cop’s large shoe stopped the door from closing. “I’d like to have a quick look first...then you can finish up.”
His partner gave her a sheepish look, but didn’t stop his pal from entering her room. Kate had no choice but to let them in. Steam drifted out through the open bathroom door.
When the bald man reached the far end of the room he said, “Hey Brad. Come take a look at this.” He pulled a T-shirt from the garbage and held it up. It was Jack’s and it was covered with ash from the explosion. The older cop entered the room. As he passed the bathroom, Jack came out of hiding and wrapped a strong arm around the older cop’s neck and held a gun to his head. Jack gestured to the bald guy who had found the T-shirt. “Put your gun on the floor or your partner’s dead.”
Chapter 9
Michael Ray Harrison, named to the position of Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office three days ago, stepped into the meeting room and took in the details of his surroundings. Conference Room D was of substantial size and impressive decor. In fact, it was once used on a regular basis, back in the sixties and early seventies, by the director of the FBI, Frank Noland, and his men. The eight-foot conference table had claw legs and was inlaid with rosewood. The chairs were big and comfortably padded.
The room reeked of cigar smoke as Robert Conrad, Special Agent, talked and simultaneously exhaled. The odor did not seem to bother Patrick Monahan, the man sitting across the table from Conrad, but nothing ever did. No one ever knew what Patrick was thinking or doing; nobody really cared for that matter, and that was the way Patrick seemed to like it—one of the reasons Harrison had handpicked him to work closely with him.
Conrad, on the other hand, was a nervous fidgety man who, with his receding hairline and deeply creased skin, looked at least a decade older than his forty-six years.
At fifty-five, Harrison looked younger than both men sitting before him. Harrison was known for his pulse-fluttering looks, resembling that of a Greek deity. At least that’s what his ex-wife used to tell him before she left him for an uptight, mature gynecologist with eyes that bulged from their sockets. Harrison might be the one with the charisma and an aura that gained him the attentions and flirtations of scores of beauties, but the wealthy doctor had gotten the last laugh.
In retaliation, Harrison married Sheila Fabre, a woman a few years older than his eldest daughter. Unfortunately, the cost of keeping a young beautiful wife like Sheila satisfied was astronomical. His ex-wife would be in hysterics if she knew how dearly he was paying to keep Sheila at his side.
The smell of Conrad’s cigar floated past Harrison as he took a seat at the head of the table. The only thing that mattered to Harrison these days was getting laid every so often, and right now, tying up all loose ends surrounding the murder of Dr. Forstin. Rookie agent Jack Coffey needed to be taken care of once and for all. There were many ongoing investigations that needed Harrison’s attention, but this particular case happened to be stirring up a lot of commotion of late, keeping him awake at night. The director himself had called this morning for an update. The agency didn’t like having one of their own on the run. It made the agency look bad. Harrison had been confident that his problems would blow up in smithereens along with the plane that had crashed in the Nevada desert. But somehow Coffey and the Huntley woman had once again managed to slip through their fingers. Coffey needed to be taken out and if Conrad and Monahan couldn’t get the job done, he’d have to roll up his sleeves and do the job himself. A job he didn’t relish doing. He’d already gotten his hands bloodied once. Now, he was beginning to wonder when this crazy ride would slow down long enough for him to climb off the rollercoaster, so he could breathe again. Burning the candle on both ends wasn’t part of the deal when Dr. Elizabeth Kramer had first approached him a decade ago. She told him that Lou, the man in charge of the Cure For AIDS Foundation, was offering to shell out big bucks in exchange for his cooperation.
Harrison wasn’t fond of playing good agent, bad agent. He and Coffey had more in common than Jack would ever know. Jack Coffey wasn’t the only one who had joined the agency with lofty hopes of making a difference.
Harrison swallowed his regrets and stared Conrad down. “What have you got? Give me something to throw at the director. Something that will stick to the roof of his mouth and keep him quiet for a few days.”
“I’m keeping a close eye on A.J. Hanson,” Conrad said. “Other than the quick correspondence A.J. and Jack shared before the plane went down, the phone lines have been clear.”
It was quiet for a moment before Monahan added, “I sent Rick Harvey to San Diego to attend Dr. Forstin’s funeral this morning. I think you’ll be glad I did.”
Harrison leaned forward...waiting.
“After all of the monotonous rituals were taken care of, Rick Harvey gave his deepest regrets to Forstin’s wife. Upon realizing he was with the FBI, she pulled Harvey to the side and told him she’d gone through her husband’s things. Apparently she found a pricey bill for a high tech surveillance camera he had installed at his lab. She asked Harvey if they had found anything from the camera that they could use to find her husband’s killer.” Monahan shifted in his seat. “I didn’t see anything in the reports about a surveillance camera.”
Harrison felt the blood rush from his face. One word sprinted through his mind...FUCK. If there was a camera in the lab and it was turned on at the time of Forstin’s death, all three of them were going to lose their jobs. And that would be the least of their worries.
“I’ll check with Henry Gates and his team,” Conrad said. “See if they found something when they went through the lab the first time, but failed to put in the reports.”
Harrison glanced at his watch. “Check with Gates pronto,” he told Conrad before turning to face Monahan. “Where’s Rick Harvey now?”
“He’s on his way back to Los Angeles.”
“If nothing comes up after you talk to Gates, I want the two of you at Forstin’s lab in San Diego as soon as possible. Find that camera and if there’s a disc, destroy it.”
Kate looked from Jack to the police officer he held in a chokehold. The cop’s face turned red as he gasped for air, but Jack’s attention was on the big bald bad-ass cop across the room. Before Kate could tell Jack he might want to loosen his hold, the motel door came open, pushing Kate flat against the wall and keeping her hidden from whoever had just entered their hotel room without knocking first.
Through the space between the door hinges and the frame, Kate watched another man enter the room. This guy wasn’t wearing a uniform. A blue knit ski mask was pulled tight over his head and face.
The bald cop raised his gun.
A muffled gunshot sounded. The bald cop clutched his side and crumpled to the ground.
Kate remained silent. The guy with ski mask had a silencer on his gun, and he meant business. Shit. She didn’t know what to do. The masked man turned toward Jack, gun aimed and ready. Kate’s heart skipped a beat. The masked man still hadn’t seen her behind the door. She had to think fast. Pulling the towel from her head, she stepped into view and snapped the towel at the man’s wrist, catching him off guard.
The gun fell to the carpet. Kate lunged for the weapon.
The masked man seized a fistful of her wet hair and yanked her back against his chest. She kicked the gun toward Jack and tried to twist out of the man’s grasp, but he held tight.
The towel covering her fell to the ground. She was being used as a human shield...a naked human shield.
“Put the gun down,” the man with the ski mask told Jack, “or your girl here is one dead bitch.”
A groan erupted from the cop who’d been shot. He was alive.
Jack still had a chokehold on the other cop, but now Jack’s gun was aimed at the man holding her instead of the officer across the room. “Let her go,” Jack said.
The masked man slid his cold pale hand over her breast and squeezed. “What are you going to do about it?”
“He’s going to kick your ass, that’s what he’s going to do about it.” Kate jabbed her heel into the man’s shin, giving herself just enough slack to come up hard with her right elbow, straight into the guy’s nose. He stumbled backwards.
Kate bent down and picked up his gun and then covered herself with a towel.
Jack let go of the cop and crossed the room in a couple of strides, his face a maze of angry lines.
The old cop wheezed and coughed on the floor.
Kate watched Jack take a handful of the masked man’s shirt and thrust him against the wall. She’d never seen Jack look so menacing. Jack shoved the barrel of his gun into the masked man’s temple. “Touch her again,” Jack growled, “and your brains are going to paint the walls red.
“Get dressed,” Jack told Kate without looking her way.
His order took her by surprise. But she didn’t need to be told twice. She ran to the bathroom, picked up her dress, slid it on over her head, and slipped her feet into her new sandals. By the time she found her bag and rushed back to the main room, Jack had used the cop’s cuffs to lock the man to the bedrail. He’d also given the man a bloody lip. Without the mask covering his face, she recognized him. “Ben Sheldon?”
Jack nodded. “He’s definitely becoming a thorn in my side.”
Sirens sounded in the distance. Kate looked out the window.
Jack gestured toward Sheldon. “Did he hurt you?”
“Just my pride.”
A tic set in Jack’s jaw, as if hurting her pride was the worst thing the man could have done to her. They were running out of time. She touched Jack’s arm. Jack ushered her outside. Hotel guests and bystanders had gathered in the parking lot to watch the excitement.
Chapter 10
Jack looked toward the street, gripped Kate’s hand and headed in the opposite direction, through the parking lot and around the side of the hotel. He cut through an alley between a laundromat and the hotel. The high-pitched wail of a siren sounded as two police cars pulled up, blocking their path. Jack looked both ways before he pulled Kate back the way they had just come, dragging her down another alley. He headed for The Strip where they could disappear into the crowds.
A deep voice shouted from behind, telling them to stop or they would be shot.
They kept running.
A bullet chipped the cement wall of the building next to him. Jack made a sharp left and then a quick right. An unmarked car screeched to a halt in front of them, red lights swirling. Jack was about to turn around again when he recognized the driver as his good friend A.J.
A.J. jumped out of the vehicle. He opened the back door and gestured wildly for Jack and Kate to climb in.
The cops were getting closer.
“Get in and stay low,” A.J. ordered.
Kate jumped in first, her body flat against the floor. Jack climbed in on top of her.
A.J. clicked the door shut just as two officers rounded the corner with guns ready. A.J. ran toward the approaching officers. “They headed east,” he shouted. “Stay with them. I’ll head up the boulevard and cut them off.”
Jack heard A.J.’s footfalls and labored breathing as A.J. moved around the car and slid behind the wheel. A.J. shut the door and gunned it.
Jack used his arms to stop his body from crushing Kate. The sound of sirens grew faint. Jack kept his head low in the crook of Kate’s neck and shoulder. The smell of her rose-scented soap calmed his nerves. The thought of Kate treating herself to perfume and lacey underwear made him smile. Here they were running for their lives, and all he could think about was the way Kate smelled. He recalled her telling him there was nothing soft about her. She was dead wrong about that. Two of her purchases were of the feminine sort. Kate Huntley was soft and tender beneath that hardened exterior. She just didn’t know it.
Jack inhaled her sweet scent and brushed his lips across her hair. Blonde hair. He lifted his head another notch. “You dyed your hair.”
A muffled snort erupted. “And I cut it too, Mr. Observant.” She turned her head to the side and blew hair from her face.
“I like it,” he said.
“I’m glad,” she muttered. “Now could you get off me?”
“A.J.,” Jack called out, “can we sit up?”
“Stay down. I’ll tell you when it’s safe. Won’t be long now.”
Jack buried his mouth close to her ear again. “Sorry. Got to follow orders.”
Kate exhaled. “Could you at least move a little to the left? My right leg is going numb.” As soon as he shifted, she pushed her buttocks upward, trying to get comfortable. And then she froze.
Jack grimaced. “I don’t think you want to do that again.”
She did it again.
Jack groaned.
“Is that another gun, Jack?”
“No,” he whispered into her ear, “but it’s just as deadly.”
“Ooooh,” she said, “I like it when you talk dirty.”
“I don’t think this is a good time.”
“Is there ever a good time for you, Jack?”
“You two can get up now,” A.J. called out.
Jack pushed himself upward. Once he was sitting, he helped Kate to the seat beside him. They were on the highway now, with nothing but dry desert as long as the eye could see. Jack’s gaze met A.J.’s in the rearview mirror. “Thanks,” Jack said. “I owe you one.”
“Yeah, you do,” A.J. said. “What the hell is going on? You look like shit.”
“To tell you the truth,” Jack said, ignoring the comment about his looks, “I was hoping you’d be able to shed some light on everything that has gone down in the past few days.”
A.J. kept his eyes on the road. “Let’s start from the beginning. What the hell were you doing in Haiti? And why didn’t you tell anyone you were leaving town?”
“Remember the drug lord I was assigned to find...Jonathan Sientos?”
A.J. nodded.
“Well, I found him...via satellite. I also found Kate Huntley.”
A.J. let out a low whistle. “The girl who disappeared around the same time as your sister?”
Jack could feel Kate’s questioning eyes on him. “Yeah, that’s the one.” Jack turned to Kate. “Kate, meet A.J. Hanson, computer genius extraordinaire and number one pain-in-the-ass.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said. “I appreciate what you did back there.”
A.J. nodded. “No problem.”
“Within twenty-four hours of briefing Harrison on my findings regarding Kate and the drug lord,” Jack went on, “I was instructed to go to Haiti, find Kate Huntley, and bring her back to the States, quickly and discreetly.”
A.J. flipped on the air conditioning and rolled up the front windows. “Why the big secret?”
Jack shrugged. “I didn’t ask...just doing my job...although I have more than a few questions now.”
A.J. rubbed a hand over his buzzed haircut. “What about Dr. Forstin?”
“Forstin and Huntley, Kate’s father, worked together years ago.”
“I see,” A.J. said.
“Before I was due to leave for Haiti, I was told to pay Dr. Forstin a visit at his lab,” Jack told him. “I was also instructed to find out what I could and wire his phone in hopes he’d make contact with Kate after I left. Bingo. It all went as planned and we were able to zero in on Kate’s exact location.”
Jack refused to look at Kate because they all knew what happened after that. He didn’t want to see the pain he caused. If he’d never spotted her, Dr. Forstin would probably still be alive and Kate wouldn’t be running for her life.
“On the way to Haiti,” Jack continued, “I received word of Forstin’s death—murdered in the very lab I had just left.” Jack met A.J.’s gaze in the mirror again. “It never crossed my mind that Forstin’s life might be in danger.”
“Why would they set you up?” A.J. asked. “And why would they want him dead? You don’t believe Harrison had a hand in all this, do you?”
Jack leaned back in his seat. “I don’t know what to think anymore. Harrison is the one who informed me of Forstin’s death. If he was involved in any conspiracy to have me framed for murder, he gave no hint over the phone. If anything, he sounded disturbed by the news of the man’s death. He sounded equally surprised when I called from Haiti to inform him that Kate and I were in imminent danger and unable to get off the island.”
“Maybe Harrison’s surprise stemmed from the fact that you were still alive.”
That thought had crossed Jack’s mind. Every time he talked to Harrison, his problems tended to double. Jack had called Harrison last night only to wake up this morning surrounded by cops. He was going to have to be more careful in the future about what he told Harrison.
“You two are lucky to be alive,” A.J. added thoughtfully. “I saw what was left of that plane.”
“Yeah, Harrison arranged for the plane.”
A.J. frowned. “What happened to the pilot?”
“He took the only parachute on board and left Kate and I to land the bird on our own.”
“No shit,” A.J. said with a laugh. “Those people have no idea who they’re dealing with.”
“That’s right,” Jack agreed, but that didn’t erase the acrid taste in his mouth or lift the heavy weight in his gut. This was no adventure, no game. He was up to his neck in some very serious crap, and he needed to find a way out.
Kate appeared deep in thought, her eyes unblinking as she stared out at the wide-open desert. This had to be strange for her...being away from the only home she’d known for so many years.
“There’s been nothing but chaos at the agency since the news of Forstin’s murder broke,” A.J. said. “The guys are making bets. I put all my money on you, buddy. I never doubted your innocence.”
Jack raised a brow. “Never, huh?”
“Okay, maybe for a minute, but that’s it.” A.J.’s smile turned to a frown and the tone of his voice grew serious. “I knew you were in trouble when I arrived early at the office and found the Xerox guy rigging my computer. The technician made some lame excuse about getting lost and ending up in the wrong office. I acted like it was no big deal, a mistake everybody makes.”
“Did he tap your phone?”
“And everything else in my office. They were in the middle of redecorating my condo before I left for Vegas. I have a feeling they would have wired my dick if I’d been in my bed asleep.”
“Do they know you’re wise to them?”
“Are you kidding? Those dumb assholes make me look like Einstein’s twin.”
After another thirty minutes of catching up, Kate and Jack slept for a few hours as A.J. drove them through the dry, flat plains separating Las Vegas from Los Angeles. By the time Jack awoke, they were about an hour away from Los Angeles, heading up a gravel road bordered on one side by a rushing mountain stream. A.J. stopped and waited for a wild turkey to cross the road.
“Here’s the plan,” A.J. said when he saw that Jack was awake. “This is Spring Valley Lake. My sister, Sharon, lives here. You met her a few times in college.”
Jack nodded and tried not to wake Kate. Her head rested against his arm.
“Most of these homes are rented out for the summer. Sharon, her husband, and their kids are vacationing in Europe.”
Jack nodded again.
“She won’t be too thrilled with me when she learns I loaned out her house. But hey, she’s been mad at me before. She has this dog that I was supposed to bring home with me. Your payment for me putting my job on the line is to take care of the mutt while you’re here.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. This is a quiet neighborhood...secluded,” AJ said. “No cable, not too many houses with satellite, but you can never be too careful. My advice is to lay low while you’re here.”
Jack nodded.
A.J. drove along the gravel road, took a sharp right and drove the car up a steep driveway. Myriad trees blocked the sunlight and filled the air with a fresh pine scent.
Kate opened her eyes and sat up.
A.J. hit a remote attached to the car visor and the garage door rolled open. An old Chevy truck took up the other space. He pulled the car into the garage as he talked. “My sister will be gone until next Tuesday. I figure you two can stay here until Monday at the latest. That should give you over a week to take a breather—figure out how the hell we’re going to get you both out of this mess.”
A.J. turned off the engine and unlatched his seatbelt. “The closest neighbors are the Johnsons.” He pointed to a row of pine trees through which Jack could just make out the wood roof shingles.
Before he climbed out of the car, he had one more question. “Any idea at all who might want to see you behind bars...anybody you might have pissed off in the last few years?”
Jack shook his head. “Can’t think of a soul.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
They all climbed out. Jack and Kate followed A.J. to the door leading from the garage to the house. The high-pitched yips of a dog could be heard from inside the house. The door clicked open and A.J. nudged the little black and white ball of fur out of the way with his foot. “Come on. Give us a little room.” He leaned over and scratched the dog’s head. “This is Barney. He’s a Havanese.”
Barney did the rumba in quadruple time until Kate picked up the dog, cooing and scratching behind his ears as they moved through the house. The furniture was simple and contemporary with plain cotton curtains on steel rods covering the sliding glass doors.
A.J. gestured to the greenery in the family room and the potted plant in the dining room. “Water a few plants, feed Barney, let him out to pee every once in a while, that’s all you have to do. Like I said, there’s no cable, but there’s a DVD player and a collection of movies in the family room. Oh, and the mail. It comes every afternoon. Just put all the mail in the office.” AJ walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and told them to help themselves.
Kate was busy with Barney in the other room. A.J. gestured toward her. “Is she okay?”
Jack looked at Kate, watched her talk to Barney as if the dog might actually understand what she was saying. “Yeah, she’s a survivor.” Jack remembered the credit card in his back pocket, the one with Ben Sheldon’s thumbprint. It was still wrapped in a handkerchief. He held it out for A.J. to take. “I have a favor to ask you. There’s a print on this card that I need analyzed for identification. It’s been in my pocket for a while, but it’s all I have. Anyhow, he’s a big man...goes by the name Ben Sheldon. According to his ID he works for the FBI.”
A.J. made another whistling sound. “I take it you didn’t recognize the face.”
“No.” Jack held his hands up in surrender. “And I have nothing else to go on. I’ve got to start somewhere. He’s also the guy who showed up at the hotel this morning and shot a police officer.”
“I’ve got a friend in forensics who owes me a favor.” A.J. carefully tucked the card in his shirt pocket. “I’ll let you know if anything turns up.”
A moment of silence passed between them. “We’ll find out who’s behind this, Jack. Just lay low and be patient.”
“Any chance I can get my hands on a computer? Mine was destroyed along with the airplane.”
“Everything you’ll need is in my niece’s room. I installed a wireless device last time I visited...five times faster with twice the range. You’re all set.”
They shook hands and Jack wished he had more than a handshake and a pat on the back to offer his friend. “Be careful out there,” Jack told him. “These guys mean business.”
“Don’t worry about me. I needed a little excitement in my life to stir things up. Getting engaged last week wasn’t enough.”
“Engaged? To Becky?”
“No,” A.J. said, laughing. “I met a new girl last week and proposed the next day, what do you think?”
“I think congratulations are in order.” Jack shook A.J.’s hand and patted him on the back. “Becky’s a great gal. It’s about time.”
“So everyone says.” A.J. stepped outside and said, “If we can keep you alive and out of prison, I’d love to have you as my best man.”
Jack smiled. “I’d be honored.”
“I’ll be in touch.”