Cold Blooded (26 page)

“I’m very sorry about that,” Tobler apologized. “I assumed incorrectly they would run away and avoid a showdown with the police. I -”

Tobler paused, leaning toward the two on the ground, who were beginning to crawl away. “Stay right where you are or I give you another dose right in your eyes!”

The two immediately stopped crawling. They wiped at their mucous covered faces with the t-shirts they had on, while grunting out strained pleas not to spray. Tobler reached toward parka man’s pocket, but paused when she saw Nick shake his head.

“I’d advise allowing the police to find the gun on him, Leslie. I’ll hold him still until they get here.”

“Quite right, Mr. Weatherby.” Tobler took her position again in front of the other two. “I greatly appreciate your help. Perhaps I could comp your room.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m glad it’s worked out so far. Would -”

“You…you dead!” Parka man regained his voice. “You and your bitch! I’ll -”

Tobler leaned around Nick, and shot off a small dose right into parka man’s eyes. It was all the grinning Nick could do to keep from being bucked off by the writhing man under him. Parka man began vomiting. Nick pulled him slightly back away from it as the man continued to gag.

“I very much dislike being called that name,” Tobler explained, as people were gathering. Approaching sirens wailed in the distance.

A tense Rachel, holding Jean’s hand, approached Nick, looking stricken. Nick shook his head in the negative slightly. Rachel pulled Jean away into the forming crowd. Jean was smiling.

“Batman strikes again, Mom,” Jean whispered.

“It looks like he had a little help from the Huntress,” Rachel whispered back. “Oh boy, I bet this means we’re on the road again tomorrow.”

“Hey, I heard you come in.” Nick walked from the bathroom, drying his hair. “What’s Danger up to? Did she go to bed already?”

Rachel looked away from the screen of Nick’s notebook computer. “I rented her the latest Harry Potter movie. She and Deke are propped up in bed watching it. I see you’ve really collected a lot of information on Tanus and Fletcher employees.”

“It will make our Sarasota adventure less exciting if we can spot some of the players near the bank. My software program didn’t register a break in Tanus’s firewall until just before my shower. The names and faces you have on the screen are the latest.” He threw the towel aside.

Rachel put her arm around Nick’s waist as he stood alongside her chair. He had put on black boxer shorts before coming out of the bathroom. She kissed his side, leaning into him for a moment. “Leslie was pretty good with the cops. They hardly asked you anything.”

“She put them right on the defensive, then steered her way into the middle of their investigation. I made a simple statement, backing up her version, and she made them leave me alone. Leslie had all the right questions for them, too, about whether the police had priors on the young men, or if they fit car theft profiles in the area. She called hotel managers she knew and confirmed those clowns had been spotted before, after robberies at other hotels.

“I have your meal on warm in the microwave.”

“Bless you.” He pulled her up from the chair. “I’ll eat, check on Danger, walk the wooly mammoth, and then see if I can entertain you for a few hours.”

“Wow, aren’t you ambitious? Sit down, and I’ll bring the food and drink. You must feel a lot better after your shower.”

She brought out the carton with Nick’s order from the restaurant and set it down in front of him on the table near his notebook computer. She retrieved napkins and their drinks before sitting down with him. Lips parted slightly, she watched him eat the food in his black boxer shorts. Nick noticed her appraisal.

“I’m underdressed for dinner, huh?”

“Overdressed.” Rachel ran her hand along his thigh. “How’s your meal?”

“Other than having it with plastic utensils, it’s great.”

“Are we leaving tomorrow?”

“I’d like to stay,” he answered between mouthfuls of his hot turkey sandwich. “They found the van in Las Vegas. Leslie asked me about whether I’d heard the news when I told her we had a house in the Las Vegas area.”

“They’ll never pull your name out of that hat, Nick,” she kidded him.

“The quickest way to get into trouble is to start assuming facts not in evidence. I’m thinking we need to stay another day because we don’t want the cops around here getting suspicious of us fleeing the area after my run in with the locals tonight. They have our information on the register, including the Escalade’s license plate.”

“So, we stay.”

“We’ll play it by ear tomorrow and see how it goes.”

“Hey Nick, I’ve wanted to ask you something about your writing. How did you ever get your assassin stuff published?”

He leaned back with Rachel’s hand in his. “What makes you ask?”

“I’ve always heard it’s hard as hell to get published.”

“It took me three years for an agent to get beyond the first paragraph. A writer has to send out a query first with what they call a hook. If an agent or publisher likes your hook, they ask to see more. I had some requests for partials, but nothing panned out until near the end of my third year trying.”

“What did you do besides kill people while you waited?” she needled him.

“I wrote more books. By the time my first manuscript was picked up, by a publisher instead of an agent, I had four more books in the series done. Editing took up most of the two years after I hit the best seller list for my first book.”

“You must have had a lot of rejections in three years.”

“Quite a few,” he admitted.

“Did you ever want to shoot them?”

“Very funny.” He stood up. “Want another one?”

“Sure.” Rachel handed Nick her empty can. “Did you ever get discouraged, or think about giving up on the idea of writing?”

“Nope. Writing gave me an outlet. It was pure enjoyment. I had a woman editor during the second year say she liked the idea, but the writing needed work. Usually you only get a form letter rejection. She sent an attachment with what she claimed were suggestions. I opened up the attachment in her e-mail, thinking it would be a critique pertaining to my manuscript. Instead, it was a list of basic things not to do while writing a novel.”

“So, you hunted her down, right?”

“You are so out of line.” He returned with their drinks, chuckling at Rachel’s banter. “No, I didn’t hunt her down. It was cute. At least it wasn’t another form letter.”

“The editor insulted you,” she argued, feigning rage. “How dare she insinuate the only thing good in your manuscript was the idea. Let’s go get her now.”

“Right, Nikita, we don’t have enough people to kill as it is. We need to start hunting down agents and editors from my past that sent me rejection notes. I don’t think so. I have a better idea. Let’s go watch the end of Harry Potter, play some Frisbee, put Danger and her sidekick to bed, then come back here. You can lecture me some more on how to handle rejection.”

“I’m thinking you probably won’t be getting anymore rejections.” Rachel shifted over into Nick’s lap.

“Uh oh, here comes the Huntress.” Rachel avoided looking directly at Leslie Tobler as she approached their table.

Nick nodded, winking at Jean, who smiled back. They had decided on an early breakfast in case there were any developing complications.

“Good morning, Mr. Weatherby.” Tobler smiled at Rachel and Jean. “You’re not leaving us soon, are you?”

“Good morning, Leslie, this is -”

“Jane Austen and her daughter Jean,” Tobler finished for Nick, holding out a hand to Rachel. “
The
Jane Austen?”

“Uh, no.” Rachel laughed, shaking Tobler’s hand. “Would you like to join us?”

“I’ll have a cup of coffee, thank you,” Tobler replied as their waitress appeared with Tobler’s order as if by prearranged agreement. “I only noticed one vehicle registered for both of your rooms. Are you all traveling in one vehicle?”

“Yes, we met in Las Vegas and decided to travel together,” Nick answered. “We have business in the East and decided to take the trip in my Escalade.”

“Where at in the East?”

“You ask a lot of questions, lady,” Jean piped in. “Mom says it’s rude to question people.”

Nice one, Danger
, Nick gave Rachel a small head shake as he could tell she intended to rebuke Jean.

“Quite right, Jean, I suppose it is,” Tobler admitted. “I apologize if my questions are out of line. Our skirmish with the three young gentlemen last night caused quite a stir. It seems they are indeed responsible for many of the vehicle thefts in the area. The police wondered how I noticed their out of the ordinary behavior.”

“I see,” Nick acknowledged. “Did they have more questions for me?”

“No, I told them what you informed me of last night about the three as if I had noticed the odd behavior and not you. I explained you simply lent a hand when the young men became violent. I wondered if my taking credit for your exemplary perception was out of line?” Tobler watched Nick appraisingly.

“Not at all. The three of us are trying to travel with as little fanfare as possible. I’d rather we didn’t attract any unnecessary attention. Did it help raise your intrinsic value with the police?”

“It did.” Tobler stood up with her coffee. She shook hands with Nick. “I hope you’ll stay with us again in the future.”

“We will. Thanks for the help.”

“It was nice meeting you, Ms. Austen, and your daughter.” Tobler gave Rachel and Jean a small hand wave before turning to walk away.

“I owe you one, Danger,” Nick said. “You sure ended Leslie’s fishing expedition in abrupt fashion.”

“Does this mean we get to stay another day? My friends said they wouldn’t be leaving until tomorrow. They’re visiting family here for another day.”

“We’ll stay another day if I can keep off the police blotter, Danger.”

“Nick, we have some time this morning, can…can we go buy some stuff to play softball with?” Jean continued on a roll. “Mom was going to sign me up for the Mini’s Softball League this year.”

“I did promise to teach her the basics,” Rachel added. “I don’t suppose softball is one of your many talents, is it?”

“I’ve played most sports,” Nick answered. “I’m sure between the two of us, we could give Danger some practice. Deke will, of course, want to play, which could be a hindrance or help, depending on if he retrieves balls, or plays keep away. I do have to spend at least a few hours on research today sometime between baseball and pool parties. I have a couple solid Tanus hits on guys I’m certain they will be using in Florida. They fit the profile with large paychecks and no expertise in anything resembling the import/export business.”

“I can monitor the pool party while you -” Rachel began.

“I think not,” Nick interrupted. “I don’t want either of you on your own without me. Now, if you two are done eating, let’s go find a sports store around here and get some equipment. We’ll be on the road again tomorrow, so another activity to pursue while traveling is a good thing. I know Deke will approve.”

“Yuck! He’ll make the softballs all slimy,” Jean complained.

“I’m telling him you said that,” Nick warned.

“Let’s get clear on our agenda for the next few weeks,” Nick said, as they entered the Sarasota, Florida city limits. “I contacted my friends who own condos down here shortly after hearing where the bank was located. We’re still in the off season. They were certain they would have one ready for us. I called them at the last rest stop after talking to Grace and -”

“How’d that go?” Rachel broke in.

“Don’t ask,” Nick cautioned with a shrug. “It’s a process. Anyhow, my friend has a condo we will all be happy to stay in. It’s part of a complex, where each building has a set number of condos and structures bordering different small lakes, with all the Florida wildlife inherent to the area, including alligators.”

“Wow, alligators?” Jean cried out excitedly.

“Yep. They can’t train them. They can’t make boots out of them. The damned dinosaurs traipse around anywhere they want.” Nick smiled back at Jean in the rear view mirror.

“Good. I like alligators,” Jean stated.

“Sure, they’re all cute and cuddly until someone’s pet or child ends up as dinner for one.” Nick supplied the counterpoint with some exasperation.

“Huh?”

“Nick, I don’t think -”

“I’m just giving Danger the Wild Kingdom rundown of Florida. Alligators are on top of the food chain. Everything else is on the menu for them. I could gun down five people in the street and everyone would be looking into my motives, childhood, and religious background. They would waive the death penalty and put me in a cushy cell with cable TV. If I put a bullet in an alligator, I’d be lucky to survive the week.”

Rachel was already laughing, but Jean watched Nick with uncertainty.

“What…what do we do about Deke?” Jean asked, hugging the dog.

“Teach him how to say ‘please don’t eat me’,” Nick quipped, earning an immediate punch to the shoulder from Rachel, who could not stop laughing. “We won’t let any alligators get Deke. Now, if we can move from the animal kingdom for a moment, I’d like to return to our actions while living at the condo. We can go swimming in the condo pool, play softball, and even fish in the lake. What we will not be doing is wandering around Sarasota. I have another friend who will quite happily look after Jean while you and I recon our target site, Rachel.”

“These friends of yours know something about you then?”

“I’ve used their condo as a retreat before when I’ve had business in the Gulf or down in the Bahamas. Gus Nason, the guy I’m having watch out for Danger, is an old associate. I have my own contacts. I’ve never revealed them to anyone.”