Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers (51 page)

“Just like that.” Disbelief in his voice.

Jaymee shrugged. “Transients are like that in Florida. They make cheap labor.”

“And easy bed partners?” the other man sneered.

He pulled up another chair, and sat astride it. Leaning forward, he twirled a few strands of Jaymee’s hair in his fingers. She forced herself to sit very still.

“Keep your mind on getting our guy, Les,” the first man said.

“There are other ways to make her talk.”

“No. Go check out the rest of the house and see whether you can find any trace of him, or the board.”

Les reluctantly released her hair, and stood up. “What if he’s really gone?”

“Then we wait for the next time he plays with the encryption board. We’ll get him.”

Jaymee kept her eyes blank, trying not to show any emotions that might betray her. She dared not look in any direction, in case they saw clues of Grace’s presence. Her heart was beating so loudly, she had trouble paying attention to their conversation. She tried to calm down by counting slowly.

Nick, don’t play with the board, wherever you are.
She didn’t fully understand it, but somehow, handling the encryption board would bring Nick danger. The foreboding feeling spread as she realized she was asking for the impossible.

Nick.

It was a hopeless silent scream.

***

Nick felt restless as they reached his efficiency. He wanted to see Jaymee, needed to hold her in his arms. A heavy sinking feeling settled in his gut as he faced the fact he’d have to live with this yearning for the rest of his life. He could only hope time would dull the edges.

He clamped down on all thought of personal needs. They had no place in his job.

“This is it,” he told Jed. “I laid low for a few weeks. After deciding to remain ‘dead’ until I could get word to you, I went to look for a job that wouldn’t call attention to me being a stranger in town.”

Jed cocked his head. “Roofing isn’t exactly your forte. I’d thought you’d try out something electrical, for computer parts.”

Nick shrugged and gave a wolfish grin. “No openings. Besides, my new job had unexpected fringe benefits.”

“A waste of this efficiency, then.” Jed took out the key to unlock the door.

“True,” Nick agreed, “but under the circumstances... don’t move.”

The last two words came out in a hiss, as his trained eye caught the signs. Jed stood very still, his hand still turning the knob, the door ajar wide enough for him to walk into the apartment. He nodded in comprehension at Nick’s nod toward the doorknob, keeping it turned clockwise while Nick slipped under his arm.

“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said we’d to stick close together,” Nick commented as he squeezed his muscular frame between Jed’s body and the door to peer behind it. “Ahh...”

He was silent for a minute as he studied the device.

“Can you disengage it?”

Nick passed him a mocking look. “As long as you don’t release the knob, we’ll be fine.” Because this was what he was trained to do, the cocky façade of the Programmer fell in place seamlessly, as he slid into the apartment to have a closer look at the little trap laid out for him. He knew it was for him, of course. Eyeing the gadget, he told his cousin, “Five minutes.”

“Good. If I may add that Jaymee and Grace are in danger, perhaps you can hurry a little?”

“Damn you, Jed. What have you assimilated from all this?”

“I’ll tell you as you work, to keep your nerves steady,” Jed said, with the calm assurance of complete confidence Nick would get them out of this jam.

Nick was already on his knees, studying the contraption wired to the knob. “What do you mean Jaymee is in danger?” His voice was soft, his hands steady.

“Extrapolate.”

“Damn you, Jed.” Nick slowly took off the plastic cover.

“What happens every time before some explosives show up in your wake?”

Gently. Gently. He unscrewed the panel covering the wires.

“I’m working here. Why don’t you tell me?”

Cockiness was essential when walking on the edge. Fear would only breed nervousness. Every COS commando’s first lesson was cockiness at all times, especially when death was close.

“What important thing did you do before they found you?”

Which wire? Nick hesitated with his wire-clipper. His hand was very steady as he hummed under his breath.

“I was...” The clipper moved nearer to a wire. He cut through in one clean motion, then held his breath. Adrenaline rushed through, as he knew it would, as it always did. Standing up, he continued, “You may release the knob now.”

Jed let go and stepped in to take a look. “Four minutes. You’re getting slow.”

“You distracted me with a question.” Nick breathed in deeply, settling the lightness in his head. “Each time before they found me, I was trying to decode the encryption board.” He cursed as realization dawned. “You mean I have been calling them myself every time?”

Jed nodded. “On the boat. Here, the night I arrived.”

“Shit. In the kitchen of Jaymee’s house.” Nick was already out the door. Oh God. He had brought them to Jaymee’s house. They ran back outside. The Jeep’s gears screeched in protest as Nick backed out of the parking lot.

“A homing device triggered every time you tried to break the code. They were counting on everyone to try many times, so they could cancel each one of you.” Jed went on with his analysis in the same calm tone of voice, as if Nick wasn’t driving at breakneck speed, breaking down all the assimilated information. “Emma and Winters could have been doing the same. You were warned because of your own computer system the first time. You probably sent them a signal from the efficiency, and this time, because you spent the night with Jaymee, you avoided them again. Luck saved you, Programmer.”

He didn’t add Jaymee and Grace were the next probable victims.

“I’ll kill them if they got to Jaymee and Gracie,” Nick said, his eyes on the road.

Jed’s eyes were unreadable as he stared ahead. “They lay a finger on Grace, and they are mine. Every single one of them.”

Luck. He didn’t need luck for himself. Nick cursed at himself over and over as he stepped on the accelerator. A homing device, Jesus. And they’d been gone over two days, ample enough time for the enemy to trace to that location. This wasn’t such a big town, and the right people would easily direct anyone to Jaymee’s house, if they were asked. For the first time, he forgot about his training. Fear for Jaymee’s safety clutched at his heart, at his very soul.

***

Thirsty and weary, Jaymee sat quietly on a chair in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Her two captors had searched every room and Grace’s and her tools on the floor had caught their attention. Their assumption, though, was wrong.

“Two sets of tools?” the one with the strong cologne inquired, eyebrows raised. “If he was supposed to be gone, why didn’t he take his tools with him?”

If they looked closely, they would realize the belts were sized too small for a man, but Jaymee hadn’t any intention of pointing that out to them. At least Grace was safe. She had no idea where the teenager could be hiding.

“The tools are mine,” she told them truthfully.

“Or, he might actually be back soon,” the one named Les said, “although I’m getting tired of standing around waiting.”

A muffled sound came from inside the other man’s jacket, and reaching in, he pulled out a slim cell phone. “Yeah,” he answered in a curt voice. “Nothing to report, except this is a male, probably the leader of the three.” He paused, listening to the speaker on the line. “He’s still deciphering the e-board. We’re now at the last place he used it, but he isn’t here.” Pause. “I’m still not sure whether he’s gone or not.” Pause. “Fine, I’ll cover the bases. I’m pretty sure this one is the last of the three, so once we get him, Les and I expect full payment.”

He flipped the phone shut. Jaymee eyed him warily as he approached, then slowly circled her. The more she listened to them, the more it was apparent these men didn’t even know exactly who Nick was. They were after three people, and he was one of them.

Didn’t Nick tell her two people who worked with him were dead? Cold sweat ran down the back of her neck. She knew without a doubt this man was going to kill her too.

“What do you intend to do with me?” she asked quietly. She wouldn’t show him how afraid she was.

Something akin to admiration lurked in the stranger’s eyes as he looked down at her. “You should be frightened, lady. Your fate is in my hands.” He touched her hair tumbling around her shoulders in mass disarray, having come loose from their rough handling. “Such pretty hair. Dark flame. Are you afraid of fire?”

Sick to her stomach, Jaymee clenched her hands in her lap. She jutted her chin defiantly, her eyes blazing contemptuously. “Melodramatic threats don’t scare me.”

He laughed and held on to her hair tightly. “Too bad I don’t have time to play with you, lady. I have much to do, just in case your man does return.”

“I told you, he isn’t going to come back!”

His killing eyes were pitiless. “Then you will die alone,” he told her.

***

Please let her be alive. Nick prayed as he drove. Unused to desperate measures, he was forced to acknowledge, for the first time in his life, he feared failure.

“She should be home cooking dinner for her father right now,” he said to no one in particular. “She works like clockwork.”

Jed hadn’t said anything since making his analysis. He’d turned inward, aloof, preparing himself for battle.

The Jeep made a cloud of dust down the unpaved road and the brakes squealed as Nick turned into Jaymee’s ranch house. To his relief, he saw her blue truck there, as well as Dicker’s vehicle and another one. Chuck’s and Rich’s truck, if he remembered right. Yes, he could see them on the front porch, talking to Jaymee’s father. Frowning, he searched for Jaymee’s familiar figure as he turned off the engine and jumped out. He could hear Jed’s steps behind him as he stepped toward the group of men, all of whom had turned at his noisy arrival.

Nick ignored Chuck’s sneer when he reached them. She wasn’t there. “Where’s Jaymee?” Not bothering to greet any of them, he asked Bob, who was standing on the top step.

Before the old man could answer, Chuck interrupted, “Get him off your property, Bob, before he gets you arrested for harboring a wanted man. I tell you, you’re going to need Rich’s and my help again once he’s gone.” He eyed Jed, who stood a few feet away. “That one is probably one of his accomplices, man. Look at him. I wouldn’t trust them with your daughter, Bob, not after those men said he was a criminal.”

He pointed at Nick, as Jed looked disinterestedly back. Nick turned to Chuck.

“What are you talking about?” he asked in a silky voice.

Chuck spat out some tobacco juice, then gave a triumphant smile. “You heard. I told them FBI boys when they came around town looking for a newcomer that may be acting suspicious-like. You came to mind, acting like you’re a construction man, when you ain’t.” He drawled out the acronym to sound like Eff-bee-yai-boys.

“Yeah,” Rich chimed in. “They told us they you’re a felon, man. We wanted to save Jaymee from the likes of you, so we told the FBI we thought you’re probably the one they were looking for.”

“You sent them here?” Nick said through gritted teeth. “To find Jaymee?”

Mistaking Nick’s anger for fear, Chuck went on, the sneer on his face bigger. “Yeah, once they talk to her, she’ll fire you and we’ll get our jobs back.”

Nick turned to Bob again. “Where is Jaymee?” he asked, enunciating each word in measured control, his eyes glittering in his pale face.

Bob studied the younger man for a moment. “She disappeared into the woods with that green-haired girl earlier, but told me she’d be back to make dinner,” he told him, “but she still hasn’t turned up.”

He frowned, as if realizing something was wrong.

“She’s probably talking with the FBI right now,” Chuck cut in again. “They told us they needed to protect her from...”

He never got to finish his sentence as Nick’s fist shot out in a blurred move. The other roofers stared down at the unconscious man on the ground, blood coming out of his nose.

“Bob, I need a rifle,” Nick said, his voice deadly soft. “Got one?”

“There’s a hunting rifle in my bedroom,” Bob answered without hesitation, his gaze still on Chuck. “I’ll get it.”

Nick turned to Rich, who cowered behind Lucky. “If anything happened to Jaymee, you and that scumbag will pay dearly.”

***

She wasn’t scared. She was not scared. Not scared.

Jaymee didn’t dare move. She couldn’t move. And she was sweating profusely under the blanket Cologne Man had draped over her. It must be getting dark. She wondered at the time. As if it mattered. Well, it should. At least she would know what time she died.

Grace. She had to warn Grace to get out of here, but the gag in her mouth wouldn’t budge and her hands...no, she refused to think what her hands were holding onto. The blanket was like an oven but she dared not roll over.

It must be at least fifteen minutes since the two men had left her, and still no sound of Grace. Jaymee hoped she’d escaped. Those men wouldn’t think twice about hurting a sixteen-year old, and if they knew who she really was…. She now had a notion of what being Grace must be like, constantly aware of danger.

She shivered despite the heat, knowing her own chances of survival were slim. The man with the horrid-smelling cologne had explained exactly what he was doing every step of the way, had enjoyed watching her face go whiter and whiter.

Finally, he’d smiled, and said, “Better not make any unexpected moves, my dear. But then, someone is bound to try to wake you when they see you huddled under this blanket, don’t you think?”

He didn’t mention who he thought might be the one who would wake her.

Grace mustn’t come anywhere near her. In desperation, she worked her tongue and teeth furiously against her gag. It moved just a little but the exertion tired her face out after a while, and she felt numb and helpless. Maybe she was imagining the gag didn’t feel as tight as in the beginning. Gingerly, she lifted her shoulder to rub against her mouth, careful not to move her fingers. It hurt as the ropes cut into her flesh, and she struggled between pain and concentration. Her panting made her realize her gag was finally loose enough for her to make some kind of sound.