by Sam Cheever
Franco had asked around at the few cabins within a mile of their hidey hole and only one of the residents knew of someone matching the vague description Nic had given him. The woman he’d been referred to apparently hadn’t been around long and had come there from a vague location of “up north”, which could mean anyplace from northern Indiana to Canada. Regardless, the woman their talkative neighbor described apparently worked in the small town of Ninetka, five winding, tree-wrapped miles from where they were staying. And she was rumored to be slightly touched in the head.
Franco needed to go see the woman, talk to her, and figure out if that morning’s mishap had been an isolated case of crazy gone rogue or if Osgood’s people had found them again.
The former would be strange. The latter seemed impossible. So impossible in fact that he hadn’t immediately packed up their things and whisked her away to a new place. The fact that she’d been unnaturally quiet all afternoon, and she wouldn’t look him in the eye, had him concerned. He wondered if all the violence...the running...the constant uncertainty...were taking a toll on her.
Out by the pond, Nic reached up and skimmed the palm of her hand under her eyes as if wiping away tears. The motion touched something deep inside him. Something he’d thought he’d long ago tamped down in favor of the cold calculation needed to do his job. Franco made a sudden decision. Pushing the door open, he strode outside, heading toward the pond. She turned as his boots hit the dock, shielding her eyes against the sun. “Hey,” he said with a smile he hoped would disarm. “I was wondering if you wanted to go into town tonight. Maybe have some dinner and see a movie.”
Her eyes went wide. “Seriously? I figured we’d be moving on after what happened.”
“Not quite yet. Whoever that was, I don’t believe she was from The Foundation. They travel in packs and don’t screw around. They’d most likely have just killed me and taken you.”
She turned back to the water, her shoulders drooping slightly. Franco wanted to kick himself for speaking so baldly. “I guess I maybe could have sugar coated that, huh?” He sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze. “I’m sorry about this morning, Nic. If you’d feel safer we can leave.”
She held herself stiffly and didn’t respond for a moment. Finally she shook her head. “I think your idea is great. A night out would be fun.”
“Good.” He let his hand slide down her arm and rest on the dock, inches from her hip. She didn’t react one way or the other to his nearness, clearly disinterested, and despite the constant reminders to himself that she was only a client, he couldn’t help being disappointed. He’d really thought they were starting to make a connection.
“Who do you think she was?”
He leaned back, closing his eyes as the sun bathed his face. “I talked to the people in the homes around us this morning...when I went to get gas.”
She nodded.
“A young couple lives in the cabin to the south of us. They didn’t know much.” He grinned. “They’re on their honeymoon.”
Her lips curved in a soft smile.
“The house just around the bend is owned by a forty-something divorcee who seemed to know everything about each of the cabins on this road and he said there had been squatters once in this cabin but that was a long time ago, before the previous owner bought it and fixed it up, adding a security system.”
She finally turned to him. “Did he think she could have been someone expecting the cabin to be empty?”
“He didn’t have an opinion. But I’d say not. If she knew enough about the place to know it was empty she should have also known that there was a security system.”
“True. What about the third house?”
He told her about the elderly woman with the beautiful gardens which he suspected she used as an excuse to spy on everybody and everything around her. “She works in the Visitor’s Center downtown and she thinks your description sounds a lot like a young woman who works at the movie theatre.”
“Ahhh,” she nodded. “That explains the movie tonight.”
He leaned in, kissing her on the top of the shoulder, happy to see some of the tension leave her body. “I hope you don’t mind. I thought that way I could be sure you were safe, I’d get a chance to speak with her, and we could enjoy a night out.”
She shrugged. “So if it isn’t her, where does that leave us?”
She shifted slightly and her hip touched his thigh. Franco felt the contact like a jolt of electricity sizzling through his system. He was so distracted by the softness of her curves against him he nearly forgot to respond. A beat later he felt her gaze on him and turned. “I don’t know. I don’t want to fly off halfcocked and give up our safe haven if it hasn’t been compromised. But it’s definitely concerning.”
They sat in companionable silence for a moment. The birds chirped happily behind them, the bushes rustling under their busy antics. Franco kept one ear focused on the road at the front of the cabin, listening for traffic that slowed or stopped.
Cars! His eyes flew open. He turned to Nici. “Did you hear a car this morning?”
She thought for a moment and then shook her head. “No. If she brought one she had to have left it up the road a ways.”
“We’re too far out for someone to have walked, unless they came from another cabin in the area.” Franco pushed to his feet, offering her his hand. “Want to go for a walk?”
She stared at his hand for a beat before taking it. “Sure. I assume we’re going to go looking for tire tracks?”
“It rained last night. Hopefully she pulled off the road into the trees somewhere and left tracks in the mud.”
###
They found the spot a mile up the road. Someone had pulled a heavy vehicle with big tires onto a dirt road that was probably used by hunters and was only about an eighth of a mile long. The mud was stirred up, deep ruts telling the story of someone who’d been in a hurry to get out of there.
“This car will have a lot of mud on it,” he told Nici as he crouched next to the tracks.
“That should help,” she said.
He nodded. “We’ll find out what type of car the woman in town has and go from there. If she drives a Spec with Moped tires we’ll leave tonight.”
She looked off down the road, her expression neutral. He’d have loved to know what she was thinking.
“What is it?”
Her head jerked around. “Huh?”
“You’ve been...distracted...since this morning. What’s bothering you?”
She shrugged. “I guess I just miss my family.”
“You know they’re safe, right?”
“So you tell me.”
Franco didn’t like her cool response but there was nothing he could do about it. For the moment all she could do by seeing her family was endanger them. “We’ll get this sorted out soon and you can go see them.”
Her gaze sliced through him, dark with anger. “Will we? We don’t seem to be making much progress on that front, do we? All we’re doing is hiding like a couple of girls in the boonies.”
Anger turned his muscles to iron, his jaw tightened. Franco nodded once and turned, heading back toward the cabin.
A moment later she strode up beside him. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I know you’re frustrated. But you’re right. We’re sitting ducks here. All we can do is wait for them to find us. It might be time to go on the offensive.”
“That would be a definite improvement.”
She said the words but her tone sounded less than certain.
He got that too. She was frustrated and scared. But doing what needed to be done to bring the situation to a head was daunting. And she didn’t even know the half of what was going on.
###
Franco had been on the phone all afternoon. When she asked him who he was talking to, he would only tell her that they would need an army to go after The Foundation. So he was pulling together a small army.
She liked the sound of that. It seemed the more help they had the better it would be. But Franco didn’t seem to share her optimism. A fresh set of worry lines had moved in between his dark brows.
They’d had dinner at a rustic diner in town. The food was simple but filling, reminding her of meals her mother had made for them when they were kids. Roast chicken, mashed potatoes and dense, chunky gravy that tasted like a little bit of heaven on earth.
They’d talked easily, some of the hard-won comradery returning as they put the battle behind them and concentrated on the simple pleasure of good food, interesting company and a perfectly respectable live band in the corner playing classic and current pop fare.
Her stomach comfortably full, Nici finally excused herself and headed for the Ladies room to freshen up. They needed to leave for the movie theatre, which was only a few blocks away, shortly if Franco was going to have time to question the woman before they went inside.
When she left the bathroom a few minutes later, she was surprised to see Franco talking to someone. The man was tall, had longish dark brown hair, and seemed very familiar. When he turned as she walked up, Nici felt a jolt of surprise that momentarily stunned her.
“Hey, sis.”
She took a step back, confusion starting to give way to anger as she realized what his being there meant. “Erik. I...you know Franco.” It wasn’t a question as much as it was a condemnation. Her brother had known who she was. He’d known and he’d never said a word to her about it. Her features hardened into anger. “What are you doing here?”
Franco stood up, his expression closed. “I paid the check, we should take this outside.”
Nici was happy to leave. She turned on her heel and headed for the door. But she had no intention of stopping once she got through it. She was sick to death of lies.
Footsteps pounded after her as she navigated the heavily populated sidewalks in an effort to put distance between her and the two lying liars behind her.
“Nicola Patricia Roche! You stop right now and let me explain.”
She stumbled slightly at the tone she remembered so well from when they were kids. Their mom had always addressed her in that exact same way whenever she’d gotten herself into trouble. Later, Erik had taken to doing the same just to tweak her.
Tears slipped down her cheeks and Nici slapped at them, angry at herself for crying.
A hand found her shoulder and he jerked her to a stop. “Come on, Nici. Let me explain.”
She whirled around, poking him on the chest. “Explain? I’d love to hear how you’re going to explain the fact that you know my kidnapper.”
People around them hesitated, concerned looks found Erik’s handsome face and skimmed away, clearly wondering if they should call the police.
“Keep your voice down!” Erik grabbed her wrist and hauled her down the street, finding a less populated spot to talk.
She jerked away from him. “I’m not going to keep my voice down. I’m pissed. You knew! All these years, you knew who I was.”
He put his hands on his hips and sighed. “Only for the last ten or so.”
She was so mad at him she could spit nails. “Has everybody been lying to me? Isn’t there anybody I can trust?”
“You can trust me, dammit!” Erik stopped, took a deep breath and tried again in a lower tone of voice. “I’ve been keeping you safe. Watching over you.”
She started to pace, her fingers twining frantically as emotions swamped her. “Gordon DeVitis hired you to watch me?”
“No. He didn’t need to hire me, sis. I watched you because I love you and I want you to be safe.”
She stopped, whirling to face him again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I...” He flushed and looked away, clearly struggling with his response. Finally, he looked down at her, his expression sad. “I was afraid you’d leave us and go to them. I didn’t want to lose you.”
His words made her stomach twist with regret for having doubted him. Unfortunately, she’d just learned he’d basically been lying to her for a decade. She wasn’t ready to trust him again just because he said the right words.
Heavy footsteps on the sidewalk behind her warned Nici that the other liar had made an appearance.
“Nic...”
Her head shot around and she fixed Franco with a glare. “You’ve been lying to me too. You knew my brother. You knew he was part of this, yet you didn’t tell me.”
To his credit, he looked miserable. “I just found out.”
Nic shook her head, not wanting to hear it. She started to pace again. “I want to be left alone. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
Erik shook his head. “No, you didn’t. And I understand that’s not fair. But unfortunately, The Foundation has found you now and you’re in danger. So whether you trust us or not, you need to let us help you fight them.”
Realization blossomed. She turned to Franco. “He’s part of the army you called today.”
He frowned slightly but nodded. “I didn’t call him. I didn’t know your brother was part of Gordon’s web, Nic. You have my word on that.”
“Then how did he get here?”
“Mike sent him to us. I told him I needed strong men I could trust. He didn’t even warn me. If he had...” He shook his head, sending Erik a dark look as if it was all his fault.
She realized with a jolt that Franco must have known something. He’d been watching her all day, looking worried. The woman had been right. She couldn’t trust Franco. “Who else is going to show up, Franco? Huh? My father? My mother? Cousin Jarod from Mississippi...”
“Nic...”
“My first grade school teacher?” She stepped past her brother, her finger jabbing the air as she stalked Franco. “How many people have been spying on me my whole life, Franco?”
His lips were a firm line, his body rigid, but he didn’t attempt to explain the unexplainable. Nici didn’t know if that made him smart or a coward.
A shrill scream sounded across the street and they turned in time to see an elderly woman waving her arms and shrieking. A gray-haired man lay crumpled to the sidewalk at her feet. “Somebody help my husband!”
Erik and Franco took a step toward the woman, clearly intending to help. Nici saw her chance and she didn’t hesitate. She slipped backward into the onward rushing crowd and took off running, dodging around the first corner and down an alley as she ran. She changed her direction as often as she could, using the shadows close to the buildings and the heavy foot traffic as cover when she had to stick to a street for too long.
She’d scoped out the park outside town on their way into Ninetka and she tried to keep to that general direction, figuring she’d eventually come out there. Finally she saw it. The town opened up into a dark expanse of public area bounded by a large playground on one end and with a pretty white pavilion in the center.
Nici pushed out of the shadows and hurried across the street. She spotted a tall figure dressed in black near the swing set and headed in that direction. As she ran, the woman straightened away from the metal support she’d been leaning on and started toward her. A bright strand of silver hair drifted from the black cap she was wearing and rested on one shoulder. When Nici saw that uniquely tinted hair she knew she was approaching the right person. The person from that morning.
Tires squealed around the nearby corner.
“Nic! Stop!” Franco’s voice sounded frantic. She shoved guilt aside and swore. He’d found her already? She wasn’t going to have time to talk to the woman by the swings.
A car slammed to a stop beside her and Nici turned to see a dark SUV idling in the street. She realized, too late, what that meant and tried to dodge away from the men spilling out of the side door.
The woman near the swings screamed her name and started toward her, but hands gripped Nici’s arms and her feet left the ground and it was too late.
The last thing Nici heard as she was thrown into the back of the SUV and they squealed away into the night was Franco
’s voice, husky with fear.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Franco sprinted after the car but quickly realized he wouldn’t catch it. He dragged to a halt and focused instead on the license plate, pulling out his cell phone to dial a number he hadn’t called in a long time.
As it rang, Franco turned back toward the park, his jaw tightening as he saw the familiar form standing there. He lifted a finger, jabbing it on the air. “You may have just gotten her killed. I’m holding you responsible.”
The woman by the swing set took a step in his direction, clearly unsure what to do, and then turned on her heel and disappeared into the darkness.
It was all he could do to keep from running after her. In that moment all he could think about was Nic. About how much danger she was in.
Erik caught up to him, panting lightly. “I tried to cut the SUV off a couple of streets over but they got past me and hit the highway.”
“Did you see which direction they went?”
“Yeah.”
Franco started running as a female voice answered his call. “Pam, I need your help.” A significant pause followed but he didn’t wait for her to play the hostile ex-partner card. “Nic’s been taken. She’s in danger.”
“Do you mean Elena?”
“No.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, reaching for calm. “Her twin. Look, I don’t have time to go into explanations right now. Can you just help me?”
They slammed into Franco’s rented sedan and he turned the engine over, throwing it into gear and peeling away from the curb almost before Erik’s door was closed.
“There’s a twin? Holy shit.” A soft rustling noise filled the phone. Franco could picture his partner pulling out her notebook. “Okay, what do you need?”
He gave her the license plate number and the make of the car. “Can you see if they pop up on any of the traffic cams around here?”
“Of course. I’ll put a BOLO out on it too. I’ll get back to you.”
“Thanks, Pam. I owe you one.” Franco took the ramp to the highway and pressed his foot down on the gas pedal. The speedometer hit ninety and kept climbing. He kept his gaze locked on the road ahead, willing the familiar dark vehicle to emerge on the horizon.