In the Shadow of Evil Book 2

by Nancy C. Weeks

  “It’s time. Bring the boy and priest to me. No mistakes, Ivan,” he said, his voice cold as steel.

  Anthony sat pinned to the chair by two large men on either side of him. He watched Ivan pocket his cell phone. Mendoza had just called, but Anthony couldn’t make out the short conversation. One thing was clear. Ivan wasn’t happy.

  Clearing his throat, Anthony said, “It’s really tough working for a madman, isn’t it?”

  “For a priest, you sure don’t know when to shut the fuck up, do you?”

  “Your boss is losing it, isn’t he? I feel your pain. Been there―done that. You have no idea what’s going on, do you?”

  Ivan took two steps toward the priest, gripped his collar, and yanked him toward him. “I said, shut the fuck up.”

  Anthony grinned. “Don’t take it personal. Elías Mendoza’s true nature is slipping to the surface, a new level of evil. He’s lost his focus, and you’re left in the dark. Maybe it’s time you move on to where your existence doesn’t depend on the whims of a madman.

  Ivan flung Anthony back onto the chair and switched off the camera. “We’re taking a drive. I can have my men beat the crap out of you until you’re barely conscious, or you can come along peacefully. I’ll even allow you to help me with the kid,” Ivan said, pointing to Danny, who hadn’t moved or made a sound since Anthony entered the apartment.

  “I’ll help.”

  “Well, that’s real big of you. The kid doesn’t like me much.” He shoved his handgun behind his back.

  Anthony shrugged the men off and approached Danny. The boy curled up on the sofa in a semi-catatonic state. Leaning down, Anthony touched his shoulder. “Son, it’s Father Anthony,” he said, quietly. “I’m going to help you stand.” As Anthony placed his hands around Danny’s chest to lift him, the boy lashed out, his arm swinging in every direction. When Anthony grabbed hold of his arms, Danny fought harder.

  “You need any help over there?” Ivan asked.

  “No, I think you already helped enough, you sick bastard. Danny, stop fighting me, son. No one is going to hurt you.”

  Anthony knelt and cupped the child’s face in his hands, forcing him to make eye contact. Danny winked. It was slight, so brief that Anthony thought he missed it. But when their eyes met again, Danny’s lips curved at the corner, and a twinkle of mischief sparkled in his eyes.

  “You clever kid,” he whispered. “Great plan, keep it up.”

  Thirty-One

  The sound of children’s laughter and music drifted down the hallway. Usually, it had a calming effect on Jennie, filling her with joy. But today, every burst of laughter from the assembly in the cafeteria was a reminder of the dangerous situation she might have caused the entire school.

  The tiny surveillance camera in the vent over her was still in use. Mendoza haunted her. She could feel him, almost smell the sickening musk scent of his cologne.

  She sat at her desk and swallowed the acid that churned up into her throat. Her heart skipped a beat every time the heat rattled through the old vents, or when footsteps echoed in the hallway. Even the constant ticking of the wall clock mocked her. Only thirty-three minutes until the final bell. Jared’s presence was the only thing keeping her from jumping out of her skin. He communicated with her through an ear mic, but she couldn’t speak to him.

  Mac McNeil, the task force lead agent, insisted that she stick to her normal routine. Mendoza had to believe she was vulnerable. Noah, Jared’s identical twin, was doing his part by pretending to be Jared while keeping up with his own routine. He needed to play both roles without a glitch.

  To pass the time, she added another grade to the spreadsheet on her laptop. Working with the school’s grading program was just the mindless task she needed. Jared’s tech guy fed a line into the system; it would be detected when Mendoza’s men monitored her activities. He could then trace the connection back to Mendoza’s main computer. One more intrusion she had no control over.

  “I’m right here, Jennie,” Jared whispered in her ear. “Why don’t you take something for your headache? Eating something will also help. It’s almost over. Just a half hour and the school will empty.”

  “Mac needs to brief you on a new development. He has a direct line into your laptop and will appear on your screen. Don’t acknowledge him. Questions can be typed into the box at the bottom of the page. It’s like an instant message program. The communication is secure. Leave the grading application open, in case Mendoza’s men become curious. Just keep entering the grades while Mac talks. Are you okay with this, Jennie?”

  Jennie tapped her pen a couple of times, the signal they had prearranged.

  “Mac will be on your screen in five seconds.” Jared counted down, so she wouldn’t react when his face appeared.

  “Hey, sis.”

  The man had the same hazel eyes as Mary McNeil, and the rough chiseled features of his brothers. His warm, friendly smile was exactly what Jennie needed.

  HI MAC, NICE TO MEET YOU.

  “You don’t have to look at me. I wish we were meeting under happier circumstances.

  ME, TOO.

  Jennie focused on her stack of assignments. From the corner of her eye, she could tell that Mac was talking to someone offscreen. After a long pause, Jennie couldn’t help typing,

  WHAT’S HAPPENED?

  “After Mendoza tried to blow one of my best friends to smithereens Wednesday night, we’ve taken your theory to heart. We posted agents around areas you frequent and watched for any signs of his men. Before dawn, one agent noticed a man walking away from your home. It has taken a while, but we have found something. I will bring up the image. Please try not to react.”

  A moment later, Jennie’s heart landed in her stomach. The ceiling joists were rigged with the same explosives she had seen wired to Raúl.

  THAT’S LOUISE’S BROWNSTONE. AM I SEEING WHAT I THINK I’M SEEING?

  “Yes, Jen,” Jared answered softly.

  “There are enough explosives to take out the entire building and some of your neighbors,” Mac answered.

  Jennie’s breath caught in her throat. But damn it. Don’t let the monster feel your fear. Breathe. Several moments later, she typed,

  CAN YOU DEACTIVATE IT?

  “It’s done. You neighbors are safe. But we have to be careful not to alert Mendoza. Right now, he thinks he’s in control,” Mac explained.

  “He is.”

  Jennie couldn’t sit still another minute. She rose and moved to the far corner of the classroom. She lowered herself to the floor, picking a research book from the bookcase under the window. Flipping it open, she took several deep breaths and tried to calm her beating heart.

  “I don’t think Mendoza plans to use it,” Mac said, feeding into Jared’s mic.

  “Give her a minute,” Jared ordered. “Close your eyes, sweetheart; breathe through it. If I can’t see your face, no one can.” Several moments later, Jennie placed the book back on the shelf and returned to her desk. Swallowing the sob in her throat, she typed,

  SORRY, I’M FINE NOW.

  “Don’t apologize. You’re dealing with this better than most experienced agents would.”

  “You’re wasting your breath, Mac. Nothing you say will make her feel better about any of this. Just give it all to her so we can get a minute alone,” Jared roared.

  WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

  “We think Mendoza will contact you before you leave today. We don’t think he plans to meet you at the school. The neighborhood is too confined to allow for an easy escape. We need you to be ready for anything. He will not make the contact easy on you.”

  I UNDERSTAND.

  “The agents on Father Michael and Father Anthony both reported that the men made recordings. We figure Mendoza will use the recordings to convince you to do what he asks. If that doesn’t get your attention, he will show you the brownstone.”

  IS HE OKAY?

  As she typed the message, her hands trembled.

  “Yes. Your godfa
ther is still in the hangar at the airport in Rome. They are just waiting for us to make our move before they move in.”

  DANNY?

  “Someone is accessing your network. Ending transmission.”

  Mac’s image disappeared. Jennie quickly entered several more As and Bs in the grade columns. She could play their damn game, too. You are not winning this time, you stinking bastard!

  “Jennie, Mac’s coming back on in five seconds,” Jared whispered. This was killing him. She had to hold it together; it was going to get a lot worse before it got better. Mac’s face reappeared on her screen.

  “You’re incredible, Jennie. If I knew Jared wouldn’t kill me with his bare hands, I would try talking you into working for us,” Mac said, smiling. “We still don’t have eyes on Danny. But if he’s with Father Anthony, he’s in good hands. The man’s well trained and will do everything in his power to keep Danny safe. Do you have any idea what Mendoza wants from you?”

  IT’S A LOT OF TROUBLE FOR REVENGE. IT’S MORE THAN THAT.

  “How about your feelings,” Jared interrupted. “What do you feel he wants?”

  It took a couple of moments before Jennie could type in her answer.

  MAKE ME PAY FOR THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER. TO POSSESS ME, OWN ME. I HAVE BECOME AN OBSESSION TO HIM, BUT HE HATES ME FOR IT. I HAVE BEEN WITH YOU; BETRAYED HIM. THE HATRED I FEEL IS VERY STRONG. HE’S WATCHING ME, I FEEL HIS PRESENCE; HE’S CLOSE. WE ARE LIKE A TRIANGLE, JARED. YOU ARE CAPABLE OF FEELING HIM, TOO.

  “You told me last night that we canceled him out. How are you feeling him now?”

  NOT THE SAME THING. THAT FEELING WAS LIKE A CREEPY SHIVER YOU GET WHEN YOU WALK BY A GRAVEYARD AT NIGHT. THIS IS DIFFERENT. YOU KNOW HOW I FELT YOU AS SOON AS YOU ENTERED THE HOSPITAL THE OTHER NIGHT? IT’S LIKE THAT—THE ANGER RADIATING FROM HIM IS VERY STRONG.

  “Jennie, we have had our profiler working on this for a while now. We think Mendoza needs you. Have you ever put together one of those 3D puzzles?

  YES, I LOVE THOSE.

  “Think of Mendoza’s empire as a 3D tower puzzle. The puzzle has sections that piece together to build a strong structure. It can continue to expand as long as you have puzzle pieces to build. Mendoza’s organization enlarges the same way; hundreds of little companies combined with other companies build an impressive empire. Each piece or section is autonomous. If we take down one section, that’s all we get. None of the sections appear to know what the other sections are doing. Mendoza is a genius to manipulate an organization this large, while keeping every section in the dark. But then there’s you, a tiny section in the puzzle that doesn’t fit. Your pieces are just a little off. The only way the structure can hold the weight of section after section placed on top of each other is if all the sections are strong. Are you following this, Jennie?”

  YEAH, YOU JUST CALLED ME THE WEAKEST LINK.

  “Smart, brave, and brilliant. Jared doesn’t deserve you. But that’s exactly what you are to Mendoza. He’s famous for ripping out sections of his organization that don’t pull their weight and replacing them with ones that do. He should have taken care of you years ago. I don’t mean to sound cruel, but that’s the man we are dealing with.”

  PREACHING TO THE CHOIR

  “Mendoza’s attachment to you has lasted more than fourteen years.”

  ALL I FEEL FROM HIM IS HATRED!

  “The attachment is need. He’s not capable of love, but he has to have you close to him.”

  MAC, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?

  “Did you know that your mother grew up only a couple houses down from Mendoza?”

  NO.

  “That’s not surprising. It’s not in our file either. Years ago, the detectives in DC assumed that Mendoza went after your father because he was the arresting officer on Arturo Mendoza’s file. But when we discovered who you were, we began a deeper search into your father.”

  AND?

  “It seems there was a friendship between your mother and Mendoza throughout childhood. Then your father came into the picture.”

  It took a moment for what Mac said to penetrate. Jennie’s heartbeat hammered between her ears and her lungs emptied as if someone had sucker punched her. She slammed her eyes shut, as she bit down on the inside of her mouth and swallowed the sob.

  “Jennie, breathe, sweetheart,” Jared whispered in her ear.

  MY GOD! WAS MENDOZA JUST WAITING FOR A REASON TO KILL MY FATHER BECAUSE IN HIS SICK MIND, MY MOTHER BELONGED TO HIM?

  “It’s only a theory.”

  AND I’VE REPLACED MY MOTHER? HE KEPT ME ALIVE…

  “It’s more than that, Jennie,” Jared answered in a raw whisper.

  The meaning behind Jared’s words roared inside her head. Every muscle tensed at once.

  JARED, ALL THIS TIME HISTORY WAS REPEATING ITSELF. IT’S JUST NOT OUR HISTORY.

  Jennie dropped her hands in her lap and shut her eyes.

  “There is no way you could have known,” Jared whispered hoarsely again.

  Finally, Jennie could type,

  HE MUST HAVE SENSED OUR CONNECTION WHEN WE FIRST MET IN HIS STUDY. HE WENT AFTER YOU, HURT YOU, CARVED THE SAME CROSS…

  Jennie’s hands began to shake so badly, she yanked them from the keyboard and placed them in her lap. Blood pounded through her head, as rage crashed down on her like a tidal wave.

  BUT IF HE HAD SOME CREEPY FIXATION ON MY MOTHER, WHY DID HE KILL HER?

  “The profiler believes he killed her in a fit of rage,” Mac said. “Since you look so much like the girl he once knew, he couldn’t kill you. The hatred comes from the fact that…”

  I HAVE MY FATHER’S EYES. THAT’S WHAT HE SEES WHEN HE LOOKS AT ME.

  “You, your mother, and father were all warped together inside a madman’s head for years. Then you saved his life. Here was this kid who was scared to death, but who put it all aside and saved the life of the man who brutally killed her father and mother.”

  I DIDN’T KNOW THAT.

  “But Mendoza knew. And you ran off without asking for anything in return. That kind of humanity had been severely lacking in Mendoza’s life. The only other person Mendoza ever gave a damn about was his father. He had a bizarre case of hero worship for the man. Somehow along the way, he transferred that devotion from his father to you. His organization is coming apart at the seams. He needs you by his side to restore it. He can disappear under a rock somewhere and start over, but he can’t leave you. He can’t do it without you.”

  MAC, I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THAT.

  Jared interrupted. “He’s coming for you, Jennie, and you will have to use that knowledge to… because I cannot…”

  “When Mendoza comes for you, you have to be alone,” Mac added. “If we show our hand and try to prevent him from taking you, or if Jared tries to accompany you, he could react by—”

  I KNOW WHAT HE’S CAPABLE OF. NO NEED TO PAINT ME THE PICTURE.

  Jared cleared his throat. “We will never lose sight of you. He’ll probably have you picked up and brought to him. It will be at a busy location with several avenues of escape. There will be so many undercover law enforcement personnel to keep you safe, we’ll be tripping over each other.”

  “There is one more thing, Jennie,” Mac said before Jared interrupted.

  “Damn it, Mac, that’s enough.”

  NO, I WANT IT ALL.

  “He probably planned for years to do something today to avenge his father, but we think his motives have changed. He will offer you a choice: stay with him or lose everything, and I mean everything.”

  Jennie stared at Mac. He was trying to say something but couldn’t get it out.

  “We just found Jared’s SUV abandoned at the side of the roadblocks from police headquarters. Very few people can tell Jared and Noah apart. The only thing that separated them—”

  JARED’S SCARS. OH GOD.

  “Yeah, and Noah recreated them with liquid latex, and he’s a damn fine artist. He fooled me.”

  Jared broke in. �
��We’ll find him, Jennie. He wears the same cross I wear and inside is a tiny GPS. Mac likes to tinker with electronics, and he designed the piece for just this kind of thing.”

  “I made one for you, too. Jared has it with him,” Mac interrupted.

  “Noah has to push the base to activate it. We’ll have his location as soon as he feels it’s safe.”

  Jared’s panic and helplessness hit her hard. How had she missed it? It compounded hers.

  THERE ARE NO CAMERAS IN MY WING’S RESTROOM, RIGHT? BECAUSE I NEED A MINUTE TO FREAK OUT BEFORE MY CLASS RETURNS. SORRY, AGAIN.

  Closing her laptop, Jennie rose from her desk, dashed out the door, and headed for the restroom. To ensure she was alone, she checked each stall before splashing cold water on her face. She couldn’t remember ever being so scared. There was no place to run. The ceiling tiles moved, and Jared lowered himself to the floor. They clung to each other instantly.

  “I got you, Jennie. He can’t have you, you’re mine!”

  “He has everyone! The nightmare is coming true. We have run out of time.”

  “No. We’ve allowed him to think he has won. Remember that. The minute he shows himself, we’ll pick him up and release everyone, including Noah.” His hold tightened, but not enough for what was coming. “Mendoza may not appear until he sees you. If this is too much, say so and we’ll find another way to bring him out in the open.”

  Jennie kissed her husband gently on his lips. “No, Jared. I can do this. I need to do this. We have to trust ourselves and each other, right?”

  “That’s what your father said, and I’m inclined to believe him—kind of a dead-man-talking thing.”

  Jennie rolled her eyes. “Well, if you can crack jokes at a time like this, then things aren’t as bad as they seem.”

  “Your class is on its way back,” he said, drawing her back into his arms.

  “Don’t you think it’s time I got that gun?” she tried. Jared shook his head.

  He removed an intricate cross pendant from his pocket and clipped the gold chain around her neck. “This is safer. Don’t take it off for any reason. To activate the GPS, just push this area between your fingers,” Jared explained, showing her his pendant.