by Blair Grey
A white Nissan Altima slowed as it went by me and Mrs. Robertson – if that was really her name – pointed in the direction she was heading in a gesture for me to follow her.
Being that my car was equipped with a computer, I was no longer going to be left in the dark without the use of my cell phone. So, I pulled up the website for my credit card to see if I could find the last time I’d used it.
Fuck me.
There had been a purchase at Gerry’s Liquors the day before. But, with closer inspection, the purchase had been made at four in the afternoon and it had been made at the store itself – not over the phone.
I’d used my Apple pay when I’d ordered the food and beer at Garrett’s the night before. As the noon hour was close at hand, I needed to stop by that liquor store to see who used my card there. Because it was not me.
When I’d gotten home from the park, it had been half-past three. Dean was there and we’d argued. He’d pulled me in and tried to hug me, telling me that I needed to calm down. I’d been shaking with all the things he’d told me. I’d thought he’d sent Garrett to seduce me and that had upset me.
He could’ve gotten my credit card then.
I hadn’t gotten inside to take my purse off. I’d had it strapped across my body, the way I always wore it. Keeping it in the side, zippered pocket, I hadn’t realized it would be so easy for him to pick it right out. But Dean had to have done that.
Dean had left moments after he’d delivered his news but then he’d come back around seven that evening – just before Garrett had shown up.
Dean had asked three times if he could just come inside for a while. He wanted to help me as I’d seemed upset about what I’d found out.
I’d yelled at him that I didn’t want his help and with my emotional outburst, he did leave.
Maybe he was trying to get the credit card he’d taken, back into my purse.
Since I hadn’t let him in, he couldn’t accomplish that goal. So, he waited and found me home later that night and broke into my place. Or – more likely – used a key he’d already had to my place.
Garrett’s wife put on her blinker and I made a quick decision to follow her until I found out where Dean was staying. That information would be useful. Plus, I didn’t want Dean to think I was on to him.
The time after I went back to my place after sneaking away from Garrett was becoming clearer. I had to have fallen asleep after the fight I had with Garrett over the phone. I remembered doing that.
Sometime, while I’d been sleeping, Dean had come in and put my credit card on the counter and quite possibly, the bottle of vodka right next to it.
I didn’t find a glass that I’d used to drink the alcohol – just the empty bottle in the trashcan. God, right out of the bottle, Nicki?
It still made no sense. Why would I wake up, go into the kitchen, find some booze I knew I hadn’t put there, then drink it without even pouring some into a glass?
Maybe because I wouldn’t!
If I had some hidden split personality, I had high doubts that she would pick up a bottle and just chug it down either. The only thing I could be sure of was that I hadn’t bought the liquor and someone else had gotten my card and put them both into my home while I was sleeping.
Dean Strong was the only suspect. Garrett would have absolutely no reason to do such a thing. And he wouldn’t have had access to getting into my home nor getting to that card either as I hadn’t taken my purse with me when I left with him. I’d put my keys into my pocket and that was it.
Not three blocks from my place, the lady who claimed to be Garrett’s wife stopped in front of another refurbished warehouse. And just like magic, Dean stepped outside.
Imagine that.
He walked toward me as if he’d known I was coming. Either that woman had been in communication with him, or he had a locator on the car I was driving.
“Good, you’re here.” He waved for me to get out of the car. “Come on. I need to get you inside.”
Shaking my head, I wasn’t about to go inside with him. Instead, I pointed to the car in front of me. “That’s his wife. She wants to know where her husband is. So, go talk to her.”
With a brief look back at the car I’d pointed out, he stopped coming toward me then huffed. As I sat there, watching him go to talk to the woman I had an idea was in on this conspiracy, I had to think about my state of mind.
I had a hangover, that was obvious. And I had lost memories of the night before.
I can’t trust my own judgment right now.
There still had to be alcohol in my blood. I had no idea what blood-alcohol level it was either since I also had no idea exactly what time I’d downed a whole pint. But it was sometime in the last six hours or so – maybe even less.
I shouldn’t even be driving right now.
In slow motion, I watched the car in front of me speed away as Dean came back toward me. I’d left my car running, so when it suddenly died, it surprised me.
Trying to start it again, I found it only clicked, like the battery had died. Which was an impossibility.
“Come inside, Johansson.”
Dean had sort of snuck up on me and I gasped when I found him at my window. “My car died.”
“Probably out of gas.” He opened my door and took my hand off the steering wheel. “Come on. I’ve made something to eat. You should really eat something.”
He pulled me out of the car, not that I fought him. “Dean, I don’t want to be alone with you. And where did she go? Did you tell her where Garrett is?”
Holding my hand, he led me away from the car. “You know that’s stupid. I’m not going to hurt you. And she went to see her husband. I found out he went to the hospital.”
“How’d you find that out?” There was no way in hell that anyone from the Iron Cobras had told him a damn thing about Garrett or anything at all, really. They hated the man for trying to set them up.
The fact that he didn’t respond to my question at all, told me Dean Strong was up to no good.
My gun was in the holster at my back. If he tried to touch me, I’d just shoot him. I wouldn’t hesitate this time. I would pull my gun out and shoot him in the head.
I’d been trained to go for the kill, not the wound. A headshot meant almost certain death. A few people had survived them. But not many.
Going into the first door on the right after we got inside the building, he let me hand go once we’d stepped into the living room. A door at the back of the room was closed.
Certain that’s where he had his video monitors, I looked around and found no other door. A kitchen was off to one side. Other than that, there was nothing. “Can I use your bathroom?” I was sure that would get me through the closed door. I needed to see the equipment before I accused him of spying on me.
He pointed at the closed door. “It’s back there.”
As he went to the kitchen, I went to that door and opened it slowly. But all I found was a bed and a chest of drawers. No video monitoring system was there to prove he was the one who’d put the cameras in my apartment.
As things began to spiral in my mind, I plopped down on the bed then put my face into my hands. This is out of control.
Whether I was in shape enough to drive or not, I needed to get the fuck out of Dean Strong’s apartment. Shaking my head to clear it, I knew I’d made a bad decision, letting him bring me into a place where we’d be alone.
Walking back out to the living room, I found him standing by the bar that separated the two rooms. A steaming plate of food sat on it and next to that was a glass of some clear liquid. “It’s ready. Scrambled eggs and bacon. And some water. I thought you might need to be hydrated after drinking all that vodka.”
“My mouth is about as dry as a cotton ball.” The idea of getting some water into my body seemed pretty important at that moment. “Do you think you could go check out my car to see why it died on me?” I picked up the glass and took a long drink of the cool water.
Walk
ing toward the door, he nodded. “I could do that. But there’s no need to. We’re going in my car back to Arlington. This little test is over. Things have gotten out of hand.”
Putting the half-empty glass down, I noticed that my lips tingled. “I should call my supervisor.”
Wait. How did Dean know that I’d drank vodka?
My vision began to blur, and I knew right away that he’d drugged me. Reaching behind me, I pulled the gun out of the holster at my back. I couldn’t form words as my body was going weaker by the second.
Dean didn’t even move as I pointed the gun at him. And when I pulled the trigger, it only clicked. “I’ve emptied the bullets out of your gun.” He held up a small black device. “I turned your car off with this little doodad. This is over, Johansson. I’m sorry it has to end this way. You’re the one who made this happen. You should remember that when you get to the end. It was you who brought this down on yourself. I’m not a bad guy. We could’ve had something good.”
With my strength completely drained from my body, I crumpled to the floor.
Why did I have to be such a bitch to my hero?
Chapter Nineteen
Garrett
Something’s not right.
Nicki had called me. That had to have meant something. I’d sat there for an hour, trying to figure shit out. And all I’d done was stare at my fucking phone.
“Fuck it. I’m going over there.” I wasn’t going to get a damn thing done until I found out if Nicki was okay or not.
Hopping on my Harley, I headed that way. Butterflies swarmed my stomach for some damn reason. The woman had me twisted in knots. No one had ever made me this anxious.
I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing – but it was definitely a thing. I cared about Nicki. Over everything else, I cared about her safety. And that meant both physical and mental.
Dean Strong wasn’t the most reliable person to take information from. He’d put a spin on what he had told me, to make Nicki look worse than what she actually was.
I hated people who did shit like that. Taking an already broken-down person and adding to their baggage was a shitty thing to do. And no matter how he’d put it, I’d seen the look in Nicki’s eyes when she’d told me about what Dean had done to her. People can’t fake that terrorized look that she’d had.
Pulling up to her place, the first thing I noticed was that her car was gone. Still, I got off my bike and went to make sure she wasn’t in her apartment.
Knocking, I didn’t hear anything inside her place but thought I’d try the handle anyway. And I found it wasn’t locked.
Nicki had told me that there were cameras in the apartment that she was sure Strong had hidden there. I didn’t care. He could watch me. I wasn’t going to rob the poor girl.
Going inside, I found the kitchen light was on and so was the one in the bedroom area of the efficiency apartment. As I headed to the bedroom, I looked around, spotting the camera above the front door that she’d told me about.
Making sure I swept my eyes around, so whoever was watching that video wouldn’t suspect that I had found their camera, I kept walking toward the bed.
I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, so I went into the bathroom. In the trashcan, I found some t-shirt material. Using the toilet brush, I pulled the thing out, finding that it was the same shirt Nicki had on when she was with me. But it was ripped up both sides now.
What the fuck?
Glancing around the bathroom, I found what seemed to be another camera at the top of the showerhead. She’d told me about that one too. My stomach knotted as I thought about Strong watching Nicki bathe.
Sick fuck!
Trying to put that shit out of my mind, I went to the kitchen. It was so bare that it made it easy to find the bottle of vodka that lay in the bottom of an otherwise empty trashcan.
Picking it up, I looked around for the glass she’d drank it out of but found nothing. Unscrewing the cap of the cheap alcohol, I looked at the rim and found no marks on it.
If she’d drank it right out of the bottle, there would’ve been prints left by her lips – even if she hadn’t had on any lipstick. But there wasn’t a thing there.
She could’ve wiped the rim clean before throwing the bottle away.
Putting the bottle back into the trashcan, I turned around to see if I’d missed anything. “Oh. I didn’t hear you come in.’
Dean Strong stood at the door, wearing a frown. “Why are you here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” I crossed my arms over my chest as I sized the man up. He had two inches of height over me and maybe ten pounds. But I had something over him that he didn’t have on me. I was fucking furious with him over what he’d done to Nicki.
Quick to come up with an excuse, he sauntered into the living area. “I’m looking for Johansson. I’ve got orders to take her back to headquarters today.”
“Is that so?” The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I didn’t believe him. I believed he’d seen me through the cameras and that was why he was there.
But why would he care if I’m snooping around Nicki’s place?
“Yeah.” He nodded as his eyes swept over the place. “He jerked his head toward the trashcan I stood by. “Anything in there of interest?”
“What would interest you about what’s in here?”
“Look, buddy – I’m here to get this chick and get her out of Baltimore before she does something to you.” He looked up at the camera over the door but then scanned his eyes back to me. “The DEA doesn’t want any more guys to go missing and one of their agents be at the heart of an investigation again. But it seems Johansson has gotten wind of it and is hiding out somewhere. How’d you get in here anyway? Did she give you a key or something?”
“The door wasn’t locked.” My stomach knotted as I thought about the camera in the shower again. I clenched my fist while biting the inside of my cheek, so I didn’t go off on him. “Her car’s not here. Maybe she ran to get something. I’m going to wait here for her to come back. I need to talk to her before she leaves.”
“Well, that’s just about the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. No wonder she was able to do whatever she did to those men.” His lips pulled up to one side with a smirk. “She uses mind games to get you right where she wants you. Can you tell me why you’re here? I mean, I did tell you that you were in danger. Why would you come right to the one place you shouldn’t be? And why do you suppose she left the door unlocked? Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
“I’m not afraid of her.” I wasn’t afraid of Dean Strong either.
It wasn’t lost on me that I could take the gun I had tucked into the back of my jeans and just shoot the man in the head. Within a half-hour, I could have the mess cleaned up and no one would be the wiser.
There were the cameras though. And I had no idea who all had access to the video. There was also the fact that Nicki might get implicated in the disappearance of her fellow DEA agent – one she’d accused of rape – and that would be no good at all.
“I’m sure you’re not. You want to play macho-man. I can see that. Just remember, when you’re begging for her mercy, that I warned you.” With a shrug, he turned to leave. “I’ve gotta keep looking for her. It’ll be my ass if I don’t get her back to headquarters today.”
I took a seat on the sofa. “I’ll be right here. I think she’ll be back. Her things are here. She hasn’t skipped town.”
“I hope not.” Strong turned to look back at me before he closed the door. “I hope I see you again, Garrett Robertson. Alive.”
“I’m sure you will.” I was going to make sure of that.
Suddenly, his eyes glazed over. “You’ve got a gun, right?”
“Always.” My heart thumped hard in my chest just once.
“Good. Don’t hesitate to take her out, Robertson. No one knows where those other men are. For all anyone knows, Johansson might keep them locked away in some sex dungeon. And that’s not nearly as
pleasant as that might sound.” He smiled, revealing slightly yellow teeth.
My brain spun. Why would he say a thing like that?
Nicki wasn’t the one into that shit. Dean Strong was.
Could he have something to do with the disappearance of those men?
The door closed as Strong left and I eyed the camera above the door. One window let in enough light for the camera to be able to pick up a picture. I had to make sure what I was about to do wasn’t videoed.
Yawing and stretching as if I was about to take a nap, I went to the window and closed the curtain, making the room dark. Then, I went out of the door. Strong and whoever else might’ve been watching would have no idea that I’d left. For all they knew, I was on the couch, sleeping.
When I got outside, I could see the tail end of Dean’s black Nissan as it took a left. Hightailing it to my car, I stepped on the gas to catch up to him. But I stayed far enough back, so he wouldn’t know he was being followed.
Only a few blocks away from Nicki’s place is where he stopped. Slowing to a crawl, I watched as Strong got out of his car and went into an apartment.
Creeping by his place, I stopped breathing as I saw the car he’d parked behind. “No way.” A tan Toyota that looked just like the one Nicki had been driving was parked in front of Strong’s car.
It took all I had to keep going instead of stopping right there and flying into his apartment in a rage. Somehow, through the red fog that had clouded my vision, I kept moving until I was at the end of the block and could park in a spot where he wouldn’t see me.
Sweat trickled down the back of my neck as my heart sped up to phenomenal speeds. Gripping the steering wheel, my knuckles went white. The shaking began in my feet then moved up until my entire body shook.
“Don’t lose it, man,” I had to tell myself over and over.
When I lost it, things didn’t go well. I made bad decisions. I did things in the worst possible ways. I made mistakes.
“I am an Iron Cobra. I am part of a whole. I have to think about my brothers. It’s not just me.” Digging into the pocket of my jeans, the cell phone kept slipping away from my hand.