by L. T. Ryan
“Then why come after you?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“You think it’s because they know that you know they did it?”
He shrugged. “Not exactly. They wanted me to know they did it. I think they planned on having me killed at the same time.”
“How come they didn’t?”
“It’s complicated.”
“So, something you did in the past then? Maybe you did something to one of them, perhaps?”
“Possibly. One thing I know for sure, you and Mia need to get out of town now.”
“I’m not going anywhere unless you give me some information here.”
Jack shook his head. “Still stubborn, aren’t you? What do you want to know?”
“Who did this? Who wants you dead?”
Jack returned to the table. He stood two feet away, looked down. He waited a minute, then said, “Terrorists.”
She inched back in her chair.
“And British Intelligence.”
“Oh my God. You think they are working together?”
“As ridiculous as it sounds, it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
CHAPTER 24
It didn’t take long for police to dismiss Bear as a suspect. The desk clerk told the cops that every square inch of public space had cameras on it. The short cop went inside the office. Twenty minutes later he returned and told Bear to stay put in his room, they’d get a statement from him later. They still wanted to know why the argument occurred outside his room.
Bear had no idea, though. Random dudes. He told them that upfront.
His large frame had done a good job of protecting the apartment from the carnage. So as soon as he handed over his blood and brain covered clothes, they allowed him to close the door. No sooner did the door click shut did Bear head toward the open window.
He stuck his arms and head through the opening. He waved his arms while scanning trees for movement. Mandy emerged from the woods. He waved her toward him. She took two steps, stopped. Reached into her bag and pulled out the gun. She held it away from her body like it was a stink bug. She shrugged, scrunched up her face.
Bear jabbed his finger toward the area behind her. She nodded then disappeared behind the trees again. When she came back into view her hands were empty.
The fact that he had just asked an eleven year old to hide a weapon caused his stomach to turn.
She ran across the open field. Her slender frame bounded gracefully through the waist high grasses. She jumped up and grabbed hold of the bottom rung of the fire escape. Her momentum carried her forward, then backward. She jerked her right shoulder back, reached for the next rung. It took about fifteen seconds for her to make the climb. Bear realized that she had dropped about six feet in order to reach the platform she now stood on.
“Wait there,” he told her. He pulled the sheets off the bed and dropped one out the window. “Grab hold.”
She wrapped the sheet around her right wrist and grabbed it with both hands. Bear began to pull. Mandy used her feet to scale the wall. He could have pulled her straight up, but Bear didn’t bother to tell her that. Anything to build a little confidence, he figured.
A few seconds later he hoisted her over the windowsill and set her down on the table. She slid her legs over the edge and dropped to the floor where she let out a loud exhale.
“I’m sorry about that, Mandy.”
She shrugged.
The awful feeling crept up again. This life appeared to seem so normal to the girl. It was only months ago that she lost her mother. Now he half-expected her to ask him for a beer.
“How were the woods?”
“Not bad. There was a nice breeze. Lots of squirrels and birds. It was kind of relaxing. Better than sitting in here.”
“You didn’t miss your Gamer Boy?”
Mandy laughed. “Game Boy, Bear.”
Bear nodded, said nothing.
“How were the cops?” she said.
“Short.”
She giggled. “Everyone’s short next to you.”
“Not Andre the Giant.”
“Who?”
“No one. The cops were OK. The guy that runs this place caught everything on camera. They know we weren’t involved.”
Mandy became sullen. She retreated back in her chair.
“What?” Bear said.
“Did a man die?”
Bear hiked his shoulders an inch or two in the air. “Not sure. They took him away in an ambulance.”
Mandy chewed on her bottom lip. Her stare remained locked on Bear’s.
“I’m sure he’ll be OK, Mandy.”
She nodded. “OK.”
He couldn’t tell her the truth. No point in doing so. It’d only upset her. He felt confident that he’d be paying for therapy for the rest of her life. Once they settled down, of course.
“So, when can we leave?” she asked.
Bear wondered that himself. The longer they stayed in the motel room, the greater the chance of something happening. Whether it be the cops figuring out who he was, or someone else showing up with the intentions of silencing Bear. He wanted to get out of there more than Mandy.
“Tired of being cooped up in here with me?” he said.
She nodded. “And a bit creeped out, too.”
“I’m sure. So am I. But the cops told me to hang around for a bit in case they needed to ask me anymore questions. I played as dumb as I could, but they saw the video. Saw me standing there when the guy went psycho on his friend.”
“Are we going to stay?”
He shrugged, tapped the tabletop with his thick fingertips. One-two-three-four. “Maybe, maybe not. I’ll decide that when I see they’ve left.”
“Did you give them your name?”
“What else would I have given them?”
“Bear, I know you have, like, ten fake IDs.”
“How do you know that?”
She shrugged, tried to change back to the original subject. “I just want to leave. Maybe we can try to go to Florida again. You have a friend there, right?”
Bear watched her for a minute. Decided to let the fake ID comment slide. There’d be plenty of time to question how she came to know that. Although, he wondered how she knew the term in the first place.
“Can I turn on the TV?” she said.
Bear nodded, and Mandy got up and grabbed the TV remote. She switched the television on. He noticed the exaggerated movement of her arm every time she changed the station. A moment later she groaned.
“What?” he said.
“Every station is showing the same thing,” she said.
“What are they showing?”
“Look.”
Bear rose and moved to a spot where he had a view of the screen. He flinched at the images he saw. A smoky street. Bodies on the ground. Panicked people running in every direction. A building on fire. The reporter’s terrified expression. Then, the building crumbled.
“Jesus H. Christ,” Bear said.
Mandy gave him a puzzled look. “What is that, Bear?”
“An expression.”
“Not that. What are we looking at on TV?”
“Looks like a terrorist attack.”
They remained silent for five minutes while the images streamed on the screen in front of them. The reporter’s voice was nothing more than background noise. Bear didn’t need her to tell him what he was looking at. He’d experienced it first hand before.
Bear’s cell began to ring. He answered without thinking.
“Bear, this is Brandon.”
“Brandon?” He paused for a moment. “How did you get this number?”
“I can get anything I want. You know this.”
Bear said nothing.
“Anyway, turn on your TV.”
“It’s on.”
“You watching this, Big Man?”
“I am.”
“You know where that is?”
“Ticker says it’s Lon
don.”
“You know who’s in London?”
Bear thought for a minute. He did know. “Jack.”
Mandy looked at him. He forced a small smile. She didn’t look convinced.
“That’s right. And that’s his hotel.”
“You gotta be kidding me. Oh, Christ.” His gut clenched. His eyes watered over.
“You know why he was there?”
Bear cleared his throat. Took an extra second or two to compose himself. “Not exactly.”
“Yeah, well, I do. And it shouldn’t have resulted in this.”
“Can you tell me anything?”
The line went silent for a minute. Bear wondered if Brandon was debating how much he could divulge over the phone.
Brandon said, “Not yet, man. I’m working on it though. I gotta figure out who all is involved in this.”
“Do you know how to reach Jack?”
“No. How would I?”
Brandon should have left it at no.
Bear said, “You knew how to reach me and I’m one of the hardest people on the planet to get a number for.”
Silence. Then Brandon’s breathing. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Bear asked the question he wasn’t sure he was ready to learn the answer to. “Do we know if Jack was in that hotel?”
“As far as I know he never checked in. I checked his name, which the moron was stupid enough to fly under.”
“You’re friggin’ kidding me.”
“No, I’m not. I also checked his aliases, at least the ones I know of. No reservations or walk-ins under those. He had a reservation under his name, though.”
“I need his number,” Bear said. “I need to reach him.”
“I’ll call you or text you his number later.”
“No, now.”
“I have to find some things out first, Bear.”
“Brandon.”
Brandon didn’t answer. The line was dead.
“Dammit,” Bear said as he tossed his phone on the bed.
Mandy approached from behind, hopped up on the bed so she could place her hand on his shoulder. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t need to. Bear’s reaction was enough to tell her that something wasn’t right.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m going to London.”
She nodded. “What about me?”
“I can’t take you with me.”
“Why not?”
“Too dangerous.”
“It’s more dangerous for me to be somewhere without you.”
“Mandy…” Bear paused. She had a point. Anytime she was left alone or he got comfortable, bad things happened.
“If they went after Jack, they might know about me and come after me. You can’t leave me, Bear.”
“All right,” he said. “You’re going with me.”
He knew the girl didn’t have a passport, so he’d have to reach out to a few acquaintances who owed him a favor. It’d probably be a good idea for him to fly under a new identity as well. Perhaps he could get a package deal put together. Father and daughter. He glanced at their reflections in the mirror. Him, tall and massive. Her, short and lithe.
Yeah, he thought. Father and daughter. It’d look legit.
“Start packing your things,” he said.
It took them less than ten minutes to pack and wipe the room down. Mandy took to the process pretty quick. After seven months with Bear she had gotten plenty of practice. Never leave a trace behind, he told her on more than one occasion.
“What about your gun?” Mandy asked.
Bear walked to the back of the room, split the blinds with his thumb and forefinger. The area behind the motel looked deserted, but he felt hesitant to retrieve the weapon now.
“You think you can find it in the dark?” he said.
Mandy shrugged. “I don’t know if I could find it in the light.”
He knew she was bluffing. She didn’t want to go back there alone again. “All right, let’s stash our gear in the car and we’ll both go back there.”
Bear scooped up most of their belongings. Mandy draped her backpack over her left shoulder. Her tattered teddy bear, a relic from a past life, clutched tight in her hand. Bear opened the door. The area outside the room was still covered in blood and roped off with yellow police tape. Bear lifted Mandy, angled himself out the door, and set her down clear of the carnage. Then he turned and hugged the wall and took a large step to his right.
Halfway down the stairs he pulled out his keys and held down the trunk lift button on the key fob. The black Cadillac’s trunk lid popped up. He threw their bags inside. Mandy tossed her backpack on the front passenger seat.
They walked to the north end of the building, away from the office. From what the cops had told him, the owner had placed most of the motel under surveillance. He figured that the video footage would end near the woods, not in it. The easy solution was to walk a hundred yards north of the building and enter the woods there.
Once behind the tree line, Mandy led the way. It didn’t take her long to locate the place where she hid the gun. No twists, turns or backtracking. She knew exactly where she had hid it. Bear reached behind himself and tucked it in his waistband. He lifted his shirt and pulled it down over the handle.
“All right, kid. Let’s get out of here.”
They jogged back the way they came, a hundred yards past the building, turned right, headed for the road. Then they walked south, on a cracked and uneven sidewalk.
“Shit,” Bear said.
“Crap,” Mandy said.
Two police cars blocked in the Cadillac.
CHAPTER 25
Erin and Jack sat at the kitchen table, opposite ends. Neither spoke. They alternated between looking at each other and staring out the window. He assumed she was trying to absorb what he’d said. The meaning had heavy implications. Rogue British Intelligence agents were working with a terrorist group. Jack assumed so at least. But why? What did they hope to accomplish? On the surface, the answer was an easy one. The terrorists had money and the agents had intelligence and access to channels that could get things accomplished quickly. There had to be more though. And why would Jack have any bearing on what they were doing? They could have saved some time and allowed Jack to carry out the hit on Thornton. Instead he watched. Something didn’t add up.
And then there was this new dynamic he had to deal with.
He leaned forward and, in a low voice, said, “Who else knows?”
Erin turned her head and met his stare. “What?”
“Mia,” he said. “Me being her father.”
“Aunt Dottie.”
“Who else?”
“That’s it.”
“You think she ever told Leon, or maybe her ex-husband?”
Erin shrugged. “I suppose she might have, but I don’t see why. We can ask her.”
Jack thought it over for a moment. “No. Not now.”
A minute of silence passed. Erin said, “Why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing,” Jack said. “Just thinking out loud.”
Erin straightened, grabbed the edge of the table with both hands. “Do you think she’s in danger?”
“Anyone close to me is in danger,” Jack said point blank. He paused, then added, “I think you two should leave now.”
“As soon as Aunt Dottie is ready.”
“No, go without her.”
“That makes no sense, Jack. We’re safest with her and Leon, not alone.”
“But alone you two can disappear. There’s no baggage holding you down. You two are mother and daughter. Dottie and Leon are former spies and SAS. You’ll be scrutinized everywhere you go with them. You might feel safe, but you won’t be safe.”
“And then what? Can you tell me that? What am I supposed to do? Where should I go?”
Jack had no answer. Being targeted by a bomb had rattled him. It wasn’t the first time someone tried to carry out a hit on him. But no one had gone to such dramatic lengths before. Perhaps his
biggest concern was that he’d never checked into the hotel. Anyone with access to somebody with the right credentials could have verified that. They did, though. He was sure of that. The implications were frightening. He feared that they’d go after any place he might be, and anyone he might know.
What, or who, would be next?
He felt the slight vibration of footsteps. The faint sound they produced grew louder. Jack and Erin leaned back in their chairs, looked away from each other. Dottie stopped in the entryway. She cleared her throat. When no one said anything, she entered the kitchen and sat down at the table in between Jack and Erin. She said nothing, stared out the window. Her face was pale, solemn.
“What is it?” Erin asked.
“The agent who picked you up, Jack.”
“Mason,” Jack said.
Dottie nodded, said, “Yes, him. Well, I just found out that they’ve had him under surveillance for the past six months.”
“Who?”
“Who do you think?”
The news did not come as a shock to Jack. “Any idea why?”
Dottie nodded slowly. “They believed him to be associated with known terrorist organizations.”
“What kind of evidence do they have?” Jack said.
“Nothing solid. That’s why they’ve been watching him.”
“And the results of the surveillance?”
Dottie shook her head. “Nothing yet. He covers his tracks well.”
“We’re sure there’s tracks, though?”
She nodded, looked away, said nothing.
“How much does this guy know about you, Dottie?”
“Me? Nothing. He was coming in while I was on my way out. Our paths never crossed. Even the people I know don’t know him personally. He has a reputation of getting the job done. They say he always seems a step ahead.”
“Well, now we know why that is,” Jack said.
Dottie nodded.
Jack said, “What else?”
Dottie said, “You tell me.”
“He showed up shortly after I started my stakeout. Followed me when I left. He knew the reason for my visit to London. He mentioned your name, specifically. He made what some might consider a threat toward you.”
Erin looked at Jack, then Dottie. “Why would he?”
“It’s nothing, Erin,” Dottie said. She turned to Jack. “I’m sure he’s seen my files and put two and two together.”