by K. C. Crowne
12
Liam
I awoke to the sound of water running in the bathroom but saw no sign of Jason. Or Mallory and Seth for that matter. I got out of bed and knocked on the bathroom door. A moment later, Seth's voice, muffled through the wooden door, answered me.
“One second,” he said.
I heard the unmistakable sound of Mallory giggling in the background.
“Have you seen Jason?” I asked.
“He's not back yet?” Seth asked.
The water turned off, and I waited for the two of them to open the door. I could hear them giggling and laughing, and it made me smile and shake my head. Honestly, it made me happy. At one time, the very idea of Mallory being with someone other than me would have hurt. It would have been a wound that cut me deep.
Knowing that I had her though, and that she was with Seth this morning, I didn't know. Somehow it seemed okay. Like all of us were puzzle pieces and we'd found a way to fit and connect all of us together. Maybe there was just too much going on and I couldn't properly process what was happening between us all.
Steam from the shower billowed out of the bathroom when they finally opened the door.
“Hot shower, huh?” I teased.
“Very,” Mallory said, scooting out the door in nothing but a towel and a smile. She kissed me really quickly as she passed me by. “It's a shame you couldn't have joined us.”
“Mmm maybe next time,” I said. “But I had my fun last night.”
Seth just smiled. Unlike Mallory, he was wearing boxer shorts and pulling on a pair of pants. Though on the surface, he was light and free – great sex can have that effect on you – I could see the tension in his body, the tightness in his face, and the concern in his eyes.
“So Jason isn't back yet?” he asked again.
“Nope. I woke up to an empty bed,” I said. “And since I found the two of you, it looks like he left alone.”
Seth looked at the clock. “He stepped out hours ago. I woke up when he was leaving. Said something about needing some air,” he said. “That was the last I saw of him.”
“You don't think – ” Mallory's eyes were large and filled with fear. “Oh God, you don't think they got him?”
“Fuck no,” I said. “Ain't no one getting Jason that easily. If they'd tried to snatch him, I guarantee you there would be a hundred cop cars and emergency vehicles in front of the hotel because somebody was dead.”
I said the words, something in the back of my head trying to force me to believe them. I knew he was a tough guy, but the fact that he'd been gone for a few hours worried me. I just didn't want it to show on my face. I didn't want to cause Mallory anymore concern than she was already carrying around.
“I'm going to check next door,” Seth said, tossing on a shirt. “Just make sure everything is okay with the Sturgeons, see if they'd heard anything new or need anything from us.”
“Good idea,” I said.
Mallory plopped down on the bed, the smile that had been plastered on her face earlier, wiped clean. She looked so sad sitting there, that it broke my heart. I sat beside her, pulled her to me and tried to comfort her as best as I could.
“It's going to be okay,” I said.
“You sure about that?” she said, biting her lip. “Because I gotta be honest. Right now, it seems like I'm losing you one by one. I'm not so sure that everything's actually going to be okay anymore.”
“I'm sure he'll be back,” I said. “Probably just went out for a walk.”
“Just like everyone was sure Chris would be back too, huh?”
“And he will be.”
“We don't know that,” I said. “Hell, even Santiago's cartel can't find him. What makes you think we'll be able to find him?”
“Mallory, hold it together,” I said. “Don't let this tear you down. We need to focus. We need to stay sharp. Use those cop skills of yours.”
She rested her head against my chest and heaved a massive sigh. She closed her eyes, and was silent so long, I thought she might have somehow fallen asleep, so I just held her close. The door between the rooms opened up, and she sat right up, alert and tense, her eyes narrowed, her body, ready for action.
Seth stepped through the door and quietly closed it behind him. He leaned back against it, a concerned look etched upon his face.
“Nothing new from them,” he said. “No calls. Nothing.”
“Damn.”
“Have you tried calling him?” Seth asked.
“Not yet,” I said.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed his number but it went straight to voicemail. Shit. I left a quick message before hanging up.
“This is just like the shit with Chris,” Mallory said, panic rising in her voice again.
“No, not just like Chris,” I said. “Totally different scenario.”
She looked at me, and it was clear she was calling my bluff.
“What should we do?” Seth asked.
“Maybe we should –”
There was a beeping noise and a clicking sound as someone put the hotel key in the slot. I stood up, and Mallory reached for her gun on the nightstand as the door swung inward.
“Where the hell have you been, man?” I asked.
Jason stood in the doorway, a somber look on his face.
“I've seen where they're holding Samantha. I talked to her,” he said. “And I have an idea why they're after Chris too.”
“Why?” I asked, sitting back on the bed.
“Because he was running drugs for them,” he said, the tone in his voice grim. “He was picking up a shipment from Mexico and never made it back. A very expensive shipment.”
“Jesus,” Seth said, sitting down beside me. “But why in the hell would he get into that? That doesn't sound a damn thing like the man we know.”
Jason shrugged. “Who knows?” he said. “But I have a feeling Julia Santiago has a lot to do with it.”
“You think he decided to get involved with a drug cartel to keep a girl?” I asked. “Come on, he's not that crazy.”
Jason shrugged. “It's the only reason I can think of,” he said. “Either way, no one knows where he's at.”
“Has anyone heard from Julia lately?” Mallory asked, her voice sounding smaller than usual.
“No, why?”
“Because I think still she knows a lot more than what she's telling us.”
“But how can we make her talk? That's the question,” I said. “It's not like we can abduct her and torture the answers out of her.”
Jason held up a hand. “I think we need to focus on saving Sam first,” he said. “She should be our priority right now.”
As much as I hated to do it, I had to agree with him. We had no idea where Chris was. We had a location on Samantha and could act on that information. We could save her and figure out what to do about Chris after the fact. The others nodded, even Mallory, though she didn't look at all happy about it.
“Yeah, since we have no clue where to even start looking for him,” she said. “Still, I hate that we're giving up.”
“We're not giving up, we're merely putting his search on hold. For now,” Jason said. “He'd want his sister kept safe. Because we know where she is, I know he'd want us to save her.”
“Besides, if we can't find him – and they can't find him – he's probably somewhere safer where ever he is than if we had him. If they want him that badly –” Seth said.
“Alright, alright,” Mallory sighed. “Fine. Let's figure out a plan to save Samantha. Any ideas?”
“I have one,” Jason said.
“We're all ears,” I said.
13
Mallory
“Desert Oasis,” Jason said. “That's where they're holding her.”
“What's the Desert Oasis?” I asked. “A hotel off the strip or something?”
He shook his head. “Housing development,” he replied. “They've got a safe house in the middle of a bunch of tract homes.”
�
��Clever,” Liam replied. “They can hide her in plain sight.”
“Exactly.”
Jason pulled up the website on his phone and we all crowded around to look at it. It was on the far edge of town, somewhat isolated, but it looked like they were building a massive community around it. Vegas was becoming quite the sprawl.
“So, what's the plan?” I asked.
Jason exchanged looks with Seth and Liam and I saw something pass between them that I didn't like. Not one little bit.
“If you three actually think you're going to leave me out of this, you better fucking think again,” I said, my voice cold.
It was Seth who spoke up first. “Mal, we're dealing with a goddamn cartel here,” he said. “We don't know how many there are out there. Don't know how heavily they're armed. For all we know, we're rolling into a place guarded with tanks and anti-aircraft guns.”
I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break. It's a housing tract,” I said. “Soccer moms and mini-vans are going to be our biggest concern. Not to mention, I’m a fucking cop guys. And a fucking Marine, just like you. So stop treating me like I’m a goddamn precious jewel.”
“Okay, okay,” Seth said, holding his hands up in mock surrender, and the other two nodded.
“We probably shouldn't go in strapped,” Liam noted. “The last thing we can afford is a firefight in the middle of a residential neighborhood.”
Jason nodded. “I agree,” he said. “We need to go in hard and quiet. Take them out without weapons. Hands and knives only.”
“Man,” Seth said. “We haven't done this in a while.”
“Still got the stomach for it?” Liam smirked at him.
“Always had more stomach for it than you,” Seth shot back.
“Okay, cut it,” Jason said. “Let's figure this shit out. Time's running short.”
“Seriously, Mal,” Liam said. “I’d feel better if you--”
“If I what?” I cut him off. “If I stayed behind? Not a fucking chance,” I growled.
They all exchanged that look again – the one that grated on my last goddamn nerve. I slammed my fist down on the table and glared at each of them in turn.
“In case you forgot, I kicked your ass in hand-to-hand combat training, Liam. Yours too, Seth.”
Both men at least had the good graces to look away, sheepish expressions on their faces. It was true though, I'd bested both of them in hand-to-hand fighting during boot camp. There was no reason for them to exclude me from this.
“I know you beat us both back in boot,” Seth finally worked up the nerve to say. “But, this isn't boot, Mallory. And I think I can speak for the other guys when I say we care about you so much that we're going to be distracted going in there if you come with us. We're going to be so worried about making sure nothing happens to you that we get ourselves killed.”
“Then you better figure that shit out now,” I said. “I care about you boys too, but this is an op like any of the others we ran when we were in Iraq or Afghanistan. We all look out for each other and cover everybody's ass, but we do the fucking job.”
“Mallory, I –”
I cut Liam off with a withering glare. “You say a word that isn't helping to plan our mission,” I said, my voice low. “And I will cut your balls off. Just because I let you fuck me doesn't mean you get to decide what is and isn't too dangerous for me to do anymore. You got me?”
“She's right,” Jason finally said. “She's a Marine. Just like us. She can take care of herself. You two need to get your heads on straight and keep your shit tight. Stay focused and do the fucking job.”
“Come on man –” Seth started to say.
“That's enough,” Jason snapped. “She comes. Or you don't. Obviously, it'll be easier with you guys there, but stop treating her like a fucking China doll. She's as tough as any one of us and you both fucking know it. So sack the fuck up and let's do this.”
There was a knock on the adjoining door and Liam moved quickly to open it. Lois stepped through, her eyes wide, her face blanched and pale.
“Lois, what is it?” I asked.
“Th – they just called again,” she said. “They told me one of you went to see my Samantha?”
Jason turned to her. “I did,” he replied. “I just got back. One of them showed up down by the pool and gave me the chance to talk to her. I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
Lois looked at him, her tears shimmering with tears. “Is she?”
Jason nodded. “She's fine, Lois,” he said. “They're treating her well. They know without her, they'll never get what they want.”
“And what they want is my son,” she said, her voice cracking. “How can I make that choice?”
“You won't have to, Lois,” Liam said.
Jason cut him off with a sharp glare and Liam fell silent. Lois looked to all of us, thankfully, appearing to not have heard what Liam just said. I understood Jason's desire to keep Sam's folks out of this. To not let them know what we were planning. If nothing else, not knowing would keep them a little bit safer. If we ran into trouble and the shit hit the fan, at least they wouldn't have their hopes up.
“Did they say anything else to you, Lois?” Jason asked gently.
She nodded absently. “They said the clock is ticking,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “They said we have forty-eight hours to produce Chris, or they'll start sending pieces of my daughter to me.”
Lois broke down in loud, choked, gasping sobs. Frank was there in a heartbeat, his arm around his wife's shoulders, pulling her to him.
“I still think we need to call the police” he said.
“That's only going to make the situation worse,” I said.
“I can't believe you'd say that,” he replied. “You're a police officer yourself.”
I nodded. “Exactly,” I said. “And I've been around long enough and have seen enough, that I know when you're dealing with people like these, you have got to err on the side of caution. If you don't, things go sideways real quick and people start getting hurt. I don't want that for either Samantha or Chris.”
Seth stepped forward and ushered them back to their room, telling them that he'd get them whatever they needed. He closed the adjoining door behind him, leaving us to plan our mission. We'd catch him up when he got back.
Liam looked over at me, unease and concern in his eyes. I wanted to punch him square in his chiseled face.
“Drop it,” I said. “This is happening. So, if you're going to help, you'd best get your head in the game.”
“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Liam said, sounding like it was anything but fine.
“And remember,” I said. “No matter what, we finish the job. We get Samantha out of there and to safety. Just like we did it in the good old days, no matter what happens, the mission comes first. Same goal, different desert.”
Jason nodded. “The mission comes first,” he said. “No matter what.”
Liam and Seth exchanged dark glances, but slowly and grudgingly nodded.
* * *
“I still don't like this,” Seth said.
“I don't care,” I replied. “Get your shit tight and get focused. Now.”
The four of us sat in the Jason's truck, parked on the curb down the street from the safe house. Jason had pulled up the digits he'd memorized on his phone and it had led us to where we sat watching a house – a house that looked exactly like every other house that surrounded us.
Despite the fact that it was well after midnight, the lights downstairs in the house were all on and every now and then, we saw a shadow pass in front of the window. We had no way of knowing what we were dealing with until we got out and scouted the place.
“Everybody ready?” Jason asked.
“Let's do it,” I said.
“Get in, get Sam, get out,” Jason reminded us.
We all climbed out of the truck and quietly closed the doors behind us. As we approached the house, Jason used hand signals to direct us. Liam and I were heading around
back, while Jason and Seth looked for another way in.
I looked around at the neighborhood, scrutinizing the darkened windows all around us. I was searching for the telltale flap of a curtain, or the crinkle of a blind – anything that indicated we were being watched. I saw nothing.
I winced and stopped moving when the gate to the backyard opened with a rusty sounding squeal. We both froze in place, holding our breath, straining our ears to listen. I hoped against hope it went unnoticed.
After waiting for the sound of footsteps coming our way for several long, gut wrenching moments, we heard nothing. Liam and I exchanged a look, both of us letting out a long, quiet breath. We stepped into the side yard and I quietly shut the gate behind us, moving absurdly slowly, to avoid making the same noise again. We'd dodged a bullet once, but I wasn't about to push it.
Without radio comms or anything, we were trusting that Seth and Jason were in position and were breaching the house on the other side. If Samantha's intel was right, there would be two, maybe three guards in the house with her. If that was the case, we should be able to dispose of them fairly quickly and quietly. Jason was right, we couldn't afford a firefight in the middle of a neighborhood. It would not only jeopardize civilians, it would draw a hell of a lot more attention than we wanted or needed.
The lights were all on in the very back of the house, the back deck lit up like it was the middle of the day. Stepping out into that spotlight would have been suicide. Luckily, I spotted a side door that could serve as our entry point. The door itself was set behind a bush and it was dumb luck I even saw it
I tapped Liam on the shoulder and pointed to the door. He nodded as I reached out and took the knob in my hand. I turned it and was more than surprised to find that it was unlocked. Liam and I exchanged an uneasy look. In my experience with life on this planet, nothing was ever that easy.
Liam slipped a small, hooded flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on as I opened the door. It swung out toward us on silent, well-oiled hinges. I glanced at my watch. If all was going according to plan, Seth and Jason would be breaching from the other side of the house at this very moment. The plan was to meet them I the middle – hopefully with Samantha safe and the bad guys disabled.