by Terry Spear
He hurried Shawn’s bike across as Shawn bounced on his toes. “Hurry, Uncle Scott, here he comes.”
Scott looked back and swore under his breath. He hurried his bike across and headed down the road behind the two boys with Nicole at his side. “What do you think?” she asked.
“If it’s one of the guys who’s been after us, he’s probably confused we’ve picked up a couple of kids.”
Nicole exhaled her breath, finally realizing she’d been holding it.
He glanced back and watched the truck drive slowly by. “Or maybe he’s just looking for someone’s place and is lost.”
“Maybe. So why did he make all those turns to follow us?”
Chapter 19
“Get the kids into the house,” Scott ordered, worried whoever this was could be real trouble.
“But—” Nicole said.
“Inside, now.” He didn’t have time to argue with her, even though he figured she was going to be pissed off at him for ordering her around, and he’d have to smooth things over with her later. But her safety and the boys were his priority now.
Nicole jumped off her bicycle and grabbed the boys’ hands. She ran them up to the front door while Scott dashed around to the back of the house. After ducking onto the back porch, he ran into the entryway and retrieved a gun from a locked cabinet.
“Scott,” Nicole whispered as she joined him, “your sister’s fixing the boys some fruit while they’re telling her tales about our wild ride.” Her eyes widened when she saw the gun. “What are you planning to do?”
He tucked the gun under his shirt. “I’m going to see what he wants.”
“I’m coming too.” She peeked out the window. “His vehicle is crawling down the drive.”
“Yep. You stay here.”
His heart thundering, he hurried outside. If this was one of the men who had been after them, they were in trouble. Not that he couldn’t handle one of them. It would be the next dozen they sent that worried him. He stood partly obscured by a metal shed. If the man shot at him, he’d have some protection.
Then to his horror, Nicole walked onto the front porch and took a seat.
“Nicole, go back inside,” he said.
“No, we’re in this together. You agreed.”
The truck parked, and the man looked from Scott to Nicole, then smiled.
Nicole cleared her throat. Scott waited.
The man opened his door using caution. “Howdy, folks!” he called out.
Scott was as tense as a polecat ready to pounce on its prey, but the man was showing his hands and didn’t look like he planned any mischief, for now.
“Bill told me to come by and chat with you folks for a spell.”
Scott relaxed tentatively. If this was someone Bill knew, he was probably a cop. Or then again, maybe a deadbeat husband he was trying to track down.
“Come on up to the porch and I’ll tell Bill you’re here.” Sure, it was a ploy as there was no sign of his pickup in sight, but Bill normally would have let him know someone was coming out to the house.
“Guess you folks don’t know, seeing as how you just got back from bicycling. Bill had to take a little trip, but he asked that I stop by and make sure everything’s all right. He said you’d all planned to see the show Texas tonight. I’ll go in his place.”
“Uncle Bill never told me—”
“Sam’s the name. Samuel Thompson.” The man was tall like Bill, but sandy-haired and had warm, tanned features. His voice betrayed a slow Texas drawl and a friendly manner, typifying long-time residents of Amarillo. Scott imagined he was about Bill’s age too, thirty something. “Would you like some lemonade?” Sam wasn’t a cougar, Scott realized right away.
“Yeah, now that’d hit the spot. I haven’t had any in a good long while.”
“Nicole?” Scott could tell she was peeved at him the way she stiffened her back and narrowed her eyes slightly at him for expecting her to get the drinks. He was certain she wanted to be there in case he needed her help. And not miss out on anything that might be said. But he still wasn’t convinced Sam was a good guy.
As soon as she walked into the house, Scott offered Bill’s chair to Sam, then sat on the loveseat he had shared the night before with Nicole.
“What’s this all about?” Scott asked abruptly.
“Bill told me you’d get to the point right quick. I didn’t mean to scare you folks on the road none back there, but I wasn’t even sure you were the ones I was looking for what with the two grasshopper-sized cowboys who rode with you.”
Scott tried to cool his heels, wanting the man to get to the point before Nicole returned with the refreshments.
“Bill is checking further on this lead with Boris, but the man’s been tricky to catch sight of.”
“He’s a Russian spy?”
“Yeah. Seems his brother was too, but Nicole’s father identified him when he received a Russian transmission. The man was taken out of the equation and looks to me like Boris sought revenge. He sidled up to Nicole’s father, real friendly like only he wasn’t nothing but a sidewinder just waiting to strike. Then this business with Nicole began. He needed to hide documents, so he gave her the stuffed toy. Where is that by the way?”
“Safe.”
“Good. We need to look it over and see what you folks missed. We figure, since he’d made friends with the family and they were above suspicion, he’d slip her the documents and they’d be safe until he needed them.”
“And he needs them now.”
“Yeah. Though I can’t figure why he wouldn’t have found it at her place.”
“Whiskers was sleeping on it at the kennel,” Scott said.
“Oh.”
“But why kill her?”
“They undoubtedly believe her father told her something about the transmissions he transcribed. Maybe Boris was afraid her father had become suspicious of him and Nicole knew this. She’s seen him firsthand too.”
“You’re not a cop, are you?”
“No. Not hardly. Matters like this go a little higher.”
“Aww, so you have a badge then. Can I see it?”
Sam smiled and showed him his FBI badge.
“How did Uncle Bill know to contact you?”
“I’ve been his and his brother’s friend since high school.”
Nicole banged the screen door with her hip as she walked onto the porch with the lemonade. She ignored Scott as she served Sam. Then she set the tray on the table and walked back inside. Scott knew he really had some smoothing over to do with her as soon as he could.
Nicole still fumed when she walked back into the house after leaving the lemonade on the table for Scott. She’d tried to ignore his look of surprise and in her heart, she knew Scott worried about her and his family. But she and Scott were supposed to be a team.
Janice met her before she reached the stairs and smiled. “Anything wrong or should I say, can I help with something?”
Yeah, Janice knew she was mad. “What are you and your mother wearing to the show tonight?” Nicole asked, changing the subject.
“Denim skirts, western shirts, and boots.”
“I didn’t bring my denim skirt. I just have a white skirt with me. And I don’t have the other items.”
“It sounds like a trip to the mall is in order.”
“They wouldn’t happen to have a store that carries Bambi, would they?”
“Sorry, no, not here. Why do you ask?”
“I Just wondered.”
“Ah, for the game. You want a duplicate Bambi to throw off the villains.”
Nicole smiled.
“Since Scott is busy with this friend of Bill’s, do you want to run over to the mall now?”
“Yeah, I’d love that. Do you know that guy?”
“No. I was just eavesdropping in case there was trouble.” Janice showed her phone to Nicole. “Ready to punch in 911.”
Nicole smiled. “Let me grab my purse.” She dashed up the stairs to her room. S
he’d overheard Sam ask to see Bambi. Well, how did Scott know the guy was really a friend of Bill’s? She grabbed her purse and Bambi and darted down the steps. “Do you have a sack for Bambi?” she asked Janice as Roy clung to his mother’s skirts.
Roy pointed to the toy. “Do you take him everywhere with you?”
“Just lately.”
Josephine walked out of the den with a canvas shopping bag. “For Bambi.”
“Thanks.”
Janice headed for the front door, but Nicole stopped her. “Can we go out the back way instead?”
A knowing smile brightened Janice’s face. “You don’t want Scott to know you’re leaving until it’s too late?” She didn’t wait for a response but led the way to the back door. “Bye, kiddos,” she said to her boys and gave them each a big hug. “Their grandmother is going to play with them with finger paints. I’m glad you and I are shopping instead.”
Nicole nodded. The notion of playing in finger paints kind of appealed though.
“If Scott gets bored with visiting with this Sam, he can play in the paints too.”
Nicole chuckled. What a mess they’d all be.
“Give your Aunt Nicole a hug goodbye too.”
Nicole was tickled when the boys hugged her too.
“You know with Scott you could have told him where to put that lemonade. Now with my ex, I couldn’t have. He was mean. But Scott, well he knew he’d have had it coming, so I don’t blame you for getting perturbed with him. He would have understood if you had let him have it with both barrels.” They climbed into Janice’s red Bronco. “Right now, I can tell you by just your walking into the house like you did and letting him serve himself, he’s squirming in his seat trying to figure out how to make it up to you.”
“You’re right, Janice. I was annoyed. He ordered me about like I was his…his—”
“Wife?”
That hurt to the quick. Was that what being his wife truly meant to him? She had to rethink this marriage thing and fast.
When they headed down the drive, Nicole hesitated. Should she ignore Scott entirely, or wave at him goodbye?
Janice glanced at her and said, “Ignore him,” as if she’d read her mind. “Make him beg for mercy.”
“I guess I could learn a lot from you.” Though she wasn’t certain it would matter. This might be the shortest engagement in history.
“I know you’re thinking, is it worth it? Compromising your own values and goals to satisfy someone else’s desires in the name of love. Though I can certainly see how you could be peeved with Scott, I’ve never known him to be that callous. Something else concerned him.”
Nicole looked at the sideview mirror. Scott stood watching her, his mouth dropped slightly.
“He didn’t expect us to leave like that,” Nicole said.
“He’s going into the house. He’s probably going to ask Mom where we’re headed.”
“And she’ll tell him?”
“Of course. She wants the two of you to patch things up so you’ll give her some grandchildren too. I suspect she might like at least one granddaughter.”
Nicole kept her eyes focused on the side mirror. “Sam’s calling someone on a cell phone while Scott’s in the house.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, it means we’ll be having someone tailing us soon.”
“You have as good an imagination as Scott and Uncle Bill.”
“Yeah.” Why had Sam waited to call until Scott dashed into the house? Was it an afterthought to have them followed for their protection? Or was there something more to it than that?
Because Bill hadn’t alerted them a cohort of his was going to take his place, she didn’t trust Sam entirely.
And what about Boris? He was a good-hearted, transplanted Russian. Never would she have suspected he would have had her parents murdered. And then come after her too? At least she didn’t think so.
As far as she knew, his brother had died young, slipped into a frozen pound while ice skating and drowned. And then when Boris’s parents died, he made his escape to the west and was very happy here.
“Hey, I know an even better place to shop for your clothes. There’s a great western dress shop we can hit first.”
“And maybe the post office?” Nicole asked.
“Sure. Do you have something to mail?”
“Yep.”
When they stopped at the post office, Janice waited in the car to watch for the tail they were supposed to have. Inside the brick building, Nicole packaged Bambi and scribbled a note to the vet clinic. Please give Bambi to Whiskers. I’ll be back this weekend to pick him up. Thanks. Nicole Welsh.
After paying for the shipment of the package, she hurried back outside with the empty canvas bag. The only thing she worried about was if they were tailed. Whoever it was might impersonate a government official and confiscate Bambi. But Janice enjoyed playing the game and had made several hair-brained lane changes and turns that Nicole figured would have made it impossible for anyone to follow them.
“To the western shop now?” Janice asked.
“I have an idea. Let’s go to one of those other stores that ship packages.”
“To mail another package?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Ah.” Janice glanced down at the flat sack. “There’s some old newspaper in the back you can use to fill up the canvas sack.”
“Your mother won’t mind too much?”
“Nah. It’s all part of the game.”
“Right.”
Nicole hurried into the package place. She was certain they were being followed this time. It was time for her to muddy the waters. She packaged up the canvas sack stuffed with newspaper, then wrote a fictitious address for Moscow. She added Josephine’s return address just in case the item was returned, addressee unknown.
When she walked back to the Bronco, Janice was applying a fresh coat of lipstick to her already colored lips as she peered into her visor mirror. “So is it the black sedan back there?”
“I think so. But he didn’t catch sight of us for quite a while.”
“Should we try to lose him?” Janice asked.
“I suspect he’ll go after the package. We’ll go to the western store, then do a bunch more switchbacks and head home.”
“Roger that.”
Nicole nearly forgot Janice only played the game too. She did such a remarkable job at going along with the ruse.
After Nicole bought a new denim skirt, plaid western shirt, and blue boots to match, they headed home.
Janice shrugged. “I think we lost that black sedan.”
“Yeah. You sure are great at this James Bond stuff.”
“Thanks. My uncles and Scott never let Mom and me in on the games much. They didn’t think we could really get into the game like they did.”
“You did super by me.”
When they arrived home, they discovered both Sam’s truck and Scott’s Mustang were gone.
A twinge of guilt tugged at Nicole. Was she being too hard on Scott?
Nah.
She left her new clothes in her room, then hurried down the stairs. The front door slammed shut and there stood one highly pissed-off finance captain.
The two stood their ground, neither speaking a word. Josephine hurried out of the dining room to diffuse the situation. “Lunch is ready, you two.”
“You weren’t at the mall,” Scott said, his voice terse.
“Nope. I went to a western store instead.”
He rubbed his brow. “It’s not safe for you to be out like that without me along.”
“Who said? Sam? How do we know he’s who he says he is?”
“We don’t. Though he did have an FBI badge and he said he knew my uncles in high school. Did you know Sam, Mom?” Scott asked.
“I was married and living away from home by then, so no,” Josephine said. His mother motioned again to eat, and Scott took Nicole’s hand and led her into the dining room.
They sat down to a meal of ro
ast beef sandwiches, iced tea and raw carrots, cauliflower and broccoli complimented with a cheese dip.
Josephine talked about the boys’ creative talents while Janice added a word or two about their accomplishments. Nicole and Scott ate their food in silence.
When the meal was done, Nicole grabbed her plate and headed into the kitchen. Scott followed suit. “We have to talk.”
“Do you want more lemonade?” she asked, frowning at him.
Scott took Nicole’s arm and led her out of the kitchen, realizing full well his mother and sister were waiting to hear their conversation. Knowing what a jerk he’d been with Nicole over the lemonade, made him even more determined to resolve the matter quickly.
He guided her outside, then sat with her on the loveseat on the porch and held her hand. He could tell she wasn’t happy about it either as her spine was stiff and unyielding. “I’m sorry about ordering you about, Nicole. I just worried for your safety.”
She squeezed his hand and smiled, to his surprise. His heart warmed at once. He loved her. He leaned over and kissed her lips and she devoured his with so much enthusiasm he wanted to enjoy her all the way.
“Okay, yeah, I was peeved at you. But it worked out for playing our game,” she finally said.
He frowned at her. He hadn’t wanted her to run off on her own like that. What if someone had tried to kill her? And his sister too?
“I don’t trust Sam. Call it women’s intuition, Bill’s not telling us he’d be here, whatever. Maybe I’m just being paranoid because of what happened with Tom and how he began asking about Boris. Anyway, I thought it was a good way to get something to wear for the Palo Duro show, while you entertained Sam. I had to do a little spy business myself. I shipped Bambi back to the vet.”
“But there wasn’t anything in Bambi. And hell, I worried about you being out there when men are trying to kill you,” Scott said, frowning at her.
“Men did follow us, but they were after the packages I shipped.”
“Packages?”
“First, I mailed off Bambi and then I sent your mom’s canvas bag to Moscow stuffed with newspaper. If the guys following us had any fake IDs, they could have confiscated them. As soon as you went into the house to see your mother and learn where I’d gone, Sam called someone. But not until you’d left him alone. I thought it was suspicious. Why not call someone while you were still standing there with him? Was he the one who let the others know and they followed us to the post office and the other postal service shop?”