“I know. I just couldn’t resist,” she answered. “I’m so bad. Once there was this woman who kept wanting to rub my belly.”
“What did you do?” Had asked, anticipating a story.
“Meh. I told her I had left the father because he’d infected me with Hepatitis. Should’ve seen how fast she backed off.”
Had laughed. This woman was already proving to be good company.
“I’m Had,” he said, turning in his seat to offer her his hand. She reached over her belly to shake it.
“Had? That’s a cool name. I’m Shelly.”
“Nice to meet you, Shelly. You headed home or going out for a visit?”
“Visiting,” she answered, shifting around in her seat. Probably to try to get comfortable. Had thought about what that must feel like, and his mind fritzed.
“When are you due?” he asked.
Shelly’s face brightened at that. “Two more months.”
Had tried to hide his disbelief. It would have been much less of a surprise if she’d said she was due in fifteen minutes.
She must have seen something in his face, however, as she chuckled. “I know. I’m huge. It’s ‘cause I’m having twins.”
“Really? Are they identical?”
The idea of having an identical twin had always appealed to Had, to the point that he’d one time asked his mama if he’d had a brother that had gotten absorbed into her womb. She’d been so mortally offended that she hadn’t spoken to him for two whole hours, until he’d managed to convince her that it was a real thing.
“No,” she answered. “Boy and a girl. At least according to the ultrasound.”
“Still, that’s really interesting, don’t you think? I wonder if they’ll make their own language or something.”
Her face brightened even more at that. “That would be awesome!”
“Right?” he agreed. “Man, those two are going to be so lucky.”
Had thought about the possibilities of having a twin that could speak a language that no one else could understand. Even just having a sibling would be incredible. There was a small part of him that resented the fact that his father had died before another brother or sister had come along.
Then he remembered what he had been about to say. “So, you’re visiting Oklahoma City?”
Shelly nodded. “Yeah. First time.”
Perfect. This was going to be a great flight. Just what he needed to get his mind off Reggie and what might be happening to her.
“Well then,” Had said, rubbing his hands together. “I’ve got some stuff you need to know…”
* * *
At least this time they weren’t under fire.
That was about all Joshua could say about the fact that they were now on their way out to Fort Sill. Well, that and the fact that it was no longer as crowded in their taxi.
With the new addition of Leslie, there wasn’t enough space for them to all travel together, so they’d divided up. It had only made sense to everyone else that Leslie and Joshua would ride in a cab with Bella, while Sariah, Had and Bailey went in another.
It made sense. Sure. It also made Joshua feel like a pariah.
Plus, the absence of Reggie was like a physical ache to Joshua. He knew that she had moved on to Agent Cooper, but inside of him there was a ticking clock, sounding off every second she was out there with the killer.
As for their current arrangement, the cab ride was less crowded, but of course Bella had decided that she was going to flop herself down across both Joshua and Leslie’s laps. And it didn’t appear his sober companion was all that excited about it.
Too bad, so sad. Just one of the things this strange woman was going to have to learn to deal with if she was determined to stick around. Which so far, she had proven herself to be.
There was another bonus as well. With Had in the other car, there was no need to play twenty questions with their cab driver.
Joshua glanced up at the front seat. The driver was young… probably in his mid to late twenties… and had hair that was so close-cropped it was almost shaved. He was quiet, but seemed sharp enough. All it had taken was a “take us to Fort Sill” and they were off and running. No annoying chit-chat needed.
Joshua could only imagine what was happening in the other cab.
“… and I think we need to talk about Bella,” Leslie was saying.
Joshua started, realizing that there was a whole conversation that was happening to which he had been oblivious. All of his thoughts at the moment flitted back and forth between Bella getting shot and Agent Cooper standing behind Reggie with her shirt half-unbuttoned. There was another image, too. Of a once-blond little girl, grown into a distorted caricature of a woman, lying dead at his feet.
He crammed the thought back down where it couldn’t hurt him. Leslie must have spotted something, as she immediately changed tacks.
“What was that?” she asked.
“What?”
“You thought of something painful, then it seemed like you swallowed it.”
She was leaning in toward him, the flowing sleeve of her blouse brushing up against his shoulder. Her scent reached him, a combination of jasmine and something more fruit-based. It smelled like late summer nights spent sitting outdoors.
Jacquie and he would do that sometimes. Put the kids to bed and sit out on the porch swing, rocking back and forth. That had been before the Humpty Dumpty case. Before his life had fallen apart. He turned to face Leslie.
“There it is again,” she murmured, her face creasing in concern. “You just did the exact same thing.”
Okay, this woman was a little bit scary. But Joshua had no intention of letting her know that she was on the right track. About anything.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just trying to figure out how I’m supposed to do my job with you babbling at me all the time.”
For a moment, Leslie’s eyes went sad, and Joshua knew he had scored a point. There was no way this new-age charlatan was going to get under his skin. He’d spent too long cultivating that emotional first line of defense.
His barriers were thicker than a rhinoceros’, and just as tough.
But right after he saw her eyes grow sad, something else sprang up to replace that reaction. Something he couldn’t quite identify.
“You pride yourself on being a tough nut to crack, don’t you?” she asked.
The answer to that question was obvious enough that Joshua didn’t deem it necessary to respond. His lack of response didn’t seem to ruffle Leslie’s feathers in the least bit.
“I don’t mind it, Joshua. You’re going to do what you feel you need to do.” She let that statement sit for a moment before she continued. “I also want you to know that when you shut me out like that, it hurts.”
Had she just admitted a weakness to him? This woman really was crazy. Did she not understand that she was the obstacle in his way, and that if he could, he would crush her like a grape? She continued.
“That’s part of the problem with building up defenses like yours,” she confided. “You lose sensitivity to pain. Not only do you not see the damage you’re doing to yourself, but you can’t see what you’re doing to others, either.”
He stared at her for a long moment, letting the silence stretch into an uncomfortable place. Two could play at this game.
“I’m not sure that I care all that much,” answered her finally. “About either side of things, really.”
Leslie smiled at him. It was a sad smile, but it didn’t lack humor for all of that.
“You believe that you believe that, Joshua. But it’s not really true.”
He shook his head. She really didn’t get him at all, did she?
Glancing out of the window to try to get away from the condescending look she was giving him, Joshua realized that he couldn’t see the other taxicab. It was an hour’s drive or so from the airport to the base, so that wasn’t all that big of a deal, but now that he was paying attention, it looked l
ike they were getting off of the freeway.
“What’s up?” he asked the driver, who met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Why are we exiting?”
“Sorry, sir,” the driver said. “I’m low on gas. Need to stop and fuel up.”
That was a good enough explanation. Or it should have been, except for one minor problem.
They were out in the middle of nowhere.
* * *
Sariah was doing the best she could to tune out the banter between their cab driver and Had. It wasn’t working as well as she would have liked.
She beat her hand against her leg. They weren’t moving fast enough. Reggie was out there somewhere, and who knew what was happening to her.
And still, the conversation between the driver and Had continued.
“So did you know that Oklahoma City was the first place to have those automated parking meters?” Had was asking. It was the fifth one of those tidbits of information that he’d offered so far.
But this one didn’t seem to go over so well as the last four. Their driver, a big black man with an afro that extended out almost to his shoulders, shook his head. A scowl crossed the man’s face.
“Day-um!” he growled. “That just pisses me off.”
Had’s eyebrows lifted. “What do you mean? I thought that was pretty cool.”
“Cool?” the driver asked. “Listen, man, you got any idea how many times I’ve had to pay a ticket ‘cause of them meters? I’d like to find the prick who invented them and cram his head right up his ass.”
“Oh,” Had responded, a bit cowed. “I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
Sariah almost laughed at the turn the conversation had taken. But it felt like all the humor had been sucked out of her when Reggie was taken. The loss had her on edge, not thinking properly. She knew that there was something she wasn’t thinking of, yet she couldn’t for the life of her imagine what it would be.
She sighed and looked out the window, idly noticing that they seemed to have lost the other cab somewhere along the way. No problem. They’d catch up eventually. Who knew, maybe the time spent with his sober companion would end up being a good thing. Although Sariah was not sure about that woman at all, she had to admit that Joshua hadn’t relapsed since she’d joined up with them.
When it came to tracking down Humpty, Joshua was their best bet, drunk or sober. With Reggie’s disappearance, however, Sariah needed him at the top of his game. There could be no room for error here.
Sariah knew of Joshua’s feelings for Reggie. They were painfully obvious. And there was a part of her that blamed herself for his latest relapse. When relationships developed within teams, feelings got hurt.
It hadn’t been a good idea. She had known it at the time, but being there with Reggie, seeing that spark of attraction blooming in her eyes… she just hadn’t been able to resist. She’d allowed herself to entertain the idea for just an instant in time, and now it wouldn’t leave her.
The feelings were getting in her way, but she didn’t know how to turn them off. Over and over again in her mind’s eye, she watched the abduction take place. Imagined what the killer might be doing to her.
Then she shut it all down again, desperate to keep hope alive. Desperate to find her, a needle in the haystack that was the continental US. How was she supposed to be able to track down a killer who never stayed in one place? She needed a tracking device that she could somehow attach to…
She froze, coming to an awareness of her surroundings again. Had was saying something about an oil well underneath the state capitol building.
It couldn’t be this simple, could it? Sariah was torn between the hope that had sprung up inside her, and the fear that if this worked but was too late to help out Reggie, that she would never be able to forgive herself.
“Had,” she interrupted. “Do you still have that app on your phone? The one that can track Reggie’s cell?”
Awareness dawned on his face. It hadn’t occurred to him, either. It was a long shot. The likelihood was that her phone had been abandoned right after she had been taken, but maybe…
Sariah tried to believe, as Had pulled out his cell and opened up the app.
* * *
Joshua nodded at the driver, trying his best to appear nonchalant. Wouldn’t be a good idea for the man to know of Joshua’s suspicions. Moving around in his seat as if he were trying to get comfortable, Joshua darted a glance at the gas gauge that was supposed to be empty.
It was almost full.
He leaned back, assessing the situation. Their driver had separated them from the rest of the team, and he’d lied about why he was doing it. The man was now off the freeway, in a fairly deserted area, with two unarmed passengers. Plus, now that he was looking for it, Joshua realized that the man had a very military look about him.
This was not good. Not good at all.
The vehicle was nearing the end of the off-ramp, and they were entering into a flat section of what appeared to be nothing but flat dirt for miles around. Their driver would be making a move soon, and Joshua needed to be ready for it.
At least this wasn’t a New York taxicab, with a partition to keep the driver and the passengers separate. Come to think of it, that was both a good and a bad thing. It gave Joshua more of a fighting chance, but it also made it easier for their driver to reach around and do them all harm.
Bella, sensing the tension in her companion, lifted her head and let out a low growl. Joshua was pretty sure that it wasn’t loud enough for the driver to hear, but Leslie certainly did. She perked up from where she had settled back into her seat.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice loud in the suddenly silent cab.
Joshua tried to shake his head at her, but he caught a glimpse of the driver in the mirror. He had heard the question and was watching Joshua to gauge his reaction.
Dammit.
Things happened very quickly from that point on.
The driver shoved a hand down below where they could see what he was doing, at the same time that he pulled the wheel to the right and slammed on the brakes, angling the car toward the shoulder of the road.
Pushing Bella to the side, Joshua used the inertia from the car stopping to launch himself at the back of the driver’s seat, wrapping his left arm around the man’s neck. At the same time, he used his right arm to keep the driver from pulling out what Joshua was almost positive was a gun.
“Get out!” he yelled at Leslie, his voice cracking with strain. “Jump out of the car!”
Joshua had to admit, the woman was fast on the uptake. Not only did she yank the car door open without hesitating, but she grabbed Bella by the collar and threw herself out, dragging the dog with her.
The car was still moving, although not as fast as it had been, so the last Joshua saw of the two was Bella’s face, framed in the ridiculous cone. He turned his attention back to trying to rip the driver’s head off.
As Joshua tightened his grip around the man’s neck, the driver punched the accelerator again. The change in acceleration almost dislodged Joshua, and he had to fight to keep the man from pulling out his gun.
They were in the worst kind of standoff. Joshua had the ability to cut off the man’s air, but no way to control the vehicle when that happened. The driver could whip Joshua around with his driving to try to get his gun free, but every move could increase the pressure on his trachea, taking him one step closer to oblivion.
On some level, the man was probably expecting Joshua to back off out of self-preservation. But in that, he had underestimated Joshua’s need to punish himself.
Adding ever more force to the driver’s throat, Joshua’s grip on the man’s gun arm slipped, and the weapon came out. The muzzle swung about as the driver attempted to aim it at Joshua’s head.
The pistol discharged right by Joshua’s ear, deafening him, but he was able to beat the weapon out of the man’s hand, sending it into the car well. Glancing up, Joshua saw that they were moments away from careeni
ng into a concrete post that supported the overpass above them.
Releasing his arm from around the driver’s neck, Joshua threw open his door and lurched out of the vehicle. His body felt suspended in space for a long moment before he hit the pavement.
Then the world spun in a million directions as the road scraped his soul raw. The sound of the car smashing into the concrete bled into the experience of jumping out of a car at forty miles per hour.
Joshua could feel the needles of a thousand syringes jabbing into him as he tumbled over and around and up and down, until coming to a stop an instant… a thousand years… later. His entire body protested as he lifted himself up to see the aftermath of the crash.
The entire front half of the taxi was smashed in. The collision had been almost head-on. But even as violent as the crash had been, Joshua was sure he could see movement in the cab.
“Joshua, don’t!” It was Leslie, running to him from where she had landed earlier. Bella was at her side, running and barking, so Joshua knew that his dog was okay.
They were too far back to interfere, and Joshua had to do this. The man inside that cab knew something about where Reggie was. And if he didn’t, he knew someone who did. For that information, Joshua would risk any bodily harm.
He stumbled forward, feeling the damage from his fall in every pore of his skin. The damage was something that could be assessed later. For now, he had a mission.
Approaching the car from behind, Joshua did what he could to stay low. Even so, the bullet that sailed through the back window of the taxi sounded like it had nearly taken him out. He fell to the ground, army-crawling his way forward.
The pain intensified. He was slithering over razors, every bit of progress made at a terrible cost to body and spirit. But he didn’t care.
Another shot, but it was made out of desperation. The driver couldn’t possibly see Joshua from his position in the smashed car. Joshua saw the driver’s side door warp as the man inside tried to get out, but the hinge appeared to be buckled to the point that the driver was trapped.
Good.
Joshua scuttled up along the side of the vehicle, staying low to the ground. The blind spot was his friend right now. He caught sight of the driver in the side mirror. The man’s face was awash in blood, with a huge gash across his forehead that was bleeding profusely. He was trying to wipe some of the red liquid out of his eyes, when he saw Joshua staring at him.
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