by Dale Mayer
Hawk continued. “Mark sees Greg a couple of times a week and the last time was three days ago. No, he hasn’t heard from him since. Or so he says.”
“We need to check Mark’s phone history,” Shadow said. “I bet anything he tipped off his brother and that prompted the attack on Tesla today. It was a panicked move.”
“The cops are on their way to pick up the older brother for questioning right now,” Hawk said before walking to the door for the second time. “I’ll call and confirm.”
Mason stood up. “Let’s hope they can get some answers. I’d love to be in the interview room with him myself.”
He hated doing nothing. Like Tesla said, the waiting was hard.
Shadow followed Hawk to the door then turned and looked back at Mason. “Do you need anything?” He motioned at the doorway. “I’m going to get coffee.”
A shaky voice from the bed said, “Coffee please. I’d love a coffee.”
Chapter 12
Tesla woke to the murmur of voices. She lay quietly, listening to Mason and their friends. Progress. That was something. She let her body relax, wondering if it was safe to try and move yet. At least her mind was clear. She shifted in the bed, happy to see her muscles respond. Lifting a hand to her temple, she was overjoyed to feel her hand rise. Thank God. It could have been so much worse. Grant must be getting desperate.
Then so was she.
“Hey,” Mason said as he sat down beside her. One gentle hand reached up to stroke tendrils of hair back off her temple. “How are you feeling?”
“Better, much better.” Tesla rolled over onto her back, stretching up to cup the side of Mason’s cheek. “So glad to be able to move again.”
Mason grabbed her hand against his face and held it firm as he turned his lips and kissed her palm. “The doctor said it was a variation of the date rape drug. Now it just has to work through your system.”
“Good.” A yawn escaped. She reached up to cover her mouth, marveling yet at the joy of having her body move on command. “Any news? Are we on the right path as far as it being those brothers?”
“It’s possible,” he said cautiously. “But it’s too early to tell.”
“Have the police questioned the younger brother?”
Mason nodded. “Yes.”
“But…” She leaned back and tried to shift her position. Mason reached to find the control for the bed to move it into a sitting position.
“Is that better?” he asked. At her smiling nod, he leaned over and kissed her lightly. “Good.”
“Are you avoiding the question?” she asked, tugging the blanket up higher.
“No, there’s just not much to tell you.” He quickly filled her in with what he did know.
“Can you find that image of Grant again for me, please?” She turned to look at the multiple laptops by the chairs. “I saw the Chinese food delivery man and this time he had no baseball cap and sunglasses to try and hide his features, but it was still the same scarred hand so I know it was the same man.”
Her gaze trailed back to Mason. “Any sign of my laptop from the van?”
Mason nodded. “We’re trying to get it out of evidence and back into our hands.”
“Good thing I don’t have anything important on it, considering how long it’s likely to take to get it back.” She waved her arm at the laptops on the chairs. “Those would work as well for my purposes although they won’t have the same programs I need.” She paused. “And they don’t likely have the same performance. Not that I’m planning to do anything other than research right now.”
“So why steal your laptop then?” Shadow asked, trying to close the door behind Hawk who was carrying a tray of coffee.
“I overheard the kidnappers talking about it in the van. They weren’t sure but figured if the laptop didn’t give them what they needed then I could.” She sniggered. “They were also afraid that I’d rigged the laptop to blow up and they’d need me to gain access.”
“Really?” He stared at her in surprise.
“Really.” She accepted a cup of hot coffee from Hawk with a smile of thanks. Mason put his cup on the night table, stood up and walked over to collect his laptop, which he then brought over and placed on her lap. “Use mine.”
“Thank you.”
“The brother’s image should be on one of the open tabs.” He sat down beside her and waited for her to look at the image. “What do you think?”
“Quite honestly, I’m not sure,” she said frankly. “It’s not a no, but I’m not sure it’s a yes either.” She reached up to rub her temple. “I just didn’t get that good a look at him again.”
“And why would you?” Hawk said. “You expected to see a delivery man and that’s what you saw.”
“And yet I wasn’t expecting a delivery man,” she said. “I had no idea Mason had ordered it. He said he’d call me when food was ready.” She grinned. “Besides I was hungry. All I saw were takeout bags.”
Just then the door opened again letting in the nurse and doctor. The doctor smiled. “Glad to see you’re awake and moving, Tesla. How are you feeling?”
“Much better, thank you,” Tesla said with a bright smile. “Does that mean I can go home now?”
Mason patted her hand. “We aren’t going to rush this. If you need to stay an extra day that’s just fine. We want you healthy again. So let’s not push it.”
The doctor said, “On that note, let’s check you over and see how you’re doing.”
Mason and the other two exited the room, leaving Tesla alone with the doctor and the nurse. The checkup only took a few minutes, but he seemed pleased with the results. “I’m going to keep you in for another day to make sure this drug is out of your system.”
“Are you sure that’s necessary?” she asked. “I feel much better. I could rest at home instead,” she added hopefully.
“Then let’s see what the blood work says.”
The doctor and nurse left, closing the door quietly behind them. When Mason didn’t immediately come back in the room she assumed he’d accosted the doctor in the hallway to find out the details of her condition. He was such a worrywart when it came to her. Made her feel special. Except he was the special one.
Her life had changed so much in the last few months. Now with Christmas around the corner, their first together, she was looking forward to going home. She hadn’t done any shopping yet, and any thoughts she might have had about shopping had fled her mind when she realized there was trouble with her work. Not to mention when Mason’s return was delayed everything was pushed back. Now it was past time to think about the holidays again. She wanted to find something special for Mason. She had no idea what that would be. Her mind tended toward practical items for the house although she was favoring a mini holiday away.
Especially after this mess. A special getaway – just for the two of them.
That brought a smile to her face. She could do that from here on the laptop right now.
*
Mason opened the door to see Tesla lying in bed, a curious smile on her face as she stared out the window. He’d love to know what she was thinking. “So you get to stay for another day, huh?”
She rolled her head to the side. “I guess. He wasn’t interested in letting me go home until he gets the test results back.”
“If the blood work comes back clean we might get you an early release,” he said with a big grin.
“Now that would be nice. Get the guy who did this to me would be even better.” She yawned and snuggled deeper in the bed, the laptop tilting precariously to one side. She reached out to grab it. Mason was already there and moved it to the other side of the room.
“Sleep,” he said. “Your body is still fighting the effects.”
“Maybe I’ll have another nap,” she whispered. “Thank Hawk for the coffee, will you. It was delicious.”
He watched as she slowly relaxed into a deep sleep.
At least he thought she was asleep, but as he returned to his seat,
she said in a faint voice, “This will be my first Christmas without snow.”
Then she rolled over, curled up in a ball and slept.
Mason thought about all the firsts they had experienced together. And although he was used to Christmas without snow, she wasn’t. He’d wanted to make their first Christmas special, but there were only two days left and he didn’t want to face the holiday with this kidnapping hanging over their heads.
If they could bring it to a close, they’d be home safe in time to spend Christmas Eve together…
A perfect time to ask her to marry him. Even if they didn’t have time for all the trappings of Christmas they could at least make the best of what they had. And what they had was pretty darn good.
Then he thought of something else that would put a smile on her face. They’d planned to do the decorating weeks ago then he’d had to leave, so it had been pushed back over and over again. When he’d returned, she said there was a problem at work. Now he understood how big a problem that really was. Yet it also meant that Christmas preparation had been put off again.
Only he wasn’t going to leave her here alone while he took care of it. Nor could he risk someone else alone at his house given this killer was still after Tesla.
He texted Markus and Evan. Both had taken holidays ahead of Christmas and were enjoying time off. He also sent one to Swede. He’d expected him to be on the road heading to see Eva but with Hawk unable to get off early he wasn’t sure how that had played out.
It didn’t take long and after a flurry of texts he had a big smile on his face.
He’d forgotten the joy of Christmas himself. Last year they’d been on a mission in the Middle East. Now he was home for the first time in years, and of course there was no guarantee that assholes around the world would play nice for the next week, but he hoped to have this Christmas with Tesla. They’d missed the parade and the tree lighting ceremony – and he only realized now that was something they shouldn’t have missed. As he’d only returned late that afternoon, they had lit candles and stayed in bed instead.
He knew she didn’t regret that.
But he also knew he’d regret it if he didn’t do something special for her. They both had the next week off work together. They were looking forward to it.
With plans percolating in his head, he set out to make up a shopping list. Thankfully there were a few awesome women in his group to help him out on this project, too.
Chapter 13
Tesla woke refreshed to find that the bulk of the day had disappeared while she’d been napping. Shit. The day was almost gone and she had Christmas shopping to do.
Instead, she was stuck in the hospital and would have to brave the crazy last minute Christmas shoppers tomorrow. Ugh.
And worse, there was no way Mason was going to let her go out alone.
She was going to have to find a way to work around him. Maybe she could enlist the help of one of his friends. Or at least one of his friends’ partners. Both Mia and Eva were out of town so she couldn’t ask them for help unless they were coming in for shopping themselves. They were both coming with the rest of the gang to her home for a huge New Year’s Eve celebration. Only that was a week away.
Arianna and Shadow had rented a house together and were in the final stages of moving. They were trying to get in before Christmas Eve for Arianna’s brother’s sake. She didn’t want to pull them away from that chaos, as she should be helping Arianna set things to rights herself. Shadow had actually stepped aside and let her hire a moving company to deal with moving two households. He had a soft heart for Arianna’s brother who’d had a tough couple of months but was coming out of his shell nicely. Arianna, well she’d had a seriously crappy few months. With the court cases, her father’s funeral to arrange, her brother to look after and with trying to find a place that would work for all three of them plus find a job for herself and new school for her brother, well, her plate was more than full. A moving company only made sense.
Arianna had taken care of everything with such grace as only she could. Tesla was envious of her sunny disposition. The type of work that Tesla was finishing up was a reminder that in her world, sunshine was a rare thing. But with Mason there at her side, it was a much brighter world. So much more to look forward to in her life now. And all because of him.
Markus was just back after arranging his affairs as well. His had been slightly easier than Shadow’s as Bree had no home or belongings to worry about. He’d had her moved in and installed as soon as they got home from Alaska.
Bree was special in so many ways. She’d fit into the group perfectly. Bree had been adamant about not needing Christmas gifts, and Tesla understood, but when Markus had said he was going to cook the biggest darn turkey he could find, Bree had crowed in delight. When he invited Bree’s father to spend a few days and help on a new project he had planned, she’d had tears in her eyes.
Hell, there were tears in Tesla’s eyes now at the memory.
Markus was turning one of the rooms in his house into an office for her. And between her father and him they were decking her out right.
Tesla gave a happy sigh. Lord she loved these guys. All of them. Oh, she’d forgotten about Dane. Where was Marielle? She might be available for a secret Santa mission.
She frowned. And where the heck was her cell phone? She shifted to look on the night table beside her but it was empty. And where was Mason? He wouldn’t have left her so he must be outside talking to someone.
The door opened, admitting an orderly delivering fresh towels. She smiled in delight. Like Merry Christmas! As her gaze went to the man’s face, it turned away. She frowned and studied his back. The right height and build, but was it him? She was so suspicious now.
The man disappeared from sight. She bolted to her feet and ran to the doorway, but before she reached it, it was pushed wide open by Mason.
He held up a finger to his mouth. Her gaze widened. She stepped back as he moved forward. Shadow quickly motioned her to the hallway where Hawk nudged her against a wall, placing himself between her and the door.
She could hear several thuds and muffled shrieks. She poked Hawk. “Did anyone consider it might not be the right guy?”
He tossed her a grin. “Do you really think we’d make that kind of mistake?”
She frowned at him. “They won’t hurt him, will they?”
“No more than he hurt you,” Hawk said cheerfully.
Just then the door opened and Mason walked out, a man protesting loudly, held securely in his arms.
She gasped then stepped forward so she could study the man’s face. He reared back and turned his head away. It was him. She reached out and smacked him hard across the face. “Grant, or maybe I should call you Greg,” she snapped. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was trying to get ahead in life,” he snarled. “People like you don’t have a fucking clue what the rest of the world is like.”
“Actually I do,” she said. “But not everyone chooses to lie, steal and cheat. Most people prefer to work for what they have. Did you drag your brother into your criminal life too? Ruin his life like you ruined yours?”
“You leave my brother alone,” he roared, struggling to get free. “He’s a good kid. I’m doing this for him. For us.”
“Like hell,” she jeered. “You’re doing this for you. Taking the easy way. Your brother has genius, skills. What about you? You could have done the same thing. Instead of doing an honest day’s work, you tried to steal my work. And what about all the people that were hurt in the meantime?”
“What people, you mean Michelson and Farrow? Michelson lied to Farrow about what was going on to get his cooperation. Michelson hated his guts too. Like you’re some saint. Michelson was dying to screw you over. Why don’t you yell and scream at him?”
“Well I would, but he’s dead. Remember, you wanted the cops to kill him for you?”
“Good,” he said in a smug tone. “Dead men don’t talk.”
; “No,” she said softly. “But we won’t need his testimony. I’ll be able to get anything and everything we need to know from his life, and with the extra on Farrow, you’ll be lucky if you see your kid brother again.” At the look of horror on Greg’s face she added, “Yeah, Merry Christmas to your brother. Maybe the cops will be able to pin some of this on him too.”
“No you can’t, he didn’t do anything,” Greg cried. “He’s a good kid.”
The elevator opened down the hall and several police officers rushed toward them.
As they turned to put handcuffs on his wrists, Greg said, “Leave Mark out of this. He didn’t know anything.”
Tesla shrugged. “Not my deal. But if you cooperate and confess to everything, they might believe you. If you don’t, you’ll force them to turn over every stone in your life. He won’t escape unscathed.” She shook her head. “Depends if you’re finally going to do the right thing – for his sake.”
He stared at her for a long moment, his head turning to face her as the cops pulled him away. Then finally his shoulders slumped and he nodded in defeat.
The last she saw of him was as he was led onto the elevator. It was over. Almost.
She turned to Mason, her smile tired but bright and asked, “Can I go home now?”
He grinned. “Yes, you can.”
She froze and stared at him. “Really?”
He nodded. “I just heard a few minutes ago. That’s what I was doing when this guy started acting suspicious in the hallway.”
Her gaze went from him to the hospital room behind them. She wanted to race out but could she? Was she supposed to pack anything? Do anything?
Well, get changed for sure. That took just a few minutes as she did the fastest clothing change possible. When she returned to the men, Mason asked, “Can you walk to the truck?”