“Funny.” Chase grumbled as he moved toward the window and moved back the sheer white curtains to view the backyard full of flowers, swings and bicycles. A home. A home he’d never have. “Get your bag,” he said flatly. “I’ll take you to a safe house.”
Tessa’s smile faded. “Why? I did what you ask. I’m not going anywhere with you,” she complained as she lifted her small leopard overnight bag and a wallet from the bed. She moved toward the door with determination and head held high.
“Why did you go to Morocco four years ago?” Chase said folding his arms across his chest. Watching her stop suddenly and turn to face him made Chase felt a suspicion he was about to hear a lie.
This time Tessa didn’t offer a teasing smile. She looked tired and confused at the whole day’s experience. “Why don’t you ask Claudia? I’m sure she can tell you. That’s what she really does isn’t it? She’s a cyber-cop who spies on innocent people’s lives, assumes the worst, transfers the benign to fit some kind of conspiracy to cover your mistakes at Enigma?”
Chase eyed her from head to toe. How could someone with angelic looks be this clever and quick? Was she fooling him with this innocent routine? “Why?” He had a way of demanding quietly.
“Robert took me there because my favorite Bogart movie is Casablanca. If Claudia will dig a little deeper she’ll see that’s where we went on our anniversary!” she said in a low, condescending voice. “And if you’ll check hospital records you’ll see my daughter was born nine months later.” Tessa pulled back her shoulders and readjusted her grip on the overnight bag. “It was a surprise. Robert saved for two years to take me there. Trust me as tight as Robert is with money that was a real treat for me.”
Chase guessed she didn’t think it was important to include that Robert had an international conference in Rabat on the future of disputed territories and lands of the 21st century. “He took me because he only had to pay for half of the trip. Mostly I sat by the pool and read a book.”
He already knew the trip to Casablanca had been a side trip offered to the attendees to make their trip to Morocco a memorial one. A few of her conference companions were in the Enigma database as persons of interest. She started to babble on about nine months later, she gave birth to a seven pound baby girl. She’d wanted to name her Ingrid after the actress that starred in Casablanca but Robert had thought that was too boring for his beautiful little girl.
“All in my file,” she said flippantly. “Or it will be when Claudia finishes. Pretty boring stuff. However, I’m sure you guys will do a good job embellishing it so it can fit a specific need or target. Am I in trouble?” Tessa kept her voice steady.
Chase stormed past her as he relieved her of the faux leopard bag. “You are trouble, Tessa Scott.”
At the foot of the stairs Chase observed Claudia and two other Enigma personnel watching a computer screen they’d collected from the family room. The small lap top sat precariously atop a broken vase on the dining room table. A desperate voice asking for help reached his ears as he pushed aside the men. The screen had been a video email sent earlier in the day.
“Mrs. Scott!” the old man pleaded. He held up his hands to show they‘d been tied at the wrist with clothesline cord. A ripped, brown grocery bag partially covered his head. Somehow he‘d managed to contact Tessa Scott. “Please you’ve got to get out of town. There are men here,” he looked behind him as if listening carefully, then back at the screen. “Middle Eastern, radicals. They want me to activate a bomb. They have plans to…” There were voices in the background. Anxious. Rapid. “I think it’s a dirty bomb. They think I …” Several men burst into the room where the old man spoke, shouting and waving handguns. One stood in the background, observing. He moved forward and looked into the computer screen smiling next to Mr. Crawley. Suddenly the old man landed a shoulder into the man, spun around and hit send. The screen went dark. Silence ensued as all eyes turned to Tessa Scott, standing wide eyed on the bottom stair, her hands covering her mouth in horror.
“Mr. Crawley! My neighbor!”
~ ~ ~
Within minutes of Tessa’s identification of the man on the computer screen twenty Enigma personnel had invaded the home of Mr. Jericho Crawley. The reason the terrorists had decided to invade the Scott home now had clearly been defined. If the old man had not tried to warn Tessa, none of this would have occurred. Claudia left her team to finish up at the Scott house so she could get started on the neighbor’s. Ordered to follow, Tessa stayed with Chase as he entered the Crawley home. A wealth of fingerprints revealed four men, two of which were now dead in a ravine near the Yuba River, a third escaped from an Enigma jail and then this fourth man who turned off the computer. Essid.
Chase recognized him instantly. Their first encounter in Afghanistan revealed the cold, calculating terrorist Essid would become. Essid wanted information on why the American soldiers had come to the village. Refusing to accept the Americans had only brought food and medicine to their starving people, Essid decided to send a message to other villages who accepted help from the Americans. He ordered his men to slaughter every man woman and child.
When Delta Force entered two days later, only small smoldering fires of death remained. Another village after hearing about the murders refused any help from the Americans, but offered a name of the butcher. Essid, a Libyan who enjoyed killing. The calm voice and face of the man turning off the computer was Essid. Chase knew him, of course, from working in Delta Force and his own experience. His men searched for days to find the Libyan.
In those days Chase lived in a mountain village among Afghan freedom fighters who opposed the Taliban. When several young girls went missing Chase led the men out on a search. After two days they were found beaten and raped by Taliban insurgents. Weeks later a Taliban informant pointed the finger at a Libyan named Essid who’d been in the area spreading a little cheer with his deep pockets. His reward had been the two young girls. After tiring of them he’d freely given them to the ruthless Taliban.
Chase made it his mission to hunt Essid down so the village could seek their own form of revenge. After six months Essid found himself in a jail in Kandahar, along with several of his followers. After being transferred to Pakistan, where Chase planned to interrogate him, Essid escaped with the help of a Pakistani soldier. Apparently the promise of a bribe bought his freedom. The little justice that survived came when Essid shot the Pakistani for not being true to his job.
“Mr. Crawley must have told them it was in my yard,” Tessa realized. “Last night my little girl said she saw a falling star. It must have been the bomb.” Tessa shivered at the thought of what might have happened if it had exploded.
“Did she say it fell in the yard?” Chase inquired as he moved toward the backyard. He entered Mr. Crawley’s backyard through French doors onto a covered patio. Two lawn chairs, a small charcoal grill and a TV tray was all that occupied the large concrete space. No flowers, little grass, several live oaks that had seen better days, gave the yard an abandoned feel.
~ ~ ~
Tessa followed quickly after Chase like an anxious puppy. “I don’t know. Maybe. I thought she’d seen a meteor so I had her make a wish.” She walked to the tall white picket fence where Mr. Crawley had bombarded her with another list of complaints only this morning. She looked over into her beautiful yard full of flowers and felt her heart lurch, remembering her children playing tag and whiffle ball. Silently she said a prayer of thanks that her family was safely in the mountains away from the unfolding nightmare. Just to hold the children and kiss their sweaty little heads would seem like paradise. The touch of Robert’s hand holding hers as they’d strolled into church last Sunday now felt like the most romantic experience of a life time. In her heart she whispered, “I love you, Robert. I’m sorry.”
“Something?” Chase broke through her reverie as he came up close enough to slightly brush against her arm. He quickly stepped aside as if he’d been stung by one of the honeybees floating about the white b
utterfly bush in the Scott yard. His voice, serious and direct, held little emotion or concern. This appeared to be just another day to him.
Startled, Tessa cleared her throat to explain how Mr. Crawley had seemed crankier than usual when he’d found out she’d not left with her family. There was the list of complaints and finger pointing, but Tessa had, as always, smiled, nodded and promised to do better. “But look,” she pointed down at the ground. “My sprinklers go off around three in the morning. That way by the time the children come out to play they don’t track mud into the house. I never noticed earlier but there are muddy footprints going away from the fence. Someone came over the fence into my yard, tracked in the flower beds then came back. See,” she pointed behind her, “there are several more steps before the grass managed to take it off. I bet you’ll find traces of it on the rug in his mudroom.”
Both turned and traced the footsteps back into the mudroom. “Get a man in here, Claudia to see if there’s any trace of radiation,” ordered Chase. “I bet our little nuisance is buried in Mrs. Scott’s flower garden.”
The captain continued through the house looking for a clue as to why Mr. Crawley had been a target. “There are no pictures of him or a family.”
Tessa nodded and sadly looked out the family room window where Mr. Crawley had a perfect view of her backyard. He must have watched them daily. Maybe he even enjoyed all their noise, baseball games and bar-b-ques. Tessa found some news clippings lying on the coffee table. Respectfully, one by one, she lifted them up to read.
Sean Patrick Scott scores the winning run for Little Tigers!
Three area teachers receive award for excellence in teaching.
Local family volunteers at homeless shelter for Thanksgiving.
There were others: all about the Scotts. They had been lovingly clipped and preserved in plastic covers. They were the only family he had. His only way to interact with the Scotts had been to complain. The feeling of regret swelled inside her. All this time she’d thought him a cranky, disgruntled neighbor.
“Looks like you’ve got a stalker,” came the dispassionate voice of Claudia.
Tessa frowned defensively as Claudia lifted, and then tossed one of the articles recklessly on the couch. Quickly, Tessa retrieved it and replaced it back with the others. “Don’t touch these,” she warned. “They have nothing to do with this mess or your little secret covert group of thugs!”
Claudia’s eyebrows arched in confusion hearing a voice tone change. She cut her eyes toward Chase to receive a nod. With a shrug, the librarian moved on, quietly giving directions to others throughout the house.
As he made a call, Chase checked his watch then motioned for Tessa to follow him outside the house. Surprised at the sun on the horizon, she guessed the captain wanted her to get settled so he could get back to work. He had been relatively quiet since she’d insulted his organization and Claudia. The thought occurred to her that Enigma probably didn’t have many witnesses to their operation. Tessa imagined nothing good would come of this encounter with Enigma even after she’d placed herself in harm’s way several times over the last ten hours.
“Now what?” Tessa asked, sticking her hands in her jean pockets. The evening air was growing cool. She’d forgotten to throw a sweater in her bag. A slight shiver forced her hands out of her pockets so she could hug her elbows up against her chest.
“There are no photos of Mr. Crawley. I suspect he worked for a government agency that helped erase his identity.”
“CIA?” Tessa just couldn’t imagine Mr. Crawley working for the CIA.
Chase smothered a chuckled. “Civilians always think of the CIA as erasing identities. There are other government groups that are pretty fond of that too.”
“Like Enigma? By the way, is Chase Hunter your real name?”
The sudden appearance of tiny lines at the corners of his brown eyes indicated Chase fought back narrowing them in frustration. “Let’s focus on Mr. Crawley. Obviously, he has some attachment to you and your family.”
Tessa wasn’t very good at hiding her feelings or emotions. They always showed in her eyes. When she got angry the blue turned to violet. Did he notice the worry and distress in her obstinate attitude toward him?
“Ride with me back to Sacramento and tell me everything you know about your neighbor. In the meantime, I’ll have Vernon try to locate what he’s been up to.”
Tessa nodded in surrender. “Okay.” She saw the surprise in Chase’s eyes. He’d expected another confrontation. “If I can help find Mr. Crawley then I’m in. He tried to warn me. I’m afraid he might die alone. Those men are trying to destroy my way of life.” Tessa climbed into the black Hummer when Chase opened the door for her. “I want to talk to my family.”
“Soon.” Chase said as he got behind the wheel and started the engine. “He’s been trying to reach you all day.”
Tessa’s eyes widened with optimism. “Really! How…”
“All your calls have been forwarded to my phone for security purposes. You can’t inform him of any of today’s events. Understand?” His voice left no room for misunderstanding.
“Understood, Captain Hunter.” She gave a mocking salute.
Deep inside her, Tessa smiled, knowing a friendly voice who loved her would go a long way to brighten her mood. Even though the air conditioning roared to life, Tessa lowered her window to feel the night air free her of the fear that threatened to drown her.
Again she prayed silently. “Please watch over my family, God and the people of California. And keep this man” her eyes cut to Chase, “safe and clear headed because I’m terrified.”
~ ~ ~
Robert tucked his daughter into her feather bed and kissed her forehead. “Love you, sweetie! Sleep tight!”
“Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” she giggled. Then a frown came across her cherub face as her lips pushed out into a pout. “I miss Mommy, Daddy. Call her again. I wanna say good night.”
Robert smiled weakly. He hadn’t been able to reach her all day or any of her girlfriends. He’d left messages on the land line and her cell. Where could she be? Was Tessa so angry with him that she couldn’t even check to see how her children made it through the day?
He dialed again as he stroked Heather’s curly hair and realized it was the same texture as Tessa’s. She looked so much like her mother, the way she pouted, smiled, laughed. Everything. In that moment his heart filled with love for his wife and all that she did for them every day without ever hearing a thank you from him. His three kids were amazing because of her. Lord knows, he hadn’t been there to aid in the raising. Today had been an eye opener. There hadn’t been much time to relax as he’d single handedly became activities director for the family. Would he be able to last two weeks?
Robert stood suddenly as he realized he had a connection on his phone. “Tessa?”
“I wanna talk to Mommy!” Heather said throwing back the covers.
“Tessa?” he said again.
~ ~ ~
Chase Hunter held out the phone to Tessa just as they’d pulled into an underground parking garage near the Sacramento capital. As she grabbed for it, Chase pulled it back in warning. “Remember what we discussed, Mrs. Scott.”
She nodded quickly like a small anxious child as she took the phone. “Hello! Robert!” Tessa wasn’t sure she’d be able to contain the flood of tears.
“Tessa! Where have you been?” The worry in his voice was evident. Before he could say another word Heather stole the phone.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
Tessa laughed. The speaker remained on so Chase could hear every word. “Yes, sweetie! I love you. Have you had a good day?”
“Oh yes! Daddy has been so fun!”
Tessa almost regretted hearing that little bit of praise. “Really? What have you been doing?” Heather began talking so fast that Tessa couldn’t begin to translate. All she could do was laugh. Seconds later the boys were on, talking about the boat, hiking and the puke in the backseat just before
a squabble broke out over who caught the biggest fish.
“Love you!
“You too, Mom!”
She heard Robert shoo them off to bed. When the sound of a screen door slammed, Tessa knew he must be on the front porch of their little rented cabin. How peaceful it must be there so near the lake. No dirty bombs to worry about. No missing neighbors or terrorists. No secret government organization holding you hostage. Her eyes went to Chase who stared at nothing through the windshield, but listened to every word she spoke. “Robert?” she said softly.
“I’ve been worried. Why didn’t you answer your phone all day?”
“Sorry. I’ve been busy.”
“Did you get started on the painting? Oh and I forgot to pay the electric bill. Could you take care of that?”
Tessa frowned. “No. I didn’t get started on the painting.”
Robert sighed as he sat down in one of the rockers. “Did you play around with your girlfriends?” He regretted sounding flippant as soon as he’d opened his mouth.
“Well if you must know, I’ve been chasing down terrorists,” she retorted lightly as Chase turned his narrowed brown eyes on her. “Yes. They tried to take me hostage but the plumber saved me by shooting up the house. Thankfully, old Mr. Crawley intervened and they took him instead.”
“Good. Maybe now you can get some work done,” he chuckled nervously. “You always had a cute flare for the dramatic.” Robert cleared his throat. “The kids miss you, honey. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”
Tessa smiled and pressed the phone closer as if caressing Robert’s cheek. “Oh, Robert. I’m sorry too.”
Robert chuckled. “Maybe you could come up after you’re finished painting the house!” he said cheerfully.
Tessa pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it as if some mysterious information had just entered the universe. “Are you kidding me!” she said lowly, hoping that Chase Hunter couldn’t tell her anger had risen to new heights.
The Enigma Series Boxed Set Page 9