The Scope and Discovery department notified Ben of the fire just as Technical Support confirmed authorities suspected an arsonist. Thoughts of both teams being separated or pinned by Essid’s death trap only mildly concerned him. Both Chase and Carter thrived on the impossible. When both teams failed to call in, Ben knew the plan had been jeopardized.
Aerial photos revealed empty roads except for one burning Hummer. Ben back tracked the information on the trucking company. Although the company checked out, the drivers all had one thing in common: money problems.
One sold his soul to the gambling gods of Vegas; another one faced a barracuda of a divorce lawyer. Only one week remained before the bank foreclosed on his house. The third had a sick kid waiting for a kidney transplant with no insurance. Three desperate men with the need for quick money tended to resemble a flask of nitroglycerin.
How many others on Essid’s payroll bowed down to the god of money? In the current economy the potential prospects for a little extra work began to mount. It no longer involved Essid and a few of his radical lackeys. Americans bent on vengeance against government intervention in their lives, paramilitary groups, and religious nuts of all denominations could be a significant pool of support for Essid’s operation.
His people needed a miracle to salvage this mission. That’s when he’d called the Secretary of Homeland Security. Looking down at the destruction, he observed another helicopter, an Erickson 64S Aircrane, assisting with loads of water releasing from its on-board tanks, to reign down on the hungry flames below. Ben turned his eyes forward to focus on what lay ahead. Although the ultimate goal was to secure the isotopes, he knew the only thing he really cared about was getting his Enigma people out alive.
~ ~ ~
Carter evaluated their situation as the labored squeal of brakes on the eighteen-wheeler jerked to a halt. The three truckers didn’t have the good sense to secure the Enigma agents before ordering them into the back of the first truck. His driver, who appeared to be in possession of the worst attitude and foulest mouth, made the mistake of touching Sam seductively with his gun. He smiled remembering how in a blink she’d not only removed his weapon, but jammed it in his open mouth as he hit the ground with a kick upside his head.
Sam always amazed him with her incredible beauty and brilliant mind. But when she exploded into action, he loved to just stand back, dreaming of what it must feel like to be tangled up with all that energy and power wrapped around him.
Carter had chuckled watching the trucker crab crawl backwards away from Sam as she removed the gun from his mouth. The short trucker stepped forward and pointed his weapon at Sam’s head. “Put it down.” The nervousness in his voice caused Sam to slowly turn her eyes on him. He stumbled back waving his weapon under her fierce gaze. “I’ll shoot them right here and now. Pretty boy will be the first.”
Carter looked over at Zoric. “Did he call me pretty boy?”
Zoric crossed his arms and rubbed the blood trailing into his eye with his shoulder. “I think he did. You are pretty, Carter.”
“Thanks, Zoric,” he chuckled. “Sorry, trucker buddy. I’m not available. I just don’t roll like that. Do you even know who I am?” The truckers’ eyes darted to each other in bewilderment. Carter threw up his hands in exasperation. “Carter Johnson? Astronaut? Surely that rings a bell.” Carter looked over at Zoric with a smile.
“NASA keep that locator chip in your chest so they know where you are at any given moment?” Zoric spoke quietly as if the thought just occurred to him.
Carter scrunched up his face as if to protest too much. “No. No. Of course not.” But when he cut his eyes to the lead trucker, he recognized the seeds of doubt had been successfully planted.
“Shut up! Just shut up! Al,” he said looking to the man on the ground, “are you okay?”
Sam dropped the nine-millimeter and refocused on the man on the ground.
“Al, you okay?” he repeated nervously.
The wounded pride smeared on Al’s face transformed into rage as he awkwardly stood then stampeded toward Sam. He looked over to make sure his two partners held their weapons ready just before he landed a doubled fist against Sam’s cheek. Carter grabbed her as she fell backwards, clearly dazed by the blow.
Vernon lunged forward to retaliate only to have a rifle jammed into his gut and shoved backwards. “Pretty safe in hitting a woman,” Vernon snarled.
“I didn’t sign up to hurt anybody,” the third trucker complained. “Much less hitting a woman. What are you thinking, Al?”
That insignificant moment of concern revealed a possible ally for Carter and his people. He smiled at the third man. “Guess you don’t know what this is really about then do you-what’s your name?”
“Joe. What’a ya mean?”
Al stepped back and motioned with his head to move the prisoners to the back of the truck as he picked up his semi-automatic from the ground.
“He’s just tryin’ to get in your head, that’s all. Put’ em in the back of the truck so we can get goin’. That fire is comin’ fast. If we want to get paid we better get movin’.”
Carter watched Al unconsciously touch the side of his head where Sam landed the toe of her brown leather boot. No doubt it still smarted. His backside probably hurt from hitting the ground and he was pretty sure his wrist needed medical attention after trying to break his fall.
The team quickly assessed the three truckers as amateurs; no gags to keep them from communicating, no restraints (thinking all you needed were guns to keep control), and no idea what they were doing.
Carter bet the truckers would get careless now that they’d managed to hold them at gun point without getting their butts kicked. He felt the sloppy looking trucker, Joe, could be nudged into helping them with this new layer of concern. His nervousness originated not from assisting a terrorist, but hitting a woman. Al apparently was the brains so that certainly made their chances much better. The last trucker, a follower, looked confused and more than a little intimidated by Sam.
The screech of rusty bolts being slid back and the squeaky sound of metal doors slowly opening brought the Enigma team to attention as light began to filter into the truck. Instinct drove their hands to shade their eyes as guns waved, motioning them forward. Slowly, as if gauging the appropriate action needed, the Enigma team joined their captors on the ground.
The smell of smoke still permeated the late afternoon air. Ash floated down from a gray sky as Carter squinted his visual survey of their surroundings. Global Navigation appeared to have acquired some new security forces that looked a little rag tag at best. Counting ten armed men, Carter knew there were probably a few more inside along with Essid’s devoted “anything for the reward of virgins after death,” crowd. These freelancers were not much concern. They were in it for the money; probably lost their jobs, discontent tax evaders or just out for a cheap thrill. But Essid’s people were fanatics who suffered from a blurred sense of justice. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain, or at least the promise of virgins seemed like a reasonable prize.
Carter grinned and agreed that even he might jihad for such a prize, if he actually believed all that inflammatory nonsense. He’d settle for a long hot bath with Chase’s little Grass Valley housewife if she was of such a mind. After all, he thought he’d picked up on a more than casual interest when she’d started trying to talk NASA shop with him. He admitted to himself that her rapid questions and comments were a little on the naïve side, but so deliciously adorable. Obviously, Tessa Scott belonged to the Carter Johnson fan club. Wonder what the mighty Captain Hunter would do about that?
His eyes fell on Sam. Her cheek, already deeply bruised, painted her disabled and fragile. If that had been true, he would have gladly torn that trucker apart. Why try to ruin such a piece of art? But Carter knew that having the truckers think Sam was out of commission only gave them an edge. When their eyes locked, she sent him a message not to worry.
Carter felt a nudge of a gun barrel in
his back. “Move.” It was the trucker with the attitude, the one that liked slapping women around. “Don’t use any of that macho crap and try to escape. I’ll put a bullet in your little red-haired freak.”
“Take it easy, Al. They just look like a bunch of nerdy scientists to me.” Joe pulled up his pants with one hand as he rolled his neck to relieve the tension.
“Does she look like a nerd to you? Probably some kind of ninja or somethin’.” Al slowed when Sam turned her eyes on him and touched her cheek. A sense of foreboding swept over him when he shivered. “You guys move’ em along while I go find who’s in charge.” His short legs moved quicker than usual under the narrowed gaze of the woman.
The second trucker moved off to the side, aiming his gun at Zoric who assisted the old man. Safety first. Let Joe protect the other three, must have been his reasoning.
“Looks like your buddies left us to you,” Carter said stopping to bend down and tie his hiking boots. “Who hired you guys anyway?”
“Shut up.”
“I’m thinking you’re in way over your head.”
“Yeah? How ya figure?”
Carter stretched. Vernon and Sam moved forward giving Carter room. “You didn’t like your boss hitting Sam. If you were like them you wouldn’t have spoken up for her.”
“Move it.” Joe nodded forward and Carter took small steps.
“He get you into this?”
“Maybe. What do you care? You’re only here to make a little extra money just like me.”
Carter turned slowly so as not to threaten. “Not true. I’m here to prevent these guys from stealing life-saving isotopes.”
“What the hell is an isotope? Never mind. You’re just tryin’ to con me. I wouldn’t do nothin’ to hurt no one,” he snapped. “I just need some money for my kid. This guy offered us two thousand dollars apiece to protect the load and take you out. Said you guys wanted to steal it and sell it on the open market to terrorists. I’ve been helpin’ Homeland Security lately. They’ll vouch for me,” he said puffing out his chest. “You call my buddy Chase. He’ll tell ya.”
Carter stopped and grinned. “Well, hell’s bells! You’re the trucker that ran those crazy guys off the road in the van the other day!”
“Yep!” The obvious pride in his voice faltered when he looked closely at the five captives. “Who are you guys?”
“Joe, I think you and I are going to become best friends.”
~ ~ ~
Kneeling down behind some boulders, Chase and Tessa watched as the Enigma team moved toward Global Navigation, prodded forward by armed men. Several of the guards got in the trucks and drove them around the back of the building while the others meandered after them. Their posture revealed confidence of their take down. The crackle of radios communicating drifted in the air, but the chatter was too distant to understand. The guards didn’t bother to keep a constant watch around them which was a tipoff that they were amateurs. Soldiers wouldn’t have let their guard down.
The smell of smoke, sweat and dried pine needles swirled around Chase and Tessa as they sat down to catch their breath. Tessa’s labored breathing told Chase he’d pushed her too hard. She wasn’t up for this kind of grueling march or confrontation, yet for the last hour no complaints escaped her parched lips. When he’d ask her if she needed a break, the response came as a nod forward. Sweat dripped down her face as the sound of heavy breathing followed him without question.
He realized her attitude adjustment concerning his trustworthiness compelled Tessa to become something more than a hindrance. Resting her head back against the rock, she drank in as much air as possible while rubbing her drawn up legs. With her body, so close to his, he sensed her heartbeat through the pale skin of her arm that lay casually against his. Reaching over with his other hand he moved the wayward blond curl hanging down across one eye. This time Tessa did not push him away, but smiled and squeezed his forearm.
“I’m a mess, I know. I bet Sam still looks fresh as a daisy.”
“Probably.” Chase grinned boyishly. “Of course, she didn’t run through a forest fire, jump off a cliff and hike for hours. I think you’re entitled.”
~ ~ ~
Tessa nodded, smiling at Chase. In spite of herself, she liked him, even though he manipulated her at every turn. His bullying came from needing her to do what was required. Chase Hunter was a remarkable man in Tessa’s mind although she wasn’t quite ready to forgive him of all the entanglements of danger he’d managed to drag her into these past few days. He’d kept her from Robert and the children and in her place put a dangerous, back-to-nature beauty that apparently impressed her family. After this whole mess ended she would drive straight to Tahoe to show a little appreciation.
She realized in that moment that the mess she’d tried so hard to escape had managed to rejuvenate her life. Everything around her appeared sharper, more beautiful. Although dangerous, the people at Enigma were intoxicating and fascinating. Intrigue fueled her heartbeat. Nothing would ever be the same Tessa discovered, as she tilted her head and looked up at Chase’s profile.
In a rugged sort of way, he was handsome. It was hard to imagine him teaching literature and playing the violin. Perhaps that paradox created a cocoon of safety for what he really might be on the inside. But here, hidden by white boulders, breathing air that tasted like smoke, Captain Chase Hunter looked like the guy you wanted in a tough situation. She tried to imagine Robert doing this macho, G.I. Joe, crazy hero stuff she’d experienced with Chase. The quiet laughter that escaped her mouth caused Chase’s forehead to wrinkle in bewilderment.
“Sorry,” she whispered innocently. “I was just trying to imagine Robert doing something like this.” Another broad smile.
“And?”
“Robert would be slapping subpoenas down so fast your head would spend. I imagine search warrants would fall in there somewhere after contacting an old fraternity buddy who’s a judge somewhere. Next he’d be calling news channels and a private investigator.”
Chase smiled too. “That’s not really how it works in the world I live in.”
Tessa pushed her hair back behind her ears. “Yeah. Well, I won’t mind going back to the basics when this is all over. But,” Tessa paused and bit her lower lip which seemed to force his eyes to her mouth, “if I should get killed or…”
Chase laid a large hand on her knee and squeezed. “I won’t let that happen.”
It felt so natural just to cover his hand with hers. “Okay,” she smiled. “So, what’s the plan, captain? I’ve caught my breath. Ready when you are.”
“We wait until the sun starts to set. That shouldn’t be long up here. The sun will drop like a rock behind these mountains. I’m betting by now Carter has overpowered the guards with his bullshit and Sam has rearranged somebody’s face,” he patted her knee, not wanting to remove his hand. Tessa still rested her hand on his and he wasn’t ready for that to change. “Zoric is either taking care of Jericho or is torturing some deserving soul into hell.”
“Geeze. Is he really that violent?”
“Second thoughts on your coffee date with him?” Chase’s face was near enough to taste those lips that moved so easily when she spoke to him now. Trust created a dangerous situation he knew he couldn’t afford to compromise.
Tessa removed her hand from his and stared ahead so she could stop drowning in those dark chocolate eyes. “He said you’d not approve so I said I’d do it.” When Chase moved his hand to his own drawn up knees she continued. “Why wouldn’t you want us to have coffee? Is there something I should know?”
He sighed as he ran his hand over the top of his head. “When we’re done here, really done, you go back to being a Grass Valley housewife and Zoric goes back to being—Zoric. You’ll never see us again, be able to find us, or find any trace that we were ever in your life. Zoric likes you. You remind him of his family. You aren’t like us. Sometimes I think we’re not all that much different that the men who are stealing the isotopes. We couldn�
��t do what we do if…” he stopped, not wanting to tarnish the good karma growing between them. She stared at him, waiting for an explanation. “None of us are choir boys, Tessa. Nightmares stalk all of us, not just me.”
She nodded in acceptance. “I kind of figured that one out on my own.” Her elbow jabbed Chase good naturedly in the side. “Then tell me what you want me to do so I can get back to my boring, meaningless life in the suburbs.”
He touched his chest again. Tessa wondered if he some kind of health condition causing him pain. He rolled to his knees and rose up to look over the boulder at Global Navigation. “How are you at acting?”
“I’m a woman. I’ve had lots of practice,” she said proudly.
Chase looked down into her upturned face and smiled with admiration. “I just might buy you a cup of coffee myself, Tessa Scott.”
“Captain, when this is done, really done, you’ll never see me again or be able to contact me. It will be as if I never existed.” Her stoic voice mocked him. “Besides, that soldier I saved in Knoxville is ahead of Zoric. But I’m not sure I could fit you in.”
“Good to know you’re making friends.”
Chapter 26
W hen the expansive glass doors swooshed open at Global Navigation, the Enigma captives quickly assessed their situation. Carter observed two armed guards carrying weapons which had seen better days. They paced nervously across the sparkling floors. The reflections of the guards appeared to bounce up from the polished floor resembling glass. The black guard uniform, worn by the one with a sparse mustache and rolled up shirt sleeves didn’t really impress Carter that he was dealing with a spit and polish outfit. A rag tag bunch with mismatched uniforms would not be guarding a facility holding enriched uranium or the lifesaving Molybdenum 99 for isotope development.
The Enigma Series Boxed Set Page 28