“No signal, Mom.” Sean held the phone where she could see it. “What do we do?”
“These mountains cut us off. No problem.”
Sean glanced at the side mirror. “We’re out of town. Can’t we go back? Won’t we be safer there? Mom? Are you listening to me?”
Tessa gripped the steering wheel. Even if they made it to the interstate, between Truckee and Grass Valley lay fifty-six miles of twisting mountain roads. Flakes of fluffy snow lit on their windshield as she pondered her son’s suggestion.
“Yes, Sean, I’m listening.” Was it too soon to panic?
“Mommy, I have to go pee.” Heather’s chirpy voice pulled her back to reality.
“Didn’t you go when we stopped at the hamburger place?”
“Couldn’t go. I need to go now.”
A huff of exasperation escaped from her boys, along with a disgruntled “girls” comment.
“I need you to hold it.”
“Can’t. Mommy, Daniel poked me.”
“Stop it, Daniel. Be good to your sister. She’s little.”
“Am not!” Heather fumed. “Why does everyone treat me like a baby?”
“If you can’t hold it, you’re a baby, Heather,” Sean scolded.
Tessa didn’t comment. Words of reprimand went a lot further with her daughter, coming from her oldest than from her.
The brown sedan disappeared after leaving town. She hoped this meant whoever they were lost interest in them. Maybe the police stopped them, or they had sustained more damage than they first thought. Either way, she sighed with relief and reached over to stroke Sean’s dark hair.
“I think we’re good.” She slowed the car, not trusting roads quickly being covered with a fresh blanket of snow. If all went well, they’d be home within an hour. “We’ll get on the highway and head back. Everyone have a good time skiing today?”
The kids talked at the same time, distracting her with their enthusiasm and ability to put the last fifteen minutes behind them. She loved how they had taken to skiing with such little effort. Even Heather at five years old could make Tessa’s hair stand on end with her fearlessness. Robert, Tessa’s husband, had never embraced the sport and didn’t often come with them to Tahoe to practice. Since the kids had a couple of days off from school, and Robert would be in San Francisco on business, they’d decided to take this trip.
The stop at the hardware store had seemed like a good idea at the time. Maybe the guy in the store and the brown sedan were a coincidence. The habit of paranoid observation plagued her. Understandable, considering the things she’d done and the evil people she’d ticked off in the last two years.
“Being a bit paranoid will keep you alive,” Dr. Wu warned. He’d become her therapist and close friend after Afghanistan, another thing her husband knew nothing about. Those words floated up to her consciousness more times than she liked to admit.
“Mommy, I really gotta go,” Heather whined.
“I think there’s a gas station before we get on the highway. Can you hold it until then?”
“Yessssss,” she said with painful drama.
“That’s my girl.”
“There it is, Mom.” Daniel strained against his seat belt to point over the front seat toward their destination.
Pulling into the gas station, Tessa spotted a state transportation sign. It flashed a warning the interstate was closed in both directions because of several accidents involving eighteen-wheelers. “Great,” she moaned, releasing Heather from her car seat. The boys had already escaped their confinement and headed toward the mini-mart. “Guess I’d better fill up while we’re here. Shouldn’t be on these roads without a full tank in this weather.”
The wind bent the tops of trees caked with old snow. It dropped in clumps like huge snowballs tumbling from the sky. Normally, she would have mentioned this to her kids, and their laughter might sound like music in such a quiet place. Today, it felt like another element to be concerned with. She called the boys back.
“Take your sister to the restroom and wait outside. I’m going to put gas in the car.” She used her credit card only to see it denied. Flipping it over, she saw some of the numbers had been worn down, so she dug in her purse for another one and repeated the process with success. “When Heather comes out, you guys get a bunch of snacks in case we have car trouble. Okay?”
Sean Patrick and Daniel nodded obediently then each took one of Heather’s hands and led her inside while she slipped and slid. Her giggles at the boys’ mischief caused Tessa to smile in spite of a rising concern for their situation. No phone, a declined credit card, three kids, a mysterious sedan that appeared to have been following her, and unexpected snow, added to a nagging feeling something wasn’t right.
“Mommy, can I have a candy bar?” Heather asked when Tessa entered the convenience store.
“I said no, Mom.” Daniel raised his chin and scowled down at his little sister. “I thought you’d want stuff with nutritional value.”
“You’re such a brownnoser.” Sean Patrick grabbed the candy bar and tossed it into the basket his brother carried. “If we have to rough it, the sugar will be good for her.”
Heather stuck her tongue out at the younger brother, and he retaliated by giving her a shove.
“Enough, guys. We’ll save the candy bar for an emergency only. When we get home, it goes in the freezer. Let me see what you have. Granola bars, nuts, beef jerky, peanut butter crackers, fruit. Great. How about some water bottles? Sean, get us a couple of six-packs.”
“Do we have a first aid kit?” Daniel walked with Tessa to the cashier.
“Yes. But I think we’re out of Band-Aids and antibiotic cream. Oh, and duct tape.”
He shoved the basket at her. “On it,” he enthused as he headed down another aisle.
“Mommy, how did you get so good at being ready for emergencies?” her daughter asked then slipped an arm around her waist.
“Yeah, Mom.” Sean Patrick lifted two six-packs of water onto the counter. “You ever work for the CIA?”
Daniel joined them with his items. “CIA?”
“Actually, it is a lot more complicated.” Tessa handed over her credit card.
“Are you getting ready to tell us a creative story again, Mommy?” Heather inquired.
Sean Patrick elbowed his brother. “Code for she’s about to tell a lie.”
Tessa chuckled as she handed each child a bag to carry. Her smile faded as her eyes fell on a brown sedan with a dented fender pulling into the gas station behind her SUV.
Chapter 2
“S ean Patrick, did you put the phone back in the console?”
“Um, yeah,” he said following her line of sight.
She faced the cashier who caused her to wonder if his former job was as defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers. “Do you have a phone I can use?”
He frowned down at her then shook his bald head. “Sorry, lady. The incoming storm seems to be messing with the cell towers. Switched carriers for landlines. The telephone company apparently didn’t finish the job because they haven’t worked in two days. I figure their guys will be here tomorrow since it’ll start the work week, unless the storm snows us in again. So much for global warming.”
Two men dressed in pale camouflage-styled jackets emerged from their car. Both wore white stocking caps rolled up as if to hide the fact they could be pulled down to form a ski mask. Their bodies resembled the lean military type.
Heather slipped her hand into Tessa’s. “The one with the beard was the one in the store, Mommy.”
Both boys agreed with her.
The men scanned the parking area outside the convenience store section of the gas station. Their focus told her they already knew where she and the children probably were. Checking for others meant they didn’t want to be interrupted.
She pivoted toward to the cashier. “Those men out there have been following us. They tried to kidnap my daughter.” Tessa gave her best impression of a distraught mother.
“I think my ex put them up to this.” Thankfully, she’d slipped her gloves on, which hid her wedding band.
Heather parted her lips as Sean slipped his hand over her mouth to prevent her from giving away Tessa’s lie. How he knew so much would be addressed some other time. Even beneath his hand, she protested.
The cashier with skin the color of mocha coffee, pushed out his bottom lip and shifted his gaze out the window then spoke in a deep voice. “Go out the back. I’ll keep them here as long as I can. You’d best get back to Truckee. This storm will be a doozy by dark.”
“Thank you!” she said hustling the children toward the back of the store. “God bless you!” She added a fearful whimper for a special effect. When they opened the back door, her demeanor did a one-eighty. “Okay, kids. I need you to slip out to the car when I give you the sign. Be quick about it. No dillydally. No complaints. Nothing. Clear?”
They nodded like bobblehead dolls with wide eyes.
“Buckle up, hunker down the best you can. Throw your supplies on the floor. I’ll be right behind you. I have to do something to slow them down.”
“But, Mom….” Sean Patrick whispered in a panic.
“We’ll be fine. You have your Boy Scout knife with you?”
“You told me not to be carrying it,” he fumed.
Tessa held out her hand like a snapped whip. “Give it to me.”
Sean Patrick dug in his pants pocket and handed it over. “Am I in trouble?”
Tessa smirked. “Absolutely.” She winked. “Thanks. But we’re going to have to talk about this rebel side of you. Knives and weed?”
“At least I didn’t try to hack the bank account for Dad’s law firm,” he said as he focused narrowed eyes on his younger brother who opened his mouth in shock.
“Oh. My. Gosh.” Tessa rolled her eyes. She peeked around the corner of the building and watched the two strangers enter the store. “Okay! Scoot. I’m right behind you.”
Daniel grabbed his sister’s hand and pulled her after him, catching her when her little feet slipped. Sean Patrick reached the car first and opened the doors on the passenger side, facing away from the store. All the kids scampered in without complaint then shut the doors securely.
Bending down next to the brown sedan, Tessa jammed the knife into the driver’s side tires before moving to the gas tank, which she tried to open with trembling fingers. She stopped, took a deep breath, and this time managed to get it open. She’d grabbed a liter of some generic brand soft drink when they slipped out the back. Next, she poured the entire bottle into the fuel tank.
Her children could brag their mom broke the law by running a red light, resulting in an accident, told lies to gain a stranger’s help, and vandalized a car. Hopefully, they’d never know the entire repertoire of crimes she’d committed while working at her day job with Enigma.
“Mom, the guy at the counter is still talking to those men,” Sean Patrick whispered, while she connected her seat belt, as if someone besides her might be trying to eavesdrop.
“Did you steal soda, Mom?” Daniel murmured.
Tessa pulled out onto the road and cast a quick glance back at him. His arms were crossed across his chest, which meant he planned to use the theft as a get-out-of-jail-free card for hacking another person after she’d already covered for him the last time. The kid was a technology and manipulating genius.
“Yes, Daniel. I plan to go back and pay him when this is resolved. I had to do what was best for you guys. Hacking your daddy’s work didn’t help anyone.”
“Probably what those guys said when they money laundered those secret accounts.”
Tessa wanted to slam on the brakes, drag her son out by the collar, and poke her finger to his nose as she yelled, “What the hell are you talking about?” Instead, she took slow deep breaths, careful to keep an eye on the rearview mirror for trouble. “Sweetie, I don’t understand. When you say money laundering, are you talking about dirty clothes, or something else?”
Both boys burst out laughing, leading their sister to join in like she understood the joke.
“Oh, Mom. We watch NCIS. We know what money laundering means.” Daniel sounded pretty sure of himself.
The snow piled up, and her windshield wipers squeaked as they batted the flakes away without much success. How long since they’d been changed? The back window fogged up so she couldn’t see if they were being followed. The side mirrors weren’t much better.
“We’ll talk about this later, Daniel. For now, I need you kids to keep the fog off your windows so I can see. Will you do that for me?”
She took deep, calming breaths. Maybe these guys weren’t following her because of something she’d done but because her son had been poking his nose into other people’s business: risky business, illegal business.
When she swiped at the windshield with her gloved hand, the cold moisture touched her skin immediately. Was this the pair with a hole in it? She continued to obsess over silly things during stressful times. She decided to examine this behavior when things settled down just like other times. But she never followed through. Other things always got in the way—like having Captain Hunter in her face about needing to get her act together or Dr. Wu guiding her to get in touch with her true feelings about the captain.
She’d love to have the captain swoop in, like he so often did, and make sure her family remained safe. Even though his expectations could be punishing, they couldn’t compare to what lay in wait for the person who tried to hurt her. Sometimes she wondered if the back and forth between them hid a deeper, more passionate desire to be one with each other. He remained a gentleman, or at least most of the time. Periodically, he flirted or insinuated various outcomes of their friendship, but nothing ever came of it. He didn’t take advantage of married women or Enigma agents. When she wasn’t doing Enigma business, their friendship blossomed into something precious, held close to her heart.
The rest of the Enigma team didn’t understand their relationship, and truthfully, there were times she didn’t, either. She’d lost track of the times he’d saved her life, pulled her from the fire, and given her another chance to live. But this time, at least for the moment, Captain Chase Hunter didn’t even know she was in trouble.
Then she remembered the button.
“Sean, reach inside the glove box and feel around the top for a button.”
“Got it.”
“Push it three times as fast as you can then one long push as you count to seven.”
“Done.” He closed the box again. “What did I do?”
Before she could answer, a voice came out of the speaker.
“Hello, Mrs. Scott. How can I help you?” At the sound of a female voice with a Southern accent, the children gasped.
“I’m in a little trouble.” She gave a description of the sedan, the two men, and the gas station they’d left as well as the overall problem.
“I have your location, Mrs. Scott. Are you alone?”
“My children are with me. We have some supplies, ski equipment, a full tank of gas. Weather conditions are deteriorating. Interstate closed. Headed back to Truckee.”
“Do you know these men, Mrs. Scott?”
“No. They had a military demeanor, so I’m not sure if they’re carrying any weapons. It was hard to tell with their extra clothing.” She remembered the license plate number and relayed the information.
“Stand by, Mrs. Scott.”
“Mom, who the heck is she?” Sean Patrick rubbed at the windshield then the side window before directing a suspicious stare at his mother. “And how did she call us?”
“Umm—it’s kind of an upgrade of OnStar.”
“Volvos don’t have OnStar. That’s a General Motors feature,” Daniel said with a seriousness too mature for a ten-year-old.
Tessa leaned forward then squinted. The road was getting more difficult to see. “You know me, Daniel. I’m not very good with techy stuff.” Too late to correct her mistake.
“In Europe, Volvo
s have a similar service, and it’s free.”
“There you go. Guess I got a European model.”
“Not this rust bucket. Too old. And, in this country, you have to use a smart phone and their fancy app, which I think needs a little work. I sent them some suggestions.”
Sean Patrick switched his attention from his brother to Tessa. “Yeah. What he said.”
“Mrs. Scott?” came the Southern voice. “Are you still there?”
“Yes. What do you have for me?”
“While we evaluate this situation further, we are sending you to a safe house less than a mile from your current location. We are also sending—help.” The word help sounded as if it were code for something else.
“Thank you.”
“Are you currently being followed?”
“Not yet. I did a little intervention back at the station.”
“Excellent. On the off chance they’ve commandeered another vehicle, you may not have much time. I see you’re almost to the exit. Watch for a mailbox shaped like the head of a moose and turn right.”
Sean Patrick pointed as she saw it and twisted the wheel too fast, causing the car to fishtail. She overcorrected catching the back bumper. The kids let out a yell to add to the chaos.
“Are you all right, Mrs. Scott?”
She powered through the bump, tightening her grip on the wheel. “Yes. What’s next?”
“Take the next left, and in one hundred feet, go right. Continue on the road and you’ll come upon an A-frame house. Park your car in the basement garage in the back.” As she pulled inside, the voice returned. “Good job. Help is on the way. Stay put until we finish our assessment. Will there be anything else, Mrs. Scott?”
The Enigma Series Boxed Set Page 103