“Watch her, Rachel, while I put these two in the Escalade.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Nick looked around the deserted area. Seeing no one in view, he quickly pulled the men’s shirts and undergarments up over their heads to absorb the blood from their wounds. He then grabbed the first man under the armpits and dragged him to the Escalade, returning moments later to take the second one. By the time he had secured the two bodies into the cargo compartment and retrieved the duct tape he had stored there, Rene Santora had begun to moan. He taped Santora’s mouth for the second time. After securing her wrists behind her and ankles together, Nick pulled Rene up and over his shoulder. Rachel walked along with him, holding Santora’s purse. He deposited Santora next to her companions. He added more tape to bind her ankles to her wrists. Rachel handed him the purse. Nick rooted around in it until he found car keys. He closed up the back and went around to open the door for Jean.
“C’mon, Danger, we’re going up to make sure Deke’s okay. I go in first, though. I’ll level with you. I’m not sure Rene and her two goons didn’t hit the condo first. I’m hoping Deke made enough noise they didn’t want to attract attention. Are you okay, Rach?” Nick took the weapon from her carefully.
“I’m okay.” Rachel hugged Jean to her.
In the condo, Deke was waiting for them in full wild dog mode. He streaked out past them and down the steps to the grass below.
“Apparently Deke is okay.” Nick patted Jean’s shoulder. “You two go on in, and I’ll bring Deke when he finishes his business. I’m going to call and disturb Gus too. He won’t be happy.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Last Thread
Nick used the time waiting for Gus to clean up what he could with bleach and cold water. He played Frisbee with Deke, covering for his outdoor cleanup activities in case someone came by. Gus arrived, armed and ready.
“Look after Jean. I’ll go find out if we need to worry about other unexpected visitors. What do you have?” Nick asked, noticing Gus was clutching something under his loose parka.
“Uzi.”
“That’ll work.” Nick used the remote on Santora’s keys to find out which car was hers. “Send Rachel down, Gus. Deke, go with him.”
Deke followed Nick’s gesture and padded up the steps after Gus, Frisbee in mouth. A couple minutes later, Rachel hurried down the steps to where Nick waited next to the Escalade.
“Are you sober enough to drive?”
“I am now,” she answered. “And I brought my license with me.”
“Follow me in the Escalade with Rene’s Volvo. It’s the black one over there.” He pointed and handed her the keys. “When we get to the warehouse area, turn out your lights. Stay close behind the Cad, but not so close you’ll run into me when I stop. I’ll be going slow.”
“Sorry about all this, Nick.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Let’s go see if we have anything else to worry about. If not, we’ll correct our error. I wish you didn’t have to go along, but I need Gus to look after Jean, just in case.”
“I know. I’ll be right behind you.”
Forty minutes later, Nick had finished positioning the two dead men in the front seat of the Volvo. He walked around the Volvo to where Rene Santora lay against the driver’s side rear tire. Nick propped her up, taking the stungun from his back pocket. Her eyes widened as she moaned and shook her head vehemently back and forth.
“Here’s a little sample of what happens if I don’t get answers to the questions I have for you, Rene.” He gave her a short jolt. It was enough to make the woman convulse, smashing her head back into the Volvo's rear quarter panel.
He revived her with gentle slaps to the face with his gloved right hand. When she groaned, Nick grabbed her chin, shaking it gently.
“You awake, Rene? Nod your head in my hand if you are.”
She nodded.
“Who thought of the idea to come over and try for the flash drives, Rene?”
Nick peeled the tape off her mouth.
“Mine…honest to God,” she blubbered, her sobs bordering on hysteria. “My boss…he’d kill me if he found out I let your bitch get in and take the drives.”
“Who do you work for?” he asked as a test.
“I…I get paid by two different firms, Tanus Import/Export…and Fletcher Exports.”
“Give me the name from each firm you would call boss.”
“You’ll kill me anyway…you sadistic bastard! I’m -”
Nick gave her a prolonged jolt. Rene ended her convulsions nearly under the Volvo rear wheel, and he sat her up once more. After a few moments, he shook her chin again, focusing the woman’s attention.
“It’s only around one in the morning, Rene. That gives me quite a bit of time to help you remember.”
“Jason…Jason Bidwell runs Tanus now…and…Max Stoddard at Fletcher!” she gasped out as Nick released her in preparation for another jolt.
“Very good. Now, who are the two guys you brought along with you?”
“They…they worked for Tanus. Their names are Overman…and Sweeney.”
“Why didn’t you just dummy up after my first warning?”
“That was you? I couldn’t…Christ…he told me I had someone watching me at work too. They’d have checked the logs. I talked those two into helping me get the drives. Then we could have dealt with -”
“You should have run, Rene,” Nick interrupted. He put the tape back in place, and pinched off her nose.
Rachel had been dozing in the passenger seat. She jumped in a panic as the driver’s side door opened.
“Easy, Rach,” Nick said soothingly. “It would appear we can stay in Sarasota until I get the Marshalls hooked up with the Benoits. I’ll call Grace in the morning. This all had an upside.”
“What?”she asked skeptically.
“It took your mind off Javier.”
“Javier who?”
* * * *
“Gus!” Jean called out, running over to hold up a stringer with an eighteen inch bass on it. “Look at the fish I caught!”
Gus walked toward Nick, Rachel, and Jean, with Deke running around his legs in circles as he approached the condo lake front. He took the stringer from Jean with the proper amount of respect.
“Now this is a fish, not one of those guppies Nick’s been pulling out and throwing back.”
“Nice to see you too.” Nick looked over at Gus from where he reeled in his latest cast.
“Hi, Gus,” Rachel greeted him with a wave from where she sat on a lounger in the shade.
“Hey, Danger, where’d you get the new groupie?” Gus pointed at a large blue heron going over to check out Nick’s line whenever he reeled it in.
“That’s Charlie,” Jean answered, returning the stringer to the ice chest. “He showed up when Nick pulled a guppy out.”
“Hey!” Nick argued, gesturing at Jean. “That was a nice fish. Charlie here liked him, right Charlie?”
The heron remained silent, but moved closer as Nick cast again.
“Anyway, Charlie’s been hanging with us ever since I fed him Nick’s guppy,” Jean explained. “He doesn’t even care when Deke’s running around.”
“I can’t believe you’ve enticed ‘Mr. Freeze’ out of the air conditioning for the third straight evening fishing expedition. What’s your secret? He complained so much last night, I almost shot him.”
“Here’s the secret.” Rachel held up a clear mug. “It doesn’t let the beer get warm. You put it in the freezer until it’s time to pour your drink. Some liquid freezes inside of it and doesn’t thaw. Jean and I bought them at the store today.”
“It…it’s a miracle.” Nick pretended to be deeply moved, as he held up his frosty mug.
“We bought you one too.” Jean took another frosty mug out of the cooler. She handed it to Gus along with one of the beers.
“Man, that looks good.” Gus sat down next to Rachel. He poured his beer slowly into the mug and took a sip. �
��Oh yeah.”
Nick jerked on his pole. It bowed under the strain. Jean ran over immediately, with Deke on her heels. Charlie the heron moved out of Deke’s way as Nick handed the pole to Jean, letting her get a grip first. She played the small bass expertly, bringing it in without tangling the line or picking up a snag. The heron, seeing Jean was bringing in a live one, moved to watch right over her shoulder. Gus laughed at the sight of the little girl with a dog on one side and a blue heron hovering on the other. Nick picked up the line as the fish thrashed around in the shallow water. He unhooked the fish and threw it over in front of Charlie. The happy heron scooped it up and moved down the way to savor his treat.
“I’m going to throw the Frisbee for Deke, Nick.” Jean handed him the pole.
“Okay, Danger, we’ll kick back for a little longer. Stay in sight.”
Nick sat down on the other side of Rachel.
“The bank looked business as usual when I did my rounds,” Gus said. “I didn’t spot any new people except for one of the managers filling in for Rene. I drove by the warehouse area. There’s still no interest there. Did you two get any calls?”
“Nope,” Nick answered. “Not since I closed the loop between the Benoits and the Marshalls. I’m hoping for some news soon though.”
“Grace and Tim are probably in shock you sent them copies of the drives too. I bet Grace hasn’t slept since you delivered the info.”
“Be grateful for small blessings,” Gus cautioned. “At least there isn’t a manhunt for all the missing people around here.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Rachel said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if they nailed the big fish, and we could relax without any more worry?”
“Yeah, that’ll happen,” Nick scoffed. “I’d like to see -”
Nick’s satellite phone rang. Nick picked it up with a smile, knowing only one man had his number. “His ears must be itching.”
“Flash drives incorporated,” Nick answered.
“We had a deal!”
“I’m going to hang up if you plan on speaking to me from that alternate reality of yours, Frank.” Nick noticed his device read green. “I take it the US Marshalls are helping the DOJ probe your little love nest, huh?”
“There’s a firestorm up here. You’ll be incinerated along with the rest of us, you moron!”
“I didn’t see your name or my name on the drives, buddy, and I was looking for yours real close. Is Bidwell setting you up for the fall, Frankie?”
There was silence on the other end of the line until Nick started humming the ‘Beat The Clock’ theme song, as both Rachel and Gus waited anxiously.
“I can give you Bidwell, Nick.”
“I’m not too crazy about your gifts, Frank.” Nick watched Rachel shaking her head and mouthing the word ‘no’ silently. He gave her his annoyed look while waving her off. “I imagine things are moving rather quickly.”
“Let me send you the info. You see what you think and get back to me…quickly.”
“I’ll take a look.”
“Nick, have you seen Kate Fuller and Sam Jessops?”
“Who?”
“You bastard!”
* * * *
“Hey, you,” Nick whispered, putting a warm hand on Rachel’s hip as she lay next to him, “It’s almost five-thirty. You’d better creep into your own bed.”
“Uummmmmmm…” Rachel moaned sleepily, shivering at the feel of Nick’s lips tracing paths along her neck. “You’re getting up, aren’t you?”
“Diego’s calling to me. I only have a couple more scenes. Then I can start assembling it to send out.”
“Assembling?” Rachel questioned, turning over on her back, with Nick shifting alongside her. “What’s there to assemble?”
“I have editing notes for scene breaks and chapters. When I finish the novel, I separate the chapters. Then I begin outlining my timeline, character list, and synopsis according to chapters.” Nick moved his left hand over Rachel’s stomach, followed by his lips with whisper soft kisses. “When I…finish with those items…it’s time for the first…editing pass.”
“I thought all you…oh…Nick…”
At seven-thirty, Nick typed at a furious pace, the excitement of his novel’s finish obliterating all other thought. Rachel held her place instead of rounding the hallway corner. She watched Nick type, intrigued by the smile spreading on his face as he typed. It was at that particular moment an even more curious Deke silently goosed Rachel, his cold nose contacting bare skin under Rachel’s robe.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Rachel squealed, flattening against the hallway wall.
“Deke!” Nick called out. “Get away from her, you perv.”
The dog shook himself. He padded over to head butt Nick’s thigh.
“Okay, okay.” Nick stood up with exaggerated effort. “It’s time to walk Rachel and Jean’s dog again. I wonder what Rachel and Jean did before they had a dog walker.”
“We had more time for mundane things like dog walking before we took over the first two places on everybody’s hit parade. Sit still. I’ll take him out.”
“Dressed liked this?” Nick separated Rachel’s robe, his hands running up her sides. “I don’t think so.”
Rachel shivered, pulling up Nick’s t-shirt as he drew her close. Nick held Rachel off, allowing only the nipples of her breasts to contact his bare skin as he leaned forward to kiss her. Rachel swayed side to side against him, their lips meeting, parting, and joining again.
“I’m hungry,” Jean stated emphatically, giggling as Nick and Rachel collided, burst apart, and turned to the little girl guiltily with Rachel snatching her robe together.
“You are this close, Danger,” Nick growled, holding the index finger and thumb of his right hand a fraction of an inch apart, “to having all video game privileges revoked until you’re eighteen. I’m walking Deke.”
Nick made as if to throttle Jean, while circling around Rachel with Deke on his heels.
* * * *
“Can I help make pancakes, Mom?” Jean asked the red-faced Rachel.
“Ah…sure,” Rachel answered, moving around Jean and into the kitchen. “You do realize, you little sneak, between you and Deke, I’ll have a heart attack before I’m forty, don’t you?”
“You really like Nick, don’t you Mom?”
“There’s an understatement.”
Nick brought Deke back from their morning jaunt in time for breakfast. He unfastened Deke’s leash and sat down at the dining table with Jean, who had just begun eating her pancakes.
“Want some pancakes, Nick?”
“Sure.”
Rachel came in a moment later with her own plate and one for Nick. She returned to the kitchen for coffee, as Nick slid his cup from next to the notebook computer to where he was sitting. Rachel filled his cup and hers before sitting down.
“Is Gus coming over tonight again?”
“He wants to do a drive by at our favorite dock. Then he’ll stop by to see what I’ve decided about Frank’s offer.”
“Oh come on, Nick, you can’t be seriously considering doing his dirty work again,” Rachel argued, giving him a disgusted look.
“Actually, our dirty work too,” he corrected her. “I checked the Internet news. The Feds hit Tanus this morning. If they can’t nail Bidwell, we’ll be looking over our shoulders forever. I don’t play that game. Frank’s intelligence was very good on the Denver deal. Granted, he threw in a takeout team, too, but -”
“I’m afraid your luck’s going to run out,” Rachel interrupted, seeing Jean watching them with wide eyes. “We’re so close, Nick. Can’t we give Grace and Tim a chance to do this legally?”
“Frank sent me the info. I looked it over last night. There’s only a one week window. It would take Gus and I a couple days to get into position. The moment word got out the drives were in the Fed’s hands, Bidwell took off for Nassau, where he owns a piece of Coral Reef Boat Rentals. We know the area real well.”
“But…but
what about us, Nick?” Jean asked.
“I think it may be time to ask Grace and Tim for a bit of protection. I’ll come up with a story about how we should split up for now until they get the bad guys and -”
“No!” Rachel slammed her hand onto the table in anger. “We’re not leaving you, and you’re not leaving us!”
“Mom’s right. You said we’re a team,” Jean added, her quivering lip betraying emotion she tried desperately to hold back. “I don’t want you to go.”
Deke, hearing and smelling something different in the air, shot up between Rachel and Jean, his paws on the table, tail wagging.
“Look, you two, have I done something to earn this kind of disrespect from my team? With Frank’s recent track record, I don’t want either of you anywhere around me on this. He has zero interest in you two since the drives were made public. Because of the high stakes on this, there’s high risk too. Besides, this’ll be out at sea, where we’d have nowhere to run. Secondly, who the hell will be looking after my dog if you two come with me?”
Rachel knew Nick was right. Anger at the sudden decision clouded all other thought. She bit her lip in order to remain silent. She patted Deke down to the floor and took her plate out to the kitchen without another word. Jean looked from Nick to Rachel in disbelief. Something had changed, but what, the little girl could not understand. She reached across the table, covering Nick’s hand with her own as Rachel listened from the kitchen.
“You…you’ll come back for us…won’t you, Nick?”
“Absolutely.”
* * * *
Gus knocked on the door, holding the briefcase Nick had requested with charts of an area off the coast of Nassau. Rachel answered the door, giving Gus a slight smile before waving him in. Gus followed her inside and down the short hallway. Jean and Deke were sitting on the couch together watching a movie. Nick looked up from his computer and gestured at a chair next to him at the dining room table.
Cold Blooded Page 26