The Heart

by Iris Bolling

  Al lazily rubbed her back as he spoke. “I have to leave for a while. Will you be here when I return?”

  “I’ll think about it,” she replied. He felt her smile against his chest. Then the smile changed and tension filled her body. “I need to see my father. I should be the one to tell him about us.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No---,” she quickly replied. “I would like you both to still be alive at the end of the day.”

  Chapter 13

  Who in the hell set his chest on fire? That was the first question on his mind as Joshua regained consciousness. The second was, what in the hell was sticking him in his back? The cobwebs were clearing from his mind. The damn suit. Yes, it had saved his life, but it hurt like hell when the bullet compressed the material. Ned definitely had to make adjustments to the material. Moving his left side was a bit of a challenge, but he managed to sit up. His chest was bare, with the exception of a white gauze bandage wrapped around him. The only clothing he had on was his pants and he was sure that was because he was naked beneath.

  Looking around, the room was about a 12x12 box with one door and one window, both had bars and in the center a hole at the top. The floor was little more than dirty wood and the bed was more straw than mattress. The object he sat on, disguised as a bed, was the only furniture in the room. Of the four walls, two were covered with dried blood. He laughed inwardly. They needed to do a hell of a lot more than that to intimidate him.

  Joshua glanced up from the bed and stretched as if he were bored instead of captured by an unknown enemy. Due to his height, it wasn’t a problem seeing out the window. Outside the door there were four men talking. He smiled as he watched a man approach the guards with a heated temper. “Someone is not too happy,” he murmured. The men spoke in Spanish, which he was well versed in. They were informed Miguel was on his way to interrogate the prisoner. He didn’t think it was wise to hang around for that visit. With his clothes gone, so were his gadgets. He was going to have to escape the old fashioned way. “Okay, I can handle four.” He turned to look out the window. “How many more will come?” Outside was nothing but a field. In the distance he could see, a larger house and a few men standing around. “Hmm, less than ten.” He felt his chest to test its sensitivity. It was a little tender to the touch, but what’s a little pain when you are fighting for your life.

  Joshua turned his back to the window and did a mental measuring of the distance to the door. He grinned. “This should be fun.” He took one giant step then karate kicked the door with both feet, knocking it down. He hit the floor at the same time bullets were fired. The wood door knocked the four men to the ground with guns still firing off.

  Joshua grabbed two of the semiautomatic weapons and ran down the hall. In one of the rooms he spotted the other pieces to his suit. Looking around to gauge the response to the gunfire, he had a minute. He slipped his shoes on and grabbed his jacket. Hell, the shoes alone cost a grand. He wasn’t leaving them unless he had to. Running to the far side of the building, he opened fire on several men that ran towards him. When they fell he saw what appeared to be a herd of men running to the area with guns drawn. “Oh hell!” He looked around. Going backwards was not an option. He was sure the fencing would send a surge of electricity if he touched it. Going forward meant taking on an army and under normal circumstances, he would try it, but he had no back up and no one coming. Up was his only option. He put his jacket on and strapped both guns to his shoulder. He climbed the side of the building until he reached the roof. “That’s better.” He laid flat on the roof and began taking out the multitude of men running towards him. The rifle he was using jammed. “That’s not good,” he threw that one to the ground. “What ever happened to the good old Smith and Wesson made in the USA?” He pulled the other gun up as he looked below. He was clearly outnumbered. For a moment he considered surrendering.

  Just then an explosion from behind him rocked the area, sending debris everywhere. He ducked to cover his head. “What the hell?” He looked up to see the army that was marching towards him a moment ago was obliterated.

  Joshua had raised his weapon to fire, then froze. “Damn those are some long legs.”

  Looking over his shoulder, Melissa Sue was strutting towards him with her weapon pointing in the air, resting on her hips with the smoke from the blast surrounding her like she was in an action movie. Beside her was Tucker, with a gun holster around his chest and a semi in his hand ready to fire. Behind them in the center walked Al Day, with nothing.

  Melissa Sue and Tucker stopped as Al walked through them. He stood looking up at Joshua with a crooked grin. “Couldn’t wait?” he asked with a raised brow.

  “Who in the hell are you supposed to be walking in here like someone from the Wild Wild West?” Joshua asked as he slid down the building brushing the dirt off of him.

  “I’m the Sheriff.” Al grinned then pointed to his side. “These here are my deputies.”

  “You walked up in here without a gun?”

  “No. We flew in.” Al turned to walk back to the chopper. “I’m a felon. You know I can’t carry a gun.” He looked over Joshua’s shoulder. “We are about to have company gentlemen.” He turned back to Joshua. “Chopper’s in the field. The plane is waiting for us in Brownsville. Are you riding with us?”

  He followed them through the fence that now had a hole large enough for a few men to fit through. “I didn’t need to be recused you know.” Joshua felt the need to explain.

  Melissa Sue and Tucker just looked at each other. “Sure, that’s why you were shooting your way out.” She smirked.

  As they climbed into the chopper Tucker took the front with Melissa Sue. Al sat in back across from Joshua He tilted his head as if he was contemplating something. “You ever blow up fifty million dollars in cocaine?”

  “Not recently.” Joshua laughed. “Why?”

  “I need to send a message to a friend.” Al reached behind his seat and pulled out a handheld missile launcher.

  Joshua’s eyes lit up. “Man,” he said in awe, “Where did you get that? I thought felons were not supposed to carry guns.”

  “It’s not a gun.” Al replied. “It’s a missile launcher. Nothing in the code said anything about missiles.”

  Unable to help himself, Joshua laughed at the comment, while testing out the weapon. “Where are we stopping?”

  “We’re doing a fly by.” Al replied. He then told him about the Intel received from his people on Miguel Santiago. He also explained Mateo’s part in disclosing the assassination plot in the beginning.

  “So you want to get him to question why he has lost 50 million dollars of his product in retaliation from the Americans.” Joshua summarized. “All of this is based on Miguel telling him the truth.”

  “No.” Al replied. “Someone else will tell him.”

  “How do you know one of the men Miguel recruited will turn?” Joshua asked.

  Al shrugged his shoulder, “I’m the one that taught Mateo how to interrogate. He’ll get the message. I left one or two of Miguel’s men alive just for that purpose.” Al looked out of the chopper window then tapped on the window separating the front from the back. “Take us down.” Melissa Sue complied. He motioned to Joshua to look out of the window. “X marks the spot. Take it out.”

  Joshua raised the launcher, balanced it on his shoulder and took the shot. As soon as the missile was released, Melissa Sue turned the chopper in the opposite direction and headed back to Brownsville, Texas.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  It had been two days since Al had disappeared. Two days since he sent her world into a tailspin and he hadn’t as much as called. And it pissed her off that her body was tingling at just the thought of him. It didn’t seem there was a damn thing she could do about it. They were scheduled to fly out the next day for a weeklong campaign stomp through the west, so this was her off day.

  As always, Ryan would stop by her father’s house before leaving on a trip, just out o
f respect. She usually allowed him an hour to complain about her lifestyle, and then she would say her good byes and leave. Today was going to be especially hard, for she was walking in the door pissed and she needed to tell him about Al. “Father?” she called out as she walked into the kitchen of the split level home.

  She walked towards the family room and there he stood—Franklin Williams. He was an imposing figure, standing six feet, with not much fat around his waist. It was clear why her mother fell for him. Even at the age of sixty-five he was still an attractive man. She often wondered why he never married again after her mother’s death, but never felt close enough to the man to ask. “Hello, father. How have you been doing?”

  Placing the cup of coffee, his one and only vice, on the stand near the door, he folded his arms across his chest and stared at his only daughter. “It wasn’t enough embarrassment for you to work for criminals. Now you’re sleeping with them too.”

  It wasn’t a question; it was a statement. “I’m going to kill Donnell.” She huffed. “I’m leaving with the Harrisons on a campaign trip and will be gone for a few days. I thought you should know.”

  “You don’t have anything to say for yourself, young lady?”

  “I stopped trying to explain myself to you when I turned eighteen and you put me out of your house.” She looked around the kitchen. The only good memories she had here were when her mother was still alive and they would make cookies in the kitchen. After her mother passed away, her father became withdrawn and worked twenty-four hours a day, leaving her to fend for herself at eight. Her brothers were older and always involved in sports or something in school. She, on the other hand, never had the opportunity to do the things girls would do, like join the choir, become a cheerleader, ballet, nothing. Just like now, she was always the black sheep of the family and she never really knew why. “I don’t know why I continue to try with you.” She turned back to him.

  “Did you think working for a gang would endear you to me?” he asked. “And now you are giving yourself to a man that has killed people, sold drugs to children and brought weapons into this city.”

  “I think you have that backwards father. You worked for Munford—the man that took a vow to protect the citizens of Richmond. He’s the one that controlled the drugs, weapons and gangs in this city. The man you are condemning fought against Munford and what he was doing. He turned himself in and paid his debt to society. Then he came out and made a difference to thousands of children across the country.” She put her hands on her hips and smirked. “But don’t worry father, I’m sure he will desert me just like you did.”

  “I’ve never deserted you,” he took an angry step forward. “I’ve always provided a roof over your head and food in your mouth.” He pointed a finger in her direction. “If your mother could see you now, she would be so disappointed.”

  That hurt. The only thing Ryan kept dear in her heart was the love she knew her mother had for her. To think her mother would be disappointed in her cut deep. But she would never let her father know that. “Take care of yourself Father. I won’t be back.” She turned to walk out the door and saw Donnell standing there.

  He had no idea why his father was like this with Ryan. There was never a time his father was not one hundred percent supportive of him and his brothers. But when it came to Ryan, he just could never seem to support her in anything. Hell, it was Ryan that put him in the position to be working for the next President of the United States. It was Ryan who helped save Cynthia Thornton’s life and it was Ryan that helped to rid the city of a bad police chief. There is no way he could believe his mother wouldn’t be proud of her. He held her by her arms. “Don’t leave like this Ryan. Let me talk to him.”

  “Help yourself. I’m out.” She left Donnell standing there staring angrily at their father.

  Once inside her vehicle she allowed the tears to flow. Usually their confrontations were simple. This one cut a little deep. Hell, she thought as she wiped a tear from her cheek, I’m twenty-nine years old. If things haven’t changed with him by now they never will. It was time to give up. That was the last time she would go back to the house.

  By the time Ryan pulled into her apartment complex, she was over it. She had learned as a little girl how to shield herself from her father’s tirades about her behavior. Walking into her apartment she reached to disable the alarm system and found it was already disarmed. She immediately reached for her weapon.

  “You know, you need something stronger than tea in the house.” Monique said as she walked from the kitchen. “I couldn’t even find a bottle of wine or anything in this place. Do you eat here?”

  Ryan looked around confused as she put her weapon away. “What in the hell are you doing here and how did you get into my house?”

  Monique plopped down into a chair by the kitchen. “That’s part of what I need to talk to you about.”

  “Start talking before I commence to whipping your ass.”

  Monique smiled, “That’s not going to be as easy as it was before, Ms. Ryan.” Still not comfortable, Ryan took a quick walk around the one bedroom apartment, just to ease her mind. “No one else is here. It’s just me. I need to talk to someone. Normally that would be Daddy, but I can’t find him or Uncle Tucker. I thought Daddy would be here, but I was wrong.”

  Ryan sat in the chair across from the woman, placed her hands on her knees anxious to hear what she had to say. “Talk.”

  Monique exhaled. “While I was at Howard I was recruited by the CIA. I joined them about a year ago. Joshua Lassiter is my handler.”

  Ryan sat back in the chair. “Whoa. Does your father know this?”

  “No.” Monique shook her head. “And if this situation hadn’t arisen, I wouldn’t be here looking for him now to get advice.”

  “What situation?” Then Ryan held up her hand. “Hold on. I’m not sure I want to know.” She stood and walked into her kitchen.

  Monique followed her, determined to pass the information to a responsible party. She watched Ryan turn the stove on where the teakettle sat, then open a box filled with assorted teas. “You are as bad as Daddy with the teas” she sighed. “Look, you are the only person I can trust to pass this information on with Joshua and Daddy out of reach.”

  “Don’t you have a commander or someone to pass information to?” Ryan asked as she waited for the hot water.

  “Yes, and I will pass it on to them. But this concerns Uncle JD.”

  Ryan stared at the young woman. She knew Monique well from all the hell she put JD and Tracy through when she was a teenager. But since her father had come home, she’d slowed down considerably. They were just dealing with normal father-daughter things. To Ryan it seemed Monique was concerned about whatever was going on. Ryan prepared two cups of tea and they sat at the table. “Okay what’s going on?”

  “I’ve been placed in Senator McClintock’s office to report on any activity with unfriendly entities. There were some sightings with the Senator and his father that were questionable. My assignment was to clear him or discover what they may be up to. Simple enough, I thought until yesterday.” She sighed as she sipped her tea.

  “What happened yesterday?”

  Placing her cup on the table, Monique explained what she found. “Senator McClintock’s secretary, Anna Murray, sent me into his office to pick up a folder for her. On his desk was a copy of Uncle JD’s itinerary. The document was on pink paper which from what I understand is senior staff colors.”

  “Who did it come from?”

  “I don’t know. There was no cover sheet or name on the document I saw.”

  “Is it possible you may have missed something?”

  Monique looked incredulously at the woman across the table. “Ms. Ryan, I have a photographic memory. Do you know what that means?”

  Ryan shook her head. “Should I be impressed?”

  “Yes, you should. It’s the reason I was recruited in the first place. Everything that I hear, see or read is stored in my brain. Believe m
e, there was nothing else on the document. It’s not the first time I’ve come across his name in the office. But this was not a document that should have been in the opposition’s hands.”

  “Isn’t his schedule public knowledge?” Ryan asked. “I mean McClintock’s son is the Republican nominee running against JD. I would think the opposition would have his schedule. Maybe his intent is to pass it on to his son.”

  “I could go with that if it were his scheduled events and not his private itinerary.”

  Ryan frowned as the implication of what Monique was saying began to set in. She pulled out her cell and called Brian. “Boss, who has access to Mr. H’s itinerary?”

  “The security team and traveling staff. Why?”

  “I’ll call you back.” She disconnected the call.

  “Everyone on the staff has access to the itinerary. What was the date on the document you saw?”

  “Tomorrow,” Monique replied as she sat forward. “Someone in Uncle JD’s staff is passing information to McClintock.”

  “The question is who.”

  Monique stood, “That’s what you need to find out. In the meantime, since you were here and Daddy wasn’t, there is no need to tell him about my new career path.”

  “Oh no, you are not putting me in that position.” Ryan stood. “You are going to tell your father what you are into or I will.”

  “Ms. Ryan, let’s be reasonable here. Daddy is not ready to hear his daughter is working for the CIA. He is just dealing with the fact that I’m sleeping with Jerry McClintock. That’s enough of a shock for his system right now.”