by Mimi Barbour
“You ever come near my son again, you prick, and I’ll see you in hell. He’s mine. And, once and for all, my eggs are mine.”
The idiot sputtered, frothed, and his howl of indignation broke loose. “If you think I want another brat like him, you can think again. Let me go and get out. I never want to see either one of you again.”
Alia flung Paul’s arm down and stepped purposely on his back as she walked over him. That made him yell yet again.
It made Libby laugh.
Les added, “You go, girl.”
Kean cheered. “Yeah… Mo-om.”
The commotion got worse when two more agents suddenly jumped onto the boat, one being Nigel Dullen. “FBI. Everyone stop what you’re doing, drop your weapons and put your hands up.” The idiot had his gun pulled, held out front in both hands, while the agent behind him shook his head disgustedly.
“Nigel, I think Al has the perp under control. Maybe we don’t need to use force in this situation.”
Nigel, seeing that everyone was staring at him with shock, disgust or amusement, lowered his weapon. “What the hell is going on here? We had a report that there was a kidnapping in progress.”
Alia spoke calmly to her co-workers and within a few minutes had control back in her capable hands. They were pulling out handcuffs to make the arrest, take Paul into custody, but after seeing the horror on Kean’s face, Alia waved them down.
“It’s been a big misunderstanding, Nigel. No harm done. Kean’s fine and we’re just going to go home and take care of the other little bit of business we’re working on.”
When Nigel went to argue, she stepped close and whispered something that had him backing off and nodding.
Sloan, who’d pulled Kean protectively close, his arms shielding the boy during the scuffle, sneezed.
Chapter Fifty-eight
Alia couldn’t stop hugging Kean. She was so proud of him. Once they’d left the marina, Kean had gone over to speak to Libby and Les, who’d stood by waiting.
She’d watched him pass over the kitten, and saw Les grin and nod. Libby had crouched down and given Kean a hug that he’d returned. Then they’d waved their goodbyes and mounted a motorcycle, taking Kean’s pet with them.
By the time Sloan had thanked the officer who’d been waiting in the background and they’d gotten in her car, she’d gladly handed over the keys for Sloan to drive. With Kean on her knee held close, the seatbelt wrapped around them both, the three of them made their way through the traffic.
Sloan looked over to them. “Thanks, son. You didn’t have to hand over the kitten. I understand that she meant a lot to you.”
Kean’s head rested against his mother’s chest, his eyes droopy. “Not as much as you mean, Sloan. Kitty can’t help making you sneeze. I asked Les to look after her for Roy… for when he gets out of the hospital.” He looked up at Alia. “Can we go and see Roy now?”
Alia glanced over to Sloan and saw him shake his head ever so slightly. “Not now, babe. We’ll go later when Roy’s awake. It’s still really very early and I think we all need to go home and try and catch a few hours’ sleep.”
Kean snuggled closer to her, his little-boy’s voice full of the compliance and trust that she knew best. “Okay.”
Her curiosity lit up and she wanted to settle the issue now so they’d never have to refer to this night again. “I need to ask you one thing, Kean? How come you went with Paul last night?”
“He’s my dad.”
She couldn’t hide her shock. “Yes. But you didn’t know him. You were a little baby last time he was with us.”
“No. He came to my school sometimes and we talked. He showed me a family picture. I was small, and he had his arms around you, and you were holding me. I thought he liked us.”
“But when he took you last night, weren’t you kind of shocked?”
“I was sleepy, and he said you wanted me to go with him and he was bringing me to where you were. So I didn’t stop him. He even let me bring Kitty.”
Sloan hadn’t said anything, but now he broke in. “What happened? When we got there, you were fighting with him.”
“He slapped Kitty and yelled at me when I told him I wasn’t going anywhere with him until Mom got there. He got so mad at me that I kicked him, and when he stuck his finger in my face I bit it.”
Sloan grinned at Alia. “He’s definitely your son.”
At this point, Kean looked up into her face. “Am I in trouble for biting, Mom? I know it’s bad, but he scared me.”
Alia hugged him, raining kisses on his hair and cheeks, her usual reserve totally forgotten. “You have my permission to bite any bas… anyone who tries to take you away from me. And kick him too.”
Kean giggled and nestled closer. His long eyelids drifted to his cheeks and his breathing evened out.
Sloan’s hand reached out to smooth Kean’s overly long hair away from his eyes. “I need to take him to my barber as soon as I find the time to go myself.”
Alia smiled at him, a sob very close. His gentleness made the inevitable tears that still lingered return.
Sloan took her hand, his thumb smoothing her skin gently. “Right now, all I want to do is take you home, put you both in my bed and have all three of us get some much needed sleep. Then we’ll take Kean for breakfast and go pick up Roy. Are you game?”
She squeezed his hand. “That sounds like heaven.”
“Unfortunately I need to ask you a question first, and I know you won’t like it.”
She stiffened at his serious tone. “Try me.”
“I need you to tell me your Cassie’s address.”
“You’re kidding me. Right?”
“Not even a little.” The look in his eyes said it all. He was as serious as a bullet in the chest.
“You know I can’t tell you that information. I’ve explained that we keep the police away from the kids for a reason. If we didn’t, the word would get out and no one would trust us again. We’d lose our creds, and all the work the women have put into helping those street kids will be for nothing.”
“You also said, unless it was a dire situation. And at this point, I figure it’s a matter of life or death.”
Alia heard the seriousness in his tone. “Whose life?”
“Sara’s. She can identify Roger and Joey. And they’re suspects in a gang war shooting that took place earlier tonight where two people died. The witnesses said that the shooters fled the crime scene in a red Camaro. Remind you of anyone?”
“Friggin’, shi….” She glanced down at the sleeping boy in her arms. “Well, hell!”
“You got that right. We need to get her into custody. And then we need to question her. See if she knows where we can find those two murdering perverts.”
“Tell me.” She knew he understood what she was asking and he gave her a watered down version of what he’d been through earlier. “I’ll tell you more details later, but for now, you need to know how important it is that we get those two behind bars. After tonight, there’s a huge gap on the streets where the Kroller gang had power. No way do we want those slimy badasses to take their place.”
Alia pulled out her phone and dialed a number. “Cassie? Sorry to wake you up. It’s Alia. Is Sara there with you?”
“Sure, kid. She was pretty shaken over what went down. I figured it was best to keep her close by.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“You got it.”
“If I arrange to have a service car sent to your address, will you go with her to the FBI office and ask for Assistant Director Jack Harrison? He’ll be waiting for you. He needs to speak with her.”
“She in any trouble I need to know about?”
“Not her. It could be for her protection. She has some information that they need. There’s a couple of murderers out there who’d love to get their dirty hands on her. We need to get her protection. Can you take care of it?”
“You bet, kiddo. I’ll get her up now and we’ll be ready.”
/> Alia put her cell away and looked toward Sloan. “You want to call Jack, or do you want me to?”
His expression was so full of approval that a warm tenderness overwhelmed her. He pulled out his phone and with a few sentences, he gave the address to his boss that Alia supplied, brought him up to date on his suspicions regarding the red Camaro and breathed a sigh of relief that she found herself seconding.
By this time, they’d arrived at his driveway. The house looked welcoming in the early dawn. The rising sun brightened the red tiles on the roof and made the opening blossoms on the bushes appear as if they searched for warmth.
Don stepped out and came to Sloan’s side of the car. He opened the door. “Thank God you found the boy. I appreciate you asking Nigel to let me know. The guy’s a bit of an idiot but he means well.”
Sloan looked at Alia. “Is that what you said to him?”
She nodded.
Sloan was slow getting out of the SUV. “No problem. I’m glad you were here to take over the stakeout.”
“Yeah, well, about that. Sam wants to see you.”
Chapter Fifty-nine
Sloan held up his hand to Don. “Can it wait? We’re bushed.” He opened the door on Alia’s side and gently scooped Kean into his arms, the boy’s head lolling onto his chest. When Kean looked up for a split second and saw who held him, he wrapped his arms around Sloan’s neck, a sigh of contentment following as he drifted off once again.
Once in Sloan’s bedroom, Alia turned down the covers on his king-sized bed and Sloan slid the boy under them, only removing his flip-flops. He turned to her. “Leave this to me. You need to be with Kean right now in case he wakes up.”
She nodded, stepped in for a hug that he was more than happy to bestow, and kicking off her own sandals, she crawled in next to her boy. She gathered him into her arms and, with a happy sigh, her eyes closed.
Sloan stood, looking down at the two asleep in his bed. A mass of emotions churned in his body that could bring him to his knees. Alia and Kean.
How had he ever lived without them? Without the mess the boy left in his wake. Without the perfume she wore to sweeten his world. Without these two, he’d still be the empty shell of a man he used to be.
He swallowed the lump that had formed, blinked a few times and unclenched his hands. No one would ever take them from him again. A grin lit his face as he scrubbed at the beard forming. Face it, Booker. You like them way too much, both of them. Fighting off the powerful craving to slide in with them, he turned.
Stepping from the room, closing the door quietly, he went to the kitchen where Don had brewed the morning coffee. Grabbing a mug, he sat at the counter and saw the kitchen clock had struck seven.
Again, he scrubbed at the tiredness that hovered, waiting to descend, and wished with all his might that he could say good-bye to his old partner and head back into his bedroom to join his family. Instead he started the ball rolling.
“What’s up?”
The beginnings of a beard colored Don’s face darker than usual and his forehead wrinkled with worry lines.
“After Janna and Sam searched for the kitten, they stopped by to see if we’d found Kean, and if the animal had come back. It was once they got home that they realized that their relatives still hadn’t returned. So they waited for them.”
Sloan added, “It was pretty late by then, almost midnight.”
“I know.”
“Did the two return?”
“Yeah. A little while after that they showed up.”
“Did you get anything from the cameras? Any pictures of the passengers in the car or the plates?”
“Only Leah and Yasir got out of the car, no one else. I managed to focus on the license plate, but when I zoomed in, they’d covered it with mud or something. It was completely blurry so I couldn’t make out the numbers.”
“Man, we just can’t cut a break with this investigation, can we?”
“I’m thinking we might have one now. Sam was pretty disgusted when he came looking for you ten minutes ago.”
“Was he surprised to see you were still here?”
“I bullshitted that you didn’t know how long you’d be at the hospital with Roy, and in case you wanted me to babysit, I’d slept over.”
“Good. That’s good. Did he buy it?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t he? It’s not the first time I’ve bunked here.”
“Right, when you were too drunk to walk home.” Sloan teased. “How come he wanted to talk with me?”
“He wouldn’t go into any details other than he’s angry about his visitors. I’m thinking he remembers that you worked for the agency and he trusts you.”
“Hell. He knows you’re an agent too. Why didn’t he share with you?”
“I figure it’s because I still work for them, and he’s trying to protect Janna. Whereas, he knows you’re a private citizen now, one who understands the system. That’s my take, anyway.”
“Okay. Can you stay for the rest of the morning? I’ll call him over, but then I need to get a couple of hours sleep and go pick up Roy. He’ll be wondering why I wasn’t there all night. I’d planned on it and he knew that.”
“Sure. No problem. I’ll just borrow some cereal and get out of your way.”
“Borrow some? Don’t you intend to eat it?”
Don looked at Sloan and grinned. “You’re an ass, you know that?”
He went to the cupboard, grabbed a bowl, hauled down the box of Cheerios he knew from previous visits that Sloan always kept and made himself breakfast. He motioned to Sloan if he wanted some also.
Shaking his head, Sloan pulled out his cell phone and scrolled for Sam’s number, knowing his buddy was an early riser who’d already paid a visit.
“Hi, Sam. Don said you wanted to talk to me. Sure, come over now. The coffee’s on.”
***
“They’re not Janna’s relatives, Sloan. Those two are strangers. And they’re dangerous. I want them out of my house.” Sam had arrived full to bursting with frustrated anger, needing an outlet.
Sloan couldn’t blame him. “Calm down, Sam. Tell me how you know this.”
“Last night, after we went to search for Kean, and Don said you had a lead on his whereabouts, we came back into the house and fixed coffee. It was then we realized the light was on in the guest room. Janna worried we’d made noise and so she knocked on the door to invite Leah and Yasir for a snack. Both looked upset, as if they’d been fighting. They came and joined us, but weren’t very communicative when we tried to ask them about their evening.”
“I remember. They’d been going out with friends.”
“Yes. Janna tried to ask about her brother and his wife but they became rather unfriendly and soon excused themselves.”
“And this was a problem?”
“Even though we haven’t spent a lot of time with her family, Janna recalls that her brother always referred to his wife by a special endearment, Baalam, which means beloved in our language. When she asked Leah what Baalam did to keep herself busy, Leah appeared mystified. And so did Yasir. Neither of them were aware that it was the nickname their father used for their mother.”
“So you don’t believe they are who they say.”
“Exactly. This morning, we tried to contact my brother-in-law but his phone seems to be disconnected. After Janna’s e-mail bounced back, she asked Faisal to send one of those Facebook messages, but their page has been discontinued too.”
“Okay. I see why you’re worried now. But truthfully, Sam, I noticed your lack of welcome and Janna’s dismay way back when you first mentioned they were coming to see you.”
Sam looked uncomfortable. He clasped his hands together between his knees and thought deeply for some time before he looked up. His deep brown eyes were clear with conviction and truth. “I want to explain. Life at home was very frightening for us before we were able to escape. Any reminders of those days make us nervous. If Janna’s brother and his wife had been coming with their ch
ildren, we would have been overjoyed and welcoming.”
“I don’t understand.”
“For them to come alone seemed wrong, especially when it wasn’t their parents who reached out to us, as is our custom. We are worried that something has happened to them and to their real children.”
“Is there no one you can ask who knew both your families?”
“Not anyone we trust.”
“I’m sorry about all this, Sam. I understand your fears. What can I do to help?”
“I do not want to bring in the FBI, not yet. But neither do I want to sit by and see anything happen because I wore blinders. Those two need to be watched. You used to be an agent. Can you help us?”
“Yes. But you need to know the truth. I’m still an agent.”
“Of course, my friend, I understand. A man can never stop being what he was trained to be.”
Not sure how to continue, Sloan decided to leave it alone. He’d told the truth, and even if Sam didn’t want to listen, he felt somewhat vindicated. “I’m thinking we can put a tap in their room. Tape their conversations. Find out what they’re up to once and for all. If they’re planning anything harmful to the city or its citizens, we’ll have evidence and can move in to prevent it from happening. Are you willing to plant this equipment where they won’t see it?”
“Absolutely. With the bombings going on lately by crazy Jihadists, I’m more than prepared to set them up. We can’t take any chances. All I ask is that if we find there’s anything dangerous, I can remove my family to where they’ll be safe.”
“Alia has had a terrible scare just recently with Kean’s disappearance. His father kidnapped him and, no doubt by the grace of an Aumakua, a Hawaiian family god, we were able to stop him in time from taking the boy off the island. So I’m sure she could use some company later today if Janna feels up to visiting and bringing the children.”
Sam’s face cleared. A smile began in earnest. “Then she will be happy to do so. Give me these gadgets and show me what I must do.”