Michael narrowed his eyes at Tori and then shooed the girls back out into the living room. “Tori, why didn’t you tell us you were having trouble breathing?”
“Because I’m not. Well, I’m not if I don’t try to walk across the front yards. I just over did it, but everything turned out okay. I’m safe. The girls are safe. And Grace has her momma’s wedding dress.”
Grace bent down and hugged her, “You need to stop overdoing it if you ever want to fully recover.”
“Yes, mom.”
“And don’t you forget it.” Grace smiled at her and took Michael by the arm, pulling him from the room. After collecting Dani and all of her princess paraphernalia, they headed home and put her to bed.
Michael kissed Grace on the lips at the front door, “So are you excited to see your mom’s dress?”
“I am. Sara is sure it will fit with only a few minor alterations. I hope she’s right.”
“Well, I’m going to wish you sweet dreams and get out of here so you can go play dress up. Happy Valentine’s Day!” Michael kissed her tenderly, hugging her close as their lips separated and she lifted her closed eyes. “I love you, Grace.”
“I love you too, Michael. More than I ever thought possible. Happy Valentine’s Day!”
*****
“So, Mrs. Harding, did you enjoy your Valentine’s Day surprise?” Trent asked as he helped Sara pull off her boots.
“Trent, the carriage ride was very romantic. How could I not like it?” Sara told him, kissing him on the cheek and then shivering. “You’re cold!”
“So are you. Let’s go warm up by the fire. It won’t take but a minute to get going.”
Sara nodded and then made a beeline for the couch and the blankets, “I can’t feel my nose.”
Trent looked her over and assured her, “Well, it’s still there. A little red perhaps, but rest assured, you still have a very cute nose on your face.”
Sara blushed and then giggled. She’d been waiting all day to tell him her news, but was still undecided no how to do it. When he joined her on the couch a few minutes later, and pulled her up against his chest, she forgot about it momentarily as she basked in being held close against her husband’s chest. “I love you,” she murmured to him.
“I love you right back. I can’t believe it’s been less than two months since you drove into Castle Peaks and into my life.”
“So much has happened in that two months, it sometimes seems like a lifetime.”
They grew quiet, wrapped in each other’s arms and thoughts of what their lives had been like before each other. Trent had been content to navigate life as a bachelor, immune to the various single women the matchmaking mommas of the town had offered up.
Sara, had found herself married, and a few hours later, had been running for her life. Literally. She had ended up in his town, a few days before Christmas. Sick. Scared. And wanted by the authorities.
Trent thought about the phone call he’d received earlier that day, and then pushed it aside. There wasn’t anything that could be done about the situation tonight, and he really didn’t want their first Valentine’s Day to be marred by the ugliness of the past.
Tipping her chin up, he kissed her softly and asked, “Ready for bed?”
Sara sighed and relaxed into his kiss, “Just about.”
When Trent raised an eyebrow at her in question, she began toying with the buttons on his shirt. A dead giveaway that something was on her mind. Deciding to cut right to the chase, he asked, “What’s up?”
Sara gave him a soft smile and then leaned up and whispered in his ear. She watched as his eyes got as big as saucers before a huge grin covered his face. “Really? You’re sure?”
When she nodded, he kissed her and then let out a holler, “I’m gonna be a daddy!”
Sara watched him, laughing at how happy he seemed. They’d talked about trying to have a baby a few weeks ago, and she’d never dreamed they would get lucky this quickly. But they had. She was going to have a baby, sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“That’s the best Valentine’s gift you could have given me.” Trent kissed her deeply once again and then asked, “Now, are you ready for bed?”
Sara nodded at him shyly and then giggled as he picked her up and carried her down the hallway. He was always picking her up, and she figured she might get used to the sensation in fifty years or so.
Chapter 14
Samuel waited until Jane had entered Grace’s house and turned off the porch light. They had gone back to his beach house after sharing dinner with Grace and Michael. They were flying back to Castle Peaks in a few short weeks to get married and as their wedding date approached, Jane and he were finding more things that needed their attention.
The pair had decided to live in Samuel’s beach house. There were several extra bedrooms, and even though they were both nearing their forties, they both were looking forward to raising a family.
Samuel turned onto the highway, planning to head home when his phone buzzed. Glancing at the screen, he immediately pulled over to the side of the road and pushed the button to connect the call.
“Trent?”
“Samuel. Are you in a place where you can talk for a few minutes?”
“Yeah. I just dropped Jane back off at Grace’s house. It’s got to be almost 1 o’clock in the morning. Why are you calling so late?”
“Have you checked your email today?” Trent asked in a quiet voice.
“No. I was only in the office for a few minutes earlier this morning. What’s going on?”
“A buddy of mine from Virginia passed along some intel they captured over a social media site. It seems that Julian’s lawyer has been talking to a couple of freelancers.”
“Hit men? What is James Sewell doing talking with hit men?” Samuel asked, scratching his head in frustration. Way to destroy a perfectly nice evening!
“Julian’s lawyer was recorded on tape, interviewing potential men, but that’s not what grabbed everyone’s attention. He arranged to meet with Raven.”
“What?!” Samuel tried to calm his voice down, but this was not good news.
The Raven was a female assassin that had been operating between North and South America for the last ten years. It was believed that she alone was responsible for the recent assassination attempt on the newly elected President of Colombia. The man had promised to destroy and dismantle the drug cartels, and they were pushing back. Hard.
The Raven had been in the Top Ten Most Wanted Persons for more months than Samuel could remember, but where a recent picture normally was placed; there was nothing but a silhouette. No one knew what the Raven looked like. No one.
They knew she was female because of DNA evidence that had been collected from her victims, but that was all they knew.
“When and where is the meeting?” Samuel asked, already seeing the huge break just getting a visual on her would be for many agencies.
“James agreed to meet with her at LAX in three days’ time.”
“Great! That’s like looking for a needle in a haystack!”
“My buddy seems to think they have a way to at least get a visual on her. It seems that James just hired a new driver. His old one was deported back to Colombia after being stopped one too many times for exceeding the speed limit.”
Samuel grinned, “Let me guess. Your buddy is the new driver?”
“Got it in one. Anyway, James is going to LAX three days from now and the driver had to submit security clearance paperwork for the vehicle. They’re going to the private airfield.”
“I can definitely work with that. Did you send me the info on your buddy?”
“It’s all in the email. Oops, Sara’s awake. I don’t want the women to know what’s going on until they have to.”
“Agreed. Give her my best and I’ll call you tomorrow once I have a chance to set some things in motion.” Samuel disconnected the call and then headed home.
Once there, he read the email and then sent
a few of his own out. He wouldn’t get any responses until the next morning, but at least things had been set in motion. If they could get visual evidence of Julian’s lawyer meeting with a known assassin, the entire situation with Trevor and Julian would change. And if he and his team could get a visual on Raven, the entire world would benefit.
*****
Early the next morning, Samuel and Stan met with the other members of their FBI unit to discuss the various options open to them. The LA office had designated several agents to work things from their end, and currently they were all sitting around conference tables in both locations, trying to come up with a workable plan.
The LA office had several undercover agents working at the airport, but no one in the private plane area.
The buddy Trent had mentioned had sent Samuel a brief phone picture, showing the license plate of the limo James Sewell would be arriving in. He’d also warned them against trying to place a tracker on the vehicle. It seemed that Mr. Sewell took his personal security very seriously and had anti-tracking devices everywhere he went.
“So, how do we get access to the flights that are cleared to land on the private runways?” Samuel asked, wishing he knew of someone in the FAA who owed him a favor or two. Dealing with the FAA was like dealing with the bureaucrats in D.C. – it was all around better to go over and under them and beg forgiveness afterwards.
“Flights only have to be filed twenty-four hours before their expected arrival. That protocol doesn’t change just because it’s a private jet rather than a commercial airliner.”
“But how do we gain access to those records? Anyone brave enough to visit the tower and ask for them?”
There were chuckles around the room, on both sides of the video feed. Stan finally came up with a workable solution, “What about if we move people into the security booth and then a fuel truck. Until we get confirmation of which hangar the plane’s going to, that would at least get our people on the ground and with the possibility of visuals.”
“That should work,” Samuel added, “the objective here is not a snatch and grab, but intel. We can’t protect against that which we can’t identify.”
All heads nodded in agreement. “So we have two days to put this into motion. Samuel and I will coordinate on this end. We need eyes on the limo all the way.”
Agent Salazar, from the LA office, spoke up, “We have enough cameras on the highway, and we should have no problem tracking the car up and back.”
“Okay, Stan will coordinate on the radio on this end and we’ll have cars stationed between here and there. I want to know the minute that limo leaves Sewell’s home and every place it goes between now and then.”
“I’m already on it. I sent a car over there this morning. Anyone have any other questions?” Samuel asked before adjourning the meeting.
When no one said anything, he disconnected the video feed and then looked at Stan and the others sitting around the office. “I want eyes on Grace and Dani until this is over.”
“What about Sara?” Stan asked.
“Trent’s watching Sara. As far as we know, Trevor and Julian don’t know where she’s at. All of the official communication between her and the FBI and Justice Department has been through the Denver office.”
“Good, that’s one less thing to worry about. I want access to the audio tapes of Julian and Trevor’s visits with their attorney.”
“Sam, you know the judge isn’t going to give us access to those. Not without a heck of a good reason, which we don’t have right now.”
Samuel nodded his head, “Let’s hope they don’t give us one. I’m ready for this case to be over.” His co-workers all agreed that Julian Quintana and Trevor Ward needed to be locked up and the key thrown away.
Samuel glanced at the clock, alarmed to see the entire morning was already gone. “Gotta go pick up Jane. Stan, I’ll have my cell on. Let me know if anything else rears its ugly head.”
“No problem. Get outta here.”
Chapter 15
Samuel arrived at Jane’s new kitchen just in time to be the taste tester for the new dessert menu. She had selected three chefs from the teaching kitchen at The Inferno to assist her in creating the menu that would be served at all the Top Chef restaurants nationwide. Chef Scaltini and Chef Perez were world-renowned chefs who had opened the restaurant chain six years prior, but the menu choices had gotten only mediocre reviews.
After meeting Jane, they had handed her the keys to their kitchen and asked her to design a complete menu that would provide their customers with a home-cooked meal, with a touch of refinement, at a reasonable price.
The three chefs had been given the task of coming up with two desserts each. Today was all about baking, and as each chef dished up their creation, Jane joined Samuel, bringing with her two tall glasses of ice water.
“Sure you’re up for this?” she asked, noticing that he looked stressed out.
Samuel gave her a smile, “How exactly does one prepare for a dessert tasting?”
Jane laughed, “By not eating more than a bite of each. Remember, I need you to rate the dishes from best to worst.”
“Worst dessert? Surely you jest,” Samuel placed his hand over his heart. The man had a definite sweet tooth, something that Jane was very happy to oblige. She loved to bake.
“Chef, may I serve?” the little female chef asked, having a tray bearing two covered dishes on it.
“Thank you. Yes, you may.”
The young woman placed a tray in front of Samuel and then one in front of Jane and then with a nod of her head, vacated the small dining area.
Removing the tray, Samuel was intrigued to see ten, bite-size servings of nine different baked goods. Some of them he was familiar with, but others he was not. A single serving of a bread product had been placed in the center of the tray, and there were three other breads that looked very similar, yet very different.
“Okay, first, try the bread. I want you to eat each piece and then drink some water before moving on to the next. Describe the taste, the texture, and then tell me if you like it better than the one before it.”
Jane smiled at Samuel, but then stopped him when he reached for the bite of bread sitting in the middle of the tray. “Eat that one last. I’ll explain why in a few minutes.”
Samuel shook his head at her and then picked up a piece of bread and ate it. “This is banana bread. Not bad, but it’s missing something. And it’s dry.” He reached for the next piece, only to have Jane point to his water glass.
He obediently drank some water before trying the second piece, “This one’s much better, but the banana flavoring is almost overwhelming. And the coloring is off. Did they put food coloring in the bread?” Samuel didn’t even finish the bite. Instead, he placed the rest of the piece back on the plate and then drank some more water.
“Okay, let’s see if this one is any better.” He took the bite and then shook his head, too much cinnamon. It’s all I can taste. And the pieces of nut are too big.”
Jane dutifully recorded his comments before asking, “So, out of those three, which one gets your vote?”
“Well, none of them really ring my bell. My mom makes better banana bread, and she rarely cooks anything.”
Jane smiled at that and then nodded towards his plate, “Okay, now you can try the middle one.”
Samuel picked up the moist bread, smelling it before popping the entire piece into his mouth. Nodding his head with a smile upon his face, he swallowed before saying, “That was amazing! Nothing like the other three samples. That one definitely gets my vote.”
Jane hid her smirk and then recorded his answer. Pushing a button, she called the three chefs back into the small dining room. “Samuel has tasted all of the banana bread and has made a few comments I’d like to read back to you.”
Jane read his comments back, without identifying which bread they were in reference to. Samuel watched the chefs and could tell they knew exactly which comments had been directed at their
creation.
“So, Chef, which bread did he choose?” all three chefs inquired.
“Mine. Do you remember the first day we worked together and I gave you all a recipe that I wanted you to follow, exactly as it was written?”
All three heads bobbed affirmatively, and she smiled at them, “Well, every one of you looked at the recipe and found something wrong with it. A reason why the recipe needed to be changed or altered.
“This exercise was to teach you that just because something doesn’t fit in the mold of something you already know, doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. I want you to take risks as we develop the menu, and sometimes that means going against everything you were taught about how to correctly do something.”
“Yes, Chef,” three voices called out in unison.
Jane smiled at all of them, pleased to see that she had gotten her point across. “Now, my recipe is sitting on the corkboard and I would love to see you all work together to develop it into something that each restaurant could use on a daily basis.”
“Yes, Chef,” came the reply once again and the three adults disappeared back into the kitchen.
Hands clapping drew her and Samuel’s attention to the shadows behind them. When Chef Marco Scaltini stepped out, Jane felt herself blushing and hoped she hadn’t overstepped her bounds.
“Chef, I didn’t know you were going to stop by today,” Jane informed him, standing and kissing the man on both cheeks.
He returned the greeting and then shook Samuel’s hand. “It looks like I arrived just in time. You handled those three beautifully. Congratulations.”
Jane blushed and Samuel thought it was the cutest thing he’d seen in a long time. She had appeared so confident when dealing with the three people working for her, but when faced with the famous chef, her self-confidence flew out the window. Samuel was intent on fixing that. Right now.
“”Chef, have you had the privilege of tasting Jane’s banana bread?”
“No, I can’t say that I have. After that demonstration, I look forward to it.”
Romance: New Beginnings (Young Adult and Adult Romance, Christian Christmas Fiction book as a Love Story) (Second Chances Trilogy 3) Page 9