by Dale Mayer
“You mean, legally,” Griffin said, his tone dry. They made several quick turns, and he pulled into an underground parking area. Once the gate opened, letting them through, he drove farther inside and then into a parking space marked with the number forty-two on it. He shut off the engine and said, “We’re home.”
“Whose home?” Brandon asked.
Griffin chuckled. “The driver of the lorry, that’s who.”
The dead driver of the lorry, Kerrick thought, feeling Amanda’s stare along the back of his head, but he ignored her. He took the contents of the safe but left the safe behind, and, with the rest of the food and their gear, they hopped out of the pickup, locked it up, and went upstairs. He knew Griffin had made arrangements to get this apartment, one way or another.
Standing before door number forty-two, they didn’t find any duplicate keys left behind in the expected hiding places. Not that Kerrick had expected as much, now that they were off-grid themselves. Griffin quickly picked the lock and let them in. He waited at the doorway with the other two while Kerrick made a quick search through the apartment, and then everybody came inside. He locked up after them.
The apartment was furnished in a contemporary style, more of a single-male variety than catering to that of a family. Brandon bounced through it, excited to see something new and different, including the furniture, which was pretty New Age stuff. As he danced around, he called out, “I like it.”
Amanda looked like she was wilting. She went over to the nearest large recliner and sagged into the plushy softness.
Kerrick looked at her with worry. “Do you need a nap?”
“I’m okay still,” she said. “I got a few hours last night, but don’t want to ruin a good night tonight.”
“Your body’s still recovering,” he said. “So, if you need to sleep, let us know.”
“And what? Sleep in this dead guy’s bed?” she whispered.
Kerrick looked at her and said, “It’s necessary for the time being.”
Her shoulders sagged, and she nodded. “I know. It doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”
“It’s your company noted on that ledger …” he reminded her.
“I know I didn’t purchase anything from Brandon’s father,” she said. “But Hinkleman could have, as CEO of Scion. But did the board of directors know too? Or was Hinkleman just using his position for some off-the-books deals?”
Kerrick’s face was grim. “That’s what we need to find out.”
She was silent as she pulled her knees to her chest and curled up in the big chair.
Immediately Brandon hopped over, snagged a blanket off one of the other chairs, and draped it over her. He gave her a pat on the shoulder. “You just sleep.”
She chuckled and said, “What will you do?”
“I’ll check out one of those sandwiches they brought.”
She stared at him in disbelief, but Kerrick had heard it all and seen it all with young boys. They ate until they dropped in a food coma, like after a big Thanksgiving Day meal of seven courses. He brought the sandwiches into the kitchen, handing one to Brandon, then poked around to make sure there was coffee in this place, real coffee, and put on a pot. Griffin was once again on his phone.
Kerrick himself needed to check to see where they were at for further details, but it looked like there was more of a connection to her company than Amanda had fully realized. That had to be hard in itself. When he glanced back at her, her eyes were closed, and her chest rose and fell in a deep and steady motion. He next checked Brandon, who was watching her between bites of his sandwich.
“We’ll let her sleep while she can,” he cautioned.
Brandon nodded, swallowed. “I don’t think she’s having an easy time of this.”
“And why is that?”
Brandon looked up at him, chewed a bit more, and smiled. “She’s too much of an adult to not find the worry in this, and I’m too much of a child not to find the joy.”
Talk about being old beyond his years. Kerrick stared at the boy in astonishment, but Brandon just shrugged and attacked his sandwich. When the coffee was done dripping, Brandon had finished his sandwich, then skipped off to inspect the apartment further, while Kerrick took his coffee cup over to the kitchen table, set up his laptop and his notepad, and sat down to get to work. He would require more sleep himself, but he needed to sort out with Griffin the roster for their security shifts.
They couldn’t stay here for too long, and he wasn’t sure if Griffin had made actual arrangements with the apartment management or was just taking advantage. Either way, they were doing what they needed to stay safe. At least, until tomorrow, when they could arrange for another location. Only one night per each. As he checked out his emails, the mysterious but helpful chat box opened. Kerrick decided to call it the Mavericks chat box now, due to their unfettered approach to justice. He read the new message.
Where are you?
New place.
Where?
Outside of town.
He wasn’t sure why he was being evasive, but, so far, he hadn’t exactly had any reason to trust anybody.
You were supposed to be at a safe house.
Didn’t feel right.
Silence came first. Okay.
He gave a nod at that. “Damn right. The reason you hired me,” he muttered, “is because my instincts are solid. And nothing about this case feels right. In fact, it’s all gone to hell.”
Chapter 13
By midafternoon they had settled into Stanley’s apartment, their newest safe house. Brandon had crashed on the couch, still sound asleep. Griffin was on the floor on the carpet just in front of him, protecting the boy even while asleep, whereas both Kerrick and Amanda sat at the kitchen table. She cast her mind back to the day when she had been kidnapped. If she had realized it had been Dr. Hinkleman right from the beginning, it would have made a lot more sense. He hadn’t shown up to work on that Friday before. He had been very controlling, hovering over everyone’s work recently—more so than normal. So missing a normal workday without any explanation was unusual.
“What are you thinking so heavily about?” Kerrick asked, his tone low.
She glanced at the other two, still sleeping soundly, and whispered, “Those two look good together.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Kerrick said, “while I watched over you and Brandon early this morning.”
She glanced at him. “It’s the first time you’ve mentioned that, holding me close as I fought my own demons.”
His smile was gentle but filled with understanding. “We all have demons, and it’s no shame in wanting to be held. It’s a human comfort we all need from time to time.”
“Well, thank you for that and for continuing to look after us.”
He shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure what to do with you.”
She stared at him in astonishment.
He flashed her a wicked grin. “Other than the usual things a man might want to share with a woman.”
She flushed. “I don’t think so.”
“Are you sure?” he teased. “According to my file, you haven’t had a boyfriend since your ex.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “So what? And that doesn’t mean I haven’t hooked up during that time, although that’s hardly a replacement for a real relationship.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely it’s not, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have both. Besides anyone can see we’re attracted to each other. That’s not something to ignore.”
She stared at him again in shock. “Where’s this coming from, all of a sudden?”
“I’m not sure, honestly.” He shrugged. “But, ever since I saw your picture, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. And then there’s the fact that I admire you very much. Well, that’s the best basis I know for a relationship.”
“Wow.” She didn’t even know what to say. Her heart knew how to feel though as it warmed to the idea in a big way. She sat back and smirked at him. “Do you al
ways fall in love with women’s pictures?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, chuckling. “But I do appreciate what you’ve been doing with your research, and I admire how you’ve handled yourself since the kidnapping. You got yourself out of a really sticky situation, and you rescued the boy too.”
At the mention of Brandon, she glanced over at him, and her smile fell away. “What happens to him if his father’s dead?”
“I don’t know how that works here,” he said quietly. “There will be a system in place, but I can’t even begin to guess what that is.”
She nodded slowly. “And generally I live in Paris. But I really would like to talk to my father.” She smiled. “He has a place in England,” she said. “Just a little coastal holiday home, where we used to meet up for holidays. Loved those times.”
He stared at her in surprise.
“I was hoping to come over and spend a couple weeks there this year. I just could never find the time.”
“A workaholic,” he said with a nod.
“I highly doubt you’re any different,” she said with a chuckle.
“Not so sure about that,” he said. “I was at a crossroads myself, trying to figure out where and what I would do next—when I got the call to come rescue you.”
“You’re not Special Forces?”
“I am, in a way,” he said, “but I was a Navy SEAL before. It was time for a switch.”
He didn’t go into all the details, and she respected his privacy too much to ask. Most likely he couldn’t answer either way. But her insides felt pretty warm and fuzzy that he had opened up about how he felt about her. “How is this a switch?” she asked with a note of humor.
“Well, I’m not on a ship, for one.”
“Too bad,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind being on one. The water always soothes my soul.”
He stopped and stared at her, one eyebrow raised. “And that’s a good idea too.” He considered the small apartment around him. “That could be our next step.”
She frowned at him. “And what exactly would that next step be?”
“Let me think about it,” he said. “It wouldn’t work for long, but you’d certainly be safe.”
Just then a hard rap came at the apartment door.
All laughter fell from his face. He held up a finger and rose from the kitchen table. Her heart pounding, she dashed to hide beside the fridge. Griffin was already up on his feet, moving smoothly and lightly, picking up Brandon and ducking into one of the bedrooms. She wished she could go with him.
When the pounding came again, a voice called out, “Kerrick!”
Swearing gently, Kerrick opened the door and let somebody in.
“What the hell’s going on?” the man asked.
“I didn’t like the safe house alternatives,” Kerrick snapped. “I do what I do because of my instincts. And my instincts said that other plan sucked.”
That brought the stranger up short. He glanced around and said, “Where are they?”
Something about Kerrick’s attitude had her stepping back a little bit farther behind the fridge as Kerrick answered, “They’re safe.”
“Are they here with you?”
“No,” he said. “Griffin’s got them.”
“Shit.”
She could just barely see the stranger as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll have to fix this.”
“Fix what?”
“This.” And he turned and stormed from the apartment.
Kerrick slowly closed the door behind him and locked it.
She stepped around the corner and asked, “Who was that?”
“I’m not exactly sure,” Kerrick said. “Most of the men I work with in this group are strangers.”
Griffin stepped forward from the back and said, “That was Delta.”
Kerrick looked at him and said, “Seriously?”
Griffin nodded. “He’s a friend of mine.”
“Well, he’s a rattled friend now,” Amanda said curiously. “You guys don’t even know who you work with?”
“We each know someone from our past,” Kerrick said. “And Griffin and I know each other obviously, but we don’t necessarily know who all else is in the team at any given time.”
“Yeah, I got that, what with the Greek letters of the alphabet for designations instead of real names. I’d be hard-pressed to trust people without their real names too.” She shook her head. “He didn’t sound happy that you’re here. And how did he know we were here?”
Kerrick stared at her and said, “I was just trying to figure that out.” He looked again at Griffin. “Did you give them a heads-up?”
Griffin shook his head. “No.”
“Are you tracked?”
Griffin shook his head again. “Better not be.” He stared at Kerrick and asked, “You?”
“No, not that I know of.” Then he frowned, studied the rest of them, and said, “But that’s the only way they would know.” He stared at Griffin. “It must be our disposable phones.” Then he froze. “No. They can track us through the Mavericks chat window.” He swore. “I should have thought of that.”
“It makes sense though. They are the ones we keeping asking for intel.”
“Mavericks chat window?” Amanda asked, her lips quirking at the corners.
Kerrick gave her a silly grin and shrugged. “I coined the term. But the Mavericks is our code name.”
“Mavericks works for me,” Griffin said. “I like it.” His grin was huge, and a mischievous gleam was in his gaze.
“You two may be mavericks, but you’re still the good guys.”
“Well, maybe we do need to sneak into France and see what we can come up with.”
“About what?” Amanda asked.
“More information on Hinkleman and the purchase of body parts by the Scion Labs company, whether Hinkleman acted alone or in concert with the company, whether Hinkleman or Scion were involved in both ends of the body-parts transactions,” Kerrick said, watching as Amanda’s face contorted more and more at each theory.
“Oh, my God. You don’t think … Would my company tell you the truth? Even if they weren’t involved, would you believe them?” she asked in exasperation.
“That’s why we need to check them out more closely,” Griffin added.
“Wait a minute. … At work, that last Friday I was there, I overhead a conversation about Scion’s big research vessel being off the coast of Norway. How most of the Scion people would be there soon. Or should be there right now. For some conference.”
“On a research vessel?”
She nodded.
The two men looked at each other, their gazes intent, as if sorting their way through this.
“We’d have to get across the water without leaving a trail, without alerting anybody at Scion,” Kerrick noted, to himself mostly.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “Unless your bags, any of our clothing, or our persons are being tracked by Hinkleman or his goons, how else would they know where we are when we leave here?”
“Satellite,” Griffin stated. “Traffic cams.”
“We still have to sort out what’s going on with the UK kidnapping ring and the fact that everything seems tied to France and now Norway, what with that Norwegian research ship and your father living in Norway and most of Scion Labs’ France-based employees, your coworkers, gathering there too. It makes me nervous, but I also wonder if we should be on that ship too.”
She snorted. “Good luck with that. It’s massive, but, regardless of space and accommodations, it’s not like those invitations are just handed out.”
“So what kind of conference is going on?” he asked, slowly turning to look at her.
“I don’t really know,” she said. “I was going to check into it further, but then my life went sideways. I thought, as a board member and a major shareholder and one of their top researchers, that I would have been invited, but I wasn’t.”
“Maybe Hinkleman had something t
o do with that?” Griffin said. Then he frowned. “I agree, Kerrick. I think we need to catch a ride.”
Kerrick nodded. “I was thinking that too. We could pull the secret card.”
Griffin snorted. “How many times had we just boarded a ship before moving out on a new mission, leaving in silence?”
“Often,” Kerrick said with a smirk. “No reason we can’t do it again.”
Griffin’s eyes lit up at that idea. “Let me see who’s close by.” And he turned and headed to his laptop. Before he typed anything, he added, “I’m using my own computer. It’s been swept and not out of my sight.”
Kerrick turned toward Amanda. “We’ll be on the move soon. You should crash now, while you can.”
She slowly shook her head. “I’m not sure I can. All of a sudden, you’re talking about how we have to get onto this research vessel. I don’t even think that’s possible. Or are you thinking that you and Griffin would go, leaving me and Brandon stashed somewhere?” When she saw the truth acknowledged in his eyes, she shook her head. “Hell, no. Brandon, yes. But me, no.”
“You’re not leaving me behind,” Brandon shouted. He came out of the bedroom and raced toward Amanda, throwing his arms around her waist. She wrapped him up tight in her arms.
“Everybody can’t go,” Kerrick said. “More chances of us being caught. Someone could recognize Amanda. A blond female stands out. And way too dangerous a situation to bring a child into.”
“Dangerous on a research ship? For some meeting?” Brandon argued, but he faced Amanda.
Kerrick just stared at her and waited. She filtered through what Kerrick had said, and then she slowly sighed. “Is there another ship we can stay on while you guys head out there?”
He flashed a grin. “Maybe. Depends.”
She glared at him, and he shrugged and said, “I can’t answer that yet.”
She looked down at Brandon. “We’ll have to leave soon. Can you go back to sleep?”