by Dale Mayer
“Can I talk to her?”
He handed the phone to Angela. “My sister wants to talk to you.”
He listened as the two women talked. Both sounded like they were in tears. Their conversation was half broken, which he didn’t even begin to understand.
When Angela handed the phone back, she was no longer crying. She still had tears in her eyes, but they were happy tears. “I really miss her. I just want my life back.”
“That’s the trouble with making left turns. It takes a while to straighten out and find the right path,” Warrick said.
She nodded, curled her legs up under her and leaned her head back on the chair. Corey studied her face and realized, if they kept talking, chances were good she’d fall asleep in no time. He looked at Warrick who was demolishing the last of his sandwich. “Any way to tell what country the bank accounts are from?”
“Each bank has its own numbering system. There’s nothing to identify transit numbers or even bank branches. They’re literally just the account number itself.”
“So not as helpful as we first thought?”
“They will be, once we find out who and where they are. What we should also do is check the photographs she took to see if this piece of paper can be traced back to a specific photo to prove it came from that same pile.”
Corey froze. “That’s a damn good thought.”
With her now snoozing gently, he turned on his laptop and went through the photos. At the corner of one was the folded ripped off pieces of the little note. He turned it so Warrick could take a look. “Do you think that can be identified?”
Warrick peered across the table at the image and smiled. “Now that’s good because that places the account numbers with all these images. We have to make sure we hang on to that.” In a casual side note, he asked, “Did you take time off work? I already had the holidays booked, only to have them blown back in my face. But what about you?”
“I’ve got two days off,” Corey answered. “I do have holidays coming if I need them. I was hoping to have this wrapped up before then. There’s talk of another overseas trip next week.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. Likely we’re both going. Depends on how quickly you guys leave and if I’m back on duty yet.”
Corey cleaned up the food wrappers and threw them away in the kitchen. As he stood staring out the window, he could feel the weird creepiness crawling over the back of his neck. In a low tone he said, “Watch your six.”
Warrick closed the laptop, stuffed it into the couch and slipped over to the living room windows. With weapons ready, they waited. It wasn’t long before there was a crunch and a crackle of branches being broken. Corey peered outside but saw no sign of anyone.
Between him and the living room windows was the front door and a side door. They were just around the corner from each other, but it wasn’t a very large corner. Yet there was a blind spot where he couldn’t see. With Warrick watching the other half of the house, Corey crouched below the window and then came up on the other side, trying to peer out. And saw a man’s back.
He held up a hand, snapped his fingers, and then held up one finger. What he didn’t know was whether this man was an intruder, a gunman or a curious neighbor. He waited and watched. The man stepped back away from the front door, looked at the house and then took several more steps back. Perfect, now Corey could see who it was, though he didn’t recognize the man. He was wearing a red plaid overshirt with a different plaid undershirt, a pair of old jeans and hiking boots. Corey frowned, wondering what the hell he was doing here.
And then he decided, since the man wasn’t armed, he’d go find out. He tucked his gun back in his waistband under his shirt, opened the door and stepped out. “Hello. Can I help you?”
He could hear footsteps inside the house, realized Warrick had shifted position to come over and guard his back. The man turned to look at Corey and frowned. “I was expecting to see a woman here. Bella’s niece.”
“If you mean Angela, she sleeping right now.”
“So she is here? Her aunt asked me to check on her to make sure she was okay.”
“She’s fine. But, like I said, she’s sleeping right now.” Corey gave the man the once-over. “Do you live around here?”
He pointed to the far side of the lake. “I live on the other side. Had a cabin there as long as Bella’s had one. It’s kind of lonely out here. We normally stick together. I didn’t recognize the vehicle when I came in. Last I heard, Angela just had a small car.”
“That’s my truck,” Corey said.
The man seemed hesitant to leave as if wanting confirmation that Angela was actually here.
In order to put the old man’s mind to rest and to stop any suspicious returns, Corey said, “You want to come in and make sure for yourself she’s okay?” He watched relief cross the man’s face.
“Yeah, I don’t mind if you don’t. I got to report back to Bella. I won’t feel good saying her niece is here if I haven’t actually seen her.”
Corey put a hand behind him, grabbed the door and pushed it open. “Angela, you’ve got company.” He motioned for the man to come in.
As he crossed the threshold, he said, “My name’s Bill, by the way.”
The two men shook hands as Corey introduced himself. As he walked in, he saw Warrick at the kitchen table. Corey introduced him to Bill, then Bill stopped at the entrance to the living room. Angela was curled up on the big chair, her breathing slow and even.
“She really is sleeping,” he said in surprise.
Corey chuckled. “Yes. She’s pretty tuckered out these days.”
“That girl has always been hell-fire. I haven’t seen her in years, but she still looks like she used to.”
“Older, a little more experienced in life now,” Warrick said. “Still, she wears the look well.”
Bill nodded. “Thanks for letting me see her,” he said to Corey. He turned and walked back to the front door. “I might come back in a day or two. At least I know she’s okay. Tired and worn out but she’s holding.” He walked out the front door without another word.
Corey walked out behind him, wanting to see what vehicle he drove. But instead of driving, the old coot had walked. He headed to the road and then headed back around the lake. It could easily have been a twenty-minute trip, and that was something else to consider. If there were a lot of people living on the other side, they weren’t very far away, and there were lots of options for hiding places.
After Bill disappeared from view, Corey took another quick look around the property and then stepped back into the kitchen. Angela was still sleeping. He sat down at the table beside Warrick. “Suggestion?”
“Lay low, stay out of sight and see if the police can solve some of this. And the minute anybody finds out where she is, we’ll have to move fast.”
There wasn’t a whole lot to add to that. Corey agreed. But it really sucked. He’d take action over inaction any time.
The two men continued to do research as Angela slept. But when a second knock on the door came, Corey was jolted out of his concentration. With a frown at Warrick, he got up, opened the front door to find no one there. Instantly he was on alert. He closed and locked the door and turned to find Warrick already standing guard over Angela. They watched and listened, but there was no sign of anyone. He glanced over at Warrick who shrugged.
But Corey refused to believe he had imagined it. Still, after a full search around the house, inside and out, finding nothing, he started to get angry. There had been a knock, and that meant somebody was here and playing games. If there was one thing he hated, it was games.
Chapter 6
Angela woke up feeling better than she had in a long time. When she saw the two men, instead of being startled or scared, she smiled with relief. “Thank you for that,” she said quietly. “I haven’t slept so well in a long time.”
“A neighbor and friend of your aunt’s stopped by,” Corey said. He told her about Bill.
She chuckl
ed. “Yes. My aunt and he were friends for a lot of years. I’m not surprised she called him. I haven’t called to let her know I got here. I was so tired last night, I never thought of it. And, when you guys arrived this morning, I have to admit I didn’t think of it either.” That was not good. She pulled out her phone and sent her aunt a text. “That should make her feel better.”
She turned to the two men, but they weren’t smiling or joking. “What’s the problem?”
“There was a second knock on the door,” Corey said slowly. “But when I opened it, no one was there.”
She frowned. “No one?”
“No one,” Corey said. “At least no one prepared to let me know he was there.”
She slowly sank back down onto the chair she’d been sleeping in. “So do you think it’s someone after me?”
“I can’t imagine playing this game except to let you know they are watching you.” He held out his hand. “Let me see the phone.”
She handed it over. “It’s brand new. Never out of my reach.” She watched as Warrick opened up the back and studied it carefully. Then he closed it up and handed it back. “It’s fine.”
“Great. So what? You said no one was out there. So they’re watching me? What does that mean?”
“It means they’re watching, and now they know I’m here too.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “I don’t get it. Is that good or bad?”
“There’s a good chance he left because he didn’t want to take us on alone. But it also means he knows I’m here and potentially you are too.”
“So what do we do now?” Her voice was starting to crack. She stamped down the panic, but it was hard. As far as she could see, there was just no option; she was trapped yet again.
Warrick walked toward her. Somehow he’d already managed to pack up his bag with his laptop and the rest of his gear. He simply said, “Pack.”
Corey grabbed her arm and gently led her back to the bedroom. “I don’t know how much you’ve unpacked, but you need to consider repacking everything, because we’ll be gone in thirty minutes.”
She shook her head. “How are we going to do that? What about my car?”
He nodded. “I’ll drive your car. Warrick’ll drive my truck.”
She stared at him.
He smiled, reached out and tucked her into his arms. “This will be fine. But we have to go. You’ve been found, and now we need to make sure you get unfound.”
She let out a garbled laugh. “It’s not that easy. I don’t have any place to go.”
“That’s not the problem right now. Right now the problem is to get gone.” He marched her into the bedroom, saw her bags on the floor, lifted them, put them on the bed and said, “What did you bring?”
Five minutes later, she walked out of the room. “I hardly unpacked.”
“Good,” he said abruptly. “Very good actually.”
He walked into living room with both bags and took a glance around the kitchen. “Did you bring food?”
She rushed over to the fridge. “I did but not too much.” She quickly packed the apples, milk and cheese. “I was planning on doing some more shopping.”
“Bring everything you brought, so we can leave the cabin without power. Leave it all as if you hadn’t been here.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen. There’s garbage and God only knows what else.”
But as she stood and looked around the kitchen, she realized Warrick had already washed up and had the garbage bag ready to take out. She glanced over at him. “Are you always this efficient?”
He gave her a grim smile. “When I have to be, yes.”
Four minutes later she buckled the seat belt on the passenger side of her car. She shook her head. “Why? Why can’t we just stay here? If someone’s watching, they’ll see us leaving. They could follow us.”
Corey turned to look at her. “We can come back later, but right now we have to make sure you stay safe.” He turned on the engine and reversed the car all the way around the house and back up the hill, a feat she didn’t think she could have done. He turned around at the top and followed Warrick out onto the main road.
Warrick’s voice suddenly filled the car. “Bogey on the left.”
Corey yelled out, “Get your head down.”
He dropped his seat back and hit the gas. He roared onto the main road. She heard some weird ping hit the side of her car, and then suddenly they were long gone.
When he sat up, she asked, “Can I sit up now?”
He glanced around. “You can.” He popped the back of his seat up, so it was in its normal position.
She followed suit. “What the hell was that?” she asked, her voice shaky.
“Somebody shot at the vehicle and probably would have got in a decent hit if I hadn’t hit the gas when I did,” he admitted. He pointed out Warrick ahead of them.
Warrick’s voice once again filled the vehicle. “You two okay?”
Corey responded, “Yes, Angela’s a little shook up, but she’s good.”
“Did you see a vehicle?” she asked.
“Not enough to help. And we’re not going back to check either.”
That’s when she saw a cell phone sitting on the dash where the coffee would normally sit and knew the guys had set up the phone call earlier. She stared down at that simple thing and realized just how much she didn’t think the way they did. “Where do we go from here?” she asked, trying for a calm and reasonable tone of voice.
“No idea,” Corey said cheerfully. “Warrick, you got any suggestions?”
“I’m all for taking her back to the base and stashing her with someone there.”
“Hell no,” she said emphatically. “Just because I’m surrounded by military, doesn’t mean I’ll be any safer there.”
“Well, it does because there are checkpoints everybody has to go through,” Corey said. “The thing is, what we have to do is find a safe place for you to go to ground. At least then the detectives can do their job without having to worry about your safety.”
She was horrified at the concept. “Why not just go to your sister’s house?”
“Hell no. We’re not putting her in danger. Somebody actually shot at you. You do realize that means they’re dead serious about killing you now?”
She sat back and asked in a small voice, “So where can I go?”
Warrick, his voice tinny sounding over the phone, said, “We can talk to the police. I’m sure they’ll have a safe house, if you prefer that.”
“And how safe will that be?” she asked.
“No safer than anywhere else. Honestly, the safest place is with us.”
“We do have a few safe houses available to us,” Corey said slowly. “I can always get the locations from Mason.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Warrick said. “We don’t use them often, but they are available. Only they are supposed to be used officially of course.”
“What?” She turned to look at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Sometimes we have to have places to disappear to,” Corey said quietly. “Places for people who need to be safe while plans are made and carried out. For that reason we have a couple houses available.”
She stared at him. “You’re talking about your job, right?”
“Yeah. At least mostly.” He gave her a grin. “Warrick, I’ll give him a call and get back to you.”
“Sounds good. I vote for one in the sun.” And, laughing, he hung up.
“He’s not talking about Mexico, is he?”
“That wouldn’t be ideal, given the circumstances,” Corey said. “Let me talk to Mason, and we’ll see what we can do.” He shut off the call to Warrick and then dialed somebody else.
She settled back, wondering about an organization that actually had houses available, but then law enforcement all across the country had places like it. She’d much rather grab Joshua and take him with her too. But, if that wasn’t an option yet, she’d do whatever she could
to put an end to this nightmare.
*
He recognized when Angela slowly succumbed to the stress and anxiety of the day and fell asleep again. Mason had given him a couple ideas, and, between them, they’d settled on a house in the San Diego suburbs. It was one he hadn’t been in before, so he was looking forward to checking it out.
Someone was heading there now to turn on the fridge and make sure all was well. Angela was exhausted and needed to sleep in a real bed as soon as possible, but they’d be hours getting there.
Mason had also warned him about how quickly this could go south. They’d discussed strategies for several moments, then Mason had gone to his computer to keep digging into the soon-to-be-ex-husband’s activities. There was enough for several of them to work on for hours, if not days.
Corey wasn’t sure how he felt about Angela having been married for seven years. He’d tried so hard to convince her to marry him twelve years ago. It was a cold realization that he hadn’t been enough, but this criminal had been. Maybe the tables had turned, giving him a second chance—if he wanted to try for it.
But it felt like taking advantage of her and this nightmare situation. If it was down the road a few months, he might take several steps in that direction. But right now, she was a mess.
And he didn’t want to add to her confusion. That was what their past relationship had been. He wanted something very different this time around.
His phone rang again. Corey quickly brought Warrick up to speed. “It’s a perfect three-bedroom family home. We’ll need to stop at a grocery store and stock up first. When Angela wakes up, I’ll ask her about a menu.”
“She’s sleeping?” Warrick asked in surprise. “Good. I wasn’t sure she would.”
“She’s exhausted.” He glanced over at her, hating to see the dark circles under her eyes. “She needs to have this nightmare over with.”
“We’re working on it. We work miracles, but even miracles need a day or two.”
With a laugh, Corey rang off and settled in for the long drive.
He hadn’t had such a pleasant afternoon in a long time.