by Diane Taylor
Suddenly, the camera swung around, and focused on Ahmed’s face. “You have a week to find me, little slut. If you do not come to me, I will send this man back to you a piece at a time. I assure you, I have many talented people who will keep him occupied until you arrive. Tah Tah.”
The screen went blank as the DVD ended. Carmen felt like the cold flame of rage ice through her veins. Her vision telescoped, then returned to normal. Gritting her teeth, she growled out one sentence, “Louis, scan check the disk and confirm it’s real with no tampering. Then I want everyone to get the fuck out.”
Beside her, Sean stiffened as if to say something, but kept his mouth shut when she turned her gaze up to his. Her eyes must have let him know just how on edge she had become because he backed off, eyes wide. Only Duncan remained close. As was his habit, he knelt beside her, then leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Trust me when I tell you to look at the floor and do not let anyone else see your eyes. We’ll answer your questions later, but for now, you need time alone. Let me just tell you your eyes are suddenly slitted kitty cat eyes. The rest can be saved for later.”
Carmen nodded and barely heard Louis confirm the disk was real. A moment later, the door clicked shut behind her. Only then did she reach out and take the small red box in her trembling hands. Knowing what it was, and how it got there, didn’t make it any better. Taking a deep breath, she opened the lid. A tortured moan escaped her lips as she lifted the finger out of the nest of shredded newspaper. As replay of what her father had had to endure ripped through her mind, the blow almost drove her to her knees with the emotional torment. After a few moments, she examined the ring attached. Never, in her life, had Carmen seen him remove the ring... ever.
A combination of gold and silver, it was a heavy ring held a deadly little secret all its own. A tweak and twist in a certain direction on the raised Celtic knot work carving revealed a hidden compartment. Anyone who tried to get the ring open by any other means would find themselves very dead from a spring loaded, cyanide filled, needle no bigger than a human hair. Inside the lid, a tiny picture of her and her dad sat. So small a person needed a magnifying glass to identify the people in it. But she knew what it was. The day I turned thirteen and we went to the zoo together. Mom had a fit. The memory brought a brief smile to her face.
The main compartment held two things. One was a cyanide capsule. Another thing she’d known about only her dad didn’t know she found it the one time he had taken it off. The other thing was something of a surprise. She knew enough about electronic tracking bugs to recognize what she was looking at. Nodding to herself, she closed the ring and removed it from the severed finger. As she did so, something caught her eye about the carved surface of the lid. A slow inspection revealed a tiny pinhole. Staring at it brought a savage smile to her face. Her cell phone was in her hand and dialed before she even knew what she’d done. Only when Daria’s voice reached her ears, did she come to her senses.
“Tarrington Security Agency, how may we help you today?”
Daria’s words washed over her and gave her a sense of calmness. The rage receded into the far corner of her mind, allowing her to think clearly. “Daria, thank the gods.”
“Carmen? Jesus, girl. What in hell is going on with you?” Concern colored Daria’s voice
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve got government people crawling all over my office and my people. I’ve got a couple who have been asking about your whereabouts, and I’m up to my eyeballs in the work for my other teams.”
Carmen glanced at the ring’s surface which glinted in the soft light and grinned. “I can take care of the government people, Daria. I have a feeling I know what they want. Better yet, they’ve probably got your phone tapped and are listening in to what we’re saying right now. I hope for their sakes they’re not listening to anything confidential because I’d be very upset.”
“Oh, I think they are, but they’re kind of cute. I wouldn’t mind taking one or two of them out for drinks and dinner, then ripping their clothes off for a night of wild passion.”
Carmen busted out laughing. “I just bet you would. You have a thing for men with big…guns.” she teased. “Just don’t scare the poor dears with your talk of whipped cream and cherries. They might get the wrong idea.”
“Carmen!” The outraged tone made Carmen smile, “That was supposed to be a secret!” A dramatic sigh, “Now I’ll have to devise other ways to trap and molest these guys.”
“Listen, let the them know The Rogue is doing performances all week over here in Vegas. If they want me, someone will point them in the right direction.”
“Right. What else can I do for you?”
“Hmmmmm. Do you remember the recipe for shake-n-bake I sent you? The one with the instructions on how to properly cook the tail?” Carmen knew Daria well enough she could actually say Shake and have it mean Sheik.
A pause, “Hmmm... The Arabian chicken recipe with the princely garnishes which gives off an unusual taste?”
Good, she understood. “As I and my team will be spending the week here with The Rogue, perhaps we should extend an invite? I already have the princely garnishes here, perhaps you could go out of your way to get the shake-n-bake delivered? I’ll make sure front row seats are in the bribe. Perhaps this Friday? The nine o‘clock showing?”
The sound of tap tapping on a keyboard reached Carmen’s ears. “You want me to use the extra crispy recipe?” Meaning the blackmail info.
“No, just do the recipe just like I sent it to you. Just don’t use too much spice, I don’t want you to get burned in the process.” Carmen glanced at the time, “Look, I’ve got to get back to work. Remind me to tell you how sexy The Rogue’s best friend is. Tight ass, washboard abs and he looks absolutely gorgeous in a thong. Oh, and I won’t even mention the tattoos. Yummy.”
The sound of barely suppressed laughter reached Carmen’s ears as Daria worked to control her amusement. “You are so bad, Cameron Marshall. It’s one of the reasons I hired you.”
“Yeah right. When this is over, is there anything you want?”
“Hmmm. How about one of The Rogue’s masks, autographed.” Daria sighed, “I’d have clients green with envy with one of those on my wall.”
“I’ll see what I can do. You be careful back there and I’ll see you when this is over.”
Carmen hung up the phone, feeling a bit better. Daria’s voice had taken some of the rage away and allowed her to think a bit more sensibly. Carefully, she placed the severed finger back in the box and picked up the ring. Without a second thought, she slipped it onto her left ring finger and mentally counted to four. She’d reached three when someone hammered on the door hard enough to rattle the hinges.
“Carmen! Open the fucking door or I’m going to break it down!” Gus’s voice thundered like an injured water buffalo. The power of his voice alone rattled some of the electronic equipment in the room.
Damned moron, doesn’t bother to try the handle first. “Gus, take a deep breath and follow my instructions to the letter, do you hear me?”
“Yeah. What do you want me to do?”
“This is too easy.” Carmen muttered. Then, louder, “Take your right hand, place it firmly on the doorknob, and twist the doorknob a quarter turn counter-clockwise.”
There was a soft click and the door slowly swung inwards, letting in the snickers and chuckles of the people behind Gus. With a muffled curse, he walked through the door. “You gonna let the rest of us in on what happened? Or do we play twenty questions while your dad is somewhere we can’t find?”
Duncan moved into the room and handed her a pair of tinted glasses, dark enough to hide the eyes, but light enough to not arouse suspicions from normal humans. With a nod of thanks, she turned to the fuming man in front of her.
“Call your team in here. I know they’re hanging out in the hallway.” Carmen paused a moment. “And you’d best get someone strong to restrain Bobby because what I’ve got to show you is not going to
be pretty.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “How bad can it be?”
Carmen lifted the lid on the severed finger, “I’m borderline berserk right now. One wrong move on anyone’s part and I’m going to start ripping body parts off screaming people. I’m holding on by a thread. If what I saw on the DVD has put me in this state of mind, imagine what it’s going to do to Bobby and Philipe. You guys’re like brothers. Most of you can keep a level head, but those two are going to go off the deep end.”
Wincing, Gus looked away from the finger, and into her eyes through the glasses. “Mark and I can handle the boys. But before we do this, take off the shades.”
Knowing he’d ask, Carmen pulled them off and then raised her eyes to meet his. When he opened his mouth to ask, she held up a hand. “No, Gus. You don’t have the right to ask and I’m not ready to talk about it. However...” Carmen leaned close and let him see exactly what burned within the depths of her feline eyes. “I want the person responsible for every violation of my father and I want him on his knees begging for mercy he won’t get.” She slipped the glasses back on. “By the way, I’d rather not have to explain the eyes to anyone else until it’s necessary. Now get everyone in here.”
*****
Michelle put an ice pack over Carmen’s jaw. “Well, I’d say this went over like a lead balloon.” She muttered sarcastically as she glared at the two unconscious bodies on the ground in the security room.
Carmen winced. “Be thankful you weren’t in there when they used the strap on in the DVD. It took three of us to hold down one of them and a Glock 9 in the face of the other to keep them from getting out the door and tearing people to pieces. If I hadn’t warned them about the whole thing, I think there wouldn’t have been any stopping them.”
By the end of the video, everyone had at least one serious bruise and Rick had a broken nose before Gus got the bright idea to sucker punch both men. Now they were laid out on the floor, being tended to by their friends. Mark and Gus were talking with Logan, Lois and Carla off by one of the monitors. Fortunately, for her, she hadn’t lost her glasses. Those questions weren’t something she wanted to answer at the moment.
A gentle hand touched her shoulder. “Carmen?” She looked up into The Rogue’s masked face.
“I’m okay. Michelle, can you get everyone together. I think I have an idea to get all the birds with buckshot and a solid slug blast.” Carmen leaned back in the chair she sat in.
“Sure boss.” She walked over to the other group.
“Sean,” she whispered softly. “Set your performances up for an Egyptian theme. Because I have a feeling the shit’s gonna hit the fan with one goddess in the audience and probably a pissed off one once the necklace comes off.”
He nodded. “Already in the works. How are you holding up?”
She sighed. “I’m still feeling like I want to tear things to pieces, but it can be put on hold until we get my dad and get him out of reach of anyone. He’s going to be in a bad way when they find where ever they have him. I want him whole and safe, Sean. I don’t want him to go through this.”
“None of us do, Carmen.” Mark walked in, followed by the other members of both teams. Gus and Rick were present while Bobby and Philippe were still unconscious. “Michelle mentioned you had a plan?”
Before she could explain, Khan showed up. Slowly, he padded through the group, silent as a shadow, yet very visible in his black and white fur. His sudden appearance produced the expected reactions.
“Holy shit!”
“What the Fuck!”
“How in hell did a tiger get in here?”
As most of her people were used to the big cat, they merely stepped out of the way to let him through. The others, however, began reaching for weapons. Hidden or otherwise. Even she could sense the fear pouring off the team. Better diffuse this whole mess before someone gets shot. She thought. “Ease off, guys, you know better than to draw down on The Rogue’s bodyguard.” She put the ice pack on the table. “Or don’t you guys ever read the entertainment section?” Holding out her hand, Khan padded over and cuddled, then put his head in her lap.
Gus backed up to the wall, holding his Glock in a two handed stance. At her words, he pointed it at the floor, but didn’t ease up. “The cat aint even restrained, Carmen! What happens if it goes on a rampage?”
“Look at me, Gus.” She spoke in a commanding voice. When he didn’t, she lowered her voice a bit more and added more force to it. “Gus. Look at Me.”
Startled, he looked up to meet his reflection in her glasses.
“Look at my face.” Her hand went up to touch the scars, both old and new. “I was attacked by a snow leopard which had been tortured beyond its endurance. I know what a rogue cat can do. There would’ve been a time when my guns would have beaten yours to the draw, but not now. Not this time. Khan is special. He’s no danger to anyone in this room.” Her hand scratched behind Khan’s ears and was rewarded by a nibble. “How do you think The Rogue gets away with what he does after the show most of the time? Now put the damned gun up and get your ass over here.”
Khan’s mental voice caressed her mind. “Geeze, Big Bad men almost stampede for the door at the first sign of the unknown. I’d laugh if I were in human form.”
As Gus edged closer, she sent a shaft of thought to the cat. “Duncan, damn it. You should know better than to pull a stunt like this. Now act like a good cat or else I’ll get the spray bottle and the ketamine!” To the rest of the room. “Okay, The Rogue here is going to be doing a week long run of performances here in Las Vegas. My team’s job, as per our contract, is to keep him out of trouble. Unfortunately, there are several factors which are getting in the way of us keeping to our job. I’ve got plans in the works to get the major players all together in one spot for one performance. Ahmed gave us a week to find him. I’ve got a damned good idea where he’ll be during the last performance. Because his father’s not gonna let him ignore a summons to join him in the front row.” Carmen looked up at Sean. “The invites gone out. Sheik Ali Hamadi and his wife will be joining us for your final performance. My boss will call me when the Sheik gets back to her about Friday‘s performance. Yasmeen and her brother will be expected to show up as well to spend time bonding with the family.”
She looked at her dad’s friends. “Who here has the clearance to get the government goons off Daria Randall’s ass? Her phones are bugged and they’ve been harassing her almost every other day with questions about clients and she’s getting very annoyed.” No hands showed and she frowned, “Okay, so don’t let me know. But get them off her ass before she and I start discussing sexual fantasies over the phone lines. If you know anything about women, my friends, we can get very inventive about who and what we will do to a man if given the opportunity. Should those fantasies involve those listening in, I don’t think their superiors would appreciate it if those tapes became public knowledge.”
Shuffling feet and embarrassed coughs greeted her statement and Carmen allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. “I’m sure my point was just made. Now, I have an idea, but I’m going to toss it out for you guys to mull over. Rick? Who had surveillance on dad’s ring when he was taken?”
“I did.” Rick nodded.
“Fine. You and Logan get together and see what you can do about finding out where he was when he got taken.” Carmen lifted her hand to show Rick the ring, “I found the pinhole, Rick. Something must have shown in the video. See if you can’t ID some of the people on the video from the ring and the DVD. If it’s Sam Lodina, I want him. Badly. He’s already been on my shit list for a while, and I want him to know exactly how far over the line he’s gone.” She looked at everyone else in the room. “You find him, you keep him safe because I have a few things I want to say to him.”
They nodded.
“Okay. The Rogue is going to do his Egyptian themed performance on Friday. If all goes as planned, the entire Hamadi family, as I have said, will be there. If they’re at the perf
ormance, they won’t be where dad is.” She looked at Gus, “Your job, right? To get the goods on Yasmeen and Ahmed’s human slave trade?”
He nodded. “Top priority as a matter of fact.”
“Good. You can use the kidnapping and torture of one of your own to raid and/or get the evidence from wherever Dad is being kept. Got it? I want you to let me know when he’s free. The show is what, Rogue, an hour long?”
Sean nodded. “I can possibly extend it to an hour and a half, but people begin to lose interest if it goes on any longer.”
“You have an hour. Dad has got to be out and gone to a safe place by the end of the performance. Leave the rest of it to my team. Do you want to leave the sleeping beauties with me and let me put them somewhere on my security team? Or will they behave themselves in the situation they might find themselves in?”
Bobby sat up with a groan. “We’ll control ourselves, Carmen.” He rubbed his chin and glared at Gus before sighing. “Even if I have to cold cock Philippe myself.”
Carmen nodded. “The moment you radio me with the extraction, we can take out the two who will be at the show on Friday. Agreed?”
Nods all the way around.
“Okay, everyone knows what’s going on, get busy and work the scenarios. You’ve got,” Carmen glanced at the calendar. “Five days.”
Chapter Ten
“Damn it... What’s taking them so long?” Carmen snarled for the hundredth time during the introduction of The Rogue to the stage. “And who the hell decided I should be out on stage. I’m supposed to be back behind the wings. Not out in front of the stage lights. Geeze.” She angrily swiped at the skin tight robes of peacock blue the production crew had stuck her in, then reached up to scratch underneath the black wig, only to remember the whole thing integrated into the leather cat mask covering most of her face. At least they modified the costume to allow for the shoulder holster and the two throwing knives, one for each vambrace.