by Dale Mayer
She smiled up at him. “Excellent. We’re discussing whether I’d be allowed to leave today and spend the night with him watching over me.”
The doctor shook his head. “Not after surgery. We must keep you at least overnight.”
“Fine then.” She settled back, seriously unimpressed with the cut-and-dried answer.
Their discussion continued for another moment about where she would go when she was released and that she’d need rehab for continuing care, unless her own doctor could provide that service.
Once the doctor left, she was tired again. She shook her head. “How can I be tired? I just woke up.”
Michael smiled, reached over and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “Sleep, sweetie. Just sleep.”
She gave him a sleepy smile, curled up, still holding his hand, and closed her eyes. She was asleep within seconds.
*
Michael waited until he was sure she’d fallen asleep again. Then he grabbed his cell phone and stepped out into the hall. He quickly sent Levi a text, giving him an update. When the phone rang seconds later, he knew who it was.
“Get your head back in the game,” Levi said. “We’ll keep her safe. But you need to return and set this up.”
Michael groaned. “I know. My boss, Bruce, is expecting me at noon.”
“Well, guess what? You’re late.” Levi hung up.
He stared down at his phone and knew Levi was right. He was late. He made the call to Bruce to report in. “On my way.”
“Good, the work is piling up,” was his only response.
But at least Michael hadn’t been fired. Back in Mercy’s corner room, he wrote down a little note on the scratchpad and left it at her side. Then he walked outside, climbed into his truck and headed back to the estate. So much had happened and yet, not enough. He needed to play the game for a little longer.
He struggled to focus on the drive. He was worried about leaving Mercy behind even though he had received a text from Ice, confirming she was at Mercy’s side. At least he could stop worrying about that now.
As he drove in through the gate, one of the security men held up a hand and waved. Michael waved back, parked in front of his apartment and went to work.
He grabbed the wheelbarrow and dove into the mundane chores of weeding and raking out the front beds. He didn’t know exactly what he was to work on after this but figured Bruce would get a hold of Michael soon enough.
About twenty minutes later his boss walked over to where he worked. They talked about a few nonessential things, and then Bruce handed over a work list. “We’ve got more company coming, and the owner wants the cedars thinned out along the driveway.”
Michael looked at the long line of cedars in surprise. “All of them?”
Bruce nodded. “He’s contemplating pulling them all down so there is increased visibility down the driveway.”
“That would be a shame. I’ll take away all the deadwood. Cedars are notorious for being full of dead branches and leaves on the inside. It’ll make a huge difference if I can get that cleaned up.”
His boss nodded. “That’s your focus for the rest of the day.” And, on that note, he walked away.
Michael kept a vigilant yet, distant watch. Nobody approached him while he worked. It was slow, hot, dusty work. The cedars were full and hadn’t been cleaned out since probably forever. He gently opened them up, gave them a shake, cleaned out all the crap, grabbed the blower and blasted out all the debris inside the trees.
Three hours had gone by, and he’d only worked on about nine trees out of least thirty along this stretch. He would be here all of tomorrow.
Working on the next cedar, he broke up a huge pile of deadwood to dispose of, needing the trailer to collect all the debris. Walking back to the utility truck, he hopped in and backed up to the trailer, hooked on, and then drove down the driveway.
As he came up against the cedars, he could hear shouts behind him. He hit the brakes, stopped, and hopped out. “What’s the matter?” he called.
Two guards raced up to him. “You can’t enter that area.”
He stopped and stared at them in surprise. Then he glanced down the road and said, “Okay.” He shrugged as if he didn’t care. He motioned to all the pruning piles set in front of each of the cedars he’d cleaned out. “I was only going this far anyway, to collect the debris.”
The men looked from him to the truck, then to the piles and nodded. “I’ll leave two men here with you,” he said. Then he slowly turned and walked about twenty-five feet away. He stared at Michael and warned, “Make sure you don’t go past the cedars.”
“Whatever you say.” Michael grabbed the rake and loaded up the first pile.
The truck trailer was more than three-quarters full by the time he cleaned up his pruning efforts so far. He eyed the trailer’s capacity and then decided he could add the pruning from another couple cedars. He’d rather do the least amount of dump trips as possible.
He went to the next cedar and got started. He ignored the two men standing at the side of the road. He was also surprised they’d made it so blatant. He was all for them to make a move. Rage at what they’d done to Mercy ate at him. He was in control, but if they gave him a reason to break cover …
He pruned two more cedars, swearing and cussing about the irritating branches, making him itch, causing a rash on his skin. He loaded it all up into the trailer, then grabbed the broom to clear some of the finer debris, but he couldn’t do a whole lot with it because this was a gravel road. Sweeping up what he could onto a tarp, he loaded the last of it in the trailer, putting the tarp over the load in the trailer.
He tied it down and said, “I’m heading to the dump now. Anybody coming with me?”
The two men looked at each other, then Robert, who had gone with Michael the last time, said, “I’ll go.”
Walking around the truck, he hopped into the front passenger seat. Michael pointed ahead. “Can I go down that way and turn around?”
Robert shook his head. “Nope, not allowed. Back up.”
Swearing under his breath, Michael twisted in the seat, reversed, and slowly drove the trailer down the road. He had lots of experience driving trucks and trailers but had hoped for a chance to go farther down and turn around. But of course they wouldn’t let him. When he finally turned around, facing the right way, he headed toward the main gate and out. “Must be quite the company if this much work is being done to prepare for them.”
“Doesn’t matter if it is or not,” Robert said. “It’s none of your business.”
“Fair enough,” Michael said.
He drove in silence during the twenty-minute trip, taking longer due to the heavy traffic. When they got to the composting material area of the dump, Michael turned the truck around and backed it up to an edge of a huge hole. Once there, he opened the tailgate, jumped into the back of the trailer and raked. It was more of the hot, dusty work. It was a good thing he was well used to manual labor.
When he climbed into the truck cab, Robert hadn’t moved. But he was on his phone. Michael drove back toward the estate. “Time for a cold beer,” he said in a conversational tone.
Robert snorted, putting down his phone. “I’m not off duty for another few hours. No beer for me.”
“I’ll be drinking of you,” Michael said with a laugh. “This was pretty hot and shitty work today. I’m looking forward to having one.” He drove up to the front gate, but another truck pulled out right in front of him. He slammed on the brakes hard.
The other driver gave Michael the finger and drove out.
A black SUV with smoked windows. Great for privacy. Very suspicious. Under his breath, as part of the act, Michael muttered, “Asshole.”
Robert snorted. “Are you kidding? Most of these guys are assholes.”
A shout sounded from the far side.
Robert shook his head, pointing to the parking lot. “They’re calling for me. I gotta go.” He opened the door.
Before Michael had a cha
nce to come to a complete stop, the guard was out and gone, racing to the other vehicles, already running. Robert bailed into the front seat of one, and they drove out of the estate parking lot at top speed. Michael slowly drove around to the back where he parked the utility truck. He pulled Robert’s phone from between the seats, where it had jammed after Michael had hit the brakes, and pocketed it. He had a small window of time to go through Robert’s cell before Michael had to stash it again in the vehicle. Once Robert realized his phone was missing, he’d be back here immediately to search the truck.
Michael raced inside and upstairs. Soon he was locked in. He didn’t have the time but couldn’t miss sweeping the apartment for more electronic devices. As soon as he was done, he copied over all Robert’s Contacts to his own phone. Then Michael copied the history of texts. What he had to do was make sure there was no sign of his intrusiveness afterward.
Getting in with the password was easy. Instead of coming up with a unique swipe, Robert had used a simple swipe pattern. Michael had seen Robert do it several times when he rode in the vehicle, so that wasn’t an issue. Now that Michael was in, he busily moved through dozens and dozens of conversations. While in progress, he hooked up his USB to his phone, downloading them as he continued to take photos. On his laptop he sent everything to Ice and Levi and the commander. He wasn’t exactly sure what he had here, but he had to get copies of everything as fast as he could.
Heart pounding, racing against time, he kept going. Snap, snap, snap. Again and again and again until he had as much as he could. He went through a couple conversations in an email account and copied them. This guy had everything open on his phone. Realizing copying directly from the SIM card might be faster, Michael pulled out the card, inserted it in his laptop and copied everything. When done, he replaced the card in Robert’s phone and continued through the text messages. Michael didn’t know what kind of timeframe he had, but he kept checking the gates for when the vehicles returned.
Finally, he came to the end. He quickly raced to the utility truck, wiping the phone free of his fingerprints, and stashed the cell between the two seats where it had been earlier. Leaving the truck unlocked, he headed to his place, where he put on coffee. He’d prefer a beer, but no alcohol while on duty.
Only ten minutes later the vehicles ripped back onto the estate. Michael tried to keep an eye on what they were doing, but they had pulled around back, where they couldn’t be seen. From Michael’s bedroom window, he watched as Robert raced to the truck, opened the door, and checked inside. Michael watched a look of relief on his face when he found his cell phone. Robert quickly pocketed the phone with a surreptitious look and rejoined the crew heading toward the big house. Michael had a pretty good idea that Robert wouldn’t let anybody know he’d let his phone out of his sight. Now Michael had to hope what he had found on Robert’s cell would break this murdering operation wide open.
Chapter 19
Mercy smiled at Ice when she returned with two cups of coffee.
“Levi just brought these for us.”
Mercy chuckled. “Must be nice to have such an attentive man.”
Ice gave her a wicked smile. “It’s deadly nice. I highly recommend it.”
Mercy shrugged, blushing slightly. “Maybe. We’ll see.”
Ice laughed. “Michael is a good guy. He was hell on wheels in the military.”
Mercy nodded smiling at her initial assessment that she could see him in the military. “He is. He seems to be a little lost too.” She thought about what she’d just said and shook her head. “No, he was lost, but he’s more found now than ever.”
“That’s an interesting statement.”
“Whatever caused him to leave the military had him trying to find his way this last year. So whatever he’s doing now, whoever called him in to do this, did him a big favor. He enjoys this kind of work.”
“Because he’s good at it.”
Mercy nodded. “So very true.”
“Hopefully we can convince him to work for us afterward.”
“He’s more concerned about not wanting or liking the move. He mentioned the fact that he’s settled where he is and doesn’t want to live on the compound.”
“Both valid points.” Ice thought about it and was quiet for a moment. “Some of our members live in town or on property close by. Not everyone needs to be on the compound.”
“Good. Not sure he’s convinced yet.”
“We’ve got time to work on him.”
Mercy relaxed, happy to be away from the estate, knowing other people were looking out for her, that people were still working on her sister’s case. She couldn’t bring her sister back, but it would be nice to have answers and justice for her. Mercy also felt better knowing her sister had had Sammy, even if only for a short time. Anna had looked so happy in the pictures.
Mercy was delighted she’d found someone for herself. Life came with so many uncertainties. For a while, she wanted a few certainties. Something she could count on. Like the sun rising and setting every day. She wanted to wake up and see Michael’s face and have it be the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes for the night.
That might not happen for a while, but she knew she’d move with him in a heartbeat if he asked.
Like her sister, she had felt trapped by the family scenario growing up.
Her mother had been poor; she and Mercy had worked hard. While still in school, Mercy felt like she was on an endless slog to an uncertain and dark future. She’d been jealous when her sister broke free of that life. Mercy had imagined Anna’s experience in so many ways. Throughout the years Mercy had hoped her sister was traveling the world, becoming a globe-trotting independent businesswoman. She’d cast her sister in many different scenarios.
Yet, the reality was more like Anna living on the streets and selling herself for her next fix, but Mercy had never let herself think that way for long. To find out that her sister had landed a job at the estate with hard but honest work and had found Sammy, a good man, made her heart smile. It was so damn sad to not have known her sister at the end.
Her phone rang a few minutes later. Ice walked to the table—out of Mercy’s reach—and handed it to her. It was Michael. She smiled as she clicked it on. “Hey, sweetie. How you doing?”
The rumble of his warm laughter filled her with joy. “I’m checking in to see how you’re doing.”
A muffled thump came on the other end of the phone. “Michael? Michael, are you okay?”
Silence followed. Then she could hear the phone moving around. A strange voice came on and said, “He is safe, for the moment. But, if you don’t show up soon, he won’t be.”
“Wait. Who is this?”
And the phone went dead in her hand.
*
Michael woke up briefly, his limbs tied together as he was dragged along the ground. His head hit several rocks and jostled. He tried to shake the cobwebs from his mind, but the back of his head was pounding, and he realized somebody had sneaked up behind him while on the phone and taken him out. He wanted to scream in rage. Was everybody on this estate corrupt?
Two other men walked over, one on each side of Michael, and each picked up an arm and carried him. Then they lifted him up and threw him in the back of a pickup bed. His whole body screamed in protest. His head swam, but, with great difficulty, he retained consciousness. He locked on the image of Mercy, his mind determined to stay awake. He managed it for all of five minutes, until a second blow cracked down against his skull. The world blacked out.
Chapter 20
“Somebody just hit Michael,” Mercy cried.
Ice’s eyebrows shot up as she grabbed her phone.
Mercy swung to the side of the bed and gripped the metal railing as the room narrowed to one white dot. “I don’t give a damn if the room is swimming around me,” she said in a fury. “I have to get to Michael.” With a couple deep breaths, everything calmed enough so that she ripped the IVs from her arm and the tape off her wrists. She struggl
ed to her feet and walked to the closet, opening both doors to see if anything was inside. It was empty. “Where are my clothes?”
“Easy. You’re not going anywhere,” Ice snapped.
Mercy turned on her, her fury finding a target. “They said they’re gonna hurt Michael if I don’t get there.” She shook her head and wished she hadn’t. “I have to go. They’ll swap him for me. I have to help him if I can.”
“You can barely stand,” Ice said.
“Maybe, but if you drive me close enough, I can do the rest.”
“No way in hell.”
Mercy jutted out her chin. “And no way in hell I’m not going. Michael’s done so much for me. I can’t leave him in the lurch.”
“None of us will leave him. A team’s being mounted right now. We’ll go in to rescue him.”
“That’s fine, but we’re taking a chance with his life. They have to see me to know I’m there. They’d probably want to take me out at the same time as him. Like they did with my sister and Sammy. These assholes won’t take no for an answer.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I know. But we’re well past the point of too dangerous,” Mercy said with more force than she intended. “This has to happen, and it has to happen now.” She motioned toward the bed. “Do something constructive. Find something for me to wear. Because I will get out of this hospital, even in this gown, with or without you.”
Ice studied Mercy’s expression for a long moment and then gave a clipped nod. She raced from the room. As soon as she was gone, Mercy leaned against the closet doors. “Better save that bravado for when you will really need it, girl.”
She made her way to the bathroom, quickly washed her face, used the facilities, and then came back out. Ice returned with a bag.
“The only thing wearable is your underwear and jeans, and even those are bloody. I found a sweatshirt in the lost and found.”
Pushing the pain back down where it belonged, Mercy dressed, her mind figuring out how to get into the estate. Could she count on her ability to drive? “My car is still at the estate, isn’t it?”