Now, he wasn’t so sure.
“Sir, you’re not allowed to do that.” His voice was deep, scary enough to suit the size of this mountain of a man. It was how Robbie imagined Lenny should sound from Of Mice and Men. Minus the stupidity.
“You know I’m your superior, right? You’re aware that I outrank you?” Robbie said, although it was rhetorical. He was beginning to sweat now. The size of this man was unnatural. Would he be attacked in the workplace again? Perhaps not, but Robbie was coming to look like the odd one out. Like he was the one disobeying orders, disagreeing with everyone else. It wasn’t far off the mark either, but his reasons were not what they’d probably imagined. All Robbie cared about was his family, and removing Val Salinger was the only way to keep them safe.
The mountain man seemed not to react to what Robbie had said, just stood in front of him like a towering roadblock.
Robbie tried to step around him.
Mountain side-stepped back into his path. “If you take this man, you’re breaking laws yourself, and I won’t allow that.” He seemed more than adamant.
Robbie’s knew the law like the back of his hand. There was no law stating that he couldn’t release somebody who’d been taken into custody. After all, there was no evidence against Val either. “Move out of my way.”
“No,” Mountain said, stubborn like a child but big enough to prove otherwise.
The door pinged open behind him.
Robbie was half a second from making a move when Val Salinger broke free of his grasp and lunged forward. His hands were still bound in front of him, but that didn’t seem to stop him. In the blink of an eye, he lifted his heel and drove it into Mountain’s shin.
Mountain cried out in pain, dropped to a crouch.
Val’s knee rocketed up and took Mountain in the face with a crunching sound.
Robbie’s breath shot out in surprise. He hesitated for a moment then collected himself, grabbing Val Salinger by the arm. I’m going to be in a great deal of shit for this, he thought, slamming Salinger into the elevator and pressing the button for the doors to close. As they did, he saw Mountain climbing up off the floor, his face a bloodstained picture of red. It didn’t look as though he would get up fast enough, and he certainly wouldn’t be coming after them any time soon. But there would be others, Robbie knew, and that was enough to make him desperate to get out of there real fast.
As the elevator took them down seven floors, Robbie looked at Val. How had such an old man managed to take down a guy so big that Robbie himself would have struggled? Robbie wasn’t a small man by any means—average height, well shaped, and in good health. Still, Mountain would have given him a run for his money, but Val had done it in three seconds flat. No resistance, no struggle. A simple crack and the man was down, cradling his nose like a little boy who’d fallen on the playground.
The bell rang, and the doors slid open. Robbie took Val by the arm again and led him out through the main reception, his eyes scanning all around him. He looked to the receptionist, awaiting some kind of resistance. But there was nothing. She simply looked up from her work and shot one of those corner-of-the-mouth smiles at him before returning to whatever she had been doing.
“Something’s not right,” Val whispered as he was escorted across the squeaky floor.
“You’re telling me,” Robbie agreed. Something was off about this scene. Where so many people had tried to stop him upstairs, where such a fuss was made over him taking Val Salinger out of the building, there was now nothing. Nobody. Robbie knew the security in this place, and there was no way they could get this far without Mountain or Melissa phoning down to make sure the front doors were sealed. But people were swinging in and out of the main glass doors, coming and going, unaffected by what had happened upstairs as if the elevator had transported them to a different world.
Robbie crossed the room and rushed Val through the door. They half-walked, half-ran around the back, where Robbie had parked his car earlier that day, back when things had been so much simpler. Back when his family was safe. Before Val Salinger.
Robbie escorted Val into the passenger seat and then walked around to climb in behind the wheel. He was still looking all around him, expecting a number of squad cars to pin him in, arrest Val for assaulting a police officer, arrest Robbie for… aiding a felon? If there really had been evidence against Val, then Mountain was right; Robbie really was breaking the law. Doing a crap job, if nothing else. But that was to the untrained eye. That was to people who had no clue about what had happened to him that day.
“Seems we’re in the clear,” Val said, glancing up and down the road as they pulled onto it. “So, about your family…”
“Shut up, Salinger,” Robbie snapped, trying to keep his eyes on the road. “My day was going great until you came along. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need you.”
“What exactly has happened, Detective?” His voice was monotone for once, like he was ready to shut up and listen, unfazed by the events inside.
Robbie’s heart was still pounding. It seemed to him like they were out of the woods, but it didn’t feel that simple. “I’ll fill you in on the way. First, we’re going to make sure my family’s safe. Then, you’re going to tell me everything you know about the Agency.”
“The Agency? Oh, it’s not that simple,” Val said, leaning forward and dumping a pair of handcuffs onto the dashboard.
“What the—” Robbie was taken aback, but then he saw Val drop the key next to them.
“You should learn to be more aware of your surroundings. Plenty of pickpockets around.” He gave a short, sharp laugh of self-pride. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do, Detective. But then I’m going to find my son.”
“I’m counting on it,” Robbie told him. Somewhere over the course of the day, he’d become a fugitive. An outlaw. His life would be different now, until either he was dead or the Agency was shut down. And if letting Val Salinger go was the only way to do the latter, then Detective Robbie Parker would do it without question.
“Well,” Val said, “you made the right choice.”
Chapter Eighteen
The boss demanded he be there. That he let Detective Parker leave without hassle. And who was Sergeant Houston to argue with that? In the short space of time he’d been with the Agency, his eyes had been opened to just how wonderful a thing it really was. People around the world who caused political trouble—evildoers, he called them—were gunned down for the greater good. If there were threats the police were too tactical about avoiding, the Agency would pay a great deal of money for him to tie up that loose end.
Then there was the boss himself: short, sweet, and rewarding. Houston had fallen for him. He’d never had such feelings for a man before. Why would he? His wife and kids gave him all the love he’d ever needed. They offered stability. The normal life that society demanded he achieve. But there was something else. Not a desire, not a lust to be with the man they called Charlie, but a respect that got his heart pumping at abnormal speeds. Houston wasn’t a gay man, he knew that for certain, but then why such heartfelt devotion? He didn’t know. Maybe he would find out someday. Until then, he could do nothing but offer his absolute loyalty, to him and to the job.
It seemed to have taken forever, but Detective Parker emerged from the building, taking the slope into the underground car park. As predicted, he had Salinger in his grasp, and he escorted him into the front seat. They made short work of getting out of there.
Houston waited until they were out of sight before he started his own engine. When he did, he sped to catch up, came onto the street and caught sight of them again.
Just where are you going, Parker?
For what felt like an eternity, he followed them, keeping a few cars behind so as not to be spotted. He’d done this a thousand times, but never with Robbie. Never with his boss (the detective—not his real boss). He was getting so good at this that it felt effortless; he could follow people for hours on end, learning more about their persona
lities than he’d originally thought. It was amazing to him just now natural people were when pitted behind the wheel of a car. They turned primitive. Their safety was on the line, and if people threatened it, even the most timid of people flipped each other off. A part of that, he had no doubt, was because they felt more secure when contained within their big metal machines. Nobody could push them, slap them or tell them to settle down. It was like being a warrior who could speed off into the distance before any real danger landed. In short, they were cowards.
The car slowed down and rounded onto a housing estate, and then pulled onto the drive of a modern three-story house. At first glance, it looked like a small block of flats, but then Houston leaned forward to see that it was the kind of house a detective could buy. At one time in his life, Houston had aspired to become that, but his mind had soon changed when he was introduced to the Agency, in which there was far more scope for progression. From then on, it’d been only a matter of training, which hadn’t been easy in the slightest, but he’d been learning to stay safe.
Just then, he parked across the road to maintain a safe distance and watched as Detective Parker stepped out. Val Salinger followed.
Houston reached into the glove box and grabbed his firearm. He wasn’t sure just how much he would need it—or if he would need it at all—but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Robbie slid his key into the lock and burst through the door using his shoulder.
“Sonia?” he yelled as he ran from room to room. He’d promised he would not use that key until she told him she was comfortable with him being back inside the house, but now was not the time for courtesies. “Sonia? Cassie?”
He’d left Val outside, and the house was silent.
Only one room remained to be checked—the spare bedroom, which they’d yet to put a bed in. When they’d agreed on it being a spare bedroom, it had remained as exactly that—an agreement. As per usual, Robbie hadn’t found the time to start decorating.
He lunged across the landing and exploded into the room, desperate to find his family in there, safe and sound. He thought that maybe they’d been asleep and not heard him shouting to them.
But the room was empty.
Robbie leaned against the doorframe, trying not to let the worst creep into his head. That was a challenge in itself; he’d left Sonia here with their daughter not so long ago, and now they were gone. Those were the facts, and they could not be ignored.
A startling bang sounded from downstairs.
Robbie jumped, the hairs on the nape of his neck standing to attention.
The front door.
Careful not to give himself away, he crept across the landing and peered down the stairs. He couldn’t see the front door from there, but the faintest of shadows maneuvered across the carpet and spewed up onto the wall. Someone was in the house. This was one of those moments Robbie wished he had some kind of firearm or even a knife. Anything that would help him defend himself against the intruders. Truth was, he hated having such a deadly weapon strapped to his body—he was less likely to make a mistake with the gun locked in his desk drawer.
The Agency. They’ve come for me.
Wondering if Val was okay but taking every precaution, he looked to his right at a china ornament—a mostly blue Victorian lady, ridiculous umbrella and all—that had been given to Sonia by her mother on her thirtieth birthday. Robbie grabbed it, held it in the palm of his hand. He’d always thought it was hideous anyway. Smashing it around someone’s skull wouldn’t be the worst thing.
Weapon in hand, nerves steeled, he tip-toed down the stairs one small step at a time.
There were voices now; only a faint mumble at first, but then growing louder the closer he got. There was a man’s voice, that was for sure. And a woman? Robbie couldn’t tell, but he was ready to attack anyone who threatened his family, regardless of gender, age or size. He hit the last two steps and stumbled as he reached the bottom, and then quickly regained his balance.
Fool.
“Robbie?” That voice. That woman’s voice. So familiar. Such a soft melody to his ears.
“Daddy!” little Cassie cried and ran toward him with her arms spread wide. She ran into Robbie with an oomph, and he placed the ornament on the dresser. Cassie stayed where she was stood, looking at him as if she knew something was wrong.
Robbie saw that the front door was wide open, and then his eyes landed on the shopping bags in her hand. He let out a sigh of relief and held Cassie tighter. “You’re okay,” he said, mostly to assure himself.
“What are you doing here? Who’s this man?” She was pointing at Val who lingered in the doorframe. He disappeared out of sight. “Aren’t you supposed to be—”
“One thing at a time.” Robbie knelt down to his daughter, cupping her cheek in his hand and gazing deep into her innocent, young eyes. “Would you like to go on another trip?”
Her eyes lit up. “Where?”
“Yes, where?” Sonia interrupted with a hand sitting on her hip.
Robbie ignored her. “Anywhere you like, honey. Have you unpacked yet? Run upstairs and grab your suitcase. Run along now.”
Cassie bounced up the stairs, safe and out of the way for a moment.
Robbie crossed the hallway to his wife and took her by the shoulders. “Sonia, you need to listen to me.”
“Robbie, you’re scaring me.” Sonia fidgeted, shrugging half-heartedly to break free.
“I’m sorry, but you have to go,” he said in his most calming tone. He could feel himself beginning to perspire. “Use the credit card at an ATM, take as much as you can, then cut the card up, okay? And take Cassie somewhere. Anywhere that you don’t have to sign digitally. A bed and breakfast; somewhere like that.” The suggestion had come to him out of the blue. It made sense that they could be found if they left any form of digital footprint. If the police could find them that way, he had little doubt the Agency could, too.
Cassie came bounding down the stairs with her suitcase in tow.
“Apologize to her for me. When she realizes she’s not exactly heading to Disneyland.”
Sonia seemed to suddenly understand. Not what the danger was, but that there was danger. This was the part of his job she’d never liked, and she had no trouble confessing her feelings toward it. Nevertheless, she understood and knew he was only trying to keep her safe. “How long should we be gone for?”
Robbie exhaled. He had no idea. “I’ll keep in touch when I can. Just turn it on for the first five minutes of every hour, and don’t tell anyone where you are. Not even me. And don’t…” He took her by the shoulders again, gave her a look that suggested just how serious he was. “Do not come back until I say.”
Val poked his head though the door. “Sorry to interrupt. I hope you don’t mind, but I hailed a cab. It’s waiting outside.”
“Who is this?” Sonia moaned, suddenly alive with anger and confusion again.
Robbie encouraged her toward the door as Val stepped out of their way. “Thanks, Val.” He turned to Sonia, and then he kissed her hard upon the lips. She didn’t pull away. “Stay safe, okay?” He mussed Cassie’s hair and found it hard to look at her, though he did anyway. “Have fun, little girl. Daddy will be along soon.”
As they hurried into the cab, Cassie waddling two paces behind, Robbie pulled the front door shut and walked toward the drive. His heart was breaking inside his body, the shards falling away as it bled. He watched them go, his daughter folding her fingers into her palm out of the back window. Robbie waved back until they were out of sight.
“They’ll be okay,” Val said, stepping up beside him on the doorstep.
“I hope so.” Robbie’s head was a mess. He felt like complete crap, a cocktail of fatigue and fear. “Now, let’s go find your son,” he said, knowing he would soon come to regret it. “Lead the way.”
Val Salinger strode toward the car.
Robbie followed, realizing that as he was leaving his family, he would be helping this man be reunited w
ith his. That was what he hoped, anyway. If he was wrong, there would be no end to the torture he was currently going through.
Chapter Nineteen
Blake was a child playing an adult’s game. At least that was how it felt.
Stood outside alone, tiredness creeping on him by the hour, he waited. This was something he never seemed to be able to grow accustomed to: the waiting, the stalking. He felt creepy. Dirty. He shivered, partly because of the cold and partly because of the feeling his lingering created for him.
When he’d first taken a position, leaning against a large marble ball (which supposedly constituted an art sculpture in the eyes of today’s society), the whole street was quiet save for the passing of cars. People were on their way home from work. Rush hour, but not actually rushing. There was beeping and car stereos singing out bass-filled tunes. The sky was darkening around him, and there was a fresh smell in the air. Blake couldn’t quite make out what that scent was, other than to say it was “the smell of Christmas.” Though it was weeks away and he hated the event, he still enjoyed the time of year, wrapping up nice and warm as the days got darker earlier.
Across the road from him, a group of youngsters congregated outside the bank. Their clothes were suited for something athletic, though they wore woolly hats. Their suspicious loitering made them look like the kinds of thieves Tim Burton might create—bandits preparing to head inside and break open the vault.
Blake rolled his eyes.
“He’s taking his precious time about it,” came Jackie’s voice in his earpiece.
Blake cupped his hands over his mouth, playacting like he was about to sneeze but really just hiding his lips. “Yep. But at least you’re in a nice warm van. Comfortable in there?” He pulled his hands away and zipped up his jacket as if he’d reminded himself it was freezing outside.
“At least you have room to move your legs. Spacious out there?”
The back-and-fourth was a nice distraction from recent events. It helped mask the state of things, but it didn’t remove the problem.
The Bloodline Trilogy Page 26