by Cat Johnson
Trey touched his arm to get his attention. “If we don’t do this here, we’ll have to either split up or leave Nicki here alone.”
Jack breathed in deep. He definitely wanted to be in on bringing down these two, but there was no way he was going too far from Nicki’s side either. He had no choice but to agree to Jimmy’s plan. “All right. Give us ten minutes and then lead them here.”
“Great! See you then.” He could almost hear his brother’s excitement through the cell phone.
Trey was laying the spare weapons and flak jacket he’d brought for Jack out on the table when Matt closed his laptop triumphantly. “Done. One mobster down, two to go.” He secured the Velcro closures on his own bulletproof vest and then began checking his weapon. “And for once, I get to be in on the real action instead of stuck in a van full of computers somewhere.”
Jack shook his head. “So glad I could help entertain you, Matt. Now here’s the plan—we set up outside in the trees. We take these two down before they ever hit the front porch or set foot near Nicki.”
“Take them down how, Jack? What are we aiming to end up with, bodies or prisoners?”
Good question. What sort of force was warranted here? Usually this kind of decision was the commander’s, or Central Command’s. Jack was just considering that when the sound of tires on the road had all three of their heads snapping up.
“Car,” Trey announced needlessly.
Jack killed the kerosene lamp, grabbed the handgun and stood behind the door. “That was not ten minutes and that doesn’t sound anything like my brother’s truck.”
Trey closed his flak jacket and cocked a brow at Matt, whose weapon was already out. “You remember how to shoot that thing?”
Matt scowled, but didn’t have time to answer because Nicki chose that moment to sit straight up. “Jack? What’s happening?”
“Darlin’, I need you to get up, go into the bathroom and lay down in the bathtub. Don’t move until I come and get you. Okay?”
Jack slowly edged his head to the window. He saw Bobby Barton getting out of his sheriff’s car. He hadn’t seen Bobby in years, and yet here he was for the second time this night.
Jack called out the window to him. “Damn it, Bobby. Are you following me? Get your butt inside right this minute. We have a situation here.”
Bobby opened the cabin door and blinked in the darkness. “I got a call that a strange car was driving on the private road toward your cabin.”
His eyes must have eventually gotten used to the dim moonlight that filtered into the cabin through the windows, because he looked from one black-clad figure to the next to the last. “Uh, Jack? What’s going on here? You’re not a member of one of those radical groups that wants to blow up the government or something, are you?”
Jack would have laughed at that if he weren’t so wired. “No, Bobby. You know I’m military. We work for the government, not against it.”
“I know that, Jack. But you have to admit this looks pretty strange.” Bobby eyed Matt and Trey suspiciously.
Jack couldn’t blame Bobby for being doubtful. It wasn’t like this was an official operation by any stretch of the imagination. “Bobby, this is Matt and Trey. They’re two of my teammates from the task force. That’s all I can tell you except that we’ve got two New York mobsters out to hurt Nicki. Right now they’re following Jimmy and he’s leading them here so we can ambush them.”
And since the local law was now on the scene, they all had the answer to Trey’s previous question. They’d have to take these guys alive. The only remaining question was what the hell were they going to do then? This wasn’t a government-sanctioned mission, but it involved four special operatives that needed to stay off the radar and out of the local papers.
“Hey, Bobby. Wouldn’t it look really good for your career if you took these two bad guys down all on your own?”
Bobby glanced again at the three. “Yeah, Jack, it would.”
Jack smiled as a plan presented itself…then all hell broke loose.
The sound of screeching tires cut through the night as Jimmy’s truck came around the corner on two wheels. A big, black rent-a-car appeared not far behind. Of course, since this was by no means a road and they were in the marshlands, the rent-a-car didn’t stand a chance. The driver strayed too far off the path and soon the car’s tires were spinning in the mud, giving Jimmy just enough time to jump from his truck and dive into the front door of the cabin.
“Damn it, Jimmy. Be careful of your spleen,” Jack yelled when Jimmy hit the floor with a tuck and roll.
“I’m fine. Hey, Trey, Matt. Bobby, how the hell are ya?” Jimmy brushed himself off and pulled his weapon from the ankle holster.
“Good, Jimmy. You?” Bobby responded.
“Never felt better.” Jimmy grinned.
Jack smothered a groan. “Everyone all caught up? Now who’s got a plan? Because idiot number one and idiot number two just got out of the car.”
The two mobsters ducked behind the hood of their vehicle until only the tops of their heads and their overly big and showy guns were visible. He couldn’t help but think what a perfect target they would make for a sniper’s gun. The idiots didn’t even know enough to stay covered.
Through the night air, Jack heard their conversation clearly since they didn’t seem to know enough to keep their voices down either.
“What do we do now?” one asked.
“Tell them we want Nicki,” the other voice answered.
“But, Paulie, how do we know she’s in there?”
“Use your brain, Vin. They must have her stashed in the shack. Why else would that hick from the farm come here after we showed up asking about her?”
“Hick? Hmph.” Jimmy’s unhappy sounding whisper filled the cabin.
Jack shushed him and strained to hear Vinnie’s reply, though he liked them calling his family’s cabin a shack about as little as Jimmy liked being called a hick.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Paulie. Okay. I’ll ask them to send her out.”
“No, I’ll ask. You’ll probably fuck it up.” At that point in the conversation, Paulie actually stood, leaving himself totally exposed. “Hey! Give us the girl and nobody gets hurt.”
Jack sighed as their opponents’ idiocy seemed to increase. His finger on the trigger itched as Jack longed to teach the man a lesson, but he restrained himself and answered their insane request instead. “Sure, hold on a sec. I’ll go get her for you.”
Vinnie stood too as Paulie yelled back. “Okay.”
Jack glanced over his shoulder at his team. “What assholes. Do they really think we’re going to do that?”
Jimmy laughed. “I told you they’re not the sharpest tools in the shed.”
Bobby took a step forward. “I’m going to have to inform them I’m in here, Jack. I’m an officer of the law.”
“Go ahead. They obviously didn’t notice the big white sheriff’s car with the flashing lights on top, so you better say something.” Jack couldn’t help but let out a laugh himself. This situation was absolutely surreal.
“Hey, do you have the cops in there with you?” the skinny one asked.
“Hmm. I guess they’re not quite as dumb as I thought.” Jack shook his head at the sheer stupidity of their question. “What do you think?” he yelled back.
“I don’ kno’. You tell me.”
Jack heard Trey outright laughing at Vinny Don’ Kno’s response.
Matt let out a huff of air. “They’re too dumb for me to even shoot at. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.”
Bobby moved closer to the door. “I’m a local deputy sheriff. If you lay down your weapons and surrender peacefully, we’ll go easy on you. But if you insist on firing upon an officer of the law, I will fire back. This is fair warning.” Bobby sounded very official. Much more impressive than he used to be years ago. The memory of Bobby bent over, throwing up after a beer chugging contest at a graduation party crossed Jack’s mind.
There was
silence for a moment, so Jack risked a quick peek out the window. “Uh-oh. The two idiots are whispering to each other about something.”
“Jack?” Nicki was silhouetted in the doorway of the bathroom.
“Get down, darlin’. This isn’t over yet.”
“But—”
“Please,” Jack pleaded. “I promise I’ll get you when it’s over.”
Nicki planted both hands on her hips and Jack suspected she wasn’t going without a fight.
“Jack, I’ve been dealing with these guys for a lot longer than you have.”
“I understand that, but you’re not in New York anymore. You’re in my town now. Let me handle this.”
She hesitated with one hand poised on the doorknob. “Promise me you won’t get hurt?”
Hurt by these guys? Jack laughed. “I promise. Now go back inside and close the door.”
Finally she nodded and did as he asked.
“Is that the looker you were parked naked with by the river tonight?” Bobby whispered after Nicki disappeared back into the bathroom.
Jack cringed and could only picture the reaction on the faces of Trey, Matt and especially Jimmy.
Jimmy muttered a curse beneath his breath. “Now I owe Jared twenty bucks. He said you’d have her naked before week’s end.”
“We weren’t naked.” Jack ground his teeth.
“Not totally, but from the waist up you both were,” Bobby clarified.
“That might not count. Maybe I didn’t lose after all.” Jimmy sounded hopeful.
Feeling spiteful, Jack decided to burst his brother’s bubble. “You lose anyway. We went skinny dipping in the pond today.” He smiled in victory at Jimmy’s second and even more foul curse in the dark.
Trey moved closer to him. “What’s going on with you and Nicki?”
Good question. “We’ll talk when this is all over with.” Maybe by then, Jack would have an answer.
Matt glanced out the window, then pulled back. “We appear to be at a standoff, boys.”
“I could call for backup,” Bobby suggested.
“This is gonna be hard enough to explain. I mean, all of us, here and armed.” Jack nodded toward his teammates.
Bobby sighed. “You’re right.”
“Jack, I have an idea.” It seemed Nicki was determined not to stay safe in the tub as he’d asked her to. She came out, squatted and crab-walked her way across the floor to him.
At least she hadn’t stood in front of the window and made herself a nice target. He let out a patient sigh. “Okay, darlin’. What’s your idea?”
“I want to talk to them.”
“You aren’t going outside.” His voice came out sounding a bit more feral than he expected.
“I’ll yell from here.”
He let out another breath of frustration. “All right. Give it a try if you think it will help.” He supposed it couldn’t hurt.
“Hey, guys!” She raised her voice and yelled from the floor.
“Nicki, baby. Come on out. Tony misses you,” Paulie the Pudge called back.
“Yeah, I really miss him too, but I got to tell you something. I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t.”
Was Nicki’s New York accent getting stronger just from talking to these two?
“What’s that, Nicki baby?” Paulie asked. Jack was happy to see they were responding well to her.
“Remember a few months back, when Tony was screwing around with Johnny Bag-o-Donuts’s wife? Well, when Johnny found out and accused Tony, Tony said it was you she was fooling around with. So Johnny told your wife and that’s why she left you.”
“Johnny Bag-o-Donuts?” Jack whispered to Nicki.
She shrugged. “He likes donuts.”
“What? My bitch wife got the house and half my money in that settlement. You sure about this, Nicki?”
“Paulie, I was Tony’s hostage for a week. You hear things. Guards forget you’re there and talk. I’m sure.”
“Son of a bitch. But what am I supposed to do about this? I can’t cross Tony. He’d kill me.”
“You could both drive away from here and forget you ever found me,” Nicki suggested. “You may not be able to confront him, but you sure don’t want to make him happy by bringing me back, do you?”
Jack heard Paulie ask Vinny, “What do you think?”
“I don’ kno’,” Vinny answered predictably.
“This is worse than a really bad movie,” Matt mumbled from a dark corner.
Paulie and Vinny seemed to reach some decision and he yelled, “If we forget we saw you, will this here deputy forget he saw us?”
Jack raised a brow in question at Bobby.
Bobby shook his head and laughed. “I wouldn’t know how to explain this in a report anyway.” He moved closer to the window. “You drive straight out of here, cross my county line and don’t look back, and I’ll pretend I never saw you.”
Paulie nodded. “Deal. Stay safe, Nicki baby. Tony’s not going to stop looking for you, you know. You really pissed him off.”
“Thanks, guys. You stay safe too.”
There were a few minutes of flying mud and spinning tires during which Jack feared they’d all have to go out and give the two idiots a push. Finally the rent-a-car fishtailed its way back onto the path and down the road.
Jack slid down the wall and sank gratefully onto the floor next to Nicki. “It’s over, darlin’.”
“No it’s not, Jack. They’re right. He’ll never stop looking for me. I’ll be on the run for the rest of my life. I’ll have to leave here…” Her voice broke.
Matt lit the kerosene lamp and the room came into view again.
“I don’t think he’s going to have time to bother with you, Nicki. I think he’ll be a little busy soon.” He grinned wide.
Jack slid his weapon back into its holster. That left his hand free to grab Nicki’s. “We took care of him, Nick. Rather, Matt did. Either way, he’s likely going to be locked up for a very long time.”
“Really?” He could almost see the weight lift from her shoulders.
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Really. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Seven
The sun hadn’t been up for more than an hour, but Jack was already slumped at the kitchen table, both hands wrapped around a now cold cup of coffee.
“I have to say, this is a pretty pitiful sight.”
He looked up and saw Trey standing in the kitchen doorway, looking far too chipper for Jack’s taste. “Don’t start with me, Trey.”
“You’re really going to let her fly back to New York and never see her again?”
“That’s not how we left it. We agreed we’d stay in touch.” Jack glanced at the clock on the stove. By now, Nicki’s plane had already taken off. His chest tightened as he pictured her speeding farther away from him with every passing minute.
So much of yesterday had been spent recovering from the events of the night before that he felt like they’d barely had any time together. Nicki had immediately gotten in touch with her father to tell him she was all right. The man had high blood pressure and she was afraid the stress of the last few weeks had taken a toll on his health. She wanted to see for herself he was okay, and let him see she was fine too, so she’d found a direct flight to New York that left at oh-six-hundred this morning.
Jack had offered to get up early and drive her to the airport, but she’d insisted she could take a cab. It was probably better this way. Get the goodbyes over with in private.
Jack rubbed at the strange pain that had been in his chest since the night before.
Trey watched him closely. “What’s wrong with your chest?”
“Heartburn or something.” He pushed the mug away. “It’s probably the coffee.”
“Your mother’s coffee is as good as her pie, so I doubt it.” Trey pulled out a chair and straddled it backward, a stupid-looking grin on his face. “What color are Nicki’s eyes?”
Jack frowned. “What the hell kind of ques
tion is that?”
“Just answer it.”
“Deep blue, like the color of the ocean when you see it from really high up in a plane. Why?”
“Ha! I knew you’d know.” Trey broke out into a broad smile. “You love her.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Just because I know what color her eyes are doesn’t mean I’m in love with her.”
“Does your ‘heartburn’ hurt worse every time you think about her leaving?”
Jack rubbed his chest again, wondering why his discomfort was making Trey so happy. “Yeah, but so what? It’s a coincidence.”
Trey shook his head. “You once told me I was either too stupid or too stubborn to realize I was in love with Carly. Which one are you, Jack? Are you too stupid or too stubborn to admit you have feelings for Nicki?”
Jack’s breath caught in his throat as the truth of his own words being turned back on him hit hard. He buried his face in both hands. “Both, I guess. But how is this going to work? She’s a New York City girl. She’s not going to move down here to Pigeon Hollow and continue to shovel manure for my brother now that she’s not in hiding anymore.”
Trey raised a brow. “Go after her, Jack. Hop on a transport. You’ll be there before nightfall. I’m betting after all that’s happened recently, she’s had enough of New York.”
“Who’s had enough of New York?” Jared wandered in the back door and joined the conversation uninvited. He walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee.
“Nicki. She flew back home to New York this morning to be with her father,” Trey answered for him.
Jared took a sip and shook his head. “No, she didn’t. She’s outside in the yard right now.”
Jack sat up straight at that information. Had Nicki missed her flight? As horrible as it seemed to be happy she’d missed it, he was still glad she had. All he cared about now was making sure she didn’t leave. Before Jared or Trey could say another word, he jumped from his chair and was out the door.
Nicki leaned against the rail of the fence, watching the mare with her colt and feeling totally at ease for the first time in a month. She’d probably never been safer than at this very moment. There were still two mysterious black-clad, military-type friends of Jack and Jimmy’s on the property. Not to mention the fact that Jared and his barn hands had proven they could also be armed and ready for anything.