Movement to her left caught her attention. Four black-clad figures came from behind the last cabin. Terror shot through her. David had managed to take out three of Raimondi’s hired killers, but how would he be able to overpower these guys? “David?”
He looked up, saw the men coming.
And grinned.
Summer released the breath she’d been holding. She asked, “Your reinforcements?”
David wiped the grin from his face and the sweat from his upper lip. “Yeah.” He waited until the men stepped into the middle of the calm, then snorted. “Papa Bear. Nice timing. Late as usual, but at least you showed up for the party.”
The tallest man, dressed in dark cargo pants and a black sweatshirt grinned through the black paint on his face. “Fashionably late is still in.” David rolled his eyes and Papa Bear asked, “What was the hurry? Looks like you have it all under control. What do you need us for?”
David stood. “You can help me get these guys in the cabin and make sure they’re tied tighter than your grandma’s Thanksgiving turkey. I’ve got rope and duct tape. We’ll use them both.”
“So we’re here for cleanup?”
“For now.”
Papa Bear shrugged. “That works. Come on, guys.”
The men moved, easily getting the three assailants into the cabin.
Summer stared. “Who are they?”
“My old unit. Fortunately, they weren’t deployed somewhere and were able to make us their ‘official’ business for the next few hours.” He gave her a grim smile. “Now just pray they don’t get called up to leave anytime soon.” David shoved his weapon back into his holster and headed for the cabin. “I’ll introduce you, then we’ll go get Marlee.”
“You said you knew where she is.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He stepped into the cabin, then looked back. “I recognized the place in the video. Raimondi’s got her at his house.”
Summer followed him inside to find Hayes groggy, but awake. The left side of his face was charred and bleeding. He had to be in horrible pain, yet he stayed quiet. Still. Just watching.
Even in his injured state, he glared at them with a hate that made her shudder. Summer read the expression in his eyes with no trouble. If he got loose, they were dead, no matter what Raimondi’s orders were.
The one who’d been helping Hayes with the trunk still had his eyes closed. Blood trickled from his nose and his left ear. Diego also lay unconscious. Hayes finally shut his eyes and leaned his head back with a hard swallow.
“He needs medical attention,” she said. “He probably has a concussion.”
David lifted a brow. “You want to take him to the hospital?”
She flushed. “I know it sounds ridiculous when he was trying to kill us, but,” she bit her lip, “I don’t want him to die. I want him to stand trial and go to jail.”
David shook his head. “He’d be a lot less trouble if he were dead.”
She looked at the man. “True, but …”
“Yeah.” He looked at the other men who were now waiting for him to tell them what he wanted. “Guys, meet Summer.” They nodded to her. David pointed to each one. “This is Brown Bagger or Doc B for short. He’s our medic.” To Doc B, he said, “Why don’t you take a look at Hayes and see if he’s going to die anytime soon or if he can wait a little for medical attention.”
Doc B knelt by Hayes. Summer felt slightly better. David pointed to the next man. He wasn’t as tall as the others, probably only around five feet eleven, but he was wiry with sharp green eyes. “This is Papa Bear, our combat engineer.”
Summer shot him a smile and he nodded.
David motioned to the next man, who stood head and shoulders above the rest. Summer put him at around six feet five inches. “This is Little Lou, our weapons specialist.” She noticed how he included himself in the unit. She wondered why he’d left. “And this is Blue, the communications specialist.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Blue said. “David left some big shoes to fill.”
So, this was the man who’d taken David’s place on the team.
“Let’s take a minute to come up with a plan to get Marlee away from Raimondi without any of us ending up dead,” David said.
Summer sat on the couch while the men huddled around, drew on sheets of paper David produced from somewhere, and worked on a plan.
“What’s my job?” she asked.
They went silent and turned to stare at her. Then looked at David.
He pursed his lips, then opened his mouth.
“And before you say ‘nothing,’” Summer said, “I’m telling you now, I’m not sitting here doing nothing. I’ll be safer going on a raid with you guys than sitting somewhere waiting for Raimondi to dig into his apparent never-ending supply of assassins to track me down and kill me.” She crossed her arms. “No thank you. I’m going.” She paused. “And besides, I’m probably the only one who can keep Marlee from wigging out. She doesn’t even like David and might not cooperate with him.” She eyed her husband. “You want to deal with her?”
He shuddered. His lips firmed. “I could deal with her, but neither of you would like it very much, I’m sure.” He handed her one of the guns from the box he’d pulled from the kitchen floor. “Stay with me and do exactly what I tell you, understand?”
“Yes.” Relief filled her. She was probably insane for insisting she be allowed to go, but Marlee was her sister. She’d protected the girl all her life. She wasn’t about to stop now.
A thought hit her. She asked David, “Did you just blow up the laptop?”
He laughed, a low chuckle that meant he was very pleased with himself. “Of course not.”
“Then where is it?”
“I have it. I’ve had it all along.”
Summer whirled to find Ron standing in the doorway.
41
“You made good time,” David said.
“You sounded like you needed me to.”
Papa Bear smirked, as did the others, who made a few wisecracks. David almost smiled. All the ribbing meant they still considered him a part of the team. No hard feelings. He hadn’t thought there would be, but still, it was good to know for sure. The fact that they showed up said a lot more than the ribbing. He introduced Ron, then got right to business. “All right. The cops should be here in a few minutes. They’ll take care of these guys. FBI is coming too. The two agencies are in touch so we can go get Marlee.”
“And Raimondi,” Ron said.
“And Raimondi,” David agreed. He hesitated. “Just one thing.”
They looked at him. “Raimondi has a daughter. Georgina. She’s … innocent of anything Raimondi’s guilty of.”
“And you know this how?” Summer asked.
David wanted to squirm. Georgina was the last part of his story that needed telling. “I spent a lot of time with her while trying to get evidence against Raimondi.”
“I see.”
He wondered if she did.
David nodded to the door. “These three aren’t going anywhere and Marlee’s waiting.”
Summer stepped outside. David and the other men followed. She looked at David. “Transportation?”
“I’ve got a van about a mile up the road,” Ron said. “No sense in us trying to fly since we’re keeping everything under the radar. Word is going to get back to Raimondi that his men failed to take care of you and Summer. He’s not going to be happy and he’s going to have others looking for you.”
David’s jaw tightened. He made an effort to relax it. “It’ll take a bit for word to get back to him. Then it will take a couple of hours to get his men in the air, headed this way.” He narrowed his eyes. “Hopefully we’ll arrive on his doorstep before he realizes we’ve left town.”
Summer said, “What about Hayes? He was awake some while we were all in the cabin. Won’t he come to the conclusion that we’re headed for New York?”
Ron said, “I’ve got him taken care of
. None of the three of them will be allowed near a phone for the next twenty-four hours. Now, let’s move.”
“We’ve got our SUV parked out of sight. Give me the address and we’ll recon there,” Papa Bear said.
David gave him the address.
Little Lou motioned to David and Summer. “I’ll go with them in case there’s trouble.”
Summer, David, and Little Lou followed Ron to his van. While they hiked, David helped Summer, squeezing her fingers. “It’s almost over.”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
“Raimondi’s gone over the deep end this time. He’s made a mistake that he won’t be able to recover from. There’s a video out there with Marlee begging for her life in his office. It won’t take much to find it. No jury in the country wouldn’t find him guilty of at least a kidnapping charge. And with everything on that laptop to add to it, he’s going away for a long, long time.”
After the mile trek to the van, Summer was visibly worn. She was tired. He was too. “You okay?”
She lifted her chin. “I’ll be fine.”
They climbed into the van with Ron taking the wheel and Little Lou taking the front passenger seat. Ron said, “You two might as well get some sleep, it’s going to be a long twelve-hour drive to New York.”
David leaned the seat back, but Summer turned to him. “Finish telling me about you and Ron.”
“You should rest, Summer.”
“I can’t rest right now. I’ve got adrenaline rushing through me. Help me wind down. Tell me more.”
He caught Ron’s glance in the rearview mirror. Ron gave a small nod.
David clicked his seat belt into place. “After Ron left, I lay there trying to get up the strength to walk out of the hospital. I laid there too long. Imagine my surprise when my bookie walked in.”
“The one who wanted to hurt you?”
He clicked his tongue. “I only had one bookie, Summer. And yes, he was the one who wanted to hurt me.”
“How did he find you?”
“It was a logical conclusion. I’d been hurt, not seriously, but bad enough that a visit to the hospital for some stitches was in order. Ron said he couldn’t get the bleeding stopped so he took me in. By the time the ambulance got there, Ron had already covered the incident with the cops. Chalked it up to a simple attempted carjacking or mistaken identity.”
“So, your bookie found you.”
“When he walked in, I figured I was dead. Or he was going to add substantially to my current wounds.” He cleared his throat. “And all I could think of was how mad you were going to be when Mike came to tell you the truth.”
“Mad doesn’t begin to cover it.” She shot him a dark look.
He winced. “I know.” When she didn’t look away from him, he said, “My bookie’s name was Henry. Henry came in and sat down in the chair beside my bed. He handed me an envelope and said, ‘You’re one lucky man, Hackett.’ Then got up and walked out.”
“What was in the envelope?”
“A note from Ron.”
She waited.
“It said, ‘God just did something for you. Now go do something for God.’” The emotion of that day came back like it always did when he thought of what Ron did for him. What God did for him by sending Ron into his life. “Ron had paid off my quarter-of-a-million-dollar debt to Henry.” Summer gasped and David let out a low laugh. “That was my reaction too. I thought for sure it was some sick joke, but Henry hadn’t broken any bones and I wasn’t on life support. He’d just left. That made me a believer—in more ways than one. I called Ron and he prayed over the phone with me. I couldn’t wait to get home and start studying the Bible, start figuring out how God was going to fit into my life from that point on.”
“Only God doesn’t ‘fit’ into your life,” Ron said. “He’s not there for your convenience, to ‘rescue’ you when you get in trouble. It’s a relationship thing.”
“Right,” David agreed. “But it took me awhile to get that.” He drew in a deep breath. “However, watching Summer, I was finally able to understand it. Sort of.”
“I noticed you seemed to ask more questions about God,” Summer murmured. “And I didn’t have to drag you to church anymore.”
“The whole point of this conversation is to make you understand that it took something huge for God to get my attention.” He leaned back. “Ron set me straight on a few things and one of those things was being honest with you. I knew deceiving you was wrong.” His fingers curled into fists on his thighs. “But at that point, I couldn’t tell you the truth either.”
Summer stared at him a few more seconds before closing her eyes. “I’m tired. I think I’ll try to sleep now.”
David reached over and clasped her fingers in his. Hope sputtered and sparked when she didn’t pull away.
42
Raimondi’s phone rang once. Twice. He snatched it on the third ring. “What is it?”
“Hayes and the others are in custody.”
Raimondi went still as fury ignited in his gut. “How?”
“Hackett had help. A regular army. Hayes and his men were simply outnumbered and overpowered.”
“How do you know this?”
“You’d be surprised who I have at my beck and call around this country.”
“So we still don’t have the laptop.”
“Affirmative. And my picture is still on there.”
Raimondi closed his eyes and bit back curses. Could nothing be simple anymore? “I thought you had inside help there.”
“I do. Right now, he’s not able to provide me with any information.” A pause. “Will Hayes talk?”
“No.”
“What about the two he’s with?”
“They don’t know details.” Raimondi stared at the red boa, encased snuggly behind the glass cage. His fingers twitched with the desire to stroke it. “But I’ll figure out how to make sure they don’t talk. I’ll take care of it.”
“Good, because I need that laptop found. Now.”
“Your neck’s not the only one on the chopping block,” Raimondi muttered. “I’ll call you back shortly.”
Click.
Summer jerked awake and wondered what had awakened her.
The pressing need to go to the bathroom. She shifted on the seat and worked the crick out of her neck. She looked over to see David asleep. Or rather his eyes were shut.
They opened and she blinked. Could he feel her watching him?
“I need a rest stop,” she said.
He glanced at his watch. “Can you wait fifteen minutes?”
“Yes.”
He handed her a fast-food bag and a mostly melted chocolate shake. “You slept through the food run.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
She opened the bag and pulled out a double cheeseburger. A weakness she didn’t allow herself to indulge in very often. Tonight, she indulged. She took a bite and savored the explosion of juice and flavor on her tongue. “How long did I sleep?”
“About ten hours.”
She stared at him. “What?”
“We’re almost there.”
“I can’t believe I slept that long.”
“You were tired.”
“Must have been.”
When the conversation became stilted, she took another bite of the cheeseburger. Her taste buds were the first to wake up, followed by the rest of her body. Slowly, her strength returned. She felt better at this moment than she had in days. How odd. Maybe she should eat cheeseburgers more often.
She finished it off, then the shake and even the cold fries David silently handed her with a slight smile on his face. She never ate like this. Embarrassed, she shrugged. “If I’m going to have a last meal, I might as well enjoy it.”
Thunderclouds chased away his smile. “No negative talk—or thinking. We’re going to be just fine.”
Shame engulfed her. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“Aw, don’t feel bad abo
ut that,” Little Lou said. “You just sound like one of the unit now.”
David frowned at Little Lou, then gave a shrug. “You’re right, but I don’t like it coming from her.”
“You need to chill out, man.”
Summer allowed herself a small smile. David returned it.
Ron pulled the van to a stop at a gas station. Summer took in her surroundings. The sun was up, shining bright in the sky. A promise for a good day. She could only pray.
“Here.” David handed her a small bag.
She looked inside and found some toiletries, including a toothbrush and toothpaste. Again, he’d gone out of his way to ensure her comfort. A lump swelled in her throat and conflicting feelings gathered in the pit of her belly. She ignored them. “Thanks.”
Summer quickly took care of business while David and the man he’d called Little Lou hovered outside the door. Ron filled the tank. When she was done, she opened the door and they all swept back to the van.
David said, “Next stop is Raimondi’s. The others are already there.”
She lifted a brow. “How’d they get there so fast?”
“Papa Bear is known for his lead foot. But it’s a good thing. They’re in the process of casing the place and will find the easiest route inside.” He looked at Little Lou. “Raimondi’s mine.”
Summer shivered at the ice in his voice. She sat in silence the rest of the trip while David seemed to withdraw into himself more so than she’d ever seen him do, during the short year they’d been together. In their twelve months of marriage, he had often been moody and silent. She had just attributed it to his personality. And she was probably right, but the intensity radiating off of him now made her shudder. And feel almost … safe.
She turned her attention from David and stared out of the window. High-rises greeted her. Traffic jammed around them and they crept down the street. She finally looked at him and asked, “Where does he live?”
David snapped his gaze to her. “About three streets over.”
Little Lou passed back a handful of technology. David shoved something into his ear, then clipped another item to his belt. Yet another piece, a thin wire, looped around his neck and under his shirt. “Almost ready. Papa Bear, you hear me?” He nodded so she supposed he got the response he wanted. At her questioning look, he said, “We’re all wired for sound so we can talk to one another and listen to what’s going on.”
No One to Trust (Hidden Identity Book #1): A Novel Page 20