That was then, and this was now, they were both safe at the moment, but Jaci really hoped that Kaden got here quickly. She was now cut off from everything, and being in the country she was in, that meant if arrested, she would be in the same predicament Carole was in, but with no one on the outside to help.
The entire time she was walking, Jaci thought about the person who hacked into her computer. She knew computers, but she didn’t know how to do some of the harder things like hacking. However, she knew the basics. So, for someone to have hacked into her camera, she knew the person hadn’t needed to be close since she was on a server that may have belonged to the US government, but it still was able to be hacked when in the field. Jaci didn’t believe the man who had gotten into her computer. It made her very uneasy that someone had known where she was.
She figured the man was trying to get her attention, which was why he helped her get out of the safehouse without being captured. It was a mind game, one that wasn’t going to work. How in the hell would he ever think Jaci would be fooled by that? Sure, help her to safety and then make her think he was on her side. Jaci snorted at the thought; they really thought females were inferior.
However, she was curious why he was contacting her, out of all the operatives she knew in the field, why her? Jaci wasn’t a Senior Field Agent; she had no pull or important contacts. It just was weird, which of course made the red flags fly. Jaci felt something touch the back of her leg and she stopped and turned. The little boy pointed at a building, and Jaci stared at it.
It was a rundown brick building that looked like it would crumble if a strong wind blew. Jaci frowned and looked down at the little boy. “What?”
When he pointed again, Jaci shrugged and began to move, but his little hand pulled on her pants, so she stopped. She leaned over and said softly, “I don’t know what you want?”
The boy stared at her intently and then said softly, “Safe.”
She frowned then stood and looked up the block; it was only two more blocks in the middle of the street, hell, she could almost see the place. But the little boy wanted her to go into this other building, why? “Honey,” she said slowly staring at the boy. “We have a place right up the street; we are almost there.”
The boy shook his head, and he said, “Safe!”
She shook her head, but then the boy grabbed her hand and pulled her hard. She sighed and looked up the street one more time and then slowly allowed the boy to pull her across the street to the front door. Then she watched in amazement as the boy pulled a little key from his worn pants. He shoved it into the lock on the door and then pushed it open. Jaci leaned in and looked at the dark, smelly room. It smelt like something died in here, she thought, but she took a step in. The little boy moved behind her, shut the door and then silently walked to the door on the other side of the room, and pushed it open. Light flooded into the room, Jaci realized that half of the building was literally gone. The light she was seeing was from the back part of the building collapsing.
Fuck, she moved slowly and then watched, and the boy walked to a corner where there was a blanket, and what looked to be a change of clothes and a plastic garbage bag. She grimaced when he turned to her and motioned for her to follow him. He walked around the belongings to what Jaci was shocked to see was a stairwell. She really didn’t think they were safe, but she watched as he moved up a few stairs.
“Hey, buddy,” she whispered, and he turned and tilted his head.
“Buddy?” he asked.
“Yeah, uh, it is like a nickname.”
“You call me buddy?” he asked, and she frowned, she couldn’t think of another name she should use. Honestly, meeting a child without a name had thrown her off. She had been so worried about Carole, and then herself. Now she apparently was responsible for a young boy while she was here. Afterward, she had no clue.
“Okay, Buddy,” she said softly, and the boy nodded looking way too old for his years.
“This way,” he said and started back up the stairs. She shook her head and followed, testing each step before she put her full weight on it. Her luck, she would fall through them. When they neared the top, she could see it was all open. Moving to stand on the roof of the building, she took in the small camp-like places scattered around the roof. People were living up here; she assumed that the belongings on the main floor were Buddy’s. Now as he walked to a small area covered with what looked to be a dirty sheet and moved under the cover, she knew it must be his home.
Jaci looked around, she could see movement, but no one appeared at all. She walked to the edge of the building next to where Buddy was sitting. She looked over, trying to get herself acclimated to the directions she was looking at. She saw the street they had just left. She could actually see the house she should have gone to. Well, it wasn’t much to look at.
Buddy appeared by her side, and she looked down. He was holding out what looked to be a battered pair of binoculars. She frowned. “What do you want me to look at?”
He pointed to the house she was supposed to be going to. With a shrug, she took the binoculars and put them up to her eyes and moved until she could see the front of the safehouse. There was nothing there unusual; she was not getting what the boy wanted her to look at. Slowly she scanned and then she froze when she saw the vehicle parked across the street, she moved a little so she could get a better view. The van had no real markings, but it was new and shiny, it didn’t belong in the neighborhood. Dammit, how did they know?
Cursing to herself, duh, it was Burns, she could feel it, he was playing some kind of fucking game with her. It was bullshit. Jaci turned and pulled the burner phone out of her back pocket. She had already sent the coordinates to the house; she couldn’t do it again, she would compromise this location. Fuck, it was her only phone. She felt a tug on her pants, and she looked down.
“You do not call,” he said strongly and then turned and crawled back into his living space. She heard rustling around, and then a small hand appeared and motioned for her to join him. Hell, there was no way, it was so small, but she crouched on the ground next to one of the sticks holding up the sheet and peered in.
The boy was sitting on a very thin cushioned piece of cloth that matched the sheet that was covering him. He sat cross-legged and stared at her, moving slightly to give her more room. Shit, it reminded her of the old sheet forts she used to build in her living room. Oh, how it drove her mother nuts.
Crawling forward, Jaci entered the small space and sat down, so she was across from Buddy. “We can't stay here,” she said softly, and the boy shook his head.
“Safe here.”
Jaci looked up at the thin sheet, and she looked back to the boy who was still clean from the shower last night. Looking at the clothes folded in the corner, she counted one pair of pants and three shirts, all of them looked dirty, but they were folded. She still couldn’t fathom the fact that the young boy lived on the streets, with no name, no family, nothing. And for some reason, he was helping her. She didn’t understand it, but she also didn’t have the time to have a heartfelt conversation.
Kaden could potentially be in the city; he could be moving to meet with her at the coordinates she sent him. There was no way this could turn out well. Kaden would be caught and questioned, and when they learned he was one of their prisoners family members, he would be held without question.
“Buddy,” she said. “I know you are safe here, but I am not, nor is the man who I called to help me. Do you understand? I am not safe here.”
Buddy tilted his head and said, “You safe here.”
Jaci sighed, he was a stubborn little boy. She leaned forward and said, “No, I am not safe here, I am sorry, Buddy…” she paused and then tried to think of how she could explain where a child would understand her. He may live on the streets, but he was still a kid. There was no way he would be able to understand. “I really appreciate your help today, truly I do, but it would be best if you stayed here, and I went to find my friend. I promise if you sta
y here, I will get help to you as well.”
Buddy shook his head halfway through her speech, and she knew he wasn’t going to follow her directions, he would follow her, or worse, he would accidentally tell someone about her, which could lead him to be implicated in harboring her.
Jaci thought about Kaden; she wouldn’t do that to him. She already knew he was coming for his mother, not her. She wasn’t bringing more shit to his doorstep. Leaning forward, she pulled out the small pic Carole had shown her. Since her friend was taken, she had carried it with her. She didn’t know why, well, okay she knew why, but there was no way she was going to admit it to anyone.
“I need to find him, Buddy, I am sorry, it is important. I need to go to the house, the safehouse up the street. I know there are men watching it, but I can't take the chance that this man would be hurt. Do you understand?” she said, and Buddy tilted his head again. It was so cute when he did that, like he was grown up and trying to think of a way to make things work.
“I go,” Buddy said and scrambled around her before she could say anything.
“What?” Jaci snapped and kinda rolled to the side to get out of the sheet shelter.
“I go, bring him here,” the boy said over his shoulder, and Jaci moved awkwardly trying to get free of the sheet without collapsing the boy’s home.
“Wait, no,” she said growling, fighting her legs.
“You stay safe; I will bring him,” Buddy said again firmly and pointed at her. “You help me; Buddy help you.”
Jaci frowned as she finally got free and she stood. “No, it is too dangerous,” she said, and the little boy stopped and turned to her.
“You afraid for Buddy?” he asked softly, and Jaci nodded.
“Yes, I am afraid for Buddy. You can't go, you stay here, I will figure it out.”
Buddy smiled for the first time at her. She felt her heart melt a little more at the sight of such an innocent gesture. He really was cute. “Jaci my friend, I will help.”
Before she could argue more, the little boy turned and disappeared down the stairs. Dammit, she thought, moving to catch him but she was too late. By the time she got down the stairs and to the front door, Buddy was already running down the street. She ran back up the stairs and was thinking she needed to work out a little bit more because all of this walking was wearing her the fuck out.
Loki moved quickly when he separated from Anthony (aka Wrecker, which was his call sign apparently), and Shadow. The three men moved in completely different directions in order to accomplish their goals. He hadn’t checked in yet, he would need to soon, or Fling and his brothers were going to hop a plane and come after him.
He thought about the picture he saw of Jaci; he felt something stir a little when he saw it. Which honestly was weird, he didn’t react to pictures; he was too old to be a schoolboy who jacked off to pictures of women. But damn, he was close when he saw her.
Shaking his head, he now was kicking himself when he thought about the times his mother tried to get the two of them to meet. She had been relentless for a while, but their schedules never matched.
Loki looked down at his phone and then moved to the south, only a few blocks and he would be there, the green dot on his screen was flashing quicker and quicker. When he reached the end of the block he knew he had to turn down, he paused and then casually began to walk, his spidey senses were going off, something was not right. His eyes scanned the street, and a song popped into his head, one his mother used to sing to him when she was teaching him something. “One of these things, do not belong…” his eyes landed on the stark white van. The rest of the cars on the street were beat up, full of rust, and looked like they were barely drivable, let alone start. He slowed his pace; the house was in the middle of the block, if she were inside she wouldn’t be able to leave. They could not stay here. Shit, would anything go fucking right on this mission?
As he approached the house, he was trying to think of a way to get her attention without going up to the door, if he did it would raise red flags. He could feel eyes on him, but he didn’t pause, he kept walking right by the house, only using his eyes to scan the place. There were dirty curtains hung in the window, if he made his way around the back, maybe he could get in.
Suddenly Loki felt a hand slip into his, and he looked down startled. It was a young boy, and he was staring up at Loki, smiling as if he knew him. Loki opened his mouth, but the boy gripped his hand tighter like he was signaling him to go with it. Loki frowned but then looked up and kept walking like this was something that occurred every day.
As they neared the end of the street, the boy tugged on his hand to pull him across the street. Well shit, Loki thought. He couldn’t make a scene, if he did it would draw too much attention, so he followed. The tall, buff biker, looked completely out of place, even though he was wearing jeans and a tee.
Loki said softly, “Who are you?”
“Buddy,” the boy said immediately and smiled up at Loki.
“Listen, Buddy?” Loki said slowly, wondering how the hell the boy got a name like that. “I need to go back. So if you…”
“No, dangerous,” Buddy said, and Loki looked back down at the boy and saw his determination. He heard an engine start behind him; it purred instead of rumbled. The van, it was the van.
“You come,” Buddy said and pulled him gently.
‘I can't; I need to find…” Loki said, and the boy pulled a picture out of the front of his pants. It was the picture his mother took of him the last time they had been together in Cali. Loki’s eyes went to the young boy’s as he continued to pull him.
Loki heard the van moving closer, the crunch of the dirt wasn’t quiet. He looked over his shoulder and knew they were going to stop him. In the front seat of the van were two men who were wearing local police uniforms. Shit.
They walked maybe ten more feet, and Loki heard, “Stop.”
The young boy froze and looked over his shoulder. Loki moved so the boy was safely behind him. Loki lifted his head to the two men who had gotten out of the van, which was now blocking the street.
“You are American?” one of them asked, and Loki just stared at them. Seriously, why the fuck ask? They stepped closer, and Loki sighed, shit, he was so not going to get arrested his first day in, it would fuck things up, but he would also never live this shit down with his brothers.
“Yes,” Loki finally said, and the two policemen nodded and looked at the boy who was peeking from behind his leg.
“What are you doing in this part of town? It is not really a tourist place to be?” One of the men asked, and Loki stared for a moment and then shrugged.
“I am not here for a vacation,” he said slowly, and the policemen both became more alert.
“Then why are you here?”
Loki sighed and held up his hands, “I was stationed a few years back in Japan. I met someone, and well, apparently she had a child and didn’t tell me. I found out, and came to find my son.”
One of the policeman's eyes narrowed. “This boy you think is this son?”
Loki looked down as the boy looked up at him and he nodded slowly. “Yeah, this is him, he was taking me to his mother.”
The policeman frowned and looked at his partner. “That boy has no mother; he is a street urchin. No one claims him; he is a throwaway.”
Loki growled and stepped forward, what the fuck was all he could think of, this kid was a throwaway, what the fuck did that even mean? He didn’t know the kid, but still, no one should ever be treated like that. Fuck. “What did you just say?”
The officer narrowed his eyes, and he said, “You said that boy has a mother; he does not, everyone knows him in this area. He is a common thief, we have arrested him so many times, and he keeps running away from the nuns. You are going to need to come with us; we need to sort this out.”
Loki looked down at the young boy, he was small, looked streetwise and wary, but not a criminal. “Yeah, well, you are wrong, I just found out he is mine, and I am here
to take care of that.”
The officer scoffed and then turned to his partner and started speaking Mandarin like Loki was stupid, they could think what they wanted, but he understood everything the men were saying.
“He is lying,” the one who was talking to Loki said.
“Are you sure? If we are wrong and bring in another American they will be extremely upset, especially if it is an American coming to find his son,” the other one said.
“He is lying,” the first one insisted again.
Loki could feel the young boy press himself close to his leg. He wanted to turn around, but instead, he reached back and put a hand on the boy’s head. This wasn’t going anything like he thought it would. Get in the country, get his mom, get the fuck out. Instead, he had a stoner, an angry Marine, and now a little kid. All he needed was a fucking partridge in a pear tree, and he had all his bases covered.
“Hey!” Loki heard someone yell, and he looked beyond the police and saw Shadow walking down the street, and he was wearing nice clothes, except his tie, which was fucking bright and had rainbows on it, where in the fuck did the stoner shop? How in the fuck was he even here, Loki hadn’t checked in yet. “Mr. Tyson? I have been looking everywhere for you.”
Loki jerked his head a little but nodded and said, “You found me.”
Shadow stepped up to the group and smiled at the officers. “Gentlemen, my client here has been looking for his son for weeks. I am so happy you could assist him in reuniting with the young man. We had feared the worse when we discovered his mother had passed away. I have all the documents prepared right now. We are petitioning your country to allow my client, Mr. Tyson, to claim his child and to take him home.”
Loki’s eyes went wide, what the fuck was he doing? They would insist on DNA, this wouldn’t work, and the kid, what the hell were they doing with the kid? The officer took the papers Shadow was holding out. He looked at them and showed them to his partner, the one who was glaring at Loki.
Backfire (Furies MC Book 4) Page 4