by Dale Mayer
Erick tried to rephrase the question in a couple different ways, hoping to shake loose some different answers, but it kept getting repeated, the translation the same. He knew Talon was still recording, and that was good because they would double-check that translation afterward.
Just then the old man grabbed Peter’s arm and said something. Peter leaned forward, questioned him again, and the old man repeated what he’d said.
Then Peter turned to Erick. “Another vehicle came later that day. Two men. He’d gone home himself. And then in the evening he went back out, upset at the day’s events, wanting to find his center of peace again. He said, when he was up there, he saw another vehicle. Two men got out, walked the area, took a couple photos, got in the vehicle, turned around and went back the way they came. Since then he hasn’t seen anybody.” Peter shrugged. “He didn’t recognize the men.”
“What about the strangers in the village before the accident? Does he have anything to add about them?”
Peter turned back to the old guy, and the discussion ensued once again. But when the old man nodded, Erick noted a few of the things he said. Ahmed hadn’t added much, but anything was more than they had. He tried to pin him down on dates, time of day, how many men, the type of vehicle. But it all came back to an old jeep, probably old military issue, but they were common around here.
“Two men. Both dressed as military but not. He did say their attitude set them apart as well as their dress. They were sloppy, wore mismatched clothing. Military clothing but not up to the daily inspections of current military. They also carried several machine guns.”
Erick certainly understood what he meant by not up to inspection but also the machine guns meant not standard military. But when he went on to explain about the attitude, the cockiness and arrogance, Erick could see what the man was saying even more. These men were either rebels or mercenaries. Finally, with nothing else to ask, Erick turned to Cade and Talon with a raised eyebrow.
Talon shrugged. “What I really want to know is who placed the land mine there.”
Peter spoke one more time, but the old guy just shrugged. He obviously didn’t have anything more to offer.
At that point Cade said, “Thank you for your cooperation, Peter, and thank him for his assistance.”
The three of them walked back toward their jeep. When he heard something harsh, Erick turned to see the old man and Peter arguing fiercely. He nudged the other two. “What do you make of that?”
They were almost at the jeep. Cade said, “Either he’s pissed off Peter brought us to him, or he really didn’t like the translation.”
One of the four men playing at the small table in front of them cackled and said, “He didn’t like the translation.”
“Ahmed speaks English?” Erick asked. He narrowed his gaze, studying the man’s features.
The man in front of him nodded. “But not well. Like all of us, we speak a little. We understand more.”
Interesting point. Erick understood and filed that note away for later. He asked the man who had laughed, “Do you know anything about the accident that happened here two years ago? Where the military truck was blown up?”
The old man shrugged. “Bad day. Bad day for everyone that day.”
“Why?”
Words spilled off in a spat of the same language Ahmed was speaking. He checked to see Talon was once again recording. He could only hope that by speaking in their own tongue they were telling more of the truth than Erick and his buddies were getting through the translation. When he was done, Erick nodded, smiled and thanked the man.
The three of them got into the vehicle, turned it around and headed out the village the way they’d entered. As they drove past Ahmed’s house, there was no sign of Peter, but Ahmed stood in the open doorway. When he saw the men, he clapped his hand over his mouth and then stepped inside.
Silence fell inside the jeep.
“Any idea what he meant by that?” Talon asked.
“Something about don’t ask me any more questions?” Cade hazarded a guess.
Erick said, his voice hard, “I doubt it. More like, keep your mouth shut.”
“So, we’re not to say where we got the information from? Or we should stop asking questions?”
Erick’s hard gaze went from one to the other. “Both.”
Chapter 7
Honey loaded up the rest of the room service dishes onto the cart and pushed it out of her hotel room. She walked toward Laszlo and sat down on the side of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.”
Since she’d arranged the food last night for him, then left him to sleep, and had checked on him this morning, he’d gotten more morose and even more curt than ever. She got that he probably didn’t like to appear to be wounded or in need of a little loving care, but it was hard for someone like her not to hand it out. He was obviously hurt. He’d been on his phone texting steadily, but he hadn’t offered her any information. He seemed like a nice guy but all business, whereas Erick’s demeanor with her had been part joking, part flirting, yet still all business. The difference was all in the delivery as she was coming to understand. “Are you staying inside this morning?”
“I’ll probably lie down for a little bit while I wait to hear back on all the messages I sent out.” He looked around her room. “What time are you done today?”
“I think about four. There might be dinner plans this afternoon. I’m not sure. I don’t know how many people might be flying out today versus tomorrow morning.”
He nodded. “Come back up here and check with me before you go for dinner.” He frowned and shook his head. “No, I’ll come down with you.”
“Are you sure you want to with that face?” she joked.
He turned his gaze on her. “Do you think I’ll scare all the women away?”
She laughed. “You’re still way too handsome by far, even when your face is all punched in. I was thinking about the fact that three men attacked you. For all you know, they’re in the lobby waiting for you.”
“I know they aren’t in the lobby waiting for me.”
Something in that cold voice made her freeze. She slowly turned to look at him. “Did you kill them?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Would you care?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. “Absolutely I care. I didn’t call the police because I wasn’t sure what kind of reception I’d get as a woman here.”
He nodded. “Smart. Because I don’t know how they’d react either.”
“Therefore, I also don’t want anyone to pin their murders on me,” she said in exasperation. “And, yes, I’m worried about the men. Nobody deserves to die in violence in this world.”
“We’re all going to die,” he said, his voice harsh. “It’s up to each of us how we want to punch out. They attacked me. I didn’t attack them.”
She stopped and thought about that for a long moment. “That’s fine. But that doesn’t mean they won’t come after you again.”
Laszlo sat back down on the bed abruptly. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think any of them died.”
“And, if they aren’t dead, then there’s a good chance they are downstairs waiting for you.” She frowned. “Did you recognize any of them?”
He gave her a flat stare. She thought she might have asked him that when she first found him, but, at the time, she didn’t think he gave her much of an answer if she had asked.
This time, however, he shook his head. “No. I took their pictures and sent them off to see if we can identify who they are. Other than that, no.”
She nodded. “Okay, well, let’s get out of my room. You can go to your room. I’ll go downstairs and attend my seminar. Who knows? Maybe by the time I get out, Erick will be here.” She said that last line without really thinking about it.
He snickered. “Missing him already, are you?”
She glared at him. “I hardly know the man.”
“Yes, you do. Inside you k
now him. That’s what counts. The fact that the two of you are constantly on about each other all the time is also good. Lots of sparks there,” he said calmly.
She snorted. “Sparks, right. I thought he was going to kill me when he first saw me.” She laughed. “I don’t think he felt much different when he first saw me here either.”
“Still, that’s good. Anger is the flipside of passion.”
She’d thought something similar herself earlier, but she just kept her mouth shut.
At her door she opened it, looked out into the hall and stepped over the threshold. She motioned for him. “Come on. Let’s get you to your room. You can crash for an hour or two. You’ve got to be tired after staying up half the night, looking over me.”
He shrugged. “I’m used to it.” But he walked out of her room, stepped to his door, unlocked it and pushed it open. He stayed in the hallway, waiting for her to lock up her room.
She motioned to his room. “You want me to go in and check to ensure it’s safe?” she teased.
He rolled his eyes at her. “Get downstairs.”
He said it in such a mockingly threatening tone that she just laughed. With a small finger wave, she headed toward the elevator. She pressed the button, and, when it arrived, she stepped in, tossed a casual glance back his way before she entered, but there was no sign of him. Obviously he’d gone in and closed the door.
Down in the lobby, the elevator opened to a large group of people waiting to get on. She smiled, sidled out of the way and carried on to the workshop. She was almost sorry she’d booked an extra night here. She’d be more than happy to leave early. To think Laszlo had ended up in such trouble here gave credence to Erick’s worry. And hers.
The other problem was, and now that she thought about it, she wished she’d asked earlier, but she hadn’t asked to see the photographs of Laszlo’s attackers, so how was she supposed to identify them if they came up to her? Laszlo had said they wouldn’t be in the lobby. But how could he be sure? With that new worry on her shoulders, she also realized once again that she hadn’t asked him for his phone number, so she couldn’t text him.
The workshop doors were open, and people were already moving inside. She headed in and found David with an empty chair beside him. She leaned down and said, “Can you save me a seat? I want to grab a coffee.”
He smiled, nodded, patted the seat beside him. She headed over to the little coffee shop in the lobby and poured herself a cup of coffee, added some cream and walked up to the cash register. When she was done, she returned to the workshop.
But two men stood in her way. She faced them. “Excuse me. I need to get by.”
Neither man moved. They stared down at her. She swallowed hard. Both their faces showed signs of a recent fight. They weren’t handsome but more distinctive. One had massive ears, and the other was just plain big. She could only guess from the size of their bruises that they might have been two of the three men who had attacked Laszlo.
In a louder voice she said, “Excuse me.”
Neither man moved. Instead they both crossed their arms over their chests.
She turned to look at the clerk and said, “Maybe they don’t speak English?”
The clerk looked at the two men and frowned. He spoke in another language. The men shook their heads as a response.
She glanced back at him. “What’s the problem? I paid for my coffee.”
The clerk looked nervous. He said, “They aren’t saying anything. I don’t know what the problem is.”
She nodded. “I don’t suppose you have another entrance out of here that I could take, do you?” She motioned toward the back of the coffee shop.
The men stepped inside. As the clerk tried to reason with them, she ducked down low and slithered behind one of the men, almost at knee level. Quickly she was out in the hall. One of the men turned and reached out an arm, but she managed to evade that too. She called out, “Security.”
One man in a security uniform standing against a pillar just inside the front entrance turned.
She pointed to the two men. “They wouldn’t let me out of the coffee shop.”
By now she felt more than a little anxious. She wanted to know what was going on. The two heavyweights weren’t officially dressed, neither did she want to cause a big commotion, but something was definitely not right. Why the hell were these two men looking for her? Of course the answer was obvious in her own mind, but she didn’t dare let anybody else know that. She pulled out her cell phone and took several photos of the men.
The security man approached them. “What’s the problem here?”
The two men looked at him insolently, then looked at her, shooting her a warning look, and said, “We’ll talk to her later. Don’t you worry.” And they turned their backs on her and walked out of the hotel.
The security man looked to her for an explanation.
She shrugged. “I have no idea.” She motioned at the clerk behind her. “He saw the whole thing.”
The three of them had a quick conversation, and then the security guard walked her to the workshop. It had already started. She slipped in and took her spot. But it was hard to pay attention. She was too unnerved by the whole incident.
Not being able to contact Laszlo, she sent Erick a text. With her phone muted, she might miss his response. But as she still held her phone in her hand, when it lit up with his reply, she caught it. He wanted more details. She gave him what she could and then texted I don’t have any way to contact Laszlo. I presume the men are looking for him.
We’re on our way back. Stay in the workshop. And don’t go get more coffee.
Love you too. Then she added quickly, in case he misread it, in all caps, NOT.
His response came right away. Back atcha.
She shook her head, pocketed her phone and hugged her coffee with both hands.
David leaned over and asked, “Are you okay? Your hands are trembling.”
She smiled, trying hard to firm up the shakiness inside. At least David was no longer pushing his personal agenda, if that’s what he’d been doing. Seeing his friendly yet not flirty face made her question if she’d misread him from the beginning. “I just got a really bad chill.”
He studied her. “Are you coming down with something?”
She winced. “No, that would not be a good thing.”
He laughed. “No, but my brother’s wife gets sick every time they travel, so it’s understandable if you do.”
Allowing that as her excuse, she hugged her coffee until her nerves calmed down, trying to focus on the last few words of wisdom she was likely to receive for the day from the speaker. For this entire conference.
During the lunch break she headed to her room and had lunch with Laszlo. She hated to admit that she was checking up on him, but she also wanted a break from the others.
It was hard to pay attention for the rest of the afternoon. Every time she checked her phone, there was no message. And the couple times she looked to the door, she saw no one there. It remained closed the whole time. Nobody came in or went out.
When the workshop finally concluded, she clapped loudly and enthusiastically with all the others. Immediately panic hit. She would have to go back out and deal with whatever awaited her. She dragged out her exit as long as she could, standing with the crowd, saying her goodbyes, collecting contact information. A few people made plans for dinner, but everybody as a whole was trying to finish and leave. Lots of people had their luggage stacked along the back of the room. They had checked out already and were now heading to the airport. Damn, why hadn’t she thought of that?
Right now, she could be on her way to the airport, getting the hell out of here too, but, no, she’d figured she’d need the extra night. After she thanked the last guest speaker—and David quickly as he was in the center of a group—she turned, realizing just four other people remained in the room. As a group, they walked toward the open doors and stepped out.
Almost immediately she came to a halt.
Erick leaned against the far side of the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest, seemingly asleep as he waited for somebody.
She glanced around and realized there was nobody else. She stepped closer to him. “Are you waiting for me?”
He gave her a lazy smile. “Of course I am. You love me, remember?” When she shot him a chiding look, it just made him laugh. He tucked her arm into his. “Let’s just wander the lobby, so people can see you’re with me.”
“What good will that do? Besides, I should be walking with Laszlo instead. He’s way bigger and meaner looking than you are.”
He laughed out loud. “He might be way bigger, but he sure as hell isn’t meaner.”
There was such a coldness, almost a dead space, an emptiness, to his tone, that she believed him. She shivered. “I had understood that he beat them bad, as in they might not be getting up anytime soon. I thought at first he meant he had killed them.”
“Sounds like he should have,” Erick said. “If they beat him up, that’s exactly what he should have done.”
“At the time I was relieved he hadn’t. I was afraid it would all fall back on me if anybody could track him to my hotel room. But now, after those two men in the coffee shop, I don’t know what to think. Nobody should be killed for no reason, but they scared me.” Her voice dropped in volume.
Erick squeezed her arm up against his ribs. “I agree. At least you responded correctly, though you were scared. But you got away, and we’re here now.”
She glanced up at him. “How did the day go?”
He frowned. “I’m not exactly sure. We definitely got some information, and we definitely moved the investigation forward, but was it of any value? The jury’s still out on that.”
“So nobody saw who planted the land mine?”
“No. But I did get a description of two soldiers for hire who had been in the village the week before. The villagers didn’t like them. They were arrogant, crass, generally not the kind of people they appreciated, and they were acting suspiciously.”