Double Danger

by Trilby Plants

  Sandi looked puzzled. “All right,” she said slowly.

  “Make sure they get that,” Will said. “Do not approach or apprehend.”

  Will turned to the State troopers. “Steve, could a couple of your guys wait down the road with the rescue people?”

  They all nodded their assent.

  “I’m going home to make some phone calls,” Will said. He would call Cathy and tell her not to come home tonight as planned. A couple more days with her sister would keep her and the kids safe. “I’ll see you all here at six-thirty.”

  He turned back to the dispatcher. “Sandi. One more thing. Call the airport manager and ask him to call me if there’s any private traffic ‒ in or out ‒ during the day, including their flight plans. If he says we need a warrant, call Judge Nordstrom. Exigent circumstances and national security.”

  Sandi’s eyes widened like a deer in the headlights. She swallowed any questions she might have had. “You betcha, Boss,” she said and bustled toward her desk.

  As Will strode through the building to where his his cruiser was parked, his thoughts turned to Nick and Alyssa. He hoped it wasn’t too late for everybody to get in place. Otherwise, he feared he could lose again and forever his best friend. And there was Alyssa Mallory. It was obvious to Will that Nick was in love with her.

  ***

  Alyssa awoke to brilliant sunlight. The air inside the tent was stifling. She bounded up, realized she was only wearing the flannel shirt and hurriedly dressed. When she put weight on her ankle, it barely hurt. She walked to the stream, being careful of the uneven ground.

  Nick stood in the stream, naked, in knee-deep water. His body glistened in the sun, hard muscles defined by light and shadow. He looked like some primal god rising from the water around him.

  He looked up at her and grinned. “You’re staring. Come on in. I’ll keep you warm.”

  It took Alyssa only a second to decide. She stripped and splashed in beside him. Before she lost her courage she dunked herself to her neck with an involuntary shriek. She rose and hugged her arms across her chest. The warm sunshine lessened the shock of the cold water, and it didn’t seem so bad. In fact, it seemed like heaven to have Nick’s hands rub shampoo into her hair and gently massage it. By the time she rinsed, she was warmer than she would have thought. They waded out of the water and carried their clothes back to the tent.

  This time their lovemaking was slow and unhurried and sweet. Afterwards Alyssa curled up beside Nick and tried not to think that the hours of the day would seem too short.

  She must have dozed, because when she opened her eyes, Bella was curled up against her stomach. The screen flap of the tent door was zipped and the canvas flap was loose. The window flap was tied back, letting a draft of cool air in through the screen. She dressed and combed her hair. Once outside the tent, it took a second to register the absence of the Suburban.

  Damn. It had happened. He’d left her. She plunked herself on the picnic table seat. Without a phone she was alone and couldn’t call for help.

  With her ankle sore but better, she could hike out to the side road. It was a longer walk back to the main highway. Her discomfiture was working up to full blown anger.

  Bella would be safe enough in the tent. Alyssa rose and started walking. She had gone about a hundred yards when she heard a vehicle approaching. Nick stopped the Suburban in front of her. She crossed her arms stubbornly, blocking his way.

  He leaned out the window. “Thought I’d abandoned you?” he said. “I left you a note under a pinecone on the table.” She didn’t know what to say, just hugged her chest and glared at him. He pulled closer until the bumper was only a few feet from her. She stood her ground.

  Hey,” he said, “get in. I brought lunch since we missed breakfast.”

  She climbed into the front seat, and her anger dissipated as if it had never been. “It’s about time. I’m starving.”

  He leaned over and kissed her. “So am I.”

  She pushed him away, still waiting for proof he hadn’t intended to leave her. “Not that kind of hungry. You can probably hear my stomach growling.”

  He laughed and drove on.

  Nick spread the feast on the table, then bent and picked up a piece of paper grocery sack under the table. He held it out. “See? I did leave a note.”

  It said: Went for food, back soon.

  “You’re forgiven.” Alyssa said.

  “You are, too.”

  “For what?”

  “For doubting me. For thinking I left you.”

  “Okay.” She sighed. “We’re even.”

  He touched her cheek, tilted her head up. His eyes held a dark intensity. “Don’t ever doubt me, Alyssa. I always prided myself on being a man of my word. I don’t make promises lightly.”

  “You didn’t promise me anything.”

  “Oh yes, I did. Making love to you is a promise. The greatest promise I know how to give.”

  Feeling chastised, she moved toward him and into the warmth of his embrace. But before she could get comfortable, he let her go and said, “Lunch. And then dessert.” He grinned, seduction gleaming in his eyes. Alyssa’s heart fluttered in anticipation.

  She opened the grocery sack and pulled out containers. “Tabbouleh,” she said, opening one. “I love tabbouleh.”

  “So do I,” he said, and handed her another container. “This is supposed to be Pad Thai salad. Never had it cold, but I asked for a sample, and it’s not bad. Got a good kick.”

  “Great,” she said, spearing a forkful. “I love Thai food. Especially when it’s spicy.”

  Nick had even brought two bottles of beer. He held up a small bottle of wine. “I didn’t know if you drank beer. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with wine. One drink won’t hurt us.”

  He unscrewed the top of the wine and handed the bottle to her.

  “Are you trying to get me drunk, Mr. Trammel?”

  “Sure.” He leered at her. “Maybe you’ll go back in the tent with me.”

  She looked him directly in the eyes. “You bet I will.”

  He grinned, and they ate in companionable silence until their stomachs were satisfied. Then they sought satisfaction of another sort.

  Sooner than Alyssa wanted, the sun edged toward the west. They sat at the table in silence. Nick rose and paced and occasionally checked the clock in the Suburban. Finally he returned to the table.

  “It’s time.” He took the dismantled cell phone from his pocket and reseated the battery. In moments, it chirped, disturbing the sounds of birds and insects.

  He swiped it to answer.

  “Right on time,” he said. He listened a while, then punched End and again pulled the battery.

  “It was Frank, the man we’re meeting. He said he’ll land in an hour. He also verified the details of the handover. We should be at the cemetery before I think he’ll show. He’ll want to do the same thing, so we just have to get there early enough to beat him. I think if we’re in place by 9:00 we’ll be good.” He paused. “You don’t have to come with me.”

  “Yes, I do. It’s the only way to get me to your friend and away from those men who are after us.”

  “Don’t worry about them. They’re in the lock-up. Believe me, Will would risk his job to keep them on ice.”

  What about Nick’s life? Alyssa wondered. “When do you want to leave?”

  He looked around. “We’ve got a bit of clean up here. We should get to it.”

  “Okay,” Alyssa said. She wanted to voice her fear for him. Wanted to tell him how much she cared and how much she wanted a life with him. Even if he didn’t feel the same. She gazed directly at him. “There are things I need to say ‒”

  “Don’t say anything,” Nick said. “Wait till this is over, and we’ll have plenty of time to talk.”

  Alyssa was silent. There might not be an afterwards. But, despite her misgivings, she gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

  Nick went to the Suburban, retrieved another pa
per sack and ducked inside the tent. Paper rustled, and he came back outside wearing his denim shirt mostly buttoned up. He crumpled the sack into a ball. It went in the empty bag with the rest of the trash.

  They took down the tent and cleaned up the campsite. Each time their hands touched, they lingered. Alyssa wanted the contact to last longer, but each time Nick gently pulled his hand away. She dawdled over simple tasks, trying to make time slow down, but seconds and minutes kept going until the tasks were finished.

  The evening sun cast longer shadows. Nick opened a bag of chips, and they sat again at the picnic table.

  Alyssa ate one, but it seemed tasteless and dry. Nick picked up a chip and stared at it.

  “Not hungry?” he said. She shook her head.

  Mosquitoes drove them into the van with Bella where they sat in silence. Alyssa could not look at Nick, although she tried to see him in her mind, tried to memorize every inch of him. There was so much to say to him, and yet she could not form the words.

  In the silence, the dashboard clock ticked softly.

  Finally, the clock read 8:15. Nick started the SUV, and in a few minutes they were on their way. A half hour later Nick turned south on US 2. Alyssa leaned back in the seat, lost in swirling thoughts that refused to coalesce into anything coherent. Something made her think about the motel.

  She sat up. “You know what I forgot?” He glanced at her, then back to the road. “I never got my deposit back ‒ well, Will’s really ‒ from the motel.” He looked at her again, a puzzled expression on his face. “I guess it’s not very important at this point, is it?”

  “No, I guess it isn’t.”

  They soon came to the outskirts of Escanaba. When the road branched, they followed Highway 35 south, leaving Little Bay De Noc behind them. On their left Lake Michigan spread out to the eastern horizon. Alyssa hugged Bella, taking little comfort from the cat’s unconditional love. Her thoughts were a jumble of disjointed images. Dread fluttered in her heart.

  Chapter 19

  Evening shadows had grown long. For Alyssa the drive from their campsite to the cemetery was paradoxically the longest and yet shortest hour of her life. She kept glancing at the dashboard clock and thinking it wasn’t possible only a few minutes had passed since the last time she looked. She wanted time to stop, so the drive would never end. Fear knotted her stomach. Fear for herself, but more for Nick.

  All too soon, Nick turned onto twin ruts that passed beneath a wrought iron arch that said Cedar Rest Cemetery. Another, smaller sign, attached to the fence proclaimed: No trespassing after dark.

  He drove around on the narrow roads between sections of markers, up and down small rises, and then parked under a stand of tall pines. In the deepening twilight, the gravestones stood at attention, an army of ghostly sentinels whose ranks stretched up a slope beneath old cedars and maples and pines.

  Nick got out and stood for a long moment, listening. “We’ve got a clear view of the entrance. We’ll see and hear anybody who comes in.”

  The only sound was the engine ticking as it cooled.

  “I think we beat them,” Nick said. “Stay there.”

  He went to the back of the Suburban, opened a door and gently scooped up Bella as he climbed in. He held the cat against him with one hand, reached up and turned off the interior light.

  Clouds moved in, making the twilight gloom heavy, almost palpable.

  “What are you doing?” Alyssa said.

  “Giving Bella some water.”

  The back door closed softly, then water gurgled. Nick crawled up front and maneuvered himself behind the steering wheel. He pointed to the clock. Nine twenty-two.

  “It’ll be dark early,” he said. “Maybe before ten thirty.”

  “Did you order the clouds?” Alyssa said.

  He shook his head. “Looked at the weather forecast last night while I was working on Sara’s computer.”

  The trees were already dark silhouettes against the sky.

  Bella sashayed between the seats and onto Nick’s lap. He stroked her. Bella arched her back, turned and curled up in a ball. Her twitching ears and tail told Alyssa she was awake.

  Alyssa broke the tension.

  “Nick, did you ever have a cat?”

  “Nope,” he said. “Had a dog once, though. After my mom died ‒”

  “I know. Will told me. I’m sorry.”

  He nodded. “Anyway, I went to live with my grandma. She got me a dog from the shelter. She thought I needed a friend. She was right. His name was Bo. He never learned any tricks, never could heel or sit or lie down on command. But he knew a lot of words. Dinner, lunch, eat, ice cream, play, out, go-for-a-ride. He knew the word ‘No,’ but he didn’t believe in it. ‘Come’ worked when you attached it to a key word. He was a great dog. Got hit by a car when I was fourteen.”

  “I’m sorry,” Alyssa said.

  Nick shrugged. “Dogs get into your heart. Like cats.”

  “They do.”

  “Then I graduated to computers.” He sighed. “I’d like a cat, though, if I had one like yours. She’s more like a dog.”

  Bella’s ears flicked and she looked up at Nick. He resumed petting her.

  “She likes you,” Alyssa said.

  A reassuring purr filled the silence as the light faded. Alyssa shivered despite the summery breeze that wafted through the van’s open windows.

  “You’ll be all right,” Nick said.

  But would he? She reached over and brushed her fingers across the back of his hand. He didn’t react. She drew back and stared out into the deepening twilight. Something could go wrong with the exchange. Not to mention the double danger of the threat to both their lives and her involvement with this man. This man she loved beyond all reason.

  ***

  Nick hoped he was right, that he could keep Alyssa safe. Two days ago, when he had left Alyssa in her aunt’s home, he had underestimated their adversary and put her in mortal danger. Now the two men who threatened them were out of the way in jail. He had taken careful precautions on the way to the cemetery and was certain nobody had followed them. The cemetery was deserted.

  Once he handed her over to the NSA agent, she would be beyond his control. He might never see her again. She would be all right. He had to believe that. He wasn’t dealing with a field agent. Frank Hood was a supervisor, someone who had risen to a position of power and trust within the Agency.

  If something went wrong before Will arrived, there was no help within miles. Alyssa knew most of what was going on, what the dangers were. And what the stakes were. He had allowed fifteen minutes for the meeting with Frank. If things were going to go south, it would happen quickly, and Will would rush in with the cavalry. If everything went well, they wouldn’t need Will. So many ifs.

  He listened. Alyssa’s breathing beside him. The soft whine of mosquitoes. His pulse beat in his ears. He thought about what he had done: his bargaining point. His deception.

  And there was the other deception with Alyssa ‒ one of omission, but a lie nevertheless. When Alyssa found out the whole truth, she might never trust him again. He should never have fallen for her. How could he have let his heart rule his mind?

  Nick gazed into the evening, not looking at the grave markers. He didn’t want to confront what one of them said.

  ***

  The hands of the dashboard clock moved inexorably toward 10:30. Alyssa stared at the clock. Why couldn’t it slow down? She turned to Nick.

  He shifted. Nick raised an arm and tapped the dashboard clock.

  “Almost time,” he whispered.

  Alyssa thought of the two men in custody at the sheriff’s department. What if there were others?

  A horde of hungry mosquitoes found them. They whined around Alyssa’s ears. Nick swatted his arm. “Gotcha,” he murmured and flicked a dead mosquito into the darkness.

  Down the hill, the way she and Nick had come, headlights pierced the darkness, paused, then bobbed among the trees. A car, traveling slowly ov
er the washboard road. The sound of the engine floated on the still air.

  Something rustled outside. Bella, suddenly alert, rose, stretched and jumped onto Alyssa’s lap. The cat remained alert and peered out the window, muscles taut. Her tail twitched spasmodically. Afraid she might bolt, Alyssa held her tight enough that she squirmed to get away. From the bushes beside the van two luminescent eyes stared at her. The eyes winked out, and the creature rustled away.

  Raccoon, Alyssa decided.

  Tension rippled over her, raising goose bumps along her arms. Bella slid down to the floor and crawled under the seat. She would be safe there.

  Alyssa drew a shuddering breath and expelled it. It sounded loud against the backdrop of silence. The stifling darkness brought a cascade of half-formed images. A haunting voice whispered in her mind.

  The gun, Lyssa....

  She shook her head, sending the memories deeper. Memories couldn’t hurt her. But fear could. In the past few days, she had faced gunmen and survived. She could face the darkness and her fear. Nick was right. Nobody could take away her fear. The determination to manage it had to come from inside her, her own willpower.

  She glanced at him. The muscles in his jaw twitched. It seemed like a long time ago that she had seen his face relaxed after making love. The remembered intimacy warmed her. Their lovemaking had been beautiful and satisfying and was more than just sex. She knew he cared deeply for her, as she did for him, but he had held something back, was still holding something deep within his thoughts that was perhaps too painful to share with her. She hoped it was only because of his fears for her safety. Safety seemed so simple. She and Nick would go with the government agent, and everything would be all right.

  Alyssa wondered if she were being naive.

  Moving headlights cast eerie shadows across Nick’s face. Alyssa thought of a scene from a tacky horror movie in which the heroine was stupid enough to go into the haunted cemetery alone at night. Even though the audience knew something awful would happen, the woman in the movie walked blithely into the jaws of some unspeakable doom.