by Lynn Bohart
His long legs faltered as he took each step. He looked like he was part of the walking dead. I imagined he felt that way, too.
“No…well, yes, we did kind of destroy it,” Rudy said, turning to follow him. “But there’s a very good reason. I’m sure once I explain, you’ll…”
“I trusted you,” he said, still staring at the motorhome.
Rudy turned to me and nodded at Amy. I took the girl’s elbow and moved her into Nathan’s range of vision. “Nathan, this is Amy Dunphy. She’s Senator Jim Owens’ daughter,” I said quietly, trying to get him to look at her.
It was Mary Aberdeen who responded. “The young girl who was abducted?”
“Yes,” I said. “We saved her from the people who were going to kill her.”
I stopped talking at that point. I figured there would be time later for a detailed account. Right now, they just needed to know the basics. In other words, their motorhome had died in service to keeping a young girl alive.
“We’re so sorry, Mary,” Rudy said, turning to Nathan’s wife. “We really didn’t have a choice, though.”
It seemed Nathan Aberdeen hadn’t heard a word we’d said. He stumbled the rest of the way down the walkway and up the steps into the motorhome.
“Mary, we’ll get it repaired. I promise,” Rudy said. “But we didn’t have a choice,” she repeated. “They were going to kill her.”
Mary Aberdeen’s green eyes had locked on Amy. She reached out a hand and drew the girl in. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
Amy’s face and arms were still marred by scratches and bruises, topped off by the deep circles under her eyes.
“I’m okay now,” she said quietly. “What these ladies said is true, though. I owe them my life.”
Mary threw her arm around Amy’s shoulders, but it was a plaintive whimper from inside the motorhome that caught our attention. A moment later, Nathan appeared at the doorway to the motorhome and stumbled back down the steps. I think he was about to cry.
“It looks like a war was waged in there,” he said. “The carpet, the countertops, the upholstery, the, the…”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Nathan, give it a rest,” Mary snapped at him. “This girl has been through hell, and her life is more important than your stupid motorhome. I’m taking her inside. You can stay out here and cry like a baby if you want to.” She turned to us. “Our daughter is at camp, so between beds, sofas, and a roll-away cot, I think we’ll have enough room for everyone. What time do you have to leave tomorrow?”
“We have to be in Chicago by two to meet with the police,” Rudy said. “The people who took Amy are still after her father, and he’s making a speech tomorrow night.”
Mary nodded and then said, “Okay. It’s only about a two and half hour drive, so let’s get everyone cleaned up. We’re barbequing chicken later for dinner, and I have a blueberry crisp for dessert. How does that sound, Amy?” she asked, tightening her arm around the girl’s shoulders.
Amy gave her a brief smile. “Good. Thank you.”
“Okay, let’s get you all inside.” She stopped and turned to me with alarm. “They’re not still chasing you, are they?”
“No. They disappeared last night and don’t even know we have Amy.”
She released a cleansing breath. “Okay. Good. Have you had lunch?”
The group followed her up the walkway towards the house when a protracted metallic groan stopped us. We all turned just in time to see the air conditioner slide off the roof with a ‘fingers on a blackboard’ screech. It crashed to the pavement in front of Aria’s camper.
Everyone stared at it for a brief moment and then turned without comment and followed Mary into the house, leaving Nathan outside to give the air conditioner its last rites.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
It felt good to be stationary, if only for the night. While several of the girls used the afternoon to take showers, I threw some laundry into the washer and then planted myself in a recliner to take a well-deserved nap with the Aberdeen’s cat, Cooper, curled in my lap.
By late afternoon, I had repacked my suitcase with clean clothes and refreshed my spirits. Mary was in the kitchen preparing dinner, so Rudy and I joined her. We helped cut up lettuce and vegetables for a salad, while we related the story about how we rescued Amy.
“How did you have the guts to follow those people?” Mary asked, putting chicken breasts on a plate. She shook her head. “I would have been scared to death. And frankly, Nathan would never have gone for it. Once we’re on the road with a destination in mind, there are no side trips. He’s like a man on a mission.”
“I suppose you’re talking about me.”
Nathan walked in from the deck with the fire starter in his hand.
“Julia and Rudy were just telling me their story. They went through some pretty incredible stuff.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he said cynically. His eyes shifted to the window over the sink to stare at the Hulk parked at the curb. “So what are you going to do now? That young girl needs to get home to her parents.”
“They’re meeting us in Chicago,” Rudy told him. “The killers don’t know whether Amy is dead or alive. We hope to use that to keep them off their game.”
He turned to her. “What do you mean you’re going to do that? I would think the police would take over.”
I was beginning to really dislike Nathan Aberdeen. Of course, he had a good point; normally the police would take over. I didn’t let the fact he was right assuage the irritation I felt every time he opened his mouth, however.
“We’re the only ones who know what these guys look like,” I replied, throwing some croutons on the salad. “We can help the police identify them.”
“But someone could recognize Amy,” Mary said.
I hadn’t thought of that and glanced at Rudy, who only gave me a shrug.
“I guess we’ll have to figure out a disguise.”
Mary wiped her hands on a dish towel and headed for the door. “I’ll be right back.”
A moment later she returned with two wigs in her hand: a short black one, and a long blond one.
“Janey has three or four of these. She likes to change up her looks when she goes to parties. Do you think one of these would help?”
I reached for the short black wig. “Yes. They’ve already used a blond wig on her, so I’ll see if she’ll wear this one. Thanks.”
Nathan had opened a cupboard to pull out a new jar of barbeque sauce and turned to his wife with a hard stare. “Haven’t we done enough?”
The tension in the room rose quickly. Mary put one hand on her hip and lowered her chin to stare at her husband.
“We owe it to that girl to do everything we can to help,” Mary said with a steely edge to her voice. “What if it had been Janey who had been abducted? Now, are you just going to complain, or do you have something positive to offer?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Are you kidding? I’ve already sacrificed my…”
“Not one more word about that motorhome,” Mary snapped, pointing a finger at him. “These women need our help.”
While I didn’t think much of Nathan Aberdeen, I was sad Mary Aberdeen now lived a thousand miles away.
When Nathan didn’t respond, she said, “What about Omar?”
“What about Omar?” he countered, clearly flummoxed.
She turned to me. “Omar is Nathan’s new best friend. He lives next door. He’s a retired Navy Seal and teaches self-defense at the community center. Sounds to me like you ladies could use some counter-moves. Judging from some of your adventures on Mercer Island, I presume you have no intention of just backing out of this.”
Boy, did she have me pegged.
“Frankly, we don’t have a game plan, yet,” I said.
“It sounds to me like you need to attend that fancy dinner,” she said with a short nod. “And if you do, you’ll be putting yourselves back in danger. Omar might be able to help.”
God, I liked this woman.
Mary turned to her husband with an expression he interpreted immediately.
“I’ll go see if he’s home.”
He stomped out of the kitchen. A moment later we heard the front door close.
“Jeez, you should teach kindergarten,” I said with appreciation.
She gave me a full-throated laugh. “Seventeen years. Second grade.”
÷
By dinner time, we shared drinks on the back deck, while Nathan barbequed and Amy played in the yard with Tinker Bell and Boomer, their Golden Retriever. Cooper had found a home in my lap.
“How are you going to get into the dinner?” Mary asked, sipping her wine. “Don’t you need to be part of the Republican elite?”
There was a pause, as Doe, Rudy, and Blair turned to me.
“What?”
“You can call Graham,” Rudy said. “If anyone can get us into that dinner, he can.”
“Of course,” Mary said, as if just remembering I had once been married to the Republican governor of Washington State.
“Tell him Rudy is writing an article for the Huffington Post about our trip across country and thought attending the dinner would make a great focal point,” Doe suggested.
“Why can’t you say I’m writing it?” Blair asked in a huff. “At least I’m a registered Republican.”
Everyone turned to stare in unison at Blair.
“What?” she said in her defense. “I could write an article like that.”
“Of course you could,” Doe agreed. “But why would you?”
Blair thought a moment, shrugged her pretty shoulders and then said, “Good point.”
“I’ll call Graham,” I said. “I need to tell him the truth, though.”
“Okay, say Graham gets us all get into the dinner,” Aria spoke up. “Then, what?”
“We keep an eye out for Monty and Roy,” Rudy said. “They’re the only ones we can identify. We don’t know who Yoda is.”
“We’ll need to spread out,” Doe countered. “How do we talk to each other?”
“Too bad you don’t have some of those intercom things I always see on the police shows,” Mary said, nibbling on a carrot stick.
I noticed a quick, knowing glance between Aria and Goldie.
“What is it?” I challenged them.
“I might be able to help,” Aria said.
All heads turned to stare at Aria.
“How?” Blair asked.
“Come with me,” she said.
We left our drinks on the table and followed Aria out to the camper. She unlocked the back door.
“Wait here,” she said.
Aria climbed in and left the door open. She turned to face us, got on her knees and pulled back the carpet on the floor in between the sink and the breakfast nook. She slipped her index finger into a notch in the floor and pulled up a piece of flooring.
The rest of us leaned in to look and then gasped.
There was a compartment under the floor filled with a bunch of strange devices.
“You don’t have any weapons in there, do you?” Doe asked with alarm.
“No, of course not,” Aria replied.
“What is all that stuff?” I asked.
Aria looked at me with a satisfied grin. “Spy gear.”
There was a long, silent pause.
“Why in the world do you have spy gear?” Blair asked.
“Tell ‘em, Aria,” Goldie said, egging her on.
Aria sat back on her heels. “I used to work for the ATF.”
I don’t know what I thought Aria was going to say, but working for the ATF wasn’t it. I looked at her with new found respect–or horror–I wasn’t sure which.
“That was a number of years ago,” she said. “It was back when I lived in California. I was right out of college and only worked there for a few years. But I became kind of fascinated with it all.”
“Okay, but why do you own this stuff now?” Rudy asked pointedly.
Aria hesitated and then said, “I belong to a group. It’s called Spy Academy. We practice covert operations on the weekends.”
A slight breeze tickled my ear. Music floated from an open window up the street. I also thought I heard the ticking inside Rudy’s head, which meant it was about to explode.
“I’m going back inside,” she said, shooting Aria a poisonous glare. She turned on her heel and left the group.
“Ignore her,” I said to Aria. “Do you have anything in there we could use to communicate with each other at the dinner?”
“Yes.” She leaned down and reached into the compartment, bringing up a box. “These are individual intercoms, just like Mary said. I only have four of them, so we’ll have to share. With these, we can be anywhere in the building and still speak to each other.”
I turned to Mary with a smile. “Ask and ‘ye shall receive.’”
“I had no idea,” she said.
“I also have some infrared gear, but that won’t help since we’ll be inside a lit room.”
“Have any Tasers?” Blair asked, leaning a shoulder into the doorway.
I turned to her in shock. “You want to use a stun gun on someone?”
“I wouldn’t have any problem zapping one of those guys. And neither would you.”
“I don’t have any Tasers,” Aria said. “Sorry.”
“I think that’s a good thing,” Doe said. “I’m not sure I want to be anywhere near Blair if she’s carrying a charged Taser.”
“Humpf,” Blair snorted.
“That’s okay,” Mary interjected. “Nathan said Omar will come over after dinner to help you practice some defensive moves. Hopefully, that will be enough.”
“Defensive moves will be good,” I said, turning to go back inside. “Because with Blair along, I think we have the offensive moves covered.”
We returned to the backyard and enjoyed barbequed chicken, rice and salad. Omar showed up around seven o’clock.
He was probably in his early forties and of Middle Eastern descent. He was maybe 5’ 11”, with rippling muscles underneath a tight t-shirt and loose sweat pants. I thought that, like Blair, he bought shirts a size too small in order to emphasize his physical attributes.
Blair noticed it, too.
She was sitting at the patio table staring blankly at Amy and the dogs as they chased each other around the yard, when Omar arrived. She turned a lazy expression in his direction. Once her eyes swept across his muscle-packed body and dark, handsome features, she came instantly alert. In one fluid movement, she was out of her chair and heading his way.
I chuckled to myself. He had no idea what he was in for.
“Everyone,” Mary began, “this is Omar Khouri.”
He nodded to us each in turn as we introduced ourselves. Blair leaned in to grasp his outstretched hand and placed her other hand on his muscular shoulder.
“It’s so good to have you here, Mr. Khouri. We have soooo much to learn.”
She batted her eyes and pressed her fingers into his shoulder muscles. He glanced at her cleavage, looked up and smiled at her briefly, and then stepped back.
Uh-oh. What did that mean? I’d calculated that there were probably only about ten percent of men unaffected by Blair’s feminine wiles. Was he part of the ten percent? I glanced at Blair and noticed the flirty smile quickly disappear.
“I hear you need some instruction in case you get into an altercation,” he said to the group.
“It would be more accurate to say when we get into an altercation. At least when you’re speaking of these two,” Rudy said, pointing a finger at me and Blair. “Despite their age.”
Mary chuckled in the background.
Omar shrugged. “Age has nothing to do with it. Rapists and thieves are looking for a weak target.”
“I’m never a weak target,” Blair said, crossing her arms over her ample chest.
He smiled at here again.
“It’s still good to be prepared,” he said, allowing his eyes to linger a momen
t on her accentuated cleavage. “Why don’t we get started?”
We followed Omar to the lawn and he arranged us in a half circle in front of him. Nathan and Mary remained on the deck with Amy, Boomer and Tinker Bell.
“Remember that first and foremost you want to keep someone away from you,” Omar began. “Be alert at all times. It’s called intuitional awareness. In other words, be aware of your surroundings. And don’t be afraid to stop, turn, and confront someone you think is following you.”
“Frankly, the situations we’ve found ourselves in lately haven’t given us a chance to stop someone,” Doe said.
He nodded, as if he understood. I suspected Nathan had filled him in on our most recent adventure.
“Okay.” He gestured for Blair to step forward. “As someone comes at you, move in and go for their throat, because that’s how they breathe. Bend your arm and bring your hand in for a swivel strike.” He showed how Blair could slam him right in the throat with the inside of her hand. “Be sure to follow through with your entire body and put your weight behind it.” He pulled Blair forward as if she had moved against him. Her breast slammed against his chest, and once again, he just smiled.
I adjusted my opinion–he wasn’t one of the ten percent. He was one of the ninety-percent.
“What if they actually get hold of us?” Rudy asked.
“Okay, let’s practice how to get out of a choke hold,” he said.
He asked Nathan to come down to help with the demonstration. When Nathan was in place, Omar had Nathan loop his right arm around his neck, locking it place with his left hand.
“Okay, it looks like I’m stuck. But watch. I turn my head towards my attacker, which helps to open up my airway, and tuck my chin down. Then, I’m going to use leverage and grab his elbow like this.”
Omar grabbed Nathan’s elbow, and then using his left hand, he grabbed Nathan’s wrist.
“Then, step to the side with your right leg and back with your left.” He took a quick step to his right, ducked down and stepped back, wrapping his left leg around Nathan’s right leg. “Twist you head inward, like this.” He turned his head until it actually popped out of the choke hold.
“Wow,” Blair murmured. “I like that.”