Judy was sitting at another computer monitoring a surveillance program Andy had set up. She had been unusually quiet.
“Hey, how’s it going sweet cheeks?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“Well, smarty pants, it is going well.” She softened it with a grin. “I hope I am doing this okay.”
“Trust your gut. Look for something that doesn’t fit – seems off. This stuff is more about intuition than you think. I have some more information coming in from DC that we need to go over. They ran a computer analysis on the demographics of the folks who disappeared and want me to look at it. We will go over it together. Two eyes are better than one. And besides, then I can cuddle with you on the couch.” He grinned. He took note that she did not.
“Hey, what’s bothering you Judy?”
“Nothing, why?”
“Come on. I’m an analyst, remember? I am paid to notice things.”
“It’s just everything, you know? A lot to take in.”
He got up and pulled her to her feet taking her in his arms. He simply held her for several seconds. “I keep forgetting you are new to my world. I am used to this. You will be too, soon enough. I was glad when they put us together on this assignment. I didn’t relish being separated from you.”
“Me either.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Judy, we haven’t talked about things for a few days. You know I love you, right?”
“Yes.”
“And . . .?”
She laughed. “And I love you, silly man.”
“Okay, good. I guess I just need to hear it.”
“Well, I do. And I do not say that lightly . . . or easily.”
“I know that Baby.” And Andy meant it.
“I still worry.”
“About what?”
“About being able to be with you.”
“Oh honey, that will work itself out.”
“What if it doesn’t?”
“It will.” Andy assured her.
“You cannot know that.”
“We will work through anything that comes our way. Even that.”
Judy was still not convinced.
* * *
CJ Baer was pushing the envelope as much as he dared driving down I40 to Memphis. He had rigged his trailer with listening devices and recorded all the conversations from Baltimore to across the border into Canada. He needed to talk privately to Mrs. Gage ASAP.
* * *
Jake motioned to the group to gather around.
“We have a few hours before we board our flight. I am going over to that empty corner over there and set up the Lord’s Table if anyone wants to commune.”
Granny James said, “Thank you, Jake. That is so thoughtful of you.”
Danny Mac, Kenann, Jake and Granny James headed over to the deserted area of the lounge. Angelo, (everyone had given up calling him David) asked if he could come. Danny Mac threw his arm over his shoulder and said, ‘Sure’.
Carter leaned into Mrs. Gage. “What is he talking about, the Lord’s table?”
“Every first day of the week, Christians meet together to ‘break bread’ and commune with their Lord. They have been doing it for 2000 years since Jesus was on the earth.”
“Well, that’s just creepy. I spend my life fighting cults and these guys are right smack in the middle of one.”
“I used to think so myself. But these last several months with Jake and Danny Mac have changed my mind a bit. It bears looking into Mr. Carter.”
“I’ll say. I have been watching them for years.”
“Have you found them to be subversive as a rule or dangerous?”
“I have found a fair number of nut jobs in the bunch.”
“Do you know what they believe or stand for.”
“Hey, I went to Catholic school. I am not a complete idiot.”
“They have something, Mr. Carter.”
“Oh great, if you join their cult, I’ll be outnumbered and probably get murdered in my sleep.”
“If you are murdered in your sleep it won’t be because of that my friend.”
He looked at her askew and then they both burst out laughing. Mrs. Gage went to join the others for communion with a backward smile at Carter.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Jake brought out the leather box from his carry on, containing the small bottle of grape juice and the unleavened bread. He set them out beside his Bible and read from I Corinthians 11.
“We take this bread and drink this fruit of the vine every Lord’s Day to remember Jesus death on the cross for the sins of the whole world and his resurrection that gave us victory over death and ultimate victory over Satan. We have embarked on a mission to fight evil. We need the Lord’s strength and guidance on this quest. And we remember him over this table that is spread before us. Danny Mac will you ask the blessing for the bread?”
Danny Mac bowed his head along with the others. “Lord, we love you and take this time to remember your sacrifice. We thank you for your love for us and your continued watch and care. Bless this bread from its common to its holy use. In Jesus Name, Amen.”
They passed the bread between them taking off a small bite and placing it in their mouth. Angelo passed it without partaking. Jake then bowed his head and said, “Lord, we come before you again thanking you for your love and this memorial feast you instituted for us to remember you. We thank you for your blood, represented by this fruit of the vine and for the power of your son’s blood to redeem our lives and continually cleansing us from all sin as we walk with you. We love you, Lord. Bless this cup in Jesus Name, Amen.”
They drank from the small cups of grape juice. Jake asked them if anyone had anything on their heart. Kenann spoke up.
“Can we meet together regularly for prayer?”
“Sure, honey.” Jake replied.
Granny James added, “We mustn’t neglect our other team members. We must make them feel comfortable to meet with us too. We don’t want anyone to feel excluded.”
Danny Mac smiled at his sweet in-law. “You are right, Granny.” He paused, “Except, Carter. Him, I could exclude.” He softened it with a grin.
Granny James’ tone admonished, “Daniel Joseph McKenzie!”
* * *
As they were boarding their plane for Istanbul, Danny Mac came up behind Kenann and whispered softly so no one else could hear, “Want to join the ‘Mile High Club’?”
She glanced back and elbowed him in the gut. “I will not ask if you are already a member.” He had the good sense not to reply.
They arrived in Istanbul late at night. The woman in the red dress had remained watchful throughout the flight as did the watched. She hurriedly checked through customs in order to contact control and get in position to further her surveillance. Carter made it through customs first, so he kept vigilance to see if she passed off to another person, but she seemed to remain the primary tail at this point. He waited on the others to join him. At Danny Mac’s urging, Carter had deferred to Mrs. Gage about making logistical arrangements.
“She can do more in her sleep than we can begin to pull together in a lifetime,” Danny Mac said.
Carter had not been disappointed. He was becoming more than a little impressed and dare he admit, enamored, with the diminutive little dynamo. Jake had stolen Danny Mac from him. Maybe he would take the little beauty for himself and leave Jake in the dust. An interesting thought but now it was time to move to the next phase.
* * *
CJ Baer rolled into town very early in the morning. He pulled his rig into the truck lot and slept for a while. Mrs. Gage always had a rental car available for him when he came into town. He waited until a decent hour and drove over to her house. A small boy was coming out of the door followed by a tall man in a suit. CJ took note of the bulge of a gun under his jacket. They stopped in their tracks and both looked at him with a steely eye. He would have laughed at the way th
e boy mimicked the man if he didn’t want to trigger the man’s anger.
“Can we help you?”
“Is Mrs. Gage around?”
“Why do you need to know?”
CJ could feel his irritation rise. “Well for one thing, she asked me to come here. Who are you?”
“A friend.”
“So am I.”
Blade suddenly remembered. “Wait, are you CJ?”
“Yes, young man, I am.”
“Andy, this is the truck driver who was bringing us intel.”
“Intel?” Andy and CJ exchanged a smile.
“I do have intel.”
“Well, Blade, I am going to take you to school and then this gentleman and I will talk.”
“Oh man, why do I miss all the cool stuff.”
“You are our undercover kid. You have the coolest job of all.”
“Yeah, right. You are just saying that to shut me up.” He accepted defeat. “Maybe I’ll see you around, Mr. CJ.”
“Count on it, kid.” He smiled at him. Blade liked him and hoped he would get to see him again.
Andy nodded at CJ and put his arm around Blade to steer him to his car. He threw over his shoulder, “Hang, tight for a few. I’ll be back.” He called Judy and told her to leave the guy cooling outside until he got back. Then he called the security detail to also keep an eye on him in case he was not who he claimed to be.
CJ got back in his car. He took note that he was not invited to go in. That was fine. He was glad to see they were being cautious. With what he overheard, they need to be.
He had listened to the people he was smuggling into Canada for several hours. They moved around freely until they got to the border at which time, they went back into their shipping containers and CJ sealed them in. He prayed the whole time they wouldn’t be discovered. He knew Mrs. Gage would make it right, but he didn’t want the hassle.
Andy was only gone a little while. He walked by the car and motioned CJ into the house. He followed him through the door and into the parlor to the right. He noticed a gorgeous blond sitting on the couch who raised an inquisitive eye at the man.
“CJ, this is Judy. I am Andrew. We work with Mrs. Gage. What have you learned?”
Well, so much for niceties. “Mrs. Gage asked me to take a certain load to Canada. It contained several people that needed to get out of the country, so I installed a listening device. They were agitated and running scared. And mad. They talked about what they wanted to do to the witch who did this to them. They were meeting in different places around the world to regroup. One man was on his way to Athens, another to Madrid. One of the ladies was going to London. They could not wait to see what the Master would do to some person named Inanna.”
“Master?” Andy jumped on that. “What else did they say about the Master?”
“Let me think. They said he would not rest till the order was avenged.”
Judy and Andy looked at each other.
“Did they give any indication where the Master is?”
“No, not really, but they all seem to be in contact with him. Pretty direct contact. It was like they all knew everything at once and were just discussing what they were hearing.”
CJ continued. “They said this Inanna had ruined everything. They had good lives they had to leave. Now, they had no idea what kind of life the Order would ask them to live. They left their spouses and kids and jobs. Crazy. But mainly they were mad. I pity this Inanna if any of them get their hands on her.”
“Where did you take them?”
“To a village on the waterfront in Gaspe`, Canada. I have the address I can give you. They paid me in cash and said to get lost. If I talked, I’d die.”
“Do you think it was wise to come here. They know who we are.”
“Doesn’t matter. Mrs. G said I come here, I come here.”
“Well, you may need to lay low for a while. Do you work for a company?”
“No, I own my own rig.”
“Well, plan on staying here for the time being. Mrs. Gage would have my head if I got you hurt.”
“I am not worried about it. I can take care of myself. Besides I have Freddie.”
“Freddie?” Judy finally spoke.
CJ laughed, “Yeah, my cat.”
Judy grinned. “Sounds like you’re covered then.”
Andy pressed, “Seriously, dude, stay here, okay?”
“All right, for a few days. But Freddie has to stay too.”
“That is no problem.” Judy offered.
“Good. That’s settled.” Andy spoke to Judy, “I need to go up and contact Carter and Mrs. Gage with this.” He got the address of the drop off from CJ. “I want to see what they want us to do next.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
After CJ talked directly to Mrs. G, he decided to pick up his things from his truck. She asked him to stay at her home until further notice. Judy asked him to wait on Andy. She knew he would want him to have back up. Andy came in and confirmed this. He contacted Mrs. Gage’s major domo who also acted as her security chief. He alerted them that Judy would be alone and to be vigilant.
His response was a very British, “Very good, sir.”
Andy bent down and kissed Judy. “Stay put, beautiful. No wandering off.”
“Yes, dear,” her tone sarcastic but she softened it with a smile.
CJ inquired as they got in the car. “What has Mrs. G got herself into now?”
“It’s a pretty big mess. How do you know Mrs. Gage?”
“‘She bailed my kid sister out of a jam. We made friends then one thing led to another. I’d die for that woman.”
They drove in silence the rest of the way to the truck stop next to the interstate. He pulled in beside his rig. Andy reached a hand over to stop him as he started to open the car door.
“Hang on.” They sat still for several seconds. CJ looked over at him expectantly, wondering what they were waiting on. Andy moved his hand palm down a couple of times as he opened his door. CJ understood. Low and slow.
Andy pulled his service weapon. He motioned CJ to open the back doors of the box trailer staying behind the door keeping himself out of the way. Andy took out his flashlight and placed it above his pistol. He nodded at CJ.
When he reached and lifted the hasp on the door, all hell broke loose. The door slammed into his face and he flew onto his back onto the pavement. Andy returned fire while diving out of the line of bullets pouring from the back of the rig. Two men jumped down. CJ had already rolled under the trailer and grabbed his tire iron he had stashed there. He took out one of the guys out at the knees who fired and missed CJ as he fell. CJ rolled out the other side of the trailer and met Andy behind a nearby vehicle.
CJ nodded at Andy’s gun, “You got another one of those?” Andy grinned and pulled a 380 from his back waistband.
“Don’t shoot yourself. I don’t want to fill out the paperwork.”
“I think I crushed that guys’ kneecap. He crawled behind that truck.”
“Yeah, I saw that. Good work. I’ve called it in, so the cavalry is on the way.”
Andy saw CJ’s eyes move sharply. Before CJ could speak Andy turned and shot the man fleeing from behind the truck.
“Pretty nice shooting.” CJ laughed. “Should I go check that other guy?”
“Better wait. He is still armed. Let’s see if we can flush him out.”
He called out, “Hey, mac, want to give up?”
His response made them both raise their eyebrows. CJ asked, “Is that even possible?”
Andy laughed. They heard the sirens. Andy told CJ to stay put and keep an eye on the injured man. He ran to the front of CJ’s truck and motioned for the uniformed officer who arrived first. He was able to communicate to him that there was one man down and another still armed, giving him his general location. As the Kevlar clad officers moved in, a single gunshot sounded. He turned back and looked at CJ who shook his head. They wouldn’t be getting any information out of these men.
/> * * *
The crowd that had hunkered down in place at the sound of gunfire, came out in droves when the police started putting up the crime scene tape. They gathered around the limits of the perimeter like moths to a flame. Andy had shown his badge and vouched for CJ. He explained they were mates who had simply come back to the truck to get his things and interrupted a couple of guys trying to rob him.
Andy scanned the faces in the crowd without appearing to observe. He began talking to one of the uniforms and kept his eye on an older man in his right peripheral vision. He looked practically homeless with a wizened beard and hooded jacket. But the eyes weren’t right. He guessed he could be mentally ill but there was venom directed straight at him. He ended his conversation and walked directly to the man. The old man’s eyes never wavered.
Andy got in his face and growled. “Give a message to your boss, will you pal?”‘
The man didn’t blink. “Tell him yourself.” He flipped open his collar on his flannel shirt revealing a mic. He flipped a switch for audio
“Yes, Mr. O’Hanlon, you have a message?” The voice was mechanical. Probably using a voice synthesizer.
Everything in Andy clenched, but he bit out, “We are coming for you, for all of you. You know that, don’t you?”
“Oh, I am counting on it. And I look forward to watching your little blonde beauty taken apart piece by piece.”
Andy grabbed the man and growled. “Anyone touches her, the hounds of hell won’t stop me.”
“Give Inanna my best regards. I have special plans for her too. So funny you should mention the hounds of hell. That is exactly who is coming for you,” the metallic, mechanical voice making the words more sinister.
Andy knew it was pointless to try to take this guy in. He had nothing to charge him on. He removed his hands from the man’s clothes with a satisfying little shove and walked away.
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