by David Archer
“Maybe,” Jenny said. “It’s also possible we’ve been taken somewhere else, especially if he thinks we might’ve found the original facility. Either way, I have my doubts about a rescue attempt anytime soon.”
“Why? Allison’s not going to let them get away with this.”
“They won’t get away with anything,” Jenny said. “They’ll pay for this, with their lives. The problem is that the mission has to come first. Mounting a rescue attempt for the three of us could blow the mission, and Allison won’t do that.” She scowled and let out a sigh. “Ladies, we are on our own.”
“Then let’s make a plan,” Sarah said. “There’s three of us, and we’ve all had hand-to-hand combat training. When they come after us, I say we put up a fight.”
“We will if we can,” Jenny said. “And if we get the chance, do not hesitate to go for the kill. It doesn’t take that much force to drive somebody’s nose up into the brain, just hit it hard with the heel of your hand. Every one we put down is one we don’t have to fight later, and it might even get us some weapons.” She looked down at herself. “And maybe some shirts we can put on.”
There was a tap on the door and all three of them froze. A moment later, they heard the rattle of keys and the door opened.
Hank Schlatter stood in the doorway, flanked by four men holding pistols pointed into the room.
“You know,” he said, “you girls aren’t very smart. I can’t believe you didn’t realize how easily I could recognize you. I never forget a face, you see, and I knew all of you as soon as I saw you.”
None of them said a word, and he grinned at them.
“In the casino the other night,” he said. He pointed at Sarah. “You, you were a redhead when I saw you in Texas. You were playing blackjack the other night, and all three of you were so into the game that you didn’t even see me standing ten feet away. I heard your voice, and that’s what gave you away at first. When I took a good look, I realized you were the three girls who were dancing in the club the night I was in Galveston.”
Jenny scrunched up her face. “Galveston? Yeah, that’s where we live. Why have you kidnapped us? And what did you do with our clothes?”
“Don’t play coy,” Schlatter said. “The chance that the three of you might just be here on some innocent vacation is so infinitesimally small that I didn’t even consider it. Obviously, you are some sort of law enforcement agents, undoubtedly investigating our operation. Mr. Townsend said he knew at least one of you, so I have to assume he’s part of an investigation, as well. The only question is whether he’s a target or a partner.”
“Townsend?” Sarah asked. “You mean Robert Townsend? He’s one of our neighbors. We live in the same apartment building, that’s all.”
Schlatter grinned and shook his head. “There’s really no point, ladies,” he said. “One of the advantages of having been in the hotel security business is that I know just about everyone. We got into your room, and three young women on vacation don’t carry the kind of weapons that you had in your bags. Now, you can be honest with me or not, that’s your choice. Just don’t try to convince me that you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Jenny sighed. “Okay, fine,” she said. “We’re FBI, undercover. That should tell you that you’ve made a very serious mistake by abducting us, because all it’s going to do is buy you a guaranteed life sentence. Our team has been watching you for more than a week, so they know everywhere you go and everything you do. If they don’t have this place surrounded already, they will within an hour. There’s no chance in the world you can escape, so you might as well surrender to us now. And, you can give us back our clothes.”
“I spotted your surveillance as soon as I got back last week,” he said. “Do you honestly think I would be stupid enough to lead them to where we conduct our actual operations? I let them follow me out to visit some people I know west of here, conspiracy nuts who have their own little compound in the middle of the desert. Your people have been watching them ever since, and the idiot who was following me made the mistake of getting too close. He’s down the hall, just so you know. None of your friends have any clue where we are.”
“Are you sure about that?” Jenny asked. “You don’t think we’d only have one person watching, do you? Standard surveillance technique, when you’re dealing with someone truly dangerous, is to have three different lines of surveillance. One will be clumsy and visible, easy to spot for someone that knows what they’re looking for. The other two will be invisible. Trust me, our people know where we are.”
“If they did, they would’ve raided us already. I had to do a little rearranging, but this isn’t going to hurt us that much. With the people I’ve got here, plus the three of you and your buddy down the hall, I can make a fast fifty million or so. You all disappear, and then I do. I’ve got a whole new identity set up in South America, and I can live the rest of my life on the money I’ll take with me.”
“You’re not going to live that long,” Jenny said. “You try to touch any of us, and I’m going to kill you personally.”
Schlatter threw back his head and laughed. “Now you’re talking,” he said. “That’s the kind of defiance I was looking for. I’ll tell you what, since the three of you were gutsy enough to even attempt this, I’m going to see just how good a team you really are. I’ll be back in a few hours, and one of you will be the first one to go into the operating room. I’m going to let the three of you decide which one it will be.”
He shut the door and they heard it lock. Jenny stared at the door for a moment, then motioned for Renée and Sarah to huddle close.
“We stall as long as we can,” she said. “When they come back, we try to tell them we’re still trying to decide which one of us will volunteer to go first. When they start to complain or threaten to drag one of us, that’s when we attack. If I can get close enough to one of those guns, I can take it, and then I can kill the other bastards before they know what’s hit them.”
Sarah and Renée looked at her, but neither of them said a word. Jenny reached out and touched their shoulders.
“Don’t give up,” she said. “As long as we are still breathing, there’s hope. As long as one of us is still breathing, there’s hope. And if it comes down to not having a choice, I’ll be the one to go first.”
“Like hell,” Sarah said. “If we die, we die together.”
“I agree,” Renée said. “I’m not going to say I’m not scared, I’m terrified, but we have a better chance of getting through this together than if we let them separate us.”
Jenny looked at both of them and then pulled them into a hug. “Okay,” she said. “We do it together, one way or another.”
TWENTY-TWO
Noah awoke at six and rolled out of bed, then got into the shower. As he stood under the hot spray, he turned on the subcom.
“Noah to Sarah,” he said. “You there, babe?”
There was no response, so he figured she might still be sleeping. He had told her to be awake by five o’clock her time, which would actually be eight o’clock where he was. He finished showering, shaved and got dressed, then sat down to wait for Carrigan to call.
The call came at exactly seven o’clock in the morning.
“Townsend,” Noah said.
“Hello, Rob,” came Carrigan’s voice. “Are you ready for some breakfast?”
“Absolutely,” Noah replied. “Where would you like us to meet?”
“There’s a wonderful restaurant just down the street from your hotel called Alonso’s. How about we meet there in half an hour? We’ll have us some good breakfast, and then we can go meet the other partners. I’m sure this is going to be an exciting morning.”
“That sounds great,” Noah said. “I’ll meet you there.”
He got up and left his room, then went down the hall to Esmeralda’s. He tapped on the door lightly, and she opened it a second later.
“I’m going to meet Carrigan for breakfast,” he said. “Come on and follo
w me, because I’ll be going to the meeting right after. You can stay in the car while we have breakfast.”
“I’ll be glad to,” Esmeralda said with a smile. She turned and picked up her purse, then the suitcase that contained the guns. She followed Noah to the elevator, but she didn’t need to follow him as they left the hotel and went to the parking lot.
Noah got into his Toyota and watched as she put the suitcase in the back seat of the Mustang GT she had rented. Once again, he was amazed at how perfectly human she appeared, and wondered for just a moment if the computer inside her head might be capable of doing anything to override its own programming. She had shown no signs of independent thought, but if he wasn’t completely aware that she was a machine, he never would have believed it from what he could see.
She got into her car and he started his own. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the street toward Alonso’s and saw that she was staying a short distance back. When he pulled in the parking lot of the restaurant, she turned into a nearby shopping center, where she could watch his car.
Noah waited in his car for a few minutes, then got out and walked into the restaurant. Carrigan hadn’t arrived yet, so he took a table where he could see the entrance and ordered coffee. Carrigan came through the door a moment later. Noah waved, and the man smiled as he came toward him, sliding into the seat on the opposite side of the table.
“Rob,” he said, “it’s wonderful to see you again. How’s everything in Texas?”
“It’s going well,” Noah said. “I left Jim Coolidge in charge, of course. He seems perfectly capable of handling anything that might come up, and I showed him how to prepare paperwork and such. I think everything will still be running smoothly when I get back.”
“Excellent, excellent. Dear boy, I can’t tell you how excited I am about the things that are going to happen today. Let’s have us some good breakfast, and then I’ll take you and introduce you to the other partners.”
“That sounds fine to me,” Noah said. “I’ve been looking at the menu, and the Belgian waffle looks delicious.”
“Oh, it is,” Carrigan said. “I’ve had it many times, and I think I’ll have it this morning as well.” He signaled the waitress and she took their orders, then hurried off about her business. “Robert,” Carrigan said when she was gone, “I am so looking forward to this. We’ve had a lot of success, but we’ve also had some setbacks along the way. Your new innovations will probably help us to become even bigger and more powerful than we already are in the industry. I’m looking forward to the day when we can control the majority of the market.”
“Do you honestly think that’s possible?” Noah asked. “I mean, especially considering the regulatory issues?”
“Oh, yes,” Carrigan said. “There’s no doubt about it in my mind. There are already efforts underway to legalize the sale of organs, and I would be perfectly happy if we could control that market. As for the other part of our business, I hope that will probably stay under the radar for a long time, but I suspect that even that will eventually come under some sort of regulatory permissibility.”
Noah shrugged. “Fine by me,” he said. “I’m just glad I got the chance to make this kind of money.”
“Oh, you haven’t even gotten close to the potential. Just wait until you meet the other partners, you’ll begin to understand.”
The conversation continued along the same vein while they ate breakfast, and then Carrigan said it was time to go. He picked up the check, waving Noah away when he tried to pay for it, and they walked out of the restaurant together.
“That’s my car,” Carrigan said. “Why don’t you just ride with me, and I’ll bring you back here to get your car later.”
“Well, I had planned on taking my car with me,” Noah said. “It’s right over there, the Toyota.”
“Nonsense, nonsense,” Carrigan said. “I can drive you back over here after we have our meeting. You’ll need your car later this afternoon, anyway, but there’s no sense in you having to put up with the stupidity of traffic in the city for now. Come on, ride with me.”
Noah glanced toward the parking lot where Esmeralda was sitting and wondered if she would realize that he was leaving in a separate vehicle. He spotted her Mustang and for a split second, he saw her wave her arm out the window.
“All right,” he said. He walked with Carrigan toward the Cadillac he was driving and slid into the passenger seat, whispering “Sarah, are you there?” Still he got no response. As they pulled out of the parking lot, he saw the Mustang start toward the exit from the other parking lot as well.
The drive to the meeting took twenty minutes, and was in a small building that looked like it might once have been some sort of medical clinic. Carrigan pulled in front of it and parked at the curb, then encouraged Noah to get out and follow him inside. There were several other cars along the curb, and Noah spotted the Mustang pulling past them as they headed toward the door of the building. It took a parking space a little further down, and then was lost to sight as they stepped into the foyer.
A metal detector stood just inside, and Carrigan emptied his pockets into a plastic tray, which he then slid across the table that stood next to the detector. There was a stack of trays, so Noah did the same, then followed Carrigan through the machine. When it didn’t go off, they both took the items out of their trays and put them back in their pockets.
Noah subvocalized, “Subcoms on,” but nothing seemed to happen. It took him a second to realize that there was no Wi-Fi in the building, and somehow he was unable to reach any that might be nearby. He suddenly had the feeling that something might be going wrong, and that he was completely on his own. There would be no way to let Esmeralda know if he was in trouble.
A receptionist looked up and smiled. “Mr. Carrigan, hello,” she said. “Everyone is inside waiting for you.” She looked Noah over briefly, her eyes smiling.
“Thank you, Teresa,” Carrigan said. He walked past her desk and opened the doorway, and Noah followed him inside a conference room.
There were three men seated around a table, and they all looked up as he and Carrigan entered. Carrigan pointed toward a chair and Noah sat, and then he made the introductions.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “this is Robert Townsend. Rob, these are our other partners.” He pointed to the man seated at the head of the table. “This is Charles Faulkner, the man on his right is Lawrence Bennett, and the man on Charles’ right is Ross Carlson. We four, along with Hank Schlatter, are the senior partners in control of the operation.”
Noah smiled and nodded his head. “Gentlemen, it’s a great pleasure to meet you all. I’ve been hearing so much about you, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity that has come my way.”
Faulkner looked at him, and Noah realized that the man seemed somehow displeased. The other two were smiling, but there was something false about the smiles. Noah glanced at Carrigan and realized suddenly that he was also concerned about the looks on their faces.
“Charles, is there something wrong?” Carrigan asked.
Faulkner looked at him for a moment, then scowled. “Actually, we are trying to figure out if you are just an idiot, or if you have sold us out, Albert.” He pointed at Noah. “Hank called a few minutes ago. He says he has captured three women who were obviously watching the two of you when you met with this man last week in Texas.”
Carrigan’s eyes went wide and his expression went blank. He turned and looked at Noah. “Robert? Do you know anything about this?”
Noah raised his own eyebrows. “I don’t know what this is supposed to mean,” he said. “You said Hank, do you mean Mr. Schlatter?”
“Yes,” said Carlson. “Hank Schlatter. He went to a casino a couple nights ago and says he found three women there, the same three women he saw when he was with you at the club in Galveston. He captured them, and they claim to be working with the FBI. Tell me, Mr. Townsend, are you also with the FBI?”
Noah stared at him, his mind racing. He w
as instantly concerned about Sarah, Jenny and Renée, but his first thought was that he had to somehow survive this meeting. Even as he was trying to think of how to reply, three men stepped into the room behind him, and he didn’t need to look around to know that they would be armed.
“Look, I don’t know anything about any FBI,” he said. “I have no idea who these women could be, and if they’re some kind of FBI agents, then I need to figure out just how much they know about me and my involvement in all this. Has he questioned them yet?”
“Yes,” Bennett said. “He says they claim not to know you, either, but it all seems awfully coincidental, wouldn’t you agree?”
“But, I’m telling you, I don’t know anything about this,” Noah said, trying to look frightened. “Gentlemen, this has been the biggest opportunity that’s ever come my way. I have no idea what’s going on, but I can assure you that I don’t want this to end, and I certainly wouldn’t cooperate with any kind of law enforcement. Considering what we do, I can’t believe they would let me have any kind of immunity. I think I’d be going down right along with everybody else, so maybe we all need to calm down and think this through.”
“Bullshit,” Faulkner said. “There’s just too much coincidence. Hank and Albert go to see you, and then three women that were at the restaurant and the nightclub turn up out there where Hank is running things? Did you put people on Albert as well? Albert, you may have led the authorities straight to us.”
Carrigan’s eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. “No, no,” he said. “I’ve checked Robert out thoroughly, he is not any kind of policeman.”
“You stupid old man,” Carlson said. “Do you honestly believe they couldn’t fake all that information?”
“But I—I can’t…” Carrigan trailed off, turning to look at Noah. “Robert?”