When We Break

by Cheryl Phipps

  Many were commuters getting an early start on their weekend; others were holiday-makers catching the last of the summer on the white sand beaches. A few were residents who had gone to the city for various reasons, and there were high school children who’d outgrown the island school. At the height of summer, the island was packed with people, but most of the time, the population was approximately nine thousand. Somewhere amongst these people was the man Nick was following.

  As prearranged, a car was already waiting for him, unlocked, with the keys hidden under the visor. He tossed an overnight bag in the back seat, started the engine, and waited until a van collected his quarry. Pulling out, he managed to stay a few cars behind, keeping the vehicle in sight.

  By the time he had driven for twenty minutes, there were just the two vehicles on the winding road. He’d never been to Waiheke before, but he’d studied the map of the island enough times to commit it to memory, so he was prepared when the vehicle in front began to slow and turned into a concealed driveway. A set of majestic gates swung closed behind the van just as Nick passed by. Around the next bend was a lay-by where he pulled in and switched off the engine.

  Waiting for a few minutes in case there was someone following him, he got out and walked back nearly to the entrance. Nick pushed himself into the hedge that grew along the eight-foot-high fence, avoiding the security cameras mounted on the gates. He’d known from his team it wasn’t going to be easy to penetrate this fortress, but seeing it firsthand made him appreciate the difficulties they’d described.

  He walked for a few yards down the empty lot next door, searching for something to climb on. As luck would have it, a recently fallen tree provided just enough height to see inside the compound.

  The silver van sat parked in front of an imposing house with huge, tinted windows that resembled eyes staring blankly at the courtyard. The windows were bordered on either side by shutters, currently hinged back. The heavy wooden front doors were closed and looked impregnable. A fountain stood in the middle of the circular drive, the water tinkling down the ornamental sides and splashing into a shallow pool at its base. Colorful birds drank and bathed from the different levels, giving the place a deceptively peaceful atmosphere.

  Nick pulled a digital camera from his trouser pocket and snapped several pictures of the house, van, and then of the driver, leaning on the van door, lazily smoking and humming to his radio. It didn’t look like anything vital was happening, so Nick climbed cautiously down, and creeping alongside the fence, he eventually found himself on the beach. The wall facing the water was even more imposing, with razor wire attached to the top. Steel gates were closed tightly above the owner’s boat ramp. People with nothing to hide did not live like this.

  It was quiet on both sides of the wall, and he already knew from his team that nothing would be happening here tonight. Instead of returning to his car, he walked quickly along the tree line, in the opposite direction. As he went, he searched the grass verge for a track he’d memorized from photos.

  The land along here was prime real estate. Some of the old beach houses were pulled down to make way for much grander residences, but there were still plenty of traditional bungalows. These were set back from the beach with sloping sections, gardens, and the obligatory tire swings hanging from gnarled pohutukawa trees, more ancient than the wooden homes.

  Searching along the shoreline, he found what he was looking for: a barely-there path, leading through the empty lot, which was large and angled. It leaned back towards the tree from which he had viewed the compound. The house on it had succumbed over time to the work of the seasons and extreme neglect. The only thing he could see was a broken down chimney rearing up through the weeds.

  The overgrown section provided a natural barrier between the house his team was setting up as a base and the one under surveillance. The three properties were a reasonable distance apart, so Nick was hopeful that their presence would go undetected.

  As dusk neared, he found another trail made darker by the trees canopied above. He came to a more open space and edged up the lawn towards a small cottage. Slowly he crept around its perimeter, listening for any noises from inside and around it. He tried both doors, but they were locked.

  Thankfully, he found a window slightly ajar, meaning he wouldn’t need to break-in to the cottage, after all. Peering through the pane, he was frustrated by the net curtains, which afforded him only a dim view of the interior. Quietly lifting the latch, Nick hoisted himself up and over the window ledge.

  A faint sound from across the room had him instantly dropping to his knees. As his eyes adjusted to the moonlit room, he managed to make out a body curled up on an old-fashioned four-poster bed. Watching closely, Nick stayed perfectly still. The gentle rhythm of breathing from the sleeping figure was a relief. Waiting until he was satisfied that whoever it was would not waken, he inched his way to the door.

  He was almost there when a loose floorboard groaned loud enough to wake the dead.

  “Who’s there?” A fearful female voice, edged with sleep, stopped him in his tracks.

  Silently cursing, he knew there would be no escape - not with his silhouette clearly defined against the wall. The woman was now sitting upright on the edge of the bed, looking right at him.

  “I’m very sorry to intrude, ma’am. I thought this place was empty,” he said in his most polite voice while mentally berating himself and his team for such a pathetic blunder. They’d assured him that the house was vacant. Heads were going to roll for this, he vowed.

  “So you thought you would rob an old woman because she wasn’t home?”

  The anger and indignation gave her voice strength, and suddenly she was leaping from the bed, wielding what looked like a table lamp straight at his head. Instincts honed from years of training allowed him to easily deflect it with his forearm while his other arm pulled the attacker close.

  It was very apparent that the woman he held bore no physical resemblance to the old lady who was reportedly the owner of the property. He was pretty sure that a much older woman wouldn’t feel like this—with curves that were very much in all the right places. She fitted neatly under his chin, and as she struggled, a delicate fragrance of soap and flowers wafted over him. It was a familiar smell.

  He should have known better than to daydream and paid the price when she kicked him in the shin. Even as he instinctively reacted to that assault, she followed through nicely with a knee to the groin. Tears sprang to his eyes, and it took all his self-control to keep a hold on the squirming form while he groaned loudly. Sucking in deep breaths, he spun her around. With her back to him and her feet off the floor so she wouldn’t be able to inflict that kind of injury again.

  “Let me go—you creep,” she yelled, jerking her head from side to side and kicking behind her to connect with his shins a few more times.

  She flung herself back, and her head came in brutal contact with his nose, causing intense pain to shoot through him once more. Having had more than enough of the hellcat, he flung her onto the bed. Exasperated, he straightened up, backed to the door, and fumbled along the wall to flick on the light switch.

  Who had a right to look this good after being rudely awoken and involved in an intense scuffle? Her long blonde hair cascaded in soft waves about her face; her dress was rumpled from sleep and clung to her slender form. She was too thin, although he did remember how firm and rounded her breasts felt on his arm as he’d held her. She was panting from the exertion, and her green eyes were wild. Wait a minute—those eyes.

  Chapter Six

  “Well, I’ll be damned. What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded through gritted teeth.

  Recognition had already dawned for the woman, and she didn’t look even slightly repentant.

  “You told Kirk nothing was happening for at least a week, so what are you doing here?”

  “Whatever I said to Kirk was confidential, and you had no right to listen in.”

  “I had every right! If Randall
’s here, then Chloe will be, too,” she hissed.

  “And you think that by changing the clothes you usually wear and dying your hair, no one will recognize you?”

  “You didn’t,” she smirked.

  She sure was a piece of work. “It didn’t take too long, and if I’d seen you in the light, I would have known it was you in an instant.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “The way you walk, the way you speak, how you hold yourself. You forget I knew you long before the time we first met. And a lot of Randall’s men have known you that long or longer.”

  “I’ll be keeping a low profile,” she said defensively. “And I can take care of myself now.”

  “So, Kirk’s been giving you some off-the-record pointers, has he? I’ll deal with him later, but for now, why don’t you tell me all about your plan?”

  “I’m going to break into Randall’s house and take my child home.”

  He wanted to shake her senseless. “You’re on an island, for God’s sake. How the hell would you get her off without Randall knowing?”

  “If he doesn’t know she’s gone, then he won’t be looking for me. Anyway, don’t change the subject. What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?”

  “All right, all right,’ Nick held up his hands in surrender. The last thing he wanted was to fight with her. And to talk her out of this crazy plan, he imagined, would take some lengthy negotiation. “I’m going to catch Randall red-handed, and to do that, I needed a place close enough to keep an eye on him until the time is right. My team and I were led to believe this place would be unoccupied for a few months. I guess you had the same idea and the same information.”

  He was not at all happy with Kirk, although he could appreciate that her tenacity and passion for getting her daughter back, could wear a man down, even a man like Kirk.

  Talia moved warily from the bed towards the window while keeping a healthy distance and watching him suspiciously. Did she think he would hurt her? Surely not after he saved her life? As she turned from him to lean out the window to peer into the night, he had a flashback of how her bottom had nestled so naturally against his thighs. In all the weeks he’d been visiting her, they had kept their distance, but Nick had wanted things to be different.

  “How many of you are coming here?’

  She startled him with the question, and he looked up guiltily into her narrowing eyes. “There will be two or three of us here at any one time, but we also have a base in the village.”

  “How come no one was around when I got here?”

  “My partner should have been inside, but when the doors were locked, I assumed he was delayed, so I had to break in. Again, I’m sorry about that, but I had no idea you were here. By the way, and if it were that easy for me, it would be for Randall’s men. It’s too dangerous for you to stay, so how about I take you back to town?”

  “No way. I rented this place for a month, and I’m not leaving. Now tell me what your plan entails.”

  He had no choice but to tell her a version of the truth. It could put her in added danger, but he saw no choice unless he manhandled her onto the ferry, and that would hardly help the undercover nature of this case.

  “Let me call my partner Jack, who, as I said, should’ve been here with a key by now. We can discuss everything when he arrives and see if he has an update. How about a nice cup of tea while we’re waiting?” Nick smiled pleasantly.

  “You have to be kidding me! Make the call, by all means, but if you want tea, you can damn well make it yourself.”

  “That’s fine with me.” There was clearly no point in trying to be friendly with her in this mood. “Where’s your phone, and is it connected?”

  “I have no idea. I just got here, remember. Try the lounge and get the hell out of my bedroom.” She ushered him out of the room and shut the door in his face.

  This case proved to be more of a challenge every darn day; Nick fumed as he moved into the sitting room. The phone rested on a small coffee table, and he was about to make the call when he realized what an idiotic thing that would be. Talia had him turned around again, and he was slipping if he thought a landline would ever be safe, given the proximity and tech-savviness of Randall’s crew. Things had begun to unravel, and he’d only just arrived, who knew if anything else was compromised. Using his mobile phone, he was relieved when Jack answered on the first ring.

  “Hi Nick, what do you think of the place?”

  “More to the point, where the hell are you?”

  “I’m leaving soon. The new equipment arrived late, and I was delayed in setting it up.”

  Jack sounded preoccupied, but Nick wasn’t interested in excuses.

  “I don’t care what delayed you. We have a situation. I understood the cottage was unoccupied.”

  “What are you saying? There’s no-one there. I checked this morning.”

  “What do you think I’m saying? Someone’s living here, and I’ve just scared the crap out of her by breaking in.”

  “Shit. That’s a big risk if this woman figures out what we’re doing there. We need to talk her into moving on.”

  “Really? You don’t think that crossed my mind,” Nick growled, then took a deep breath. “It’s going to take a bit of work to get her to agree, and that means using time we don’t have.”

  “I still don’t get it. Are you sure you’re at the right cottage?”

  Jack could be extremely exasperating, and Nick was barely keeping his control. “Of course I’m at the right place unless you’ve stuffed that up too?”

  “Sorry, I’ll leave now and help you sort out this mess.”

  There was no point in arguing. “Just get here as soon as you can.”

  “What is there to sort out, and what am I going to agree to?”

  Talia had come up quietly behind him, causing Nick to jump. It seemed that Kirk was too good a teacher. She’d used some good hand-to-hand techniques, shown how strong she’d become, and now stealth was high on her list of achievements. He’d need to be more vigilant while Talia was around. How much had she overheard? “Nothing you need to worry about.”

  “Naturally, I’m worried. You said it was dangerous for us to stay here. How dangerous?”

  “On a scale of one to ten, I’d say about eleven, and there’s no us in this. I’ll find a nice room for you in town or maybe on the other side of the island. Of course, I’d feel better if you went home, but that’s not likely, is it?”

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. “On a scale of one to ten, forget it! I came here for Chloe, not to get involved in cops and robbers, so you find somewhere else. They won’t come near me if you’re not here, will they?”

  He couldn’t leave. He was so close to cracking this case that it would be irresponsible to relocate, and the thought of Talia on the island unprotected made him more than a little crazy. Maybe a healthy dose of fear would change her mind.

  “I can’t promise you you’ll be safe here on your own. It would be just like Randall to continue to survey the surrounding area regularly. After living and dealing with him, you, of all people, should know to what lengths he’ll go to guarantee his shipment. He’ll protect it at all costs, and our continuing good health won’t enter into it if he finds us.”

  She began to pace the room. “Why aren’t you arresting him if you’re so sure of your facts?”

  Her face had grown paler at the mention of Randall, but he wasn’t about to make it easier for her by making the situation seem better than it was.

  “To make the case stick, we have to track down everyone involved. And to shut down his operation permanently, we have to get the person supplying Randall. It has to be hard evidence—something that’s so watertight, the bastard won’t get away again.”

  “But you must have so much on him by now - you’ve been tailing him for a long time.”

  “I’ve already told you about the situation. I have the word of my informer and my gut instincts. I trust them both, but it’s sim
ply not enough. Talia, if he suspects we’re around, he’ll try to get rid of us, and I do mean permanently. You’ve got to know Randall will feel like it’s a bonus if he finds you with us.”

  Talia looked at him uncertainly, as if she wanted to say something. Instead, she turned and walked away. What the hell was he going to do about her?

  Chapter Seven

  Nervously, Talia moved to the kitchen to fill the kettle, more for something to keep her occupied while she thought and not to make Nick feel comfortable. She liked him—he’d been good to her. But he also had an agenda that possibly rivaled hers. It might be awkward to be around Nick when he obviously wanted her gone, but for her, there was no choice—she had to stay.

  Talia watched Nick move around the lounge, shutting curtains and generally making himself at home. She couldn’t deny it was comforting to have someone around, now that it was dark outside. Talia had previously noticed at Kirk’s place how athletic Nick was. For a tall man, he was almost graceful, his movements spare. There seemed to be no extra fat on his large frame. A fact confirmed as he stretched to close the curtains. The action pulled his t-shirt tightly across muscular biceps. She could attest to the strength of those biceps and the firmness of his chest from when he’d held her close a short time ago. Realizing her gaze was moving downward, she pulled herself back from the path her thoughts were taking. She was only interested in Chloe, not the way Nick looked.

  “How are you feeling?”

  He’d caught her watching him, and she felt an unwelcome flush creep up her neck. “I’m okay. A bit tired, but I had expected a decent night’s sleep.” Satisfaction stole over her when Nick looked uncomfortable at the reminder of her rude awakening.