| |
James and Logan were standing stock still in the doorway when Broughton caught up and peered around them, surprised—yet not—at what he saw.
Christopher Kelton sitting at the kitchen table holding a gun pointed at the ex-FBI agent sitting across from him.
Although Gerald’s back was to them, his stiff posture suggested he wasn’t enjoying this meeting.
“Seems ungrateful, doesn’t it,” said Kelton, “for me to be threatening the man who sent Rollins to a long and painful death for me?”
Gerald? How? “What have you done?” asked Broughton.
Kelton replied, “He did what Agent Bellows requested. Marched right in with Rollins slung over his shoulder and dumped him on the bed. I was able to slip out the door unnoticed while they administered the antidote. Imagine my surprise when this fool followed me, had the audacity to threaten me with a gun, order me to go back.” Kelton shrugged. “I expected Bellows to kill him once she had Rollins upright.”
Gerald’s ears reddened. “It’s Rollins she’ll kill once she gets the recipe and the contact list out of him. She’s smart and resourceful, and will run his business better than he ever did, and she’ll do it from a sunny beach with a cold Margarita in her hand.”
Sounded exactly like something she’d say, too. Would Rollins tell her they’d taken his information? No, he’d string her along to buy time, hope those who’d been chasing him would now save him. And wasn’t that a kicker? Broughton would continue trying to save his life, so he could put him away—publicly. Stand over his parents’ graves and tell them he’d eliminated the man who took their lives.
James leaned against the doorjamb. “What’s the plan now?”
“You’re going to trade me for Rollins,” said Gerald without turning around. “Then let Bellows take off in the helo, using me as a shield, because you don’t care if I live or die, and you want Rollins so you can fry him in court and put him in jail with all his Minnow compatriots. What you don’t want to do is walk out of here with nothing but a misguided, retired FBI agent who suffered a breakdown due to the terrible way he was treated by Rollins and the Bureau. My life was ruined by a commander who was, in fact, a criminal, and I’ll walk away from the legal arena with barely a scratch while Rollins is sitting on that beach with Bell—”
Kelton cut him off. “Shut the fuck up. You’re extraordinarily dim-witted if you think you’re going to get away with this stunt. You see these men? They’ll hand you over to the authorities the minute they can. And if you continue to annoy me, I’ll use this gun, and don’t think they’ll be stepping in to protect you.”
Kelton certainly sounded lucid. For the moment. Although his vocabulary had slipped from grandiose to ordinary.
“Now,” said Kelton, directing his words past Gerald, to Logan and James. “I need to leave here before the fireworks, and intend to take the truck parked out front, but I don’t imagine you’ll like that much.”
“Good call,” said James.
“I’m willing to negotiate. I—who have done nothing wrong, and have already given you the antidote—want to leave this godforsaken place, and you want to capture Rollins and Bellows. Am I correct so far?”
There were nods.
“Excellent. To show my good faith, I’m going to give you Bellows, and then you’ll let me drive away.”
“Seems reasonable.”
“You’ll never get her out of there.” The sneer in Gerald’s voice had Broughton fighting the desire to grab the stupid fucker around the throat and haul him out of the chair.
From the look on Kelton’s face, it appeared that he’d completely blocked out Gerald, to the point of not even hearing him. “I’m still able to manipulate Rollins’s mind, and as soon as he’s got his motor functions back, I’ll make sure he shoves Bellows out the door. It’ll be easy, because she won’t be expecting anything like that from him.”
James crossed his arms. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you think once we have Bellows in custody, you’ll be free to walk away?”
Kelton smiled. “Of course not. I’ll be driving away, with my hostage tied and gagged alongside me—although I’d prefer he ride in the back. And once I’ve reached my destination in approximately an hour, depending on conditions, I’ll put the idea in Rollins’s head to push Bellows out the door.”
James nodded. “But what about Rollins?”
Kelton stood. “You’ll be able to take him out the minute you have Bellows. Do you want her or not? Because I could just leave, with this,” he waved the gun at Gerald, “and not stop to help you capture her. Your choice.”
Something else up his sleeve, for sure. The question was what? And didn’t it occur to him yet that he had no visual on the twins?
Kelton poked Gerald with the gun. “Get up, and remember, just the sound of your voice makes me want to shoot you.” When Gerald rose and turned, Broughton was surprised to see he was wearing flexi-cuffs. Points to Kelton for using the man’s own cuffs and gun on him.
Pushing Broughton aside, James and Logan backed out of the doorway to make room for them. Gerald looked stunned that they were doing nothing to change the outcome.
Stepping out into the snow, and what had to seem like freedom, Kelton said, “It’s almost disappointing that this is so simple. Over without fanfare.”
“You want fanfare?” asked Logan.
Christopher turned, and the twins leapt. Had him disarmed before he hit the ground. Nathan held up a set of cuffs and asked James, “Front or back?”
“Front.” James crouched down and said to Kelton, “This was too easy, so don’t think we won’t be watching you.”
Talk about an anticlimax.
***
The twins had been quick to notice Gerald wasn’t wearing his wrist unit, so they had to assume he’d given it to Bellows, which meant she could have access to all their communications with HQ.
Not good, but it gave Nathan and Tyler a project they could sink their teeth into, changing the configuration of the remaining units by using the satellite radio in the runway snow plow. In the meantime, James sat on the bench outside while Logan went off to contact Grace and update HQ. Have them prepared to accept incoming from an unrecognized source.
These were the times when James was thankful for all the solid work they did preparing and running trials on dozens of contingency plans. He and Julia were in total agreement on that.
But what would she think about his idea to retire? To leave the business in the completely reliable hands of their children?
Would she balk? She’d been a much more active member than he over the last years, had become a solid leader, and seemed to love her job. Could he retire and leave her in charge? He doubted that. But then again, maybe they could just slip back into the way things had been before the Minnow and Rollins cases had gripped the family by the throat, threatened them in their own homes.
James could return to working with the service dog program at Haven, and Julia could be more of a figurehead for Meyers Security. Or not.
The question remained, now that he was back in full command mode, could he step aside and leave it to Julia?
He wanted to reach out to her right now, had missed having her in his head whenever he felt like it, but since Kelton had gone off, it had been too risky. No way did they dare give him the slightest chance to get inside their minds. Until this case, he hadn’t thought they’d ever need the kind of cerebral security Logan and Grace had.
But when this was all done? It was the first thing they’d work on. Establishing a connection that could not be tampered with, because that’s what they’d always believed they had. Even way back, when they were first married, they’d taken great delight in communicating, no matter what their locations.
He’d always remember the hundreds of pushups he had to do when he was in boot camp because he’d laughed out loud at an inappropriate time. She’d been in his head, helping him get through a boring round of instruction about something he’d already mastered.
Talk to me so I don’t fall asleep in here.
About what?
Anything.
Anything is boring, how about we talk about something more fun.
I like fun.
You like a lot of things.
I like the look of you naked.
Well, there’s a surprise.
Tell me something you like.
Broccoli.
That’s the best you can do? There went all hope of fun sex talk.
Puppies.
Seriously? I thought you weren’t into pets.
Could never have one because we moved too much.
We could get a puppy. I like dogs.
Well that’s good, because we got one yesterday.
Seriously?
Yep.
What kind?
Mutt.
What kind of mutt? Big, small, hairy?
His mom is a lab, and his dad some horny passerby.
Laughter threatened. He tamped it down.
What color is he?
Black.
How old?
Not sure, but he’s teething.
You’ll have to hide all the shoes.
Can’t.
Why not?
He ate two pair already.
He’d laughed aloud then, and pushups ensued.
But they’d kept talking.
You’re getting me in trouble.
See, you and your puppy have lots in common already.
They were my shoes he ate?
See how smart you are?
Does this little monster have a name yet?
I’m calling him Jock.
Jock?
He’s been eating your shorts, too.
James had collapsed, and the punishment was doubled.
“All’s well on the home front,” said Logan when he sat down on the bench beside James.
“Good. What’s your take on this mess?”
Logan leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and his chin on his folded hands. “We’re missing something.”
“Exactly. Kelton’s too comfortable after being so freaking antsy before, and determined to make Rollins suffer. He’s almost acting like it’s already over.” And wouldn’t it be nice if it was? James shook off the useless thought. “Fits with his comment that Gerald sent Rollins to a long and painful death.”
“We’re supposed to assume that the antidote will actually kill him? What about Broughton, then? And Alexandra? Should I contact Grace again to warn Eve?”
“Gut feeling? Not necessary, because Eve will run safety tests before she administers.”
“And you think they gave something different to Rollins.”
James frowned. “You trespassing?”
“No, just suspecting you’re having the same thoughts I am.”
“Hey!”
James smiled at Logan. “There’s our curtain call.”
“Here’s hoping it’s the final scene.”
“Hey!” Agent Bellows shouted again through the window opened just a crack.
They took up position just to the side of the cabin so she couldn’t see them. “What do you want?”
“Out of this godforsaken hole.”
“That’s going to be a problem.”
“You want Rollins back? Trade me Gerald.”
“But you’re the one who asked for Rollins.”
“I’ve changed my mind. You can have him back. Give me Gerald instead. He’s younger, and far more useful, if you get my drift.”
“Let’s cut to the chase here, Bellows,” said James. “You have nothing worth bargaining for. We’ll be happy to stay camped here for a week or two, until you run out of food. You may have noticed by now that your taps aren’t working and your power’s been cut.”
“But you want to prosecute Rollins, and I’ve already testified. What more do you need?”
James muttered at Logan. “Is she truly that delusional?”
“Surrender now, or surrender later. Makes no difference to us. Give a shout when you’ve made up your mind.” And with that, they returned to the cabin next door.
“She’s going to come undone,” Broughton said by way of greeting. “And this one’s playing his mind control games. Even gave mine a go. He won’t be quick to try that again.” He tipped his head toward Kelton. They’d tied his legs and torso to a wooden chair in the corner of the main room and cuffed his hands in front of him. His eyes were closed and his face expressionless. One might think he was asleep, but the hands clenched tightly around a bottle of water indicated otherwise.
Kelton was mind surfing. Good thing James had worked with Nathan and Tyler earlier to strengthen their shields. “How’s the communicator coming?” he asked them.
“Almost finished.” And yet the table was still covered with tiny bits of wire, plastic, and even tinfoil.
“When it’s ready, call for transport. The runway is clear, and we need to get this mess cleaned up. We’ll ship the prisoners before we flush out Bellows.” James caught a flicker of movement, making him wonder if Kelton had fought off a smile.
An hour later, James said, “Incoming.” He’d always been able to hear aircraft from a vast distance away. The plane did a low pass to check the runway, look for wildlife, then came around and landed. Taxied to a stop on the apron.
When the door opened, James wasn’t surprised to see the familiar faces of US Marshals well known to him and his family. Men he’d be comfortable turning the prisoners over to. The Meyers team stayed in place while the two FBI agents were taken to the plane, then Gerald, and all went smoothly until they untied Kelton and he refused to stand.
“No. I’m not leaving until Rollins does.”
“That option isn’t on the table,” said James. “Either walk out on your own, or we’ll carry you.”
“Are you certain you want to put your hands on me?”
“I know better than that.” James would never willingly create an unbreakable connection.
“You also know I can influence Rollins’s mind. Make him get up and walk out the door. So why would you send me away when I could be working on his mind for you?”
It was worth the gamble. “One hour, that’s all you get. If he doesn’t come out before the plane full of law enforcement arrives, you’ll be on it when it leaves.”
Kelton glanced at his watch. “I’ll start now.”
James nodded at the marshal. “Leave this one with us for now.”
The man touched a finger to his temple in a kind of salute, then headed out, and James listened to the jets fire up and the plane finally depart. Three less bodies to worry about, and they wouldn’t have to listen to Gerald whine any more. He’d missed his shot at margaritas on a beach with Bellows.
At the thirty-minute mark, James said to Kelton, who was again tied to his chair, “Your time’s running out.”
“Any minute now, Rollins is going to shove Bellows out the door,” he replied.
“Maybe I should make popcorn, and we can all sit outside to watch,” said Nathan, and Tyler laughed. It was good to hear the boys laugh again. Being on a mission with them had been a first for James, and although they’d been professional, and solid men to work with, he found he preferred seeing them relaxed and joking. They were, after all, his most fun-loving children.
Kelton hooked his fingers into a gold chain he wore around his neck, and tugged until what looked like a key fob popped out. “Now,” he said, and squeezed.
The ground shook almost before the air went hard and hot. Before a deafening blast filled the room with shards of glass. And colors kaleidoscoped. Light swirled, and James’s ears rang with echoes of sound too massive to describe.
All five men raced through the open doorway to stare at the smoke rising from the blackened remains of cabin three. Rollins and Bellows would no longer require transport.
“Holy shit,” said Broughton.
And then it happened again.
Catapulted what felt like a mile and a half through the air, James hit the ground in a heap.
When he finally lifted his head, he detected movement from all four lumps of humanity in his general vicinity. They were all alive. Cabin two hadn’t fared as well.
James propped up on one elbow to take stock.
“Well, fuck,” said Nathan. “We put hours into those com units.”
“Guess that answers the question about who gets the last cup of coffee,” added Tyler.
James’s laugh came out more like a croak. “Logan and Broughton sound off.” He felt like he was shouting but it didn’t sound like it.
“Funny echo in my head,” said Logan. “I think my wife’s concerned.”
Still nothing from their fourth. “Broughton!”
Nothing. Shit.
“Broughton!”
There was some kind of grunting noise. “You okay over there?”
“Pretty much.”
“Percentage?”
“About ninety-five.”
“What’s with the other five?”
“Looks like I’ll need another knee replacement.”
James heaved himself up and shuffled over. Offered a hand. “Get up and I’ll help you hop over to the barn.”
“Ah, not sure if I want to go into any of the buildings right now.”
“Good point. Logan?”
“Yeah.”
“We need evac, stat.” Logan’s connection with Grace would get Angie deployed as fast as humanly possible. While no one seemed badly injured at the moment, it didn’t mean they weren’t. Blast lung and abdominal perforations were potential killers after the kind of explosion they’d been exposed to.
“On it.”
“We’ll just hang where we are until Angie arrives.”
“That’s not looking so good,” said Nathan, pointing at the helicopter Bellows had arrived in. The poor thing was tipped over on its side. “Not much left for windows around here, either.”
True enough. Which made James take another good look at the group. Amazing they didn’t all have blood dripping off them. For the most part, credit went to the special blackout fabric they all wore. As for their faces? Shit-house lucky was his best guess.
“We going to check for remains?” asked Broughton.
“Nope. Leave that for the incoming flight of Feds, Homeland, and Canadian Mounties to deal with. This group has been exposed to two heavy blasts, and everyone needs to be checked out by medicals. Then we’re going the hell home.”
“Works for me,” said Logan.
“Not like we need to see the bits and pieces to know Kelton, Rollins, and Bellows are no longer our problem,” added Tyler.