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Jenna lay awake long after Mendoza had left the room. She had to get away from him, but she was terrified of the man. She really didn’t like getting Sarah involved either, but the woman truly seemed to care about her which was something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
Sarah awoke before Reese and headed downstairs. Jake was already up having a cup of coffee. He poured her a cup and asked how she was holding up. It was safe to talk in this room; it was the only one that Mendoza hadn’t bugged. They had also found two in the limo and more on the jet.
“Are you worried about the trip to Paris?”
“No, I’ll have you and Janie with me.”
“What made you pick Paris?”
“Well, with all the unrest that’s been going on over there, anything can happen.”
“Good thinking. Man, that Absame radiates pure evil, doesn’t he? It was all I could do not to just kill him on sight, but he deserves a slow death, not a merciful one.”
“Agreed,” Sarah said, taking a sip of her coffee. Just then, Reese made his way down the stairs. Janie was right behind him.
“So what’s the plan for today?”
“Whatever we do, we want to keep visible,” Reese answered.
“I would love to go back to that sidewalk café with the amazing eggs benedict.” So, they would start there. They got dressed and had BJ bring the car out front.
Mendoza called around three o’clock and requested that Reese meet him at the club...alone. Janie and Sarah went about their shopping and Jake accompanied Reese to Bourbon Street. Mendoza was there with Absame; they were able to come to a final agreement on the weapons and ammo.
“Thank you gentleman. I will be back in touch as soon as I return to New York,” Reese said. They agreed on a meeting place. It didn’t take long for Jake to realize that they had picked up another tail.
Back at the compound, Kat couldn’t believe what was happening to her. For the first time in a long time, she had woken up and knew exactly what she was. It was as if everything had just magically come back to her overnight. No more struggling to put bits and pieces together. The doctor told her that she could now begin physical therapy to start building up her stamina. She wished that Jake was there, but he wouldn’t be back for at least another day, and then there was the trip to Paris after that. Jako came down to check on her.
“How’s the team?” she asked.
“Everything is set in motion,” he smiled. “I heard about your physical therapy. It will be great to see you up and walking.”
“It’s going to feel great!”
Reese and Sarah were enjoying a quiet dinner on Bourbon Street. Janie and Jake stood by as guards. They truly appeared to be a normal, everyday, rich, newly-wedded couple in love. Reese asked if Sarah would be interested in a walk on the river. Of course, she was. Jake and Janie had spotted three people following them. They knew two of them were Mendoza’s, and assumed that the other belonged to Absame. They received a report that the freighter had set sail a few hours ago. Ryan and the techs hadn’t been able to get a tracker on it, and it was too risky to have anyone follow on open water.
After their walk, the couple decided to call it a night. As they stood waiting for the limo to pull up, they noticed Mendoza and Jenna approaching.
“What a pleasant surprise, my friends! You are not calling it a night so soon are you?” Mendoza said.
“We are. We were just looking for a quiet night out and that is exactly what we got,” Reese answered.
“Would you care to join us for a night cap?” Mendoza asked. Reese hesitantly agreed. They walked together toward a pub called O’Malley’s. Even on a week night, the place was packed. Reese and Mendoza enjoyed a glass of Crown Royale X, while Sarah and Jenna ordered their world famous Hurricanes. The group ordered one more round before they sent for their cars. Mendoza asked that Reese meet him at the club for brunch the next morning. They shook hands and went their separate ways for the night.
Once the team was safely inside the townhouse, they delivered their report to command, then called it a night. Sarah was awakened by a strange noise. By the time she was fully awake, she realized that Reese already had his gun out. Janie came crashing through the door and got the man to the ground. Apparently, he had come through the window. Reese and Jake went to check the rest of the grounds and found one more man. A third had run off through the back gates, but the alleyway was empty now.
Reese reported the break-in to command, then finished searching the house to make sure that nothing was missing. Jake was just getting ready to call the police and turn the men over, when there was a knock at the door. Jake answered and recognized Mendoza’s men. Reese joined Jake at the door.
“We apologize for the late hour Senior. We were ordered to watch Absame’s men. We have the one that ran, if you could release the others to us.” Reese and Jake exchanged looks. Reese finally agreed, and they brought the men forward. Mendoza’s man thanked them and led the two captives away. The team decided to sleep in shifts so that one person was on guard for the rest of the night. Jake took first watch. He rechecked all of the windows on the first floor and toured the outside grounds as well. He rechecked the front and back gates. He was suspicious of the man who had come to the door. Jake had recognized him as one of the men who had been following them since the beginning.