The Delivery
Dempsey watched as the motor home rolled up in front of the hangar. Carney had phoned ahead so Dempsey was expecting him, but it was still a bit disconcerting to see a man with Carney’s reputation arrive looking like a grandpa on a road trip.
The motor home pulled to a stop, and Carney’s wife emerged. Dempsey had never met her, but she also had a reputation in the business for cruelty, cunning, and ruthlessness. To Dempsey, she just looked old. Old and tired. For some reason, he caught himself wondering who would win in a fight between her and Permelia.
The boy came out next, followed by Carney. The teen looked alert. His eyes darted around the airfield, taking in everything. And then they landed on Dempsey. There was a fierceness in those eyes. Despite his being adopted, it appeared that some traits ran in the family.
“How’d you finally catch him?” Dempsey asked.
Carney huffed and cleared his throat. “I think you got it backward. The kid hijacked us and demanded we bring him to you. I don’t know what you got us into this time, Dempsey, but my crew is dismantled, some of my best men are dead, and I think Mother and I are ready to retire. So if you don’t mind, we’ll just take our money and be on our way.”
Dempsey pulled the handle up on a Samsonite bag and wheeled it across to Carney. He stopped a few feet short of giving it to him. “You didn’t deliver the main target.”
“We did what we could, and you held back information we needed. Besides, you owe me for collateral damage. I’m going to have to build a whole new team.”
“I thought you were ready to retire?”
“Maybe. If that’s the case, we are going to need every penny we can get. Are you going to pay us or not?”
Dempsey rolled the bag the rest of the way over to Carney. “At least you won’t have to split it as many ways.”
Carney huffed again and shook his head. His wife wheeled the bag to the motor home and went inside.
“What about the father?” Carney asked.
“We’ve been in contact. I’ve got him in a holding pattern until just before the client gets here. I really don’t want him around for very long.”
“Don’t blame you. From what the kid says, he did a number on Tiny. And I didn’t think I would ever say that about anyone. He’s got to be tougher than he looks.”
“He’s tough enough,” Dempsey said. “Who do you think put this dent in my face?”
“So he’s the one. I would’ve thought you’d learned your lesson the first time.”
“This one’s a big payoff. You know how it goes.”
“The older I get, the more I think that sometimes the payoff isn’t worth it. Don’t call me again, Dempsey,” Carney said. “We’re done.” He didn’t look back as he climbed into the driver’s seat and drove away.
The boy stepped forward. “Take me to my mother,” he said. His voice was quiet, almost polite but also insistent. Dempsey studied him. He should have been in shock after having been kidnapped by mercenaries in the mountains, but you wouldn’t know it. He was a little dirty, and he looked like he hadn’t slept, but there was a calm about him that shouldn’t have been there. Dempsey would need to be careful around this one too.
The Ghost appeared from behind him, and Dempsey forced himself not to jump.
“You need any help?” the man said.
“I think I’ll be okay. It’s just one boy, and he wants to go where I’m taking him. Did you get the cameras set? The client will be arriving tomorrow.”
“Working on it,” the bearded man said.
“What’s the matter?” Dempsey sensed something tentative in the man’s voice.
“Nothing.” The man sighed. “Sometimes I just really hate this job.”
“Me too. But you know the stakes.”
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, I do.” And then he was gone as suddenly as he had appeared.
Dempsey led the boy to the room where Hope, Permelia, and the child were being held. He wondered if Hope was still crying from the night before. And then he wondered why he would be concerned about that. In his line of work, he often caused tears, and he usually never gave it a second thought.
He unlocked the door and opened it. Hope was sitting on the bed on the other side of the room, and Permelia was sitting next to her, her arm draped over her shoulder. Dempsey couldn’t see Hope’s face because of all the hair, but he was sure her cheeks were stained with wetness. She’d probably been crying all night. Dempsey felt a flush of indignation. It was stupid to shed tears over Buck. Dempsey had saved her from who knows what terrors he might have inflicted on her. She should be grateful to him. Instead, she acted like he had killed a member of her family, not some psychopath who had meant to cause her harm.
Dempsey put his irritation in check. What was he thinking? He had taken her family and yanked them out of a peaceful existence. Of course she wouldn’t be grateful to him. And why would he even want that?
“Mom?” the boy said as he saw her.
Hope’s head snapped up. The lines in her forehead disappeared, and a wide smile brightened her face.
“Peng.” She stood, and he ran into her arms.
They hugged for a long time, and then she held him by the shoulders and pushed him to arm’s length so she could study him.
“Did they hurt you?” she asked, examining every bruise and scratch she could see. She spared Dempsey a single menacing glare and then returned her attention to the boy.
“I’m fine.”
A loud squeal came from the stroller where the toddler was sleeping. It was so loud that Dempsey wanted to put his hands over his ears.
“You better pick her up,” Hope said to the boy. “You know she won’t stop until she sees her brother.”
Peng went to the stroller and lifted the toddler. She kicked and squealed and giggled as he did. He held her up in the air, twirled her around, and then enveloped her in his arms. The boy smiled and laughed. This was the first time Dempsey had seen him smile. It seemed as if everyone was smiling except Dempsey. He felt a sudden sense of loss, like a hole had opened inside his stomach and something important had fallen out.
“You called me Mom,” Hope said. “When you came in the door. You’ve never done that before.”
Peng stopped swinging the girl and met Hope’s eyes. “I figured some things out,” he said. “In the mountains. Matt helped me.”
“How is he? How are the boys?”
Peng grinned widely. “They’re great,” he said. “Ron got shot, and we thought he was dead, but it turned out it was just his hand and his leg. He stayed to fight Jackson and Jillian in the canyon with all the spiders.. Matt found us with the giant, but then he fought him and told us to run, but he was in trouble, so we all came back and helped him fight . . .”
“Stop right there,” Hope said. “What do you mean you helped Matt fight a giant?”
“They called him Tiny,” Peng said. “But he was huge, and I think he liked hurting people. Matt was beating him, but then Tiny grabbed him around the throat. Eric, JR, and I started hitting him with sticks, and then Joey put a spider in his mouth—Tiny was afraid of spiders—and Matt got away and knocked him out. Then we tied him to a tree.”
Hope sat down hard on the bed. “I think you’re going to have to slow down. That’s a lot to take in. You said Ron got shot? And Matt was attacked by a giant?”
“It was actually Matt who attacked the giant. He’s tougher than he looks.”
“Yes, I know. But he’s not very responsible sometimes. He let you boys get involved in the fight?”
“No, he told us to run away. Joining the fight was our idea.”
“I think I like these Scout trips,” Permelia said. “Sounds like they put some hair on your chest.”
“I’m not sure I agree with that,” Hope said. “I think I need to have a talk with my husband.”
“He’ll be coming soon,” Peng said. “He’ll get us out of here.”
As if on cue, they all turned and looked at Dempsey. For a moment, they’d forgotten him. Now they were all glaring at him like they wanted to punch him in the face.
Had to be something that ran in the family.