Authors: Kelly Abell
The man behind the desk stood, ever so slowly. He may have been smaller than Warren but the look in his steel gray eyes stopped Warren cold. This man everyone called the Emperor, pulled himself to his full height, calmly sat the crystal tumbler down on the desktop, and walked around the desk toward Warren. “Sit down, Warren.”
Warren sat, but his anger had not abated enough to keep him still. His knees rocked in and out, his face still purple with rage.
The Emperor sat down in the brown leather wing back chair opposite Warren. “I realize Jack Weaver has done a few things that have been quite unexpected, but I still have the situation well under control. There are at least three factions looking for him and it is only a matter of time before they find him and get rid of him for their own reasons. We are completely separated from what happens to Jack Weaver. If I need to get involved personally, I will, but I don’t think that is likely.
“
Juan Cortez came completely unhinged when I told him Jack Weaver killed his son, not Ken Larson. He vowed he would get the, and I quote, ‘American Piss Ant Bastard’ if it was the last thing he did. I bet he has people all over America pulled in on this. All we have to do is keep track of where he is and drop them a bone now and then.
“
As for our plans in November, we are still on schedule. I handled the deal with Juan and he has his people in place to take care of Hardy just like we planned on the night of the inauguration. It will be slick and sweet and you, my uptight friend, will have your glory. They will find Weaver and dispose of him long before he can cause us any real trouble.
“
Now, as for your precious little wife, did you install that GPS chip I told you to install last year?”
Warren, who was looking down at the floor struggling to get his temper under control, snapped his head up, instant comprehension dawning in his crystal blue eyes. “Yes, as a matter of fact I did. We can find them in a matter of minutes.”
“
Well, now, there you go. You were getting all worked up over nothing.” The Emperor leaned back in his chair with a smile.
Warren didn’t like the smug smile on the little man’s face one bit. “This is not funny. We still have quite a bit of explaining to do as to how and why he would want to break into my house and steal my wife. We cannot keep this out of the press. I’m sure they are already calling those idiot guards I hired. God, I could kill those stupid fools. I told them under no circumstances were they to leave the house. Of course at the time I was more concerned about Caroline leaving than I was someone coming in and taking her.”
Suddenly the Emperor’s brow knitted with worry. “Did you check the house to see if anything was missing? Where are the discs with the bank codes and deposit accounts?”
Warren didn’t seem too concerned. “I haven’t been back. I came straight here from the airport, but you don’t have to worry about those discs. I have them in my own private safe in my suite of rooms and no one knows the combination but me. It is so complicated it would take a complete genius to figure it out.”
“
You know yourself that we have already underestimated Weaver. Why would he have gone to your house at all if it weren’t to find more information? He suspects you’re involved because he probably found something on Cortez’s computer, that damn Colombian. I am going to have one hell of a clean up job to do down there when this is over.
We both know Jack is a genius. He was always the best at everything. He can shoot the eye out of a salamander from 100 feet away. He can become any person he wants to be and blend into any environment. He speaks four languages fluently, and he was pretty damn good at cracking safes. I think you better hustle on home and check that little safe of yours. Did anyone else know it was back there?”
Warren didn’t feel quite so confident now. His voice cracked slightly when he answered. “Caroline knew, but she wouldn’t tell him. She knows I’d kill her if she did.”
“
It would not be beneath Weaver to threaten her with her life. She would believe he would kill her even if we know he’s too chicken shit to kill a woman. I’d suggest that instead of stomping around here like some kind of gorilla, you go home and see what’s missing. Then call me and let me know if we have even more of a problem than I think we do. Got it?”
Warren rose. “Yes, I’ve got it.” He stopped as if he were going to say something more then didn’t. He left the room closing the door behind him.
The Emperor remained seated in the wingback chair, his elbows resting on the arms, his fingers steepled under his chin. He wasn’t sure how this plan had gotten so far out of control so quickly. He had so carefully planned this little coup, right down to the last detail. He had totally underestimated Weaver. That was the crux of the matter. Weaver was turning out to be a wild card, but luckily for the Emperor he still had one very large Ace up his sleeve.
Chapter 13
Jack drove silently down I95 South, absorbed in his own thoughts. He glanced over at the tall brunette woman handcuffed to the seat beside him. What had he done? As if his problems weren’t insurmountable enough, he had to go and take a hostage. She really didn’t give him any choice. She had seen his face. He wished he had not removed the ski mask. Then he might have had a choice, but without the mask she could identify him.
Jack rubbed the tension out of the back of his neck with one hand, and rolled his head around. He was tired and his leg was hurting like hell. This hostage thing was not something he wanted responsibility for, but he took her so he was going to have to keep her, for now anyway.
In all honesty, it probably wasn’t such a bad idea to have her with him. She may come in handy later when it comes time to negotiate, and he knew having her would drive Warren crazy. If Warren is the same man he was when Jack served with him as a SEAL, Jack knew losing control of his woman would be a tremendous distraction. Warren would focus more on getting Caroline back than on the assassination attempt.
Jack thought about their little wrestling match in the hallway. She was terrified when he caught her in the hallway sneaking toward that guest room. Where had she been going anyway? What was in that other room that she thought was so safe? Her eyes had grown so wide when she’d seen him that he thought they were going to pop right out of her head and roll across the carpet like bright green marbles. Her chestnut hair was wild and tangled then, but now she had it pulled back from her face in a ponytail. He liked it better wild.
He also had not forgotten what it felt like to have her squirming beneath him. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had plenty of women squirming beneath him before, but all that primal energy. That fight or flight adrenaline that was filling her system had made their carpet tango even more exciting and arousing than it should have been. Jack sensed there was more to Caroline Walters than met the eye. Oh, she could fight like a tiger, no doubt about that. The nail marks on his neck would leave scars. They were still stinging.
What he couldn’t figure out was why all of a sudden she had gone still as a stone. She was writhing beneath him in her effort to escape and then all of sudden she dropped flat on the floor and went limp. What would have caused her to give up like that? It was almost like she was playing dead, like when being attacked by a bear or other wild animal. If you played dead the predator would lose interest. Wait a minute… Attacked was the key word. She thought he was going to rape her.
Now Jack was embarrassed. With her struggling against him, he naturally reacted the way any man would with a woman grinding and writhing against him, but he was not going to rape her. God, what she must think of him. He looked over at her again. The stiff way she sat in the seat, staring straight ahead not moving a muscle. The only way he could tell she was still alive was by watching the rise and fall of her chest. Jack looked quickly away. That was all he needed, for her to catch him staring at her breasts. God, what was he going to do with her?
She was afraid of him. That was evident. Maybe that was good for now. He needed her to think he was dangerous so she would do everything he told her to. He had no idea what danger lay ahead of them and if she were afraid, she would be more alert. He would never harm her, but she didn’t need to know that yet. He needed her cooperation and if she thought he was a cold-hearted bastard that couldn’t wait to get in her pants, then that was the way it had to be.
She saw him look at her out of the corner of her eye and Jack saw her straighten in the seat and lift her chin high. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. She may be in one hell of a predicament but that Southern pride would get her through it. Jack couldn’t help but admire her. He wondered what her story was. He knew she was lying about the bruises. He wasn’t sure how they had gotten there but he would bet money that Warren had something to do with it. How could a woman of her beauty fall for a brute like him? Jack knew Warren’s history from serving in the SEALS and all he could think was how sorry he felt for Caroline. She probably had no idea what kind of man she was marrying until it was far too late.
Jack shook his head and turned his full attention to the road. He was going to have to watch the road more closely now that it was snowing. What next, Jack asked the heavens? What else are you going to throw at me today? His leg was throbbing and his neck hurt where Caroline had scratched him. He was tired from lack of sleep and frustrated that he had gotten no further with the case. He only had a few months to figure out who the Emperor was and stop this attempt on Michael Hardy’s life. He hoped those CD’s he’d taken from Warren’s safe held some answers, but the way his luck was running they probably held all of Warren’s laundry receipts or something equally ludicrous. He could really use a break.
Jack leaned forward over the steering wheel, stretching out his back muscles. He peered at the sky through the top of the windshield. No stars at all. The clouds were pregnant with snow and Jack feared it would develop into a bad storm. He reviewed the route he would take in his head. It would be a mistake to stay on the major highways for long, but the secondary roads may become impassable once the snow really started to fall. He needed to get as far away from Washington as possible. Once Warren discovered Caroline missing he would turn over every rock looking for them.
He thought a zigzag route would be best, sort of like the old destroyer ships used during World War II when trying to avoid German U boats. He would go a little further down I95 then cut over on route 58 and head west toward Tennessee. Maybe the worst of the weather would be over by the time he got there. The Nissan has four-wheel drive and handles well in inclement weather. It would take quite a storm to bring him to a complete stop.
He jumped when Caroline cleared her throat. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts he’d forgotten she was in the car. It was late and he knew she must be tired. He looked over at her. She didn’t look back but kept her eyes on the road in front of her.
He turned back to look out the windshield then said rather stiffly, “I’m going to drive a few more hours. That seat reclines if you would like to get some sleep. If this weather gets too bad we will have to stop, other than that I plan to drive for a while.”
She continued to stare out ahead of her, but she nodded.
Jack knew she was frightened. He knew she wondered what he was going to do with her, or to her. He wanted to put her mind at ease that he wouldn’t hurt her, but he couldn’t do it yet. He needed her on edge for a while longer. He needed to know she wasn’t going to bolt on him the first chance she got. She needed to think he was capable of killing her. God, he hated that, but it was necessary… for now.
Chapter 14
Warren glared at each of the guards as they sat stiff backed in the brown leather wing-back chairs in front of the fireplace. His wife was kidnapped and he was not happy. Warren stopped pacing directly in front of the two men.
“
Tell me one more time, what happened?” His voice was calm but his face, jaw muscles clenched, betrayed an undercurrent of pure anger. The guards, both spoke at once. Warren held up his hand and they stopped. He pointed at the skinny man named Bill. “Tell me,” he commanded.
Bill, holding an ice pack to his swollen left temple looked meekly up at Warren. “He came outta nowhere, Senator. I came out on the deck to have a smoke and he hit me like a freight train. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the garage with a gag in my mouth and my wrists chained to the workbench.
“
I never saw him coming. There was no one on the cameras when I went outside. I made sure. I checked them before I went out there. He must have been hiding in the back yard for quite a while.”
Warren nodded pacing back and forth in front of the two men. “And you, Deek? Where were you during this little tussle?”
The one called Deek was the big burly man that had left in the truck. Despite his size, he felt small under the intense gaze of Senator Warren Walters. “I, uh… I left, Senator. I figured it was quiet and your wife wasn’t going nowhere, so I went home. I thought Bill could handle it, but apparently,” he said with a sideways glance at Bill, “I was wrong.”