Thy Kingdom Come: Book One in the Sam Thorpe series (23 page)

A large rectangular room, the kitchen contained a huge old-fashioned range and bright copper pans hanging from hooks. A man in black fatigues, chunky, with sandy brown hair, stood next to the stove turning an omelet. It wasn’t Sergeant Bacher.

Oliver and Kaminsky stopped talking. They both looked up at Sam, like the proverbial kids caught playing with matches.

“Ah, Sam,” Oliver stammered, “sure, there’s plenty.”

Sam had never seen Oliver flustered. He liked it.

Oliver motioned with his arm toward the cabinet. “Specialist Benson will get you a cup.”

“I’ll get it. Morning, Benson.”

Benson did not acknowledge Sam. He kept his face down toward the stove, watching the omelet. The sizzle made Sam’s mouth water.

Sam poured a cup from the metal pot. “You two look like you’re planning something.”

Kaminsky looked up at Sam, his eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say a word.

Oliver recovered his presence. “Thank you for driving up to Montreal and bringing Professor Kaminsky back. I know it was a long drive.”

“No problem. I enjoyed Montreal. Wish we’d had more time.”

A pine desk with a phone and stacks of papers stood in one corner of the room. Antiques filled the room, giving it a lived-in feeling.

“Ah, your friend … Jackie, is it?” Oliver paused, seemingly troubled over how to phrase his next sentence. “I’m wondering if it was a mistake for her to accompany you to Montreal. Professor Kaminsky is concerned that she has seen him. Can she be discreet?”

Sam put his cup down on the table with a thud. “Damn right. You remember that Kassim pushed me to take a woman along as cover.”

“She could identify him … ah … link him to us,” Oliver stammered.

“Jackie has no idea what’s going on.” He dropped his coffee cup in the sink. “If anything happens to her … that would be very bad.”

“Sam, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you or your friend. I just wanted to make sure she would be careful with what she says.”

Sam thought back to that first night when Oliver had ordered two of his own men shot in cold blood. He needed to warn Jackie. “I’d better go. Got some work to do before tonight.”

“Sure you wouldn’t like an omelet?” Oliver asked.

Sam shook his head and hurried back through the living room. He had to get to his cell phone.

“See you tonight, Sam.” Oliver’s voice carried after Sam as if it were a cloud of poisonous gas reaching out to smother him.

Sam jogged across the yard and pushed open the door to his office. He looked at his watch. Noon— Jackie should be home by now. He punched in the phone number at her condo. The phone rang four times before her voice mail kicked in requesting that the caller leave a message.

“Jackie, it’s me—Sam. If you’re there, pick up. Oliver is concerned that you saw Kaminsky. Be careful. If anything doesn’t look right, call Alex.”

Sam threw the cell phone on the desk.
Goddamn Oliver,
he thought. A murderous anger crept over him, an icy rage. He’d kill Oliver if the clown tried to harm Jackie. He’d wait. He’d plan it. Sooner or later he’d find Oliver and kill him.

J
ackie set her suitcase on the floor in the front hall. She tossed her keys on top of the circular table by the door. Tired after the drive from Philadelphia, she walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. The voice mails would have to wait until after she unpacked.

She had enjoyed the trip to Montreal. If only she hadn’t had too much to drink that first night. She shouldn’t have been so hard on Sam. Another day or two in Montreal would have been fun. She had to focus on Kaminsky. Remember every detail so she could brief General Gerber.

She glanced at her watch—one o’clock. The traffic had been stopped on the beltway. Some accident. She debated driving into the Pentagon and reporting to General Gerber. The traffic would be terrible on the George Washington Parkway. She’d spend an hour sitting in her car, watching the gas gauge go down. She’d call and check with him. If it were all right with him, she’d set up a time to meet first thing in the morning.

Jackie walked to the window and looked out through the sheer curtains. How she loved her townhouse! History in Old Town permeated every block. It pleased her that her townhouse was listed on the historic register.

Sam’s face flashed into her mind. He had been the best thing to happen to her in years. Jackie had spent years warding off the unwanted attentions of slimy men. Sam was different. She could tell that from their first date. He loved to tease her but respected her opinions and, yes, he even laughed at her jokes.

Her father had disliked Sam from the start. The year Sam had spent in Iraq had made it worse. Her father had kept pushing Trenton on her. Nice guy, but he wasn’t Sam.

Sam had become upset about the time she’d spent with Trenton. His frustration had built to a point where his stupid moods had driven her crazy. They’d finally agreed that he should move out until they could get it sorted out.

Well,
she thought,
better get to the unpacking.
On the way toward the stairs, she ran her fingers over her pride and joy, the Hepplewhite end table. It had set her back a great deal of money but had been worth every penny. Uh oh, dust on the tabletop, and her mother was coming down this weekend. Better get out the dust rag.

Jackie centered the tiered silver dish on the table and rearranged some of the wrapped taffy on the first tier. She had bought the candy at a shop in Old Town, made to the specifications of a Colonial era recipe.

Jackie hauled her suitcase up the narrow staircase, dragged it into the bedroom, and set it on the bed.

When she opened the suitcase, the envelope Sam had given her lay on top of her clothes. She set it aside. She’d call General Gerber in a moment.

She’d finished unpacking and reached for her cell phone to call the general when the doorbell chimes sounded. Jackie hurried downstairs and pushed the talk button on the speaker. “Who is it, please?”

“Federal Express … package for you.”

Jackie reached over to open the door when she remembered the camera Alex had insisted she install. “You never know who’s at your door,” Alex had said, “so don’t take any chances.” Because of her work on the task force, Jackie had agreed.

The men had installed the camera last week. She pushed the on button. It flashed an image of two men at the door, both dressed in FedEx uniforms. Why did it take two men to deliver a package? Neither of them was the driver who normally delivered to her address. That gave her pause. She adjusted the angle of the camera, but couldn’t see their truck.

Jackie hurried over to the window and looked outside. She couldn’t see the men because of the trellis beside the door, but she saw no FedEx truck on the street.

She walked back to the intercom and pushed the talk button again. “I’m not dressed. Could you please come back later?”

“Listen, lady, you’re my last delivery for the day. I need to get back to the office. Just open up; let me give you this package; I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait a minute. Let me get dressed.” She grabbed her cell phone and pressed the speed dial for Alex.

“Popogolis.”

“Alex, Jackie McCarthy.”

“Hi, Jackie. What’s up?”

“My suspicions.” She briefed Alex on the two men.

“See if you can stall them, but for God’s sake, don’t open that door. We’ll be right there.”

Jackie walked back to the door and pushed the intercom. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Lady, we ain’t got all day.”

She checked the camera. Now there was only one man at the door. What had happened to the other one?

The sound of glass shattering startled her. The back door banged against the wall. Footsteps echoed in the hall. Her heart caught in her throat.

Jackie remembered the envelope.
My God,
she thought,
I’ve got to hide it.
She turned to run up the stairs. A figure grabbed at her as she hit the third step. She tripped, regained her balance, and ran up the stairs, turning at the landing. Footsteps sounded behind her. Terrified, she ran down the hallway.

She slammed the door of her bedroom and locked it. Her heart beating wildly, she grabbed the envelope and looked around.
Protect it. Shove it under the mattress.

A loud thud sounded, and the door rattled.

The dresser,
she thought.
Push it against the door.
She struggled to push it but managed to move the dresser against the door as a force hit it again. The door buckled.

Jackie leaned her body against the dresser and pushed with all her strength. “Oh, hurry, please.”

The banging on her bedroom door intensified. She saw splits in the wood. It wouldn’t hold much longer. She leaned against the dresser with her back and pushed with her legs. The muscles in her legs hurt. Her heart beat wildly.

The front doorbell chimed. A pounding sounded on the door. A voice called, “Ms. McCarthy, are you in there? It’s the police. Are you all right?”

A voice whispered from the other side of the door. “Cops.”

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. A door banged.

Jackie felt herself shake. A weakness started in her knees. She put her hands on the dresser to keep from falling.

Alex sat in one of the yellow overstuffed chairs across the coffee table from Jackie. A second agent stood by the door.

Alex put her hand on Jackie’s arm. “Thank God we put in that TV camera and you used it.”

Jackie nodded, still nauseated. She hugged herself and took deep breaths to keep from trembling.

Alex squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be all right.”

Jackie nodded again but couldn’t speak. The envelope Sam had given her hung loosely in her right hand.

“Did you see either of the men?”

“They had hats on … I couldn’t see their faces. I’d recognize the one man’s voice. It was unique, high-pitched for a guy.”

Alex nodded.

“The one who did the talking was tall, well built. He wasn’t fat. Just plain big. The second man guy was much shorter, wiry. Sorry I can’t give you a better description.”

“Both had on FedEx uniforms?”

“Yes.”

Alex thought for a moment. “The tall guy could have been masking his voice.”

Jackie took a sip of tea. She tucked her hands under her thighs to stop the trembling. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard the glass shatter.”

“They made a mess of your back hallway,” Alex said. “We’ll get the door patched up before we leave.”

“Thank God the police got here when they did. That bedroom door wouldn’t have held much longer.”

“Quick thinking when you spotted they didn’t have a truck.”

“Sam asked me to get this envelope to General Gerber. I had planned to call to see if he wanted me to bring it in today.”

“I’ll take it to him,” Alex replied. “He wants a report.”

“Thanks.” Jackie handed it to her. “How about their vehicle?”

“Nothing yet. By the time Officer Peterson got around back, they were already outside. Hopefully we can come up with a witness. The Alexandria police are going house to house now.

Jackie concentrated to calm her nerves. “Working with the task force has made me suspicious of everything.”

Alex looked out the window, rubbing her hand on her knee.

Jackie leaned forward. “What?”

“I think we screwed up.”

“Why?”

“You shouldn’t have gone on that trip with Sam.”

“I came to that conclusion, too. That’s why I tried to hide the envelope.” Jackie thought for a moment. “At first I assumed they were just trying to get in to rob me. But that didn’t make any sense in broad daylight. Somebody must not have liked my meeting Kaminsky. They know I can identify him.”

“We need to get you out of here for a few days.”

“You think that’s necessary?” Jackie asked.

Alex nodded. “Sam’s gonna freak.”

S
am paced around the second-floor room in the Harrisburg Holiday Inn, banging his fist into his palm. The room had the standard conference room look—a rectangular table that seated ten people, a credenza in the corner with a phone on it, and extra chairs lined up along the walls. A podium had been placed along the front wall. The room smelled of stale air and too much smoking.

Alex had set up the meeting that included Bob O’Brien, Agent Stoner, and Agent Monar.

Sam pointed at Stoner. “You’re the guy in the Pasta Basta Restaurant. I saw you a second time at the bookstore.”

Stoner smiled. “Guilty as charged.”

“I thought you were my contact.”

Stoner’s face grimaced into a frown. “I figured as much.”

“Stupid to let me make you. I hope no one else did.”

O’Brien chuckled. “Take it easy on him, Sam. He’s FBI, not CIA.

Alex put her hand on Sam’s arm. “Relax. We had a close call yesterday, but Jackie played it like she should have. We’ve moved her to a safe house until we can get this straightened out.”

“I never should have let that happen … told Kassim to get bent when he pushed me to get someone to travel with me as a cover.”