Freedom's Promise: Task Force 125 (11 page)

"I suppose retirement would allow me more time to work on my golf game."  Chris ran his fingers through his blond curls.  He shrugged.  "I do have that friend at Fox News that has been nagging me about taking a consultant position."

Guinea
started picking up the dirty dishes.  "What about you, Cinderella?  Are you and Prince Charming planning on setting up housekeeping here?"

"We really didn't have a chance to talk about where we'd live.  Honestly, I really don't care where we go.  I just want to find Vince, see for myself that he's all right, and get him back.  After that, I can be happy living anywhere and doing anything."  Sarah rubbed her face to push back the tears she felt coming.  "I'm really tired guys.  I think I'll try to get some sleep." 

"Yeah, we all need some good downtime.  We've got a lot of work to do."  Will picked up his legal pad loaded with notes.  "I've got a hundred phone calls to make before I sleep."  He stood.  "Jason, as soon as you wake up, you've got
weapons detail.  Chris, you'll need to work on that map.  Brian, let's get those choppers fueled and mission-ready first thing.  Sarah, we're going to need cots, sleeping bags, and bivouac gear for the desert."

Each of them nodded in receipt of their assignments.

Sarah stood and picked up her dirty dishes.  "No problem, Will.  Are we going to have enough to feed this army of ours?"

Will's eyebrows rose.  "Good question, Sarah."

She shrugged.  "Leave it to a former fatty to think about food, huh?"

Brian patted her ass as she walked around the table to the kitchen sink. 
"
Former
being the operative word."
 

Will jotted more notes on his pad. 
"
Guinea
, when you wake up, check the dry goods stores downstairs and give me a situation report."

"Wilco."

Sarah made for the stairs at a sleepy pace. 
"Night all."

"Goodnight, Sarah."

"Night."

"
G'night
."

Chapter Twenty

Vince woke to the sound of a key in the door.  It was a light touch so he assumed whoever was on the other side was trying to be quiet, but why?  He braced himself for the worst.

The door opened and a
woman in an
abaya
and
niqab
in with a tray of food. 

Vince didn’t give a second thought to the armed man outside the door when he smelled the fresh eggs and coffee the woman set down on the small bedside table.

She looked up at Vince with the sad eyes of a slave, eyes that showed a spirit battered and just as bruised as her face, most probably all inflicted by ill treatment from her employer.

Vince knew what guys like Nikolai did to people.  He also knew they loved hiring sadistic bastards to work for them.

The Australian stepped into the room. 

Speak of the devil.

"Nikolai will be out on business for a few hours so you have a little more time to think about his proposal.  There's your breakfast.  Choke on it."  The Australian pushed the woman's shoulder, and she stumbled out of the room.

Bastard.

Vince hopped out of bed as the door closed and pulled on his jeans, which were now both clean and dry.  He poured a cup of coffee from the small pot and savored the aroma before drinking the first cup in a single gulp.  He picked up the pack of cigarettes and tapped one out, lighting it with the lighter he’d lifted from Nikolai.

How am I going to play this to buy more time?  Come on, Will.  I won't be able to hold him off long.  Should I tell him I'll play ball?  If I do, he'll want names and numbers right away.  I need to stall.

Chapter Twenty-One

Sarah woke with a start to a knock on Vince’s bedroom door.  Her mind was moving at a breakneck pace immediately.  Her voice raspy from too many cigarettes the night before sounded alien to her.  "What is it?  Is there news?"  She jumped out of bed without any thought to what she was wearing and opened the door.

Jason stood there with a serious look on his face.  "Okay, sister, you've had eight down.  Now it’s time to prep for war."

She hugged Jason.  "Now you're
talkin
!"  Sarah didn't bother to close the door.  These guys had seen her in bikinis and underwear both on the job and off so modesty was a waste of time and energy.  She slipped on a pair of jeans and light combat boots and tied the tails of the oxford shirt she'd worn to bed around her waist.  She turned to look at Jason as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.  "Let's do it."

Jason led her down to the basement that she hadn't yet had the opportunity to tour.  They walked down a narrow staircase and came to an open steel door.  Few people understood how Sarah’s mind worked.  She was thankful that somehow Jason seemed to
get
her, to know that she needed some activity to keep her from focusing on her thoughts—thoughts that would run away with her mind and make her go mad with anxiety over what might be happening to Vince.

Sarah examined the wall as they passed through the door. 

One foot of concrete.
 

"This thing looks like a war pod, built to sustain a serious blast." 

"Have you been down here yet?"  Jason kept walking.  "Welcome to the rumpus room."

Sarah looked around with wonder.  She’d seen the guys come down here to use the office but had no idea Vince had the equivalent to a small military base in his basement.

All this is Vince's.  I know so little about him. 

"No,
haven't had a chance
.  I thought it was just an office."

"Hah!  Girl, this is a one-stop war shop!"

Jason pointed to an open door on the left.  "That's the armory."

Sarah looked in to see racks of rifles and handguns lining the walls, an arsenal that could easily match any Air Force police armory she'd ever seen.  Two large stainless steel islands for gun cleaning and repairs glistened in the center of the room.   

Brian was inside packing what looked like bricks of C-4 explosive into a black duffel bag.  He looked well rested in jeans and a gray T-shirt that hugged his thickly muscled chest and arms. 
"Morning, darlin’."

"Hi, Brian.
  Getting ready for detonation day?"

He grinned and nodded. 
"Packing party poppers."

She returned his smile.  "Nice."

Jason pointed to a door behind Brian.  "That door leads to the tunnel that goes up to the hangar. 
Keeps everything literally on the
down low
."
  He
motioned to a door across the hall from the armory.  "That's the office. 
Secure phone and satellite communications.
  Chris has been in there taking pictures for hours." 

Sarah opened the door and peeked in to see a haggard Chris rubbing his eyes. 
"Hey, Chris.
  Have you slept yet?"

Chris rubbed the blond beard growing on his chin.  All the guys had gone native and started growing beards when they arrived in
Dubai
.  "Not so much.  I'm starting to appreciate the Agency intelligence geeks who usually do our prep work."

Sarah walked into the office, gave him a hug, and playfully ran her fingers through his golden blond curls. 

He closed his eyes and seemed to relax for a moment.  “
Mmm
…”

"Hang in there, honey." 

He breathed deeply and kept his eyes closed for a moment.  "Thanks, doll."

Sarah looked back at Jason.  "What else is down here?"

"Storage.
 
Food.
 
Supplies.
 
War gear.
 
Shooting range.
  Let's go to the armory.  I need some help getting the big guns mounted on the choppers.  Do you think you can remember your way around a Mark-19?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow and smiled. 
"Oh, yeah."

Chapter Twenty-Two

Vince had been waiting in comfort most of the day until the big Aussie summoned him for another audience with Nikolai.  He sat in the chair he'd been shoved into by the Australian. 

Nikolai seemed hard at work at his desk, no doubt still tracing the paper trail Victor left the Italian authorities upon his untimely death—when Vince had put a bullet right between his eyes. 

When Vince’s team had taken Victor out in
Italy
, the Italian authorities grounded and impounded all of his aircraft that were between flights in
Italy
.  The entire fleet had been down for maintenance so arms dealers and drug
dealers around the world were scrambling to find a secondary means of transport.

Vince let a satisfied sigh escape through a smile as he thought about how Nikolai must be taking the brunt of the workload on this one.

Nikolai looked up from the papers he’d been reading.  "It seems your busy friends have just—
pfft
!—fallen off the map."  He handed an eight by ten photo to Vince.  "That's a very flattering dress on Sarah, isn't it?  Isn’t that Will with her?"

Vince looked at the photo.  Sarah and Will were walking up the steps to a large house, maybe even a mansion.  The address was in Arabic so it might be in
Saudi Arabia
. 

State Department, maybe?  It couldn't be. 

The government would disavow any knowledge
of,
or relationship with Vince.  They were certainly dressed for diplomacy. 

A back door source, maybe?  Their driver
wore
traditional robes, but I know Brian’s profile, even in a dark photo.  The photo is dated.  Was it yesterday?  They must be close.

Vince’s heart warmed and his resolve strengthened.  He had every faith they'd find him before it was too late.  This photo was all he needed to keep him going.

He took one last look at Sarah in the photo. 

Soon.

"Yeah, she's a good looking woman, Nikolai.  Too bad you let her get away."  He tossed the photo on Nikolai's desk.

"Don't pity me, Vince.  I have my best men on it.  She'll be coming around sooner than you think."

"I'm looking forward to seeing her again."  Vince smiled and meant every word. 

"Enough chit-chat."
  Nikolai tossed the photo aside.  "Have you considered my proposal?"

Vince took the cigarette Nikola offered.  He paused to light it and take a drag.  He squinted through the smoke.  "I have."  He nodded.  "I need some more information before I give you my answer."

"Oh, really?
  I thought the proposal was quite clear."

"It was when it came to what
I
had to give
you
.  It wasn't very clear about what
I'd
get out of the deal."

Nikolai leaned back in the big leather desk chair.  "Your cut is simple.  You get twenty percent of each transaction.  It is the most generous deal I've ever offered anyone."

"It is generous.  The thing is I can't quite help but wonder why it is so generous.  It sounds a little too good to be true and, in my experience, if it seems too good to be true it probably is."

Nikolai sighed and leaned his elbows on the desk in front of him.  He leaned forward and his voice dropped slightly.

"It is so generous because you have something of high value to me and because torture is so
Cold
War
.  I'm progressive.  I would rather motivate in a positive manner and give you a reason to come into business willingly rather than grudgingly."  He tilted his head slightly.  "There is no reason we can't be friends, Vince."

"Well, then you won't mind me taking another night to think about it."

"Of course not.
  Just realize that if my men find Sarah before you and I set a deal, my offer will be withdrawn.  You may want to consider taking me up on it now while you still have something to bring to the table."

Vince stubbed out the stump of a cigarette.  "I understand."

Nikolai motioned to the Aussie.  "Please take our guest back to his room and see that he has a good dinner."  Nikolai nodded to Vince and spoke more of an order than a request.  "If you'll excuse me, I have
work
to do.” 

Vince grinned wide.  ”I suppose the Italian authorities’ seizure of everything in Victor’s office has set your bookkeeping back a bit, huh?”

Nikolai glared at Vince.  “Get out.”

Vince reveled in the satisfaction of knowing he’d inconvenienced Nikolai if only just a little and stood to leave.  "No problem."