Sealed In Lies (16 page)

“
If he suspects something, we lose our edge. Patience, Henley, that’s what we need right now.”

Henley grumbled something unintelligible and got out of the car. One foot went out from under him on the icy lot and he nearly fell. Holding onto the door handle, he struggled to get his feel back underneath him. Cursing, he slowly made his way into the convenience store and returned to the Hummer a short time later.

“
Feel better?” Marx asked.

“
No. It’s slick as a rat’s ass out there.” Henley replied.

The two men sat quietly reviewing the parking lot across the street. Marx wondered which car belonged to Weaver. The information they had was not helpful at all. No one knew what he currently looked like or what kind of car he was driving. Nothing turned up on the DMV with his name or any of the aliases he was known to have used. Even with the global locator chip in the Senator’s wife’s arm it was a little like looking for a needle in a haystack. They knew which haystack she was in but that was as close as they could get.

“
Can’t that GPS thingy pinpoint her exact location to within a few feet?” Henley asked, his impatience growing with every passing minute.

“
It is accurate to within 100 yards, but she could be in any room on the first or second floor. The motel is packed, although I’ll be damned if I can figure out why. Unless we see her, we won’t be able to tell what room they’re in.

Hand me the binoculars.” He put the high powered lenses up to his face and began to scan the motel. “I can see some figures through the windows. Some rooms have more than one person in them. We will concentrate on those first. You get out that notebook and start writing down what I tell you. I will go from room to room and narrow down which rooms have two people in them.

“
Once we have a list on this side, we will pull into the motel parking lot and scan the other side of the building. We will have to be careful though. According to my information, Jack Weaver is slick as a fox. He could walk right by us and we wouldn’t even know it. Once it gets dark enough we will figure out what we want to do next.”

“
Well hell, Marx, I’m starved. I want to get this job over with so I can eat.”

Marx ground his teeth in an effort to keep from pulling out his gun and shooting this little pig of a man. He didn’t understand why the Senator’s security task force kept him around. He was a whiny, annoying little bastard.

“
Once it gets full dark, we will get out and snoop around a little. We still have those maintenance uniforms in the back. Maybe we can use those. We should recognize the Senator’s wife. She is a very beautiful woman.” Marx pulled out a picture of Caroline that was emailed to him earlier that evening. He stared at the breath-taking woman in the white evening gown, smiling on the arm of her husband. “A beautiful woman indeed.”

“
Okay,” Henley succumbed. “I guess it’s not that long until dark. We were supposed to rendezvous with the Senator’s aid by 2100 hours. Think we will have them by then?”

“
If we don’t, then we better have a damn good reason. Listen, Henley, I need you on your toes. You screw this up and I promise you I will kill you myself.”

Henley’s watery black eyes were caught in the intense crystal blue stare of Marx. Henley swallowed hard. He believed him.

The men waited in the Hummer for several hours until darkness fell. The temperature dropped and all the ice that had melted refroze into a solid glassy sheen. It would be treacherous for anyone to attempt to leave tonight. Surely Weaver would not be that reckless.

Just when Marx thought Henley was going to completely come unglued, a flicker of lights caught his attention. “Henley, shut up your whining and look at that street light. Did you see it flicker?”

Henley, incredulous at being treated like a child, took his time turning his head to look at the street lights lining the motel parking lot. They flickered and went out. He glanced around the surrounding area and everything was dark. “The power’s out,” he said.

Marx smiled menacingly. “Yes it is, isn’t it? I say it’s time to put those maintenance uniforms to good use. Grab them out of the back and we will pretend to be maintenance checking on all the guests. We have a list with the rooms that have two people. We will just knock on the door until we find them. It’s the perfect cover.”

“
Now, you’re talking,” Henley clapped his hands and then rubbed them together vigorously. He reached over into the back seat and pulled two dark blue worker’s jumpsuits into his lap. He tossed one at Marx. “Let’s get this bastard. I need a drink, bad.”

Chapter 18

Caroline emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and towel drying her heavy chestnut hair. She flipped it forward over her face while she worked the towel from her scalp all the way out to the ends. She didn’t have a brush so she ran her fingers through the thick locks trying to get out the largest of the tangles. She feared it would be completely unmanageable once it dried. The waves took on a life of their own when she didn’t have a blow dryer to tame them down. Once the worst of the tangles were smoothed out, in one dramatic movement, she flipped her hair back away from her face.

The movement caught Jack’s attention and he watched as the heavy brunette tresses settled onto her shoulders and down her back. Her skin was pink from the hot shower and if it weren’t for the monstrous bruises on her face, Jack thought she would look like an angel. Her features were as refined as if they were carved out of pure alabaster. She exhibited an elegance and grace he had not been exposed to with his ghetto upbringing. He could certainly understand why Warren was attracted to her. She was a fiery hot flame that simply drew in the helpless brainless moths that were men.

His eyes roved hungrily over her body. Even in that ridiculous Navy sweatshirt and jeans she was sexy as hell. His reaction to her was almost immediate. His eyes traveled back up to her face and she caught him staring at her. Quickly, somewhat embarrassed, he dropped his gaze to the floor. The look in her eyes stirred another reaction in him that cooled his recent flare up of passion. She was afraid. She was uncertain of who and what he was and she was terrified. He didn’t blame her, but he needed it to stay that way. If she thought he was lusting after her if would keep her edgy. He needed her edgy. He had no idea what would happen next and they both needed to be on their toes.

“
Feel better?” He asked turning back to the laptop on the desk.

“
Somewhat. You were right. The hot water did help with the stiffness.” She sat on the edge of the bed, uncertain of what to do next.

Jack knew he needed to cuff her again and he really hated to do it. He rose and picked the cuffs up from the nightstand. “Hold out your wrists,” he said approaching her.

She did as she was told and it was then Jack saw the angry red sore on her wrist. “What is that?”

She glanced down and unconsciously rubbed at the sore with her thumb. “I’m not sure. I guess the cuffs rubbed it last night while I slept.”

He took her hand in his and pulled it closer to the light on the nightstand. That simple touch sent a quick jolt of electricity though his system. Her soft gasp let him know that she felt it too. Her skin was so soft, a stark contrast to his rough calloused hands. “That doesn’t look like an abrasion. It looks more like a boil or cyst.”

He examined it more closely. It was infected. It would make wearing the cuffs painful, but he would be foolish to trust her without them.

“
Let me get you some ointment and a bandage for that.”

“
No, really, it’s okay. It doesn’t really hurt all that much.” Caroline withdrew her hand and placed it in her lap.

He looked doubtful. “False bravery will get you killed. I can’t afford to ignore this and end up with you in the hospital. Your face is one of the most recognized in the world. It’s infected and needs dressing. I have some antibiotics too. It should help pull that redness out and reduce any swelling.”

He went to his duffel bag and pulled out the medical supply kit that he brought with him. He squeezed some ointment onto the tender flesh and gently wrapped it with gauze. Then he took one of his white t-shirts and ripped it straight up the middle. Caroline flinched at the sound of the ripping fabric. He looked at her, surprised, then comprehension dawned. Whatever happened to bruise her face also involved the ripping of fabric. He wanted to apologize but he swallowed the words.

He took a long strip of the soft cloth and wrapped it around the gauze bandage. Then, as much as he hated to do it, he placed the cuffs back on her wrists. He made sure they were tight enough that she couldn’t wriggle out of them, but not so tight as to irritate her wound.

He handed her two white pills and a bottle of water. “Take these,” he said.

She looked up at dubiously.

“
What? You think I might poison you? Believe me, if I wanted you dead I’d choose a method more efficient than poison. It takes too long. Just one swift slice with a knife,” he ran his finger across her delicate neck.

Not expecting the contact or the harsh words, Caroline jerked back in shock, her eyes wide.

Jack smiled, ruefully. “Don’t worry Mrs. Walters. I’m not going to kill you as long as you cooperate. These are just antibiotics. Take them.”

Caroline reached out, hands shaking, to receive the pills. She dropped them a few times before she managed to get them into her mouth. She swallowed them down with the water and handed him back the bottle. “Thank you.”

He didn’t respond, but turned and put the items back in his duffel bag. Just as he was turning around, the lights flickered. Instinct made Jack reach for his SIG and hold it up close to his chest. His alert black eyes scanned the room then he walked to the window. Jack used the barrel of the gun to pull back one panel of the closed curtains. It was dusk and growing dark rapidly. Heavy gray clouds hung low in the sky and threatened to release more precipitation at any minute. More ice or snow was something they surely did not need.

He squinted as his sharp eyes scanned the motel parking lot and the lots of the adjacent properties. Things appeared normal. All he saw was a parking lot full of cars covered with ice. Wait a minute. That was strange. Something caught his eye about the apparently tranquil scene outside. In the convenience store parking lot was a black Hummer that was not covered with ice. White smoke streamed steadily out of the exhaust pipe. The window tint prevented him from seeing who was inside, but he could make out two shapes. Interesting, he thought.

He let the curtain panel drop back into place and thought about that Hummer. It was ice-free. Any car that sat for more than an hour in this mess was coated with ice and snow. There was no traffic on the roads as they were currently treacherously slick, yet this vehicle looked clean, as if it had just pulled off the highway.

He shrugged and put the gun back in the waistband of his jeans. He was just being paranoid. There was no way anyone could have tracked him this soon. It was going to take even the best tracker another few days at least to pick up his trail if they even could. He was an expert at covering his tracks. Still, that Hummer made him nervous. It must be his spider sense kicking in. Jack was blessed with an uncanny ability to sense danger.

Everyone on the SEAL team grew to depend on that spider sense. He saved their lives more than once. He always trusted the spider sense. Something was going down tonight.

Caroline sensed his unease and she asked, “What’s the matter?”

“
Power might go. Ice on the lines. Looks like we might be in for a dark night.”

He went to the duffel bag and rummaged through it until he came up with a box of emergency candles and a book of matches. He placed them on the table near the computer. “Just in case,” he said.

Caroline was amazed at how prepared this man always seemed to be. “What are you, a boy scout?”

Jack looked down at the candles and back at Caroline. “Always be prepared,” he quipped humorlessly.

“
What did you see out the window?”

“
Nothing for you to be concerned about.” He resumed his seat and began to peck at the keyboard again.

Caroline sat quietly on the bed for several minutes watching him work. It made him nervous with her staring at the back of his neck. “You can turn the TV on if you want. I’ve got work to do.”

“
No thank you. I’m not much of a TV watcher.”

“
Oh yeah? So what does a Senator’s wife do with her spare time?”

She did not miss the sarcastic tone in his voice. “I read a great deal.”

“
I see. Well, I’m sorry I’m fresh out of books at the moment, but I would appreciate it if you would not stare holes in the back of my neck while I am trying to get this done.” His tone was impatient and edgy.