Berserker's Rage (22 page)

When he landed in Atlanta, Sierra had him booked into the Westin hotel at the airport. Pulling out his laptop to view the security tapes she’d forwarded, he got an incoming Skype from her and Cyrus.

“She didn’t get off the plane. She must have given us the slip in Orange County.” Cyrus looked haggard.

“How do you think she managed that? We saw them take her ticket, and watched her go through the doorway onto the plane ramp.” It took everything Nate had to keep his tone reasonable. Cyrus and Sierra were talking bullshit.

“Maybe she let everybody else pass by and just before they closed the doors she came back out?” Sierra suggested tentatively.

“Really? Didn’t you check the tapes? How long did you watch? Did you ever see her come back out of the jet way?”

“I watched the tapes for two hours and no she didn’t come out. But she could have gone out with the employees near the end of the ramp.”

Nate just lifted his eyebrows.

“Yeah, it smelled bad to us too.” Nate could clearly see their frustration.

“Cyrus, send me the tape of the departing passengers in Atlanta.”

“We went over the tapes four times. She didn’t get off the plane.” Then he paused and looked directly at Nate. “But I’d love it if you found something I missed.” It was obvious how much he cared for his baby sister.

“Send them to me.” He shut down the Skype session. He didn’t have long to wait, Sierra had the tapes to him in record time. Since they had been so sure she hadn’t deplaned, he was surprised how fast he recognized her. She was the thirty-first passenger off the plane. She’d cut her hair short, wore a mini-skirt and held hands with a young black man, while concentrating on her phone. Damn. She knew exactly how to avoid the security cameras. And who the fuck was the guy? He was a pretty boy. Nate hated him.

Nate watched the man pull her close and kiss her temple as they passed the airline desk. No wonder Cyrus and Sierra had been fooled. Who was he? They were far too comfortable together. Damn she looked good. He’d never seen her legs showcased like that before. Who the hell was the man with her? He watched the tape two more times, and on the third run through he pulled his attention away from Sarah and concentrated on the man.

Whoever the guy was, he definitely took note of his surroundings. While he paid attention to Sarah. He was also aware of his surroundings, like he had special training. Nothing escaped his notice. Nate went back to the original boarding tapes. Sarah boarded with a shopping bag and a purse. The man boarded with a duffel bag and a backpack.

Now Nate watched for it, he saw they knew one another before they boarded, it was subtle, but they acknowledged one another. This was no chance meeting on the plane. Going back to tapes of the plane’s arrival in Atlanta, he watched as Sarah departed with a backpack, no purse, no shopping bag. The male carried only his duffel. Dammit, she called in an accomplice to help her.

Nate pressed his hand against his forehead trying to stop the annoying twitch. Then he placed a video call to his teammates. It was no damn hardship to hide out in a brand new apartment complex in Newport Beach, California, but it still chafed the
found
members, and apparently Sarah had reached her limit.

Sierra popped up on the first ring, she looked anxious. “Hey, Sierra, get Cyrus.”

“He’s here. We got tapes of the outside area of the airport in Orange County. Sarah didn’t leave through the employee exit.”

“I know, she deplaned in Atlanta. Pull up the tape, she was passenger number thirty-one, she was with a black male. Cyrus, can you identify him?”

He did his best to wait patiently, zooming in on the picture of Sarah. She was smart—no face shot. She kept her head down the entire time. But he’d know her anywhere. Those hands, the arch of her neck, okay maybe the legs threw him for a loop. He’d never seen her in a short skirt before. God, he wanted to see those long mocha colored legs in person, preferably while wrapped around his waist. Fuck, he needed to dial it back. First he needed to get to know her, hell they’d never been on a damn date.

“Fuck, how did I miss her?” Cyrus snapped. “She’s my little sister.” Nate wanted to know the same damn thing, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Who’s the guy?” Sierra asked.

“Never saw him before.” Cyrus sounded frustrated.

“Maybe she picked him up on the plane,” Sierra said. Nate snorted, and then explained what he had discovered.

“Cyrus, can you get his photo in front of your brothers? See if anyone knows this creep?”

“On it.”

“He doesn’t look like a creep.” Nate recognized the tone from Sierra, she used it occasionally when she was trying to soothe one of her naval teammates. Right now it was fucking irritating and he told her so.

“Look Goodman, going off half-cocked isn’t going to help things.” Sierra said using her smack down voice. “Obviously something was pretty damned important to Sarah. She’s smart, smarter than the two of us put together. She knows her life is in danger. If she thought something was worth this level of risk, then it is.”

Nate stared at the computer screen unable to believe the shit coming out of Sierra’s mouth.

“I can hear you growling.”

“I am not growling,” he said between clenched teeth.

“You are so growling you fucking Neanderthal. You better be thinking with the big head and not the little head. Sarah might have given us the slip, but she needs protection, and you’re it big guy.” Sierra pointed at him for emphasis.

“Bullshit, my family will be right by the big guy’s side.” Shoving his face into the screen.

Nate didn’t doubt it in the slightest. He had met Cyrus’s brothers. They lived in Atlanta, and he knew as soon as he pointed out Sarah in the video Cyrus had sent texts to his family.

“When can I expect to see the hoard?” Nate tried not to shudder thinking of all the Johnson brothers.

“As soon as you get your ass over to my parent’s house.”

“You told your mom and dad?” Nate asked incredulously.

“Of course. My mother would have torn a strip off me if I kept this from her.”

Nate flashed back to the nice woman who arranged the prayer circle for Kali when she had been kidnapped, it didn’t jive.

“Why would you worry your mother?”

“Are you saying because she’s a woman, she’s weak and needs to be protected?” Sierra demanded.

“Can it Sierra. You know I don’t feel like that. Hell, how many times have I depended on you to pull my ass out of the fire when we’ve been on missions together? But this is Mrs. Johnson’s little girl we’re talking about. I didn’t think she needed this worry.”

Nate watched as Cyrus threw his head back and laughed.

“Let me tell you something about Lila Johnson. She’s the fiercest member of the Johnson clan when it comes to her children. Don’t be messing with her babies. She might be all choir singing, church going, Sunday dinner making mama, but she’s a lion wrapped in sheep’s clothing. I’m scared of my Mama, and I’m damn near forty years old.” Cyrus laughed outright.

“I didn’t mean to cast aspersions on your mother. However, I will now be casting aspersions on your manhood on a regular basis. I just didn’t want her worried. I’d hoped we could find Sarah before she knew she was even gone.” Nate rubbed the back of his neck, but nothing was going to work out the kinks.

“You’re still not getting it. Mom will be able to help the most. Nobody knows Sarah better than she does. I was kind of yanking your chain, but seriously, my mother has every right to know what’s going on, and she’ll be a big help. So get your ass over to my parent’s house. They’re expecting you. You did good recognizing my sister, don’t blow it now by being a horse’s ass.”

“Do you have any idea why she would do something so reckless? Rixitron is still intent on conducting their breeding experiments with the
found
. Sarah’s been the number one target. It’s been barely eight months since we stopped their attempted kidnapping in Atlanta. Why would she risk coming here?”

“It has to be something important, and by that I mean something damn near life and death in her eyes. I can’t fathom what it is, that’s why you have to talk to Mama. If anyone can get into Sarah’s head, it’s her.”

“Let me finish going through the tapes, I want to see if I can find her leaving the airport. I want to know if she took a taxi, or they left in a car. After that, I’ll head on over to your mother’s house.” Nate shut off the Skype session, determined to find more information to help in their investigation. He was not going to fail.

****

He held Sarah a little longer than necessary but must have realized it, so released her. He looked into her eyes and smiled. Sarah looked at her friend who had helped plan her escape and smiled back at him.

“Let’s get your bags.”

“What you see, is what you get, Ramone” He groaned, and Sarah winced, realizing how her words could be interpreted.

“Does that mean I get you?” he asked.

“You’re still a flirt, I see.” She raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get to my car.”

Ramone held out his hand and she took it, following the throng of people towards baggage claim leading to the exit of the Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport.

Twice Sarah caught him glancing at her.

She couldn’t believe he was the same boy who had eaten paste at Daniel Bagley Elementary. Even harder to believe he was the same young man she had treated in the ER for a gunshot wound when she’d been rotations as an intern. He had been on his way to a life of crime—angry, sullen, and downright scary.

She’d met his mother and sister that night so long ago, and thought for sure they were going to lose him to a gang. Instead he visited the hospital months later to thank her for saving him. They’d reestablished their friendship.

“A Prius?” Sarah shouted with laughter, it was the first time she laughed in the last forty-eight hours.

“Do
not
make fun of a man’s wheels. Especially when they are taking you where you need to go.”

“You are Ramone Sands, right?”

“That’s Reverend Ramone Sands,” he said as he opened her door. He lifted his hand and she knew he was going to stroke her cheek. She caught it before he could.

“I don’t think there are security cameras here. We can stop now.”

“Damn, I’ve been liking this. A lot. Haven’t you? Just a little?” There was only a gentle question, which made her pause rather than shake her head. But the reverend was nothing if not astute.

“Is there someone?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know if there is or not.” She thought about Nate, but then again, when didn’t she think about him? It had to stop. His life was somewhere else. He wasn’t like Noah. He hadn’t asked to be transferred to California, instead he was still out of the country most of the time. Obviously there was never going to be anything between them.

“Sarah, are you listening to me?”

“What?” she asked, distracted.

“Never mind.” His hand cupped her cheek and he smiled gently. He lowered his head and gave her the sweetest of kisses, and then settled her into the car and shut the door.

Damn he was smooth. It didn’t matter though, he wasn’t Nate.

      
****

Nate didn’t know how he was supposed to eat the food Mrs. Johnson put in front of him, considering he no longer had any back teeth. He’d ground them to dust when he saw the kiss Sarah shared with the man in the parking garage.

“Don’t you like lasagna?”

“Yes I do Lila, I’m sorry, I was preoccupied.” Nate realized he better pull his head out of his ass. He didn’t want to hurt Sarah’s mom’s feelings. He really liked the woman, and she’d gone to a lot of trouble making such a great meal.

“I can understand why you’re worried, but while we’re waiting for Kyle to get off shift, we might as well have dinner. I’m sure he’ll have the information you need from the license plate number. Now, give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be back with the garlic bread.”

Nate looked at the beautiful woman, who looked a little bit like Sarah, which amazed him, considering Sarah was her adopted daughter. Hell, calling her adopted wasn’t doing the whole thing justice, since she showed up in the Johnson’s backyard one day when she was five years old.

“It’s something else, isn’t it?” Frank Johnson nudged him.

“Hmmm?”

“My two beauties.” Lila went into the kitchen and Frank spoke. Two of his other son’s heads popped up and grinned at their father. It looked as if this was a well beloved topic. Nate didn’t know if he was up for it, considering one of the beauties in question was gallivanting around Atlanta with some pretty boy and putting her life in danger.

The front door opened, and finally Kyle came in and sat down at the dinner table. He grinned at Nate.

“I’ve got the name of your guy.” He started spooning lasagna onto a plate.

“Well?”

“Ma,” he yelled out. Lila came into the dining room.

“Hi Baby Boy. What did you find out?”

“Don’t call me that. Sarah’s the youngest.”

“I’m sorry Kyle.” Lila rolled her eyes to the rest of the table and everyone laughed.

“Ma, do you know a preacher named Ramone Sands?” Everyone waited as she thought for a moment.

“He’s the assistant pastor over at the Union Church on Third and Jakes Street. Your sister treated him for a GSW her first year at the hospital. They were in the same grade in elementary school for a few years before his dad passed. Then he and his mama moved away.” She sat next to her husband. “I remember your sister telling me he was on his way to being part of a gang, but he turned his life around. I never met the man, but your sister spoke highly of him. Reverend Hughly wouldn’t have taken him as an assistant if he wasn’t of strong character. Ramone is in charge of the youth ministry, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You’re not. I called to talk to him. He’s conveniently unavailable, meeting with a group of boy scouts at Lake Winfield to hike and camp in the Chattahoochee National Forest.”

“Call his cell phone,” Nate barked. Every one of the Johnson’s laughed.

“I did. He asked if this was an official investigation, and if Sarah had done anything wrong. Basically he gave me the runaround. He knew I was her brother.”