Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (34 page)

Mace wrapped his arms
around both of them. “Nina, we’ll find her.” Tears ran down her face and her
whole body shook. He and Tony both released her and headed out.

“What do you think
this
is?” Tony asked the minute he closed the door.

He rammed his hands in
his pocket. “I don’t know. You check Wade’s place. I’ll go to the school. Call
me.”

Tony smacked him on
the shoulder and they were on their way.

Mace checked with
Gabbs’ teacher. They had already put out a call to all parents asking if they’d
seen Gabbs. He found out
who
the little boy in her class was who’d
seen Gabbs go with the man and called his parents. They told Mace where they
lived and he s
aid he’d be over shortly. Before he
left, he did a search of the school grounds, asking the kids who were still
hanging around. His phone rang.

“What ya got, Tinman?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing looks out of
place?”

“I broke in and took a
look inside. There’s noth
ing out of place. In fact
,
it’s barren. Not a lot here. In the bedroom I found a few
things lying around, but the one thing that is missing is his sea bag.”

“Okay, thanks. I’m
heading over to the kid’s place that saw Gabbs leave the school yard.”

“Want me
to meet you there?”

“No, troll Coronado.
Maybe this is just some kind of mix-up. Go to Skippers. She likes that
restaurant, maybe they’re there.”

“Okay, buddy. Hey,
don’t worry.”

“Too
late for that.”

Mace hopped in his car
and headed over to the kid’s plac
e. He only lived a
mile away from the school. A woman opened the door with a concerned expression.
“Petty Officer Mace Callahan,
ma’am.”

“Come in, Mace,” the
young brunette said, stepping aside. Her husband appeared in the hallway.

“Lieutenant Mailor,”
he
greeted, throwing out a big paw.
“Marine Corps.”

“Lieutenant, thanks
for seeing me.” He followed him into the kitchen.

“Richard,” his father
said. The little boy looked scared when he raised his head.

“Hey, little buddy,”
Mace said, sitting across from him
and giving him a
smile. “I’m Gabbs’—” Well wasn’t this the shits? “I’m Gabbs’ friend. Her mom
said she talked to you earlier.”

The little boy nodded
and he said, “I saw a man pick Gabbs up after school.” He continued to work on
a picture he was drawing wi
th a colored pencil.

“Do you know what
Gabbs’ father looks like?”

He nodded.

“Tell me.”

“Dark hair like
Daddy,” he said looking at his father. “But he’s not as tall or as big as Dad.”

Pretty
good description.
“Did Gabbs seem upset when the guy took her awa
y?” Richard’s head bobbed twice in the affirmative. “So
what did this guy who picked up Gabbs look like?”

“He was a black man.
He had on glasses.”

“What kind of
glasses?”

“Sunglasses.
He was bigger than Dad and he wore a
dark suit.”

Suddenly the looming
ch
ill in Mace’s belly went to subzero. “Do you
remember what kind of car he was driving?”

Richard nodded.
“Mustang.
I like Mustangs, especially black
ones.” He shot a wary look at his father.

Mace smiled at the
little guy. “If I show you a picture of a man,
do you
think you can tell me if it’s him?”

“Think so.” Richard
swirled around in his chair. “Mom, can I have some juice?”

Richard’s mom wore
about the same look as Nina did. Every mother’s nightmare was losing a child,
and just the thought had the same
contagious fear.
He’d bet she’d watch her little guy with an eagle eye for the next three weeks.
He pulled his phone. “Tony, you still got that pic of the two guys with Wade
that day in the parking lot?”

“Yeah.”

Mace gave him the
address of where he was.

“
ETA five mi
l
es.”

It only took Tony
three minutes to get there. Mace quickly introduced him as Tony handed him his
phone. “Richard, is one of these the man who picked up Gabbs?” He expanded the
pics on the guys’ faces, and laid down the phone.

Richard leaned over
and looked up at him.
“That guy.”
He pointed to the one on the right.
Mace nodded because he couldn’t trust himself not to lose it right there and
then. He turned slowly to look at Tony. The message between them sent and
received.

“Mace
, is there anything I can do?” Richard’s father asked, also
sensing this was no longer just a case of miscommunication.
“No, sir.”
He gave Richard a rub on the head. “You
did
good
, buddy, thank you.”

Richard’s parents
followed them to the door. “I’ll phone
all the moms I
know. We’ll spread the word to watch for Gabbs,” Mrs. Mailor said. “I hope you
find her soon.”

He nodded. “I
appreciate that, ma’am.” Now came the hard part. Telling Nina that her fears
had a foundation and then they would have to wait.

Nin
a’s scream of pain bounced off the walls of the house and
cut through his skin like sharp knives. He held her tight and rocked her. Tony
paced the kitchen, his hands rammed deep in his pockets, his body ready to
fight.

Nina lifted her tear
streaked face. “
Why haven’t they called? Shouldn’t
they call?” She sprang away from him. “I’m not waiting anymore. I’m calling the
police.”

Tony stepped in front
of her. “No, Nina. We have to wait. If we call the police we may push them into
leaving the area, if they have
n’t already. We stay
put.”

Nina swung around
clutching herself. She jumped when a hard knock landed on the front door. Ditz,
Tadpole and Caleb
entered,
their expressions severe.

“Did you call Cobbs?”
Ditz asked, rubbing a comforting hand over Nina’s should
er.

“No. I don’t want to.”

“You want me to?” Ditz
asked, falling into the communications role he specialized in.

“No, what can you do
about finding a signal if a call comes in?”

“I don’t have the
equipment here to do that. If I take it from the base someon
e will start asking questions. Are you sure nothing was
left here in the house?”

“What do you mean?”
Mace asked.

“Did you check the
house for a message? This isn’t a bad seventies movie. Nowadays with the
communications we have, it could come any way or ev
en
a note left here.”

“Everyone
search
,” Mace commanded.

They tore the house
apart. No message was left on a pillow or any place obvious. Ditz was sitting
at Nina’s computer when they rallied in the kitchen. “What’s the password?”
Ditz asked. Nina leaned o
ver and typed it in. They
all gathered around as Ditz brought up her email. All their eyes went to the
subject line of the mail sitting at the top. Nina’s hand shot to her mouth to
muffle a groan.

Ditz opened the
message.

Subject: One million dollars for t
he return of your daughter.

You have twenty-four hours. We will
contact you.

Ditz began to type
furiously, internet pages flying by. After a minute he sat back and shook his
head.
Can’t find the source.
The trail ends in Poland, for fuck
sakes.”

“Who owns
that IP address?” Tony asked.

“It’s bogus.” He
brought up the info. “These guys know what they’re doing.”

“A million dollars,”
Nina whispered. “I can get the bank to lend me a couple hundred thousand, but
not in twenty-four hours.”

Mace cradled her in
his arms. “I’ve got a couple hundred thousand too, baby, but that isn’t going
to be enough.” He pulled her away from him. “Nina, did Wade mention anyone to
you?
Friends, any names?”

She shook her head.

“We need to find
someone who’s
involved in this. Wade played at the
Clayton Arms Casino. The only reason those guys showed up to talk to Wade must
have to do with a loan. He had to owe them money.”

“Money?”
Nina blinked. “I saw a text on Wade’s
phone a while back. It said—” She closed h
er eyes.

“Easy, baby, we’ve got
time to figure this out.”

“It said, ah something
like…the money is due, and it came from…Pedro. Yes, Pedro.”

“Pedro.
All right.”

“Caleb?”

“Time for me to go to
the casino and look for a loan?” he asked, pulling on his jacket
, already on his way to the door.

Mace nodded.
“Exactly.”

Minutes ticked by at a
deadly slow pace. During their wait they all received a text on their phones.
Workups begin tomorrow, report zero seven hundred hours. Mace deleted the
message. Tony watched h
im do it, and it looked like
he’d done the same. Ditz brought Nina a hot cup of tea. She clutched it in her
hands and nodded her thanks.

“Help
yourself
, guys,” she said in a wispy voice.

An hour later Caleb
came through the door and they all stood to face
him.
“Pedro works out of Las Vegas. It’s just a contact here at the local casino to
drag people into taking out loans. The guy knew Wade. Said he’d borrowed at
least half a million dollars.”

The few small
connections they had were beginning to link up to a
bigger picture, one that pointed straight to Las Vegas. “Did you get a last
name?”

“Quadero.
Sounds like one very fucking badass
dude.”

“These guys are as bad
as tangos. Worse! They prey on their own countrymen and use their weaknesses to
gain control,” T
ony shook his head. “No friggin’ end
to it.”

“Caleb, Ditz, Tadpole,
T-man, thanks for helping out.”

“You sound like you’re
dismissing us.” Tadpole’s brows scrunched together.

“Affirmative.
I’m going after Gabbs.”

“We’re going after
Gabbs,” Nina countered.

“What? Ya think we’re
just gonna leave you out there on your own? You need all of us,” Caleb stated
harshly.

Mace wrapped an arm
around Nina’s waist. “You all got the text. Workups start tomorrow. You go AWOL
and you know what happens. Only I’m taking that
risk.” The roof lifted with four angry complainants at the same time.
“Stop.
This is our problem, not yours. I
appreciate what you’ve done, but you’re not putting your careers in jeopardy
for us. Understood?”

Tony stepped into his
comfort circle. “I’m not
staying behind. Are you
planning on making me drive another car to Las Vegas? That’s where you’re
headed. That’s where I’m headed. I say we save gas. Those guys won’t take the
chance of keeping Gabbs in this city. A million dollars is a lot of money. This
Pedro guy is going to want to keep her close.”