Never Go Home (20 page)

“Let’s go
have a talk with the neighborhood watch,” I said.

We crossed the
street and cut across the man’s unkempt lawn. He staggered back and found a
mildewed white plastic chair to park himself in.

“Sheriff,” he
said.

She said,
“Mr. Fults, we have a couple questions for you.”

“Sure,” he
said.

“Did you see
a black sedan out here recently?” I said. “Parked in the street a couple days
at a time?”

“Oh, yeah,
sure did. Thought it kind of strange. It’d be there for a few days, then
disappear. Come back again for a few hours, leave. Sat out there for a week one
time.”

“How long had
this been going on?” April said.

“Couple
months, at least,” he said.

“Ever see
anyone get in or out of it?” I said.

He looked up
toward the ceiling. “You know, can’t say that I did. It was just…there.”

“Thanks, Mr.
Fults.”

I stepped off
the porch and headed across the street. April stayed behind, presumably to ask
additional questions. I had no need to hear anything else.

Glenn stood
next to April’s cruiser. I stopped a few feet short of him. He said nothing.

I said,
“Sorry about, Jessie, Glenn.”

“Thank you.”
He paused, glanced up at the sky, rubbed his face, then looked me in the eye.
“I’m always gonna believe this is your fault, Jack. Somehow, someway, you led
her into this. Whether directly, or by her trying to find you. She must’ve
stumbled upon something way over her head.”

Unwittingly,
Glenn had given me a direction to follow.

“Just make me
one promise,” he said.

“What’s
that?”

“I know
you’re into some special forces, mercenary crap. It’s a running joke with some
of us that went to school together, played football, you know.”

I nodded,
said nothing.

“You find
this bastard who killed her, and you torture the hell out of him. Don’t let him
die right away. Take your time. Make him suffer. Cut him up part by part.”

Though I had
no plans to torture her killer, I felt obligated to Jessie to do something.
Eleven years ago, I almost got her killed by showing up at her doorstep in the
middle of the night. Something happened after that. I don’t know what, though.
She picked up a trail, or someone picked up hers. She fell into the trap that
so many do. It’s something that no one else in their life knows about.
Ultimately, they have to do what they’re told to keep those they love alive. In
the end it leads to their own death.

Glenn walked
back to his front door.

“You want a
ride?” I called out.

April walked
up behind me. “What?”

Glenn came
back to the car. “Sure.”

I looked back
at April. “Least we can do.”

We took our
places in the car. Halfway between Glenn’s house and the church, my cell phone
rang. I pulled it out and checked the number.

Marcia.

“Pull over,”
I said.

April slammed
on the brakes. The car fishtailed. She got it under control and veered onto the
dirt and gravel shoulder.

I stepped out
into a cloud of dust, answered the phone.

“You need to
get out of there now, Jack,” Marcia said.

“What?”

“You’re in
danger.”

“We chased
the danger off last night. He killed a cop, not me. I doubt he’s—“

“Shut up and
listen to me, Jack. You have no idea what’s going on. The web is huge and
you’re flying right toward the middle of it. Before you know it, it’s going to
close around you.”

I paused a
beat. “If you know what’s going on down here, then tell me.”

She said
nothing.

Neither did
I. It was a game of chicken, and I wasn’t about to swerve first.

After a
minute, she spoke. “Call Sasha, tell her to get the flight ready. Also tell her
that you’ve decided to work for me. She’ll bring an extra car and you and I can
leave without her.”

“Why should I
do this?”

“I have the
answers you’re looking for.”

“Then why
won’t you tell me now.”

“I can’t,
Jack. I need to see you first. Once I do, I can tell you what happened to
Jessie.”

The line went
silent. I lifted my hand in the air and then flung it down. Somehow I managed
to keep the phone in my grasp. I decided to call Sasha before my mind began
processing Marcia’s words.

“Jack?” she
said.

“I’m ready,”
I said. “Where do I need to go?”

“I’ve got a
jet waiting at a private airport north of Tampa. How soon can you get there?”

“Probably
forty minutes.”

“OK. They’ll
be ready. I’ll message you the address.”

“Sasha?”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to
do it. I’m taking over security for Marcia. Bring her with you. Have an extra
car waiting at the airport.”

“You got it.”

We hung up. I
placed one more call before getting back in the car. April leaned across my seat
and tapped on her watch. I held up one finger.

My brother
answered on the second ring.

“Sean, listen
to me. You need to get out of town. Far out of town. Take Deb, Kelly and Dad
and go.”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Where should
we go?”

“Drive to
Texas for all I care. Get out of town. Don’t use your cell phone. Don’t let
anyone know where you’ve gone. Don’t even tell them that you’ve left.”

“I’ve got a
practice to run, Jack.”

“Dammit,
Sean. Do it. Now.”

He paused,
said, “OK,” and then hung up.

I got in the
car. My skin was flushed. I didn’t notice the air conditioning at first. “I
need you to take me to Tampa.”

“Why?” April
said.

“I can’t
say.”

She hit the
gas, pulled away from the shoulder and drove to the church. We let Glenn out
next to the parking lot entrance. The crowd gathered near the back of the
graveyard, presumably waiting for him. I didn’t see Sean or his family or the
Suburban. He’d taken off already. I hoped he heeded my warning and stayed away
from his house.

April turned
on her lights and did ninety down the highway. She only used her sirens in
spots where traffic cluttered the road. The closer we got to Tampa, the more
often she needed to use them.

Sasha texted
me the address along the way. I plugged it into the car’s GPS. It would only
require a couple turns to reach our destination.

We were
silent for the majority of the drive. April had questions for me. I had
questions in general. Neither of us voiced our concerns.

It took
twenty-five minutes to reach the private airport. It was easy to find the jet.
Every other plane we saw was a single prop. April stopped the cruiser a hundred
feet away. I didn’t move. We didn’t speak. The cold air pelted our faces.

Two minutes
passed. April broke the silence. She shifted in her seat. Said, “Will you ever
come back?”

“Probably
not.”

She turned
her head toward the windshield. “Can I come visit you?”

“That’s not a
good idea.”

“Why?”

“My life is
complicated. Take those things that you thought about me, and multiply them by
one hundred. It’s not so much that I’m in danger most of the time, rather than
those around me are. I can watch out for myself. But I have to live a detached
life. Everyone close to me ends up in trouble. Sometimes dead. I can’t do that
anymore. I can’t do that to you.” I reached out and placed my hand around the
back of her head. “I’ve got this little girl back in London, and I struggle
with it every day. I want to see her more, but I know I shouldn’t see her at
all. It’s not her fault that things are this way, so I give in because I don’t want
her to grow up believing that she did something to drive me away.”

April said
nothing. Tear tracks ran the length of her cheeks.

“There’s no
record of her and I having any kind of connection. Our visits are secret. I’ve
got friends that help with that. I’m starting to wonder if that’s good enough,
though. If I ever piss them off, who knows what will happen? Look, I know this
sounds like an excuse to you. This visit, it is what it is, but you shouldn’t
risk your life to explore it further. I won’t risk your life, that’s for sure.”

She opened
her mouth, closed it, and turned away. “Just go, Jack.”

My hand slid
down her neck, along her shoulder and settled on her arm. She pulled it away. I
hesitated a moment, then tugged on the door handle and stepped out. Before
walking away, I leaned inside.

“I’m sorry.”

I swung the
door shut. April shifted into drive and hit the gas. She pulled away before I
could think to tell her to stop. She exited onto the highway and drove off. I
watched her go until I could no longer see her car.

I could have
handled the situation better. All she wanted to hear was that I’d return. We
might’ve kissed, hugged, said goodbye. It would have been me dealing with the
reality of the situation. Instead, I put it off on her.

“Are you Jack?”

I turned
around. The man standing a few yards away from me was bald, short and skinny.
His legs looked like toothpicks sticking out from his shorts. He couldn’t have
weighed much over a buck forty, if that.

“Sir?” he said.

I nodded, said
nothing.

“Baggage?”

“Just what I
carry on the inside.”

He gave me a
funny look, shrugged and turned. “Let’s go.”

I followed him
onto the jet. He had a hitch to his walk, as if one of his legs was artificial.
I knew it wasn’t. A bad hip injury at one time, I presumed. The jet was smaller
than the last, and not as nice inside. The seating was standard. Nothing custom
about it.

“Sit anywhere
you’d like,” he said. “We’ll be taking off in twenty minutes. You need
anything?”

“A drink.”

“Soda?”

“Alcohol.”

“Nervous flyer?”
He smiled and nodded.

“No, just
thirsty and tired and not wanting to waste any mental energy on this flight.”

His smile
faded. “I’ll be right back.”

The far right
seat in the last aisle had an open space in front of it. I sat there, and
stretched my legs out in front of me. While not as comfortable or appealing as
the couch on my last flight, the seat had plenty of cushion. I might not even
need my drink to fall asleep.

Before the
thought could settle in, the small man emerged from the narrow hall carrying a
cup and five mini-bottles of rum. “This enough?”

I reached out
and took them. “I know where to find you if I need more.”

He stood there,
and for a moment shuffled between his left and right foot. Was he nervous? Did
he need to use the toilet?

I avoided his
stare and focused on emptying two of the mini-bottles into the cold plastic
cup. The ice cubes had holes that ran through the center. The brown fluid
washed over and through them. I downed the first cup in two gulps. The spiced
rum burned my throat. I didn’t cough.

The guy backed
up, turned and walked toward the front of the plane.

He had too much
nervous energy. I didn’t like it. I set the bottles on the seat next to me,
stood, pulled the M40 from my waistband. I still wore Sean’s suit. Everything happened
so fast I didn’t have time to change. The shorts and shirt I had brought were
in his Suburban.

I had finished
the fifth bottle by the time the plane taxied. My eyes were closed when we
lifted off the runway. And I was asleep before the pilot leveled out.

Alessandro
pulled into the parking lot of a deli named Cool Cuts. He saw a small car
parked near the front door. Inside, a woman stood on one side of the counter,
and a teenage kid wearing an apron was on the other side.

He parked in the
middle of the lot, facing the entrance, and then called Vera.

“Are you in
Tampa?” she said.

“About twenty
miles north,” he said.

“Have you ever
heard of a man named Noble?”

Alessandro
thought for a minute. “Sounds familiar, but I have no recollection of ever
having met him. What’s his background?”

“Marines,
loaned out to the CIA. After that he worked for a government agency you’ve
probably never heard of. He left abruptly and went into business for himself.
He had a partner for a while, but that’s irrelevant. More recently, he did some
work in London with British Intelligence.”

Alessandro
caught a flash in the rear-view mirror. He angled his head to get a better
view. The front door had opened. The woman emerged carrying a white plastic
bag. She stepped out from under the awning and shielded her eyes from the sun
with her hand. She walked to her car, got in and pulled away from the parking
spot. He looked over his shoulder. The kid in the store was out of sight.

He said, “So
what’s any of that got do with me?”

Vera cleared
her throat. “You know not to ask questions like that.”

“You had me
take out one of your best guys today. Now I’m taking my second trip to Crystal
River in less than a week. What the hell is going on here? If there was more,
why’d I leave instead of finishing up?”

“He messed up.”
She paused. He said nothing. She added, “And you’re the best I have. You left
because the job was done. Then it wasn’t. I didn’t want to put you in the same
place days after completing your task. I thought Leon could get the job done.
Apparently, I was wrong.”

He had been
able to surmise everything she said on his own. There was more to this, and he
wanted those details.

“Look, Vera,
you know I’m a good soldier, and I don’t make waves. But this time, I need to
know what’s going on.”

She said
nothing. If it weren’t for her breathing, he’d have thought she’d put the phone
down and walked away.