Sealed In Lies (17 page)

“
Sorry,” she said quietly and turned on the bed so she wasn’t staring directly at him.

“
Here, read this,” he said tossing her the newspaper that was left outside the door this morning. “It’s a little wet, but still readable. Knock yourself out.”

She couldn’t catch it with her cuffed hands and the pages of newsprint fluttered out all over the floor. She leaned down and tried to scoop them together. He rolled his eyes and leaned down to pick up the damp sheets of newsprint. “Sorry about that.”

“
Thank you.”

He grunted and sat back down at the laptop.

Several hours passed as Jack struggled with his decoding program and Caroline read the newspaper. Jack wondered if she read anything about her own kidnapping, but he didn’t ask. Without warning, the lights went out. Jack was on his feet so fast he knocked the wooden chair over. Caroline jumped.

Jack pulled the curtain back again with the barrel of the gun and looked out. “Power must have gone because of the ice. I’m surprised it lasted this long.” He went to the table and picked up the box of candles and the matches. He could still see what he was doing by the greenish glow of the laptop screen and in a few seconds he lit two candles and sat them upright in the water glasses provided by the motel. He took one and placed it on the nightstand next to where Caroline sat on the bed. The other, he left in the middle of the table. He looked at the laptop and measured the battery power he had left and sighed. “I might as well turn this off. I need to conserve my battery power for when I need it the most.” He keyed in a few strokes and the screen on the laptop went blank.

“
You are the man who killed Kent Larson, aren’t you?” Caroline’s voice was as soft as the candlelight.

Jack’s head whipped around in surprise. “Who told you that?”

“
It’s all over Washington. It’s being said you’ve gone rouge.”

“
Did you find all that out from lifting my wallet out of the glove box?”

Now it was Caroline’s turned to be surprised. Her cheeks flushed and she gave a small involuntary gasp. “You noticed that?”

Jack watched her. Damn she was beautiful when she blushed, but he saw her expression change quickly from embarrassment to fear. “I don’t miss much. You always go snooping around in other people’s stuff?” There was a deliberate coldness to his tone.

“
Um…” Her voice faltered. “No, but I didn’t know who you were. I needed more information.”

“
Now that you have it, do you feel any better?”

“
No.”

“
Well, Mrs. Walters, don’t believe everything you hear.”

A hard rapping sound on the door brought Jack instantly to his feet, his muscles taught and ready for action. He winced as he turned a little too quickly and the stitches on his leg reminded him they were still there.

“
Maintenance.” The rapping came again.

Jack blew out both candles and went quickly over to Caroline. He leaned close to her ear and whispered. “Tell them to go away.”

“
Maintenance.” Another rap on the door.

“
Go away. We don’t need any maintenance, but thank you.” Caroline called out.

“
The motel has lost power and we need to check all the rooms. Will you please let us in?”

Jack whispered into Caroline’s ear again and she shouted, “Just let me call the front desk first.”

“
Oh no need to do that, Ma’am. They are checking the rooms as well, no one is up there. It will only take a minute.”

Jack walked over to the door and peered through the peephole. There were two men on the other side of the door dressed in what appeared to be maintenance work clothes. He didn’t like it. He’d been in power outages before and maintenance did not come and check on the rooms. Something wasn’t right.

He walked back over to the bed and whispered harshly to Caroline, “Get down on the floor between the bed and the wall and lay there. If these guys are maintenance I’ll eat my own shorts. You make a sound and I promise you it will be the last sound you make.” Caroline quickly did as she was told, her body trembling violently from fear.

She hit the carpet, then she heard the muffled pop of a gunshot. The door to the motel room flew open and two men came bursting into the room, one high and the other one low. Jack was ready for them. He was standing beside the door next to the window and he clotheslined the first man with his huge forearm. The smaller man whirled and with his fist slammed Jack directly on his injured thigh. Jack felt the hot flash of pain and went down hard.

Immediately the little man was on him. In what little light was coming through the doorway, Jack glimpsed the blade of a knife poised to come down right at his chest. He moved fast, bucking his body and throwing the man off balance. He hit the carpet on his butt but the knife remained in his hand. He slashed out with it, missing Jack’s face by mere inches. Jack rolled on his back and kicked out with his powerful legs, landing the blow exactly where he intended, the man’s arm. There was a grunt and the man hit the floor.

Jack was on him in a flash. He sat astride him and wrapped his huge hands around the man’s fat throat. He kept his eye on the taller one making sure he was still out cold. The taller of the two men hadn’t moved. Jack leaned down into the man’s pig eyed face and growled, “Who sent you?”

The little man spat at Jack and struggled to free himself but Jack’s weight was too much for him.

“
Spit on me again, and I’ll snap your fat neck like a twig.” Jack squeezed harder. “Now, who sent you?”

The distinct click of a gun hammer being cocked caught Jack’s attention and he looked up. Damn, the taller one was faking it, just waiting for his chance. He was now standing over Jack with a 45 revolver pointed straight at his head.

Jack squeezed harder on the fat man’s throat. “I’ll kill him before you can pull the trigger. I suggest you put the gun away.”

The taller man laughed. “You think I care what happens to that stupid drunk. Go ahead and kill him. That won’t change your fate. I need you and the Senator’s wife to come with me.”

“
Marx,” the man croaked. “Help me.”

The man called Marx kicked the fatter man viciously in the head. “Shut up you stupid idiot.”

Keep him talking, Jack thought. If he’s talking he’s not thinking. “Won’t your boss be upset if you come back with one less man?”

“
No. Go ahead and kill him. He’s nothing but trouble anyway. Hurry up, before we attract attention.”

The man’s eyes widened in shock and Jack saw there the reality of what he had to do. His partner obviously didn’t care what happened to him so there was no leverage there. Having him dead evened up the odds a little. Before either man knew what was happening Jack placed a hand on either side of the man’s head and twisted. One loud snap and it was over. The man lay still.

A frightened cry came from the other side of the bed. The tall man named Marx looked toward the bed and Jack made his move. He lunged for the man grabbing his gun hand and delivering a sharp blow to his wrist. The gun thudded to the carpet and Marx howled in pain. With his other hand, Jack punched him hard in the stomach and when he doubled over brought his knee up into his face. Marx staggered backward blood spurting out of his nose. Jack leaned down and picked up the man’s gun.

He grabbed the bleeding man by the hair and jerked his head back. “Who sent you?” Jack demanded.

Marx struggled to breathe through his crushed nose and he spat on the floor to avoid choking on his own blood. He didn’t answer.

Jack put the barrel of the gun behind the man’s left ear and repeated the question. “I’m going to ask nicely one more time. Who sent you?” He yanked hard on the man’s hair and he tried to cry out, but it came out as more of a gurgle. He mumbled something unintelligible.

Jack leaned down closer. “Sorry, Hot Rod, I didn’t catch that. What did you say?”

“
Walters.” The man mumbled.

“
Walters? As in Senator Warren Walters?” Jack’s eyebrows went up in surprise. He knew Walters would be looking for him but he never expected in his wildest dreams that Warren would be the first to find him. Something wasn’t right here.

“
How many of you are there?

“
Just two.” Marx replied.

“
How did you find us?”

“
GPS.” Marx gurgled through the blood in his mouth.

“
GPS?” Jack was puzzled. How could they use Global Satellite Positioning? Where was the tracking chip? They did not know about the car, he was certain of that. “Where’s the chip?” he demanded.

Marx wouldn’t answer. He shook his head. Jack pulled back the slide on his gun and jerked Marx’s head back again. The man cried out in pain. The blood that was pouring out of his nose began to run down his throat choking him. He coughed and sputtered.

“
I’m not going to ask again. Where is the chip?”

Marx held up a hand. “Okay,” he coughed. “Okay. Just let me hold me head up.”

Jack released his viselike grip on Marx’s short blond hair. “Tell, me.”

“
It’s on the Senator’s wife. Implant. In her wrist.”

Caroline’s head popped up from behind the bed like a bagel out of a toaster. “What?”

At the exact same second Jack brought the butt of the gun across Marx’s head knocking him unconscious.

Chapter 19

“
What did he say?” Caroline stood waving her cuffed hands in the air. Jack could see the outline of her frantic motions in the moonlit room. “Did he say the chip was in my wrist?”

“
Yes, that is what he said, but we don’t have time to talk about this right now, we’ve got to go. Get your things and throw that jacket of mine over your hands so no one will see that you’re handcuffed as we go to the car. More than likely Warren planned to rendezvous with these guys or someone else by a certain hour. If they don’t show he’ll send someone after them. There could be an entire army after us in a few hours.”

“
I can’t see. I don’t know where my shoes are.” Caroline stumbled around the bed and tried to focus on the shadowy shapes throughout the room, trying desperately not to step on the two fallen men. Jack found her shoes for her and helped her put them on.

He grabbed the laptop off the desk and stuffed it into the black duffel bag. Seemed like he was doing that a lot lately. Still carrying the bag, he went into the bathroom and swept what few toiletries were left on the counter into the duffel. He jerked back the shower curtain to make sure nothing was left behind that would leave any traceable clues. He made sure all the CD’s stolen from Warren’s safe were safely tucked away in one pocket of the duffel bag and he zipped it closed.

“
Let’s go,” he said. He grabbed Caroline by the elbow and led her toward the door. He steadied her as they made their way across the dangerously slick parking lot. Jack really did not want to drive in this weather but these two goons left him no choice. He was going to have to keep moving. There was no telling how many of them were lurking in the shadows. He suspected Warren was so certain that these two morons would catch him off guard and get Caroline back that he didn’t take any precautions about backup. Again, they underestimated Jack. He was too much for them. He was just too well trained.

He opened the door and nearly threw Caroline into the seat. “Get in, we’ve got to move.”

Caroline kept silent. After what she heard him do to that man in the motel room she did exactly as she was told. He leaned over her and buckled her seatbelt. Once she was seated, her entire body began to tremble. Her mouth went dry and tears welled up in her eyes. It was too much. She was raped, kidnapped, and witnessed a murder all in less than 48 hours. It was just too much to comprehend. She never thought of herself as a weak woman, in fact she thought it took a great deal of courage to put up with the abuse Warren dealt out to her on a regular basis, but maybe she was just a stupid fool. She put her cuffed hands over her eyes and wept silently.

Jack went around the Pathfinder, threw his duffel bag into the back, and joined her in the cab. He didn’t look at her but simply stuck the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life as he tried to use the windshield wipers to remove some of the ice on the windshield. It wouldn’t budge.

Cursing, Jack reached across Caroline and grabbed an ice scraper from the glove compartment. On his way back over to his seat, he felt more than saw, her trembling body. He didn’t hear her crying but in the light of the street lamp's glow through the car window, he saw her racked with sobs.