The Assassin's Case (21 page)

              “I know. It’s not that. I just can’t stop worrying.” Jaime scanned Evans’ face. She didn’t really know much about the man. Except that she was glad he was here. “So, Mr. Scott Evans. Tell me about yourself.”

              “Like what?”

              “Like how you became such a handy guy to have around. Family. You know the works.”

              He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Well there’s not much to tell. You already know I was in the Rangers.”

              Jaime nodded.

              “I joined the army out of college. Decided to make the military my career. Made it into the Rangers. I was in Afghanistan. Part of the first wave of troops after September 11
th
. After my last tour was up I planned on re-enlisting.” Evans changed lanes to avoid a produce laden pick-up truck.

              Jaime couldn’t help but notice he didn’t mention a word about what he saw or did in Afghanistan. She was curious but didn’t ask. If he wanted her to know anything else about it he would have told her.

              “I made it into 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment. It was what I’ve always wanted.”

              “1st Special Forces Operational Detachment?” Jaime asked.

              “Delta Force.”

              “Impressive.”

              “Well. To make a long story short, I changed my mind. I didn’t re-enlist.”

              “How come?”

              “My wife got pregnant.”

              Evans leaned to the left and freed his wallet from his back pocket. He flipped it open and passed it to Jaime.

              She smiled at the picture of a blonde-haired blue-eyed little girl in a ponytail.

              “That’s my little Mackenzie. She’s seven.” He reached over and flipped to another photo. This one of a much younger girl with similar features. “That’s Bailey. She’s three.” Evans’ face beamed.

              “They’re beautiful.” Jaime pointed to the picture next to little Bailey’s. “Is this your wife.”

              Evans nodded. “Yes. Her name is Angela.”

              “Pretty. How long have you been married?”

              “Sixteen years. We married the week after college graduation.” Jaime passed over his wallet and he slid it back in his pocket. “Angela stuck with me through it all. But it was hard on her. When we were expecting Mackenzie, I just knew it was time to get out.”

              “That’s when you went to work for Tim?”

              “Yeah. After I got the job with his security division I learned everything I could. Before I knew it I was head of security. Making good money. I won’t lie. It’s been a nice change. And to top it off, Tim treats his employees like family.”

              Jaime nodded and looked at her watch again.
Arrgghh.

              “Okay,” Evans said. “Your turn. Tell me about you and Grant.”

              Jaime shrugged.
Why not?

TWENTY-FOUR

Grant tried to focus on his pushups and ignore the gurgling of his stomach. The aroma from a steaming plate of Huevos Rancheros begged them to be devoured. The girl from the restaurant had delivered the breakfast. Grant overheard the shouts of her parents arguing on their behalf, to no avail, before the dish was delivered to the cell.

              He also now realized why he and Tedesco had been locked in the same cell. Space. From the cell adjacent, two men snorted and snored amidst other even less pleasant bodily emissions. The two drunks had been dragged in sometime in the early a.m., still singing a loud and merry chorus of a song Grant recognized as
Es mi culpa
, the title translated
It is my fault.
Judging by the extreme level of intoxication it was most definitely their fault.

              Imposing his will over his muscles, and stomach, Grant completed the pushups. He rolled onto his back on the cold, hard, concrete floor and began a set of sit-ups.

              Tedesco moaned with pleasure as he devoured the breakfast. No silverware had been provided so he used tortillas and fingers to shove it in. He noticed Grant staring at the apex of each rep.

“Whaa? It’s delicious.” He mumbled through a mouthful.

Grant shook his head. “You want a shovel?”

              The ex hit man paused just long enough to point a greasy finger at Grant’s waiting plate. “You gonna’ eat that?”

              A smile formed at the edges of Grant’s mouth. “Yes. Keep your grubby paws off it.” He banged out the rest of the sit-ups and stood, stretching his muscles. Besides a little stiffness, and the overwhelming urge to shower, he felt good. Alive. Other than the fact that behind curtain number one was a lengthy stint in a Mexican prison. Curtain number two, Cane.

              Grant grabbed his plate and sat on the edge of his bunk. Tedesco was right; the food was tasty. “We’ve got to get out of here, Boom.” He tore off a chunk of tortilla with his teeth, still warm, the buttered flatbread melted on his tongue. “We’ve don’t have long.” He looked toward his wrist out of habit. But his watch had been seized by the intrepid San Blas PD. “Once the LEGAT returns the chief’s call, if he hasn’t already, we’re sunk. Not to mention Cane’s hounds could show up any second.”

              Tedesco cleaned the last crumb from his plate and set it to the side. He moved to the window and stared out. “What can we do?”

              “Look for an opportunity. If they bring us out again, that’s when we have to make our break.” 

              “I don’t like the sound of that.”

              “We don’t have a lot of options.”

              Tedesco’s hands wrapped around the window’s bars. “I won’t hurt a police officer.” He gazed over his shoulder at Grant. “I mean it.”

              Grant nodded. “Okay.” He didn’t want to hurt them either. Well, at least not permanently. But he sure as blazes didn’t want to sit stewing in this cell just waiting for the hammer to fall.

              A couple of hours passed, as far as he could tell anyway, and the stalwart deputies arrived. To Grant’s chagrin Tedesco’s hands were secured behind his back. With Tedesco’s bulk to shield the deputies’ view, Grant slipped the toothpick from his front pocket to a rear one. He just hoped he didn’t break it when he sat down. He also hoped he would be able to pick the locks with his hands behind him. An attempt at unlocking the cell door earlier failed.

              One deputy stood to the side, a hand on his unsnapped holster, his palm resting on the grip of a large Smith & Wesson six-shot revolver. The other deputy finished securing Tedesco, shoved him through the door and motioned for Grant to clasp his hands behind his back. He considered. It would be no problem to overpower the deputy in the cell with him. But, could he get out of here without shedding any blood? These men were officers of the law, working for a corrupt chief yes, but still law enforcement.

              As the cuffs were snapped closed he flexed the tendons in his wrists and pulled his hands slightly apart. He hoped this would give him a little play in the manacles. Once secured, he was shoved out of the cell toward the door to the front room.

              Grant’s heart rate quickened. He hadn’t seen anything through the window, but that meant little, he only had a view to the north. If it came down to it, he would do as much damage with his feet as possible and hope for a chance to slip away in the confusion. Nice thought, but the chances of success would be slim.

              A final shove sent him into the anteroom. What he saw there caused his toes to tingle, his already elevated pulse to pound, and filled his being with an overwhelming sense of joy. He felt a smile creep to his lips and hoped he didn’t look as much like an infatuated teenager as he felt.

             
Jaime.

              She stood before the chief, no loomed over him, her hands on her hips, FBI badge glinting at her belt. The stalwart Evans leaned against the wall, arms crossed. He turned toward them and winked.

              She turned as Grant and Tedesco were escorted in. “Can you take the cuffs off please.”

              The chief nodded to fric and frac. Frac, or was it fric, Grant couldn’t tell them apart, unlocked their bonds. The scowl on the deputy’s face indicated he wasn’t very happy about letting the prisoners go. 

              She turned back to the corpulent cop. “Is everything in order, Sir?”

              “Sí, Señora.”

              “Thank you for your cooperation, Chief.” Jaime said. She moved to wait by the door and motioned for Grant and Tedesco to follow.

              Grant followed but turned before he reached the exit. “Chief. What about our things?”

              The chief glared, his beady eyes squinted. He had obviously planned to keep the guns. He rummaged in a desk drawer, withdrew Tedesco’s battered backpack, and plopped it on the desk.

              Grant grabbed the pack and peeled the flap back. It appeared nothing was missing. It wasn’t bravado, or an attempt to keep the weapons out of the chief’s hands which motivated him. Fear compelled him. The contents of the pack might soon be the difference between life and death. “That’s mine too, chief.” Grant pointed at the watch on the man’s wrist.

              The man’s beady eyes narrowed even further. “My apologies,
señor. A mistake I assure you.” He un-strapped the watch and Grant jerked it from his hand. He glanced over his shoulder at Jaime. “I’ll be right back.” Grant strode back to the cell and grabbed Tedesco’s Bible, then stuffed it in the pack. He couldn’t explain why he did it, it just seemed the right thing to do.

              He threw the pack over a shoulder and made his way to the front door. As he left he gave the chief a two-fingered salute. Though he wanted to give him a one-fingered salute. The middle one. You just couldn’t escape nepotism. He just hoped the kind restaurant family didn’t pay the price once they were gone.

              He brushed past Jaime into the sunlight and almost did a double-take when she issued a last set of instructions to the constable. “I’ll ask for your cooperation in keeping this quiet, Chief Vasquez.” She flashed a smile toward Grant. “Operation Jackrabbit is of the utmost importance to both our governments.”

She followed Grant outside and they moved down the sidewalk toward Evans and Tedesco, waiting beside a maroon Ford Taurus. “How did you find me?” Grant said.

“I’ll explain later. We need to move out. By now Cane knows you’re here too.”

As they reached the car she stopped in front of him, her eyebrows wrinkled before another smile beamed from her face. “Operation Jackrabbit?”

Grant shrugged his shoulders and stared down at her, suddenly very conscious of his unwashed state. Evans started the car’s engine and Tedesco waited, holding the rear door open. Grant reached into the backpack and tossed the Bible to Tedesco. He looked astonished.

“Thanks. I was afraid to ask for it.”

“Sure. Can you give us a second? You can take shotgun.”

Tedesco nodded and hopped into the front passenger’s seat. Before he shut the door he shot Grant the thumbs up sign.

“Ready?” Jaime asked.

“Yeah.”

She turned toward the car and Grant gripped her elbow, gently turning her back toward him. She stared up at him, the sun glinted on flecks of gold in her brown eyes. She scanned his face, waiting, all traces of the hard-nosed law enforcement officer vanished, in its place a softness which beckoned to him. Sheer strength of will forced an image of Sarah and a plethora of conflicting emotions from his mind.

“Jaime … I …” Damn. The words, clever, and suave, to be sure, dissipated like vapor on his tongue. Leaving in their place a stammering idiot.

              She placed a hand on his arm. “Me too, Grant. Me too.”

              There was something, anything, he needed to say to her. He could die like in the next five minutes. Especially if he kept standing here like a slack-brained simpleton.
Be a man.
“Aw, hell.” He grasped the back of Jaime’s neck and pulled her toward him. She didn’t pull her gun, or punch him. So far, so good. He intended just to hug her. But some sort of weird gravitational phenomenon pulled their lips together.

              Dear Lord in heaven but her lips were soft. He had forgotten what it felt like. Jaime broke off the kiss and placed a hand on his face. “We better go.”

              Grant nodded and stepped up beside her. He tugged at the collar of his tee-shirt and nudged her with his elbow. “Is it hot or is it just me?”

              The giggle his comment brought from her made him realize he could do worse than spend the rest of his life sharing her laughter. He grabbed the rear door handle and pulled it open for her. He stamped down another wave of guilt.
Stop it. She would not want you to live like this.

              “Grant!” Evans shout ripped Grant’s attention away from his musings of the future.