Waiting... On You (Force Recon Marines) (28 page)

She shivered, realizing just how
dangerous things could get.

Nick tightened his arm around her.
“You okay?”

“All of them are armed.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen.”

His mouth was close to her ear as he
spoke to her, then it descended to nuzzle her neck. She knew he wanted them to
appear to be a couple snuggling in a dimly lit restaurant, but the warmth of
his breath against her skin was also very calming and reassuring.

He had turned his camera and mike on
as soon as the four men had joined Yancy. Neither of them looked in the
direction of the targeted table after their initial assessment, though Hanna
supposed that Nick was watching the five men without appearing to do so. She
resisted the urge, knowing she was not the trained spy Nick was. When she
finished her little cup of tea, he lifted the delicate porcelain pot in his
large hand and poured more for her. Hanna offered him another cookie from the beautifully
painted plate. Her hand was trembling.

Nick reached over and steadied it with
his own. “Relax. They haven’t spotted us.”

“Sorry,” she murmured. “I’m not very
good at this, I’m afraid.”

He stroked the inside of her wrist
with a long forefinger. “You’re doing fine.”

There was no way to tell for the
moment what Yancy and his table companion were talking about. Nick hadn’t
wanted to risk ear buds stuck in their ears so they could listen simultaneously
to the conversation taking place across the room. They’d have to wait until
later to replay the conversation on a computer. But while they waited, they
sipped their tea, and because Nick kept rubbing her wrist, Hanna eventually
felt the tension ease from her body.

Yancy and Chen talked for about five more
minutes, then Yancy suddenly slammed his fist down on the table. His voice rose
in volume, although Hanna still couldn’t hear what he said. The three
bodyguards shifted in their seats, coming to a higher degree of attention.

Yancy rose to his feet angrily. He
reached into the inner vest pocket of his jacket, and immediately the three
bodyguards went for their weapons. Li Chen snapped a few hushed orders at his
men and they sat back down, all except Yancy, who threw something on the table.
It didn’t make a sound, so Hanna guessed it was paper money.

Yancy spoke a few more angry words to
Li Chen, who was still seated, then stalked out of the restaurant, by way of
the back door the four men had come through earlier. Hanna started to rise, but
Nick pressed her back down.

“I’m not interested in following Yancy
anymore. I know where he’s going. We’re going to follow Chen and his men.”

It wasn’t long before the four men
across the room decided to leave also. Chen waved to the hostess. When she came
over, he handed her some money, rose to slip an arm around her silk clad
shoulders and say something personal to her, then turned and walked out through
the back door.

Nick dropped some money on the table,
more than enough to cover their food and drinks, then guided Hanna out through
the front entrance.

Since the restaurant was on the
corner, they turned left around the building and headed down the small street
behind it. There was a sleek black Mercedes parked halfway down the block,
across the street. One of Li Chen’s three bodyguards got in behind the steering
wheel, while another got in on the front passenger side. The third got into a
sedan parked behind the Mercedes.

Li Chen stopped to talk to an old
Chinese gentleman that came out of one of the stores. Up and across the street,
Hanna and Nick watched covertly from an alcove in front of a store one door
down from the restaurant.

“I’ll go get the motorcycle. Wait for
me there and keep an eye on them,” Nick told Hanna, nodding to the Oriental
trading store two doors down. “If they notice you, go inside and look around.
I’ll hurry.”

Hanna was frightened of being left
alone, but she took a deep breath and pretended she was just a tourist window-shopping.
She was not the only one on the street looking in windows. When she got to the
trading store, she stepped into the rectangular recess created by the big glass
windows on either side of her. She had her back turned on Chen and the older
gentleman, but she could see them clearly through the glass. They were now almost
directly across from her, on the other side of the street. Neither of them knew
who she was, so she probably wasn’t in any danger. Pretending interest in the
items displayed behind the glass, she stared at Li Chen’s reflection.

Even with his back to her, he looked dangerous
and arrogant. His jet black hair hung to his slender shoulders, and he used his
long fingered hands expressively as he spoke. As a result, Hanna noticed he
wore a huge ruby ring on one hand and a heavy gold one on the other. When he
gestured with his right hand, she saw that he had a tattoo drawn on the back of
his hand. It looked like the head of a serpent or a dragon.

At one point, he turned his head to
look back over his shoulder, and for just a moment, Hanna thought he might have
noticed her. Her heart sped up, but he quickly returned his attention to the
old man, talked a few more minutes, then bowed slightly, and opened the rear
door of the Mercedes.

As soon as the door was open, exposing
the interior behind the darkly tinted windows, Hanna saw that there was another
man waiting for him in the back seat. She recognized him immediately, even
though his identity was a reflection. She stepped deeper into the shadows of
the shop’s elongated entrance, praying the man hadn’t noticed her.

The Mercedes pulled out from the curb,
followed immediately by the second car behind it. Both vehicles drove slowly to
the end of the block, then signaled to turn right. Just as they turned onto the
busy major boulevard and headed east, Nick showed up on his Harley. Hanna
hopped on the back, strapped on her helmet and hung on as he accelerated away
from the curb and turned to follow Li Chen’s black Mercedes.

A few blocks west of Chinatown, the
Mercedes and its shadow car, jumped onto Highway 17, which led out of Victoria.
Nick told Hanna over the speaker in their helmets that he thought they might be
heading to the ferry terminals at the northeastern end of the Saanich
peninsula.

Since Li Chen’s vehicles were
speeding, they had to speed up also. Hanna was more interested in getting
wherever alive, than responding to Nick’s comments. She had another death grip
around his waist.

Instead of heading east to the ferry
terminals, though, the two cars turned west— to the Victoria International
Airport. Trying to keep track of Li Chen once they got into the immediate area
of the airport was a challenge for Nick.

Li Chen and his three bodyguards
veered away from the public terminals, to an area private airplanes used. Nick
dropped farther back, once he saw where the party was heading.

The Mercedes finally stopped in front
of a big hangar. A sleek Gulfstream taxied out and came to a halt. The second
car quickly pulled up alongside the Mercedes. Nick pulled to a stop alongside
another hangar farther back; one that gave him some cover and allowed him to
see the men they’d followed.

He swore when he saw Li Chen, then
Sheriff Thomas exit the rear of the Mercedes and head to the private jet. Hanna
had mentioned earlier that she had seen Thomas waiting in the Mercedes for Li
Chen outside the restaurant in Chinatown.

“It looks like Thomas may be trying to
move up in the organization,” Nick said, seated on his bike still.

“Thomas and Li Chen look pretty cozy,”
Hanna commented from behind him.

After parking the vehicles inside the
private hangar, the three bodyguards followed Li Chen and Sheriff Thomas up the
stairs, into the waiting jet. Within moments, the plane was taxiing to the end
of the runway to take off. Nick left his Harley, grabbed Hanna’s hand, and
headed for the control tower.

At the entrance, he showed his
military identification to the guard posted outside. He explained what he
needed from someone in the control tower, but before they were allowed in,
Hanna had to retrieve her driver’s license from her backpack and show it to the
cautious guard.

Upstairs, Nick spoke to the head air
controller. Within minutes, he had the Gulfstream’s vague flight plan. West,
then north was all the pilot of the jet had been willing to give the air
controller in the tower, who hadn’t been at all happy about the generality of
the information. Upon further inquiry, the pilot had told the controller he’d
be landing at a private airstrip at the northern end of the island, but that’s
all he’d said before signing off. Disgusted with the limited data, Nick got the
Gulfstream’s license and registration number, then departed.

He was still grumbling about not
knowing where Li Chen had gone when he got outside. “I was really hoping we
might have a definitive location on the bastard by the end of the day!”

“What do we do now? How do we find out
where he’s going?”

Nick shook his head. “I guess I gather
more information on him. Maybe see if those two DEA agents have managed to find
out where Chen is holding up. I might be able to get some satellite photos of
the northern end of the island.” At his Harley, he grabbed his keys from his
front jean pocket. “I’ve been thinking about talking directly to Yancy, maybe
making a deal with him.”

 “What kind of deal?”

“His heroin for information on where
Lance is being held.”

“You think he would tell you?”

“He might. He’s pretty hot about
paying for the stuff and not getting it. I don’t think Yancy got any satisfying
answers from Chen. He left that meeting royally pissed off.”

Hanna looked at her wrist watch. “It’s
getting late. We better hurry if we’re going to catch the last ferry home.” The
suggestion was not one she relished because she hated going fast on his bike.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it
with the traffic at this time of day.” There was a twinkle in his gray eyes as
he turned to look at her. “Would you mind if we spent the night in Victoria,
then left first thing in the morning?”

The idea appealed to her. Isn’t that
why she’d packed her sexy new lingerie? “You’ll have to take me out to dinner.
All this spy work has made me hungry.”

Nick grinned broadly. “I’d love to.
You’ve earned it. You did great back-up work today.”

CHAPTER 19

THEY HAD DINNER at an English style
pub in downtown Victoria. Because the city had such a strong British tradition,
there were many to choose from. Both Nick and Hanna had been to Victoria
before, so they were familiar with many of the pubs and restaurants. The one
they chose had an outdoor dining area on the roof. It came with patio heaters
and a spectacular view of the city lights.

“Where would you like to spend the
night?” Nick asked Hanna over their fish and chips.

She took a drink of the beer she had
ordered and thought for a moment. “Well, there’s this bed and breakfast a few
blocks from here that I’ve heard a lot about. It’s supposed to be one of the
most stylish inns in the Northwest. It has seventeen rooms, some with
fireplaces and private patios. All of them have private baths with double
soaker tubs.”

Nick’s scarred eyebrow rose and his
mouth eased into a long slow grin. “Double soaker tubs? For two?”

Hanna laughed. “That’s what I’ve read
on the hotel’s Web site. The problem is, it’s summer. We probably won’t be able
to get a room since we don’t have a reservation.”

“We could try. We might get lucky.”

“It’s not cheap, although it certainly
isn’t as pricey as some bed and breakfasts in the region. If we do get a room,
I’ll put it on my credit card since it was my idea.”

“Do you remember the name of the
place?”

“The Dutch House,” Hanna supplied.
“I’ll go find a phone and call.”

Nick forestalled her. “Relax and
finish your beer. I’ve got my SATCOM phone. I’ll call.”

After getting the phone number of the
hotel from information, he dialed and talked to the reservation clerk at the
Dutch House. The story he gave the clerk made Hanna’s eyes widen. He told her
they were newlyweds, and that his new wife had promised to love him forever if
he could get a room for them at their highly recommended establishment. His
easy charm got him positive results. Within moments, he was pulling out his
credit card. Hanna snatched hers out of her wallet and handed it to him, but he
waved it away.

When he hung up, she gave him an
admonishing scowl, though she was inwardly elated they’d gotten a room on such
short notice.

He lifted his broad shoulders in an
innocent shrug. “Hey, she only had one room left, and she was saving it for a
couple who was very iffy about coming. My story convinced her that she should
give us the room. She wanted us to have a long happy marriage, and for you to
love me forever.”

His words were too close to Hanna’s
most heartfelt wish. Afraid to reveal the secrets of her heart, she dipped her
head and circled the rim of her beer mug with her fingertip. “Was the room very
expensive?” she asked. “You should have let me pay for it since I suggested
it.”

Nick reached across the table and
captured her fingertip, which lifted her eyes to his. “My treat. If it’s as
good as it sounds, it will be fun. Besides, you ought to do something halfway
pleasant on your vacation.” Enfolding her entire hand in his, he turned it
over, drew it to him, and kissed the center of her palm, the tip of his tongue
tracing a tiny erotic pattern on it. The look in his eyes went from teasing to
intense, and Hanna felt ribbons of desire sizzle along every nerve ending.
“Let’s go find this hotel. We’ll pick up a bottle of wine along the way.”

THE DUTCH HOUSE was a very large two
story Victorian home, three blocks from downtown. The yard around the house was
completely enclosed in a lovely white picket fence. Old world style lampposts
lit the walkway to the big front porch, then followed it around the side, to
the back of the house.

Beautifully etched beveled glass doors
decorated the entrance. The fractured light shining through them was a magical
invitation inside. Nick and Hanna entered the foyer and walked up to the registration
desk. Their backpacks were their only luggage. A young woman with a heavy
British accent greeted them. Nick told her he had just called, and that they
had reserved the last of the seventeen rooms under the name of Mr. and Mrs.
Nick Kelly.

Mr. and Mrs. Nick Kelly.
Hanna reveled in the sound of it as
she looked around while Nick registered. The interior the home was decorated in
antiques and a profusion of leafy green potted plants that gave the reception
area a bygone elegance. Once the paperwork was done, the woman led them through
the conservatory, a beautiful, plant-filled atrium where a continental, help-yourself
breakfast was served each morning, between seven and ten. The vaulted ceiling
above the tables was glass-paned, allowing a spectacular view of the night sky
overhead.

At the back of the house, they
followed the woman up a stairway to a long plushly carpeted hallway. Their room
was at the end.

Painted a soft ivory, it was decorated
in blue and burgundy jewel tones. A king-sized canopy bed sat against the far
wall. Mountains of fluffy pillows topped a mattress that looked heavenly soft
and inviting and outrageously thick. At the foot of the bed, there was an
antique Victorian sofa in satin embossed burgundy. It faced a sitting area that
held two low back floral print chairs, which graced either side of the
gold-veined black marble fireplace.

The receptionist showed Nick how to
start the gas fueled fire, and Hanna wandered out onto the small balcony, where
there were two wicker chairs and a matching patio table. On her way back
inside, she closed the French doors behind her.

Awed by the beauty and charm of the
whole room, she wandered into the bathroom. It was exotically furnished with a
huge marble bathtub that took up most of one mirrored wall. A glass enclosed
shower was tucked into a corner next to it. Bath crystals, scented liquid soap,
body oil, and other personal amenities were all provided, along with dozens of
unlit candles in various shapes and sizes.

Standing in the middle of the
sumptuous room, Hanna was instantly assaulted by images of her and Nick, naked
in the big tub, surrounded by a couple dozen lit candles and a full wall
mirror. She couldn’t wait to try it! Or have Nick see it!

When she came out of the bathroom, the
receptionist was gone, and Nick was setting up his laptop on the marble-topped
coffee table in front of the sofa. She walked over to him. “You should see that
bathroom!”

“I plan to,” he said, giving her one
of his wicked grins. “With you.” He chuckled at her blush. “It is one of the
reasons I thought I might like this place.” He patted a spot on the sofa,
beside him. “Come sit. I’ve hooked the camera up to my computer. We’ll replay
the meeting in Chinatown and listen to what Chen and Yancy have to say to one
another.”

A chilled bottle of wine and two-long
stemmed cut-crystal glasses sat on the coffee table, next to the computer. Nick
poured the wine he’d bought on the way over into the glasses and handed Hanna
one. “To success.”

In agreement, she touched her glass to
his.

“Here we go.”

Hanna leaned forward to rest her
forearms on her knees, holding her wine glass with both hands as she watched
the laptop’s screen.

Despite the low light in the teahouse,
the visual was very clear. She could easily make out all the parties at the
tables. The audio was also very good. After their initial greeting, Chen spoke
first.

“It was remarkably stupid of you, Mr.
Masters, to reveal so much over the phone the other day. If Colonel Kelly is
searching for his brother, he has undoubtedly tapped your phones.”

“You think my phones are tapped?”
Yancy questioned redundantly.

“Your phones, your house, your bar,”
Li Chen assured him scornfully.
“Kelly
is Special Forces, after all.”

“Well, he wouldn’t be here snooping
around at all if you hadn’t abducted his brother.”
Masters was angry about that fact.
“Why
the hell did you decide to hang onto his brother?”

“Colonel Kelly killed my brother two
years ago at one of our field labs in Thailand.”

“Christ almighty!”
was Yancy’s reply.
“He was trying
to close your operation down before?”

“His little band of Special Forces and
the DEA. The military in your country join forces with your DEA all the time.
Two years ago, they were operating in the Triangle. They raided a series of our
labs. My brother, Wu, was overseeing one that had been having problems. I saw
Kelly shoot Wu. Now it is time for him to lose his brother. What is it you
Christians say— an eye for an eye....”

“So you’re jeopardizing a billion
dollar operation for revenge?”

“What I do with my operation is none
of your business, Mr. Masters.”

“The hell if it isn’t!”
Yancy shot back.
“I just paid you
a ton of money for my last shipment, and by the time I resell the stuff, it
will be worth twice what I paid you. That makes me a major player in this
operation, Mr. Chen.”

“Without my supply, you would have
nothing!”
Chen
hissed.
“Do not make yourself more important than you are.”

“And without buyers, you would have nothing.”

“Buyers are a dime a dozen. You can be
replaced— easily, swiftly. And what I do with Lance Kelly and his brother is
none of your concern. You have no part in any of it. For your sake, forget I
even have Lance Kelly.”

“What about the two containers of
China White that I paid you for and never received?”
Yancy demanded belligerently.

“I had them delivered. My men said
they delivered ten containers. I gave you what you paid for. The transaction is
completed.”

On camera, Hanna could see that this
was the point where Yancy shot to his feet. The reaction from the three
bodyguards was also caught on tape.

“I paid for ten containers and I got
eight!”
he argued,
throwing down a piece of paper that looked like a receipt of some sort.
“You
signed off on the payment. See— there’s your signature. Now I want my product,
all of it!”

“You had better look elsewhere for it,
Mr. Masters, because I have already told you I sent you ten containers. This
matter is closed. Speak to me no more of it.”
Li Chen’s voice sounded very calm, but coldly
threatening.

“We’ll see how closed it is, Mr.
Chen.”

That was the end of the conversation.
Yancy left abruptly, then Chen and his men left. There was nothing else the
camcorder had picked up.

Nick pushed his laptop back, then
picked up his glass of wine, sipped from it, and stared pensively the blank
screen. Hanna swiveled towards him, tucking one leg beneath the other.

“There’s no hint given of where Lance
is being held,” she pointed out needlessly, disappointed.

“No, unfortunately.” Nick frowned,
obviously disappointed as he sat beside her with his forearms resting on his
knees, his head bent slightly, and both hands still wrapped around his wine
glass.

“Where do you think Li Chen is keeping
Lance?”

“I have no idea at this point.
Following them today fizzled out.” He finished his wine on one long gulp, and
then set his glass down on the table with a loud clink.

“Nick....” The catch in Hanna’s voice
made him lift his head and look at her. “This Li Chen seems like such a
ruthless man. Do you think he’s hurt Lance?”

“Aw, Hanna, you don’t want to dwell on
that.”

“I want to know what this Li Chen is
capable of!”

“He’s capable of anything.”

“And Lance? Do you think he might be
injured, maybe drugged?”

“Maybe.”

“Oh God!”

Hanna couldn’t stand thinking of her
friend and Christopher’s father being mistreated. And he’d been detained for a
month! She put her hand to her face and rubbed her forehead with her
fingertips.

Nick reached over and pulled her into
his arms. “Don’t torment yourself this way,” he said, rubbing her back and
pressing her close. “There’s nothing we can do until we find him. Rest assured
Li Chen won’t kill him until he has me there to witness it.”

Tears glittered in her green eyes.
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

He brushed a tear track off her cheek.
“What should make you feel better is that I’m not going to let Li Chen kill
Lance. Christopher is going to get his daddy back.”

“But you don’t know where Li Chen is
keeping Lance.”

“I’ll find out.”

“How?”

“I’ve been giving that some thought.” Nick
regarded her pensively. “I’m going to trade Yancy his two containers of heroin
for Lance’s location.”

Hanna shot him a troubled look.
“That’s putting millions of dollars of heroin into his hands to distribute and
sell.”

“Yeah, I don’t like that, either, but
if we shut him down right away afterwards, maybe we can keep it off the
streets.”