Chapter Fifteen
As they stood motionless, trying to decide what their next move should be, a small animal ran across their feet, rustling the leaves of the huge plants surrounding them.
Caldwell’s head turned. “What’s that? Is someone there?”
“I only wish,” Jordan said. “Maybe someone who could get me out of this mess.”
Caldwell motioned to one of the guards. “Take a look. See what’s there. I can’t believe anyone could breach the security here, but I’m not taking any chances. If you see someone, just shoot him.”
The guard strode across the small stretch of lawn, his gun hand raised. “Who’s there? Come out and show yourself.”
Xena moved enough to let Mike inch himself to one side, Kelly and Mike shifting to the other, all of them trying to blend into the foliage. They waited silently as the guard pushed the wide leaves aside. The moment he stepped into an area between them all, Rick raised his hand and brought the butt of the gun down on the man’s head. The guard grunted and folded to the ground.
“Well, that tears it,” Mike said. “Kelly, stand point with your rifle.”
He pulled a roll of heavy duct tape from one of his many pockets and in seconds he and Rick had the man securely bound with tape across his mouth.
“What did you find?” Caldwell shouted. “Answer me, damn it. Is anyone there?”
Rick stepped forward, his gun pointed at the three men. “Fancy meeting you here, Matt. Or should I say Matthias.”
A strange expression, part respect and part regret, flitted across Caldwell’s face. “So you figured it out. Why am I not surprised? What did you do with my guard?”
“He’s taking a little nap right now.”
Rick shifted his stance, making sure everyone could see the gun in his hand. “Who’d have believed it. Matthias Grant. The invisible man. Alias Matt Caldwell. I’d guess Camellia Cay is a good place to wash your money through while you’re providing a safe haven for the high-priced crooks of the world. And the ideal place for you to send Greg here to hide out until the heat was off.”
Greg Jordan started toward him, but the guard next to him grabbed his arm and shoved the gun into his ribs, forcing him to kneel on the terrace. Greg looked at Rick helplessly. “Man, am I glad to see you. Get me out of here, will you? This crazy asshole wants to kill me.”
“I think he plans to get rid of you and drop your body into the Caribbean from that chopper,” Rick told him. “Right, Matt? After the way you made a fool out of me I might even help him.”
“Give it up, Rick,” Matt said. “You’re outnumbered. Even you aren’t crazy enough to try this alone.”
“Who said I’m alone?”
Mike and Kelly stepped into the clearing, Mike with his gun raised, Kelly holding her rifle. Beside them Xena stood at alert.
The guard looked from Greg and Matt to the group that had just emerged, uncertainty flashing across his face.
“Well, well.” Caldwell’s mouth twisted in a humorless grin. “Just keep your gun on Jordan,” he told the guard. “I’ll take care of the others.”
“You and what army? In case you hadn’t noticed, you’re the one who’s a little outnumbered.” Rick said. He looked at Matt Caldwell, a man who had been not only a client but also a friend, and a bitter taste rose in his mouth. “You’re the last person I expected to find involved in this mess. When is enough money enough? And how the hell do you expect to get away with it?”
“I thought you’d be dead by now, Rick,” the man told him. “I had it all set up for you to take the blame, and we’d all have been home free. Too bad you don’t kill off that easily. And too bad Greg here couldn’t get the job done.”
“You know I have to take you back.”
“I don’t think so.” His smile was anything but pleasant. “Right now my wife and children are mourning my death in an automobile accident, distraught because the car exploded and my body was burned so badly they’ll have to have a closed-casket funeral.”
“So you’ve added one more death to your list of bodies?”
“Regrettable but necessary. I asked one of the men at the office to drive my car home, then followed him and shot out the tires and the gas tank. I assure you, I’ve made arrangements for his family to be well compensated. Just as mine will be.”
“It’s not about money for everyone, Matt,” Mike said from his position close to Greg. “Not everyone has that same driving greed. And poor Charlie. You’ve certainly left him holding a big bag.”
Matt lifted one shoulder. “He’ll come out all right. Nothing points to him, and the shipment was heavily insured. You ruined a good thing, Rick. I’m walking away from the perfect life it took me a long time to build.”
“I’m not the one who did this. You are.”
“Time to stop talking.” Caldwell raised his voice. “You’d better come out of the house now. I need you out here.”
Two more men emerged from the house, guns in hand. “Shoot them,” Caldwell commanded, nodding toward Rick and the others.
Both men raised their guns but that was as far as they got. The streak of black and white was almost a blur as Xena launched herself at the two new guards, taking them both down. Their guns discharged harmlessly, and Mike raced forward, picking the guns up and keeping them pointed at the downed bodies before anyone else could move.
Rick and Kelly kept their own guns pointed at the little group in front of them. “Mike, make sure those guys are out of commission.”
“Turn facedown,” Mike ordered them. “Hands outstretched. Legs wide.” He kicked at one booted foot. “Do it. Now.”
With Xena growling next to them, the guards were only too eager to comply.
“Devil dog,” one of them muttered.
Rick looked back at Matt. “Better tell your guard here to drop his gun. He’s outnumbered three to one. And you know what I can do.” He hollered over his shoulder, “Get Xena back beside you, Red.”
“Xena, come,” Kelly called.
But Xena, suddenly alert, had risen from her position. Even before the words left Kelly’s mouth she raced to where Matt Caldwell was sliding one hand into his pocket. With a growl she sank her teeth into the man’s arm and carried him to the ground. The man’s scream was like something not entirely human.
“Get this dog off me. Call it off. Jesus, Latrobe, it practically bit my hand off.” Caldwell pounded Xena’s head with his other fist but to no avail.
Rick moved quickly to where Xena had the man pinned down, reached into Caldwell’s pocket and withdrew a small pistol. He looked at Xena whose jaws still gripped Caldwell’s flesh.
“Good girl.” Something flashed between them, and Rick could have sworn the dog lowered one eye and winked. He shook his head. Not possible. Dogs didn’t wink. Did they? But then, with this dog, anything was possible.
Kelly meanwhile disarmed the fourth guard and ordered him down on the ground with the others. When Jordan, obviously not intimidated by a woman, gathered himself to rise, she fired a bullet into the terrace inches from his knees.
“Want to try again?” she asked. “Next time I’ll pick a better target.” She pointed the rifle square at his groin, then allowed herself a quick glance at Mike and Rick. “Not bad shooting for a girl, right?”
“Red, you can be on my team any time,” Rick told her and signaled Xena to release Caldwell’s arm.
“I ought to let her tear your head off,” he told his erstwhile client.
“How the hell did it know I had a gun?” the man asked between moans.
“What’s the matter, haven’t you ever met a psychic dog before?”
Xena stood patiently at his side, awaiting her next command.
“Xena, guard,” Kelly ordered and pointed to Jordan.
“Get that damn dog away from me,” he hollered as Xena knocked him down and pressed him to the ground. “I don’t want it chewing on me next.”
It took some fancy maneuvering, but with Xena’s assistance and Kelly’s menacing rifle, they managed to get everyone secured with duct tape so Mike could fetch the helicopter. When the houseman appeared, drawn by the noise, he took one look at what was going on and fled back inside the house. Kelly followed him, cracking him over the head with her rifle.
“Just so he doesn’t cause a problem,” she told the others. “We don’t need to kill him. Just incapacitate him until we can get out of here.”
Xena, relieved of guard duties, had come to stand next to Kelly, lifting her head in a signal to bend down to her. When Kelly looked up, worry lines creased her face.
“Caldwell or Grant or whatever you want to call him has more people coming as soon as it’s light. Xena says we need to hustle.”
“The dog told you that?” Caldwell was incredulous. “You talk to a dog?”
“Yeah,” Mike grinned. “She’s our group leader.”
Rick took a moment to pull Kelly close to him and give her a quick kiss. “You amaze me, Red. Totally amaze me.”
“My father insisted I learn to be self-reliant,” she told him.
“He did a damn good job.”
At that moment the sound of rotors split the air, the familiar Whap! Whap! Whap! Kelly and Rick looked at the sky anxiously until they recognized the Phoenix chopper, thankful it wasn’t Caldwell’s ride.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Mike yelled as he dropped to the ground to help them load up.
They left the guards bound and gagged on the terrace, figuring the houseman could free them when he came to, and moved Caldwell and Jordan, securely bound, into the rear of the chopper. Both men were swearing at each other. Kelly signaled Xena, who sat directly next to them, teeth bared, as the rest of them buckled in and the chopper rose at last into the fading night sky.
*****
The scene at the airfield was chaos when they arrived. Rick had called Dan from the helo to fill him in and tell him what they needed.
“There appears to be a mob scene outside the gate,” Mike pointed out, indicating the gathering of vans and SUVs.
“I told Dan exactly who to let in, and to keep the rest of them out. We’ve got enough people inside the gates,” Rick noted, then pointed to a number of men in jeans and Phoenix shirts stationed both inside and outside the fence. “Also, he’s called in a couple of our teams to provide security.”
As soon as the rotors stopped moving, a contingent of men in black suits marched to the cabin door. Rick slid it open and pointed to the rear. “There’s your cargo.”
One of the men, part of the team that had dogged Dan all this time, looked at Rick with a grim expression on his face. “You just saved your ass on this one, Latrobe. You were this far from a vacation at Leavenworth.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I think you’ve got bigger fish than me right here.”
Dan had been given the very distinct pleasure of calling the attorney general and telling him what was going on.
“You’d better have plenty of people from DOJ meeting the helicopter,” he told the man. “And no arresting Rick,” he warned, “or we’ll just take off and haul our cargo someplace else.”
It helped that Troy had arrived with Zarife al-Dulami, still sobbing at his disgrace, and Denny Hammond, who decided he needed to trade information to save his own neck.
“Get that damn dog away from us,” Greg Jordan was shouting, as Xena let loose with her signature growl.
Another of the men in black stared at Xena. “You took a dog on this mission?”
“Sure.” Rick grinned at him. Then he repeated Mike’s words. “She’s our group leader. Not to mention the fact that she’s psychic. Lets us know when we’re in danger.”
“Yeah, right. Pull the other one.”
“You don’t believe me?” Rick winked at Kelly. “Just ask the dog.”
It took well over an hour to sort everything out, explain everyone’s role in the debacle, and convince the feds that it started with Matt Caldwell, aka Matthias Grant. But Dan had given them a heads-up on that, too, and at the DOJ’s office, agents had been set to work at once, digging into the man’s background. By the time the helo landed, they’d relayed enough information to the men on site to convince them this wasn’t some kind of hoax.
And, of course, they had Zarife singing loud and clear and demanding he be allowed to talk to his father.
“You think Jordan will keep his mouth shut about everything?” Mike asked as the last of the vehicles pulled away.
Rick shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s too angry at the realization that Caldwell was going to kill him and dispose of his body.”
“What do you plan to do about the mob outside there?” Harry asked. He’d been hanging back, waiting until everyone else had left the field.
“I called my friend in the FAA and asked for some help getting rid of the news helicopters. Mike’s going to chopper us all to Rick’s place, where I have a thick steak waiting for Xena.”
The dog looked up at him and barked, then curled her lips back. Dan looked at Kelly. “Is she smiling at me?”
“Absolutely. You said the magic word. Steak.”
*****
They were all at Rick’s house, including Faith and Mia, who had been flown in by Ed. Rick, Kelly, and Mike had crashed the minute they hit the bedrooms, sleeping most of the day. Now, showered and dressed, they were gathered in the dining room. When Rick had called Dan to say they were on their way back, he’d bought enough steaks for everyone as well as several bottles of wine. After the weeks of tension and looming disaster, for a change they had something big to celebrate.
They divided up the stacks of newspapers Harry had picked up on the way to the house, scanning them for any reports of what happened, and were amazed at how quickly the reporters had turned the story around. Every front page was filled with details of the trip to Camellia Cay and the scandalous news that had emerged from it.
“It’s the age of electronics,” Dan commented. “Reporters write their stories on laptops before they even leave the site, send it to the editors who move it along to the layout people, and presto! You have a newspaper.”
The television in the living room was tuned to Fox News. On the screen was a photo of Matt Caldwell, and off-camera someone was describing the rise and fall of the contractor as well as his secret life. The photo was replaced by a shot of the Caldwell house with a caption that read, “Family in seclusion.”
“I’ll bet they are,” Faith said. “Those poor people. They’ll be a long time getting over this.”
“I called Charlie Grainger as soon as I got off the phone with all of you,” Dan told them. “Woke him up and went to his house while you were flying back here. Talk about someone being devastated. He’s a broken man. I spoke to the attorney general about it when I got him up, too. He says Charlie will be okay as far as his contracts are concerned, and I told Charlie we’d help him keep things on track in Iraq.”
“I still don’t understand,” Faith put in. “According to what y’all said, Matthias Grant was wanted for trafficking in blood diamonds, so he built himself this little fortress on Camellia Cay where others like him could hide out when they needed to. Why did he build a whole new identity for himself?”
“From the little I got out of him, I gather he felt like he’d built himself a prison, and he wanted to create a new personality. He had a little plastic surgery, just enough to alter his face slightly. Met Charlie at some fundraiser, and Charlie introduced him to the woman he married. Then he and Charlie went into business together. The situation in Iraq was made for him.”
Mike made a sound of disgust. “He had it all. The good life. More money than he could ever spend. He just couldn’t resist the thrill, the adrenaline rush. And I guess he thought he had it all fixed so he’d get out clean.”
“Over my dead body,” Rick put in. “Literally.” He stretched and looked across the table at Kelly. “I’m taking a couple of weeks of downtime, guys. Take me out of the mix for a while, okay?”
“Doing anything special?” Faith teased.
“Nothing I care to discuss,” he grinned.
Kelly blushed, and they all laughed.
“But I do have some news,” he went on. “Kelly’s decided to sell the place in Maine, and we’re going to look for land in Virginia where she can build her kennels again.” He winked at her. “And a house.”
“And work with you on how dogs like Xena can fit into your Psi department,” Kelly added. “Faith, I plan to call your aunt and see how we can get The Lotus Circle involved, too.”
Mia leaned down to Xena, who was sitting between her and Kelly. “What’s that you say, girl? You heard wedding bells? Hmm. Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Man, you don’t waste any time, do you?” Mark joked.
Kelly turned to him, her face dead serious. “Life’s too unpredictable to waste time, Mark. Rick and I talked about it. When something is right, it’s right.”
Dan held up his hands. “You’re absolutely right.”
“Hell,” Rick said. “We’ve known each other longer than you and Mia did when you tied the knot.”
Dan reached for his wife’s hand and gave her a smoldering look. There was no doubt how well their marriage was working out.
“It’s probably a good idea for you to get away from this mess until things die down, anyway,” Mike told him. “We can handle whatever comes up.”
It was late evening by the time everyone finally left. When the house was locked up for the night and the alarm set, they stood in the bedroom, looking at each other.
“This is the first time since we met that we don’t have spies or operatives or medical people hanging around our necks,” Rick said, running his finger lightly along her collarbone. “Or some urgent situation hanging over our heads.”
“That’s true.” Her breathing hitched as the finger trailed down her T-shirt then slipped under the hem and up to her rib cage.
“Don’t worry, no one will be able to see or hear us,” he added for emphasis.
“Is that supposed to mean something special?” she asked, shivering as he ran the fingertip over the satin covering her nipples.
“It means I can finally get to take off every stitch of your clothing and taste every inch of your body.”
He proceeded to do just that while she stood there trembling with anticipation. He lifted the T-shirt and slowly, slowly dragged it up her arms and over her head.
“Beautiful,” he breathed.
He bent his head to capture a nipple, the wet heat of his mouth burning her through the thin satin of the bra. Her nipples felt like they were on fire, and her breasts ached for his touch. Kelly clenched her fists at her sides, trying to hold herself still. When one nipple had been tormented to his satisfaction, Rick turned to the other one, pulling and sucking until it was just as swollen and as rigid as its mate. His hands reached behind her to open the clasp of the bra, and as her breasts sprang free he ran his tongue across the upper slope, then down through the valley between them.
“Gorgeous,” he breathed.
His hands reached around to cup her breasts, while his tongue traced the line of her spine all the way down to her waist. Then back up again as his hand gripped and molded the full mounds. Her pulse beat like a jungle drum, and heavy throbbing pounded through her. The heat in his eyes was so intense it almost burned her.
When he took a step back and stripped off his T-shirt, her mouth watered at the sight of his naked chest. A thick mat of hair covered it everywhere except where the scar lay like an angry slash. She pushed from her mind all thoughts of the danger he’d been in and focused only on the here and now.
His fingers went to the snap of her jeans.
Pop. It opened.
Zzzzz! He tugged the zipper down and spread the fabric of the jeans, the bright red of her bikini panties showing. Somehow that seemed more erotic than if she’d been completely naked.
“Kick off your shoes,” he whispered as he bent his mouth to her shoulder.
Kelly toed off her shoes without untying them and kicked them away. Rick gripped the fabric at the waist of her jeans and slowly tugged it down, sliding it down her thighs until it pooled at her ankles. She stepped out of them and kicked them away with the shoes.
When Rick’s hand slid inside the fabric of her panties and found the wet heat of her, she sucked in her breath.
“God, Red, you’re soaked. I love it.”
Oh, oh, oh!
Her knees were suddenly so weak she wasn’t sure she could stand. Then her eyes widened as she watched him strip off his jeans and his boxers, his cock springing free.
“I can’t wait to feel you around me,” he told her, stepping up to her again. “I’ve been hard since the minute we got here. Thank God everyone left, or I might have had to kill them.”
She laughed, a breathy, uneven sound.
Rick grabbed the silk of her panties and dragged them down her legs, tossing them to join her jeans. Lifting her, he carried her to the bed and placed her carefully on her back, legs apart, knees bent. One index finger unerringly found her clit and began to stroke it.
Ohgodohgodohgod.
She was shivering and shaking now, desire boiling through her.
“You want me inside you, don’t you, pretty girl?” Rick whispered the words in her ear, his voice low and thick with need. “Tell me.”
“Yes, yes, please.” She was ready to beg. “I want you inside me. Now.”
He backed off for a moment, and she heard a drawer open and shut. Then he was back.
The crinkle of foil, the snap of latex, and then the thick head of his cock pressed against her, pushing, pushing, pushing.
“Breathe in, breathe out. That’s my girl.”
He slid his hands beneath her and grasped her hips with both hands. Taking a breath he rolled his hips and drove into her with a final thrust.
Oh, oh, oh!
She came instantly, small convulsions that whipped through her and shot lightning through her.
“Good, that’s good. Oh, fuck, yeah, it’s damn good.”
And then he was driving into her again, hard, heavy strokes, filling her, his hands holding her in place.
Oh, God.
She shattered, her body convulsing and shuddering as Rick emptied himself into her. His cock pulsed and throbbed inside her, pushing her own orgasm beyond any imaginable threshold. She was flying, shaking with spasms, Rick’s fingers rubbing, pressing, taking her on the ride of her life.
She struggled to drag air into her lungs and her heat beat loud in her ears. She felt as if every muscle had been stretched beyond capacity and her blood heated then cooled then heated again. Every inch of her skin was covered with sweat.
Rick eased himself from her body and removed the condom.
“Shower,” he told her. “Then bed.”
She was limp, barely able to move, leaning against the tiles while Rick soaped her everywhere and rinsed her off. At last . . . at last . . . they were in bed, her body tucked against his. She had never in her life felt so fulfilled or so content. Satisfied. In all aspects.
“I staked my claim,” Rick murmured against her forehead. “As good as branded you.”
“As if I’d want anyone else,” she told him.
“Kelly?”
She looked up, startled by his use of her name and the serious tone.
“Yes?”
“I’m in a dangerous line of work, and sometimes I’m gone for long periods of time. But I’ll always come back to you. Always love you. You’re my life and my heart.”
They heard a plaintive woof from beyond the bedroom door, and Rick laughed. “I locked her out before. Can’t have the kids watching.”
“Okay. And Rick?”
“Yeah, pretty girl?”
“I love you, too.”
*****
Mike picked them up the next day and flew them up to the cabin, barely staying long enough for coffee before leaving them alone. They spent the day just letting the wind clear out their minds. Taking the steps down the face of the cliff, the surefooted dog picking her way carefully, they walked the beach with Xena. Hands linked, they stopped very frequently to exchange heated kisses. Like kids, they took off their shoes and waded just at the edge of the water, letting the froth of the waves kiss their feet. Xena played along with them, leaping in and out of the rolling surf.
Rick uncovered the outdoor grill, fired it up, and grilled chicken and corn, silently thanking Mike, who had shopped for groceries before picking them up. Then they sat on the side deck in two Adirondack chairs, drinking wine and huddling under quilts as the evening chill rolled in.
And finally, they built a fire in the fireplace and made slow, delicious love in front of it as the wood snapped and popped and the flames warmed their skin.
The last thing either of them thought about was Iraq and the past weeks.
Three days later Mike flew everyone up to the cabin, and they all drove into Bangor, where Kelly and Rick were married by the same justice of the peace who’d married Mia and Dan.
“This is becoming a habit,” the man joked. “But a good one.”
Mike brought supplies with them and made his mother’s famous spaghetti sauce for dinner which they washed down with glasses of red wine.
Mia and Faith made plans for Kelly and Xena to spend time having their Psi abilities tested.
“Aunt Vivi is anxiously waiting to talk to you again,” Faith told them, then grinned. “And definitely meet Xena, the wonder dog.”
The next morning they all were gone, leaving the honeymooners to their solitude again.
And while the country shook its collective head over the scandal that continued to break, the new Mr. and Mrs. Latrobe sat in solitude with Xena at the cabin and made plans for the future.
With Xena’s input, of course.