14. Doors
FOURTEEN
Doors
CJ
A loud, persistent knocking distracted CJ from reading the files from Sam. When he didn’t immediately answer, knocking turned to pounding. Pounding turned to yelling. He palmed his weapon and approached the door only to hear a man and woman arguing on the other side.
“Stop it. You’ll wake the whole damn place.” Jenny’s deep alto was unmistakable.
“What the fuck?” Mac’s baritone complimented the lower register of her voice. “Why isn’t he answering?” The pounding intensified.
CJ blinked lids heavy with fatigue and peered through the peephole. He rolled his eyes. Ahead of schedule.
On the other side of the door, Jenny smacked Mac in the head with her purse. Mac’s head tilted sideways. Jenny carried a Glock 17 in that purse. She wasn’t an average woman. A tall beauty, she had a classic majesty, muscled just shy of being manly. Yet, she oozed a sultry seduction nearly as dark and potent as the color of her skin. Men underestimated her. It’s why Sam added her to the team.
CJ had been the first of the crew to step wrong with Jenny. They’d all done so, except for Mac. Something smoldered between those two, but as far as CJ knew, they weren’t an item.
Mac grunted. “You fucking bitch!” He spun and leaped at his partner.
Jenny jumped back, avoiding Mac’s lunge. She placed a finger on his chest. “Don’t even think about it.”
Before someone from the motel called the local police on them, CJ opened the door. “Can you two keep it down?”
Jenny side-stepped around Mac, not an easy thing, because Mac was built like a Mack truck, thus the nickname. CJ had no idea what Mac’s real name was. Everyone had always called him Mac.
“He wishes,” Jenny muttered as she shouldered past CJ. “Answer the fucking door next time. Seriously, you’d be dead if we’d wanted to kill you. Since when do you sleep that deep?”
“Maybe he wasn’t sleeping. Anyone inside we’re going to surprise?” Mac’s eyebrows arched.
“I was taking a shit and reading the files Sam sent.”
“Bullshit,” Jenny said. “It smells like a fucking rose in here.” Jenny plopped down on the only chair in the small motel room.
CJ smirked. Jenny never took his shit.
“You two got here quick.”
Mac sat on the bed, leaving CJ to stand; he wasn’t about to sit on the bed with Mac. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at his friends.
“Sam told us about what happened. Are you good to go?” Jenny’s look could cut steel. “I need to know if your head is in the game.” There was no compassion in Jenny’s expression. Once she had a job to do, the woman got shit done. Emotions were for weaklings.
A product of the slums of Rio de Janeiro, she’d lived a difficult life until a CIA agent crossed paths with her during a sting operation. She’d already killed the five men who’d raped her. Sam recruited her on the spot. According to Jenny, feelings got people into trouble.
Mac was more of the typical hire. Ex-Delta Force, like CJ, his acquisition to the team had been a no-brainer.
CJ gripped Melissa’s phone until the plastic cut into his palm. “I’ve got some business to take care of before we get started.” He had a woman to save, or at least keep safe.
“Sam said your business was canceled.” Mac leaned against the headboard and put his boots on the covers.
CJ made a dismissive gesture. “Patterson escaped. Mybusinessisn’t done.” He wiggled the phone. “This belongs to his wife.”
Mac broke the ensuing silence with a deep indrawn breath. “You know why we’re here, right?”
“Kidnapping case.”
Jenny’s gaze cut up to the ceiling. “We don’t have time to fuck around returning a damn phone.” She stood and cocked her left hip forward, a pose he’d seen too many times before. It was her do-not-fuck-with-me stance. “You’re to stay out of the manhunt.”
CJ turned wide eyes to Jenny. “Is that what you think?”
She arched a brow.
He shrugged. “Sam’s looking into it, of course, trying to get jurisdiction, but not only do I have Melissa Evan’s phone, I know where she is. It’s a good bet Patterson will try to make contact.”
“So?” Jenny crossed her arms over her chest.
“She’s in the hospital.” CJ blew out a deep breath. “If Patterson goes after his wife, he’ll head to her house. She needs protective custody.” The roaring in CJ’s ears reached deafening levels.
“Meaning you?” Jenny scoffed. “I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do. This is small-town America. They have a handful of cops. No one’s going to care about her safety.”
“Not our job,” Jenny said. “Let me remind you that our victim has two little girls. Their dad is dead, and if we don’t get a move on, their mom might soon be dead.”
“I’m not suggesting we delay anything. The police station is on the way to Saint John’s. We have to stop in there and meet with the local authorities. You can do that while Mac and I go to the hospital. Melissa Evans deserves protection.”
“Shove it up your ass, CJ,” Jenny said. “We’re not doing a stopover.”
“I’m going to the hospital. All three of us don’t need to be there for the meet and greet with the Chief of Police. That’s for you as lead.” Not that he had to remind her what it meant to be Delta One.
“Fine.” Her breath whooshed out as she gave in. “Drop me at the precinct, run your little errand, and then we get to work.”
The only reason Jenny acquiesced was because she respected him. She also depended on his recommendation.