Chapter 2 Nicole #4
I gave him a look and figured I’d be safer in the back, so I climbed up into the container again.
“Suit yourself.” He shrugged and shut the door in my face. Once again, I was left in the dark. I was afraid to put Chase down, so I sat with him in my arms, ready to move quickly if I had to.
The girls’ faces flickered in front of me.
I tried so hard to believe they’d be okay.
I hated that they were gone, but I was glad I was the one stuck in the back of the truck, and not them.
Maybe, just maybe, they were heading back to their families.
As the truck took off again, I closed my eyes while I stroked Chase on the back and imagined them being reunited with their families.
I needed something to keep my mind busy.
The last thing I remembered were tears streaming down my face as I drifted back to sleep once the sun faded away for the third time since I’d been put in that steel trap.
I jerked awake at a bump in the road and felt around for my bag. I cupped Bruno’s phone and licked my lips. I didn’t have Cole’s number anymore, but I knew Jack’s number at the Washington Post by heart. I hovered my fingers above the on button and fought a battle inside.
“Fuck it.” Just as I went to press the button, the truck came to another hard stop.
I managed to support myself against the wall, but I dropped the phone.
“Shit.” I carefully shifted Chase so I could see out the crack.
We were at another truck stop, and I could see a few cars in parking spaces.
I quickly rescued the phone and dropped it back into my bag, silently wishing I’d had a chance to power it on and make that call.
The door rolled up, and I grabbed my things.
I’d leave nothing behind if I was being transported elsewhere.
“Time to rest.” Chili offered me a hand, but I used the handle on the side instead and carefully hopped down so as not to jostle Chase.
“You don’t need that.” He pointed to my bag, but I held it tight against me.
“Whatever.” He used his chin to point to a table.
“Let’s get a place to sit. I’ll bring you something to eat. ”
“Please get some children’s Tylenol,” I begged, and he nodded.
We crossed the parking lot and stepped onto the dry Texas grass where he chose a table that was shaded by a tree.
I untied the arms of Paul’s hoodie from around my waist then lay Chase on top of it.
His eyes fluttered open, but the glazed look that filled them let me know he needed care, and soon.
His breathing sounded wheezy, and it had my worry factor at a full ten.
I decided to change his diaper and pulled a clean one from the bag.
“What can I do?” Chili asked but remained a few feet back.
“You can start by letting me go.”
“I’m not keeping you captive, Nicole. I just can’t let you out of my sight yet.”
Yet? Such an interesting choice of words, given that he’d had us for three days.
“Why wasn’t your truck scanned at the border? Do you have people working for you?”
He moved his head around like he was watching for someone. “Don’t worry about it.”
Oh, sure, I’ll just add that to the growing hype of anxiety I’m ‘not supposed to worry about.’
“Are you going to hurt us?”
His brows pinched behind his sunglasses. “I don’t make it a habit to hurt people.”
“No,” I rolled my eyes, “you just traffic young women.”
“Just because things look one way doesn’t make it so.” He checked his phone, and his jaw tightened. His lips thinned out into a straight line.
“So, those girls are okay?”
He looked away. “Yes.”
I didn’t know if I should believe him or not, so I went back to dealing with Chase. Once he was changed, I gently sat him up on the picnic table in front of me while I sat down. My back ached from carrying him so long.
“Mama, Mama.” He held out his little arms, and I leaned in to give him some love. “Arriba.”
I smiled at him. “Oh, you want up. You do know more than one word, you smart little cookie.” I pulled him onto my lap, and he immediately snuggled against my chest in his favorite spot.
I noticed Chili’s interest as I interacted with Chase, and I hoped maybe if he saw how sad the situation was, he’d help me get to Cole.
“He likes you.”
“I hope he does,” I confessed. “Look, you said you’d try to get him some Tylenol.
He really needs it. I’m worried…” My words trailed off as three government issued vehicles stopped right next to Chili’s big rig.
He immediately stepped close to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I tried not to flinch.
“Nicole, be very careful with these men. They’re not people to fuck around with.” We watched as they approached us. His hand stayed heavy on my shoulder, weighing me down as a secondary warning to mind my next move.
They were all dressed in flashy suits, shoes polished to the point where they caught the sun, and their skinny, trendy ties were outdated by a decade.
They looked important but ridiculous. “I wasn’t planning on fucking around with them, believe me.
They look like they work for James Franco’s security team,” I snapped, and he hid his amusement with a light cough.
“You must be Nicole Winter.” The guy who spoke was quite handsome in his suit and tie. He held out a hand. “I’m Cooper Colin. Nice to meet you.”
“I’ll be the judge of whether it’s nice or not.” I set the tone that I wasn’t one to be fucked with. I’d been through enough.
“I heard you were a pistol.”
“Then you know you should get right to the point.” Chase pushed his feet into my thighs and let out a cry.
“So, you’re the famous little boy who has all of America in tears. I watched your video, little fella, and that’s why I’m here.”
Boy? I never once said he was a boy.
“You watched my video and have swooped in to save this little one?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice.
He grinned, but it felt off, almost like a cat grinning at a mouse before it attacked. “That’s right.”
I shook my head, tired of playing these games. “And you just happened to know we were in this very spot?”
“It’s part of my job to know where you are.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, I’m FBI.” He pulled back his jacket and showed me his badge. No way. These guys weren’t in the usual black FBI garb. Even his sunglasses were Gucci. No way the FBI would have the money to dress like this fool.
“And I was the Easter bunny a few years ago, and before that I was an astronaut.” Sarcasm dripped from my lips again. Chili chuckled and Agent Colin cast him a nasty glance. “Am I being arrested for something?”
“No.”
“Then why not identify that you’re FBI when you introduced yourself?”
“Didn’t my suit give me away?” He huffed in an attempt to be funny, but I wasn’t amused. The guy rubbed me the wrong way. Something about him felt off.
“Actually, no. It comes off more like you’re giving information to TMZ about some B-list celebrity.
” More like A-list, but I didn’t want him to take it as a compliment.
His brows went up as I stood with Chase in my arms and began to head for the truck.
Chili moved with me, right on my heels. “We’re done here. ”
“Okay, so we got off on a bad foot. I apologize.” He moved to block my path. “What can I do to make it right?”
“Get me some children’s Tylenol.” I pointed to Chase. “He’s sick. If you do that, I’ll give you five more minutes of my time.” He nodded over his shoulder, and one of his men approached. He spoke to him, and he raced off toward his car.
“Please, Nicole, take a seat.” I studied him for a minute then went back to the table and lowered myself onto the bench.
Chili moved to lean against the trunk of the tree. He seemed relaxed, but his gaze was fixed on Colin. It was interesting that he hadn’t said a single word since the man introduced himself.
Colin’s phone must have vibrated because he pulled it free and held up a finger, then turned to answer it.
I looked at Chili again and saw he kept one hand close to his gun.
Who the hell are these people? The last I checked this wasn’t how the US conducted business, especially with missing people in trouble.
The agent who left to get the Tylenol returned in record time with an unopened bottle of medicine. He set it down then stepped back as Colin hung up.
“Good news,” he said as I made quick work getting the medication into Chase. He didn’t like it and cried as he swallowed it. “I’ve been instructed to bring the kid into custody.”
The panic flooded inside me as I tucked the medicine away and my arms tightened around Chase. “Under whose orders?”
“My boss’s.”
“And who might your boss be? Because I too have orders.”
His smug smirk only pissed me off further. “My orders trump yours.” Agent Colin took a step toward me, and Chili did the same.
There is no way Chase is going with any of these guys.
I instantly slipped into work-slash-survival mode and flashed him a massive smile.
“Smile, Agent Cooper Colin.” He froze. “You’re on live camera.
” I pointed to the GoPro on my shoulder and circled my finger around the little red light to show it was recording.
“You don’t really think I’d stop filming until I got this little one to safety, do you? ”
I grinned when I saw him shake his head at his men.
“There is no way this baby is going with you, especially without me. I made a promise to my boss and to him.” I patted Chase’s back.
“He needs to know not everyone in this world is bad. So, you can decide if you want all of America to see you rip an innocent baby from a woman’s arms. I’m going to finish my job of returning this baby to the safety of the US military.
” I figured I’d toss in a little American pride since the FBI, CIA, DEA, and military were all supposed to be one working wheel with the same goal in mind. Protect the people and our land.