Chapter Fifteen
“Gone? What do you mean he’s gone?”
“His bed in the hospital is empty. The guard at the door was unconscious and stuffed in the bathroom. Nobody knows how his monitors got unhooked or unplugged or whatever they did, but he’s gone. I’m checking the hospital security footage right now, to figure out how a man who’s paralyzed managed to up and vanish from an ICU bed.”
Nick’s head dropped forward and he stared at the porch. Could his day get any worse?
“I’ve got some news too. Looks like the nieces and nephews have been playing games.”
“What do you mean?”
“Cassandra and Alexandra have been switching identities. Alexandra’s been traveling under Cassandra’s passport. Half the time, you thought it was Cassandra visiting all those cities, it was her twin.”
Cursing erupted over the line, and Nick sat quietly, letting Calvin vent. He was all too familiar with the man’s temper, which flashed hot and fierce, and just as fast was over and done.
“How do you know this? I’ve had my best man digging into them.”
“Confidentially, I know somebody here in the States who’s a wizard of a computer tech. She’s got a facial recognition program that’s better than anything you’ve seen. Took her about five minutes to figure out the twins were playing the old switcheroo with the passports.”
“Who is the woman? If this software’s as good as you say, we need to get our hands on it now.”
“You and everybody else, boss. They aren’t selling it, so don’t waste your time. Alexandra was in Athens when the records show it was Cassandra. She was also in Hong Kong. Cassandra was the one who was in Iceland and South Africa. But, here’s something very interesting that your guys didn’t catch. Cassandra flew nonstop into DFW airport eight weeks ago under a different passport. We caught her on airport surveillance. Here’s the kicker though. Jesse Norville also flew into DFW on the same flight under an alias, Joseph Simons.”
Another burst of cursing had Nick moving the phone away from his ear. He knew Calvin wasn’t angry at him. This was frustration, pure and simple. He totally got it, because he’d been feeling the same emotion for weeks now. It wasn’t getting any easier, even with this new information.
“Eight weeks ago? What about Alexandra? Don’t tell me she flew into the States too.”
“We’re still checking on her. Also, there’s no record in any database of Cassandra Bishop or Jesse Norville leaving the States, at least by air. I have Des—my friend—checking to see if they came to Austin or one of the cities close to Shiloh Springs. But it seems like too big a coincidence that both of the cousins showed up right around the time an assassin’s bullet hit Antonio by mistake.”
“Gimme a minute.” Nick heard frantic typing, knew Calvin was probably shooting an e-mail to his tech guru to start digging into this new information.
“We need your people looking into how Cassandra and Jesse could both be out of the country for eight weeks and nobody notices. Jesse Norville has a job. Did he take leave? Or did he just up and vanish on them? Cassandra might be more difficult to track, since she travels a lot, but what about friends, neighbors? Has anybody missed her and wondered about where she’s at? Two people can’t simply up and ghost without somebody noticing.”
“Already got him working on it. Let’s look at your timeline, because everything revolves around you at this point. Over the past four months, you’ve been in Dubai and then Shiloh Springs, where you blew your cover and we ended up moving up the timeline to arrest Brashear. After that, you came back to Melbourne to deal with the actual arrest, all the paperwork and processing between the Aussie government and the States. Right so far?”
“Pretty much. Took a short trip here for the vow renewal of the Boudreaus, then back to Melbourne. Just over seven weeks ago I came back to Shiloh Springs, and Antonio Boudreau took a bullet meant for me.”
“Right, right. Then it was back here while we searched for clues. A week ago, you went back to Shiloh Springs. In that time, you’ve had your tires slashed and a car bomb nearly took you out. Am I missing anything?”
“That pretty much covers it.”
In the background, it was easy to hear other voices and machinery, as well as occasional messages playing over the intercom, and he figured Calvin was still at the hospital. RMH had superb security, so figuring out how Norville managed to give the slip to both the prison guards and RMH’s security would have taken up-to-the-minute timing to make everything work. As much as he wished he could be there because Norville was partly his responsibility, it was more important he stay put. If, as he suspected, Jesse Norville and Cassandra Bishop were in Shiloh Springs, he needed to be ready for their next move.
“I’m thinking, son, if Cassandra and Jesse have waited around in Texas for the last eight weeks, and they’re still around, we have to assume they’ve spent a good deal of time in Shiloh Springs, either watching you from a distance whenever you’ve been in town, or they’ve been scoping out the place. Maybe talking to locals. Figuring out your moves, when you’d been there, the places you’re likely to spend time. Like at the Boudreau ranch, or places in town. Might be a good call to show pictures to some of the people around town, see if anything pops. If they’ve been nosing around, someone might recognize them.”
“Good idea. I’m getting ready to head into town, so I’ll ask around. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll catch a break and somebody has seen them, maybe talked with them.”
“Keep me posted. I’ve got to run, see if we can figure out where Norville disappeared to and catch the bugger before he can do any more harm.”
Calvin disconnected the call without a goodbye. Nick rose from the swing and started toward his rental. He hadn’t made it far before he heard his name called from his right. Looking up, he spotted Douglas striding toward him. He still got a sense of breathlessness whenever he saw the big man, memories of long past days swelling deep within. Those days had helped keep his sanity when he’d been younger, had grounded him in ways he couldn’t put into words, but had been the lifeline he’d clung to.
“Everything okay, Nick? Saw you coming back from Dane’s place a few minutes ago. You find out anything about who’s put a target on your back yet?”
“We’ve actually got a couple of leads, thanks to Destiny’s fancy computer skills.”
A smile spread across Douglas’ face at the mention of his daughter-in-law. “She’s amazing. I swear there is magic in her fingertips when she touches a keyboard.”
“I’m about to head into town and ask around, see if anybody has seen our new persons of interest.” He pulled his phone back out of his pocket and pulled up the pictures of Cassandra and Jesse, showing them to Douglas. “Do you recognize either one of them? Or maybe have seen them around Shiloh Springs?”
Douglas studied the photos intently before shaking his head. “Sorry, neither looks familiar.”
“It was worth a shot.”
“Do you mind if I tag along? I was getting ready to head into town anyway. Supposed to meet the missus at Daisy’s for a late lunch date.”
“No problem, I’d enjoy the company.”
Gracie stood behindthe counter and stretched her back, feeling the slight tightness in the muscles from bending over and stacking the shelves. As it was edging closer to the lunch hour, there were only a handful of customers still lingering in the shop. A few stragglers had meandered in over the last half hour, but the whole morning rush was past, and now she’d be able to get some work finished before having to hit the books. It was almost tax time and she needed to put in some extra hours to make sure she had everything ready to send to her accountant.
She glanced up as the front door opened and a tall woman with brilliant platinum blonde hair strode inside and made her way straight to the counter. With a quick glance at the menu posted above the register, she ordered a large chai latte. Pulling free a credit card from the large shoulder bag she carried, she paid for her drink.
“While I’m waiting, could you tell me if Grace Medeiros is working today?”
“I’m Gracie. How can I help you?”
“Gracie, my name is Alexis and I work for a travel blog. We’re doing a series of coffee shops around the globe, highlighting small mom and pop places, instead of the big chains most people are familiar with. Trying to bring a little attention, shine the spotlight on the smaller shops who deserve recognition. I heard Gracie’s Grounds mentioned a couple of times as I was driving north from Houston to Dallas. You’ve got glowing recommendations, by the way.”
“Wow, that’s nice to hear. I’ve got an excellent supplier and my employees work really hard to ensure that each customer has the best experience possible.”
The blonde smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, and a skitter of nervousness tickled the back of Gracie’s neck. Unease filled her as the last remaining customers exited through the front door, leaving her alone with the steely-gazed blonde. Well, not completely alone. Alice, the part-time barista, was doing inventory in the back and cataloging the new blend that had just arrived. A new distributor wanted Gracie to check out their new dark roast, and she’d agreed to give it a trial. But other than Alice, they were for all intents and purposes alone.
Her hands worked to complete the chai latte the blonde had ordered, and handed it over.
“Is there somewhere we could talk in private?”
The sick feeling of unease morphed into distress when the blonde moved closer, starting to come around the counter, and Gracie blocked her. “I appreciate you thinking about featuring Gracie’s Grounds in your blog, but I think I’m going to have to decline. I’m exceptionally busy at this time. Good luck with your articles.”
The blonde placed her latte on the counter and smiled at Gracie. All those pearly white teeth reminded Gracie of a barracuda ready to shred the flesh from its unsuspecting victim. Unconsciously, she took a step back before catching herself. This was her place, and she wasn’t about to let anybody push her around, especially some glorified wannabe influencer.
“You don’t understand, Ms. Medeiros. Or should I call you by your old name, Caroline? Carolina Francesca Suarez, daughter of Miguel and Susana Suarez of San Antonio.”
She knew? How was that possible? No one knew. “I…” Her voice trailed off when she spotted the gun held close to the blonde’s side.
“Let’s go. Out the back. Now.” The flat American tone the woman had been using morphed into an Australian accent without missing a beat. She only recognized it as Australian and not British because she’d been watching an Australian baking show in the evenings after work.
“What are you doing? Did Jeremy send you?”
“I don’t know Mr. Brewster personally, though he definitely knows you and was very chatty when I spoke with him. He’s extremely unhappy to hear that you’re seeing Nick Vincent.”
“You know Nick?”
Who was this woman and how did she know everything about her life? Her mind whirled, trying to block out the acrid taste of fear in her throat. Alice was in the back, but she was dealing with stock. Gracie didn’t want her involved in any way with a crazy person with a gun. The poor girl was barely out of high school, na?ve and sweet. She’d protect her with her life before she’d let Miss Crazy-Pants here touch her.
“Nick Vincent is a parasite. A miserable worm who doesn’t deserve to exist on this planet.”
“I guess we know two different Nick Vincents, because the Nick I know is kind, generous and loving. He’s got a lot of people who care about him here in Shiloh Springs.”
“Ugh, I am so sick of this stinking town. I want to go home. But I can’t. Not until I look Nick Vincent in the eyes, make sure he understands exactly why he must atone for what he’s done.”
Gracie’s eyes widened at the vehemence behind the woman’s words. Whoever she was she hated Nick. She’d never seen the woman before today, so she couldn’t be sure how the blonde knew about her and Nick, but that didn’t matter. She knew all the danger signals, had taken self-defense classes that emphasized never leaving or going to a secondary location with a possible kidnapper. Except if she tried to do anything, Alice might get hurt.
“What do you want from me? I barely know Nick.” She didn’t mind lying to Blondie, not if it meant keeping her away from Nick, at least long enough that she could warn him.
“We’re going to take a little ride. I have a car parked behind your shop in the alley. Turn around slowly and walk through the back and straight to the door. Don’t think I won’t shoot you right now if you try anything.”
Gracie raised her hands to shoulder height, letting the woman see that she was cooperating. She couldn’t put Alice’s life in danger. And hadn’t she known that this day would happen sooner or later? The only difference was it wasn’t Jeremy who was going to finally kill her. It was somebody wanting revenge against Nick, and they were going to use her to get it.
As she walked, she looked everywhere, hoping to find a way to stall, or maybe find a weapon she could use. Too bad there was nothing, not even a box opener, left on the shelves in the back of the shop.
Walking slowly to the door, her hand wrapped around the doorknob and started to twist it open.
“Gracie, I think there’s been a mix-up with the dark roast…” Alice’s voice trailed off when she spotted Gracie standing by the tall blonde. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s okay. We’ll finish up the order later. Why don’t you head on home? Lock up the front when you leave, okay?”
It was the best she could do, trying to keep Alice from becoming collateral damage in this nightmare situation.
If anybody has to get hurt, let it be me.
“Sure thing, Gracie. Thanks for letting me go early. You have a great afternoon.”
Alice’s cheerful disposition was one of the reasons Gracie had hired the girl not long after high school graduation. Smart, cheerful, and the customers loved her because she was a local girl and a hard worker.
“Good move, sending the girl home. Let’s go.”
Taking a deep breath, Gracie reached for the door again and pulled it inward before stepping through into the alley. A black SUV was parked with the engine running. A man with dark hair and sunglasses sat in the driver’s seat. He glanced their way once before turning his attention back to the front of the vehicle.
“Get in.” Blondie shoved Gracie in the back and she stumbled toward the SUV, pulled open the back door, and slid onto the seat. Blondie gestured toward her to move over, before sliding in beside her and pulling the door closed, keeping the gun pointed in Gracie’s direction.
Without another word, the car pulled smoothly out of the alley and headed south on Main Street. The driver glanced in the rearview mirror before tossing something black over the seat, which Blondie caught. She handed it to Gracie.
“Put this on.”
“What?”
“Put it on unless you want me to knock you out. Your choice.”
Shaking out the fabric, Gracie saw that it was a black hood, looking almost like a pillowcase, but the material was so thick she couldn’t see through it. Terror rippled through her, and her hands shook as she forced the black hood over her head. An immediate sense of claustrophobia had her clawing at the bottom, trying to rip it off.
“I can’t breathe…” The words came out as a scream, as panic welled through her. She felt like she was drowning in blackness, a weight crushing down on her chest.
“Oh, bloody—” The woman’s voice exploded in Gracie’s ears, right before something smacked into her temple, and then she saw nothing more.