Chapter Eleven #2
The two of them talked for a few
moments about nothing substantial, just that at ease conversation
you have with someone you are completely comfortable with. As they
neared the driveway that led to the property he and Aiden were
leasing Nick’s excitement started to grow within him. That
excitement was quickly eclipsed by concern when Sam turned into the
drive.
“What the hell?” Sam
exclaimed. Aiden's truck was lying on its roof on the verge beside
the drive. From the state of the front of the truck, it was clear
that there had been an explosion or something that had ripped
through the front of the truck. It was a sight he had seen on more
than one occasion in Afghanistan, but to see it now was completely
out of context. Not to mention it was Aiden’s truck, which had
Nick’s panic spiking hard through him.
Nick was out of the truck before Sam
had brought it to a complete stop. “Aiden!” he cried out as he fell
to his knees beside the wreck. He tried to yank the passenger door
open, but it was wedged shut. He fell forward onto his front, and
looked frantically through the broken glass, and closed his eyes in
relief when he saw that the cab was empty. He was still lying there
when Sam dropped into the other side of the truck.
“Fuck,” Sam said as he
leaned into the cab, “there’s blood on the steering wheel and drop
marks on the roof. Aiden was hurt.” The two of them scrambled off
the ground and ran back to Sam’s truck. They got in as quickly as
possible and roared up the rest of the drive to the house. Nick’s
heart was pounding in his chest when they slammed through the door
into the kitchen, but it didn’t take long to see that the place was
empty.
“What the fuck is going
on? Where is he?” Sam asked in frustration as he ran back into the
kitchen from searching the back of the house.
“I have no clue,” Nick
growled, reaching into his pocket for his phone. “Maybe someone saw
the accident and called it in. He could be back at that damn
hospital.” As he swiped the front of the phone to activate the
device, it vibrated in his hand before ringing. His concern turned
to anger when he saw that it was a California number.
“If you are calling to
tell me you bastards have lost that murdering fuck,” Nick growled
into the phone after connecting the call, “then I am going to
fucking kill you myself.” Sam stepped closer, and Nick pulled the
phone back and activated the speaker phone function.
There was a pause on the other end of
the phone. “Is that Sheriff Nicolas Jones, of the Redwood Falls
Sheriff’s Department?”
“Yeah it’s me, but I don’t
think you are calling me because of who I am or where the fuck I
work. You’re one of the federal dipshits looking after Miles Duncan
right? And somehow that fucker has escaped your notice enough to
get here.”
Again there was a slight hesitation.
“I’m sorry, Sheriff, but I think you—”
“You’re sorry?” Sam yelled
incredulously down the phone. “All you had to do was keep an eye on
that prick. He’s a recently released murderer with a high potential
for recommitting, and you useless bastards let that fucker slip
through your inept fingers.”
“Wait, wait, wait! Now
just hold on a minute,” the man on the other end of the phone said
in a voice that made it clear he was getting a little worked up
himself. “I am not sure what kind of situation you have there at
the moment, gentlemen, but it has nothing to do with Miles Duncan
and it sure as shit has nothing to do with me. Yes, I am a federal
agent, and yes, I am part of the team tasked with ensuring
high-risk releases are monitored for the safety of the American
people. Miles Duncan suffered a massive inferior myocardial
infarction in the early hours of this morning. The man died less
than two hours ago. I checked his file for the next of kin, and
there were only two numbers in the file to call if anything
happened. This one, and one belonging to Aiden George. I called
this one first.”
Nick’s fear rose, and his gaze locked
with Sam’s. He saw the same fear emotion mirrored in his
expression. “Shit, okay, thank you for letting us know. I—um, will
have to call you back.” Nick disconnected the call. “That truck was
most definitely hit with an explosive of some kind. Either Aiden
drove over something, or it was in the motor, to begin with. Do you
think—”
Nick’s phone rang again, and he almost
dropped the phone in his haste to connect the call and activate the
speaker phone function once more when he saw it was Aiden calling
him. “Aiden! Baby, where are you? Are you hurt?”
“Well, now this is
unexpected.” A voice Nick didn’t recognize spoke, and a quick look
at Sam told him that he was none the wiser either. “When I dialed
the emergency contact number in Aiden’s cell, I figured it would be
the medic who would be reaching into his pocket for his phone. I
knew that he was fucking him, but I had no idea it was some kind of
freaky threesome with the sheriff as well.”
“Who the fuck is this?”
Nick demanded.
“Just someone who was
looking to prove that perhaps Aiden here isn’t as smart as he
thinks he is, and now, I reckon the fun I was planning on having
has just grown exponentially. It was going to be fun pitting my
skills against the sniper and the EOD tech, but now there’s a
lawman involved, too! This is just too good to be true.”
“You’re going to have to
tell us how to play this damn game of yours, asshole,” Sam snapped.
“It won’t be much fun if two of your players aren’t able to
engage.”
“You are absolutely
right.” There was amusement in the man’s tone, and Nick wanted to
throw the damn phone against the wall. “But I don’t want too many
people playing, it will ruin my fun. So, here is the deal. You
don’t get to call in any of your friends, the house you are
standing in is under surveillance and rigged to blow, and if you
decide to leave or anyone comes near the house I will blow you both
off the face of the earth. If a car or truck, or hell, your latest
fucking delivery of dildos from turns up in your driveway,
it will all be over. This is a game of wits, the three of you
against me. Not a fair fight really, but hey, I’ve given you as
much advantage as I am prepared to. Now, I reckon this game is best
played at night, so keep your phone handy and charged, lawman. I’ll
be in touch.”
The click of the call disconnecting
sparked a string of curses from Nick. Sam reached out to place a
hand on Nick’s shoulder, and he vaguely heard him call his
name.
“Nick! Goddamn it, we need
to focus. Get your shit together and help me work out what the fuck
we are going to do.”
Nick took a couple of deep breaths,
concentrating on Sam, and allowing his calm to settle within him.
“Okay, what’s first?”
Sam blinked in surprise. “You want me
to take charge here? You’re the commanding officer, and you always
take charge.”
“Sam, I am on the fucking
edge right now. If it were another man being held by this crazy
asshole, someone I’m not deeply in love with then perhaps I might
be able to remain calm enough to think clearly. But it’s not. It’s
Aiden, and with whatever game this prick is going to have us play,
it is going to put you in danger at the same damn time, and that
scares the fuck out of me. So yes, I want you to take the lead.
What’s first?”
Sam held his gaze for a moment before
he nodded. “We’re going to need help.”
“But the guy said we’re
under surveillance, Bravo team can’t come riding in here to save
the day. It’ll put us all at risk.”
Sam pulled out his phone. “Firstly,
Bravo doesn’t need to be anywhere near this place to be of any
help. Hell, Glenn doesn’t even need to be in the same damn zip code
to take this prick out. But we need their thinking and their calm
to help us work our way through this.”
“Then call your team,
babe, and let’s go get our man.”