Chapter 23
23
H e held her close and felt her shaking. "It's okay, honey. It's okay."
"They know I'm here."
"It's possible."
"Why else would they target the car that Mitch loaned me?"
"I've asked him that question. He said he'll get back to me."
"When, after I'm dead?"
His arms tightened around her. "You're not going to die."
Theresa tilted her head up to look into his eyes. "Are you sure he isn't with them?"
"I'm certain. But I don't know his employees. I trust that he's careful and wouldn't bring anyone on who was dirty, but sometimes things can take a turn."
She stepped back and when her beautiful face tipped up to look into his eyes, his heart felt heavy. The sadness etched on her face was heartbreaking.
"Marco. I'm at a loss here. We're here because you have all this security. And that's great, but they now know I'm here. How long do you think it'll take for them to bribe or threaten one of your neighbors here into letting them inside? I'm a sitting duck here. I have to go. But Mitch has my car, and the one he gave me is in flames outside. I can't run, and I don't have a safe place to run to right now."
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe. That said, it sure doesn't look like it tonight, does it?"
Her lips turned down into a frown. "No. But I know this wasn't your doing."
"It wasn't. I swear to you."
"I believe you. You're the only person I believe right now."
"Okay. So, let's think this through a moment."
His phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket. "It's Jace. You trust Jace don't you?"
"Yes."
He tapped the answer and the speaker icons. "Hey, Jace."
"I just heard there was an explosion by your place. Are you and Theresa alright?"
"Yes. Rattled but alright."
"Thank God."
"Jace. Theresa is afraid she's a sitting duck here now. That was a clear threat."
"I read her exposé today. That's likely what escalated the threats."
"Yeah, that's what we think. Now we need to find a safe place to lay low. And, since we don't know who we can trust, minimal people should be told where that is."
"I agree with you on that. Do you have any ideas?"
He looked into Theresa's eyes and smiled. He mouthed, "Do you trust me?"
Her eyes looked deeply into his, he saw a tear form at the corner of her eye and slowly drift down her cheek. She sniffed lightly and nodded.
He took a breath. "Jace, there's a man at the VFW, I think his name is Wes. He's mentioned a family cabin outside of town. I know his MOS was surveillance and recon. I'm guessing his cabin is set up with the very best in all of that. Anyway, can you ask him about it and not mention my name or Theresa's? Maybe see if a friend can use it as a getaway or something."
Jace chuckled. "Great plan. I'll touch base with him. His name is Wesley Charles. He's a good man. Honest and true and you're correct, his place is like no other. I've been there."
He smiled at Theresa and another tear rolled down her cheek. He swiped it with the back of his forefinger. "Thanks, Jace."
He ended the call and kissed Theresa's forehead. "We've got this. Let's pack up."
She went into the kitchen and knelt down on the floor in front of the stove. He watched her slip her hand under and after several attempts, slide her laptop out. She stood and glanced at him. Shrugging she said, "I needed to hide it and didn't think anyone would look there. Not for a while anyway."
He chuckled. "Good thinking. But your cloud account is heavily encrypted. Your laptop isn't going to matter much."
"Not for that it won't. But I have notes I didn't have time to upload to the encrypted files." She set her laptop on the counter. "Marco, I cracked the code!"
He neared as she logged into her laptop and pulled up a spreadsheet. "See, it's zip codes. I didn't put it together until I saw your mail." She pointed to his mail on the counter. "The zip code is the same as a few of these accounts. That's why I wanted the extended zip code of the law office you were watching."
He chuckled. "That's fantastic. You're as smart as you are beautiful."
He pulled his phone from his pocket and swiped to open his photos. "I took these pictures from mail in the mailbox. Luckily he didn't check it today."
She looked at the mail and found a piece with the extended zip code. "Here it is. I now know this is the code for Blossom Springs and this building. I can match up other codes with the same numbers and the first five numbers. I can then try to pinpoint where these other businesses or people are located."
He leaned in and checked over her spreadsheet. It was long and he could see the organization of her information. "That's impressive, Theresa."
"Thanks. I took it from the ledgers. I've been trying to figure out where all these operators work and where the money is from. Working briefly, it's from all over the US. They're everywhere."
He whistled low and slow. "Fucking unreal."
"Yeah. That's what I said."
His phone rang and she jumped. He turned his screen so she could see it was Jace. He tapped the icon and greeted his friend. "Hey, Jace."
"Hi. Wes is fine with you at his cabin. I didn't tell him your name but vouched for you. I'll take you out there and give you the codes and show you some of the security features. Is it safe for you two to get out of the building now?"
"I think this is the best time. Fire trucks and police are all outside. With the melee of people and frenzy of the fire, we should be able to slip out unnoticed."
"What about a statement from the police?"
"Mitch is down there handling it now. After all, it was his vehicle."
"Gotcha. Okay, load up and come past the Sandbar. It's closed tonight, but I'll be in the parking lot waiting for you. Slow down when you get here, and I'll pull out in front of you and lead you there."
"Sounds good. We're packing up now."
He ended the call and nodded to Theresa. "Grab anything you need. Don't bring anything you don't need."
"Okay." She picked up her laptop and her notebooks and chargers from the dining room table and hurried to her bedroom. He grabbed his laptop and pulled the case from his closet. Setting that in the chair in the living room he hurried to his bedroom and pulled a duffel bag from the shelf in his closet. He quickly dropped in underwear, socks, sweat pants, shorts, and t-shirts. Pulling his toiletry bag from his closet he tossed that in and carried the duffel to the living room. He dropped the duffel on the floor in front of his gun cabinet and rushed to open it and fill it with extra weapons and ammo. They wouldn't go quietly if something were to happen.