Chapter 10
Chapter 10
“ A t what point are you going to tell me what this is about?”
Gum Lady waited a miraculous fifteen minutes to speak. In that time Jones ushered her to one of the resort’s Jeeps and headed for their rendezvous. She turned her head toward the window, seemingly taken with the view. Not that he could blame her. It was breathtaking, even with the poverty on clear display everywhere outside the resort. It was a strange juxtaposition, abject luxury next to abject destitution. The people who lived on the island fulltime could live for a decade on what visiting tourists paid for one night at the resort. Crime was also rampant. Most visitors didn’t leave the resort, unless it was on scheduled excursions to approved locations. Since Jones had been in charge, there hadn’t been any security issues with the excursions, but each one was a risk. The locals, many of whom worked at the resort, respected the law and their dependence on the continued success of the resort. But there were others, those who came from the mainland intent on making quick money, who were always a danger. Gangs were rampant. Gangs were what brought Gum Lady here, gangs with international ties that posed more than a localized threat.
“I think you have more intel than I do,” he said.
“Are you paid to speak in riddles?” she asked.
“No, but you are,” he said, grinning at her.
Her hands tightened on her pack. Like most people who’d lived their lives in high danger situations, Jones had a bug out bag. His was filled with cash, ammo, and extra weapons. He wondered what Gum Lady kept in hers. So far she’d produced a hat and sunglasses, but she’d already told him she viewed those as vital necessities. It comforted him to think she had her own weapons in there. Jones was armed, but somehow it never seemed like enough. He missed the ready access to guns and ammo SEAL life had given him. Now he had a couple of personal weapons, and that was it. If he ever had a firefight, he’d be massively outgunned.
“I really don’t know how this is supposed to help. I’m supposed to be at the resort,” she said.
“That’s not what my info said.”
“I’m sure not, but that’s rather contradictory, isn’t it? I mean, I’m here to judge your performance. Of course you want to make it harder for me to do that.”
He tossed her a sideways glance. “You’re here to judge my performance? What does that mean? I’m not part of that world anymore.” He was a civilian, thoroughly and completely. Her world had nothing to do with him anymore. Even The Colonel’s wrath couldn’t affect him here.
“What are you talking about? Of course you are. That’s the entire point of this assignment, the entire point of everything,” she said.
“What? What do I have to do with anything?”
“Everything. Obviously it’s not only you, but you’re part of it. And clearly someone has tipped you off to keep me distracted. And no wonder. Things are in shambles.”
“Hold on. Are you actually saying I’m supposed to be a part of this thing? That your objective from the beginning has been to involve me?”
“It involves everything. Every single detail. I leave no stone unturned,” she said with a confidence that bordered on cockiness.
“Okay,” Jones drawled. He wondered if she had a screw loose somewhere. Maybe so much time spent in the field had made her a bit deranged. She wasn’t talking like any spook he’d ever met. They were confident, sure, but cagey. Speculative. You could never pin them down on an objective. Gum Lady was up front about her intentions, and somehow they involved him.
They drove for a bit to the far side of the island, as far from luxury as they could be while still sharing the same bit of real estate. Jones turned the truck into a dirt lot, bordering a deserted building, and flicked the Jeep’s engine off. “This is it.”
“This?” she said, studying the building in silence.
“According to my intel, we’re supposed to go inside. Lock and load time.”
She reached into her bag and withdrew a small tube of lip balm. At first glance he thought maybe it was some high-tech spy gear, but then she opened it and smeared it on her lips. “Ready,” she said.
“Okay,” he drawled. Apparently she was the calm and collected sort who liked to keep her weapon disguised until she needed it. Jones gave his shoulder holster a reassuring pat, secure in the knowledge that he’d checked it before he left the resort. If things went bad, he was ready, too.
They hopped out of the tall vehicle and walked side by side to the dark building. Gum Lady glanced sharply around, making a detailed inspection as if she planned to put even the landscaping—or lack thereof—in her report.
They entered the dark building side by side. Gum Lady drew out her phone and used a flashlight app to light their way.
“This is…unimpressive in the extreme,” she said.
He smiled a bit at that. “I bet you’ve seen dodgier,” he guessed. If she was anything like the other spies he knew, she got sent to some rough and seedy places.
“Not often,” she said, cute little upturned nose wrinkled in distaste. Once again Jones thought it was too bad she was so dislikable. Without her off-putting personality as a buffer, he might have been attracted to her. She had a strong girl-next-door vibe he usually found irresistible. Call him a cliché, but he liked clean-cut, wholesome girls, girls he could take home to his mother with no embarrassment. Growing up he’d watched a lot of TV, mostly reruns from the fifties. Something about those squeaky-clean women sent him over the edge, a fact he had never admitted to his friends, guessing correctly how harshly they would tease him for having a Donna Reid fetish.
They didn’t have long to ponder their dilapidated environment. Soon the sound of a rumbling muffler outside alerted them to their company. “Go time,” Jones muttered. Gum Lady faced the door, an inquisitive expression on her face.
A man stepped inside then, large and looming and intimidating, backlit only by the sun streaming through the door behind him. Gum Lady clicked off her flashlight app and dropped the phone back into her purse. She might have also reached for her gun, Jones couldn’t be sure. He hoped so, though. If there was ever a time for it, this was it. The man before them was supposedly their ally, an informant sent to give them the information about smuggled goods. But that didn’t make him trustworthy. He needed to know they wouldn’t hesitate to use force, to take him out, if necessary.
“I was told you’d be alone,” the man said in heavily accented English.
“The message got mixed up,” Jones answered. “I had to deliver her.”
The man’s eyes moved from Jones to Gum Lady with something like surprise. “This is my contact? This woman?”
Jones looked at Gum Lady, waiting for her to answer. In his experience, she had an answer for everything. She said nothing, however, merely regarded the informant with wide eyes. If he didn’t know better, Jones might think she was afraid.
“This is her,” Jones said. “We have mutual friends. I was sent to retrieve her when the communication got mixed up.”
The man took a step forward. “I do not like last minute changes. It is desperate and dangerous enough without mixups and mishaps. Makes me believe I cannot trust what I have been led to believe.”
“The incoming storm has knocked a lot of comms off. Things went a bit haywire. We’re golden now,” Jones assured him when Gum Lady remained silent.
The man gave one nod of assent. “No more changes or I take back my information.”
“So far you’ve given us nothing,” Jones pointed out.
The man scowled. “And neither have you. I demand payment.”
Jones didn’t think that was part of the original bargain. He glanced at Gum Lady who looked at him in silence, big eyes growing bigger. She swallowed hard, radiating fear and uncertainty. What was wrong with her? Jones had no idea, but she was blowing it big time.
“That wasn’t part of our agreement,” Jones said.
“It is now. Believe me, when I tell you what I know, you will deem it worthwhile. And I will need something to make it worth my while. It is a death sentence, with no means of escape.”
Beside him, Gum Lady was still and silent. Maybe she guessed, correctly, that women’s lib hadn’t yet entered the equation in this part of the country. Their contact was an alpha male, looking for another alpha male.
“We’ll get back with you. But if you don’t bring the info next time, we’re done,” Jones said, refusing to blink when the other man took his measure.
“If you want to make threats, you’d better be ready and willing to back them up. I know I am.” His eyes flicked to Gum Lady with menace. Jones refused the urge to place himself in front of her, to intercept that look. She was a professional. She could handle it. He remained silent and alert. Their contact looked between them once more and backed out. Jones waited to take a breath until he heard the hum of his motor drive away.
At last he faced Gum Lady, accusation pulling his features taut. “What was that?” he demanded, facing her.
She regarded him with big eyes, blinking exactly three times. Then her lower lip trembled and she burst into violent, noisy tears.