Chapter 11 #3
Without another word, I exited the restaurant.
The SUV stopped fifteen feet from my truck.
When the driver’s door opened, I was surprised.
Undertaker stepped out. The other doors opened, and guys I recognized from the office joined him.
They were part of the special team on standby to assist or protect operatives and their families, if necessary.
They were highly trained and dangerous. They would use whatever means necessary to get the job done.
They were experts in explosives and sabotage.
There were two of them. All wore grim expressions. I went straight up to them.
“Thanks so much for coming. I’m probably being paranoid, but I have my pregnant girlfriend and a friend with me. I won’t risk them,” I explained.
“No worries, this is what they’re here for. And they enjoy getting out of the office, don’t you?” Undertaker asked.
“Hell yeah. This is the most excitement we’ve had in a while,” Kyle stated. He, along with Mattheus–Matt–was with them.
“It’s a nice night to be out and about,” Matt remarked.
They were busy unloading small work bags from the SUV. It would contain equipment they’d use to go over my truck. As they worked, I spoke to Undertaker.
“Why are you here? They surely didn’t call you about this.”
“No one called me. I happened to be at the office working on something that had to be done tonight. I’d just finished and was checking in with everyone before I left.
It’s my habit. When I went into where Kyle and the others were and asked if everything was okay, they told me about your call.
I missed it by like a minute. I asked to come along, and they didn’t object. ”
“Like they’d say no to an owner, especially you,” I remarked.
Undertaker’s lips twitched before he continued speaking.
“So here we are. I assume Danae and your friend are inside.”
“Yeah. I have Johann watching over her. She’s anxious about me being out here. I hate that she’s stressed.”
“We’ll do our best to be quick. Tell me exactly what happened,” Undertaker requested. I ran him through it from the moment we stepped outside to now.
Kyle and Matt listened even though they had to have been briefed at headquarters.
When I was done, they were ready to approach the vehicle.
Undertaker told me to stand back. I wasn’t crazy about him being close to it.
He was a husband and father. If anything happened to him, it would devastate more than his wife and kids.
Not to devalue them, but I knew Matt and Kyle were single.
I remained where I was directed to stand by Undertaker’s finger.
They had on headlamps and gloves. They started by running those lights over every square inch of my truck, then got on the ground to inspect the undercarriage.
Undertaker was right there working alongside them.
Time seemed to drag, but when they stood back up and looked over at me, I knew by my glance at my watch that it had only been twenty-two minutes.
“We don’t see anything. Give me the key. We’ll look under the hood next and then get inside. It doesn’t appear that he got inside, but we want to be safe,” Undertaker informed me.
I took out my keys and tossed them to him.
He caught them with ease and turned back to their work.
At that moment, a car pulled into the lot.
The people in it gave me a puzzled glance, then they turned their heads to look at the three guys around my vehicle.
Christ, don’t let anyone get spooked and call the cops.
When they got out of their car, there were two couples. They made their way past the truck, eyeing it again, and then glanced at me. I smiled and nodded.
“Good evening. Don’t you hate it when you have car trouble? The damn thing won’t start,” I said pleasantly.
I noticed some of the tension eased from the guys.
“Yeah, it is a pain in the ass. Good thing you found someone to help. Half the time, that’s a damn challenge. Have a good night,” the bigger of the two guys said.
I got nods and murmurs of the same from the three with him. I murmured back the appropriate response, and then, we were alone again.
When I looked back at my truck, I saw they had the hood up and the three of them under it. A dumb joke came to mind. How many men did it take to check an engine? I chuckled under my breath. To help relieve my stress, I paced within my restricted area.
As I did, I racked my brain to figure out whether this was due to work.
Had I exposed myself unwittingly? If so, to whom?
The logical answer would be to go back to my last dangerous mission, which was the one I spent finding and helping Justin.
It had been a mess of epic proportions. But we’d taken care of everyone.
I was positive no one slipped through our fingers.
It had taken time to track down and account for all the people in charge and those most likely to continue their dirty work if the leaders were gone.
The rest had been arrested and were awaiting trial.
There was no doubt they’d be convicted, but if they weren’t, the Patriots would go back in and clean up again.
When we went on missions like that, we went under assumed names.
We had the documents to “prove” we were that person.
We didn’t use our real names or identification for fear of backlash and revenge.
Since that assignment, everything I’d done had been basic, no-risk tasks like the one I finished with Gio two days ago.
My attention was snagged when the hood was lowered. At the same time, the restaurant door opened, and a family came out. It was parents and their three children. They gave me a tentative smile. I returned it.
As they passed, I saw they were headed toward my truck.
I held my breath, hoping they’d steer off.
They didn’t. Just our luck, their car was the one parked on the driver’s side of mine.
Shit, what if the person had been messing with their car?
I opened my mouth to warn them, but I caught Undertaker’s head shake. I subsided, but held my breath.
It was agony to watch them get into the car and fiddle with the seat belts and the car seat. Finally, they started the car. I cringed when I heard the engine come to life, but there was no loud explosion or ball of fire. They backed out and then left the lot. I let my breath out.
“I checked the undercarriage of that car. I didn’t see anything,” Matt called over to me.
“Thank God,” I replied.
The minutes were ticking away. I took out my phone and texted Danae. I knew Johann, and she had to be going crazy.
Me: So far so good. Close 2 done. Hang in there.
Danae: When I see people come & go, I pray, they don’t stick their noses into it. It looks shady with all of you out there. BTW, why is Undertaker here?
Me: Me too on those people. Undertaker was @ HQ, heard about the call, decided 2 come.
Danae: Stay safe.
Me: I will.
The three were inside the truck, going over the dual cab thoroughly. In the end, they even checked under the locked cover on the bed where Danae’s boxes were. It took an hour, but they left nothing to chance. When they were done, Undertaker came over to me.
“We didn't see anything, and we checked the tires, too. It appears safe, but just in case, Matt will start it.”
Before I could object, I heard the engine start. I tensed, but nothing happened. Then, Matt backed it out of the parking spot and pulled up in front of me. He hopped out.
“It sounds and looks good. We saw some scratch marks around the key slot on the driver’s door. I think whoever it was was trying to get in, probably to steal it, but you came out and startled him,” Kyle stated as he joined us.
I shook my head. “Damn, I’m sorry I made you come out and waste your time.”
“It wasn’t a waste. Better safe than sorry. Don’t think anything of it. It got us out of the office, so we should be thanking you,” Matt told me, grinning.
“Well, I’m glad you see it that way. Thank you so much.”
I shook all their hands. I saved Undertaker for last. He slapped my shoulder as he shook my hand.
“Get your woman home. She’ll need to relax. She has to be stressed out. Reassure her. But don’t hesitate to call, Heath. We never know when it might be real.”
“I’ll do that. Again, thank you. Tell Sloan I’m sorry I kept you away from your family even longer.”
“She doesn’t mind. I told her where I was headed. She’ll be happy to hear everything is alright. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
I stayed until they pulled away, waving. I waved back and then went inside. As soon as she saw me, Danae rushed to me. I wrapped her in my arms. Johann ambled over behind her.
“Let’s talk in the truck. I want to get you home,” I told her softly.
She didn’t say a word. I got her buckled in, and Johann was in his seat when I got behind the wheel.
“Well, clearly the truck is fine. Did they find anything?” she asked as I drove to the exit.
“There are faint scratches on the lock, suggesting he was trying to break in. Either he planned to steal the whole truck, or he just wanted to see if there was anything of value inside to rip off. We came out before he could get in, so he ran, is what we think,” I summarized for them.
“I’m glad it was nothing, but the fact you have such a resource available is cool,” Johann said.
“It is. I apologized for the false alarm, but they said it got them out of the office.”
They both laughed at that. As the drive continued, the tension lessened.
Talk turned to topics other than who the man was.
After we got home, I tucked Danae into bed, and Johann went to his house.
I was ready for a good night's sleep. I didn’t mention to either of them that my gut refused to calm itself completely.
I wasn’t sure why. Undertaker, Matt, and Kyle had found nothing.
So why was I still feeling like I should be alert?