Chapter Twenty-Three
Rafer was hidden in the thick vegetation that bordered the north side of the house where Gabriela was being held hostage.
From his vantage point he could see the backyard and the front yard, and he thought he would be able to hear Gabriela scream if she screamed loud enough.
He was keeping track of the time, watching the minutes tick by, not comfortable with the plan.
Ten more minutes, he thought. In ten minutes, he was going in like Godzilla on speed.
The front door to the house opened and Rafer saw five men walk out.
Theodore Searl, possibly Harry Bench, two huge goons, and a slim guy dressed in black.
Theodore Searl, Slim, and the unknown man got into the red Range Rover.
One goon got behind the wheel of the black Explorer and the other took a shoebox out of the cargo area of the Explorer and carried it into the house.
Moments later he came out without the shoebox and got into the black SUV.
Both cars backed out of the driveway and drove off.
Gabriela was still in the house. Nobody was screaming.
Rafer didn’t know if there was anyone left in the house, standing guard over Gabriela, but he wasn’t waiting any longer.
He was going in. He was halfway across the side yard when there was an explosion, and the front windows blew out of the house.
By the time he reached the building the entire front was on fire.
He ran to the back and kicked in the back door.
He ran through the kitchen, down the hall, looking in each room.
He got to the locked bedroom door, unbolted the top lock, and kicked at the second lock until the door swung open.
Gabriela’s eyes were open but unfocused. Rafer grabbed the back of her chair and dragged it out of the room, down the hall, and out the kitchen door to the backyard. He cut the tape binding her to the chair with the chef knife, and she slid off the chair onto the ground.
The fire had reached the back of the house. The window glass crackled, and flames shot out the open back door. Black smoke billowed into the sky and dropped sparks that set off small fires in the weeds around the house.
Rafer pulled Gabriela to her feet, her knees buckled, and she fell against him. He scooped her up, draped her over his shoulder, and headed for the house next door, where his car was stashed.
BAROOOM! The propane tank exploded.
“Vesuvius,” Gabriela said. Her first coherent word.
Rafer fought his way through the hedge and scrubby brush, crossed the small front yard to the carport, and propped Gabriela up against the Porsche.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“No. I’ve got b-b-brain fog, and I’m f-f-freaked out. They kept stun gunning me. Am I drooling?”
“Big-time.”
“I need coffee.”
“You need more than coffee,” Rafer said. “You’re covered in blood. Is it yours?”
“Searl’s freak hit me, and I got a cut lip, and then he slashed my arm.”
“How bad is it?”
She looked at her arm. “It’s stopped gushing. I don’t think I need stitches. Just a couple big Band-Aids. I’d rather not get medical help. I don’t want to have to explain this.”
“This is all because you went off on your own.”
“That’s ridiculous. And I wouldn’t have gone off on my own if you’d let me drive the car.”
“You kicked me.”
“You called me missy.”
“You deserved to be called missy.”
“No one deserves to be called missy.”
Rafer grabbed her and kissed her.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
“I don’t know, it just came over me,” Rafer said. “Your arm is leaking. I hate when you bleed.”
“You like me,” Gabriela said, smiling.
“Yeah,” Rafer said. “I’ll stop on the way back to the apartment and get some first aid stuff.”
Rafer had just turned onto the main road when a cop car and a fire truck screamed past them, going in the opposite direction, toward the torched house.
“Fast response,” Rafer said. “But not fast enough to save that house. It went up like kindling. The propane tank was the finishing touch.”
Gabriela had her bloody arm cradled against her.
Porsche made a great car, but it didn’t have a cushy ride and her arm was throbbing.
Deep breaths, she told herself. It was all good.
She hadn’t gone up in flames with the house.
Pretty soon the adrenaline valve would get turned off, she’d stop shaking, and she’d be back to her old self.
“Did you get an ID on Mr. Big?” Rafer asked.
“No, but I got verification that he exists. And I have a better grip on why Bench has been stalking me. Bench said they have Harley’s computer, and it contained a sensitive email chain that he got from a hacker.
It sounds like they think he decided to hijack their operation, and he brought the two of us in on it.
So, I think initially they were worried about getting rid of everyone who might have knowledge of the emails, starting with Harley… and maybe the hacker.”
“I think they’re giving Harley too much credit.”
“It gets even better. They think we have the golden coffin. Turns out, it’s missing.”
Rafer grinned. “For real?”
“For real. After they carved up my arm and threated to remove one of my breasts, I told them they would find the coffin in a mud hut in Cairo.”
“And they bought it?”
“Hard to tell. Maybe they thought I was a lost cause. I’m sure they’ll send someone to look for the coffin, and when they don’t find it, they’re going to come after you. These aren’t nice people.”
“Do we have a motive?”
“Not totally, but money is involved.”
“Gee, that’s a shocker.”
They reached the outer edges of town and Gabriela spotted a Dunkin’ Donuts.
“I need coffee,” Gabriela said. “And doughnuts! Pull in here.”
“Gabs, you’ve got a bloody arm and a split lip! You need medical help.”
“Yes, but the drugstore is five minutes away, and honestly, it’s not my priority. I’m hardly bleeding anymore. I’m a good clotter.”
Rafer pulled into the drive-thru and five minutes later, they left with two coffees, two bacon egg and cheese sandwiches, a dozen doughnuts, a bottle of water, and a wad of napkins.
“The water and napkins are for your lip,” Rafer said.
Gabriela looked at herself in the visor mirror. “At least he didn’t knock any teeth loose.” She dabbed at her lip and wiped some blood off the side of her face. “I need to talk to Harley.”
“Do you think he actually received someone’s incriminating email chain?
” Rafer asked, opening the coffee, unwrapping one of the sandwiches, and passing it on to Gabriela.
“Harley never said anything about emails, and Harley isn’t clever enough to be devious.
His talents run more to picking out a great tie or making a sensational martini. ”
Gabriela gingerly nibbled at her sandwich. “I agree. I can’t see Harley keeping something like that from us.”
“Could you see him wanting to steal a golden coffin?” Rafer asked.
“Absolutely. Who wouldn’t want to steal a golden coffin.” She sipped her coffee and took a doughnut for a test drive. “Oh yeah,” she said on a sigh. “This is good. I’m feeling better.”
“It’s hard to believe these guys were smart enough to pull off all these thefts but were dumb enough to write about it in emails.”
“I’ll call Ahmed when we get back to the apartment and tell him I have to talk to Harley.”
“Ahmed again,” Rafer said. “I’ll be glad when we’re rid of him.”
“Hard to tell if he’s a ruthless good guy or a terrifying bad guy. He’s not forthcoming with a lot of information. Unfortunately, I can’t talk to Harley unless I go through Ahmed. Harley’s not on my telepathic wavelength.”
Gabriela had changed out of her bloody clothes and into a fresh T-shirt and shorts. Her cuts had been cleaned and medicated, and her arm was wrapped in gauze. She was at the kitchen table in the rental, and she was waiting to connect with Ahmed. Rafer was across from her.
Ahmed answered after two rings. “Ahmed here,” he said. “I hope this is good news. Harley is feeling confined.”
“I’m working on the good news. I need to talk to Harley.”
“Is this a wellness check?”
“No. I need information,” Gabriela said.
“He’s not with me. He’s being held in a different location,” Ahmed said. “I’ll have him get back to you.”
Gabriela disconnected and helped herself to a second doughnut. “He’s going to call me back.”
“Harry Bench flew down here to interrogate you,” Rafer said. “Don’t you think that’s strange? Couldn’t Theodore ask you a few questions and have one of his personal goons torture you?”
“Theodore said Harry was the problem solver. And he goes by Teddy, not Theodore.”
“And they haven’t any idea where the golden coffin is?”
Gabriela smiled. “No. And I find that very satisfying.”
“Do you have any ideas?”
“I think it safely reached Egypt. After that, there’s a good possibility of a double cross.”
Gabriela had just finished her doughnut when Harley called.
“What’s up?” Harley asked. “Did you find the coffin?”
Gabriela put Harley on speakerphone. “No. It’s a process,” Gabriela said. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind getting out of here. I’m going stir-crazy, locked in this room.”
“Is the room comfortable? Are they feeding you?”
“Yeah, it’s all good, but it’s boring. And I’ve been here forever.”
“Five days,” Gabriela said.
“Are you sure it’s only five days?”
“Maybe six.”
“That’s almost a week.”
Gabriela thought time was dragging for Harley, and it was flying by for her. She wasn’t getting smart fast enough. She was making progress in baby steps.
“I talked to Harry Bench today,” Gabriela said.
“For real? Where are you? Are you in New York?”
“Bench thinks you got hold of some of his emails, discovered some operational details, and stole the golden coffin.”
“Funny. What did he really say?”
“That’s what he really said. He has your computer, and he found some sensitive emails on it.”
“If he’s talking about the porn, it popped onto my computer all by itself. And it was very confusing because they were speaking German.”
“Not that kind of sensitive,” Gabriela said. “Sensitive like how they stole the Rosetta Stone and the golden coffin.”
“I never saw anything like that, but there was a lot of stuff that came to me that I never read. I mean, who has time to read all of that interoffice mail? I mostly only read party and lunch invitations.”
“I need information,” Gabriela said. “Think! Did you ever get anything that mentioned the golden coffin?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Did you try looking at my laptop? It was left in my room when I got kidnapped.”
“I have it, but Bench said he was in possession of your computer, so I assumed the one you brought to Egypt was a replacement.”
“Yeah, but it’s got all my stuff on it. They confiscated my old one right before they put me on leave, but they didn’t take my backup hard drive.
I had a lot of personal stuff on my laptop that I didn’t want to lose, so I transferred everything from the hard drive to a new computer.
I’m guessing the junk mail came along with everything else. ”
“That’s all I need to know. Have a great rest of the day.”
“Wait! What about me? You need to get me out of here,” Harley said.
“Trust me, you’re safer where you are right now. Do I need a password to get into your computer?”
“It’s ‘pbutter123!’ ”
“Brilliant.”
Gabriela hung up and looked over at Rafer. “He’s kind of dumb and at the same time smart.”
“Are we going back to New York?”
“No. Bench and Teddy Searl think I died in the fire. It’ll be a couple days before the fire marshal decides that no one perished in the house.
Even then, if Bench or Teddy doesn’t make an inquiry they might not find out.
I’m guessing that neither of them owns the property.
If I go back to my condo, the local snitch will rat me out and I’ll be back on Bench’s hit list. I think we have more freedom of movement if we stay here.
And I could use some downtime. I didn’t sleep at all last night.
I’ll have Marcella overnight the computer to me. ”