[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
closed and for a moment she felt a fist clenching around her heart. Then he opened his
eyes and gave her a halfhearted smile.
“I’m never walking home from a date with you again,” he joked, in a lame attempt
at humor.
“And I’ll make sure it never happens again,” she told him and brushed her lips
against his.
She crouched beside him, tensely watching in all directions, flinching every time
she heard a car pull into the parking lot. Sore and aching, she didn’t dare close her eyes
for fear of attack by their two thugs. At last a tall, lanky familiar figure rounded the
corner of the building, and she was so relieved she wanted to cry.
“Someone here call for a taxi?” Lane asked.
90
Until Midnight
“Oh, god, you are such a sight for sore eyes,” Nicki told him. “Listen, Adam can’t
walk too steadily.”
“Not a problem.” He looked at the man next to her. “I assume this is Adam. And
that when we get away from here you’ll tell me what this is about and where we go
from here.”
“First, we’re in need of water and food,” she told him as they each hooked an arm
under one of Adam’s and walked toward the Humvee. “Then we’re up for a little help
from a few friendly law enforcement types.”
91
Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand
Chapter Ten
“Friends like the FBI,” Lane declared, “require strong evidence to enlist.”
He had listened to their breathless summary of what the two of them had been
through in the past day.
Nicki nodded. “We’ve got it,” she told him as she sank limp as a rag doll into the
back seat of one of the Nemesis Humvees.
“We were locked inside one of Henderson’s warehouses,” Adam added as
uncapped his second bottle of water. He needed to flush the remnants of the drug out of
his system as fast as possible. “We had oxygen masks fitted to our faces inhaling their
so called fragrance, which they apparently store there before shipping it out. The police
need to be fast to get there before the two thugs who abducted us go in and clean up the
evidence.”
“Lane, call Maddie right now,” Nicki managed as she rubbed her arms and rolled
her head around to relieve the stress. “Tell her to alert the Virginia State Police to illegal
trafficking in and out of that warehouse. And maybe the FBI. See if they want Adam
and me to come in to press charges or if they can find a way to lock it down without our
testimony. Then, tell her to find Henderson’s location. We need to know where he is.
And if he is still on his island, well then…” Her voice drifted off, the exertions of the
last few days washing through her system like a typhoon. “And we’ve probably got
only until midnight to get this all done or everyone will scatter. They’ll be out of our
reach.”
“We have to figure out who to send in to arrest him there,” Adam worried. Having
downed his third bottle of water he now chomped on a protein bar. “He’s actually out
of our territorial jurisdiction, and it could take longer than we’ve got to get international
cooperation.”
92
Until Midnight
Nicki agreed as she peeled down her own energy bar and began to munch on it.
“Not sure who has top jurisdiction on this, but we need all the law enforcement we can
get.” Swallowing the last of the bar, she leaned her head back, eyes drifting shut as
exhaustion took over.
Two hours later, she startled awake when she heard Maddie’s voice on the speaker
phone. They were crossing over the Potomac when Maddie reported that the Virginia
State Police and the FBI had surrounded the beachside warehouse and secured it.
“Evidence of your abductions intact,” she said with triumph. “What else do you
need?”
Nicki rubbed her eyes, leaned forward and reached for another bottle of water.
“When you called the Bureau, was it Jared Donnelly you talked to?”
“No. He was out. I got his next in line. Why?”
“I need to talk to Jared myself, Maddie. He might need DEA as well on this. But our
big fish is Henderson and to hook him, we need to know where he is.”
“Hot damn! Well, for that, my friend, you are in luck.”
From Maddie’s tone, Nicki could envision her friend grinning. “Is that so?”
“Henderson is on his way to a meeting right in D.C.”
Adam swiveled to check Nicki’s gaze. “Do we know where?”
“He flew into Dulles this morning on his own Lear. Due to have lunch in a private
dining room in a small Italian restaurant on Seventeenth Street at one o’clock.”
“How convenient.” Nicki grinned at Adam. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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closed and for a moment she felt a fist clenching around her heart. Then he opened his
eyes and gave her a halfhearted smile.
“I’m never walking home from a date with you again,” he joked, in a lame attempt
at humor.
“And I’ll make sure it never happens again,” she told him and brushed her lips
against his.
She crouched beside him, tensely watching in all directions, flinching every time
she heard a car pull into the parking lot. Sore and aching, she didn’t dare close her eyes
for fear of attack by their two thugs. At last a tall, lanky familiar figure rounded the
corner of the building, and she was so relieved she wanted to cry.
“Someone here call for a taxi?” Lane asked.
90
Until Midnight
“Oh, god, you are such a sight for sore eyes,” Nicki told him. “Listen, Adam can’t
walk too steadily.”
“Not a problem.” He looked at the man next to her. “I assume this is Adam. And
that when we get away from here you’ll tell me what this is about and where we go
from here.”
“First, we’re in need of water and food,” she told him as they each hooked an arm
under one of Adam’s and walked toward the Humvee. “Then we’re up for a little help
from a few friendly law enforcement types.”
91
Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand
Chapter Ten
“Friends like the FBI,” Lane declared, “require strong evidence to enlist.”
He had listened to their breathless summary of what the two of them had been
through in the past day.
Nicki nodded. “We’ve got it,” she told him as she sank limp as a rag doll into the
back seat of one of the Nemesis Humvees.
“We were locked inside one of Henderson’s warehouses,” Adam added as
uncapped his second bottle of water. He needed to flush the remnants of the drug out of
his system as fast as possible. “We had oxygen masks fitted to our faces inhaling their
so called fragrance, which they apparently store there before shipping it out. The police
need to be fast to get there before the two thugs who abducted us go in and clean up the
evidence.”
“Lane, call Maddie right now,” Nicki managed as she rubbed her arms and rolled
her head around to relieve the stress. “Tell her to alert the Virginia State Police to illegal
trafficking in and out of that warehouse. And maybe the FBI. See if they want Adam
and me to come in to press charges or if they can find a way to lock it down without our
testimony. Then, tell her to find Henderson’s location. We need to know where he is.
And if he is still on his island, well then…” Her voice drifted off, the exertions of the
last few days washing through her system like a typhoon. “And we’ve probably got
only until midnight to get this all done or everyone will scatter. They’ll be out of our
reach.”
“We have to figure out who to send in to arrest him there,” Adam worried. Having
downed his third bottle of water he now chomped on a protein bar. “He’s actually out
of our territorial jurisdiction, and it could take longer than we’ve got to get international
cooperation.”
92
Until Midnight
Nicki agreed as she peeled down her own energy bar and began to munch on it.
“Not sure who has top jurisdiction on this, but we need all the law enforcement we can
get.” Swallowing the last of the bar, she leaned her head back, eyes drifting shut as
exhaustion took over.
Two hours later, she startled awake when she heard Maddie’s voice on the speaker
phone. They were crossing over the Potomac when Maddie reported that the Virginia
State Police and the FBI had surrounded the beachside warehouse and secured it.
“Evidence of your abductions intact,” she said with triumph. “What else do you
need?”
Nicki rubbed her eyes, leaned forward and reached for another bottle of water.
“When you called the Bureau, was it Jared Donnelly you talked to?”
“No. He was out. I got his next in line. Why?”
“I need to talk to Jared myself, Maddie. He might need DEA as well on this. But our
big fish is Henderson and to hook him, we need to know where he is.”
“Hot damn! Well, for that, my friend, you are in luck.”
From Maddie’s tone, Nicki could envision her friend grinning. “Is that so?”
“Henderson is on his way to a meeting right in D.C.”
Adam swiveled to check Nicki’s gaze. “Do we know where?”
“He flew into Dulles this morning on his own Lear. Due to have lunch in a private
dining room in a small Italian restaurant on Seventeenth Street at one o’clock.”
“How convenient.” Nicki grinned at Adam. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]