Sudden Recall, page 15
Sienna reached in the jacket pocket—Parker’s jacket.
Amand stepped back. “Whoa.”
Both bodyguards pulled out their weapons.
Sienna stilled. “You want the flash drives, don’t you?”
He waved one of the guards over with a flick of his finger. “Search her.”
Sienna lifted both hands while one bodyguard patted her down. He reached in the pocket she’d been going for and pulled out the two flash drives the CIA had given them to exchange for Nina. God, please let this work. Amand took them and turned away. She stepped forward to walk with him, but the bodyguard grabbed her arm.
Thankfully, he hadn’t brushed back her hair and checked in her ear. The listening device was crude, but she could hear the team’s chatter at low volume as they got into position outside to breach and find Nina.
“Stay.”
Sienna could do that, but she wasn’t going to be silent. “Bring Nina out.”
Amand ignored her.
“Is she even here?” She waited, but Amand simply grabbed the tablet computer from the breakfast bar counter and switched it on. “Is she even still alive?” Dread settled in her stomach. “I want to know where she is. We had a deal.”
Desperation swept through her, but she tamped down the physical symptoms and thanked God she remembered how to do that. Amand couldn’t know that her need to get Nina back bordered on desperation. She had to play this cool so he’d think she could not care any less. This was business, nothing more.
“Once I have ascertained these are indeed the correct flash drives, you can see your friend.”
“At least tell me if she’s alive.”
He clicked the tablet screen and lifted it to show her.
The room was dark. Nina sat curled up on a dirty bed, just a mattress—no sheets. Her left hand was bandaged and she held it against her with her right.
Years of friendship bombarded Sienna all at once, like a thousand-piece puzzle tumbling to the floor in a jumble. Discordant bits of memory that didn’t make much sense except that they came with such a deep sense of longing. Sienna felt a tear drip down her face.
“Where is she?”
The chatter in her ear stilled, then she heard, “Hall is clear. You are go for breach.”
Sienna faced down the evil man in front of her, praying Parker would find Nina before Amand discovered the deception.
Amand inserted both flash drives into two ports on the tablet. “PIN code.”
Sienna bit her lips shut. This was her last bargaining piece, and she was determined to safeguard her friend no matter what the repercussions were.
“Code.”
Had the CIA even programmed it with the same code? Parker hadn’t said anything about that when he’d told them what Karen had said and done.
Amand pulled a gun, strode over and pointed it at her.
“If you kill me, you’ll never find out what it is.”
Parker’s voice came in her ear, a terse whisper. “Don’t die over this, Sienna. It’s not your way to go, and Nina would not want it to happen like this.” There was an edge to his voice, an extra layer of longing. It made her heart soar to hear it. Did he really care as much as Nina would if she died?
Sienna would do whatever it took, but she had plenty of life left to live—and remember.
Armand gritted his teeth. “Give me the code.”
“Hallway is clear.” Parker’s voice was all business. Jonah and Hailey checked in, each in turn, confirming they were in the house at the rear and on the other side from Jonah.
Ames came on. “Fifteen feet ahead. Northwest corner.” His image only showed heat signatures, not walls.
Sienna said, “Two-six-two-four-six-nine. Now give me my friend back.”
Amand sneered. “Not yet.”
She wanted to shout at him to get on with this, but Parker needed time to get to Nina and get her out without any of them noticing. After that, it would be down to her to get herself out of the house. Not the first time she’d single-handedly extricated herself from a situation, and not the first time she’d done it for Nina’s sake, either.
Amand was at the tablet. He typed the PIN code into both flash drives and Sienna saw the program begin to load. “Bring him in.”
The bodyguard left the room.
A minute later Ames said, “A second figure joined the first. They’re moving east through the house at a slow pace.”
“Got them.” Parker’s voice was a hushed whisper. “Both male.”
Where was Nina?
Sienna stepped forward. “I want to see that picture again.”
The second bodyguard, the one who had remained with her, hauled her back to him before she could get more than two paces away.
“So where is Nina?” Ames sounded worried.
Boot steps preceded the bodyguard’s return. First through the door was a different man, though, one who looked far worse for wear than the last time Sienna had seen him.
“Thomas.” He’d been beaten severely, and his hands were bound in front of him with tape.
“Log in,” Amand demanded.
“You think my ID and password are still valid?”
“I know you have others. Log-ins that you made for yourself should the need arise. Don’t play me.” Amand strode to him and got in his face to whisper something Sienna couldn’t make out.
Loughton winced. Then he trudged to the tablet and typed. “There.”
Amand grabbed it from him.
Sienna glanced aside. The bodyguard holding her was on the side of her good shoulder, so she could probably elbow him pretty well. But what then? She had no weapon, and three men in this room were armed.
Parker’s team chimed in.
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear here, too.”
Parker said, “Nina is not in the house. The extra body must have been Loughton. Sienna went in there for nothing, and all we have is an image on a screen to work with.”
“Get me that tablet,” Ames said. “I’ll get you their location.”
Sienna glanced around the room. She didn’t see how Parker’s team was going to get the tablet. Amand pulled out his phone, hit one number and listened. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “I have it.”
He hung up and started to turn. In one move, Loughton grabbed the bodyguard’s gun, twisted the man’s arm under his so that he had both the weapon and the man’s arm in his grasp, and fired two shots into Amand.
The bodyguard behind Sienna pulled his gun and fired. Loughton moved behind his man for protection and returned fire. Sienna ran for the front door. Three shots slammed the door in front of her face.
Sienna screamed.
*
Parker ran for the front room of the mansion. Sienna’s scream had torn through him and left his heart bereft of warmth. Whoever had been shooting must have either shot her, too, or hurt her shoulder.
Weapon first, Parker entered the room. Amand and his two goons were both dead.
He heard Jonah and then Hailey enter behind him. Parker strode into the room and scanned the whole place. “Clear.”
The front door was open.
“She’s not here.”
Ames spoke into Parker’s earpiece. “I got them. West off the porch, headed down the street. Loughton is sawing at the tape on his hands and dragging her along.”
Parker winced. Sienna had been pushing herself. Eventually she was going to hit a wall, and who knew how much that would set back her recovery. He was pretty sure he’d heard the doctor talk about surgery, but she’d been adamant that getting Nina back was her priority.
Which was fine, considering Sienna’s well-being and safety had become his priority.
Parker hit the front porch at a run, determined to get Sienna back as soon as possible. Who knew what Loughton had planned for her?
“He’s got the tape off. Threw it down.” Ames sounded like he was running. “I’m pursuing in the car. I’ll cut them off.”
Parker headed up the sidewalk. He could hear the car engine but couldn’t see Ames as he rounded the block to cut off Loughton at the next street.
Jonah spoke over the radio. “The tablet is still here. Cell phones. Hailey and I will try and figure out where they have Nina.” He and Hailey were still at the mansion, which meant Parker and Ames had to catch Loughton and get Sienna back before he found transport out of there.
Parker wouldn’t have it any other way.
Loughton ran along a path between two houses. Parker gave chase into what looked like a kids’ park. He raced across the grass field and saw Loughton up ahead. Beyond him and Sienna was another path.
Loughton sped up and Sienna cried out.
Parker yelled, “End of the line, Thomas.”
Sienna’s head whipped around, and she stumbled as Loughton dragged her from grass onto the concrete path. She was going to go down hard any minute now.
Loughton kept going. He ran with Sienna down the path to a silver BMW parked at the curb. Amand’s car. Had he stolen the keys from the dead buyer?
Loughton flung the driver’s door open and shoved Sienna in. He climbed in almost on top of her before she scooted over.
Parker planted his feet and fired two shots into the front tire. The engine turned over and Loughton pulled away from the curb. Parker ran after the car and fired two more shots into the back end, aiming for that tire. But it wasn’t good enough. Loughton had Sienna and he was gone.
Ames pulled onto the street just as Loughton reached the end. He screeched to a halt, barely missing colliding head-on with Loughton as he peeled out of the cul-de-sac.
“Go.”
Ames was already turning around. “On it. I’ll call in.”
There was no time for him to pick up Parker. He would lose Loughton if he wasted any time, and they would lose their radio connection if Ames went any distance. He’d be calling local police right now, explaining what was happening and asking for their backup.
There was nothing Parker could do. He stood alone on a sidewalk hundreds of miles from home and prayed. He reached up and grabbed the sides of his head, squeezing. He was completely helpless.
God, we need You. Sienna needs You. Nina needs You.
His earpiece crackled. “I’ve got something.”
Parker spun back toward the house. “Nina?” He jogged across the park to the mansion, where Jonah met him out on the porch. He had the tablet in his hands and Hailey was on Amand’s phone.
Jonah said, “I got the IP address of the video call that shows Sienna’s friend. I looked it up online, and it’s registered to a cellular company.”
“A phone?”
“Or a tablet using a cellular connection.” Jonah motioned to Hailey. “Shelder’s on the phone with the office now. They’re calling the phone company to get a location on the connection.”
Parker nodded. “Okay. That’s good.”
If they could ping the phone, they’d be one step closer to finding Nina.
His phone rang. He pulled it from his back pocket, and the screen said “Ames.”
“You get Loughton?” He didn’t mention Sienna, though she was foremost in his mind. They all knew it. He didn’t need to hammer the point home over and over again when they knew his heart was in this.
“Lost him.”
Parker gripped the phone. “What happened?”
“I lost him.” To his credit, Ames sounded as frustrated as Parker felt over this.
“She’s as good as dead now. You realize that, right? Instead of getting Nina back, we’ve lost both of them and given up the flash drives to Karen in the process.”
Jonah stepped closer to him while Ames said, “I’m headed back. The cops put out an alert for the car, and I gave them Loughton’s and Sienna’s descriptions. If anyone spots them, we’ll be the first to know.”
Ames hung up, and Parker faced Jonah.
As Parker’s boss, Jonah had a great deal of authority over his career and the way he ran his team. But Parker’s respect for the man went beyond that. Whatever Jonah was going to say would be earned, and it would be true. But Parker couldn’t think what the man could say to fix this.
Parker lifted his hands and let them fall back to his sides. “I don’t really need to hear it. Just tell me how we’re supposed to find Sienna when we have no idea why Loughton took her or where they went.”
Hailey hung up and spun around. “I got a location on the friend. It’s not too far from here.”
Jonah didn’t move his attention from Parker; he just lifted one eyebrow.
Parker ignored it. “Let’s go.”
He strode down the porch steps and watched for Ames to come back with the car. While they waited, he thought through what had happened. “What about Loughton? Did he have a phone?” Sienna would have left hers in the car when she went in; she wouldn’t have taken it in the house where it could have been discovered and used against her.
Hailey got on her phone again. “I’ll find out.”
Ames drove up and they all climbed in. While Hailey called the office and asked for information on Loughton that might give them a phone number they could trace, Ames glanced at Parker in the front passenger seat.
After the fourth glance, Parker said, “What?”
“It wasn’t my fault.” Ames paused. “I know you care about Sienna, but I’m sorry. A minivan pulled out in front of me, windows down, full of kids. I wasn’t going to slam into the side and risk seriously hurting them. As it was, I scraped the back bumper.”
“Fair enough.” Parker knew Ames well enough to know his usually joking exterior hid a big heart. Not that Parker would have made a different decision, but Ames was wired a whole lot differently. The man’s career as a homicide detective before he’d transferred to their team had left him with deep scars.
He gritted his teeth. “Let’s just find Nina and pray that somehow we figure out where Loughton took Sienna.”
Jonah reached forward and squeezed Parker’s shoulder. The man had rededicated his life to the Lord a few months back. Sienna believed in the Lord. If it was going to help get her back, he would do whatever it took.
Or he would die trying.
EIGHTEEN
Sienna huddled in the backseat, watched street signs and traced the route they’d taken. Loughton drove like a crazy man, but apparently no one cared. The streets were almost completely deserted, the sun having dropped behind the houses and set. Streetlights lit the main roads in whatever town this was; she didn’t know what it was called.
“Why did you take me?” Sienna didn’t move her attention from the streets outside the car window, but she had to get him talking if she wanted to find out the answers to all of her questions.
“Why not?” Loughton was out of breath, but the tone of his voice was that of a man who thought he’d won. “You ruined everything, and I’m going to make things right. I planned this meticulously. I gave up my whole career to retire and live the sweet life, and you just had to come along and mess up all of it.”
“It’s my job.”
Loughton laughed. “The CIA, systematically messing up men’s great plans the world over.”
Sienna much preferred the Bible verse that said God directed man’s steps, despite what they had planned. He was sovereign.
A rush of peace filled her. It calmed her racing heart and helped her breath to even out. God was in control, as He had been all along. The mission. The coma. Nina’s future. Sienna’s guilt and pain over what had happened with Parker. God had His hand on all of it, and she didn’t have to worry.
Thank You, Lord. She breathed. Now if You could help me get out of here, that would be great.
She smiled to the window, despite the situation. God had proven Himself to her before, and she was sure this situation would be no different.
“I don’t know why you’re smiling, being as you’re going to die. You’re only going to live long enough to see me win, and then I have no use for you. Unless you can think of a way to make my life sweeter.”
Sienna looked at him so he knew exactly what she thought of that idea.
Loughton laughed. “Too bad.”
When he looked back at the road, she glanced around. There was nothing on the floor or the seat. She’d already tried opening the door while they were driving away from Parker. If Amand had brought Loughton to the mansion in his car, Loughton would probably have known the child locks were on in the back. Which she figured was why he’d pushed her between the seats into the back instead of letting her sit in the front passenger. That had hurt.
Then Sienna saw it. The side of Loughton’s jacket was flipped up onto the space between the front seats, where the cup holder was. In his pocket was a cell phone. His, or someone else’s that he’d stolen. Who knew? But it didn’t matter.
Sienna was going to steal it.
“I’m sorry Amand brought you into this.” Maybe appealing to the fact that Amand had him beaten before she got to the mansion would help. Loughton’s pride probably didn’t like the fact that he’d been bested and then forced to log in to the NSA’s system using a dummy account that hadn’t been suspended.
Loughton scoffed. “Karen was going to have me killed before Amand’s people snatched me from her assassin. Now I’m free of him, and I have the flash drives. So far, it’s better than being dead.”
“I don’t know. My shoulder hurts pretty bad.”
Loughton laughed and got into a turn lane. Sienna leaned forward while he said, “Serves you right,” and pickpocketed his phone.
Sienna pressed the button to unlock the phone and nearly cried out in frustration. It was Loughton’s phone—the picture of his daughter on the lock screen was proof enough—and it wouldn’t unlock without his thumb swipe.
How had he got it past Amand’s men? Or had he simply picked it from a dead man’s pocket before they left the mansion? She’d seen him grab the flash drives, and something else.
Either way, there was no way she could call for help except to dial emergency. She should call the police, but would anyone believe her? She wanted to call Parker. He could get the police to her with more urgency, given his pull as a marshal. She quickly came up with an alternative plan and prayed it worked.
_preview.jpg)
