“Not yet,” Nick admitted. “I need to sell them on what I have in mind when I call. I don’t quite have the sales pitch down. It has nothing to do with what we talked about. They will be enthusiastic about the flash drives and a corroborating witness. I need them to turn their heads as to how we acquire the drives. Have you noticed anyone hanging around you don’t recognize, or a car on your street you haven’t seen before?”
“No, and I’ve been watching.”
“Is this freaking you out?” Rachel asked.
“Of course, but nothing could be worse than watching my kids dragged away. How long have you been in hiding, Rachel?”
“Over a year.”
“Jesus! And now you’re on the run.”
“I had it coming. Jean didn’t though. I’ll do anything to make things normal for her again.”
Nick saw three young guys and two girls, all in their late teens, pointing at the kids. The group had left the Excalibur a moment before, wearing swim gear and carrying towels. The tall dark-haired young man in the lead said something to the others and they all laughed. He headed directly for the kids. Nick stood up. Great, another bunch of yuppie larvae figuring they can do anything they want.
“What’s wrong?” Rachel peered around Nick. “They’re just kids.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.” Nick looked around for some Excalibur employees. It being Monday, there was a minimum of staff on duty and none near the pool.
“No!” Jean shouted, as the dark haired teen grabbed the end of Jean’s pool float.
“Get away from the little girl, Dexter,” Nick warned him, walking to the pool edge cattycorner from the group. “Don’t make me tell you twice.”
“Oh crap,” Rachel murmured under her breath, as the group started gesturing and mouthing off at Nick. Rachel picked up her purse.
“Swim over here kids,” Nick told Jean, Kelly, and Garth, ignoring the insults and threats.
Nick watched one of the teenage girls doing her best to talk the others into walking to the other pool, but the dark haired pack leader had other ideas. Walk away, kid.
“Don’t, Glenn. Let’s go to the other pool!” The teen peacemaker tried reasoning with the leader to no avail. He walked purposely around the pool toward Nick with the others following. Glenn’s companions looked at Nick uneasily as they drew closer. They were looking for fear, and not seeing it.
“We want the pool floats, Pop. Your kids have been hogging them long enough.”
“They don’t belong to the Excalibur, Dexter. They belong to me.” Nick put up a warning hand when he saw that Glenn was planning on walking up to get in his face. “That’s close enough, Dex.”
Glenn stopped, the smirk on his face made Nick forget why he didn’t want to end up in a Las Vegas jail.
“What makes you think we won’t stomp your sorry old ass into the cement?” Glenn laughed.
Nick smiled when he heard a familiar crackling arc. The teens jumped back in surprise as Rachel joined Nick with the stun gun from her purse.
“Run along kids and I won’t have to zap anyone,” Rachel urged.
“Good thing you have the old lady along for protection.” Glenn spat on the cement between them as he backed away with his friends.
“Nikita handles all my light work, punk.”
“That was tight, Mom,” Jean said as the teenagers walked away toward the other pool after a few parting words.
“I hope you didn’t mind my ad lib, Nick,” Rachel whispered, as Suzan motioned her kids out of the pool.
“Not at all.” Nick shook his head. “It was one of those escalating tragic sequences. You pulled the plug on it. Nice.”
“I think we’ve had enough excitement for today.” Suzan held up one of the throw away cell-phones Nick had Rachel buy. “I’ll call you if anything comes up. Thanks for the phone.”
“No problem.” Nick gave Kelly and Garth a little wave. “If Jean dreams up any adventures we think you two will be interested in, we’ll give you a call.”
“I think I’m getting my psycho on,” Rachel remarked as Suzan and her kids walked away. “I wanted to toast that Glenn kid.”
“Oh lady, when you stop being afraid, and start contemplating violence, it’s very habit forming.” Nick put his arm around Rachel’s shoulders. “Shall we go home and call the US Marshalls? I wonder what our canine interior decorator has been up to while we’ve been gone?”
“I left Deke a soup bone so big he’ll still be working on it when he’s too old to chew.”
“You don’t call. You don’t write…” Grace droned on. “Have we offended you in some way, my little stud muffin?”
“Am I on the FBI’s most wanted list next to the Al-Qaeda hierarchy?”
“Not yet, but there are people working on that very scenario. How are Rachel and Jean?”
“Real good so far, and we have a plan. It involves an item unknown to you before: a safety deposit box with flash drives Rachel talked her husband into making from Tanus Import/Export. The real story is Rick was caught and tortured by Tanus because Rachel had a little get rich quick scheme. The extra heat is because of those drives.”
“Oh…my…God…” Grace uttered in a hushed voice. “A ton of money’s being dropped on this problem, isn’t it?”
“It sure is. Have you and Tim decided on whether to move on with your lives, or step up?”
“I should have shot you that night at the restaurant, you smartass weasel.”
“Time is running short,” Nick said, watching the indicator on his phone, smiling to himself as he pictured Grace fuming at the other end of the line. “Any more additions I’ll have to save for my memoirs if you’re not interested.”
“Make it good, because you’re very close to starring on America’s Most Wanted.”
“We lucked into a corroborating witness who wants out of the Tanus operation. The wife believes her husband can decipher what’s on the flash drives. They want protection. I’m supposed to find out whether the US Marshalls can provide any.”
“Holy Guacamole, cowboy! You stepped in it this time, didn’t you?”
“It’s all yours, Grace, if you want it. Is the DOJ sealed yet?”
“They caught a deputy director and one of the bureau chiefs, all thanks to the tail you picked up on the way to Monterrey. The weird ass breaks in procedure, allowing a sniper suspect to have an accident in custody, cemented the deal. Tim and I were on the hot seat for a short period of time. We’ve been put in charge now.”
“Sweet,” Nick commented. “Here’s the plan then. Rachel and I will get the drives. We’ll get our witness to make sure of what’s on them. Then we’ll hand the drives and the witness over to the US Marshalls.”
“Instead, we meet up with you and Rachel, retrieve the drives, and take you all into federal custody,” Grace countered.
“No offense, Frumpy, but you heard the plan, and you ain’t in it until I say you’re in it. Time’s up. I’ll call in one hour.”
“Was she disappointed in me?” Rachel asked anxiously as they sat together out on the patio with Deke, having already put Jean to bed.
Nick laughed. “I think you have more pressing problems than whether Grace has a lower opinion of you or not. Hey, did you inhale that beer?”
“I was nervous.”
Nick watched Rachel shift in her lounge chair, crossing her legs. He reached over to run his hand along her thigh. “You don’t look nervous. You look edible.”
Rachel slapped Nick’s hand with a gasp of false indignation. A shiver streaked from the balls of her feet to the nape of her neck. Thoughts of US Marshalls and flash drives were fading faster than ice cream over a campfire. She had showered, joining him on the patio in only her blouse and shorts. Nick took her right hand in his left, turning it palm up. He used only the whisper of contact with his fingertips down Rachel’s bare arm and over her palm to the very tips of her fingers. He rotated the feather soft touch around and up her arm again. She leaned her head back with a moan, gripping the opposite arm of her chair with the other hand.