“It turned into a beer craze the moment I had to endure ninety degree heat and humidity.”
“Can I have a beer too, Nick?” Jean asked as they walked with Deke toward the parking lot. “Deke always gets one.”
“Sure, Danger.”
“Nick!” Rachel pushed him off balance.
Nick shrugged at Jean with his ‘I’m not in charge’ look.
“Well, how about a shot of Jack Daniels?”
“Jean!” Rachel ran after her giggling daughter with Deke nipping Rachel’s heels.
Nick watched his team of terminators for a moment before shaking his head and walking after them. Oh boy.
Nick and Rachel watched Jean practice swimming laps from the lounge chairs they had set in the shade of the building that housed the bathrooms for the condo pool area. Nick had packed a cooler for their sojourn to the pool. Deke lay next to his water dish, sleeping in the shade between the lounge chairs.
“It looks like Danger finally wore out Deke today.”
“Maybe, but I don’t trust that dog.” Rachel noted Deke’s head didn’t pop up at his name. “We have the whole pool to ourselves this afternoon.”
Nick glanced at his watch. “It’s nearly six. Everyone else is probably eating by now.”
“I heard you talking to Suzan.”
“I gave her the domain address on the internet where she could access the information off the drives I uploaded. She said her husband Jim would go over the information right away. I’ll call her tonight after we get something to eat and see what he thinks.”
“It may be dangerous for you to go over to the bank tomorrow. What if Frank sent more people? They’ll be looking for you this time instead of me.”
“I figure I have a day before Frank figures something’s happened to Kate and Jessops.”
“I’m sorry you had to -” Rachel began, having heard Nick call the woman he’d killed by name for the first time.
“Don’t.” Nick cut her off with a quick wave of his hand. “Kate made an error in judgment. It cost her. They would have killed you, Jean, and Deke without blinking an eye. If the name she gave me pans out with Jim Benoit, there will be lots of pond scum floating to the surface. Bidwell would have a few layers between him and this mess. The sooner we put the Benoits together with Grace and Tim the better. Some of the heat on us will most definitely cool once the rats start scurrying for cover.”
“And then what?”
“We go rat hunting.”
Chapter Twenty
Nick spotted Javier Martine the moment he walked through the bank door. He was talking to Rene Santora in front of the safety deposit box section. Nick walked over to where customers stood in line to access a safety deposit box. Santora immediately closed off her talk with Martine. He glanced at Nick and walked away. Santora smilingly waved Nick to the window.
“Hello, Mr. Weatherby.” Santora checked the ID Nick slid into the tray under the window.
“Hi, Rene.” Nick appeared to look at her nametag. He then did a double take, pretending surprise. “What happened to your face?”
Rene smiled crookedly at Nick, patting her splotchy face, the result of hours in contact with duct tape. She pushed the sign-in sheet clip board around so Nick could sign it. “I’m okay, just a little rash.”
“Oh. Good.” Nick signed the clipboard sheet and handed it back.
Rene let Nick in the back. After helping him get his safety deposit box, she settled him into one of the rooms and left him alone. He took his satellite phone out of the case holding his computer and called Rachel’s throw away cell-phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Rach, guess who I spotted in the bank this morning.”
“I’d rather not. I thought you weren’t going to call. My heart stopped when the phone rang. Even Gus looked at me weird. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” he answered, surprised how tightly wound his companions were. “Our Javier was inside talking to Rene.”
“Holy shit! Tanus is after him too. Why would, oh…Rene must be feeding Fletcher instead of Tanus.”
“Which would explain how Frank had two people on site. He must be in charge of acquiring the drives for Tanus, the prick. Since I’m here, and I see Javier’s hanging around, too, why don’t I follow him and see what happens?”
“Aren’t you afraid whoever Frank has in place will ID you?”
“They didn’t make me yesterday. Frank’s probably still trying to reach Kate and Jessops. Your girlfriend Rene looks okay.”
“My girlfriend? Bite me! I’m feeling better about you risking your neck already. Have fun.”
“Still want to have a meet with Javier?”
“From a couple hundred yards?” she asked.
“Not this time, Nikita. Sarasota and sniper killings do not mix. It will have to be up close and personal. Whether you want a piece or not, Mr. Martine will have to be sent in search of an afterlife very soon.”
“Can I get back to you on that once you see if it’s feasible?”
“Absolutely.”
Rachel hung up the phone. Gus waited patiently for her to enlighten him. Jean was in her room with Deke, playing video games, while Rachel and Gus had coffee at the dining table.
“Nick says Javier Martine, the guy who helped kill and torture my husband Rick, is at the bank. He was talking to Santora, so she was spotting for Fletcher, not Tanus. Nick is going to follow Javier.”
“I take it from your side of the conversation, he offered to set Javier up for you.”
“I asked him about doing it when we found out Javier had transferred to Fletcher,” Rachel admitted.
“Be careful what you wish for. Are you going to take him up on it?”
“It seemed like a good idea when it was an unknown in the future.”
“Reality’s a bitch.”
“Gus, what happened in Jamaica?”
“That’s classified,” he joked guardedly.
“We could trade Nick adventures,” Rachel coaxed. “C’mon, Gus, it’ll be fun.”
“You don’t know Nick if you think it would be fun to tell stories about his adventures, Rachel.” He raised his hands palm outward toward her in a stopping gesture. “That guy’s one of the most dangerous men on earth. When he suddenly showed up with you, Jean, and Deke under his wing, I checked to see if the earth had flipped on its axis. The fact he and I hooked up in the past professionally doesn’t mean I don’t get a tingle of dread when I see him. Watching him playing softball with you, Danger, and that damn dog was the most disconcerting thing I’ve ever seen.”
Rachel laughed. “Then you definitely don’t want to know about our traveling road show. I have no illusions as to what Nick is, or what he’s capable of.”
Gus leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest, as if coming to a decision. When he leaned forward again, he began talking while looking down at his cup.
“My younger brother Phil graduated from college seven years ago and received an internship at Boston General. He decided a trip to Jamaica with his friends, Damian and Julie Butler, who are sister and brother, seemed like a great way to celebrate. Phil did so well in school, and because he’s the only family I had left, a vacation to Jamaica seemed like a good graduation present. Phil claims he and his friends were at a party on the beach. He ended up bound and gagged along with his friends by the Jamaican Posse. They wanted a million dollars ransom. The Butler kid’s parents and I were able to round up the money, but as happens many times, we were sold out by the official in charge of helping us exchange the money for hostages. They ended up with the money and held on to the kids. No one cared a crap about it in either the Jamaican government or ours.”
“On an island like Jamaica, why would it be so hard for their police to find out who in this Posse was responsible?” Rachel asked, captivated and on the edge of her seat, hearing the tale.