She nodded. Nick reached into the glove compartment for his H &K with silencer, cocking it.
“Tuck this next to your waist, so the grip pokes toward your right. That’s it. Now clamp it against you with your left hand on the barrel. I’ll come around and help you out of the Cad. Keep your right arm over mine as I guide you toward the condo. Stay slightly crouched over. I’ll walk you with my right hand on the grip. They don’t want you dead, so if someone’s there, they’ll want to talk. The moment we see who it is, drop like you’re too drunk to stand and reach for the sidewalk.”
“I…I don’t feel too well, Nick.”
“Good. Then you won’t have to act. Danger, don’t move out of here or show yourself.”
“Okay, Nick. Take care of my mom.”
“I will.” Nick hurried around to Rachel’s door. He opened it, and leaned in to assist her out.
Nick kicked the door shut, and slipped his right hand onto the butt of the H &K.45 caliber. He kept up a running dialogue telling Rachel they were almost to the condo. As they reached the sidewalk surrounding the complex, three figures stepped out of the darkness in front of them. Nick recognized Rene Santora, but didn’t recognize the two men with her. They were both several inches taller than him.
“Mr. Weatherby.” Rene chuckled. “Having some trouble?”
Nick peered at her, while holding a groaning Rachel tightly to him. “Rene? From the bank?”
“It’s me, and I’ll bet this is Rachel. How long did you think it would take me to check the logs?”
Rachel dropped forward drunkenly to her knees, hands reaching to ease the fall. All eyes followed her down. Nick fired before the men had a chance to look away from Rachel. Forty-five caliber slugs ripped into their brains, throwing them backwards off their feet, where they landed splayed out on the walkway, twitching as if in shock at their sudden demise. Rene’s mouth opened to scream. The butt of Nick’s H &K struck her in the forehead, landing Santora next to the quieting men. He scooped Rachel up to her feet with his next movement, then propped Rene up in a sitting position, and handed the stunned Rachel his weapon.
“Watch her, Rachel, while I put these two in the Escalade.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Nick looked around the deserted area. Seeing no one in view, he quickly pulled the men’s shirts and undergarments up over their heads to absorb the blood from their wounds. He then grabbed the first man under the armpits and dragged him to the Escalade, returning moments later to take the second one. By the time he had secured the two bodies into the cargo compartment and retrieved the duct tape he had stored there, Rene Santora had begun to moan. He taped Santora’s mouth for the second time. After securing her wrists behind her and ankles together, Nick pulled Rene up and over his shoulder. Rachel walked along with him, holding Santora’s purse. He deposited Santora next to her companions. He added more tape to bind her ankles to her wrists. Rachel handed him the purse. Nick rooted around in it until he found car keys. He closed up the back and went around to open the door for Jean.
“C’mon, Danger, we’re going up to make sure Deke’s okay. I go in first, though. I’ll level with you. I’m not sure Rene and her two goons didn’t hit the condo first. I’m hoping Deke made enough noise they didn’t want to attract attention. Are you okay, Rach?” Nick took the weapon from her carefully.
“I’m okay.” Rachel hugged Jean to her.
In the condo, Deke was waiting for them in full wild dog mode. He streaked out past them and down the steps to the grass below.
“Apparently Deke is okay.” Nick patted Jean’s shoulder. “You two go on in, and I’ll bring Deke when he finishes his business. I’m going to call and disturb Gus too. He won’t be happy.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Nick used the time waiting for Gus to clean up what he could with bleach and cold water. He played Frisbee with Deke, covering for his outdoor cleanup activities in case someone came by. Gus arrived, armed and ready.
“Look after Jean. I’ll go find out if we need to worry about other unexpected visitors. What do you have?” Nick asked, noticing Gus was clutching something under his loose parka.
“Uzi.”
“That’ll work.” Nick used the remote on Santora’s keys to find out which car was hers. “Send Rachel down, Gus. Deke, go with him.”
Deke followed Nick’s gesture and padded up the steps after Gus, Frisbee in mouth. A couple minutes later, Rachel hurried down the steps to where Nick waited next to the Escalade.
“Are you sober enough to drive?”
“I am now,” she answered. “And I brought my license with me.”
“Follow me in the Escalade with Rene’s Volvo. It’s the black one over there.” He pointed and handed her the keys. “When we get to the warehouse area, turn out your lights. Stay close behind the Cad, but not so close you’ll run into me when I stop. I’ll be going slow.”
“Sorry about all this, Nick.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Let’s go see if we have anything else to worry about. If not, we’ll correct our error. I wish you didn’t have to go along, but I need Gus to look after Jean, just in case.”
“I know. I’ll be right behind you.”
Forty minutes later, Nick had finished positioning the two dead men in the front seat of the Volvo. He walked around the Volvo to where Rene Santora lay against the driver’s side rear tire. Nick propped her up, taking the stungun from his back pocket. Her eyes widened as she moaned and shook her head vehemently back and forth.
“Here’s a little sample of what happens if I don’t get answers to the questions I have for you, Rene.” He gave her a short jolt. It was enough to make the woman convulse, smashing her head back into the Volvo's rear quarter panel.
He revived her with gentle slaps to the face with his gloved right hand. When she groaned, Nick grabbed her chin, shaking it gently.
“You awake, Rene? Nod your head in my hand if you are.”
She nodded.
“Who thought of the idea to come over and try for the flash drives, Rene?”
Nick peeled the tape off her mouth.
“Mine…honest to God,” she blubbered, her sobs bordering on hysteria. “My boss…he’d kill me if he found out I let your bitch get in and take the drives.”
“Who do you work for?” he asked as a test.
“I…I get paid by two different firms, Tanus Import/Export…and Fletcher Exports.”
“Give me the name from each firm you would call boss.”
“You’ll kill me anyway…you sadistic bastard! I’m -”
Nick gave her a prolonged jolt. Rene ended her convulsions nearly under the Volvo rear wheel, and he sat her up once more. After a few moments, he shook her chin again, focusing the woman’s attention.
“It’s only around one in the morning, Rene. That gives me quite a bit of time to help you remember.”
“Jason…Jason Bidwell runs Tanus now…and…Max Stoddard at Fletcher!” she gasped out as Nick released her in preparation for another jolt.
“Very good. Now, who are the two guys you brought along with you?”
“They…they worked for Tanus. Their names are Overman…and Sweeney.”
“Why didn’t you just dummy up after my first warning?”
“That was you? I couldn’t…Christ…he told me I had someone watching me at work too. They’d have checked the logs. I talked those two into helping me get the drives. Then we could have dealt with -”
“You should have run, Rene,” Nick interrupted. He put the tape back in place, and pinched off her nose.
Rachel had been dozing in the passenger seat. She jumped in a panic as the driver’s side door opened.
“Easy, Rach,” Nick said soothingly. “It would appear we can stay in Sarasota until I get the Marshalls hooked up with the Benoits. I’ll call Grace in the morning. This all had an upside.”