“My…my keeping the keys kept us in it?”
“I can’t say. Tanus may have considered you and Jean as loose ends to be dealt with. It was lucky you had the keys and saw Tanus at your apartment. The rest is water under the bridge.” Nick pulled his hand free while swinging his legs over and around Rachel’s. He took both her hands in his, their faces only inches apart. “I doubt they want you dead, Rachel. I think the shooter’s mission was to put you on the run, out of the program where they could take you down to Sarasota. They figured to get Grace and Tim running around with you and Jean. I’ve done something similar in the past. When they chased you to the right spot, it would have been goodbye Grace and Tim, hello safety deposit box, and the end of all loose ends. Then I got involved. The people who run me probably had a hand in this all along.”
“But Tanus sent you to kill me.”
“I believe Tanus was going to cut his losses. When he fingered you, I’m thinking he cleared it with someone over me. He wouldn’t have needed you, with an outfit capable of obtaining a federal warrant to get into your safety deposit box. Now, any number of folks are watching the bank in Sarasota expecting us to waltz in there with the keys to the kingdom.”
“Why bother telling me all this now?”
“Need-to-know, and you need to know. We’re going down to Sarasota and stir things around. If I can find out who their people are watching the bank -”
“We take them out, get the flash drives, and vanish.”
“I love it when you talk psycho,” Nick whispered, covering Rachel’s mouth with his own.
“Hello!” Jean called out, peeking into the cabana, with her two friends giggling behind her.
Nick pulled away reluctantly as Rachel had not moved from him at all. He waved at the kids in the cabana entrance. “Look who’s here, Rachel, our long lost daughter, Jean. Her timing is remarkable as usual.”
“Your…oh…” Jean caught on quickly. “Yeah, Dad, my friends and I want to watch the plasma for a while and eat.”
“Fine,” Nick agreed, reaching behind him and grabbing two towels. He pulled Rachel to her feet. “We’ll go for a swim. Don’t wreck the joint. It’s only rented.”
“Okay…Dad,” Jean agreed happily, gesturing her friends inside.
Rachel poked Jean’s shoulder. “Of course you know, my daughter – this means war.”
“Oh bring it, Mommy. Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. Don’t drown.”
Nick and Rachel swam together for a time, before Rachel pulled Nick over to the side of the pool. She moved into his arms, giving him a quick kiss.
“It just occurred to me how weird your involvement in all this really is, Nick.” Rachel encircled her feet around Nick’s ankles and pulled close to him. “One glimpse of me and you turn the world upside down. I think that’s kind of hot.”
“Considering the body count so far, Wonder Woman,” Nick whispered, the center of his being turning to molten lava, “we better keep the coals white hot.”
“I had a great time, Nick!” Jean cried out from the backseat. “I’m going to see Kelly and Garth tomorrow. They asked if I could come over to their house and hang out. We don’t have Terminator duty tomorrow so it should be okay, right Mom?”
Rachel looked over at Nick, who shrugged noncommittally.
“I guess it’s okay. They seem like nice kids. You have to be careful what you say, just like in Pleasanton.”
“I’m Jean Weatherby. My Dad is Roscoe Weatherby, and my Mom’s name is Rachel. We’re staying here for a little while because my Dad’s a killer and we have to hide out until the coast is clear.”
“Not funny!” Rachel whipped around with her hand up threateningly, causing Jean to squeal and cringe defensively in her seat. She looked over at Nick, expecting some form of reaction but he was watching the road and smiling. “Aren’t you going to say something, Dad?”
“We all handle this mess in a different way,” Nick answered. “Any way a seven year old wants to handle what Jean’s dealing with is okay by me.”
Nick glanced at Jean in the rear view mirror. “As long as the seven year old doesn’t get us all killed by forgetting to play her part in front of strangers.”
“I’ll be eight next month, August thirtieth,” Jean announced. “I won’t forget, Nick.”
“Good enough. It’s going to be hot in the house. I left the sliding glass door open for Deke and set the thermostat at eighty-five. We can take him for a walk when it gets dark.”
“Aren’t you afraid we might have a break in?”
“I have a vault in the house it would take more than your average goon to even find, let alone break into. Besides, we can’t put Deke out in the back all day.”
“I think you like our dog more than you do Jean and me.”
“That obvious, huh?” Nick asked, getting a punch in the shoulder for his trouble.
Nick brought up the rear as Rachel and Jean walked from the garage through the connecting doorway. Hearing Rachel gasp, and Jean start laughing, Nick caught up with them at the entrance into the living room. Every loose cushion in the home’s lower floor had been dragged through the sliding door into the back yard. Rachel turned to Nick as he glanced between the bare furniture and the cushion mound in his backyard with tight-lipped surprise.
“Please don’t kill him, Nick,” Rachel pleaded.
“Hey Nick, it looks like Deke found his own way of dealing with our mess.” Jean gestured at Deke, who lay on his back at the very top of his pillow mountain, paws curled against his chest as he stared sideways at his human companions.
Nick glared at Deke and then grinned. “Well at least he didn’t rip them apart first.”
Nick vacuumed the last of the cushions. He handed it to Rachel. “I needed to do a cleaning. Nice of Deke to remind me.”
Deke ‘gruffed’ from where he lay, next to the couch where Rachel placed the cushion.
“See, he’s really sorry.” Rachel threw the cushion into place and stroked Deke’s head.
“Yeah, he looks real repentant.” Nick laughed. “We should have taken a picture of him up on his cushions. What’s Jean doing?”
“Playing video games in her room. I bet you like us better than the dog now.”
“Even with dragging them out into the shade, it was hot work.” Nick ignored Rachel’s dig. “Deke needs a challenge. Did he ever rearrange your furniture while you were at work?”
“No, but he used to take all Jean’s stuffed animals out of her room and throw them around the house. He’s still a puppy. Deke turned three only a couple months ago.”
“That’s twenty-one in dog years.” Nick pointed at the attentive Deke. “He’s old enough for the death penalty.”
Deke immediately sat up and extended a paw.
“Very shrewd.” Nick shook the dog’s paw. When he released it, Deke gave him his other paw to shake. “I’m going to the grocery store and get this clown a few soup bones. Want to make out a list for me? I have a barbeque stored in the garage. Does Jean eat steak?”
“Sure.” Rachel nodded. “I’ll make a list. Do you want us to go with you?”
“I’d rather not leave your four legged furniture mover alone for the time being.” Nick pushed Deke’s head playfully before standing. “You make the list, and I’ll check in with our US Marshal connection.”
Nick retrieved his satellite phone and called Grace. The indicator he’d attached to register a trace went from green to red almost instantly when he heard Grace’s voice.
“I see you’re tracing us.” Nick watched for the red light to start blinking.
“It’s not us, Nick, I…hey…how do you know we’re tracing the call?”
“I’m checking in. So far, we’re okay on this end. We only have seconds left on this call. Anything you need to
