Exposed Target, page 14
Niko was the most important person in her life, and he always would be. He was her little brother, the baby of the family, even if only by minutes. She loved Niko to the depths of her soul. Her heart felt as if cut to ribbons at the thought of anything happening to her brother. He would never survive prison and the cruel men incarcerated there.
She opened her eyes. She had to capture Ciara Cruz to keep Niko from a life sentence in prison.
Maybe Roman was right. Maybe they had needed to kidnap the disabled woman to get to Ciara.
Natalia’s stomach turned. It felt wrong, on every level she could think of.
Stop it. Natalia gritted her teeth. Ciara Cruz had turned Niko and his ledgers in to the FBI.
Ciara had also stolen the Zvezda Rossii, what Natalia had worked so hard for. She paid a price too dear to get the Star of Russia to give up.
Natalia needed Ciara to give her the Zvezda Rossii. And then they had to keep Ciara from testifying to save Niko.
She needed Ciara out of the way, whatever that took.
15
“What’s wrong?” Beck’s voice tightened with concern as he held Ciara in his arms. “Are you okay?”
She turned her head to stare at the newspaper. “Mamá.” Pain speared her skull, the terror for her mother about to rip her in two. “They have her.” She whipped her gaze back to Beck’s. “They have Mamá.”
He appeared confused until he looked in the direction of the newspaper. “Isabella.” He held Ciara to him. “The Sokolovs have your mother.”
“We’ve got to get her away from those evil bastards.” Tears rolled down Ciara’s face. “We need to help her.”
“We’ll figure this out.” Beck captured her face in his palms. “We will get your mother back.”
“There’s nothing to figure out. We’re leaving.” Ciara’s mind whirled as she fought to keep from falling apart. “I have to get my things. You need to get yours. We have to go.”
“Hold on.” He slid his hands down to her shoulders. “We need to think this through. Make plans. We can’t just walk out of here and go straight to the Sokolovs and land on their doorstep.”
“We have to.” Ciara tried to shove him away as her voice grew higher. She felt as if she would tear apart from the inside. “We have to find her. They can have me. They can have the broach. We can use that and me to bargain with.”
Beck gripped her shoulders tighter. “No. We are not using you as a bargaining chip.”
“You don’t have a choice.” Tears rolled down her face as she jabbed her finger at him. “That’s my mother.”
“Hold on.” Elmo’s voice drew her attention. He appeared calm but concerned. “We’ll sit down, and you can work through this and make plans like Beck suggested. I’ll tell you what I heard, and you can go from there.”
Ciara’s throat ached to scream, her eyes burned with tears, her arms tightened with the desire to throw things, her leg muscles tensed to flee this place. If she was above ground, she would run as far as necessary to find her mother and get her back.
Calm down. She sucked in a breath. Think.
She didn’t want to calm the hell down.
The Sokolovs have Mamá.
She held her hand to her chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat beneath her palm. Think.
Beck and Elmo were right. She needed more information and they had to plan just how she would trade the diamond broach, or herself and the broach, for Mamá. Whatever it took, Ciara intended to make it happen.
“Okay.” She tried to hold back more tears as Elmo handed her a box of tissues. “We’ll figure this out and go get her as soon as we’re finished.”
Beck exchanged looks with Elmo then he walked Ciara to the couch and had her sit down. He seated himself next to her. Elmo settled into an overstuffed armchair.
Ciara dabbed her eyes with a tissue and then her nose. Beck put his arm around her shoulders, but she remained stiff, unable to relax.
She pulled another tissue out of the box and wiped away more tears. “Tell me everything, Elmo.”
He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his thighs. “The Internet café in town has a row of TV monitors. This kidnapping is all over the news.”
Tears continued to roll down Ciara’s face. She wanted to yell at Elmo to hurry.
Elmo started out slowly, as if gathering his thoughts. “Sunday night a group of men in ski masks broke into the health care center your mother has been living in. They shot up the place real bad and took two hostages. Your mother and one of the caregivers, a woman named Pamela. Police and the FBI think the men took the young woman to care for your mother.”
Tears rolled even faster down Ciara’s cheeks as ice froze her veins, the cold icing her heart.
“They killed everyone but your mother, the caregiver, and three others saved by a Korean War veteran.” Anger laced Elmo’s tone. “The vet has been hailed a hero for saving three elderly patients in his wing. Against the center’s rules, the vet had a gun in his room. Thank God for that.”
Lead lined Ciara’s stomach. Dead. All these people dead and her mother kidnapped because the Sokolovs wanted Ciara.
Ciara’s voice shook. “I can’t believe they did this because of me.”
Beck took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. “Don’t start thinking this is your fault, Ciara.” He eyed her steadily. “The Sokolovs did this. They crossed the line. That is not your fault.”
He released her chin and gave her a long look before turning back to Elmo. “What else can you tell us?”
Elmo blew out a long breath. “Now that I know this is Ciara’s mother, I understand better what the Russians are doing.”
“What is that?” Beck asked.
“They’ve created a situation that hits a big button,” Elmo said. “The elderly population is at risk to this kind of violence.”
He continued, “This attack has spread across the news and social media like wildfire. Outrage is off the scale. Everyone is in an uproar.”
“You said you understand better what the Russians are doing.” Ciara cleared her throat. “What is it that they want to accomplish, other than murdering the disabled elderly and kidnapping my mother?”
“They’re intentionally creating a fervor,” Elmo said. “They wanted your attention, and they knew they’d get it this way.”
Ciara’s hands trembled as she wiped tears from her eyes with the backs of her hands, ignoring the box of tissues.
“The fact this woman, your mother, doesn’t have a past, has people wondering.” Elmo rose and settled against the back of the chair. “Did the Marshals Service take your mother into WITSEC?”
She hesitated and looked at Beck. The rules forbade those in WITSEC from talking about the program to anyone. Beck gave her a single shake of his head. She knew it wasn’t that Beck didn’t trust Elmo, he just didn’t want her breaking the rules.
She continued without acknowledging the question from Elmo. “People wonder who put my mother in the center and why no one has come forward to claim she belongs to them.” She looked away from him and stared at the wall. “They think she has no one.”
Elmo said quietly. “Some people have stepped forward.”
She snapped her gaze back to him. “What? That’s impossible.”
“It is possible that people you knew in L.A. recognized her, Ciara.” Beck dragged her focus to him. “They won’t know what happened to you and they want people to know your mom does have people who care.”
“Could be crazies, too,” Elmo said. “Wanting in on the attention.”
Ciara and Beck each shot a look at Elmo, who raised his hand in apology. “Sorry. Just thinking out loud.”
“It’s true.” Ciara pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “Some people will do anything to be in the limelight for their fifteen minutes of fame. Even at someone else’s expense.”
She pushed her hair out of her face. It suddenly felt too heavy and in the way. She might have taken a pair of shears to her hair if she had one handy.
“What now?” She looked at Beck. “We have to do something. We can’t leave her with the Sokolovs for one more minute.”
He took her by the shoulders. “Breathe, Ciara. Then listen to me.”
She glared at him. “Let’s make this happen.”
“Think about it.” He searched her eyes. “We need to do this right. If we don’t, more people are going to die. Not only you and your mom, but other people Niko will kill after they take you, ultimately because you didn’t testify and send him to prison.”
A scream rose in her throat, and she had to force it back.
Beck knew what he was talking about, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. However, if they didn’t do this right, she and Mamá would die anyway, along with a lot of others.
“What do we do?” Her voice came out hoarse from crying. “They can have the damned diamond broach. I just want my mother back.”
“Diamond?” Elmo asked.
“I need to talk with my supervisor.” Beck let his hands slide down to Ciara’s elbows. “She already knows about this, I’m certain. She doesn’t have any way to contact me, so she’s waiting for me to make contact.”
“Call her.” Ciara grabbed another tissue and wiped her eyes. “Find out everything and then let’s figure out what to do.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’ll head up to U.E.’s command center. Maybe you could help him with the puppies while I’m there.”
Ciara looked at him blankly. “Puppies? You’re thinking about puppies?”
He smiled gently. “Yes, puppies. You can’t do anything else until I talk with Claudine, and we make a plan of action. So, in the meantime, how about seeing to those mutts?”
She shook her head, but only to shake out the cobwebs. “Okay. Just go.”
He kissed her again before getting up and leaving the floor and heading out to the elevator.
“I’ll get the dishes.” Elmo nodded to the puppies. “Mind settling them down?”
Ciara hadn’t even noticed their barks and whining sounds. She walked to the pen where the three jumped up, excited to see her. They rolled and played with each other while trying to get her attention, too.
“I see you’ve already made messes.” She sighed. “And you missed the pee pads.”
“Need help with that?” Elmo called from the kitchen.
“Got it.” She waved away his help and went into the bathroom to get cleaning supplies.
Somehow, she managed to clean everything up and do the puppy-training thing with the pee pads. She’d used them to train Ella, who had fortunately been a fast learner. Back when Trousers was a pup, they hadn’t had those kinds of pads—as far as she knew.
The thought of Ella made Ciara cry even more. Her mother had always loved the black lab.
After Ciara had cleaned up the mess, she plopped down on the floor, in the middle of the three dogs. They attacked her all at one time. Tom pounced on her, Tiffany licked her face, and Jerry tugged on her sleeve.
Ciara gathered Tiffany into her arms and held the wiggling thing tightly. For a moment, Tiffany let her, and Ciara felt the healing energy of the puppy flow through her.
Tiffany gave her a sniper kiss on the mouth. Ciara sputtered and released the puppy for a moment. She would have smiled if she didn’t feel as if she might shatter into tiny pieces, like shards of glass on the floor.
The waiting would kill her. She wanted to do something and do it now.
She stayed in the pen with the pups and gathered one into her arms. The enormity of what was happening crashed down on her as if a lead weight pushed her to the floor. She pressed her face against the puppy’s neck and sobbed, her tears dampening its fur.
Beck strode into Elmo’s CC and went straight to the satellite phone. He dialed the office and without pause, Tabitha put him straight through to Claudine.
“Beck.” Claudine sounded terse when she came on the line. “Have you heard…”
“We just found out.” Beck gripped one hand into a fist. “Ciara’s ready to throw herself to the damned Russians to save her mother. I’m trying to figure out what the hell to do about it.”
“You can’t let her do that,” Claudine said.
“No, I damn well can’t and won’t.” Beck paced as he spoke. “But I’ve got to do something. If we don’t and her mother is murdered then there’s no telling what she’ll do next.”
“That’s putting us in a tough place.”
“No fucking kidding.” Beck put his fingertips to his forehead as he walked back and forth over the tile. “But we’ve got to work with it.”
He lowered his hand and stopped walking. “Have they made any demands?”
“We got them in this morning.” Claudine’s tone had a hard edge. “They have to know Ciara is in WITSEC because the demands came straight to our New York office instead of the FBI. The kidnappers want Ciara. The message also says that Ciara knows what else she needs to do.”
“No way in hell they’re getting her.” Beck ground his teeth before he continued. “Who contacted the office?”
“It came in anonymously,” Claudine said. “Deadline is 8:00 PM tomorrow night, and they want her in New York City. They’re going to contact the office tomorrow to give further instructions.”
“Shit.” Beck grasped the phone tighter.
“It gets worse,” Claudine said. “They have threatened to start removing Isabella Cruz’s fingers, one for every thirty minutes past the deadline.”
Beck nearly shouted his next expletive. “I am going to deal with them.” He tried to rein in his emotions. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
Claudine paused. “Do you know what they believe she ‘needs’ to do?”
He rubbed his eyes. “Ciara told me. It’s not something we can discuss over the phone. Better in person.”
“We’ll arrange for that,” Claudine said. “What’s your closest airport?”
“Laramie or Cheyenne,” Beck said. “Other than that, we’re looking at Denver.”
“Hold on.” The click of keys came over the line, telling him Claudine was checking out something on her computer. “Damn. The only plane in the area is down for repairs. Looks like we don’t have any private planes available until late tomorrow afternoon.”
Beck cursed beneath his breath. “We’ll have to take a commercial flight.”
“What airport would you prefer?” she asked. “I’ll have Tabitha book a flight for you into JFK or La Guardia. Just let me know when and where.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Beck dragged his hand down his face. “The fewer who know, the better for everyone.”
“Call me with your flight information,” she said. “I’ll arrange for a detail to escort you and the witness to the plane, as well as accompaniment and transportation to the office.”
“Will do.” Beck ended the call and had to force himself to not slam the phone down.
Shit. He’d hoped for more time to plan but nothing Claudine had said surprised him.
Things had gone from bad to worse in a hurry. He had to figure this damned thing out and keep Ciara and her mother alive.
16
Just after dawn the following morning, Beck and Ciara left the old missile silo with Elmo and entered the garage where Beck had parked the SUV. He and Ciara hadn’t been above ground in two weeks.
A ball of snakes coiled in Beck’s chest. He didn’t want Ciara anywhere near the state of New York, much less taking her straight to New York City. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a choice, but no way in hell would he let anything happen to her.
Last night she had argued to leave immediately, but he’d told her he couldn’t get a flight to JFK Airport until morning. According to weather reports, a fast-moving storm had changed course and would hit at any time, so it would be safer to fly out of Denver than one of the smaller airports. He had chosen the flight to JFK over La Guardia due to the timing of the flights.
Ciara had left the broach in a train station locker in New York City, so they had to head there first. He hadn’t said anything to Claudine about the errand because he wanted to discuss it with her in person.
He stepped out of the garage, into the overcast June morning. He looked up at the storm-threatened sky, as if more drones might be passing overhead. The eagles hadn’t taken down additional drones, and U.E. had stated if any had flown over his property, the eagles would have brought them back to Elmo.
According to this morning’s report, it wouldn’t be much longer before the storm arrived with a vengeance. They should make it out of the state, into Colorado, just in time.
Beck and Ciara hadn’t arrived at the Silo with much more than the clothes on their backs, so it hadn’t taken them long to prepare to head to the airport. U.E. had given Beck some of his own clothes, since Beck had still been wearing the bloody ones he’d had on when treated for the gunshot wound in the back of the ambulance. He and U.E. were the same height and size, so it worked just fine. Beck wore one of his uncle’s heavy overshirts to hide his Glock.
Ciara had the new clothing Elmo had purchased in town when he’d picked up the puppy trio. Beck’s uncle had also purchased a small backpack for Ciara. She wore a T-shirt, with an overshirt over the hidden holster for her Sig that he’d bought with everything else.
“Thank you, Elmo.” Ciara gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You’ve been wonderful. I appreciate all you’ve done for us.”
Elmo had a slightly embarrassed look, but Beck could tell Ciara’s actions and words had touched him.
“You’re both family.” U.E. had a gruff note in his voice. “If you ever need me, I’m here. Beck knows how to reach me.”
She hugged Elmo again. “Let Beck know if I can do anything for you.”
“You might have to come back and make more of those enchiladas.” Elmo winked.
“We’d better get this show on the road.” Beck gave his uncle a brief one-armed hug and a slap on the back. “Thank you for everything. Call me if you need me.”
