He was about to finish when June spoke. “Father God, thank you for Rob's friendship and I ask that you bless him in his travels. I ask that you take him where you want him to go and keep him safe. And God, please keep his family safe as they suffer through this trial. Give them strength to endure. We ask these things the most holy name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
“Amen,” Rob repeated as he grabbed the backpack.
When the cab arrived, they passed through the lobby on their way out and the hairs on the back of Rob's neck stood up. The hotel desk clerk tried, unsuccessfully, to look nonchalant when she gave them a nervous smile. Once outside, Rob checked up and down the street for prying eyes in the darkness. He found none. He instructed the driver to take them to Bluff Road Storage, but he continued to scan around for anything out of the ordinary. As they started up the street, he didn't notice the headlights of the Mercury as it pulled from the parking lot two hundred yards behind them.
* * * * *
“DO YOU WANT ME TO wait?” the driver asked, sticking his head out the window.
“I really don't know how long we're gonna be so we'll call when we get finished.”
“Well, it's gettin' kinda late and I gotta sit somewhere. I'll just turn the meter off and wait here till I get my next call.”
He was a friendly old man, but it didn't fit into the plan for him to remain there.
“No, really. We may be a few hours. I appreciate it, but we'll call when we're ready.”
“Suit yourselves,” the driver replied as he slowly drove away.
June was at the keypad near the gate. “What was the code to get in?”
“Four, six, zero, two, four, zero.”
She punched in the numbers and the gate began rolling out of the way.
Taking a more direct route to unit forty-eight than the previous night, Rob continued to scan around for anything unusual.
“Calm down. You're making me nervous,” June chided.
But Rob’s sixth sense was speaking to him now. Something gnawed at him like a Texas tick on a mangy hound dog. When they reached the door, it was just as they had left it.
“See, nothing’s changed,” she said reassuringly.
But Rot wasn't listening. He was peering into the darkness back the way they had come. “Something's not right.”
“What is it?”
“I'm not sure.”
“Doctor Phillips?”
June looked in the direction of the unfamiliar voice, but the voice in Rob's head told him to look in the other. When he did, he barely caught a glimpse of the shadowy form slipping back around the corner at the end of the row, sixty yards away.
June, however, had her eyes fixed on the silhouette approaching them. He was wearing a suit, but that was about all she could tell.
“Doctor Phillips? Commander Tyler? Oh, I’m so glad that I found you! Are you alright?”
“Don't turn around,” Rob whispered to June. “There's someone at the end of the building behind us.” He leaned in closer. “When it happens, don't think. Just put your back against the door and make like a shadow. Then as soon as you can, get in the car and drive to the airport. Let me know you understand me by saying sure.”
When it happens? When what happens? “Sure, we're okay,” she answered. “Who’s there?” she called to the stranger.
Rob stepped in front of June defensively, keeping his left hand behind his back. When the man closed to within fifteen feet, he said, “That's far enough.”
The stranger stopped and held his hands out innocently. “Whoa! Take it easy, Commander. It's Simon Pew. Special Agent Simon Pew, NCIS.”
“Well, Special Agent Simon Pew, why don't you toss me some ID?”
“Not a problem.” Pew reached into his jacket.
“Easy.”
Pew smiled, though he doubted Rob could see him. He slowly removed the wallet from his breast pocket and tossed it over.
Rob flipped it open. It looked real enough in the poor light. “Do you know him?” he asked just loud enough for June to hear.
“No. Never heard of him.” She turned to Pew. “Where's Agent Santiago?” She pulled a name out of the air to see if Pew would lie.
Pew shook his head. “Don't know any Santiago, but Special Agent Edward Perez sent me to find you. And you two didn't make that easy, let me tell you.”
June started to breathe a sigh of relief, but then something didn’t seem quite right. “Perez's name is Eduardo, not Edward,” she whispered.
It wasn't much, but it was enough. Rob took a step forward and shrugged off the backpack. “Boy, are we glad to see you!”
In an explosion of motion, Rob rushed Pew, leading with his shoulder. Pew attempted to dodge him, but wasn't fast enough. Pumping his legs furiously, Rob connected with Pew's midsection. He lifted the man off his feet and slammed him down onto the pavement.
Even though Rob had tried to prepare her, June couldn't help an abbreviated screech, surprised by the sudden motion. Then, doing as he had instructed, she whirled around and backed into the door with a loud bang. She looked away from where the men were brawling and saw another man dressed in black running up the driveway toward them. He had already covered half the distance, and she could see he was aiming some type of handgun in her direction.
“Rob!” she shouted, glancing back. She quickly abandoned the thought of any help as Rob and Pew continued their struggle. She squatted, keeping as close to the door as she could, as she began rolling it up.
Rob couldn't help a perverse grin when he noticed Pew’s expression as he laid there, eyes wide and desperate to take a breath. It was a mixture of anger, confusion, and pain. “Not quite what you were expectin’, huh?” He reared up and smashed his elbow into the middle of the man's chest with a sickening crack as sternum and ribs shattered. In one motion, he knocked Pew's hands away, pulled the pistol from its holster under his jacket, and rolled to his right. He came up half kneeling and facing June. She thanked the Lord when the door opened easily, as she had forgotten the lock was missing. She covered her ears, too late. Rob found the dark form with the sites of his weapon. He fired two shots nearly too fast for a human to distinguish one from the other. June looked back at the man in black, expecting he was the shooter. She was shocked to see him fall to the ground. Surprised and relieved, she watched the gun sail out of his hands and slide across the driveway away from him. With her ears ringing, it took several seconds for her to hear his agonizing screams.
Remembering Rob's instruction to get to the airport, she turned to the darkness of the storeroom only to see another form moving fast from behind the car. When her eyes locked on the syringe in her foe's hand, she grabbed the rope tied to the door handle and dropped, using her weight to close it. But the man's arm protruded from underneath, stopping it in the crook of his elbow.
“Rob!” she yelled as she lost her grip and fell on her rump.
Rob watched the man in black crumple, screaming and clutching his leg. Rob’s aim had been true. He glanced at the sound of June’s voice. There was a flash before his eyes as he was kicked in the back of his head.
Pew landed on his knees as he watched Rob tumble forward from the impact. He tried to breathe and grimaced from the pain in his chest. Never before had he fought an opponent who had inflicted such damage so quickly. He tried to stand, desperate to put up a defense, but couldn’t find the strength.
Rob wasn't able to focus, but he was able to use some of the energy Pew had spent in the attack to roll over his shoulder. He came up, facing Pew on one knee. He had enough presence of mind not to fire again so as not to draw unwanted attention. He ejected the clip, locked the slide back and tossed the weapon behind him. He heard a loud bang and looked to the storeroom as another man dressed in a suit stepped out into the alley from the storage locker. On the ground in front of him was June crawling like a crab backwards to get away from this new adversary. On her other side, Rob saw the man in black dragging his injured body
toward her.
The new attacker was moving quickly, reaching for her with one hand as he wielded the hypodermic with the other. June let out a pathetic, “No!” She tried to scramble away and then she felt something on the ground behind her. Grabbing it, she swung at her attacker just as he found a firm grip on her ankle. She delivered a glancing blow across the bridge of his nose. He recoiled and let go as blood gushed freely from the injury and he was momentarily blinded. June looked at her weapon, the pistol that the man in black had been carrying, and then pointed it at her disorientated assailant.
Rob came to his feet and covered the short distance between himself and Pew in the blink of an eye. Pew was still kneeling with his head hung low as he tried to fill his lungs when Rob kicked him in the face. Pew fell over heavily and lay still in an unconscious heap. Rob turned his attention back to June only to find the woman on her back pointing a gun at her attacker. “June!” he shouted, but a fraction of a second too late.
When she pulled the trigger, she closed her eyes in anticipation of the shot. But the bang she expected didn’t come, only a muffled pop. She looked up at her foe and saw a patch of red on his chest. She squinted, trying to discern what had happened. The patch of red bounced too and fro as the man began to stumble backward, still clutching his nose. He dropped the syringe and moments later fell heavily to the pavement.
“June!” Rob shouted again, startling her attention away from the crumpled body. “Nine o'clock!”
“Nine o'clock?” She failed to understand.
Seeing Rob rushing toward him, the man in black stopped moving and held his hands up in defeat. “I’m done.”
June reacted to the voice only feet away by grabbing the barrel of the gun and clubbing him in the head, knocking him out cold. “Is that all?” she asked, looking back at the darkened storeroom.
“I hope so,” Rob said, satisfied that no one else was left to continue the melee and relieved that there had apparently been no witnesses. He bent down and plucked out the four inch long black dart tipped with a red feather that was protruding from the chest of the man who had threatened June with the needle. He offered her a hand up and gave her an approving look as he handed the missile to her.
“What?”
“Not a bad shot for an ethologist.”
“Thanks, it's my first”—she searched unsuccessfully for a word—“whatever this is.”
“Just one question, though.”
“Yeah, what's that?”
“How come you didn't go to the airport like I said?”
Minutes later, they had the unconscious men inside the cramped space of the storeroom. Rob used a small amount of chloroform to be sure that the man in black and the man with the needle would sleep the rest of the night away and June tended the man in black’s wounded leg. They agreed not to gag them, fearing that the man with the broken nose might suffocate. When they were finished, Rot splashed some water on Pew's face.
“Rise and shine honey, it’s time for some pillow talk.”
Pew peered through swollen eyes at Rot and coughed. Rob winced empathetically when he saw Pew grimace.
June, who was standing behind Rob holding the backpack, grimaced as well and said, “Please don't hurt him.”
“Well, it's a little late for that, don'tcha think?”
“Well, just don’t overdo it.”
“I'll try,” he replied sincerely, attempting to ease her sensibilities.
“Commander,” Pew wheezed, “we're here to help.”
“Save it. Now, my friend here,” he motioned with his head behind him, “she doesn't want me to hurt you … anymore.”
Pew whimpered as he nodded his agreement.
“Now, I myself have no such misgivings, so if you don't tell me what I want to know”—he paused for effect—“this is gonna be a very long night for you.”
Pew shook his head. “No more. Please. Can’t breathe.”
“Good. I see we understand each other. That's a good thing. Now,” Rob frowned and looked back at June. “What do we wanna know?”
“Where's Covington?” she asked.
“Where's Covington?” Rob repeated, looking at Pew.
“Don't know.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Rob straightened Pew's tie and placed his thumb in the middle of Pew’s chest. “That was only question number one and you’re already not cooperating. You know, they say communication is the cornerstone of any relationship. I'd say you and I are getting off to a pretty rocky start.”
“Rob—” June started to protest, but Rob waved her off.
Pew shook his head more vigorously and immediately paid the price for it. “Don't know. I swear!”
“Don't swear, Simon. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.”
“I … don't know. We … came here … looking for … him,” Pew said between gasps.
“I don't think I believe you.” Rob applied a small amount of pressure to his sternum. “And I'm not in a very good mood tonight.”
“Please. He went … rogue. He's … off the grid.”
Rob removed his thumb, surprised by how much he was beginning to pity Pew. “Okay, let's say that's true. What are you doing here?”
“We … were sent … to bring … Covington back. To arrest him,” he lied.
Rob scoffed. “And it was just dumb luck that you just happened to stumble on June and me?”
“Yes.”
Rob put his thumb back on Pew's chest, but applied no pressure.
“Please!” Pew pleaded again. “Please. I don't … know anything … else.”
Rob snarled, gritted his teeth and leaned in face-to-face, “I haven't asked you anything else yet! If you're here lookin’ for Covington then what's he doing here? And what’s with all the recreational drugs?”
Pew started to cough, his breath rattling in his chest and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
June touched her companion on the shoulder. “Rob. This is a waste of time. The police or somebody worse could be on their way right now. We need to go.”
Rob thought it unlikely that the police would come after so much time, but he nodded his agreement.
As Rob stood, Pew said, “Tyler, your family—”
Rob's anger welled up in an instant. He seized Pew by his jacket. “What about my family?”
“Rob, don't. Please,” June begged, tugging at his arm.
Pew tried to scream but his breath was taken from him. Rob, seeing the man in agony, eased him back and let go. Regardless of what the man had planned for them earlier, he was helpless now, in agony and fighting to just to take a breath. Rob withdrew the cloth that he had previously dosed with chloroform from the backpack and placed it over Pew's face just long enough for him to slip into unconsciousness. When he looked back at June, he found her staring at Pew with tears in her eyes.
Slinging the backpack over his shoulder, Rob fought back the impulse to apologize to her. “Are you ready?”
30 Parting Ways
ROB HAD METICULOUSLY formulated a plan to cut through the fence to gain access to the airfield, but as they drove away from the storage facility, he decided he would ride along with June to the main gate instead.
“I thought you had this intricate plan all worked out. 'Plow the road,' you said.” June glanced his way.
“I did.”
“What about security guards?”
“There aren’t any.”
June looked at him doubtfully. “There aren’t any? How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “Just do.”
“If there aren’t any, then why did you make the chloroform?”
Again, he shrugged. “Came in handy at the storage place.”
June couldn’t deny his logic. “So we’re just gonna drive up to the main gate, and then what?”
“I guess we’ll see when we get there.”
June stopped at an intersection. “Which way?”
“Right.”
June did as instructed, turning
onto Apalachee Street. “Should I turn the lights off?”
“You’ve seen too many movies,” Rob chuckled. “No, you might hit somethin’.”
June had trouble reading the street signs on the unlit road. As they made their way through the small residential area, she began to think Rob had her going in the wrong direction. But soon the trees thinned and she could make out the airfield’s radar array ahead. They passed a parking lot and stopped in front of the gate in the chain link fence that surrounded the airfield.
“This must be the place,” Rob said, climbing out of the car. June followed suit and they met at the gate. There was an electronic keypad similar to the one at the storage facility. She gave Rob a skeptical look. “Don’t tell me …”
He shrugged again and punched in a series of numbers and the gate began to slide open.
“You’ve been here before too, haven’t you?”
“I guess so,” he said just as he noticed headlights coming up the road behind them.
June turned to face them as well. She watched as a Jeep pulled up behind their car and two occupants stepped out. The one who looked to be in his late forties was wearing jeans and an orange Florida Gators polo shirt, and holding a flashlight. The other was much younger, wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a white tee shirt. June figured he couldn’t yet be out of his teens. Father and son?
“Can I help you folks?” the older man asked, walking up to the driver’s side of the Torino as he studied them by its headlights.
“We were just—”
“Mister Tyler? Is that you?” the young man interrupted.
Rob had no idea who these men were, so the young man’s unexpected recognition startled him. “Um … yeah. Yeah, it’s me.”
The older man gave him a confused look. “You didn’t call.”
“I’m sorry. My cell phone died.” He didn’t know what else to say, and he was feeling at a bit of a disadvantage.
“Sorry I didn’t know who you were,” the older man said, looking disdainfully at the Torino. “And I didn’t recognize the car.”
“Yeah,” Rob replied, giving the old beater a loving look. “I just picked her up. Got a lotta restoration to do. Dad had one just like it when I was a kid. It’s a surprise for him.”
“Well, she needs a lotta body work,” the man said, shining the light through the open window. “How’s she run?”