Bernard DeLeo - Cold Blooded

“No, I think we should stay in tomorrow and wait until we talk to Suzan. I’ll check out Jim Benoit, then go through those bozos’ personal effects for names and addresses. We need to keep watching the news for updates on the roadside intervention I pulled in Bakersfield. We’ll stay apprised of any dead bodies being discovered around here too. I should be doing it now, but my batteries need charged.”

“You were amazing today. How many times have you done something like that?”

“Counting today, once.” He smiled over at Rachel. He could see her watching him, even though it was dark out on the patio. “I trained for hostage situations extensively when I was with Delta, but Delta doesn’t conduct hostage negotiations in the manner I did today.”

“Maybe they should.”

“Oh, you don’t go along with the ‘we have to be better than them’ line of thinking?” He shook his head in a disapproving manner. “By the way, you did exceptionally well today. That was one hard episode for an on-the-job training session.”

“It taught me there really isn’t anything I wouldn’t do if I had to,” Rachel admitted. “I’m not sure I’ll make as good a psycho as you are, but I might make it as an assistant psycho. Besides, you’re a fake psycho.”

“A fake psycho?”

“A real psycho would have dumped Jean and me, and laughed while they were driving away. Now I have a real problem. If I ever left you, my daughter and dog would refuse to go with me…damn it.”

Nick laughed. Deke sat up from where he lay between him and Rachel. She gave Deke a push on the side of his head before petting him.

“The goofy dog even knows when he’s mentioned in a sentence, by name, or not. You really don’t think we should make a run for it?”

“We need some time to pass between our first run for it and our next one,” Nick explained. “I have to get you up to speed on weapons and defense techniques. Joe confirmed the word is out on where the safety deposit box is. I’m thinking we’re going to need a hell of a distraction. I’m working on a simplistic plan where we scout the bank for the usual suspects. We then get very familiar with what they look like and how they operate. They will be expecting helpless Rachel Hunter to saunter into the bank and give them whatever they want. What I want them to get is a Rachel Hunter ready to take out anyone we’ve deemed a potential bad guy, with me as back up.”

“Do you really think I can be that Rachel Hunter?”

“Absolutely,” he patted her hand. “If you’re not, I’ll have a kid and dog to raise.”

It was Rachel’s turn to laugh.

“Okay, okay, but I don’t think a gun battle in broad daylight in Sarasota, Florida would further our agenda,” she commented after thinking about what he proposed.

“No gun battles in the streets, Rachel,” he assured her. “I want you to hustle into the bank from a running car when we’re set, get your business done, and hustle out. They won’t have time to grab you going in. Coming out, you will know the bad guys or gals on sight. When they approach, you pepper spray the crap out of them, and stun gun them with no hesitation. Jump in the waiting car and away you go. I’ll be on a rooftop with a clear view of the scene. Any heavy action, I’ll handle. Any vehicles pulling out after you, same deal. Hopefully, we’ll know all the bad guys’ vehicles. I’ll disable them before you hit the bank. Remember, you’re in the right. If they have someone we didn’t count on in the bank, stun them and call security. Don’t use the spray inside.”

“Oh this sounds really simplistic.”

“The fun part starts when we get the flash drives and they launch an all-out manhunt for our asses in a spiraling search from ground zero out across the states. They’ll be desperate. The kid gloves will be off. That’s where our friends Grace and Tim come in. We need to pass off the drives to someone not on the payroll of this syndicate, who can get them high up the ladder. We’ll have copies of the drives, because they won’t want to deal with some of the folks who’ll just need killin’.”

“This will be a test of Grace and Tim too… won’t it?”

“I’m afraid so. There’s so much money loose on this deal, we can’t afford to trust anyone. I’d also hate to get those two killed.”

“They were the only reason I’m not stark raving mad. Doing a disappearing act is not as much fun as it sounds. I do not want to keep on the run with my daughter for the rest of our lives. I sure envisioned a different kind of day after our…ah -”

“Interlude?” Nick finished for her. “If I told you how many times our interlude flashed into my mind, even while we were all in danger, you’d probably promote me back to full psycho.”

“You Satyr!” Rachel leaped up out of the lounge chair, pointing at him. “I’d forgotten all about when Joe made us strip. You were popping right out of your underwear.”

“What can I say?” He shrugged. “Sometimes my priorities get a bit skewed at inappropriate moments. While you’re up, Sister Mary Rachel, get me another.”

Rachel giggled. She grabbed Nick’s proffered mug on her way inside. When she returned, she wore only a black thong. She handed him the mug over his shoulder. When he glanced back, he nearly ended up wearing the beer.

“I have a kink in my neck. Would you mind working it out for me like you did the other day?” Rachel sipped from her mug while turning the chair she had been sitting in around in front of Nick. She sat down on it with her backside perched out over the edge, leaning with her chin over the chair back.”

Nick set the now half-empty mug down near Deke, who lapped up the remainder without hesitation. Leaning forward, Nick splayed out the fingers of each hand near Rachel’s temples and his thumbs at the base of her skull. By rotating his thumbs into the jumble of nerves, he had her groaning audibly in under a minute. Slowly, he worked every inch of her spine, his thumbs methodically moving over and against her spinal column, while his fingers probed the shoulder area before trailing down with feathery caresses in tandem with his thumbs. With more freedom than the day before, he massaged the base of her spine with powerful upward pressure while gripping his fingers into her hip area. Rachel cried out, shuddering as she staggered forward, chair in hands, out of Nick’s grip. She spun around, breathing heavily, having tossed the chair aside.

“No fair,” she whispered, grabbing his hand and pulling at him. “Let’s go.”

“I need a shower.”

“Later!”

“How come you get up so early, Nick?” Jean asked, rubbing her eyes at the entryway into the kitchen, dressed in pajamas, robe, and slippers.

“About five to six hours is about all the sleep I care to have.” Nick looked up from his notebook computer, where the character Diego had just killed the hierarchy of a gang in East Los Angeles with a car bomb. “How are you feeling this morning, Danger Girl? You had a rough time yesterday.”

“Danger Girl,” Jean repeated, giggling as she walked over to pet the ever-present Deke, who rolled over for a belly rub. “I’m okay. That guy didn’t beat us up or anything. He told us to stay quiet or he would beat us up. I guess he’ll be pretty quiet himself now, huh?”

“That’s a very grim way of speaking, DG.” Nick saved his file and closed the notebook.

“Oh, right, we’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead.” Jean grinned up at Nick, who immediately dropped his head into his hands.

“Keep it up, keep it up.” Nick covered his face in feigned exasperation. “It won’t be funny when you say things like that at the worst possible moment by mistake.”