FlakJacket (17 page)

“So you are asking for what?”

“I ask for nothing; I am telling you to back off Miss Kelly and to cancel any thoughts of having her appear before your committee until this baby is born.”

“And if I can’t do that?”

“Then I’m afraid additional information will come out about the treaties you are trying to make in Jordan. I am of Jordanian descent; I have close ties to my land of birth, and access to documents that you really wouldn’t want to be shared. There are a number of anomalies that would be immediately examined.” He paused. “Madison carries my child, and I will not have her under any stress.” His voice was hard.

Neville swallowed; so the man wanted a trade—his pregnant girlfriend for silence on the treaties. Could Jordan do what he said he could? “I can look into the situation to see if it can be pushed down the road.”

“I want it cancelled altogether for the time being. I think that would be a wise move on your part.” Jordan stood indicating the meeting was over, picking up Madison’s coat to help her on with it. “Be very careful with whom you associate. Your name was connected to the last protest of Madison in Virginia. I know you will want your stellar reputation to be safeguarded at all costs. You look like a smart businessman, but I have to question some of your associates. I’m good at making connections and seeing that they stick. Thank you for the meeting.”

Madison’s mouth fell open at the covert threat Jordan had given to Senator Houser. “You have my number.” Jordan turned and ushered her out of the office, grabbing their coats as he did so. Always the gentleman, she thought; like hell—
always the man in charge
. She wanted to look back to see the Senator’s face, but she restrained herself.

Jordan’s look was icy, but she knew he was right as an image flashed in her sight—the senator meeting with the Ambassador for Agriculture in Jordan. She saw an exchange of a large sum of money and two of the ruling heads of the tribes in Jordan. She saw a contract with the date April 5 circled. She would have to tell Jordan about the contract and the date. He took her hand once he was outside the office door, urging Tim to stand at her other side. They exited the building quickly; only then did Tim relax.

“Remember the date of April 5
^th
. It’s involved with the land deal and the Senator. It was a contract that I saw.” Jordan nodded. He no longer questioned her visions.

Neville ripped up the subpoena papers in his hand; he couldn’t take a chance. And, there was a child who might prove to be worth more than any land deal he could make.

“What did you think,” Jordan asked Tim.

“He’s guilty as hell, sir, and if I were you, I’d watch my back.”

“Time to have some fun with the Senator, I think.” Jordan squeezed Madison’s hand. “Did I ever tell you that you have beautiful legs?” She colored a beautiful shade of pink.

T
he next few months saw Madison’s appearances slowing as she needed her strength for the child. There was no summons to the Senate committee. Jordan was back to work full time and dividing his time between his clients and her. When he was unavailable, Tim was with her. Things were coming to a head, and Madison could sense an upheaval in their lives. Snow hit the area in late November, and Myrna had her baby in the first week of December, a little girl. Jordan knew that spring would bring his own child and he wasn’t anywhere near ready for that event.

Madison had entertained the young woman from the hospital whom she had seen when Jordan was ill. Her little girl was doing just fine. The woman told her that she had not been given any hope for the child at the hospital, but Madison had changed all that. She just wanted to say thank you. Madison gave her a hug, as the young woman said, “You are truly the ‘white witch’, and your child will be amazing.”

On a weekend morning in late December, Jordan rose early and kissed her softly, telling her he had to go to work. She was barely awake and not functioning, her child very active now and disturbing her sleep. He promised he would return by the end of the day and urged her to rest. He leaned to kiss her stomach, and the child kicked him. “What in the hell was that?”

Madison answered sleepily, “A foot or a hand. My guess is a foot.” Jordan put his hand on her stomach again and watched and waited. He was sharply kicked again, seeing her flesh actually move with the hit. “Damn. That’s so neat.”

He tied his tie as he left the room, meeting two of his men in the living area. He put his bulletproof vest on and the three men sat down to plan the mission. “We take this man first.” Jordan looked at the picture of one of the men who had abducted Madison two years ago. It had taken him some time to track him down, but he had him now. He motioned for Tim to take up the close protection of Madison, and the three men exited the house, all riding in the same car.

“He’s wanted by the Feds, Jordan. Are we turning him over to them when we’re done?”

“Why not?”

They pulled down a back alley to an old apartment building in a seedy side of town. The man was a paid henchman for the highest bidder. Jordan and Jim took the front entrance while Dave took the back to make sure he couldn’t escape. They moved as a team, quietly to the third floor, to room 311. Jordan waited until Jim was ready, and then he knocked on the door. There was some shuffling, and an overweight man pulled open the door, standing in his jeans and T-shirt. “What?”

Jordan punched him in the stomach and pushed through the door. They had him. Before the guy could get his breath and get up, Jim had him on his stomach and had his hands tied behind him.

“What the hell are you doing to me? Who are you? What do you want?”

Jordan pulled his face up to his and said, “I want you. He held the picture of the man up for him to see, and the man stilled.  “If you make any noise, you’re going to have a few broken ribs. Do we understand each other?” Jordan’s training in his native country was deadly as to wounds on the body that would not kill but would really cause pain. The man nodded, and Dave came in the door to help Jim pull the man to his feet.

“What can I do for you?”

“I need information on a woman. You abducted her two years ago, and she almost died at your hands. Her name was Madison Kelly.” The man involuntarily flinched. “I see you remember her.”

“I do. She was a known witch with unlimited powers if you talked to them Jordanians. Dead people walked again because of her, and she feels no pain. She’s a legend there.”

“I want the whole story, every fucking fact, and I want the names of everyone involved in that abduction. Then I’ll decide what to do with you.” Jordan’s voice was filled with venom.

“Who are you?”

“Someone with Ms. Kelly’s interests at heart.”

They sat him on the kitchen chair, tying him tightly to the back. His feet were also tied to the bottom rungs. “How did you find me?”

“I knew where to look. If you would disappear from here, would anyone notice?” The threat was clear; Jordan’s voice both seared and frightened him.

“What happens to me if I talk?”

“That depends on what you tell me and how accurate you are with your details.” The man being interrogated swallowed hard. Jim pulled out his gun, and the man noted the silencer on it.

It was pointed directly at him. “Maybe a few holes in your body and some fresh blood will help you remember.”

“I’d rather use a knife. You know how good I am with a knife.” said Jordan.

“Wait. Wait. It was just a job, and our money got cut because the deal didn’t go through. I’m not dying for any of them bastards.”

“I suggest you talk, then.”

He began to ramble. “This might sound crazy to you, but the woman we abducted back then was supposed to be the white witch. She was well known in Jordan for touching people and healing them. It was said she was whipped, her skin hanging in strips, and she never cried. She had some power, that’s for sure. Couple that with the story of her going to bear a child with mystical powers, and every man in that country was interested in her. She was a redhead, beautiful with pale blue eyes, and she inspired great fear in those men. Can you imagine any guy daring to sleep with her, taking her body?

Both men looked at Jordan. He chewed his lip.

“One of the crown princes got wind of her, and he wanted her. His name never came to us. We was just to pick her up and ship her out to him; we was to get a hefty reward for snatching her. None of the prince’s guys would do it because of her powers, but my buddies and I weren’t afraid of her. We were given the name of some Americans here who would set the whole deal up. They would point her out, and we would take her to an appointed place; we’d be met, more money would be exchanged, and off she would go to her new home in a crown prince’s palace. She was going to be one lucky bitch.

“I want the names of these people. NOW.” Jordan almost growled the comment.

One was a senator Hauser or Hill or something, and the other a big real estate developer named Hull. I got the names written down here somewhere.”

Go on.”

“We were sent to the rich guy’s party. He was in on it, too, from what I could gather. Never got his name. She was with some girlfriends, dancing and having fun. She didn’t look much like a witch, but you know how these tribal people are—they’re into all that garbage. I put some pills into her drink when she wasn’t looking to get her out of the party so we could transport her. That’s when everything went wrong.” He took a breath. “She didn’t pass out like she should have, so I kept putting more and more crap in her drink. I was to use the date rape drug on the American people’s say so ‘cause they wanted people to think that’s what she had been taken for–to be raped or sold into white slavery. I think it had something to do with ‘besmirching her name’. Have no clue what that means. The damn woman wouldn’t pass out, no matter what I did.

“She fought us on the way out of the venue, and I was fearful that we might be caught. As soon as we had some cover, I hit her a couple of times, just to stop her fighting us. She threw her body back and wouldn’t walk, so my friend kicked her, and we ended up dragging her away. There were no tears. Imagine that.”

Jordan’s rage was barely in check as he recalled the pictures of her beaten face and body.

“We carried her to the landing dock, but the ship that was to meet us wasn’t there. She kept trying to come to, so I hit her a few more times until she stilled. We heard cops around the place, so my friend had to put his forearm on her windpipe in case she tried to call out. When they was gone, we let up on her neck, but she wasn’t moving much by then. The meeting hour came and went; the ship was over two hours late, and we decided we couldn’t stay put no more. They was worried about their ship being searched on the way to the Port. We guessed that’s what happened.”

“Someone must have put out an APB on her, ‘cause the place was crawling with law enforcement by that time. My buddy put her in a canvas bag we found on the dock, and we dumped her along a highway. She was alive when we left her. She was. I swear. We weren’t supposed to kill her, you see. She was going to be used to give the crown prince a baby that could see things in the future. I would have liked to see him try to mount her; she probably would have killed him with one look. I made sure I didn’t look directly at her just in case.

“We got our up front money, but the rest was to come from the prince’s man on the ship.”

“What was the name of the ship?” Jordan’s face was thoughtful.

“The Zephr Wind.” I remembered telling Fred that zephr was a stupid name for a ship.

Jordan could no longer look at this uncaring, selfish beast of a man. How could he hit and beat a woman, and for all his talk of not being afraid, there was fear rippling over him now. “She’s coming to get me, isn’t she?”

“Who?” Jordan was puzzled.

“The witch is going to get me. My buddy said that would happen, but I didn’t believe him. But I can feel her near.” His face cracked. “Maybe you better shoot me; don’t give me to her to play with, please. I ain’t good on pain.”

That was it. Jordan couldn’t stand anymore, and he told his men to take the man and ‘dispose of him to the proper authorities.’ The entire interview had been tapped, and he was already moving on to the other two men involved.

His entire vision of Madison had changed in an instant. He saw her as a flesh and blood woman who was his; the world saw her as either a witch or an angel of mercy with powers beyond this earth.
Now, which one was she, or was she both?

M
adison spent the day at the hospital, her hands on the old and infirm. Jordan didn’t approve of her going, so she often went when he was away from her. Tim always accompanied her in and out of the wards, worried about protecting her child, and she made him promise not to tell Jordan what she was doing. She was now seven months pregnant, and Jordan was in protective mode overdrive. She learned not to ask—she did what she needed to do and apologized for it when she upset him. He took her protection very seriously.

The refugee crisis had been put on hold until after the holidays. Madison was appalled at the fickleness of those who could help; the refugees were caught between two powerful countries; both did not have the means to care for them, so much of her speaking now was to encourage people to donate to housing and feeding them.

As the child grew within her, her visions came more frequently and with more clarity of things happening in the future. As they were leaving the hospital, she clutched Tim’s arm, scaring him half to death. “There is a massive pile up on the interstate. People are being brought to this hospital, and I need to stay here. Please let Jordan know that I’ve been detained.” He nodded and messaged immediately while still trying to keep up with her as she moved quickly down the hall in the hospital.

Jordan read Tim’s message. She was at the hospital? “
Damn
. Why was she there? A further message from Tim concerning the bad pileup sent him running. She would be in the middle of it, he knew.

His car made it to just outside the hospital complex before the police stopped him. He gave them his ID card and asked to help. His men also offered their services with the incoming victims. They reported to the Hospital Headquarters and were given assignments. Jordan knew first aid well, so he was assigned to help treat people whom the triage team had determined as able to walk and without serious injury. He took off his coat and tie and rolled up his sleeves, moving to wash his hands, don gloves and get a mask. He asked if anyone could tell him where Madison was. He was told she was working with the severely injured children. He set to work, helping those who were sent his way.