Option to Kill (Nathan McBride 3) (10 page)

He thought back to her question at the Town & Country Resort Hotel:
How does he know where we are?
It seemed as though her abductor knew precisely where she was. A lucky guess? Not likely. The police scanner was the most reasonable explanation. The cop who followed them into the complex would’ve reported his location to dispatch, and the cop could’ve also said he was heading toward the front of the hotel where Nathan had spotted the sedan. The other possibility — an inside source — didn’t sit well with him. Lauren said she didn’t trust the police, maybe for good reason.

But if her abductor had no law enforcement credentials, it seemed crazy for him to remain in the area with all the cops converging. Maybe if the guy was twisted enough, he’d risk hanging around to recapture Lauren — but with a life-threatening gunshot wound? Nathan had purposely avoided shooting the man’s femoral artery, but his destroyed quadriceps muscles had to be crippling. Yet the man persisted. Why was capturing or killing Lauren so important?

The border murders. She’d seen the dead girl. But if her kidnapper was behind the murders, he could’ve killed her in seclusion when he came to her house. Did she know something he wanted? Did he plan to use her as leverage? Against whom? Her mom? Too many questions with no answers.

When Lauren put the bottle of apple juice into the basket, he got a good look at her ring. It was really quite beautiful, with a heavy gold setting. It didn’t look like cosmetic jewelry, but hadn’t the stone been red inside Nordstrom? Now that he thought about it, he was certain it had shone bright red.

“Lauren, wasn’t your ring red inside Nordstrom?”

“It changes color.”

“It changes from red to green?”

“Yeah, it’s really cool. In the daytime it’s green, but sometimes it’s green inside, like now, but mostly it’s red, like in my room.”

“May I see it?”

“My mom said I’m never supposed to take it off, but I guess it’s okay.”

She handed it to him, and he took a closer look. It was an oval cut and looked to be about three carats in size. Nice quality. The setting was almost certainly fourteen-karat gold. “Follow me. We need to find an incandescent light.”

“What kind of light?”

“A regular light bulb.” He led her to the rear of the store and found the restrooms. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed no one was watching. Nathan nodded to the women’s restroom. “See if anyone’s in there and tell me what kind of lighting it is. Are there long fluorescent tubes, like out here, or regular light bulbs, like in your bedroom? Here, take your ring and tell me if it turns red in there.”

She gave him a look.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right here. You can hold the door open if you like.”

She disappeared inside. A few seconds later, she came back out.

“No one’s in there. It turned red.”

“I want to see it.”

“You’re going in the girls’ bathroom?”

“Yeah, I do it all the time.” He held his hand out.

She rolled her eyes and gave him the ring.

“Be right back.”

At the threshold of the women’s restroom, Nathan watched an amazing phenomenon occur: the ring seemed to sparkle with two different colors. Once inside, he examined it under the bulb over the sink. If this thing’s real, it’s worth a small fortune. This was one of the rarest gemstones in the world. Alexandrite. Green by day, red by night. Nathan was no expert but knew something of them. Last year, Harv had bought his wife alexandrite earrings, and they displayed nice color change — from bluish green to light purple — but they didn’t come close to the quality or pure spectral transition of this stone. This little beauty went from emerald green to bright pinkish red. Nathan didn’t know what it was worth, but he knew how to find out. No wonder Lauren’s mom didn’t want her taking it off.

He left the restroom and gave her the ring. “It’s an alexandrite. If it’s real, it could cost as much as your stepdad’s Porsche.”

“Seriously?”

“Don’t lose it — you can cash it in for a college education someday.”

“The man you shot tried to take it.”

“Is that why he grabbed your wrist?”

“Uh-huh.”

“It could be synthetic, but something tells me it’s real.” He looked at his watch. “We’d better get back to our cab.”

Nathan paid for their items and led Lauren outside. The cab was still there. He assessed the parking lot’s lighting as they walked toward their ride.

“Lauren, is there anything else you can tell me about your mom? Did she ever talk to you about her life before you were born?”

“A little.”

“Where was she born?”

“Korea, I think.”

“Where was she raised?”

“In an orphanage. I think she had a pretty bad childhood.”

“I can imagine.” Nathan looked at the cab. He’d forgotten the coffee. He was about to turn around when he noticed the driver had his head tilted down, but there was wasn’t any bleed light from a cell phone illuminating his face. Maybe the bill of his Chargers hat concealed it, but Nathan didn’t think so. Something rubbed him wrong. When they were twenty feet from the cab, the driver dipped his head lower, as if trying to hide his face. Why would he do that, unless —

He dropped the grocery bag and shoved Lauren to his right, hard enough to send her sprawling. “Stay down!”

The cab’s door flew open.

Nathan pulled his SIG.

A much taller man burst from the cab, crouched behind its open door, and pointed a handgun at him.

Nathan sidestepped away from Lauren and toggled the SIG’s laser. He put the red dot on the man’s chest.

His opponent fired first.

Shit! The discharge’s flare ruined his vision, but at least the bullet missed. Aiming on pure instinct, Nathan double-tapped the trigger and simultaneously closed his eyes. The rapid reports hammered his ears and cracked off every building in the area. The cab’s window shattered.

“Lauren, stay down!”

Aiming lower, he sent a third bullet through the sheet metal.

The man jerked but didn’t go down.

Before the gunman could recover, Nathan sprinted forward, grabbed the man’s arm, and dislocated his shoulder with an upward thrust. His opponent grunted and dropped the weapon. Nathan drove his forehead into the man’s nose and felt cartilage collapse. He kicked the handgun aside and swept his leg, taking the gunman down. Nathan used the butt of his weapon on the gunman’s jaw and watched the man’s eyes roll up for a few seconds, before refocusing.

Even though this guy was out of the fight, Nathan patted him down, confirming the presence of a ballistic vest. He didn’t find a wallet but felt the outline of a cell phone in the guy’s coat pocket. He’d take that before leaving.

Tires screeched nearby. Nathan looked up, seeking the source. Fifty yards distant, a familiar black sedan barreled toward them.

Nathan squared with the new threat and painted his laser onto the windshield.

The vehicle braked to a sudden stop.

For several seconds, nothing happened. The sedan just sat there, motionless.

Nathan felt a malevolent presence again and knew it was the same man who’d taunted Lauren at the hotel. He squinted and kept the red dot glued on the windshield.

Then, with measured precision, the sedan slowly backed away.

Nathan wanted to shoot, but he knew a stray ricochet could injure or kill an innocent.

“Lauren, form up!”

“What?”

“Come over here.”

Blood streaming from his nose, the man at his feet moaned and tried to roll over. Nathan put a boot on the guy’s neck and applied half his weight. “I’ll crush your windpipe if you try anything cute.”

“
No hablo inglés
.”

Nathan repeated the threat in Spanish and refocused the laser back onto the windshield of the retreating sedan. The man at his feet wasn’t Hispanic. Like Lauren’s abductor, he had fair skin and dark hair and looked to be in his early forties.

“
Quien es su jefe?
”
Who is your boss?
Nathan didn’t expect an answer and didn’t get one. “
Dónde está el taxista?
”

“
En el baúl
.”

“
Muerto?
”

“
No.
”

“Lauren, pop the trunk. The lever should be inside, on the lower left.” He nodded toward the cab’s interior.

She gave the downed man a wide berth and reached inside.

Nathan heard the trunk pop open. “See if the driver’s okay.”

“His forehead is bleeding.”

“Is he breathing?”

“Yes, but his eyes are closed.”

Nathan wanted to question the man at his feet, but he didn’t have time. Any doubts they were being tracked were now dispelled. The presence of the sedan at the hotel could be explained, but not here. Even if Lauren’s abductor had a police scanner, it wouldn’t have led him to this location. Could
his
phone be the culprit? He didn’t think so, but wasn’t sure.

The black sedan stopped backing up and turned toward Clairemont Drive. Nathan glanced around the parking lot. Several people were watching from a distance. Time to go. He crouched down next to the gunman and told him to hold still. In a quick move, Nathan pistol-whipped him on the side of the head, rendering him unconscious. He didn’t know if Lauren’s abductor would return to get him, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He wasn’t willing to kill this man in cold blood, especially in front of Lauren.

Nathan had no doubt that someone had already called 911. They needed to clear the area, but he had to deal with the tracking problem or they’d face this scenario again. The black sedan turned right onto Clairemont Drive and accelerated away.

“Lauren, take off your shoes.”

She looked confused but did it.

“Are you sure you don’t have anything in your pockets?”

“Yes.”

“Hold still. I’m going to pat you down. I think there’s a transmitter on you somewhere.”

She reached up and removed her hair tie. “The man you shot gave this to me.”

“When?”

“When he picked me up at my house. He said not to take it off.”

Nathan wanted to ask why she hadn’t bothered to mention this little morsel of information earlier, but knew that would only upset her. He examined the hair tie. About an inch in diameter, it was shaped like a disk and looked to be veneered in stained wood. The elastic cord was secured on the back with two small brackets. He set the hair tie on edge and struck it with the butt of his gun. It shattered into several pieces. In the dim light from the open door, he saw a broken microchip and a watch-type battery. He pursed his lips and looked up at Lauren, his expression guarded.

“I didn’t know about that!”

“Calm down. I didn’t say you did.”

“You believe me, don’t you?”

“Of course I believe you. I’m just glad we found it.” He stood up. “We’re going to clear this area as fast as we can. Stay with me, okay?”

“What about my shoes?”

“Grab them. We’ll stop and put them on later.”

Nathan pulled a napkin from the grocery bag and carefully plucked the gunman’s cell phone from his pocket, taking care not to smear any fingerprints. He put it in the bag and began running toward the southwest corner of the parking lot. Somewhere north of their position, a siren rang out, probably a fire department engine. He hoped most of the cruisers from this area were responding to the action at Fashion Valley Mall. It might buy them a few extra minutes.

At the corner of the shopping center, they hurried past a Hometown Buffet restaurant. No one was present outside, but several cars were waiting in a fast-food drive-through lane. He expected he and Lauren looked like a father and daughter fleeing a dangerous scene. Everyone in the area must’ve heard the handgun reports. The sooner they got out of here, the better. Nathan knew this neighborhood well, his second home was no more than half a mile distant.

He felt his phone vibrate. The number was blocked. He considered letting it go to voice mail but answered anyway. It could be Lauren’s abductor.

“I don’t like taking calls from blocked numbers.”

“Keep Lauren safe. You’re the only person I trust.”

“Jin.”

“Keep her safe, Nathan.”

“How do you know about echo five? How do you know
me
?”

“You’re her uncle.”

The call ended.

Episode Three

Chapter 11

How could he be Lauren’s uncle? He didn’t have any brothers or sisters. Why would the woman lie about her identity? Was it just to create a phony familial bond in order to ensure his involvement? If so, it wasn’t necessary. He’d already committed to protecting Lauren. Even if Jin believed she was his sister, that didn’t make it true. People can believe anything they want. But if it were true, the repercussions were monumental, especially for his father. He tried to imagine the chairman of the Senate committee on domestic terrorism possessing a long-lost, illegitimate daughter…. Had Senator Stone McBride fathered a child during the Korean War? Lauren said her mom was from Korea. It wasn’t a stretch to believe it could’ve happened. Did his dad know about Jin — and maybe Lauren too? And could he have intentionally buried it all these years? The press would have a field day if it leaked.