After Shock (#2 - Semper Fi Series)

What Next?

De-boarding the airplane in Kansas City, Rob waited for his contact to pick him up. He had a backpack and his computer. He didn’t think this would take too terribly long. All he had to do was get the children on the plane and he would be in the clear.

As he finished the last thought, his connection pulled up in a very nice car. The trunk popped up seemingly on its own. He threw his bag in and slammed it shut, and climbed into the front seat. “It’s great to see you again! This should be easy. Do you have the information?”

“Yes, it’s all there. This is like taking candy from a baby! Except, maybe we’ll be giving it to one instead. They have a bodyguard. Also, there’s been a new development. Two others arrived with her, but then left. I didn’t follow the truck they were in.”

Rob butted in. “I know about them. He was injured in the car fire, and left the hospital a couple of days after that. They can be easily taken care of. They’re obviously a couple. Take one out, and the other will crumble, and it won’t matter which one I pick off. They’re both cops. They know how to shoot and are more vigilant than most people. She’s a detective and has worked undercover. She had a hand in disabling a serial killer about a year ago to include being a stand-in. She was kidnapped, and gave the guy what for. She’s tough. He has some high-level secret squirrel security detail in D.C. His boss came to California when he was injured. He’s that valuable.”

“The bodyguard is a Hispanic guy. He’s not very tall, but he’s massive and ready for any and everything coming his way. He’s a former Marine. You’ve got your hands full. Get those three out of the way, and the family will be easy. You can probably subdue Alyssa and her mom easily. The dad may be a bit of a struggle, but you can handle him. He’s not much older than me, so he has some fight in him. I don’t want anyone dead, okay? But, if you have to resort to it, casualties are just that: casualties.”

Rob nodded but didn’t say anything else. They seemed to drive forever. After a pit stop, they went on to their destination.

“You’ll find everything you need at the house: identification, birth certificates, and passports all with fake names, if that becomes necessary, explosives, weapons, ammunition, duct tape, rope, zip ties, and plenty of food. I’m heading back day after tomorrow unless you need me here longer. I have to get Millie out of jail. She’s going to be livid and probably screaming like a banshee.” He laughed. “Can you imagine that miserable woman sitting in an orange jumper in a jail cell? On second thought, she can simmer there for a little while longer. It will do her some good.”

Rob laughed at the image of Millie incarcerated. He didn’t like her all that much, but she paid well. Obviously, the man driving was really in charge of everything. Millie was the face, Rob and Allen were the muscles, and he was the major decision maker, and everyone knew it; everyone but Alyssa. She’d know soon enough. Rob closed his eyes for the last half of the drive. He could care less about the scenery. He had a job to do: take the children, get them on the plane, and leave. Everything else was mere icing on the cake.

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Millie was fuming! How dare he leave her here while he’s off in Kansas? Yes, it was part of the plan, but he was really taking this to a new level, and she’d make him pay when he got her out!

She thought about her surrender. She really had felt remorse right then, but it all played out perfectly. Alyssa had let her guard down, and she’d let her guards go. She laughed at that. Alyssa would get her due.

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The hardest thing Amanda had done in the last few days was going to the guest room the night before. She told herself it was the right thing to do, until they were married, and stayed awake staring at the ceiling for hours afterwards.