Nick saw a glint in the darkness and jerked Rachel to the left by her arm as the glass behind them shattered. He snatched the befuddled Rachel off her feet, carrying her along until they were behind a car parked near the Marriott’s entrance. Knowing the shooter would not stop with one shot after missing Rachel, Nick pressed her to the ground. He then ran straight at Tim and Grace, who had dropped into shooting crouches with weapons drawn. He hit into Grace hard from the left and slightly behind, launching her against Tim as more shots passed where the two Marshalls had been.
“Get down by those cars to your right!” Nick ordered. “I’ll go back to Rachel. Watch for muzzle flashes straight out and to the left.”
“We almost shot you,” Grace gasped, but Nick was already streaking in a zigzag pattern back to Rachel.
Tim saw the muzzle flashes from what he guessed could have been hundreds of yards away. He pulled the struggling Grace toward cars parked on the right side of the entrance. Grace had her Glock 9mm trained on Nick as she allowed Tim to guide her. When she saw Nick shield Rachel, holding her pressed up against the parked car, Grace quickly snatched the cell-phone from her purse and pressed a number on speed dial.
“Code Red…I repeat…Code Red,” Grace stated calmly into the phone, knowing her ID would be flashed automatically. “I want everything you can launch in an outgoing radius from the Marriott Hotel at 5zero5niner, Hopyard Road, in Pleasanton. We are taking sniper fire. I repeat, we are taking sniper fire.”
“If that guy’s just a writer, I’m Bill Clinton,” Tim stated after Grace ended the call. They stayed behind the cover of parked cars on their side.
“Yeah, well at least he’s on our side.” Grace motioned with badge in hand for the people approaching the shattered entranceway to get back. “He was in Delta. It’s not like you forget all that. He did just save our lives.”
“Duly noted.”
“Are you okay?” Nick asked Rachel, turning so he could look into her eyes.
“I…I’m okay…I guess,” Rachel answered. She took stock of her physical condition, while trying to calm her heart rate down before the organ burst from its chest cavity position. “Did somebody try to shoot me?”
“Does anyone want you dead? A few of my readers have e-mailed me about pooling their money together for my demise, but -”
“How did you know?” Rachel broke in, ignoring Nick’s attempt at levity. “I’d have been dead if -”
“Hey…you two alright?” Grace called out, as the sound of sirens drew closer. “I think it’s over.”
“We’re okay. You’re probably right, but maybe we should stay where we are until some help arrives,” Nick suggested. “Hey, Grace, you civil servants are pretty well armed.”
Nick heard a stifled laugh from across the way.
“Tim and I are trying to figure out whether you paid for this just to impress Kimmy,” Grace shouted back, drawing laughter from Nick as the first approaching squad car screamed up in front of the Marriott entrance, joined by three others in short order.
Nick turned to see Rachel staring at him questioningly. He stopped laughing. “I hope you don’t think -”
“How did you know, Nick?”
“I saw a glint in the distance and decided looking like a fool would be preferable to one of us getting shot,” Nick answered truthfully, lowering his voice as the police sirens cut off. “So, I yanked you to the side. I figured if I was wrong, I could tell you I tripped.”
“That was fun.” Grace leaned down to give Rachel a hand up. “Nice moves for a writer, Nick.”
“I wasn’t always a writer.” Nick stood up away from the car, allowing Grace to handle Rachel.
Tim walked over to join them. “Maybe we should go back inside.”
“Another Long Island sounds pretty good to me,” Rachel said.
“I have no objections,” Nick added. “I’m staying here.”
“Margaritaville, here I come.” Grace guided Rachel back inside the Marriott’s entrance, walking carefully over to the side away from the glass. Tim walked slightly behind Nick and to his right.
“May I make a suggestion?” Nick stopped, when they were all inside the lobby area. “I think every person walking through any entrance here should be on camera: a good camera, not those grainy, piece of crap, security cams. Also, if it’s not being ordered yet, every person through the doors should be monitored. Anybody expressing interest in my name or room at the front desk should be investigated.”
“You don’t think the sniper’s out of the area by now?” Tim asked.
“Professional assassins have complete disregard for law enforcement and they won’t panic. A silencer was used, so pinpointing the source, even if your investigators narrow down the trajectory, is remote. It might be possible to catch one unawares. They’ll want to know if you’re going to move Kim or not, and any new acquaintances she has in or out of the area.”
“You’re beginning to worry me, Nick.” Tim exchanged concerned looks with his partner.
“I could pretend I’m stupid. I wrote a book titled -”
“No Protection,” Grace broke in excitedly. “I loved that one. Diego takes a -”
“Can I get that drink now?” Rachel interrupted.
“You go ahead, Grace. I’ll run these suggestions by the locals and see what I can come up with. I don’t want to steal your thunder, Nick, but can I speak as if these suggestions are mine?”
“If you want any chance of them getting followed, you’d better.”
Tim nodded with a smile and left. Grace, Rachel, and Nick took seats again at the same table Nick had reserved earlier. Grace and Rachel ordered their drinks but Nick ordered Iced Tea.
“Not drinking with us, huh partner?”
“Nothing personal, Grace, but I’m not your partner, and I have a sneaking hunch I might end up answering questions all night long in front of a spotlight.”
Grace laughed. “Fair enough.”
The waitress brought over their drinks, including the extra Margarita Grace ordered for Tim.
“You don’t really think he had anything to do with this, do you?” Rachel asked Grace, after gulping a quarter of her drink.
“I’ll have to get back to you on that one, right Nick?”
“She’ll have to get back to you on that, Kim.” Nick relayed the answer as if he were an interpreter.
“I’m sorry I mixed you up in this -”
“Kimmy!” Grace cut her off. “Slow down on the booze, girl.”
Tim arrived at their table a moment later. He took a grateful sip of his Margarita. “They like the suggestions, mostly because they don’t have William Petersen and the CSI Las Vegas cast here to do all those magic tricks like on TV. Did I miss anything? You were saying something about one of Nick’s books?”
“Diego takes a job involving this murderous scumbag who had decided to turn on the mob in exchange for witness protection and a new life. He buys his way in at twenty-five grand a pop, picking people he can get info from in the justice department until he locates the scumbag.”
“Did he shoot him from long range?” Rachel leaned forward uneasily.
“Nope.” Grace shook her head. “Diego blew the crap out of him with a car bomb. The interesting part of the book is how every one of the people who tipped Diego off ended up behind bars but they couldn’t finger Diego. Nick here knows a lot about the Witness Protection Program, don’t you, Nick?”
“Six months of intense research went into that one,” Nick admitted, remembering the hit on Paulo Cortesa. He had scared Cortesa into fleeing the program to Mexico, by planting notes where only Cortesa could find them. “I wrote the whole book first and filled in the details concerning the US Marshalls’ service afterward.”
“You’re just dying to ask us, aren’t you, Nick?” Grace kidded him.
“I’m a writer. I have an imagination and I can add two plus two. No, I don’t care to know anything more than I do right now. If I could put Pandora back in the box, I would have eaten my meals at Denny’s instead of Applebee’s. That’s all you’re gettin’ out of me, Coppers.”
Even Rachel laughed this time.
“Hello, Nick.” Grace waved animatedly as she walked into the interrogation room with Tim behind her. “Sorry about all this.”
“I’m okay with it. I didn’t figure you’d let me toddle along as if I weren’t there. The Detectives have been very nice. The good cop was good and the bad cop was good. Is it time for you two to take a shift? How’s Kim doing?”
“Kim’s getting some sleep at a safe house until we figure this out. You’re a little too calm in interrogation, Nick.” Grace raised her hand in warning as Nick started to speak. “Don’t give me that ‘I wrote a book on it’ nonsense either. I know you did.”
“They’ve been going over my military record since you left me off here last night. You know I was in Delta. We do train for anything, including interrogation.”
“We told them, Nick.” Tim sat down opposite Nick. He placed a cup of coffee in front of him. “We told them you saved Kim and us.”
“We told them we know right where to get you.” Grace sat next to Nick, a big smile on her face. “Want to hear what finally got through to them?”
“Will it get me out of here?”
“They caught him. It was like you wrote the scene. He waited until five in the morning, when everything was quiet, and approached the desk dressed like a business executive. When he asked if you were still checked in, our guy at the desk hit the switch and sniper Sam was surrounded – false ID, false documents, false passport, the whole smear. The bad news is he picked you as his accomplice.”
Nick burst into laughter, nearly choking on his coffee, with Tim and Grace joining in.
“I told them we were acting on your suggestions,” Tim informed him after many moments. “They believe you had nothing to do with the hit – and it was a hit.”
“Interpol lit up like a Christmas tree when we put out the guy’s picture and fingerprints,” Grace added. “We can’t tell you anymore about him, but you’re off the hook.”
“Well, in that case.” Nick stood up “Can I go home now? I’m thinking maybe I have enough Pleasanton material after all.”
“Kim would like to see you,” Grace said.
“That’s very funny.” Nick smiled, running both hands through his hair as he stretched. “I believe the stars are not right for Kim and me. Tell her I said no hard feelings.”
“Sit down, Nick,” Tim urged. “We have a proposition for you.”
“No offense,” Nick proceeded carefully, hoping they were going in the direction he’d been steering them. “But if this proposition has anything to do with me and Kim, forget it.”
“We have a leak in the program.” Grace patted the chair until Nick reluctantly sat down. “No way anyone finds out where Kim is without a leak. First, the guy she was to testify against grew a third eye in Manhattan and now there’s an attempted hit on Kim.”
“Maybe it was the same guy.”
“He was in France when the Manhattan guy went down.”
“Tanus? I read the papers.”
“You know too much. Nobody likes a smartass.”
“So I’ve been told. That’s why I live alone. What’s the proposition?”
“Your house in Pacific Grove has two safe rooms,” Tim stated.
Uh oh, Nick thought, trying to keep his face in neutral.
Grace put an arm around Nick’s shoulders. “Now what would a cute writer-type like you need with not one, but two safe rooms? Bet you’re wondering how we found out you have them, aren’t you?”
Nick shrugged. “It’s public knowledge. Any two-bit hack could get into city planning.”
“You’re one of those damned computer nerds too?” Grace pulled her arm back and pretended to pout.
“Want to tell us why you have two?” Tim asked quietly.
“One’s downstairs, one’s upstairs. I’m a little paranoid.”
“What would you have to be paranoid about?” Grace eased up over the table until she was smiling in Nick’s face, resting on her arm in front of him.
“No reason. I’m just naturally careful.” Nick smiled back.
Grace sighed and slid into her seat again. “I told you he’d say that.”
“We’d like you to take Kim with you, Nick, until we get this leak business straightened out,” Tim explained. “Grace and I will go down with you, while some people we trust implicitly find the leak.”
Yeah, that’ll work.
“You two are out of your ever lovin’ minds.” Nick registered the right amount of shock and awe. “Kim and I just met. I don’t even know her.”
“Ah…but would you like to?” Grace laughed at her own play on words. “C’mon Nick. It’ll be fun. You have a huge house. Tim and I will stay in Monterrey so we’re near if you need us. US Marshalls put people in places where other bad people can’t find them. We aren’t exactly bodyguards. It’ll only be for a couple weeks.”
“Does Kim know about this?”
“She’s very excited about it, Nick. Kimmy loves the idea.”
“You want me to what?” Rachel cried out in astonishment, with Grace trying to shush her, while Nick tried not to laugh.
“For the record, I knew you lied about Kim knowing all about this idea.”
“Shut up, you,” Grace ordered, pointing a warning finger at Nick. She turned to face the enraged Rachel. “It’s the best we can do until we clear this up, Kimmy. No one knows about Nick. He has those safe rooms you can run into and lock behind you like a people vault.”
“You agreed to this?” Rachel stared at Nick in amazement.
“He’s very excited, Kimmy. I -”
“I want you to be safe,” Nick cut in. “Like Grace says, I have a huge house you can get lost in. Tim and Grace figure it’ll only be for a couple weeks. It would be very easy for you to avoid me at my house. The living room and kitchen are really the only communal areas. There are three bathrooms. If Grace and Tim manage to keep your whereabouts secret, you could move around outside without a problem. I’m not much of a bodyguard either. The way to keep you safe depends on my address remaining secret.”
“You haven’t told him, have you?” Rachel stared accusingly at Tim and Grace.
“Just like you, we were waiting for the proper time.” Grace smiled confidently over at her increasingly distressed partner.
“I have a seven year old daughter named Jean, alias, Sarah,” Rachel blurted out, still staring at Grace.
Oh shit! I’m well informed.
“The more, the merrier,” Nick stated without hesitation. “I’ll put you two up on the other side of the house.”
“And…and an Australian Sheppard dog named Deke.”
“I love dogs.” Great God in heaven, I am so screwed.
“Do you mean that?” Rachel, tears running freely down her cheeks, met Nick’s unwavering gaze.
“Absolutely,” Nick answered. I’m a dead man if Frank finds out about this.
Nick’s Chevy Malibu, loaded with bags in the trunk, also had a pile behind the driver’s seat. Jean and Deke sat on one side of the rear passenger seat, with Deke’s head out the window and body spread over Jean. Rachel sat on the front passenger side looking around the dark parking lot worriedly.
“You have yourself a low rider, Nick.” Grace stepped back, assessing how low the Chevrolet was to the ground.
“Don’t come to my house with the rest. Leave a message at the number I gave you when you come down with the other stuff. I’ll meet you,” Nick replied, standing with his hand on the driver’s side door handle.
“Will you know if you’re being followed?”
“Yeah, for all the good it would do me. If they have my license number how long would it take to find out where I’m headed? Our advantage is if no one knows about me. When will you and Tim be following? Did you put the block on my DMV records.”
“Yes, yes, yes, and we’re coming tomorrow night. We won’t approach unless you call the code,” Grace promised, trying to hug Nick. “You’re my hero…my widdle bunny…my…”
Nick grabbed Grace’s hand and in seconds Grace was standing on her tip toes dancing around. “Ow…ow…ow…ow…ow…”
“Don’t touch me.” Nick released her and opened his door to laughter from both Rachel and Jean. “I’m writing you into my next novel and it won’t be flattering. I’ll make it so bad – yet exactly like you – your whole family will sue me even though they won’t be able to win.”
“No need to get nasty.” Grace held the hurt look until Nick was behind the wheel and then she waved happily at Jean. “You be good and do what Nick says.”
“Okay, but what’s in it for me?” The seven year old asked, staring out at Grace over Nick’s shoulder with a serious face. Deke barked on cue, sending Grace into peals of laughter.
“This is like you’ve entered the Twilight Zone, isn’t it?” Rachel asked, when Nick drove away from Grace and out of the underground parking garage.
Shit, she reads minds.
“No, I’m not like the writer Jack Nicholson portrays in As Good As It Gets. Very little bothers me when I write – except for women, kids, and dogs.”
Rachel laughed so long, Deke began to bark, with Jean giggling. She slapped Nick’s shoulder in a way that reminded him of Carol’s affectionate scolding of Dan. Rachel calmed down and leaned back in her seat with a sigh.
“It wasn’t that funny.” Nick smiled over at her.
“Why didn’t you quote the line from that movie you really like? Go ahead and say it. I’ll give you the lead in…‘How do you write women so well?’”
“Okay…‘I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.’”
“Feel better now?”
“Surprisingly, yes. How about you?”
“I’ll be okay.”
“I’m hungry,” Jean spoke up from the back.
“Sarah!” Rachel whipped around. “I asked you if you were hungry before we left.”
“I wasn’t hungry then.”
“Give me about forty-five minutes, Sarah, and we’ll stop, okay?” Nick checked his rear view mirror every few seconds. He had swept the Malibu for bugs before they left when he had been alone.
“Okay,” Jean agreed.
“It won’t be safe to stop, will it?”
“If it’s not safe in forty-five minutes, it won’t be safe at all,” Nick stated matter-of-factly.
“I’ll have to start reading your novels. Your main character, Diego, must be like a superhero.”
“He’s a cold-blooded psychopath with only a thread of humanity left.”
“Oh…”
“You’d be surprised how many people read the novels and start rooting for Diego as Tim admitted to doing. We have a mean streak in us and sometimes a character like Diego touches the black part of our souls. There are other readers who would like to have a book burning with my novels as the guests of honor.”
“Grace really likes them.”
“Yeah…well…Grace is a psycho.”
“She is?” Jean popped up past Deke to get closer while the dog jammed in behind her with his head out the window. “What’s a psycho?”
“If you want to stop in forty-five minutes you’ll have to ignore anything you hear me say.” Nick grinned back at Jean for a moment. “I live alone. Sometimes I say things better left unsaid because I think I’m talking to myself.”
“How about after the forty-five minutes?”
“Sarah!” Rachel reached around attempting to tickle Jean who started squealing before the hand reached her. Deke interceded, grabbing Rachel’s wrist lightly in his jaws. “Deke!”
Nick started laughing, while glancing over at the interchange. Hearing the tone in Rachel’s voice, Deke released her and plopped down with head in Jean’s lap, ready for another attack.
“You didn’t tell me Deke was an attack dog.”
“He attacks me without any problem. I’m not sure about anyone else. He’s been doing it since he was a puppy. If I reach quickly for Jean in any way, Deke grabs me. If I escalate, he escalates.”
“Neat.”
“Figures you’d think so.” An enigmatic smile formed as Rachel looked over at Nick.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nick asked rhetorically, recognizing a setup when he heard one.
“Men and dogs recognize abhorrent behavior, think oh well, that’s nature, and move on.”
“You know us so well it’s scary, right Deke,” Nick prompted the dog and earned a ‘grrruuffff’ in response. “Hey, let’s play the women and cats game now.”
Rachel giggled. “I don’t think so.”
Twenty minutes later Rachel noticed Nick watching the rear view mirror even more than at the start of their trip.
“You’re looking worried.”
“Did Grace or Tim mention anything about putting a tail on us to you?”
“No, I thought they wanted only the two of them to know we were headed to your place.”
“That’s what I thought. We’re almost to Gilroy. There’s a McDonalds near the exit where we can get something to eat. In the dark, I’ll know if the car I’m suspicious of follows us off.”
“Yaaaaaaaaayyyyy, McDonalds!” Jean cheered.
“You will have a salad and glass of milk, young lady,” Rachel told her.
“Yeah, right, Mom.” Jean gave Rachel the wave off. “I’m having a Happy Meal and a milkshake.”
“Do you have kids, Nick?”
“No.”
“Want one?”