Garret's Gambit by Dale Mayer (book club books .TXT) 📗

“We found an empty apartment, and somebody who had just arrived, heading up there. He was on his phone, talking about bringing somebody. Hopefully they’re bringing my brother.”

“So now what?” she asked, and she could hardly control the excitement in her voice.

“You, nothing.” Garret said. He turned back to look at Charles.

Charles just shrugged. “Sure, we could have stayed home,” he said. “But I have to admit, a little bit of fieldwork is good for me too.”

At that, Kano laughed. “You get plenty of fieldwork, and it all comes through your house.”

“Maybe,” he said cheerfully, “but I’ll never say no to the company of a lovely lady. I like to have things operate out of my own sphere,” he said, “but we’ve enjoyed a couple lovely little pubs.”

“And I got to drink some of his beer,” she said.

Garret turned and looked at her in surprise. “I knew it. What is it with you and the beer?”

She shrugged. “What can I say? I like a good brew.”

Garret flashed a grin at her, and then Kano whispered, “They’ve got company.”

At that, silence fell in their vehicle, and they all were focused on what they might see and hear. She watched as another vehicle pulled up behind the first one. “I wonder if Gregg is in there.”

As they watched, two men got out and headed toward the vehicle. As they approached, the two men in the first vehicle got out as well. There seemed to be some sort of conflict going on; then one of the men in the second vehicle pulled out a handgun, fired several shots and killed both of the men from the first vehicle.

She gasped in shock. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God,” she whispered.

Charles reached over and gently patted her hand. She looked at him. The men, although their faces were grim and dark, didn’t appear to be all that surprised.

She said, “If Gregg’s in that car—”

“If he’s in that car,” he said, “believe me, they’re not taking him. But we don’t know yet that he’s actually in that vehicle.”

“But weren’t they supposed to bring him?”

“Yes,” he said, “somebody was to bring someone. But that doesn’t mean this is the same group. We may be dealing with a separate group here.”

“I don’t like all this secret spy stuff,” she said mutinously.

Charles gave a chuckle. “For somebody who doesn’t like it, you’ve spent quite a lot of time in the industry.”

“Sure, but behind the scenes,” she said. “I don’t have to deal with this stuff, person to person.”

“It’s good for everyone to deal with it like this, to some degree,” Charles said. “You really don’t understand what’s going on in the world, until you see it at this level.”

She had to agree with him, but she didn’t like it. As she watched, the two men who had killed the other two now turned, looked up at the apartment, had a discussion, and then made their way into the apartment, as if to check it out themselves. And, as soon as that happened, both Kano and Garret, without a word, silently opened their doors and disappeared.

She looked at Charles. “Now where are they going?”

“To check out the contents of the two vehicles,” he said.

She sagged back in relief. “Oh, that makes sense,” she said. “I just … I’m not used to thinking along those lines.”

“Nobody does,” he said, with a gentle smile. “It’s not a life that any of us particularly want to have access to or to get used to.”

“So true,” she murmured. She watched as the men went to the first vehicle, bent down over the two men on the ground, and, when that obviously didn’t interest them, she presumed that they were both dead. Garret opened the driver’s seat and pulled the lever to release the trunk. Kano was already there; he lifted it up, said something to Garret, and they closed it.

“Oh no, oh no,” she said. “He’s not in there. They checked inside the vehicle, but there was nothing. So now what?”

“I don’t know,” Charles said in a worried tone.

“And what if somebody else comes?” she said.

“We’ll have to see,” he said.

“I didn’t even know you gave them handguns,” she said.

“I didn’t want them to come out without weapons,” he said, “and you can see why.”

She did see why; she just didn’t like anything about it. The two suddenly disappeared into the trees, and she understood a moment later, as the two killers were coming back.

“It’s like watching a horror movie,” she said, “without any guarantee that you’ll like the ending.”

Charles chuckled. “That’s a good way to look at it,” he said. “This is action all the way.”

“Still pretty stressful,” she muttered.

“Definitely stressful.”

As they watched, the two killers got into their vehicle and started it up. Charles got out of the back seat, stepped into the front seat, and turned on the engine. The vehicle drove past slowly. Charles completely ignored them as they drove away. He prepared to pull out, turned the vehicle around, and Kano and Garret both got in. Just like that, Charles was now the driver. And he gunned it, taking off after the other two men.

“Is this safe?” Astra asked.

“Maybe not,” Garret said, “but we can’t take any chances on losing them.”

“Why would they kill the other two men like that?”

“I’m speculating here, but I think that somebody else is after my brother. Either after him or has a better use for him.”

“Oh, my God,” she whispered and sank against the back seat. Garret was beside her with Kano in the front with Charles. Garret reached over, snagged her up, and pulled her in tight against him.

“We’re working on this,” he said. “We’ll find my brother.”

She nodded slowly. “I don’t doubt that,” she said. “I’m just a little concerned about what I’m supposed to—with what happens in the meantime.”

“We’ll find him. And we have to trust that he’s alive and that he’s somewhere nearby.”

She nodded. “This is really a cat-and-mouse game, isn’t it?”

“It is, indeed.”

She gave