In the blood a thriller, p.34
In the Blood: A Thriller, page 34
part #5 of Terminal List Series
Just ask her.
No, wait for the right time.
Time.
I’m so bad at this.
Reece’s mind wandered to all that had come to light since his return from Russia.
A senior Russian intelligence official with ties to the president had been found dead in Gorky Park a month earlier. According to Russian authorities, he had died of natural causes. He had been battling cancer for quite some time. Western news outlets noted that unusual numbers of both friends and enemies of the Russian president died of “natural causes.”
A man with a beard had been captured on multiple cell phone videos running across a street in Turin, Italy, with an AK-type rifle. The videos were of varying quality and seemed to show him sprinting into a building across the street from a bookshop that had just been destroyed by a terrorist bomb. The explosive device had the hallmarks of an Islamic terror cell. It was the same type of IED that had been used in the July 7, 2005, attacks in London. It had been widely reported that a terror cell of Syrian refugees had targeted the rare book restoration business because its owner was Jewish. The beloved man in the wheelchair had not been seen since the attack. Speculation was that he had gone into hiding following the traumatic event. Some ventured that he might be in Israel.
The bearded man had not been seen since the attack. The response to requests for information by news agencies to the CIA, FBI, INTERPOL, and the Italian intelligence services was that their investigations were ongoing and that anyone with information on the bearded man should contact their public tip hotlines. He remained a person of interest.
A woman in Brindisi, Italy, had held out hope for her husband’s return. She did not want to lose a second husband, especially one who was so kind to her and her children. That hope faded when 1.4 million euros appeared in her bank account. It came from a multinational investment fund that was financing small businesses across the globe. In this case it was an investment in Italy’s youth through a boxing gym. It was all perfectly legitimate; at least it appeared so in the event anyone came looking. That the money was withdrawn from multiple offshore accounts in Panama, Singapore, and Switzerland by a quantum computer beneath the runways of Lackland Air Force Base was known only to Reece and Alice.
He flipped the ring around in his right pocket and looked at Katie. She was the one.
I’ve seen you run, but even you can’t outrun time.
Reece dug into his left pocket and felt the safe-deposit box key, a final gift, or perhaps a curse, left to him by his father. He remembered finding the long-term storage facility that Tom Reece had arranged to receive recurring payments even after his death. In the back of the old Wagoneer parked in the storage bay was a case with an Ithaca Model 37 shotgun inside, the same weapon Tom Reece had used in the jungles of Vietnam. Behind the foam of the aluminum case were a key and letter addressed to James. The key had no markings to indicate its origin, and the letter offered no clues as to the location of the safe-deposit box to which it belonged. Not a day had passed since their discovery that Reece had not contemplated his father’s words. Perhaps some secrets were best lost to history.
I think it’s time to let you go.
“James… James!”
“Huh?”
“What are you thinking about?” Katie asked, a prying yet playful tone in her voice.
“Uh, time. I mean, nothing. I mean, the back straps. Need to stay on it when they are on the Burch Barrel.”
“James Reece, you are and have always been a horrible liar.”
Katie smiled. She came around the island, locking her fingers behind Reece’s head and pulling him to her lips. “It’s one of the things I love about you.”
“Now I’m thinking we should just let dinner burn,” Reece said, his eyes indicating the open door to the bedroom.
“You are going to have to wait. I’m famished,” she teased. “Wine, dinner, then…” Now it was Katie’s turn to look to the bedroom.
“Well, I’m going to raise the coals out there and speed this process up,” Reece said, his eyes taking in the woman before him.
“Deal,” Katie replied.
“You are so beautiful.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Katie said. “What can I open?”
“Anything you’d like,” Reece said, looking out past the deck to the expansive lake, smoke billowing from the grill.
“Let’s start with white and then switch to a nice Cab with dinner.”
“That works,” Reece said. “I liberated a couple bottles of Kistler from Jonathan’s cellar a few days ago.”
“They make an exquisite Chardonnay.”
“That they do,” Reece said, moving toward the sliding glass door that opened onto the deck.
Just ask her.
No, wait until after dinner.
That’s it. After dinner.
Katie walked to the attached garage, where Reece had installed the large stand-alone wine fridge that Jonathan had ordered.
If you are going to steal my wine, you bloody well better store it at the correct temperature, Jonathan had teased when it was delivered. Katie knew he looked at Reece like a son. With one daughter gone, it had been Reece who had taken the life of her killer while at the same time saving Raife’s. Reece was family.
Katie poured two glasses of Kistler’s finest and joined Reece on the deck.
“Cheers,” Katie said.
“To new beginnings?” Reece tried.
“You really are bad at toasts, but you make up for it in other ways.” Katie smiled.
“To us?”
“Getting slightly better. To us,” Katie repeated.
She turned to take in the view. A light breeze off the lake hit her face and she closed her eyes. “I could live here.”
“You could? What about D.C.? Work? Your own show?”
“It might be time for a change.”
Reece swallowed.
Should I ask her now? By the grill?
“Ugh, Katie, I um…”
“James.”
“What?”
“I think dinner is burning.”
“Dang it!”
Reece raised the lid of the grill and quickly transferred the steaks to a waiting cutting board.
“I raised the coals too high. I guess I was a bit distracted.”
“Get your head out of the gutter, mister.”
“That’s a losing battle. Let’s eat!”
Katie held the door as Reece passed into the kitchen and set the board on the counter.
“I think we got to them just in time,” he said, gently probing the meat with his thumb.
“Ah, disaster averted,” Katie concurred. “I took the liberty of decanting a bottle of Tuck Beckstoffer Mockingbird Blue. I thought this would be a good night for it. We also received a box from War Paw Wines in Napa. I think it’s a two-bottle night, so I went ahead and opened that, too.”
“Perfect,” Reece said, turning his attention to the salad. “Potatoes have another ten minutes in the oven and then we’ll be good to go.”
He turned back to Katie. She was staring at him, her deep blue eyes probing, curious, with a hint of mystery.
“James, are you really done with the CIA?”
Reece turned on the faucet, the warm water seeping between his fingers. He dried his hands on a dish towel and tossed it to the side before answering. He thought of the letter from his father; a letter and a key.
Perhaps some things are better left buried.
“I’m done, Katie. Freddy’s killer is dead. The same guy who killed Aliya. All those who killed Lauren and Lucy, my SEAL Troop, the man who ordered the assassination of my father, all dead. It’s time to move on. Time for a new chapter. It’s time to live, here in the present. Nothing has ever been more clear to me.”
“And what did Vic and the president say when you told them you’d be officially retiring?”
“The president was all for it. He thanked me for my service and told me to call him if I ever needed anything.”
“That’s a good favor to have in the bank. You did save him from having to wipe two U.S. cities off the map a year ago, after all.”
“There is that,” Reece said as he remembered leveling the Tabuk Kalashnikov at Iranian General Ja’far al-Sadiq’s head, pressing the trigger and then leaving the president’s fiancée’s ring in the dead general’s hand.
“Though you are going to have a hard time getting in touch with him without a cell phone or a computer.”
“Maybe that’s the point?” Reece ventured, taking another sip of the chilled Chardonnay. “This is great, by the way.”
“That it is,” Katie confirmed. “And Vic?”
“Vic just said ‘we’ll see.’ ”
“Ah, he knows you too well.”
“Not well enough,” Reece said, putting down his wineglass. He took Katie’s from her hand and set it on the counter. Then, without another word, he swept her off her feet and carried her to the bedroom.
* * *
The snipers had been dropped off on an adjoining property and had double-timed it to their positions above the cabin at the edge of the lake. National-level intelligence well beyond their pay grade had confirmed that the robust security measures employed on the property had been disabled. A satellite and drone provided real-time imagery to their Getac tactical tablets. They took up positions on the hillside, one team covering the driveway and entrance and the other covering the back porch and dock.
“ALPHA ONE FOUR has eyes on.”
“Roger that, Alpha Team.”
“CHARLIE ONE SIX is in position.”
“Good copy, Charlie Team.”
The spotter from Alpha Team typed a SALUTE report into his tablet and pressed Send.
* * *
Katie had never seen him so at peace. Though he was still never out of arm’s reach of a pistol, she had noticed a shift as they hiked and talked. The eyes that had always scanned seemed more focused on her rather than on threats from the unknown. For the first time, she felt that he was not a thousand miles away on a distant battlefield or fighting the internal demons that were a consequence of a life at war; he was present. He was with her, in the moment. She sensed that he was feeling a freedom he had never known.
“Well, Mr. Reece,” Katie said, putting on her reporter’s hat as they sat down to enjoy the now-cold sliced venison back straps, “now I really am starving.”
“That was all part of my plan,” Reece said. “I needed you to be hungry enough that you wouldn’t notice how much I overcooked these.”
“Mission success,” Katie confirmed. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I need to work on my flexibility,” he said mischievously.
“Mr. Reece,” Katie said, pointing her steak knife in his direction across the table, a gleam in her eye.
“Just kidding, though that may be true. I’m thinking about us.”
“Oh, do tell. What about us?” Katie probed.
Does she know?
“Uh, I don’t know. Just about life. The future,” Reece said, slicing off a bite of venison.
I am not the only one who wants you dead, Mr. Reece. I was on the helicopter with you in Africa. That local security man was aiming for you, not me.
Not now, Reece. Be present.
“Well, let’s start there,” Katie said, guiding him along and pouring more deep red liquid into his glass. “Without the CIA or running around the world at the behest of the president, what do you want to do with this next chapter?”
“I don’t know.”
“That I am not buying for a second.”
“Okay, I have a thought or two.”
“Well…?”
“Well, I was thinking of sticking around for a while.”
“Oh, you were, were you? Not zipping off to parts unknown to battle the forces of evil?”
“I’m thinking it’s time to pass the torch.”
“Your beard isn’t getting any less gray,” Katie teased again.
“Besides,” Reece continued, “we’ve hardly put a dent in Jonathan’s wine cellar. And I get the sneaking suspicion that Raife has taken to hiding some of the more interesting and expensive bottles, which poses a challenge.”
“You are not one to back down from a challenge.”
“This is true. Besides, I’m just getting started luring Raife into competitions for which I’ve spent months preparing and setting the conditions. I’m thinking a lever-action rifle and revolver challenge next. Just need to walk him into it. Make it his idea.”
Katie rolled her eyes.
“And for employment?”
“Well, as part of the deal in tracking down Mo a few years back, the Navy included a retirement package.”
“Ah, the big bucks,” Katie said, taking a sip of wine.
“Yeah, it’s not much but it’s something. And I…”
“What, James?”
“Well, I thought I could guide some hunts with Raife. You could help me improve my fly fishing.”
“You do need all the help you can get on that front.”
“And…”
Should I ask her now?
“And what?”
“I thought of starting a business.”
“Oh, James, an entrepreneur. That’s kind of a turn-on.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Continue…”
“Well, a couple things, actually. The owner of Glacier Archery is getting ready to retire. He’s mentioned it to me a few times now. I think he’s testing the waters. Raife and I might buy it.”
Katie put down her fork.
“James, I kind of thought you were kidding. Are you sure? A new chapter?”
“A new chapter. I’ve always loved local archery shops. Archery is so beneficial for veterans. I think we hire prior military, train them up, connect it with Raife’s hunting program. A one-stop shop to get people in the right bow, putting in the reps, and then get them out in these mountains after elk and mulies.”
“Raife with customer service?”
“I’d keep him as an investor. Not sure I’d even allow him in the store.”
“That’s a wise first decision. You might just have a knack for this.”
“And…”
Ask her.
“And?” Katie asked.
“And, I thought of opening a coffee shop and bookstore in Whitefish. Locally roasted coffee. Old, hard-to-find, and restored books.”
“Reece, really?” The hope was evident in her voice.
“I’m thinking about it. Maybe spice it up a bit with archery, a bookstore, coffeehouse, and whiskey bar highlighting veteran-owned whiskeys—there are quite a few out there these days.”
Katie took Reece’s hand across the table. Was there hope for them? Hope for a future with Reece, devoid of the killing that had permeated their lives since they had first met?
“I love it. What would you call it? Reece’s Relics?”
Reece shook his head.
“That sounds like an antiques store or salvage yard.”
“I can tell you have an idea.”
“I was thinking about Abelard’s.”
“Abelard’s?” Katie asked.
“Yep.”
“I think I’ve heard that name in the news recently.”
“It was the name of a guy I knew once. He helped me when I needed it.”
“Abelard’s,” Katie said, contemplating the name.
“Yep. Abelard’s Books, Coffee, and Whiskey.”
“That’s quite a combination. I love it.”
“All my favorite things in one place.”
“All your favorite things?” Katie said, smiling.
“Well, most of them. And, I, uh…”
Do it!
“You what?”
“I, uh, thought it might be a good place for our kids to work in high school.”
Katie’s eyes misted over. She bit her quivering lip, and in a voice tinged with emotion, asked, “James, are you serious?”
Do it!
Reece took Katie’s hands in his.
“Katie, I’ve never been more serious or sure about anything. I’m done with the Agency. I’m done with the government. If you’ll have me, I want to spend the rest of my life making you the happiest woman on earth.”
Katie was in a state of shock. There was nowhere she would have rather been.
Reece stood up, reached into his pocket, and then took a knee.
“Katie Buranek…”
Reece swallowed.
A sound disturbed the moment. At first it didn’t register.
It was Katie’s ringtone.
They didn’t have cell service at the cabin.
An alarm?
Katie’s purse was on the couch.
“Oh my God! I am so sorry. I swear I’m going to throw that thing in the lake.”
“You’ll have to beat me to it,” Reece said.
The ringtone was louder than Reece remembered. Katie stood and went to the couch, fishing out her phone thinking she would just turn off the alarm, but it wasn’t an alarm. It was a phone call.
“That’s weird.”
“What is it?” Reece asked.
“It’s a phone call. From Alice? I don’t think I know an Alice.”
Reece stood, turning all business in less than a second. He walked to Katie.
“Let me see it.”
It now read: MISSED CALL.
“James, I don’t have cell service here and you dismantled the Internet.”
Reece was about to press on the missed call when the phone chirped again with a message received.
Reece hit the text message icon.
Turn on the radio.
Reece’s head rotated to the radio they used to communicate on the ranch. Repeaters were set up at high points so that Jonathan could connect with them at remote locations around the property.
“James?”
He handed Katie her phone, walked to the radio, and turned it on. He had turned it off before dinner, wanting nothing to disturb them.
Reece twisted the dial to turn up the volume.
What he heard over the speaker turned his blood to ice. It was Raife and he said only one word.
“Avalanche.”
Reece’s head snapped toward the door and then to the rifle in the corner next to his body armor.
