Nick had been busily ripping away on his laptop, having dived into his mission with Rachel’s blessing. She rubbed his upper arm in comfortable silence, watching his hacking skills with knowing awe. Deke came over to relax next to him. Nick reached into his bag, and drew out a sealed bowl of wet food. Deke tore into it with fervor the moment Nick adroitly removed the lid without losing eye contact with his laptop screen.
“Guess what,” Nick announced moments later. “It seems Uncle Naseer has been summoned twice in the past to uphold the family’s honor in Iraq. He killed his niece in Baghdad for becoming involved with an American G.I. and returned there at the behest of a family acquaintance to murder a young woman suspected of adultery. Both times he was whisked away back here into the good old USA without charge. The investigations were short, and according to Sharia Law. No one was named, and the families involved considered their honor upheld.”
Rachel became more enthralled and intense with each sentence, her fists tightening on the beach chair grips. Nick noticed.
“I believe the world needs one less Uncle Naseer. Unfortunately, he has a son in training, who I would wager is just as bad. Saif and his Dad have been arrested three times for terrorizing their relatives here in this country. I don’t see any way this doesn’t become a huge mess, my friends. Contrary to what Jean sometimes believes, I’m not an evil superhero.”
“Assassinating an idiot like Naseer and his son will draw down the law,” Gus said. “At this time, there are too many in the upper echelons who know you are not just a famous author, including US Marshals Reinhold and Stanwick. Tim and Grace have progressed in the marshal service. They know you all too well, Nick. Anything like erasing Naseer and his son will set off alarm bells. It wouldn’t take a genius to connect the dots from Jean being in Ms. Kader’s third grade class.”
“Right on all counts,” Nick replied, glancing over with smiling respect for his partner’s intelligent instincts. “Want a bit more of the good stuff straight now that we’ve eaten a bit?”
“Hell yeah.” Gus held out his empty coffee cup for a generous helping of whiskey.
Nick obliged, and put a generous helping into his own cup. Rachel helped herself to the hot mulled wine. The three sipped in quiet contemplation as the waves ascended more violently against the rocks. The sky cleared, with the sun burning off foggy residue common to a Pacific Grove morning at the beach. Nick’s thoughts tended toward pessimism. He could envision the father/son duo endangering Jean at school. His own experiences with honor killings in the Middle East were gruesome and abhorrent. Nick smiled ruefully, while sipping his whiskey, wondering why in God’s name the USA would open its gates to third world cretins dedicated to bringing their own earthly hell to our shores. Then it became more complicated. Deke growled. Coming down the stone steps, two figures from Nick’s laptop computer arrived without preamble. Nick stood to greet them, Gus and Rachel following his lead.
“You!” The older man coming toward him on the empty beach gestured vehemently at him, his lips trembling in rage visible even in the full graying beard he sported. The younger man with him was his spitting image in more ways than one – both men a little under six feet in height, were stocky of build, and displaying the same rage radiating unmistakably toward their targets. “You will cease immediately to interfere with my niece! Dimah is a member of my family. You have no right to immerse yourself in my family’s concerns! You-”
Deke, unknowing of situations, disagreements, family, or one human’s rage at another, jumped in between the Kadirs and Nick with snarling fangs, his body tensed to leap in defense of the humans he loved. Deke stopped the two in their tracks.
“I would advise staying still, Sir. Deke doesn’t take kindly to people coming at me with less than friendly intentions.” Nick kept his voice calm and to the point. “Perhaps you’d like to tell us who you are, and why you’re interrupting our beautiful day at the Point.”
“Control that mongrel!” Naseer had taken a step forward, only to be halted once again as Deke leaped a step closer to him with a growling bark.
“You’re close enough,” Nick replied. “State your business. We’re here enjoying some time off from work. You’ve mentioned my daughter’s teacher, Ms. Kader. What is it that brings you here to act insultingly toward us?”