“I’m sure they deserved to be shot for picking those two names alone. Call whenever you’re ready. The meal and the story, coupled with your solving the dance dilemma means you’re golden with me and Jean. Will this be a tough one to alibi in the clear on?”
“I don’t think so. After I make arrangements with John and Jerry, I’ll be waking our CIA Director friend Paul. He’s going to love me. I have to go. Unfortunately, I have some electronic gizmos to collect for my CIA buddy, so I have to get busy. We live in the age of GPS bullshit trackers everywhere, so I’ll have to deliver the limo to Jerry hopefully tonight if he can meet me. I’ll be callin’ soon for you to either meet me in Carmel Valley or better yet, at Jerry’s.”
“You love all that electronic garbage. Don’t pretend, you closet geek. Bye for now.” Rachel disconnected with a laugh.
Closet geek, huh? Nick thought, looking at the phone. I think it will be time for a pre-natal exam when I get home.
*
Jean waited anxiously for Rachel to get off the phone. She relaxed slightly when Rachel laughed while disconnecting. “Is Dad okay?”
“Other than being the most cold blooded killer on earth, he’s fine. He wants us to pick him up at John’s when he gets done with cleanup.”
“It’s like you said though when we left the restaurant, Mom. They’ll have him on surveillance all the way to the limo with those guys. The Wharf has cams everywhere.”
“Jean. One thing we know about Nick: there won’t be any live witnesses. We can only guess at what he has in mind now. I’m not that fond of thinking like Nick.”
“I am,” Jean said. “He’ll have two or three plans acting out in his head, depending on his time intervals between interactions with the rest of us humans.”
“I didn’t ask, so it’s possible Nick has them in custody for his CIA buddy, Paul. He did mention Paul would be interested.”
“But did he mention his friend, Jerry.” Jean giggled at Rachel’s startled look. “I can tell on your face he did. That limo will be on the way to reconstructive auto body surgery.”
Rachel sighed, while kneeling down to pet the ever attentive Deke. “Wow, and Nick thinks I’m a smartass. Just treats tonight, Deke. We’re at DEFCON 1, so no street walks. You can ride with us to collect the Terminator later.”
“That was a neat story Dad told us at dinner. We need to force him into telling all.”
“I’m certain I don’t want to hear ‘all’. I’ll let you annoy him with questions about his past. I think I’ll stay with the term blissfully ignorant.”
“Until bad guys show up at our dinner table to take us for a ride,” Jean replied.
“Yeah… until then.”
*
John answered on the first ring. “Uh oh, did your car break down somewhere?”
“Nope,” Nick went on with their vague discussion. “I know it’s late, but our freezer broke. I was wondering if I could put our meat in your freezer until I fix things.”
“Of course. Luckily, I have plenty of room in the freezer.”
“Thanks, John. I’ll be over shortly.”
“I’ll get the freezer bags ready.”
Nick’s next call while he dissected the tablets and phones was to Paul Gilbrech.
“Oh boy… Nick McCarty. How are you, Muerto?”
“Is your line secure?”
“Did you just insult me? There’s nothing I can do about it, but did you just insult me.”
Nick grinned. “I’m covering all the bases tonight.”
“Sorry. How can I help?”
“A guy named Milton Formsby hired me tonight to kill you.”
Silence. Nick could hear the ocean nearby. “Did I say hired? Sorry, Paul, I meant tried to hire me. I figured since you were in such a playful mood, I’d trade a few with you.”
“Not funny, Muerto. I remember Frank, the guy who decided to use his position in the NSA to take you out. He thought he was untouchable until they found him on the roadside at room temperature. I may do a number of things in this job, but ordering your sanction ain’t one of them. Thank you for not taking the job.”
“I thought you’d get a chuckle from that play on words, Paul. My bad. It was a shocker to have a guy actually try and hire a hit on the sitting CIA Director. From the way he tried to sell me on the job, I know you must be doing good things. This clown had paid his way to my home base, gathering information that must have cost him a fortune. He found out who I was in the old days under Frank, and sent two pros into the restaurant I was eating in with Rachel and Jean to collect all of us.”
“Good Lord. How many dead?”
“The two henchmen and Milty. I’ll send you the pictures after we talk. The memory cards from their phones and tablets will have to ship to you tomorrow morning. I managed to take it outside to a private spot, but at least I found out he hadn’t shared my info. Even his two daisies he sent in to get me didn’t know anything other than my writer identity, and that I had been in Delta. This could work out real well for you, but I’ll need a bit of cover.”