“Someone probably will,” Nick answered.
Bacall grabbed Nick’s arm as he turned to board the plane. “Would you take the sanction on me?”
Nick glanced around at Bacall with a grin. “Nope. They don’t send me after Snow Whites, kid. Be careful out there.”
Bacall watched Nick board the plane, his mouth tightening for a moment. He took a deep breath, and returned to the black SUV he had driven McCarty in to catch his private flight. Before driving on, he turned to his passenger. “Where would you like to go, Sir?”
“Take me home, Clyde,” Paul Gilbrech directed. “I could use a driver. Are you interested? It would mean some courier type work, and research.”
“Courier work like today’s delivery?”
“No. You won’t be doing anything like the courier work today again.”
“You seem to think a lot of McCarty, Sir.”
“Unless I send you with a file to be delivered to him in person, or to assist him behind the scenes, we won’t be speaking of Nick again. Is that clear enough for you?”
“Yes Sir. McCarty just seems like some dude you meet at a baseball game.”
“Last word on Nick. If I knew he was after me, I’d put a bullet in my own head.”
“I’ll take the job as driver, Sir,” Bacall said.
“I’m very happy to hear that, Clyde.” Gilbrech put the syringe in his hand away. “I need someone close to me I can trust implicitly as a driver, courier, and in certain situations, a bodyguard. I hope that person will be you, Clyde.”
“Yes Sir, I believe I can handle that.”
Chapter Ten
Road Trip
“Knock… knock!” After paying the cab driver, Nick called out to the house. Gus came out to greet him.
“You look real fine, Muerto. Did you keep the uniform on just for us?”
“I took a military flight back, so Paul thought it would be best to stay in uniform until I reached home,” Nick answered. “How are things here?”
“Dad!” Jean ran out to hug him with Rachel, Dan, and John trailing. She backed away after a moment while still holding onto his jacket. “Nice uniform… not as sharp as the Marines, but pretty good.”
“Thanks, snob.” Nick hugged and kissed Rachel. “Let’s go inside. I believe a small celebration is in order. I wrote nearly three thousand words on the plane in my new Diego adventure ‘Dark Interlude’, and I think all the leaky loose ends have been plugged. Paul will handle Douglas Cameron through the DOJ. Cameron doesn’t command anyone anyhow. His only connection is his Mommy the Senator from Maine. She won’t be happy with the black eye he’s about to give her all over DC. According to Paul, the DOJ is going to make sure Douglas will be the poster child for being blackmailed in public office.”
“We do have some news to share about the Salvatores,” Rachel said as the group locked the front, and went into the kitchen. “Neil called to tell us Salvatore was trying to find out where you were, saying he was a concerned friend of the family. Neil told him he thought you were in a safe place with your family until more is known about the assaults on our house.”
“Your lawyer checked in too,” Gus said. “He turned the DA’s office inside out over letting the Rashidi brothers loose without even calling you. He said he wants to talk with you anyway, but guarantees the Rashidis will not move an inch without all of us knowing about it for the rest of their lives.”
“Yes,” John added. “The Rashidis do not know it, but they had better get their prayer rugs out and petition Allah never to allow them out of prison. El Kabong wishes to be on hand with his Unholy Trio brothers Payaso and Muerto if they ever do get free.”
Nick busily passed out beers and shots to his Unholy Trio brethren. Jean received a soda while sitting on the edge of her seat, hoping for more in roads into the very strange and dangerous existence she was part of. Rachel wanted only ice water. Nick considered what he’d heard while hanging his uniform coat and beret on his chair. He drank half his beer before speaking, following the thirst quenching with half of his shot.
“Oh my… that was good. Yes, Brother John, there will be no court dates for the unfortunate Rashidi brothers should they ever see the light of day. I hope Neil wasn’t caught in the pounding on the DA’s office, but that had to be done. I did manage to question Sadun about Phil Salvatore. The name meant nothing to him, so I’m figuring Paul’s right about him being a dupe of Collister, trying to be an undercover agent. He was an easy target for Collister to use because of Salvatore’s ties with Pettinger. Tomorrow morning will be an interesting journey into the news coming out of DC.”