“You can go,” said command.
“Go, sir?”
“Yes. You’re still on leave. That means you can do what you need to do. Have fun. Go on vacation. You can even work a side job if you want to. Just don’t call me in the middle of the night unless it’s good news.”
“Yes, sir,” smiled Red. Ham nodded at the men with a wink.
“Let’s go boys. We’ve got a party to plan.”
CHAPTER TEN
“This is home at least for a while,” said Joey walking into the cabin. It was about as remote as they could get it, hidden deep in the woods of North Carolina with six-inches of snow surrounding them.
He walked from room to room, testing for cameras and listening devices, but happy when they discovered it was clean. He lit the fire, turned up the heat and unloaded the truck.
After breakfast, they stopped at a large major store chain that had everything from tires to tortillas. He bought Marissa several warm articles of clothing, grooming supplies, shampoo, make-up, all of it. He filled his own bag and then they went to the grocery side of the store.
Unclear of how long they would be there, he made certain they had enough food for at least two weeks. He hoped it would be sooner but there was no telling. As they walked through the grocery aisles, he received the text about the colonel.
“Damn,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?” she asked in a panicked voice.
“My colonel. He knew the men that were blackmailing you. He was in on this. My dad, your dad, and the others figured it out and he’s been arrested. Did you know that the men that had you were part of a major crime family?”
“Oh, God,” she whispered. “You can’t be serious.”
“Afraid so, babe. They’re creating a plan now, or at least they’re going to show up at the club and let a plan unfold,” he smirked.
“Joey, this isn’t funny,” she said putting the cereal into the basket. He grabbed two more boxes and she stared at him.
“What? I like cereal for a late-night snack,” he smiled. Marissa frowned at him, shaking her head. “Marissa, they know what they’re doing. We’re going to have to let this play out. We know that this family is a large crime family on the east coast but I’m going to bet there’s someone much bigger above them. Someone wanted you. They wanted your talents as a chemist and were prepared to force you to work for them. That’s not some crime boss.”
“This is like a bad dream. How could I have let my idiot roommates do this to me? I was fine on my own, working hard at school. I had a few friends but I should have just kept my head down.”
“How did you meet these roommates?” he asked.
“My other roommates switched schools. Duke is expensive and they weren’t keeping up their grades so they transferred to a state school. I couldn’t afford the rent on the apartment I had. It was close to school, brand new, and more expensive than most of the places around the area. I was fortunate that the other two were able to pay.”
“And the new roommates…”
“Trina and Daphne. They said they went to Duke but then I found out that they weren’t students there. But they had the money for rent. Every month, on time, the first of the month. There were no issues at all.”
He put several cans of soup and ramen noodles in the basket and she added pasta and pasta sauce.
“How did they approach you?” he asked.
“One weekend they said they were going out on this boat and they wanted me to join them. It was hot, almost summer and I hadn’t spent any time at the pool or lake, let alone the ocean. I said no several times before I said yes.”
“Then what? You went out on the boat and then what?” he asked.
“They were nice. The food was good. I stayed away from alcohol. I don’t drink much. I made sure it was bottled waters or soda, never leaving it open.”
“Good girl,” he smirked.
“I did learn a few things from my father,” she smiled. “Anyway, it was a large boat, probably more of a yacht. We danced, had fun and no one pressured me into anything.”
“When did that change?”
