Page 13 of A Colby Christmas Rescue

“The limo will drop you at the first transition point where you’ll receive the next set of instructions,” Victoria said.

“As you said, they know we’re here and we have been instructed,” Lucas said, his voice tight, “to get back to Chicago.”

“I’ll take care of this.” Jamie looked from her grandfather to her grandmother. “Luke will be fine. I promise.” She hesitated a moment. “I’m assuming you haven’t told my parents.”

“We’ve been instructed not to tell anyone,” Victoria confirmed.

Jamie reached out and took her grandmother’s hand. “I will get this done.”

They hugged and then Jamie hugged her grandfather. There were so many things she would have liked to say, and she was confident her grandparents felt the same, but there was no time.

Luke needed them to remain calm and to move quickly.

All else would have to wait.

Excalibur Court,

6:30 p.m.

JAMIEHADWAITEDat the airfield until the Colby Agency jets had taken flight. Watching her grandparents leave knowing she had to stay and get this done had been extremely difficult. This was her little brother’s life, and her grandparents were the strongest, most capable people she knew. She suddenly felt utterly lost and desolate.

The driver had then brought them to a house in a very high-end neighborhood. The house was apparently unoccupied and sat in a cul-de-sac on a hillside overlooking the home of Dr. Quinton Case. Well, calling the place a home was a bit of an understatement. The Case’s estate was a massive property ensconced amid more than a hundred acres of treed serenity.

The house on Excalibur Court had been staged with everything they might need—at least on first look. The supersensitive telescope setup allowed them to see—to a degree—inside the home of Dr. Case. Everything from climbing equipment to serious weapons and one hell of a muscle car getaway vehicle had been provided.

There was food and drink, but Jamie wasn’t consuming anything in this house. She’d had the driver stop at a local market where she’d picked up food and water. She and Poe had searched the house for wires and cameras. They’d found numerous devices, though they couldn’t be sure they’d found them all.

Whoever had set up this op was good.

Strangely enough, a note for JamieandPoe had been left on the kitchen island. The person who had composed the note claimed to have known she would bring Poe with her and the items he would need had been made available as well. This included clothes and weapons. To Jamie’s way of thinking, this was proof whoever was behind this knew both her and Poe.

Poe had spread the map and step-by-step instructions on the dining table. Whoever was funding this op had thought of everything—literally.

“On Sunday night, Case is having a holiday party at his home,” Poe said. “And that’s when you’re supposed to nab him.”

“The presumption,” Jamie said, “I assume is that this is a time when he will be most vulnerable. Preoccupied. Distracted.”

The man was surrounded by security at all times, particularly at his office and at the hospital. Understandable, she supposed. But it was sad that because of his success in creating a lifesaving procedure his life was now in danger.

“No question,” Poe agreed. “I’m thinking...” He leaned against the edge of the table. “I find it interesting that they assumed you would want me to come because there was nothing in the instructions about me and no one has showed up to put a bullet in my head or ask me to take a walk. Instead, they left clothes and weapons for me.”

“Seems like they know me—us—pretty well,” she agreed.

“Makes sense I guess since it doesn’t seem like a one-person operation if you ask me,” he pointed out.

“Since we haven’t been given more detail other than the strike is on Sunday night, I’d say it’s too soon to tell. But I tend to agree with you. I’m wondering if we’ll be given additional backup when the time comes.”

Jamie walked into the living room and up to the telescope. The wall of floor-to-ceiling glass doors opened fully to the balcony outside by sliding away like a movable wall. Not so great this time of year, but amazing for extending the entertaining space to the outdoors in the summer. She peered through the lens and directly into the entrance hall of the grand manor that was Dr. Case’s home. “The real question in my mind is getting him out of those woods.”

Poe joined her at the wall of windows that looked out over the dark landscape. “Getting him out of the house shouldn’t be so difficult. There are numerous egresses. It will only be a matter of evading staff and security. The cameras will be another issue altogether, but they may be providing information on the security system. One would hope.”

“It’s the woods,” she repeated as she surveyed the darkness between this house and the target. “He’s not going to come willingly, and we have to be extremely careful with him. Any injury could put him out of commission. That would defeat the whole purpose of nabbing him.”

“And therein,” Poe said, “lies the answer to why we are here.”

Jamie straightened away from the telescope, following his train of thought. “They need him for his ability to do this procedure.”

“Which means,” Poe picked up where she left off, “our employer either intends to start a school for surgeons who want to be like Case, or, as your grandmother suggested, he has a loved one with an inoperable brain tumor who doesn’t have the time left to wait his or her turn for the procedure.”

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