Page 45 of One Final Target

“Thanks.” Sam walked through the door, his mouth watering as the smell of something wonderful coming from the kitchen assaulted his nose.

Sam saw Jodie first. She was seated at the table sipping a soda. He thought her eyes brightened a bit when she saw him—was he imagining things?

“Here comes my guardian angel.” Jodie toasted Sam with the glass in her hand.

Sam felt his face burn. “Just doing what I was trained to do,” he said.

“Well, thank you.”

He smiled at Estella Perkins.

“Can I get you something to eat?” she asked.

“For sure.”

Jodie pushed a bottle of water toward him. He opened the bottle and drank half of it down.

“Wow, you were a quart low.”

Sam nodded. “Starved too. One doughnut didn’t do it.”

Estella put a plate in front of him heaped with a slice of delicious-smelling lasagna.

“Wow, this looks way better than the hamburger I was thinking of.”

“Plenty more where this came from.”

Sam dug into the food. Estella’s son, Levi, joined them at the table but didn’t seem to have much appetite.

“Can you tell me what’s going on down there?” Levi asked.

Sam swallowed. “I’ll tell you what I can. Will you tell me how well you knew Collins?”

“He ingratiated himself to Gus,” Jodie said. “He said his name was Kent.”

“Kent was his brother’s name,” Sam said. “He was a Marine who died overseas.”

“He was a gadget guy—my dad’s nickname for him,” Levi said, voice bitter. “He was always telling my dad he had an upgrade for him. I betcha he hacked everything. What a user.”

Sam considered this as he drank some more water. “You’re right. It seems as if he moved here with the intent of pumping your dad for information.” He didn’t want to comment on his idea of a cop accomplice at the moment.

“They won’t let anyone into the house until they remove all the explosives.”

“Are we in any danger?” Levi asked.

Sam shook his head. “The bomb squad has things under control.” He felt so much better now with solid food in his belly. He also noticed Jodie looked different. He saw a spark of life in her eyes and was glad.

There was a knock at the door and Levi got up to answer it. Smiley and Mike King walked into the kitchen.

“It certainly smells wonderful in here,” Smiley said, casting a raised eyebrow at Sam.

“There is plenty for everyone,” Estella said. “Have a seat. I’m used to feeding cops.”

Introductions were made. Mike King nodded at Sam, contrite, Sam thought.

Smiley took a seat next to Sam, thanking Estella. Mike sat on the other side of Jodie.

“What about you, Mike?” Estella asked.

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