Page 12 of Chinook Winds

The door opened. Martinez came in.

“Martinez here will treat your wound. You’ll be held prisoner here until a time when I can use you again, or until I decide the best way to get rid of you.” Collins grabbed hold of his collar and jerked him to his feet. With his face inches from Kincaid’s, he snarled out the words. “Do you understand?”

Kincaid’s head wagged up and down.

Collins let him fall and turned to Martinez. “A word.”

Both men stepped out into the hall.

“What do you want to do with him?” Martinez motioned toward the door.

“Fix him up. Then lock him in his room and make sure he doesn’t have access to a phone. I don’t want him speaking to anyone, including his wife.” He started toward the front door. There was someone else he had to see while he was here. Someone dear to his heart.

“What about the wife?” Martinez asked with his hand on the door.

“Get her on a plane to Amarillo. Make sure she knows to keep her mouth shut. Have our people stay with her. I don’t want her reaching out to them.”

“I’ll handle it. Will you be heading back to D.C. now?”

Collins whirled at the man’s question. “That doesn’t concern you. I have some business to take care of first.”

He strode to the front door and opened it. With a final glance at Martinez, he stepped out into the morning sunlight.

The car he’d driven to the lodge was parked in the same spot. He surveyed the vast woods surrounding the place. Collins had always loved it here. In recent years he came because of her. It had been months since he’d seen her. Though he had pressing matters to handle, Collins couldn’t pass up the chance to be near her if only for a little while. He drove the distance to the cabin along the cliff overlooking the ocean where she and his sister had lived for more than five years.

Though her memory had been taken from her, she believed what he told her about her past. Jamie was the only good thing to come from his life with Sofia. He parked in front of the cabin and hurried up the steps. His sister, Betty, had heard his approach and opened the door.

“Is she here?” he asked knowing the answer. His sister had been through so much in the past. In many ways, she was just as damaged as Jamie.

Betty shook her head. “She’s down by the shore.”

He stepped inside and closed the door. Before he’d go down to see her, he had to know. “How is she?”

Betty sighed. “They haven’t returned.”

A weary breath escaped. Though he was relieved Jamie’s memories hadn’t returned, one day they would, and he would have a decision to make. She was his daughter. Could he do what was necessary if the time came? Could he put her down before she could take him under?

Chapter Four

“Ihave something,” Jordyn Adams announced to her partner, Garrett.

He wheeled his chair next to hers. “What do you have?”

For hours she’d been combing through every connection Ahmad Hassanzai had on record. Her gut told her somewhere in this mass of information was the location where Collins and Hassanzai had hidden the nuclear weapons.

And Jordyn believed she’d found it. “Here.” She pointed to the screen. “Hassanzai’s grandfather on his mother’s side owns a piece of property here. When his grandfather passed, the property went to Hassanzai’s mother.” Jordyn pulled up Google Maps and zoomed in. “There’s a house on the property, but get this—the place butts up against a string of mountains.” She zoomed in closer. “And there’s a cave.”

Garrett didn’t waste any time calling James. With the call on speaker, as soon as James picked up, Garrett handed the phone to Jordyn who explained her find. “The cave would be the perfect place to hide the weapons. From what I can see on the satellite image, there’s a lot of people around for a place that hasn’t been lived in for years.”

“That’s it,” James exclaimed. “That has to be where they’re hiding the weapons. We need people on the ground there right away.” Jordyn could hear him speaking to someone else.

“We have some friendlies in Afghanistan,” Jordyn told him, “but we’ll want our people there to oversee the search.”

“I agree. Though we’re spread thin right now. Get Peter, Deacon, and Teagan ready to fly to Afghanistan right away. And contact our people there. Have them watch the place from afar. We can’t afford to tip off Hassanzai’s people.”

“You got it. Garrett and I will take care of it. How are things there?”

“Not good.” James told them about their fighter escorts. “We have to find a way to get rid of them before we land.”

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