Page 5 of Delivering David

Whoever it was wore a big black jacket, jeans and a UT knitted cap. He might be tall but from up here, it was kinda hard to be sure. After a moment, the dude took off his hat and rubbed his head. Even up here, David could see he was a white guy, and he was bald. But what was that funny thing on his head? Looked like a big red bird.

“Dude” leaned against the tree, head down, as if listening for something. He stood there a long, long time. Finally, he spoke, and David forced himself not to breathe. He sure didn’t want Dude to hear that.

“Where the hell are you, kid?” he asked, putting on his cap again. “Too damn cold to be outside, so you must have gone to ground somewhere.”

Gone to ground. David remembered that from the English detective stories he and Mom sometimes watched with Suzanne. It meant hiding in a place where no one could find you. If Dude didn’t look up, David would be okay. Maybe.

But he couldn’t stay up here all day, and he was really, really hungry.

After what seemed like seven forever’s, the man pushed himself off the tree and headed back into the grove. David waited another seven forever’s before climbing down again.

Gone to ground,he repeated. Going home didn’t seem like a good idea, so, he’d have to find some place to hide until he could figure out how to get word to Mom that he was okay and to please come and get him. If she’d only bought him a cell phone for Christmas, he could just call her.

But for now, he needed to find a place to hide.

CHAPTER 5

Still later Fridaymorning

“What do you mean,there was a child in the house?” Gregori Bogdan’s hands grabbed the neck of the man he only knew as Kraft. “Who is he?”

“David Phillips, Mercy Phillips’s son,” Kraft gasped with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, his fingers tugging at Bogdan’s grip.

“And why was this mistake made?” Bogdan released his hands. There would be time enough to kill Kraft later. “Why was I not told? This could disrupt everything.”

“I don’t know.” Kraft whined, rubbing his throat. “What if the boy saw you before he got away and he went to the police?”

“Fool!” Bogdan slapped him, hard. “If he had gone to the police, we would know it by now.”But what if the boy had?

“Why didn’t you take someone with you?” Kraft’s question was almost a whimper. He was obviously afraid. Good. He should be very afraid of Gregori Bogdan.

“I do my killing alone,” Bogdan answered. He had not hesitated to strangle Mercy Phillips. She was a threat to The Cadre and so must die. That was his mission and what he was paid to do. “If I had known there was a child in the house, he would be dead as well. I do not leave loose ends. Do you at least know what this David Phillips looks like?”

“Blond, blue-eyed and medium build,” Kraft offered. “And he’s ten years old. Do you think someone’s hiding him?”

If they are, I will kill them too.“I have no idea,” Bogdan growled. He would enjoy killing this punk-ass man-child later.

“So, what do I tell–

“That is my business, not yours. You have delivered your message. Now go.” And just because he could, Bogdan slapped him again.

Kraft couldn’t get out fast enough, nearly falling to the ground as he exited. Seconds later, his car engine fired up and he drove off like all the devils of hell were after him. Better to be chased by them than Bogdan. He would deal with The Cadre for sending a punk-ass to deliver their message.

He rolled down the windows to let the stench from the cigarette Kraft had dared to smoke without asking permission to waft out of the car. Cigarettes were such a waste of money. Bogdan never wasted money. Growing up on the mean streets of Bucharest, he remembered all too well what it was like not to have it. Those years had served him well.

The Cadre had hired Bogdan to bring in a group of young girls from Eastern Europe for an upcoming event where those with an appetite for young flesh could view and purchase those they wanted. Bogdan was very good at his job and until recently had been very successful. One does not arrive at the top of Interpol’s ‘most wanted list’ by not being so.

And not being told about David Phillips was a big mistake on The Cadre’s part. Bogdan didn’t mind taking risks. It came with the job. But unnecessary risks were not acceptable. To leave out such vital information that his target had a son living with her was stupid and careless. And when people were stupid and careless they got killed. Bogdan had no intention of being killed.

But now that he knew about David Phillips, Bogdan had other plans for him. A blond, blue-eyed boy who was ten would fetch huge sums of money in Europe. When Bogdan found him, he would keep him and sell him to the highest bidder among his own clients. To hell with The Cadre and their clumsiness. And he would certainly ask for more money for killing that couple from the shelter earlier this morning. If they had refused to let Mercy Phillips talk to those girls at the shelter, none of this would have happened and he wouldn’t have had to kill her or them.

Now he was waiting for instructions from The Cadre about what to do about the woman who’d shown up at Mercy Phillips’ house. He’d crept out of the woods while she was in the house last night and taken a picture of her license late without being seen. Bogdan was very good at that. He’d forwarded it to his contact at the DMV–the one who liked young boys–and got a name. Suzanne Bennett, a social worker, and friend of Mercy Phillips. Maybe she was hiding the boy.

His phone’s screen lit up with an answer to his question about the Bennett woman. FIND AND KILL HER.

And with that new assignment, he started his car. Now Bogdan needed to deal with Toby and his failure to kill Suzanne last night, even before they knew who she was. Bogdan sympathized with his not-so-bright partner. Being pepper-sprayed was never pleasant but at least it had not been so strong it kept Toby from searching for David Phillips this morning. The last time they’d seen Suzanne Bennett was when she got into the police cruiser earlier this morning at her home. But they would find her. And then Bogdan would let Toby kill her.

CHAPTER 6

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