PART 29

Thor felt a shudder go through his body. Him and Riley had discussed the plan and gone over it multiple times but now that Fudo voiced it, Thor couldn't help but feel torn.

"This is bull shit," Fudo said, then exited.

When the door slammed closed, Thor sighed out a breath.

Riley clenched her fists. "Fudo's not the enemy."

…..

As Riley stepped onto the porch, Fudo looked up.

Keeping her voice pleasant, she asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a burger and fries with you by any chance?"

A smile flickered on his thin lips. "Unfortunately no."

"This is crazy," Fudo muttered, struggling to catch his breath. And struggling to remind himself why he was in this damn country. He was supposed to be doing a job.

With a small sigh, Riley closed her hand over his shoulder. "Not crazy. Just utterly complicated. You, me and Thor, we're all trapped in a nightmare, and we're reaching out to each other."

He dragged in a breath. "But dammit Riley, that's just it. You didn't have to be here."

"You think so? How long do you think it'll be before the FBI get embroiled in all this? It might not be here per se but eventually I will get involved."

"Start talking," he told Riley. "I want you tell me everything you and Thor are planning. And Riley, for your sake I want you to tell me everything."

She didn't exactly jump into an explanation. It took her several snail-crawling moments. "I will. Let's get inside."

…..

"Your plan is good but there's a million little things that might or might not go anywhere. Forget about the Cartel. We all want them gone but the reality of it is that they are as deep and as wide as the Marianas Trench. Hit them by hitting their pot of gold. That we got a name."

"Who?" The man was dead; he just didn't know it yet.

"Pandapatan. Datu Salem Pandapatan of the Abu Sayyaf."

Thor stood, his head clearing as he processed the news. He had a name. A different purpose.

"Easy." Fudo shook his head. "He's no regular guy. Datu means prince. His family ties are deep within the community. It won't be easy to get to him."

Thor almost laughed at that. What the hell did he care? "Don't worry about me."

"I don't. Listen—" Fudo blocked his path. "His surrounded by his people who are treating him as their salvation. They will die for him and make no mistake, even the women are armed."

Fudo's eyes held a world of meaning.

"You have a way in?" Possibilities opened up all of a sudden.

"I might."

Thor wanted Pandapatan dead. Now. He can't crush the Cartel but he can cut some of its cash flow.

"What's the plan?" Riley asked as dryly as she could—danger rolled off Thor in waves. Anger, the deadly kind, nested deep in his eyes, the darkest she'd ever seen.

"I want Pandapatan," he said, his deep voice booming, bouncing off the walls.

Riley stared at Thor. The Datu was a monster, no doubt about it. She too wanted to take him down. The man in question bombed cities, public transportations in the country and now posing a threat to the United States. She took the bombing personal even though she was thousands of miles away. But Pandapatan was too much to tackle alone.

"We all do," she told Thor. "We have to play this right. We get one chance at this. We catch the bastard, I bring him in. I want him to spend a good long time rotting in Guantanamo Bay before they put him out of his misery. I want to make sure he has time to regret what he's done. And one more thing," she said after a brief pause. "As long as we're all working together, I'm the boss."

…..

"I hate stakeouts."

Riley bit back a grin at the way Thor's voice dripped with disgust. "Embrace it. It brings results." Not that the last two days hadn't gotten to her, too. Thor Benward was…a man with a strong presence. Their unfinished business hanging over their heads doesn't help either.

"I say we go in there and find a way to make her tell us where the bastard is." He was vibrating with impatience.

At least he was talking more. In the beginning, his dark silence had filled the car, heavy with the weight of his anger.

"No. We wait."

"This is a waste of time—"

"Shut up." Riley said the words slowly and with emphasis. "You need to calm down or so help me I will knock you out."

His eyes were steady on her face. "Why are you so calm? I know you're as upset as I am."

She shrugged and didn't deny his words. "Because one of us has to be level headed. And from the very beginning you had already been one short fuse from exploding."

The small electric device on the console came to life with a hiss of static.

"She's getting a call." Thor put on his earpiece.

Riley followed his example and listened to a familiar exchange. "The neighbor."

"This isn't getting us anywhere. I say we go in and talk to her."

"We wait," she said. "According to Fudo's sources, Jenny and Pandapatan are tight. Budding affair or something. Sooner or later, he'll come to her, or she'll go to him. We go in now, we ruin everything."

As boring as daytime stakeout seemed, nighttime surveillance was the pits. The world slept while you stared at a black window for hours on end. Still, Riley wasn't going to whine about it like some rookie.

Speaking of which, Thor was slumbering in his seat next to her. She didn't have the heart to wake him. He'd seen a couple of sleepless nights lately.

He grunted in his sleep and tried to adjust his body into a more comfortable position.

The light in Jenny Mendez's house came on. Riley put the binoculars to her eyes, but couldn't see anything. The light went out. Maybe the woman had just gone to the bathroom. Then the light came on again. Maybe she was signaling to someone.

"Thor." Riley reached over to touch his shoulder.

In the next second she was halfway across his lap, her hands pinned to the dashboard behind her.

"Thor." Instinct had her say his name again instead of fighting back. With the position they were in, it would have taken him little effort to snap her neck if she forced him into action before he was fully awake and realized she wasn't the enemy.

A harsh breath exploded from his lungs as his hands gentled, ran down the side of her arms. "Riley," he said into the darkness and crushed her to him. "I had…bad dream."

His chest was wide and hard with muscle, the heat of sleep radiating through his clothes. The sensation jolted her, she pulled away. "Thor, it's—"

She didn't have to finish the sentence. He'd finally awaken fully.

"Sorry. I thought…" He let his head drop back and let her go.

"It's okay." She looked away, unsure how to respond to the glimpse of vulnerability he allowed her.

A small movement caught her eye by the buildings across the parking lot.

"There she goes." She refocused immediately and turned the key in the ignition.

After two days of waiting, Jenny Mendez was finally on the move.

"Sorry about that, earlier," Thor said as they followed Mendez's white Honda down the boulevard at a comfortable pace.

"No big deal." Riley let another car come between them, but didn't fall too far back.

He looked straight ahead. "Should we contact Fudo?"

"No need. He knows. We're being watched and followed since we parted ways," she said.

Thor glanced over. "Sneaky bastard."

"Takes one to know one."

"Wise ass." He gave her a half smile.

"You think it's Pandapatan?" Riley asked as they watched a tall, wiry man get out of his ancient Jeep in front of a 24-hour Laundromat and slide into Mendez's car.

"Doesn't fit the description." Thor examined him through binoculars. "Of course, he could have altered his appearance."

"I'll run his plate." Riley was already on her cell phone. "A friend of a friend." She flashed a grin at his questioning look.

"Omar Ismael," she said as she hung up with her contact.

"Is he in the militia?"

She was already dialing. "Hi. Riley. I wouldn't have woken you, but I need details for Omar Ismael." She waited.

"What did he say?"

"She said that Ismael is with the Abu Sayyaf, a high ranking member. Well like and respected in the community, same as Pandapatan."

Thor swore.

"It's not as bad as that," she said, all patience. "We are collecting threads. Until now, we had only one line leading to Pandapatan, now we have two."

He supposed they could look at it like that. "If they split, I take Ismael, you follow the woman."

"You're sexist," she said. "It's not an attractive quality."

"You think you could take him?"

"I could take them both, but that's not the point."

"I'm not. Sexist," he said after a minute, thinking that of course she was right about being able to handle whatever came her way. He took a deep breath. He had an assignment to finish.

"Here we go," Riley said as Jenny's car started up. "They're leaving together."

And they weren't going to her place. Ismael was at the wheel. He drove in the opposite direction.


Yup, I did it. I've updated three stories in less than a week...I'm the woman! And now, I'm exhausted...lol...like I said I don't think I can keep this up. Please let me know which of my incomplete stories you'd like me to complete first. So far this is the tally I got:

- Blood Desire (0)

- Designs by Love (3)

- Love in Harm's Way (1)

- Love Travels Time (2)

If you have a favorite please vote and don't be quiet about it. I promise I will finish all of them it's just hard to do it all at the same time...my head gets confused and my inspiration kinda walks out the door.

As always, please leave your review and comments.