A special thanks:
To the one person from the US that seems to be always the first to read my work.
This chapter is for you.
Enjoy.
Chapter 49
After the tearful reunion at Ben and Ryn's, Maddie found herself being held for questioning in Nicole's office.
"So, you now understand what I told you before. Before that is, you decided to throw my horrible treatment toward a man I now love back into my face." The still good friend states.
"I'm very sorry about what I said. It was not only wrong of me, but not true." Maddie has changed clothes and fixed her hair in an array of slim tight braids. Fidgeting in her sky blue sleeveless dress, thrown over her head due to her need to wear something simple and comfortable. The result of her harrowing experience.
"Why I was so upset. What you said about Joe. I mean…"
Nicole interrupts Maddie's explanation.
"Please don't bother with the Agent Torello stuff." Nicole takes her fatigue top off. The sand colored T-shirt is loose fitting except around her bust. "Your boyfriend is in a lot of trouble. I don't think the White House could get him out of it."
"But he saved Hope. Without him," she tries to compose herself. "Without him, something terrible might have happened."
"Listen, can you remember anything he said?" Anything, you saw?" Martinez asks.
"He told Hope, he was going to end this." Maddie bites her lip.
"Maybe he's gonna kill that nut-job?" Nicole explains. "He's about the only one that could."
"What? He could be killed." The young woman's words are strained. "Joe," Maddie looks down at the floor. "Nicole, you have to find him."
"Girl, you got it bad." She walks to a metal cabinet. "I got Hawkins heading to his hotel room. He's got two Security Force operators with him. I hope that's enough to take him without…" She halts the statement.
"Without what?" Maddie is at the edge of her seat. The metal chair squeaks as she rocks back and forth.
"You really don't know anything about your boyfriend?" Nicole takes a bottle of scotch from the cabinet. She reaches in and pulls out two water glasses. "Here, take a shot before I fill you in."
After pouring the liquor in both glasses, she hands one to the anxious woman on the chair.
"Your little love muffin is a trained assassin. Like in the movies. Chief Hawkins has heard of him. Evidently, not only is he someone that can cap a target from a few thousand meters away or have the balls to put a bullet in the back of some enemy to this country's head." Nicole raises the glass and gulps the contents in one swig. "Hawkins told me Agent Torello, or lover boy if you wish killed several members of the Russian mob when they were holding him for ransom." She laughs. "Maddie, dear, I'm not kidding. I don't know what European country it was in, but they were going to sell him to the Russians."
"Why are you telling me this?" She begins to twirl one of the slim braids with her finger. "I still love him no matter what he's done. That life is over."
"First, he didn't have a weapon when he made his escape. The report Hawkins saw said it appears he disarmed two guards and then killed them with his bare hands." Nicole pours herself another drink. "Second, how many people do you love? You love Ben and Ryn, and you sleep with them." Martinez put her hand under Maddie's glass. "Drink up. I'm gonna get pretty graphic in a second."
Maddie drinks as much of the scotch as possible, before starting to cough.
"And now you love this guy. And you still love them and him and how the hell are you doing this?"
Nicole's head moves side to side with each word.
"Are you guys going to live together?" She stops to look at her silent friend.
"I got news Maddie. It's not me saying these things. This is stuff I've heard from other people. People you know."
Maddie has listened to enough. She stand up and stares at Nicole.
"You can go. I'll have someone drive you anywhere you want." As she watches her friend leave the office. "Maddie, please…if you hear from him." Nicole takes a breath. "Please tell him to come in."
The woman takes a step into the hallway.
"Listen!" Martinez shouts. "If he stays out there, she will kill him. If not, we will."
Maddie grits her teeth and leaves.
Martinez calls for a car.
As Maddie walks toward the exit, a female Ensign meets her.
"I'm Ensign Harrison." The tall slender woman is wearing desert camouflage. "I'll take you wherever you wish, Ms. Bishop."
As they leave the compound, an armed guard with a M-4 carbine sits in the back seat of the black GMC SUV.
The vehicle travels down the enclosed road. They are a few hundred yards when Harrison stops the SUV. A tree trunk has fallen and blocked the path.
As the armed guard leaves the vehicle to see if they should call the facility for assistance, a blur leaves the tree line and knock the young man into the SUV. Before either
of the occupants can do anything, the driver's side window shatters and a cloud of damp mist fills the front seat.
A Motel along highway 5 south of Bellingham
"Do you need any help, ma'am?" A departing trucker asks.
"Oh, no thank you. I have it. It's really empty." States the tall attractive beige blond woman.
"Good Lord, you must be the strongest woman I have damn near ever heard of." He takes his Mariner baseball cap off. "Pardon my French ma'am."
After opening the door, she picks up the dark brown steamer trunk and walks into the room.
The Beach Front Inn
As the three men enter the second floor apartment, the hotel clerk is waved away by the last camouflaged sailor.
The slender woman with close cropped hair and black horn rimmed glasses scurries to the stairs and apparent safety.
"Well lookie lookie." The voice of Chief Hawkins contains a flavor of surprise and humor.
"Maybe I should face time my report on what I found?" He sits down next to the bound, nude man preparing to continue with a host of comedic quips. Then he sees blood on the sheets.
"Damn, your wrists." He tosses his M-4 to the young man to his left. "How long you been like this?" He reaches for a knife handing upside down on his sand colored web-gear. (A type of, for lack of a better word military suspenders made of a hard coarse material that drapes over a soldier's shoulders and connects at the waist.)
"I got to get out of here. Maddie is in danger. Tia's trying to find her before she kills as many of the Bristol Cove group as possible." Joe grabs a pillow and shakes it loose of the pillowcase. He then wraps it around a bloody left wrist.
"You're not going nowhere. We have orders to arrest you." Hawkins informs the prisoner. Looking at the Petty Officer, "keep that pea-shooter on target. If he makes a. move," the seasoned Navy SEAL pauses.
"Shoot him." Joe finishes the Chief's order.
"Agent Torello, all I got is a double loop plastic cuff. My intention was to keep your hands behind your back. But those dam wrists." He turns to look at Joe's bare feet. "She did some job on you. Maybe if you can come up with a good lie, you can avoid prison?" The Chief holds the plastic bonds in front of Joe.
"Chief, this is the only weapon I found, so far. Here, it looks like a toy." The young redhead goes to hand Hawkins the gas gun,
"Toy, you…" Before Hawkins can finish the statement. Joe's snatches the bloated pistol and fires two burst. The redhead and Hawkins fall back.
As the remaining sailor lifts his barrel to shoot Joe, he is stunned by the gas gun crashing into his nose.
Joe hops over the bed and grabs the gun.
"Damn, it's empty." He retrieves the M-4 and orders the dazed man to his knees.
"Look, just listen to me and you'll see tomorrow." He binds the confused sailor. Then, drags him to the bathroom.
After taping his mouth and ankles, he hears the radio on Hawkins' web-gear.
"We think she is in a motel off 5 near Bellington. Chief are you there? I'm waiting for your report."
After a round of static, Martinez calls the sailor's communicator
"Petty Officer Devlin," the name is repeated.
"Yes, ma'am." Joe adds a slight southern accent, he was sure he heard one of the sailors speak with it.
A filtering amount of static helps him disguise his voice.
"Where is the Chief?"
"Ma'am, he's bringing the prisoner down to the van. I'm to look for anything that will tell us more.
"Don't bother. Tell the Chief we launched air to ground surveillance. The cold-hearted bitch has
a body temperature of 92."
"Thank you ma'am."
"Also tell him to meet us there, it's…" She continues with directions. Joe hauls the redhead into the bathroom and begins to take uniform off. Then Joe stops, a racing heart thumps through his chest at the news.
"She attacked two of my people. She has Maddie Bishop."
Ending the communication still left Joe standing half-dressed and shaking.
Notes to reader:
Please leave a review. I am fairly sure the next chapter will be the last of this aspect of the Siren series. If you wish for this particular theme(Season 4 and beyond) to continue, please leave an opinion.
Will...I feel his heartbeat...continue?