Tee'd Off

Chapter Four

"This one looks the best," Bailey announced as she poked the copy of the resort map that was spread out on the coffee table with her index finger.

I shook my head and pointed to another spot on the map. "I say we go for this one; yours is too close to that bar, and has very limited cover."

"And that one is very near to some of the villas, Ric. Besides, the bar will be shut by now."

I studied the map again. "There are a few security cameras in both zones; we need to keep that in mind. I still think my choice is the best. Oh, and I called my brother while you were getting changed earlier; he'll look into Anderson a little more for me."

Bailey leaned back on the couch and stretched. Her black t-shirt shifted as she moved, and exposed her abs and pierced belly button. She shot me her sex kitten look. "How about we toss a coin to decide this?"

"Rock, paper, scissors," I countered.

"What about," she said as she stood up and stalked towards me, "hide and seek."

I frowned. "Explain."

"Simple. Give me say a five minute head start, and then you've got thirty minutes to find me. If you find me then it's your choice of location, and if you don't find me within the time limit, then it's my choice. What do you say?"

"It's a very big resort, so I hardly think those terms are fair, babe."

Bailey turned back to the map and picked up the hotel's complimentary pen. "So we rule these areas as off limits," she said as she crossed out most of the map. "That leaves the grounds behind the main building, the villas on the north east side, and three pools with their respective bar areas."

I nodded. "No hiding in actual buildings or picking locks; you must be in a publicly accessible area. You must also pick a hiding place and stick to it; no moving around once your five minutes is up."

"Okay, we have a deal. Take a towel with you so if a member of staff asks what you are doing at one a.m. then just tell them you can't sleep and that you're going for a run."

"Nice cover," I said as I glanced at my watch. "So time limit is one thirty-seven a.m. Take your cell just in case you actually manage to evade me."

"You don't stand a chance, soldier. The only reason you found me last time we played this game was because you planted trackers on me."

"Clock's ticking, Bailey. And I still would have found you five years ago without the trackers; I would just have had to work a little harder."

"Bullshit," she laughed as she slid the lounge window open.

"What are you doing, babe?"

"Fire escape; this way I can avoid the lobby and the night manager. It's called being covert, soldier."

"Fuck you," I called out good naturedly as her black attired form disappeared out of the window.

"If I'm bloody lucky," she shot back, her voice faint as she vanished into the night.

I shook my head and got a bottle of water from the mini bar. All this rigmarole just to let laid in a hot tub! The woman was crazy, but I had to admit that it was rather fun. Not that I'd be adding this to the Rangeman training schedule anytime soon; no, the boys in the office did not need to know about this misuse of my mercenary skills.

So now I needed some tactics to find my girlfriend before I lost this wager. She hadn't specified anything about using technology to find her, had she? I could call the control room in Trenton and use them to get a bead on the tracker in her cell, but that didn't seem very fair. However, I did have something in my closet that might help give me the edge.

Hidden away amongst my golfing clothes was a small collection of hardware and technology that I'd thought might come in useful. Well maybe not for the job this weekend, but I liked to be prepared for all eventualities. You never know, the resort could have come under siege from environmental protestors concerned at the latest golf course expansion plans or something… Okay, so I was just a little too attached to my toys, and was possibly what Bailey called a paranoid little bunny. I was still alive after all this time, and it would look pretty shit if I got taken out by an old enemy while on vacation.

The small thermal imaging scope that nestled next to my night vision goggles was just what I needed to find Bailey in the dark. It was so sensitive that it would even pick up heat residue on anything that she'd touched in the last couple of minutes. I changed into my running shorts and a tank top, snagged a towel, my cell and the scope, and then slid a couple of condoms, my wallet and a pair of handcuffs into my pocket for good measure. Damn, I needed a bag for all this shit. This wouldn't do at all. I stripped out of my shorts and pulled a pair of black combat trousers on, and then stuffed my pockets with all the junk I needed, but left the towel; I'd come up with an excuse if I needed one. Finally with everything stowed away I checked my watch again; it was time for me to go hunt down a horny young Irish woman. Yeah, this was going to be good.

I slipped out of the window, down the fire escape, and glanced around the resort at night. Even though our room was at the back and overlooked the landscaped garden, the building exterior and grounds were still lit up like a Christmas tree. There was little, if no cover on the lawned area, to the left was a small bar and pool, and to the right was the majority of the buildings that remained in play on the map. What was Bailey thinking? Where would she go and how would she hide?

I set off to my right, my thinking being that she'd look for something obvious, in plain sight, and that she'd not squirrel herself away in a dark corner, as that would be the first place that I'd look.

I skirted around the now closed bar and headed towards the hot tub that she'd selected. It sat in a quiet corner out of sight from the pool and bar and wasn't a bad choice for late night visits; the chances of us being discovered seemed slim. There was no sign of her anywhere around this area, and places to hide were limited, so I pressed on and moved towards the cluster of self catering villas.

The dozen buildings all appeared dark; their occupants in bed for the night. I didn't want to be caught snooping around them too much. And Bailey? Would she risk being seen around someone's accommodation so late? I knew that she was a serious risk taker, but I still thought that I was looking for something a little more obvious. Besides, the single story buildings seemed to provide little if no cover anyway.

I glanced at my watch – Fifteen minutes left. So that left the small pool beyond the villas, or back the other way, in the direction of the third bar and pool. Or did it? There was always the front of the hotel. I knew that she'd gone out of the window to avoid detection from the staff, but that did not mean that she hadn't just slunk around to the other side of the building and found somewhere to hide there. In fact, according to the map, even though the entire frontage of the main building was fair game, she'd never mentioned that area in her negotiations. Did she leave it out by error, or did she do that on purpose to send me on a wild goose chase around the rear of the hotel?

Yeah, knowing Bailey I was betting on the latter. I jogged around to the front corner and stood in the cover of a willow tree. It gave me a good view of the main drive, yet I was pretty much hidden from view. There was an expanse of shrubs and more willow trees on either side of the drive; the perfect place to hide. I'd been played royally by my girlfriend.

I slid the thermal scope from my pocket, switched it on and scanned the ground on this side of the drive. Orange flared through the sight and I zeroed in on a large rhododendron bush. There was definitely something warm and moving in there, but I couldn't make out what it was. A few seconds ticked by and the splash of color broke free from its hiding spot and dashed across the lawn. I pulled the scope from my eye and looked again; it was a rabbit. Shit, and I thought that I'd found her. I glanced at my watch again: seven minutes left.

With my time limit fast approaching, I gave the vegetation one last quick sweep and then crossed to the other front corner via the back of the building. There was another handy willow in the same place; a security nightmare and maybe something I would mention to the resort security team in the morning. It would give a gunman a well concealed spot to take out anyone who arrived at the resort's reception.

I scanned the other side of the drive this time, and around fifty yards from the hotel entrance I picked up a spot of color at around eye level. I moved the scope up a fraction and I found my girlfriend; unless there was someone else hiding out in a large oak tree at nearly one thirty in the morning. Yeah, very doubtful.

I slid my new favorite toy back into my pocket and set off across the grass to the tree, then stopped at its base and looked up into the canopy. Bailey was curled up in the branches, a surprised look on her face.

"You can come on down now, babe," I called out.

"How did you do that?" she asked warily.

I shrugged. "Do what?"

"Walk around the corner of the building and straight to this tree. How did you know where I was?"

I smiled. "Magic."

Bailey frowned. "Bullshit, did you track my cell?"

I shook my head.

"Then how? If you want sex tonight, soldier, you better tell me how you managed to walk right over here."

I slid the scope from my pocket and held it up so she could get a closer look.

"Night vision?"

"No."

"You bastard, thermal imaging, right?"

I smiled. "Something like that. So seeing as I've now found you, I think it's my choice of hot tub, don't you?"

She snorted. "I don't think so, mate. I never negotiated on the use of military hardware in this operation, so this round is null and void. We're gonna have to do a rematch."

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared up at her. "We did not rule out the use of night vision, thermal imaging or other such items, therefore, by your own omission there was nothing to say that I couldn't use them."

"You cheated!"

"I did not cheat, babe."

"I demand a rematch; I want an independent adjudication on this situation, Ric."

"Well if you would come down from there then maybe we could go ask the night porter for his opinion," I teased.

"I don't fucking think so."

I put the scope away and slid my hands into my back pockets. "Look, just get down and we'll go back to the hotel room and have sex in the bed or the shower or whatever takes your fancy, you know like normal people would do."

"I negotiated this weekend's contract on the basis that I would get sex in a hot tub, soldier."

"And you may well yet, Bailey; there is always tomorrow night. Come back to the room with me"

She slid her cell into her sports bra, swung her legs over the branch, dropped to the ground and took off running. "You gotta catch me first!"

Shit! I tore after her across the lawn and hoped to hell that I caught up with her. While I could outrun her over long distance, she was a demon at the sprint; her body carried considerably less weight than mine did. Slowly I closed the gap as we chased about the lawn in the sparse light.

Her laughter carried clearly on the night air as she darted away from me yet again. I felt like a large cat chasing a gazelle; she had the speed, but I had the stamina. Finally, I could see that she was losing power and I was gaining on her. I made a quick judgment call and leapt at her. My body slammed into hers and I tackled her down to the damp grass with a thump. Instinct kicked in and I had my knee pressed to the small of her back before I even registered what I was doing. "Do you yield?"

Bailey laughed. "Fuck you."

She wriggled beneath me and I could feel myself getting hard. "I've got cuffs in my pocket, do you want me to use them, you little minx?"

"Do I need to beg?" she giggled.

"Maybe."

"Can I help you Sir?"

Bailey froze and I whipped my head around in the direction of the voice. What appeared to be the night manager was standing about twenty feet away, and he looked extremely anxious. Talk about not being aware of our surroundings; Bailey and I were almost slap bang in the middle of the lawn and visible from the hotel's large glass double doors.

"Bond enforcement," I declared as I jerked my wallet out of my back pocket and flipped it open to show him my I.D.

"Hey!" Bailey yelled as she squirmed underneath my tightening hold.

I slapped my cuffs on her and hauled her to her feet. "It's under control, sir; nothing to worry about."

The young man looked at both of us suspiciously. "Sir, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you both to accompany me to my office while I confirm all this with the relevant authorities; I'm sure you can understand that. Most bounty hunters do us the courtesy of informing the management if they are on our grounds for a capture. We do ask that you conduct your business discreetly for the benefit or our guests, and rolling around the front lawn is not acceptable."

What a fucking mess. How the hell was I going to get us out of this one? I squeezed Bailey's wrist gently as a signal to do something, anything, and she managed to burst into tears to buy us a little more time. The sound of a high-powered engine cut through the night, and I turned to look down the drive. A bright yellow Porsche cruised up the avenue and came to a stop in front of us. I wasn't sure how I was ever going to repay my brother for his impeccable timing, but I sure as hell owed him one now. I was not going to question why he had turned up, but I was damn thankful that he had.

Anthony stepped out of the car in a pair of board shorts, a ratty surf shop t-shirt and a pair of hiking boots. He looked at Bailey and myself and then to the manager, then looked back at me and shook his head. "Looks like I turned up just in time," he said with a shit eating grin.

"He's FBI," I told the baffled looking guy. "She's wanted by the Feds; I called him in when I confirmed her location."

My brother walked over, flashed some I.D at the man and held out his hand. "Anthony Stewart, FBI."

"Jason Freedman, night manager."

"Mr. Freedman, I thank you for your co-operation in this delicate matter and I do hope that we did not disrupt any of your guests."

The young man shook his head. "No, not at all. The Ocean Edge is always happy to help the FBI."

"That's good to hear, Mr. Freedman. Come along Mr. Manoso, let's get this hellion into a cell."

I nodded at Jason as I steered Bailey past him and over to the Porsche where we bundled her into the back seat. When the doors were both shut, Anthony turned the engine over and looked around to me. "What the fucking hell is going on here?"

"He bloody cheated!" Bailey groused from the back.

Anthony looked well and truly baffled as he turned the car around.

"I did not cheat," I growled.

"You did, and can you pass me the key for these damn handcuffs?"

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Anthony snapped as he steered the car down the drive. "And where the hell am I going now?"

"Use the staff entrance and then come up to our room via the fire escape with us. I'm going to have a very large whisky and then I'll tell you what this is all about."

"Don't you dare tell him!" Bailey screeched.

Anthony glanced at her in the rear view mirror. "Darling, whatever the hell you two were playing at, I think I saved both your hides, so the least you can do is give me an explanation."

"That sounds fair to me, bro," I agreed

"You can't do this to me," she grumbled.

"Babe, you're handcuffed in the back of a Porsche; I honestly do not think that you are in a position to negotiate."

She muttered something under her breath.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that, Bailey," I teased.

"Did you know that paybacks are a bitch, soldier?"