The Prime Objective

She expected at least a flicker of reaction—shock, anger, disbelief. Something—but Jack merely continued to look at her, his expression as unreadable as ever.

“Well? Say something,” she demanded after a moment of frustrating silence.

“Like what? I knew as soon as I got your message that you were in a life-or-death situation of some kind. As independent as you are, anything short of that you would have handled yourself. It would never have occurred to you to ask for my help.”

Kate bristled. “That’s right. It wouldn’t have. And it’s a damned good thing that I am a self-sufficient woman, since you were never around throughout most of our marriage.”

“Hey. Hey. Take it easy, Mick. That wasn’t criticism. Just a statement of fact.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She rubbed the back of her neck and gave him a sheepish grimace. “My nerves are so frayed I guess I’m overreacting.”

“No problem.” His lips twitched in that infuriating ghost smile. “And for the record, your strength and self-confidence are two of the things I’ve always admired about you.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, suspecting sarcasm, but even in the dim light she could see that he was sincere. “Thank you,” she murmured finally, feeling foolish.

“Now…who is trying to kill you and Colleen? And why?”

“I wish I knew. Two days ago I had just gotten home when I got a call from Colleen. She was in a panic, screaming, over and over, that I had to get out of my condo at once. Then—”

“Wait.” Jack held up his hand and stopped her. “I think you’d better save the rest for later. If those guys out there really are here to kill you we need to get out of here. Now. It looks like they’ve decided to make their move.”

Following the direction of Jack’s gaze, Kate looked out the window again and gasped. In the glow of the security light she saw two men walking down the road toward the driveway entrance. Both were carrying weapons.

Jack snatched up the rifle and the box of ammunition from the nearby lamp table, grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the back of the house.

“Wait. Why do we have to leave? They can’t know for certain that I’m here.” Kate tried to resist, but he towed her along with him with ease. “Jack, listen to me. I haven’t turned on any lights or gone outside since I arrived last night, and my car is hidden in the barn behind a stack of hay bales. I haven’t even let Isaiah know that I am here. Why don’t we just sit tight and not make any noise and let them think the house is empty? Surely they’ll go away then.”

“Damn, Mick, for a bright woman, you sure are naive about some things. Trust me, if those guys are killers, they’re not going to walk up and ring the doorbell. They’ll kick the door down.”

“Oh.” The weak, one-word reply was all she could manage. She trotted along behind Jack, visions of what would have happened if he hadn’t arrived when he did playing in her head with terrifying clarity.

In the kitchen he snatched her coat off the rack beside the door and shoved it at her. “You got any more weaponry around?”

“There’s Uncle Quincy’s old shotgun in the front bedroom and a single action in the bathroom.”

“Good. I’ll run get the shotgun while you put your coat on.”

In seconds he returned carrying the shotgun in the crook of his arm alongside the two rifles. He scooped the extra boxes of ammunition off the counter and dumped them into his coat pocket with the rest.

Pointing to the teal duffel bag sitting on the floor beside the back door he said, “I assume that’s yours.”

“Yes. I left Houston with just the clothes on my back. When I got here I packed some of my farm clothes and toilet articles in case I heard from Colleen and had to leave in a hurry.” Plus, the chore had given her something to do other than pace the floor. For a while, anyway.

“And your purse?”

“In the duffel.”

“If you’ve got a cell phone with you, for God’s sake, turn it off. The last thing we need is a ringing phone giving away our position.”

“Oh. Right.” Kate snatched the phone from her shirt pocket and punched the Off switch. “Okay, it’s done.”

“Good. Grab your duffel bag and let’s go. Hurry.”

She did as he said, and the next thing she knew they were out the door and racing across the back lawn.

Jack’s steady, low-key demeanor gave the impression that he never got agitated, never got in a hurry. Kate, however, was discovering just how fast he could move. He ran flat out, his long legs eating up the ground. Being pulled along with him she felt almost airborne, her feet touching the ground only now and then.

The barn sat in the pasture nearest the house, about three hundred feet beyond the backyard fence. They had almost reached the gate when they heard a crash from the front of the house.

A squeak of alarm escaped Kate. Jack did not so much as flinch.

“That pretty much erases any doubts about their intentions,” he muttered without breaking stride.

Kate didn’t have the breath to reply, but she couldn’t help but notice that her ex-husband wasn’t even winded.

“No time to deal with the latch,” he announced.

Before Kate could question the cryptic comment he scooped her up on the fly and tossed her over the fence. Her surprised squeal ended in an oof when she hit the ground and the duffel bag went flying.

The rifles came sailing over the fence and landed with a clatter a few feet away. Jack vaulted over the gate next and dropped down beside her.

“You okay?”

“You could have warned me.” Sitting up, she brushed off her jeans and massaged her stinging palms. “Isaiah harvested hay from this pasture. It’s full of prickly stubble.”

“Sorry. There wasn’t time. Just be glad you didn’t land in a cow paddie.”

“Eeeow.” Squinting through the darkness, Kate twisted and contorted, conducting a frantic inspection of her hands and clothing for any suspicious foreign matter.

“Shush,” Jack ordered, and placed his hand over her mouth.

The back screen door banged shut and the distant murmur of voices floated to them on the crisp night air. Over the top of Jack’s palm, Kate’s eyes grew wide.

With a warning forefinger across his lips, he signaled for silence and removed his hand from her face. Staying low, they gathered the duffel and weapons, inched beneath the thorny rosebushes, as close to the fence as they could get, and peered through the almost leafless stalks twined around the boards. Behind them a few cows, disturbed from their slumber by their arrival, moved like ghosts through the darkness.

The farmhouse sat in the middle of an acre of manicured lawn enclosed on all sides by a white rail fence on which hundreds of climbing rosebushes were draped. As a child Kate had teased her aunt Rose about her passion for her namesake flower, but at that moment she sent up a little prayer of thanks for the almost solid cover they provided.

The men slowly walked out into the yard, scanning the area. Each held an AK-47 angled across his chest. Kate didn’t move. She did not so much as blink.

She couldn’t make out the men’s features in the darkness. They wore dark suits and overcoats that looked expensive and ridiculously out of place on a farm. Despite their natty attire, however, there was something rough and uncivilized about the pair. They gave off an almost palpable aura of menace. Of violence.

Both men were big and beefy. The taller of the two had a bull neck. The other one didn’t appear to have a neck at all. His head sat on his shoulders like a melon.

They stopped about ten feet shy of the fence to avoid the rampant snarl of thorny rose canes that waved in the breeze. Kate held her breath. Her heart beat so hard she was certain they would hear it.

“You see anybody?” the taller man asked.

“Naw.”

“Yeah, well, keep your eyes peeled. The boss said that both women may be here.”

“Maybe. But I doubt it. Only one bed’s been slept in.”

“That don’t mean nothing. They probably took turns standing watch. But one or both of ’um was here. An’ from the looks of the firepower in that house, they’re probably packing.”

“I’m telling you, they made us. By now they’re long gone. We shoulda drove right up, rushed the house and kicked in the damned door, like I wanted to, instead of sittin’ out there in the open casin’ the place.”

“An’ I told you, the boss wanted us to keep a low profile and not draw attention to ourselves.”

“Attention? From who? A bunch of cows? There ain’t no other houses around here.”

“Just ’cause you can’t see ’um don’t mean nothin’. There could be a dozen places hidden in these woods. Hell, those women could be hiding out there in the trees. Or in that barn. Why don’t you go take a look?”

“Me! Why me? I ain’t goin’ out there. There’s cattle out there. Maybe a bull.”

“You afraid of a bull?” the tall one questioned with a snicker.

“You ever seen one of them rodeo shows on TV? Bulls can run fast. I can’t. Even if you shoot the sucker it can still do some serious damage before it goes down. You want the barn checked, do it yourself.”

The taller man appeared to consider, then shook his head. “Naw. You’re probably right. They ain’t here.”

“Huh,” Melon-head grunted. “That’s what I thought.” He fished a cell phone out of the inside pocket of his coat. “I’ll call the boss an’ tell ’im we struck out.”

Relief left Kate weak.

“It’s me. Nobody here, boss. Somebody’s been here, but there’s no tellin’ who or when or if it was one or both of ’um. Anyway, whoever it was, they’re gone now. Could be they made us and took off out the back.” There was a pause, then, “Hell, yes, we was careful. As careful as we could be, but stakin’ out a place up here in shitkicker land ain’t easy. There ain’t no other people or cars or buildings around. How’re we suppose to blend in?”

Another pause followed, this one longer than the first. Finally the man bobbed his melon head and said, “You got it, boss. See you then.”

He disconnected and returned the cell phone to his coat pocket. “The boss said head back to Houston. He wants us at his place by three tomorrow afternoon. He’s got another job for us.”

“Yeah? Who’re we gonna pop this time?”

“You’re gonna love this.” A hard smile stretched Melon-head’s thick lips. “It’s the bigshot. We’re not ’spose to kill him. Just give him a little tune-up to keep him in line.”

“Great,” the taller man said. “This is one job I’m gonna enjoy the hell out of. C’mon, let’s go. All this rural crap gives me the willies. The sooner I get out of kicker country the better.”

Through the tangle of rose canes Kate and Jack watched the men walk away. The instant they disappeared around the back corner of the farmhouse, Kate made a move to stand, but Jack jerked her back down. “Be still.”

“Why? Shouldn’t we get out of here?” she whispered back. Before Jack could answer Kate felt something cold and wet touch the side of her neck.

“Eeee—”

“Jesus.” Jack slapped his hand over her mouth and cut her off midshriek, and the curious cow that had nudged her gave a startled bellow and skittered away a few feet.

The two men popped back around the corner of the house.

“You heard that, right?”

“Yeah. What the hell was it? It didn’t exactly sound human. Man, this place gives me the willies. All these thick woods and animals around.”

Cautious, guns raised, the men started walking back toward the pasture fence. Jack looked around, picked up a clod and sent it sailing in a sharp, side-handed pitch. The missile hit the cow in the backside, and the startled animal gave an indignant bawl and trotted away.

The men stopped walking. “Shit. It was just a cow,” Melon-head said. “You see, I told you there was cattle over there.”

“An’ I told you there was no point in hiding around the corner waiting around for those Mahaffey women to come out of hiding. Like I said, they ain’t here. So c’mon. Let’s get the hell outta here an’ head back to civilization.”

This time Kate remained motionless and silent beside Jack and waited while the men returned to their car. From where they were crouched they could not see the sedan, but after what seemed like an eternity they heard the car engine turn over and headlights came on out on the road. Jack kept a restraining hand on Kate’s arm while the car pulled forward and turned into the driveway, then reversed out again and headed back down the road toward the highway. Even then they stayed put until the taillights disappeared.

“Okay. Let’s go. And stay low,” he whispered finally, latching onto her hand.

Kate’s instinct was to run hell-for-leather in a beeline for the woods behind the barn, but Jack towed her across the pasture in short bursts, running between the milling cattle, from the fence to a stack of hay bales, to a watering trough, to the old farm truck parked next to the barn, to the cattle chute that led into the dipping vat. The sporadic, zig-zagging route confused Kate at first—until she realized that Jack was using the objects for cover. Which meant that he still wasn’t convinced that the men had given up.

That brought another wave of terror and a fresh burst of adrenaline that put wings on her feet.

Three

Kate felt somewhat safer once they entered the trees, but Jack’s pace did not slow. By the time they reached his vehicle, about fifty feet inside the woods, she had a stitch in her side and her lungs were on fire.

In the darkness deep inside the woods she didn’t see the black SUV until she almost bumped into it. At once Kate knew that it was government property and probably specially equipped with the latest surveillance and espionage technology. Agency vehicles were nearly always black or gray and Jack always drove one when he was stateside.

“I’ll stow this with the rifles,” he said, taking the duffel bag from her.

A grateful nod was all Kate could manage. She scrambled into the front seat, put her head back and closed her eyes and gasped for breath, her heart pounding against her ribs.

She felt the vehicle rock when Jack climbed in behind the wheel and started the engine. She had expected him to take off like a bat out of hell. Instead she felt the vehicle ease forward at a crawl.

Kate opened her eyes and sat up straight.

“Aren’t you going to turn on the headlights?”

“Not yet.”

“But…we saw those men drive away.”

“We saw someone drive away. There could have been only one of them in that car. The other one could have stayed behind, hoping you’d think they’d both gone and return to the house. That’s what I would’ve done.”

“Oh.” So much for feeling safe.

Perched on the edge of the seat, Kate gripped the dashboard with both hands and leaned forward, squinting to see through the darkness. The roads that crisscrossed the farm were nothing more than worn, one lane tracks, created by years of driving trucks and farm equipment from one pasture to another. The swath of woods through which they were driving angled across the property from the northeast to the southwest. Trees and forest undergrowth grew right to the edge of the path, in some places so close that low hanging branches scraped the top and sides of the SUV.

“You’re going to hit a tree in the dark,” she cautioned, wincing at a long screech of wood on metal.

“Stop worrying. I have excellent night vision. It’s a requirement in my line of work.”

Yes, Kate thought. It would be for someone who spent a good part of his life prowling the dark alleyways of the world. As always when she allowed herself to consider that part of Jack’s life, an aching knot lodged in her chest.

No. She wouldn’t think about that. Deliberately pushing the image aside, she returned her gaze to the black void beyond the windshield and her attention back to her more pressing problem.

“Back there, how did you know those men hadn’t left?”

“I didn’t. It’s just safer to be prepared for the worst.”

“And that’s the way you want to live your life? Always expecting the worst?” The questions were no sooner voiced than she gritted her teeth. Dammit. You’re doing it again.

“It’s not a matter of want. It’s a matter of necessity. And the operative word is live. Which I’m still doing. So being prepared for the worst must work.”

Kate pressed her lips together and kept silent for the remainder of the drive through the woods.

At the far edge of the forest the track opened onto the dirt road that ran in front of the farmhouse and bisected the property—only this gate was around a curve from the main entrance.

Jack brought the SUV to a stop within the shadows of the trees. Reaching behind the seat, he removed a pair of binoculars from his knapsack and scanned the road in both directions.

“It’s so dark. There’s not even a moon out tonight. How can you see anything through those?”

“They’re night-vision binoculars. I can see everything.” He took his time, examining every inch of the road, every bush, tree and shadow. “It looks clear,” he finally announced and returned the binoculars to the knapsack.

They bumped over the cattle-guard and out onto the road. After a mile or so the dirt lane ended at a paved county road, and Jack turned left. Contrary to Kate’s expectation, he waited until they’d crested a hill and started down the other side before turning on the headlights.

Relaxing her grip on the dash, she sighed and scooted back in the seat, grateful that they would not end up in a bar-ditch or wrapped around a telephone pole. Her relief vanished, however, when she caught Jack checking the rearview mirror every few seconds.

“Are they following?” she asked, checking the passenger side mirror for herself.

“Doesn’t look like it. The road’s empty in both directions.”

“Thank God.”

“Okay, now that the excitement is over, why don’t you finish telling me what’s going on,” he suggested as calmly as though they were discussing the weather.

Kate gritted her teeth. For Pete’s sake. They’d just run for their lives from vicious killers. You’d think the man would at least be a tiny bit agitated. It wasn’t healthy to always be so in control of your emotions.

“As I told you, I have no idea,” she replied with a tad more bite than she’d intended. “Honestly. I don’t,” she insisted when he shot her a skeptical glance. “I was going through my mail when I got a call from my sister and all hell broke loose.”

“Okay, let’s start with that. Tell me, word-for-word if you can, exactly what Colleen said to you.”

“All right. I’ll try.

“It all started Saturday evening around six-thirty. I had been in Dallas all week meeting with buyers for Neiman Marcus and other stores, showing some new designs. I had just gotten home and was sorting through the mail when my cell phone rang. Before I could finish saying hello Colleen started shrieking at me…”

“Kate! Where are you?”

“I’m at home.”

Colleen groaned. Then the words came tumbling out of her, frantic and intense, breathless. “Listen to me, Kate. You have to get out of there right now. They’re on their way over there to kill you!”

“What? Who’s on their way over? What are you talking about?”

“There’s no time to explain. Just go! Go! Get out of the condo!”

“Colleen, for heaven’s sake, will you calm down and tell me what’s going on?”

“Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God,” her sister chanted.

In the background Kate heard the dull rumble of vehicles and horns and other traffic noise, and her unease grew. Colleen was not the most competent of drivers at the best of times. Behind the wheel of a car in her current state she would be a danger to herself and everyone else on the road.

“Colleen. Colleen! Stop that! Snap out of it and talk to me!”

After a couple of hitching breaths her sister continued in a panicked voice, “S-some men came into the store a few minutes ago at closing time looking for us. For you and me. I was in the office when I heard the commotion. I peeked out to see what was going on. Oh, Kate,” she sobbed piteously. “They—they were beating Bobby.”

“What! Who was beating Bobby?”

“I don’t know! I’d nev-never seen them before. But no matter how hard they hit him, Bobby wouldn’t tell them where to find us. So they…they…oh, God, Kate, they shot him!” The last came out on a rising wail of anguish and fear that made the hairs on the back of Kate’s neck stand on end.

“You saw someone shoot Bobby? Oh, my God! Is he…?” Kate bit her lower lip, afraid to finish the question.

“He’s dead,” her sister cried. “When I sneaked out through the connecting door to your studio he was lying facedown in a pool of blood. And we’re next! I heard the one in charge tell the others to go to your condo and take care of us.”

“Oh, my word!” Kate gripped the phone tighter, real fear beginning to ripple through her.

“They’re going to kill us!” Colleen cried, on the verge of hysteria. “Just like they killed Bobby. Now will you please get out of there?”

“Why don’t you just call the police?”

“No!” she screeched. “We can’t do that! I heard them brag to Bobby that their boss has policemen and FBI agents on his payroll who would take care of us themselves if we showed up at either agency.”

“But—”

“No! Don’t you understand? There’s no one we can trust!” With every word Colleen’s tone increased in volume and shrillness, in direct proportion to her growing fear. “I want you to promise me that you won’t contact the authorities. Not any of them.”

“But—”

“Promise me, Kate!” she screeched. “Promise!”

The primal fear that gripped Colleen was palpable, even through the phone. The grating sound of her breathing broke Kate’s heart and sent a chill down her spine. She couldn’t stand for her to be so terrified. “All right. I promise.”

“Oh, thank God,” Colleen panted, and Kate could tell that she was almost faint with relief. “Now get out of there. Now. Please! I’m begging you.”

“Okay. I just unpacked from my trip, but I’ll throw some things in a bag and—”

“No!” her sister shrieked again. “There’s no time to pack! They’ll be there any second. Just go! Go! Go! Now! Go!”

“All right, all right. Calm down. I’m going. But you stay on the line, okay?” Kate grabbed her purse and bolted out of the door, pausing only long enough to lock it behind her. “I’m out. I’m heading for my car.”

“Good. Hurry. And take the stairs. Those men could already be in the elevator.”

“Oh. Right. Good point.” As if on cue, Kate heard the ping of the elevator, located down the hall and around the corner in the center of the building.

It could have been Miss Lula Belle from next door, or one of the other tenants on the seventh floor, but she wasn’t willing to chance it. Reversing course, she made a dash for the fire exit at the opposite end of the hall. Once inside the stairwell she flew down the concrete steps as fast as her feet would move.

“Okay, I’m heading down to the parking garage,” she said into the cell phone. “Now talk to me. What’s going on? What’s behind all this?”

“Oh, God, Kate. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I handled this wrong. This is my fault.”

“What’s your fault? What did you do?”

“I should have told you, no matter how angry it made you. You would have known what to do,” Colleen sniffed. “I see that now. But…well…you said you wanted me to make my own decisions. And I really thought I could handle it. Now look what a mess I’ve made of everything.”

“Handle what? What are you talking about, Colleen?” Kate’s patience was wearing thin, but she strained to hold her temper in check. She knew from experience that if she pushed her sister too hard she would dissolve into hysterical tears and that would be the end of the conversation. Besides, the last thing Kate wanted to do was to upset her any more than she already was. Especially when she was driving.

“Look, take a deep breath and calm yourself. Then explain to me, nice and slow, what has happened.” Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Kate eased the door open a crack and scanned the parking garage. Satisfied there was no one around, she slipped out into the cavernous space and made a dash for her car, beeping open the locks on the way.