The Buried

CHAPTER 34

Orlando had Daeng take them to Nate’s house in the Hollywood Hills. Technically, it was Quinn’s, but he’d moved in with her in San Francisco and had allowed Nate to use the property rent free. Nate had, in turn, let Daeng use one of the guest rooms.

“So this is the famous L.A. bachelor lair,” Ananke said as they walked inside. “I’ve heard so much about it.” She looked at Orlando, an eyebrow raised. “Tell me, is this where Quinn made his move on you?”

And I was just beginning to tolerate her, Orlando thought.

Stifling the string of obscenities that wanted to leap from her lips, she asked Daeng, “First-aid kit still in the same place?”

“Yeah,” he said.

While Orlando was grabbing the kit out of the closet by the bathroom, the muscles in her lower abdomen contracted. She latched on to the shelf to keep from staggering, and took a few deep, quiet breaths. When the pain subsided enough for her to walk again, she returned to the living room.

Orlando sat next to Helen on the couch. The woman was clearly exhausted, but the dazed look she’d had in her eyes when they first found her was gone. Now there was only anger.

Using a damp towel Ananke had brought in from the kitchen, Orlando started to clean the dried blood from the director’s face.

“You don’t have to do that,” Helen said.

“I know,” Orlando replied.

“Did you get her?” Helen asked.

“Who?”

“Nanou Deschamps.”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“The Wolf. Did you get her?”

Orlando shook her head. “She wasn’t there.”

Helen stared off in the distance for a moment before turning back to Orlando. “Tell me what’s happening.”

Two hours later, weakened from her ordeal but out for blood, Helen flew north to San Francisco.

When the ambulance stopped to refuel in Hannibal, Missouri, Quinn and Nate did the same at a station a block away. While Nate filled the tank, Quinn walked down the street and found a place where he could watch the others without being noticed.

The driver was out of the vehicle, pumping gas. After a few moments, the ambulance’s back door opened and another guy got out. He shared a few words with the driver before heading toward the snack shop.

When the driver returned the nozzle to the pump, the third man got out and stretched. He was the one who’d been shielded from view back at the building in Broadview, so this was the first time Quinn was able to get a good look at him.

Suddenly, Dani’s disappearance at the roadblock in Washington made more sense. Quinn knew this guy. Orlando had forwarded him the man’s picture the night before.

Ananke’s hunter friend.

Ricky Orbits.

Thank God the ambulance had a good air conditioner, because even with the sun down, it was still blazing hot and sticky outside. Orbits let the thing run at full blast for a while after they left Hannibal before finally turning it down again.

He should be happy, he thought. He was on the cusp of receiving a fifty-million-dollar payday. He already had the account number for where half was waiting. He’d checked, and it was all there. The only problem was that it was time locked to prevent him from transferring it into one of his own accounts until 9:01 a.m. the following morning, and only after The Wolf gave a final authorization.

She could be tricky in her way, and he could be tricky in his. He was going to get a kick out of handing the girl to her within miles of her ultimate destination. No doubt, the woman would fly the girl somewhere else to question her. By the time The Wolf discovered the truth, Orbits would have already taken whatever was of value at the location and gotten the hell out of there. The only thing he would have to worry about for the rest of his life was whether or not he was getting too much sun as he lay on the beach of some tropical paradise. He just needed to get the combo out of the girl.

“Boss,” Parnell called from the back. “She’s waking up.”

Orbits unlatched his seat belt and worked his way to the rear of the ambulance.

Moaning, she moved her head side to side in a slow roll. Her whole body began to tense in a stretch, but when she knocked against the straps holding her down, she stopped and opened her eyes.

“Evening, princess,” Orbits said. “I trust you had a nice, comfortable sleep.”

Even though she was tied down, she lunged at him, rocking the gurney.

“Careful, sweetheart. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

She settled back, seething.

“Let me tell you what’s going to happen,” he said, smiling. “A nice lady with lots of money has shown a real interest in you. In the morning, she’s going to give me some of that cash and I’m going to give her you. She calls herself The Wolf. That familiar to you?”

He could see that it was.

“You know how much she’s paying? Fifty million. That’s dollars. Not bad, huh? I bet it’s even some kind of record.” He paused. “I wonder if Guinness keeps track of that.”

Again, she lunged. This time the gurney popped from one of its holds and moved a few inches toward Orbits. He jerked back, ramming his head into an equipment cabinet.

“You bitch! You think you’re so damn smart.” He wrapped his hand around her neck and squeezed. “But guess what? I know your secret. I know about the numbers under your tongue. Who’s the clever one now, huh?”

He shoved her down and let go, then returned to his seat up front to the sounds of her coughs.

“Everything all right?” Stafford asked.

“Everything’s fine,” Orbits said, shutting down any further conversation.

Only it wasn’t fine. He had just screwed up big time. He should have never told her he’d found the numbers. She could tell The Wolf right after he handed her over and he’d have to kiss whatever treasure she had hidden good-bye.

Dammit, dammit, dammit!

He would have to do something to rectify the situation. At the very least, drug the girl so she wouldn’t wake up for a day or two. Of course, The Wolf wouldn’t be pleased by that. Maybe she’d even refuse to authorize the final payment.

Son.

Of.

A.

Bitch.

As they neared Kansas City, Quinn thought the others would be exiting the interstate soon, but the ambulance passed right through the center of the city and headed west into Kansas.

“Where the hell are they going?” Nate asked.

“We’ve got Lawrence and Topeka coming up,” Quinn said, after a quick check of the map. “After that it’s a long haul through farm country to Denver.”

“If we keep going much longer, you’re going to have to take over.”

Quinn looked at his partner. “You need me to drive now?”

There was no missing the exhaustion in Nate’s eyes. “I’m good for a little while longer.”

“Pull over.”

“I’m okay.”

“Pull over.”

With a resigned nod, Nate eased the car onto the shoulder. By the time they were on the road again, the ambulance was nearly a mile ahead.

They passed through Lawrence and soon after were driving through Topeka. By that point Nate was more asleep than awake, so when Quinn’s phone vibrated in his partner’s hand, Nate jerked and nearly dropped it.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said. “It’s, um, Orlando.”

“Speaker.”

As Nate hit the button, Quinn increased their speed to be back in sight of the ambulance in a few minutes.

“Don’t tell me you’re still following them,” she said.

“Driving through Topeka, Kansas, right now,” Quinn told her.

“If you’re lucky, maybe they’ll come all the way to California.”

“I’m not sure I’d call that luck,” Nate said, trying to stifle a yawn.

“How’s Helen?” Quinn asked. He’d been less than pleased earlier when Orlando told him about the rescue, but begrudgingly had to admit she, Daeng, and Ananke had done the right thing.

“Haven’t heard from her since she got back to San Francisco.”

“What have you guys been doing, then?”

“Sleeping mostly. Nate, just an FYI. Ananke is using your bed so you might want to burn it.”

“Noted,” Nate said.

“The others are still asleep?” Quinn asked.

“Yeah.”

“Why aren’t you?”

“I had a few hours but I’m awake now. Thought I’d see what was going on with you.”

Quinn frowned. “Is everything all right?”

“Of course everything’s all right. Why wouldn’t it be all right?” She paused. “Oh, unless you mean the baby. I delivered a few hours ago. Should I have called you?”

“Hilarious,” he said. “Seriously, though, how are you feeling?”

“Annoyed that you keep asking me that every time we talk.”

The city was beginning to fall away, leaving only the great plains in front of them. Quinn eased around a big rig, thinking they should now be able to pick out the distinctive taillights of the ambulance. But while he could see lights of trucks and passenger cars, he didn’t see the ambulance.

Orlando was in the middle of saying something when Quinn blurted out, “Hang on.” He glanced at Nate. “Check their location.”

Nate put Orlando on hold and switched to the tracking app. A short pause, then, “They turned off.”

“Where?” Quinn asked.

“Back in Topeka.”

Quinn made a fast U-turn through the grass-covered center meridian and raced into the eastbound lanes.

“They’re in the north part of the city, across the Kansas River,” Nate said.

“Still moving?”

“Yes.”

“Where do I exit?”

“Checking.” Nate studied the screen for a moment. “First Avenue. It’s about three miles ahead.”

“Put Orlando back on.”

Nate took her off hold.

“What’s going on?” she said.

“Our friends left the interstate in Topeka.”

“Stopping?”

“Unclear.”

“Tell me as soon as you know.”

“I will.”

Orlando hung up and stared out the large window that overlooked the Los Angeles basin. The city lay before her like a brightly glowing carpet but she saw none of it, her thoughts focused on Quinn and Nate.

Though both men were extremely competent, there were only two of them. That would have been fine if they just had to worry about the men in the ambulance, but the auction meant others would likely soon be showing up.

Despite those odds, she knew Quinn would still try to rescue Dani.

She phoned her Los Angeles transportation contact. Once arrangements were made, she went downstairs and woke Daeng and Ananke.

By the time Quinn took the First Avenue off-ramp, the ambulance was already out of town, continuing north on Highway 4. The road was a single lane in each direction, but traffic was light. Quinn pushed their speed a bit above the limit.

“They’re slowing,” Nate said.

“Where?”

“Three and a half miles ahead. Yeah, they’re definitely stopping.”

Though Orbits needed to find someplace to hold the exchange before calling it a night, there was no way he would be able to sleep until he made a stop at Danielle Chad’s mysterious location. What he didn’t want, however, was for Stafford and Parnell to come along.

To that end, he had them drop him off near a small neighborhood so he could score his own ride, telling them he’d call when he was ready for them to pick him up. It wasn’t the perfect location to steal a car, but it was the best they’d seen so far.

The first house had a couple of trucks and an old Dodge Charger. The second, a minivan and another pickup. But the third had exactly what he needed, a late-model Ford C-Max hybrid. It barely made a sound when he started it up and pulled into the road.

As he neared the intersection with the highway, he saw the lights of a car heading his way from the south. It slowed, making him think it was going to turn onto his road, but then it increased its speed again and continued past his position, passing under the street lamp at the corner.

He stared after it in disbelief. The man behind the wheel was Quinn, and the place where he had slowed was the exact same place Orbits had been dropped off.

How did that son of a bitch end up here? Unless…

Clearly, he was the one who had bugged the girl, and given that he was still on Orbits’s tail, he must have put more than one tracker on her.

Orbits put the battery back in his phone and dialed Stafford as he pulled onto the highway.

“That was quick,” Stafford said. “You want us to pick you—”

“Listen,” Orbits said. “You need to get a new vehicle right now. You’re being followed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hell, yes, I’m sure. The girl must have another homing beacon on her. Leave everything she’s got on in the ambulance. If you get caught, none of us gets paid. Understand?”

Quinn slowed as they approached the spot where the others had paused.

“Are you sure this is it?” he asked.

“Positive,” Nate said.

There were several houses ahead on the other side of the highway, but that was it. Nothing obvious to explain why they’d stopped.

Quinn increased their speed again and continued down the highway.

“They’re turning,” Nate said a few moments later. “Heading east on Eighty-sixth Street.”

Eighty-sixth turned out to be dirt, the surface creating a rhythmic rattle throughout the car, forcing Quinn to slow.

“What could possibly be out here?” Nate asked. “Safe house?”

“That’s as good a guess as any,” Quinn replied.

“Turning south again. On Butler Road.” Nate paused, then added, “They’re speeding up.”

Quinn resisted the urge to do the same until after they turned onto Butler. Even then, he only managed an extra few miles an hour, until they crossed a concrete bridge and found the road on the other side paved again. He slammed the pedal to the floor, but by that point the ambulance had already made several more turns through the nearby small town of Meriden.

“They’ve stopped again,” Nate said. “Take your next right.”

Nate guided him past another farm and into the town.

“How much father?” Quinn asked a couple minutes later.

“Almost there. Two more turns.”

“They haven’t moved?”

“No.”

They ripped around the first turn, then slowed to a more neighborhood-appropriate speed as they took the second. The ambulance was parked at the side of the road next to a dirt lot filled with school buses.

“No one in front,” Nate said as they drove past. “Can’t tell about the back, but there are no lights on.”

A sinking feeling tugged at Quinn’s stomach as he swung back around to make a second pass. Still seeing no signs of life, he pulled in behind the ambulance.

They waited a moment for a reaction, and then climbed out, guns drawn.

The ambulance’s back door was not only unlocked but not even fully closed. Quinn pointed his SIG at it and nodded at Nate, who quickly pulled it open. His gun tracking his gaze, Quinn scanned the interior. The back area was deserted.

The second he climbed inside, his dread increased at the sight of Dani’s clothes piled against the wheels of the gurney. He searched for clues as to what might have happened, but there were none. He moved into the cab and retrieved Nate’s phone.

When he jumped out the back door, he tossed the cell to his partner and said, “Let’s go. They can’t have gone far.”