Game ON (An Ozzie Novak Thriller, Book 2) (Redemption Thriller Series 14) Page 20
I began to hear whimpers as the person in front of him moved, grunting something indecipherable.
Then I heard, “I don’t want to die.”
My heartbeat skipped. “Cecelia?”
“I now know that she gave you the key, Ozzie,” Joseph said, his voice commanding obedience. “And that’s too bad. I was growing fond of her. But sometimes it takes a village, if you know what I mean.”
I didn’t, which I was certain was a good thing. “Joseph, just let her go. She actually wants to have a normal life. She wants to see her daughter.”
He started laughing. “Everyone seems so attached to their family.” He paused, then said, “But what about the work of Malachi? He had this vision, and so help me God, we will carry it out. All you sinners will go to hell as a result of impeding his plans. My plans.” The roar of his voice practically shook the trees.
The guy on the ground moved, which jostled the light. I could now see Joseph holding a foot-long knife to Cecelia’s throat.
He said to his follower, “Get her gun. And he has one too.”
The man got to his feet, grabbed the gun out of my hand. I made sure Mackenzie was right at my side. He took two steps toward Alex. “Hand it over.”
“No way,” she said.
Joseph laughed. “If you want this piece of trash to live, then you’ll drop it.”
She reset her feet, chin up, challenging.
“Did you hear me, Alex? I will kill her, with the blessing of the great prophet. I can hear him speaking to me right now, so help me God.”
“Let her go first,” she said.
“We’re not going to play chicken. You drop it, or she dies.”
Alex looked in my direction and let the gun fall to the ground.
“Good girl.” I saw the white of Joseph’s teeth, then watched his lips as he said, “And sinners will never be allowed to join the Kingdom.”
“No!” I yelled. Before I got the words out, Joseph had sliced Cecelia’s neck. She stumbled, reaching for the wound, and fell.
Mackenzie buried her face in my side. “No, no, no,” she said.
“You’re nothing but a lowlife piece of shit,” Alex said, pointing a finger at him.
I could hear the other guy laughing and snorting.
Joseph said, “We’re all just having fun, right? Now, let’s get on back to camp. I think we just hit the jackpot on sacrifices. Oh my, Malachi will be ecstatic to hear how this turned out.”
Two quick pings, and the minion’s face exploded.
“Get down.” Alex jumped on Mackenzie.
I saw Joseph spin around and run. Despite my hip not feeling right, I chased him down in about four strides and threw him to the ground.
“It’s Nick,” I heard Alex say.
“Come get this asshole,” I said, flipping around to look over my shoulder. Nick was heading in my direction. He jogged within ten feet, then yelled, “Move!” I flinched, moved, and he fired the gun.
The bullet whizzed past my ear and connected with Joseph, who had another knife in his hand. He fell straight back.
“Dude, you almost gave me a heart attack,” I said, jumping to my feet as Nick patted me on the back. “Mackenzie?” I found her in the haze of light. She ran right for me and jumped into my arms.
For a brief moment, all was right in the world.
47
“Where are we?” I asked Alex as about three dozen SWAT, police, and FBI agents roamed through the camp known as Kingdom. Mackenzie had a blanket wrapped around her. We were sitting at a picnic table. She’d been like Velcro on me since the final kill shot.
“About twenty miles north of the Allenwood Federal Prison.”
“Isn’t that in Pennsylvania?”
“Yep,” Nick said, pacing next to us.
“How did you find us?”
Alex said, “I told you I had a great team. We learned that Eldridge had been transferred from a prison in Kansas to the Allenwood prison six months ago.”
“But how did you know I was here?”
“We weren’t a hundred percent sure. Thanks for trying to elude us, though.” She gave me a faux smile.
“Sorry, but I really thought I had no choice.”
“I know. I figured something else might go down, which is why I slipped a GPS chip into your back pocket in the kitchen back in Plymouth.”
“Seriously? Nice trusting relationship we have.”
“We had each other’s backs, right?”
I grinned. “But wait—they took off all my clothes once I got into New York City.”
“We were two blocks away. We tracked the van as far as we could go without being seen. We got to within about twenty miles of this place. And then we worked with local officials to figure out the best places for a campsite. The rest is history.”
“I owe you everything, Alex.” I put my arm around Mackenzie. “We both do.”
She looked at Mackenzie. “I got two at home just like her. They’re the most imperfect jewels you’ll ever own.”
“Imperfect?” I said, slightly taken aback. “What do you mean?”
She smiled. “Just wait until they become teenagers. You’ll get it.”
48
Mackenzie and I were whisked away to Harrisburg, about a ninety-minute drive south of the camp location, and set up in an actual hotel. With room service, Mackenzie noticed once we’d arrived.
“You use that as much as you want,” Alex told her.
“I would love some pizza.” Mackenzie went over to the phone, but held up before dialing. She looked at me for approval. It seemed strange to me, but I tried to act as normal as possible. “You heard Alex; it’s okay. Plus, the FBI is paying for it. Right, Alex?”
Alex smiled and then winked at Mackenzie.
We spent three more days in Pennsylvania. Mackenzie watched countless episodes of Young Justice and Girl Meets World. Occasionally, we’d be interrupted by Alex or Nick to ask us more questions or to provide updates. We tried to limit Mackenzie’s exposure to the drama as much as possible, but some questions were necessary.
A few hours before the FBI agents were going to drop us at the airport so we could fly to Austin, Alex and Nick gave me a brief update while Mackenzie swam in the indoor pool.
“We got the motherlode on Joseph,” Nick said, pulling out a pack of gum. He offered me one, but I held up a hand.
“Hey, Ozzie, watch this.” Mackenzie had her hands on the side of the pool, her knees tucked against her chest. She pushed off with everything she had and, floating on her back, essentially executed a backstroke start. I smiled and clapped for her when she came up for air. She smiled and went back to playing.
I turned back to Nick and Alex.
“His full name is Joseph Singler. Lived in his parents’ home in East Lansing, Michigan, and worked as a part-time plumber,” Nick said, chewing on his gum.
“How did—”
“It gets better, or worse,” Nick said, glancing at Alex, who picked up the story.
“At the home, agents found a mound of research on Camp Israel, Malachi, a.k.a. Eldridge Kaufman, and his group. They even found emails and letters from Kaufman.”
I leaned my forearms on the table just as Mackenzie jumped into the pool, sending drops of water on all of us.
“How was that? Was that a big splash?” she asked when she came up for air, wiping her hair out of her face.
“I give it a nine,” Nick said with a smile.
“How about you, Ozzie?”
“Ten all the way.”
“But I can do better. Just watch.”
Mackenzie jumped in one more time, then became distracted and started humming and swimming on her own.
Alex chimed in. “We’ve been working with authorities at the prison to see if Kaufman was corresponding with Joseph. From all indications, it appears that a guard who’d gotten to know Kaufman was pretending to be Kaufman. He intercepted Joseph’s letters, and he was the one writing or emailing back to Joseph.”
“Are you guys certain Kaufman wasn’t involved?”
Alex didn’t respond; she just tilted her head.
“That’s her way of saying she’s not a hundred percent convinced,” Nick said. “They’ve charged the guard, and the investigation continues into Kaufman. Not that he has anything to lose at this point.”
Alex and Nick went on to share with me that they found a log of followers on Joseph’s computer, as well as ongoing communication with players in this scheme. Gwen was the key cog in this whole conspiracy. She was sent to Hawaii to befriend Denise. She doctored the accounting books to make it seem like there was a money-laundering scheme going on at Palm Dreams Development, planted the yakuza angle in Denise’s mind, and had the threatening note sent to her.
“But what about the two guys with nunchucks?” I asked. “They weren’t from the yakuza?”
“Hired contractors. All to test you like you’ve never been tested before,” Nick said.
I nodded, thinking about what they’d done to Denise. “Did you say they found a grave near the campsite?”
The agents glanced at each other. “DNA analysis is just starting at Quantico.”
“No theories?” I asked.
A slight pause. Then Nick said, “We think Joseph was trying to find a blood relative of Kaufman who could withstand all of their tests. Whenever their test subjects failed, he killed them.”
Part of me wanted to ponder this notion that I was related to Kaufman. From there, I could see myself obsessing over the identity of my mother. But I just didn’t want to go there.
We stood up and waited for Mackenzie to get out of the pool and dry herself off. She insisted on two more cannonballs.
I put my arm around Alex as we watched. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
“Anytime,” she said with a wink.
“Planning a trip to Texas any time soon?”
Nick interjected with, “I might drag Alex and her family down with me when I go visit Stan in San Antonio.”
“If you do, please let me know. Austin, if you remember from college, is still a pretty cool place.”
“Just enjoy your new daughter,” Alex said, smacking me on my back. “She needs you now more than ever.”
We hugged. “Get back to your own kids,” I said. “And tell them they have one tough mother.”
“Oh, I’ve heard that before, but usually it ends with fu—”
I quickly raised my hand as Mackenzie walked up, toweling herself off. “It’s okay, I’ve heard people cuss before. Even the F word.”
I could only hope that was the worst of what she’d witnessed in her young life—a few cuss words. Regardless, it was time for me to step up and be the parent she needed. I was ready for the challenge.
49
Three weeks later
The setting sun glimmered off Lady Bird Lake. Mackenzie and I sat on a small cliff in Laguna Gloria, a fourteen-acre outdoor art-sculpture park. We’d just finished looking at the last of the pieces, something called “Canopy Tower,” which was made of Ipe wood, rope, steel, and wire and stood almost sixteen feet tall. Like most of the sculptures, it was odd, but interesting. Kind of like Austin.
Texas Child Protective Services, under heavy guidance from the FBI, had given me temporary custody of Mackenzie while they determined if any relatives were living and wanted to claim her. They wouldn’t have a chance at getting her, Alex assured me. I just had to wait out the bureaucracy. Mackenzie was fine with the arrangement.
It was still winter, but the temperatures were in the mid-fifties. Mackenzie kicked her feet every few seconds and stared at the water. She appeared lost in her thoughts. She’d been in that state for most of the last three weeks. I hadn’t seen much of the little girl Denise had described. I knew she’d been through a lot. I’d taken her to a handful of therapy sessions. The doctor told me after the last one that I just had to be patient.
And so I was.
“You can’t surf in that water, can you?” she asked.
“Nope. It’s a lake. Nothing like the Pacific Ocean.” I knew she was thinking about her life back in Hawaii.
I’d talked to Keo on the Big Island. He was ecstatic about me finding Mackenzie. He invited us to come back whenever we wanted. He said he’d make sure his buddy would put us up in the Four Seasons. I told him I’d hold him to that.
I’d also spoken to Brook, and she was just as happy for me, for us. She’d stopped by earlier in the week, when we were moving into my new pad, which happened to be one block from Tito’s.
Nicole had called me the day I got back into town. “Your daughter is like family to me, Ozzie. Both of you need to move in. Come back home, baby.”
It was tempting on so many levels. Just having another female around would be nice on a daily basis, especially since I was a complete rookie at this father-daughter thing. And even on the phone, I could feel that magnetic tug at my heart. But just as quickly, I felt another pull for the other girl in my life. Mackenzie. The last thing she needed was me and Nicole trying to sort out our issues—and despite Nicole’s comments saying the opposite, I knew we had plenty to sort through. I said thanks and that we just needed to take it slow. Mackenzie and I still had some getting-to-know-you stuff to do.
Had I used Mackenzie as an excuse? Maybe. But it was a good one.
I still needed to introduce Mackenzie to my mom and her new girlfriend—if she was even still in the picture—and my brother, Tobin. He might end up being a pretty cool uncle. Being with Mackenzie in Austin reminded me how much I missed my dad, my adoptive dad. Not the lunatic bio dad, but the man who had raised me. I could picture how much joy he would have gotten out of Mackenzie, and vice versa.
“Hey,” Mackenzie said. “You know, up until now, I’ve been calling you Ozzie.”
“I know. That’s okay by me. I usually respond to that name.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about Mom and stuff. She and I had a little talk last night. She said it would be good for me to go ahead and call you Dad. You cool with that?”
“Yeah, I’m cool with that.”
My phone buzzed for about the hundredth time since we’d sat down. I pulled it out of my pocket, but she snatched it from my hand.
“This is the same guy who’s been texting you for the last few weeks. You need to call him back.”
“I will. But you’re more important right now.”
A single nod. “Okay. I get it. But didn’t you say you were going to become a private investigator?”
“I’ve been thinking about it.”
“Okay. Well, we can’t eat on my good looks alone.” She arched an eyebrow, then grinned in that playful way I’d seen in her picture. “It’s time to get to work.”
She hopped up, took a few steps, and waved me on. “Let’s go, Dad. You can call this guy from the car, okay?”
I knew instantly that I had my hands full. “You’re the boss, sweetie.”
I climbed to my feet—I could feel that hitch in my step from my hip injury. She talked the entire way back to the car.
I’d found my jewel. And she was as perfect as they came.
ALSO BY JOHN W. MEFFORD
Redemption Thriller Series
The Alex Troutt Thrillers
AT Bay (Book 1)
AT Large (Book 2)
AT Once (Book 3)
AT Dawn (Book 4)
AT Dusk (Book 5)
AT Last (Book 6)
The Ivy Nash Thrillers
IN Defiance (Book 7)
IN Pursuit (Book 8)
IN Doubt (Book 9)
Break IN (Book 10)
IN Control (Book 11)
IN The End (Book 12)
The Ozzie Novak Thrillers
ON Edge (Book 13)
Game ON (Book 14)
ON The Rocks (Book 15)
Shame ON You (Book 16)
ON Fire (Book 17)
ON The Run (Book 18)
Note
from the author:
Thank you for reading the second Ozzie Novak thriller.
Did you enjoy Game ON?
It would be great if you could leave a quick review on Amazon. I would appreciate it.
Here’s the easy link: http://smarturl.it/OzzieNovakGameON
Next In The Redemption Thriller Series – ON The Rocks
Her allure is undeniable. But is it also toxic?
Ozzie is determined to make this PI gig work, but only on his terms. And then Rosie shows up. She's desperate to get dirt on her powerful, womanizing husband and move on. Ozzie knows he has a soft spot for those who've been taken advantage of.
A case of spousal cheating turns deadly. Who is the culprit? More importantly, who was the intended victim?
Even with Ozzie's heart still drawn to Nicole, he knows he can't turn his back on the woman who needs him most. He just needs a little time to pull the pieces together.
And then all hell breaks loose.
Another murder…this one more personal than the first. Ozzie can't make sense of any of it. The lies, the cheating all blur together. He's stuck in the middle of this twisted storm, unable to find the truth, losing trust in his ability to deny his desires.
Can a life of abuse justify a seduction of greed? And can Ozzie somehow uncover the root of the conspiracy before more lives are lost?
Who will be the last woman standing?
ON The Rocks is the third Ozzie Novak Thriller (Redemption Thriller Series #15). An excerpt is just below.
Excerpt from ON The Rocks
1
Crouching under a car that was jacked up on a lift, I hobbled over a spare tire and almost face-planted on the concrete floor. And this was all just to get from my office at the northeast corner of Gartner Automotive to the other side of the garage.
I was beginning to wonder if I should just go with the flow and call my new business venture “Grease Monkey Investigative Services.”