Jack Stratton: Jacks Are Wild Part 40

In front of them, the deer wobbled as it stood in the gra.s.s. It s.h.i.+vered in fear. An arrow had pierced it low in the neck, and its side was matted in blood.

d.a.m.n.

Jack shook his head. "It doesn't look good. Whoever winged it should have put it down." He turned back toward the car. "Maybe I can-"

He didn't flinch when the shot rang out from Kiku's gun, but the sound seemed to pa.s.s straight through his chest. He looked down at the dead leaves as he listened to an echo of the shot fade. Slowly, he turned around.

Kiku walked over to the deer, knelt down, and pulled the arrow out. As she squatted down, she bowed her head. After a moment, she stood and came back to Jack.

"I couldn't let it suffer."

I'm glad she's on my side.

Jack scanned the road. "We're still a ways out from downtown, but we better get going."

They hurried back to the car and Jack jumped in the driver's side.

Kiku pulled herself up, straightened her s.h.i.+rt, and exhaled. "Ready."

Jack nodded and pulled out. They rode in silence to the Hometown Suites. Jack tried to keep his eyes on the road but found himself glancing at Kiku. She, however, kept her head on a swivel and was constantly scanning.

When he turned onto the main road, she spoke. "I admire that you serve a purpose rather than a cause."

"I'm not quite following you." Jack looked at the speedometer and slowed down.

"You are an officer but you disobey for a greater purpose. Most men of your character are driven by adhering to a mold and not following an unscripted path. It is a very rare quality you have. I find it truly," her lips pressed together, "virile." She scanned. "Masculine."

He remembered the heat of her body. The toned muscles under her soft skin.

He s.h.i.+fted in his seat.

As he looked at her, her eyes smoldered and he swallowed.

"I am tempted to lie, but I can't. I find you very desirable. You appeal to me, but I will not let that interfere with my job."

I appeal to you?

"Thanks," Jack closed his mouth and coughed, "for not letting it interfere with finding Marisa."

"I know you are a man heatedly in love, but I still have not figured out whether it is with Alice or Marisa."

Jack turned his face away from her probing gaze.

Kiku laughed. "I do enjoy seeing you blush, too. In some ways you are very...innocent."

"Me?" Jack blinked rapidly.

Kiku settled back into her seat. "Innocent is a poor word choice. I mean pure."

Jack c.o.c.ked his head. "If you knew what I've been thinking, you wouldn't have picked that word, either."

"I would. I do." Kiku crossed her ankles. "It actually makes you even more desirable. I am going to have to work at not forcibly taking you."

Jack swallowed.

He turned different shades of red as he ran Kiku's words through his mind. Before he could dwell on them too long, the Hometown Suites came up on the right.

It was a small hotel complex, three stories high and split into suites. It was very popular with families during foliage season, but even now, the front parking lot was full.

Jack slowly drove around back as he looked for Prescott's car. He finally saw it parked toward the corner and near the dumpster.

He handed Kiku the GPS device. "I'll pull up alongside. Make it look like you're throwing something out. It's magnetic. Tuck it under the back b.u.mper."

She nodded, leaned over, and pulled out an empty soda bottle from under the seat.

"This will do for a prop."

Jack swung into the empty s.p.a.ce next to the car, and Kiku hopped out and left the door open. She tossed a bottle in the trash and shook her hands like they were wet. A moment later, she got back in and shut the door.

"There's a warehouse near the Imperial where we can ditch the car," he said as he backed out.

She leaned closer.

Jack felt the color rush to his cheeks, and he moved in his seat.

As they pulled onto the road, Kiku put her mouth next to his ear and whispered, "I don't know if even you could teach me how to love, but it would be very nice trying." She kissed his cheek, leaned back in her seat, and grinned wolfishly.

Dead man's hand Jack walked into the hotel room, and Replacement jumped up and rushed over to him. Jennifer sat on the bed and gazed at the floor. She looked up at Jack with red, puffy eyes and a downturned mouth and then stared back at the floor.

Jennifer found out.

"Did you tell her?" Jack asked.

"No." Replacement crossed her arms. "It's a tiny room." She pointed at the computer. "She saw."

Jack and Kiku walked over to the computer. The image on the screen was from a security camera on the tollbooth. The car was the same one they had just seen at the Hometown Suites-Prescott's car.

"Prescott came over on the day Marisa was taken," Replacement pointed out. "I expanded the search and he's come to Darrington at least three times in the past month."

"How do you know?" Jennifer looked up, and it was evident she'd been crying.

"Prescott told me."

"What?" all three women asked.

"When I first met him, Prescott said only three people knew Marisa was in Darrington: him, her, and his supervisor. I've been asking myself who kidnapped Marisa, but that's the wrong question. Whoever took her knew Marisa Vitagliano was Angelica Mancini and she had moved to Darrington. They knew where she was."

"She never told her family where she was." Replacement sat on the bed next to Jennifer and put her hand on her shoulder.

Jack nodded. "The Yakuza didn't know where she was, either."

"But if Prescott is behind the kidnapping, who are those guys working for him?" Kiku asked.

"They're Yakuza and Mancinis," Jack answered dryly.

"Huh?" Replacement's face scrunched up. "You just said they didn't have anything to do with it."

"They used to be Yakuza and Mancinis. Paolo said traditore. It means traitor. A rat. Paolo recognized him. He must have gone into the witness protection program, and-"

"Prescott's using guys he placed in witness protection as his own gang. That's brilliant," Kiku remarked. "They already know how to operate."

"That son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h." Jennifer pounded her leg. "Prescott has access to them all."

Jack looked at Kiku, and she nodded slightly.

"So is he setting her up?" Replacement jerked her thumb at Jennifer.

"Looks that way." Jack sighed. "He needed someone naive and inexperienced to ride shotgun while he made his plan."

Jennifer sat there, shaking her head and glowering at the floor. "Jack, you knew in the interrogation room?"

"Walter was trying to get under my skin. He said he saw Marisa's tattoo. He also said he hasn't seen her in years. She just got the tattoo, so Walter's seen her recently," Jack explained.

"We need to call someone. I can go to my supervisors," Jennifer offered.

Jack shook his head. "No. What do we have on him? They pick him up and Marisa's dead. Someone tips him off, she's dead." Jack cracked his neck. "I have a plan."

Jennifer folded her hands. "No offense, I have no idea what I'm doing now, but I think I know more about handling a kidnapping than you. What're you going to do?"

Jack walked over to the round table and sat down. "The exchange has to happen soon. They shot up my apartment, and one of them is dead. The heat is on, so Prescott will want it finished. We can't do anything until Prescott calls the Mancinis for the money drop."

"What do we do in the meantime?" Replacement got up.

"We wait."

They sat around the small hotel room and waited. Jack paced the floor while Replacement surfed the Internet. Jennifer lay on the bed and stared at the wall, and Kiku finally gave up trying to get the TV to work.

"Can you get something to watch on your laptop?" Kiku walked over to Replacement. "My phone reception keeps cutting out."

"Yeah, but the download speed I'm getting blows. It would take me an hour to download a commercial." Replacement made a face. "It's because of the mountain; reception out here sucks."

Kiku grabbed her backpack and pulled out a deck of cards. "Anyone up for a game?" She sat down and started to shuffle.

"I'm in." Jack spun his chair around so he could lean into the back.

Jennifer shook her head.

Replacement shrugged and sat down at the table.

"Poker?" Kiku offered.

"I know how to play." Replacement grinned.

Jack scratched his face to cover his smirk.

Kiku looked up at Jennifer. "It will help take your mind off it if you join us."

Jennifer shook her head. "I just want to lie down and die."

Replacement put her hands behind her head and her mouth pulled down.

Kiku reached back into her backpack and pulled out a fifth of whiskey. "Do you need a little antidepressant?"

Jennifer exhaled, got up, and walked into the bathroom. She came back with four paper cups.

"Rules?" Jack asked.

"Five card draw. Jacks are wild." Kiku winked.

Jennifer took the bottle and poured.

"What do we bet?" Replacement asked.

"Hold on." Jennifer handed Kiku the bottle and reached for her purse.

She fished around inside and came up with a large handful of coins she dumped onto the table. The girls started to divide the pile, and Kiku dealt. Once everyone had their piles of change, Kiku raised her plastic cup.

"To my victory." She smiled and took a swig.

As everyone else did the same, Jack's eyes widened. "Wait, kid." He warned her a second too late.

Replacement's eyes crossed, and her mouth fell open before she started to cough.

Kiku looked up at the ceiling and laughed long and hard.

Replacement waggled her finger at her as she worked on speaking. Finally she coughed out, "It just went down the wrong way."

"Anyway is the wrong way. You're nineteen," Jack growled.

"That's the legal age in Panama." Kiku grinned.

"We're not in Panama," Jack quipped. "Don't give her another."

Kiku held out the bottle to Replacement and Jack grabbed it.

"We could get the call anytime. One-drink limit tonight, ladies." Jack set the bottle at his feet.