Fire and Ice (Guardians Book 1)

Jack loosened his tie and tossed his jacket on the back of the couch. It had been a long day and he had just concluded a meeting with Derek and his design engineers regarding the testing at the DoD site the next day. Everything was going smoothly apart from the fact that he could not get the thoughts of a certain redhead out of his mind. This bothered him.

He had learned to compartmentalize his emotions and priorities during his time as a Navy SEAL. He had joined the SEALs when he was twenty, and four years later during one of his breaks, he met Claire. She was not classically beautiful, but she had this way about her that just drew him to her and he had fallen in love immediately. Claire had grown up in a military family. She understood his life and never asked about the nature of Jack’s missions. Still, there were times when they fought right before he was deployed and he had to detach himself from his emotions to focus on the mission. He proposed to Claire in his last year with the SEALs and looked forward to having a civilian life with her.

Jack came from money. His father was a well-known real estate developer who loaned him the capital to start McCord Defense Industries. Jack thought that life couldn’t get any better: Claire was planning their wedding and he was getting his business off the ground. Then, two months before their marriage, tragedy struck. Claire, his sister and his mom were coming back from a dress fitting at a well-known wedding couture.

He remembered their last conversation. She was so excited after fitting her gown, she couldn’t wait to call him and gushed, “Oh Jack, the dress fits perfectly, I can’t wait for the wedding! I love you, Jack.”

“You make me so happy, sweetheart,” Jack had told her.

An hour after their conversation, his father called him. “Jack, son, there’s been a terrible accident.” His dad’s voice was hoarse with suppressed tears, he could barely understand him. “Your mom, oh…God ….Anna ….they… they’re at New Park Medical.”

Jack had never felt so much fear in his life. Even as a Navy SEAL, when he was faced with danger he had maintained a certain emotional detachment. But this, not knowing if three people he loved so much were alive or dead, those minutes that had taken him to get to the hospital were hell.

The hospital was chaotic. His dad was a mess, Anna confirmed dead, and his mom and Claire were in critical condition. Claire’s parents arrived and then Brett was charging in, followed by other friends and relatives.

It was then that Jack learned from the detectives who were gathering more information about the incident that their car had been side-swiped by a panel van on the highway. At 70mph, their car rolled over several times and went over the guard rails.

His sister died at the scene. Claire and his mom were airlifted to New Park Medical and were undergoing surgery.

Half an hour later, a surgeon came out. His face was blank, everyone held their breath. “Claire Stanton?”

Even as Jack stepped forward to meet the surgeon with Claire’s parents he had already known deep in his gut … she hadn’t made it. All he heard was the doctor’s “I’m sorry…” then every molecule of air seemed to have been sucked out of him as he barely registered Claire’s mom’s keening cry. Jack backed away, sank into a chair nearby and sat staring at the floor. He was numb. He couldn’t even cry. Brett, who had been crying after finding out about their sister, laid a hand on Jack’s shoulder.

His sweet Claire was dead.

Anna, lively, exuberant Anna, was dead.

After another hellish three hours, a different surgeon emerged to inform them that their mom had made it. She was still in critical condition with internal injuries but was expected to survive.

The van was found abandoned in a state park, cleaned of fingerprints. It had been rented with bogus identification used on the rental agreement. Foul play was immediately suspected as many witnesses reported that the van had deliberately rammed the car.

Jack was tipped off by one of his friends in the CIA that several names of Navy SEALs had been leaked to the leaders of the Colombian drug cartel against which the SEALs had carried out anti-drug operations.

Jack, with his father’s backing, pressured Washington to launch an inquiry into these allegations. There was not enough evidence to sustain the inquiry and the case was dropped but Jack and the other SEALs who had been burned, took matters into their own hands. This was how Jack met Derek Lockwood who had just been recruited into the AGS. Using AGS surveillance and databases, they were able to narrow down the possible perpetrators to two of the drug lords and took them out in a mission that was off-the-grid.

There were no further incidents against the ex-SEALS.

Afterwards, Jack drove himself relentlessly into the growth of his company. Drawing from his experience in Special Ops, he was able to develop state-of-the art small arms weapons and devices and in just a few years had become a top weapons contractor for the DoD. With terrorism and individualized hostile sectors becoming the new face of the enemy, the old way of fighting with warships and tanks had become obsolete. Urban warfare requiring lighter weapons and technology that aided precision-strike missions led by smaller teams became the way of the future.

For two years after Claire’s death, Jack did not date. He eventually resorted to one-night stands to slake his physical needs. When one of those encounters resulted in a three-month affair, Jack decided that he preferred monogamous arrangements over going to bed with a total stranger. Though his relationships were short and he did not love his girlfriends, he did care for them. He was quite fond of Isabella. It was disappointing that she turned absolutely psycho in the last month of their relationship. She started complaining about his work, wanted to go on a two-week European vacation and then finally demanded that he marry her. It was as if she had become a different woman.

And now there was Maia. He had never felt physical desire so consuming and he had never pursued any woman the way he did her. He kidnapped her, for Christ’s sakes! Images of her writhing underneath him, moaning his name while he moved inside her, kept flashing through his mind. All. Fucking. Day. It was driving him crazy. He needed to have her soon. But he wanted more than a quick fuck. He wanted more from her but he did not know what and that unsettled him. Jack shook his head. No. This thing with Maia was going to be quick and simple. He’d fuck her a couple of times and be over her.

Deep in the underbelly of the stonehouse, Maia was in videoconference again with Viktor. She couldn’t be happier with the setup here, a view of the North Carolina coast topside and a high tech facility below. It was almost midnight when Viktor texted her to set up an urgent meeting.

“Our data centers picked up data searches on your name originating from your location. The Westcove Police Department in fact,” Viktor informed her.

“Shit. Tanner,” Maia muttered.

“You neglected to tell me that you’ve run into a detective,” her mentor said softly. The comment carried a touch of censure.

“It didn’t occur to me.”

“Maia, you’ve become increasingly careless.”

“Oh, shut it Viktor. You’re beginning to sound like Derek.”

“I think McCord is becoming a distraction.”

“He is not even here. I’m just finding out that a small town isn’t a good place to hide out. Everyone knows everyone. A newcomer is big news and attracts too much attention.”

“I think your problem is getting on the radar with the local police the first day you got there.”

“I had no control of that.” Maia told him what happened at the beach and at the tavern. Viktor started laughing instead of getting mad at her exposure, much to Maia’s annoyance.

“You’re too pretty for your own good. I can’t imagine you acting all damsel-in-distress, either. I can’t really blame you for standing out, you’d do that anywhere which is why you’re our top agent for seducing dictators.”

“Gee, thanks, I think,” Maia grumbled. “I’m pretty good with guns and knives too, you know.”

“Yes, you are,” Viktor said with some pride.

“Oh, another thing has been bugging me,” Maia said. She told Viktor about the incident with Kyle and his mom. She always had great intuition and her gut told her not to ignore this.

“I think there’s more to those three guys terrorizing Westcove. They’ve been talking to shop owners and I don’t think it’s extortion. I think they’re trying to hook them into something illegal with threats of violence for non-compliance. And Rick Tanner is more than a detective, I think. He mentioned getting transferred from somewhere, something about trouble trickling down from bigger cities. Can you find out for me? What’s on my cover right now anyway?”

“You’re thinking this has something to do with Raul Vergara’s organization getting shutdown and the remaining products having no where to go?”

Maia nodded. “It’s almost winter. Kids are back in school and it’s going to be slow to move that stuff.”

“I’m on Rick Tanner. I’ve already looked into his creds. Looks good first go, but something doesn’t add up. I’m having forensics look at the data. And your cover has been updated, you are still a traveling marketing executive for a pharmaceutical company, your phone records, bank accounts and credit card charges have all been updated and you still have that little Federal house in DC. I’m sending you the file right now. Memorize the changes, Katerina.”

Maia smiled warmly. Viktor had called her by her real name. It slipped out whenever he was feeling affectionate, which was rare.

A phone was beeping behind her. It was the house phone; whoever wanted Jack at this time of the night or morning could leave a message. She ignored it and continued talking to Viktor. It stopped, and then rang again.

“You might want to get that,” Viktor said.

“Hold on,” Maia muttered.

The phone’s caller id blinked Jack McCord. Maia sighed in irritation, lifted the receiver from the cradle and said, “What do you want?”

“Hello to you too, sweetheart,” Jack drawled in greeting.

“Do you know what time it is?” Maia asked. “What if I was asleep, did that occur to you?”

“Ahhh, but you’re not asleep, you are right now in a videoconference with Viktor.” Jack said.

“Hold on,” Maia told Jack, pressed the hold button, and turned back to Viktor. “I’ll get back to you in the morning. This is gonna take a while.”

“You look like you are about to blow,” Viktor said in amusement.

“You are not wrong,” Maia voiced irritably.

Switching back to Jack, she said, “Are you spying on me?”

“Of course not. I have cameras in the control room, but I have the volume turned off.”

“Do you have cameras in my bedroom?”

Jack chuckled.

“Well?” Maia demanded her voice rising.

“Look, the whole house has cameras but I am no voyeur. I prefer …er… the real thing. I wanted to talk to you so I checked the public areas of the house: the kitchen, the living room and the control room,” Jack said, then added suggestively. “Of course, if you walk around the house naked, I could hardly be to blame.”

“What do you want to talk to me about?” Maia asked.

“Did you like your presents?” Jack asked in a low husky voice.

“And you couldn’t wait until tomorrow to ask me?” Maia was peeved. First, he had been busy all day, letting her stew in her irritation about the clothes and now he thought he could talk to her any time he wanted to? She was not one of his employees.

“No, because I want you to wear that black bustier and lace panties when I get home,” Jack whispered. Maia felt heat shoot straight to her sex. “I picked that out myself, you know.”

“You did not. You were busy all day.”

“The boutique was at the ground floor of our building. Ever since I’ve met you, I’ve been imagining you wearing it …”

“Jack ….”

“Fuck, I’m getting hard just thinking about it,” Jack muttered.

“Jack …”

“I’m not fucking around, Maia. I want you. I want to be inside you, I want to taste you… everywhere.”

Maia caught her breath. Was she about to spontaneously combust?

“Babe, did you hear me?”

“I did like the presents,” Maia replied to his first question not ready to acknowledge his blunt proposal. “Laurie did well.”

“Coward …” Jack said with a hint of teasing.

It was inevitable, her attraction to Jack was nuclear, so she decided to take the grown-up lead. Might as well get down to the specifics. “Have you been checked?”

“Yes. About two weeks ago. I’m clean,” Jack replied quickly. “Are you…”

“I’m clean and I’m on birth-control,” Maia answered.

Jack laughed softly and in a husky voice that made her shiver all over again. “Babe, if I were there right now, I’d be fucking you.”

“Can you not be crude?”

“You like me talking dirty to you.”

“I do not.”

“Liar.”

Maia rolled her eyes.

“I can see you, you know,” Jack said.

Not knowing where the cameras were, Maia raised her arm sideways and gave him the finger.

Jack burst out laughing.

“You’re too cute to be doing the job you do,” Jack said, now chuckling.

“Two to three weeks, this is how far this goes,” Maia said firmly.

“Derek schooled me on that.” All the humor had left his voice.

“Damn it, he’s so nosy,” Maia grumbled. “And stop sounding like you’re the aggrieved party here. We’re equally relationship-challenged; Viktor had briefed me on your girlfriend parade.”

Jack was quiet for a beat before replying, “Glad we’re getting all the nuts and bolts sorted out. I don’t think we’ll spend much time talking once I get back.”

“You like to talk, can you follow through?” Maia challenged with a smile.

“Oh, you’re being cute again,” Jack replied in what she thought was affection.

Her eyes sparkled mischievously. “Cute, huh?”

She threw on a Juicy Couture velour hoodie over her sleepwear of silk camisole and drawstring pajama bottoms when Viktor texted her. With the phone cradled between her ear and shoulder, she slung one leg over the arm of the office chair and spread her thighs wantonly.

“What …” Jack started over the phone.

Maia proceeded to unzip her hoodie, shoved it partly off her shoulder, flicked the left cami strap off so it exposed her left breast, and smoothly gave it a squeeze while brushing a thumb over a nipple.

“Fuck!” Jack exploded.

Smiling, Maia righted herself and returned the phone to her right hand.

“Talk is cheap, I prefer action,” she murmured seductively over the phone. “Sweet dreams, Jack.”

All she heard was a strangled groan over the receiver. Smiling, she flicked a two-finger salute, stood up and left the control room.

Two strokes was all it took and Jack emptied himself into his hand. He was standing in the shower. Stretching his arms out, he leaned against the wall and bent his head trying to catch his breath. He shook his head in bemusement. What had just happened? Damn her, he had not lost control like that since he was fourteen. He had gotten hard imagining her in that black lacy bustier, and then seeing her spread her legs and fondle herself like a siren just sent him over the edge. Hell, he was still extremely aroused. Cursing Maia again, Jack turned the lever of the shower to the maximum blue mark and let the cold water assuage the blood pumping furiously from his head to his groin.

It was appalling the way she made him lose control, but it was also exhilarating, and he couldn’t wait to see her again later that night. He wondered how he was going to make it through the day.

It was 10:00 a.m. Maia had just come back from her run on the beach with no incident and was now freshly showered and pouring over some transcripts of some chatter that had been captured over the Baltimore area.

Viktor beeped in his intent to videoconference. Maia clicked accept and her blond mentor appeared on the small inlay screen.

“Anything?” Viktor asked.

“There’s a mention in a conversation about Benny in Westcove and the Russian is impatient. Also something about all Hallow’s eve and they’d pay with their blood.”

“That’s not much.”

“I know. But can you do a voice match with those lines with anyone in our audio database.”

“On that.”

“I need to be on the ground in Northern Virginia and Baltimore,” Maia declared. “My hands are tied over here.”

“Give it two weeks. I’ll see what I can arrange,” Viktor said carefully.

“You’re planning something,” Maia guessed. She and Viktor had been working together too long to be able to hide things from each other.

“There’s a popular music hall in Downtown Baltimore. I think it’s a good place to plant some eyes and ears,” Viktor said slowly.

“And?”

“There’s a popular local rock band that plays over there …”

“Wait, one of ours?”

Viktor laughed. AGS had once put together a rock band as a cover for one of their German assignments. Several Guardians were musically inclined and Maia acted as the group’s manager. They had successfully infiltrated a dance club that was a front for narcotics and firearms and taken down the mastermind of the operation.

“Hah! I wish. The band is called Ezra Crows, I believe you know their lead singer.”

Maia groaned. “Lee Isaac. I thought they were in Philadelphia.”

“They moved to Baltimore and they’re almost an institution there. They play at Addison Music Hall every Friday and Saturday. It’s well-attended by our target demographic.”

“Our recreational drug users,” Maia replied dryly. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

“Well, Lee was crazy about you.”

“That was four, no five years ago, we were together three weeks.”

“Three times in two years.”

Maia scowled. She had met Lee at the exclusive Samabe resort in Bali, Indonesia. His band was playing at his friend’s small wedding. She was in an outdoor restaurant when she heard him sing so she fleeted to the edge of the reception and watched him perform. His beautiful voice was wonderfully seductive, and she was mesmerized, so she stayed for a couple of songs and walked away before it became too obvious that she was crashing the wedding. Not that she really was, because it was outdoors anyway.

Later that evening as she was sipping a tropical concoction on the beach, Lee dropped down right beside her and said, “I thought I imagined you, I looked for you all night.” They ended up in her room and made love all night. For the next few weeks, they just lazed around the beach. Lee would play on his guitar and sing to her.

It was a beautiful fling. Lee was busy with his band, he was artistic and did not need a relationship to weigh him down. They parted ways, both getting what they needed from the ephemeral nature of what they shared. They lived in the now and it was fantastic.

They talked occasionally over nine months until Lee suggested they go back to Bali. They met back at Bali two more times over a span of eighteen months.

Their coming together this last time was bittersweet. Three days before they were to leave, after making love to her, Lee told her that he was in love with her and wanted something more. Meaningless groupie sex left him empty and all he thought about was her when he was with other women. Maia turned him down.

“Tell me why,” he asked brokenly.

“It’s not gonna work. My job …”

“Fuck your job!” Lee shouted angrily. “You are so fucked up!”

“Lee, calm down,” Maia said while making a move to get up. She was sensing intense anger emanating from the man beside her.

His arm sliced across her waist and threw her back on the bed.

He held her down and settled between her legs.

“Lee don’t!” Maia pleaded, dreading what he was about to do.

“You are mine, Maia. Mine!”

Maia closed her eyes and let Lee take her, she felt his pain as he wrapped his arms around her to grip her closer, she tentatively stroked his back. She needed to end this.

When he finished, he rolled off and said, “Fuck, I’m sorry Maia, I… I… was too rough.”

She did not respond. Lee got up and left the room and did not return that night, probably getting drunk somewhere. Maia left the next morning, leaving a note and returned to the United States. She changed her number and never talked to Lee again.

“He may not want to see me,” Maia told Viktor. It was a possibility. After all, she had left without saying goodbye personally.

“I just can’t show up at his gig, that’ll mean I want to connect with him again,” Maia said. “I do not want to use him.”

“We need to get in with someone at the club. Know who the regulars are, usually the groupies of the band. We’re getting a comprehensive file of all the employees of the club. There’s a medical conference in two weeks, if you want I’ll get you into that. It’s the perfect cover and staging for everything.”

Damn Viktor. He had her. There was a possibility even Sergei Reznikov might show up.

“People at conferences love to party. It’ll be the perfect excuse to show up at Addison’s” Maia said.

Viktor’s eyes gleamed. “Actually, Ezra Crows is playing at the opening night of the conference. If you get Lee to notice you immediately like he did the first time, then that’ll be good.”

“I’m not sleeping with him, that’ll be disastrous.”

“Did I say you have to?” Viktor said curtly.

“I don’t see why we need him. We can get into the hall—heck you can even buy VIP passes if you want to.” Viktor was looking at her blandly and Maia suddenly got it.

“You sonofabitch,” she whispered. “You are using me as bait. If I get a local rock star interested in me, I’ll be in the limelight and you can draw Reznikov out. It’ll be an in-your-face challenge, he’ll suspect it’s a trap but since I’ve got what amounts to a bull’s-eye on my back…”

“Maia …”

“That’s brilliant!” she exclaimed, excited.

“That’s my girl,” Viktor said, exhaling a sigh of relief obviously not sure how Maia was going to react to his manipulation.

“I really don’t want Lee involved in this. He might get hurt.”

“He’s your shield actually, Reznikov won’t harm the best draw to the Music Hall. Guardians will be swarming.”

Maia nodded solemnly and Viktor signed off.

Maia let her fingers sift through the flour as she worked in cubes of semi-frozen butter to form flattened walnut-sized pieces. Adding some ice water and vinegar she quickly shaped the dough, divided them in two and flattened them into discs to chill in the refrigerator in preparation for rolling them out.

Grace had already left for the weekend as she usually worked half-day on Saturday. She had baked an herb-crusted rack of lamb and a potato gratin dish and left instructions for Maia for reheating and finishing it off.

It was 4pm; The trick or treaters would be stopping by in two hours. The bowls of candy were ready. She didn’t have a costume, but she vamped it up with the makeup, smoky eyes and very red lips.

She started peeling and slicing the apples. Her foster mom had taught her that to prevent the soggy-bottom crust from apple pies, it was necessary to let the apples macerate for a while and then boil down the juices until it was syrupy. It was extra work but well worth the effort to have that crisp bottom layer. After all, the pie is all about the crust.

Leaving the apples to macerate in the sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, she checked for emails from Viktor.

Nothing. It looked like her boss was enjoying the weekend, so she could too.

The phone rang. Jack.

“Hey.”

“Hey, babe, what are you up to?”

“You mean you don’t know?” Maia teased.

Jack chuckled. “I’m not a stalker.” Then in a soft voice. “You owe me for last night.”

“Apple pie. I’m baking you apple pie,” Maia said.

“I must say, you are the master of evasive answers,” Jack replied dryly. “I don’t have much time to talk but I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be in around 10 p.m.”

Maia frowned. A nagging panic gripped her. She did not want men to be accountable to her for their time specifically if it meant she was going to have to extend the same courtesy. She was going to nip this in the bud.

“Jack, I’m uncomfortable with you having to tell me your schedule. It implies accountability and …”

“Look, I got it,” Jack cut in, mildly exasperated. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you shooting me accidentally when I walk through the door.”

Maia laughed. “You have a point.”

“Gotta go, babe. Don’t forget the vanilla ice cream.” He disconnected.

Derek Lockwood observed his friend finishing off the phone call with Maia, his lips twitching, trying very hard to control a grin.

“Not a word,” Jack warned. Derek had tried talking his friend out of calling Maia but would he listen? What Jack had to realize was that Maia came and went as she pleased and she expected people around her to do the same. She allowed this freedom in her daily routine to make up for the precision required when on the job.

“We’re still awaiting the results from the tracking serum. It appears to be working as expected but there are some blood samples needing further processing,” Derek said.

“DoD is very pleased with the results of the carbines and we’ve been promised an order in a few weeks,” Jack said. “They’ve already budgeted for this but after seeing the preliminary results I was informed that they might divert excess budget from their Ordnance allocation to purchase more carbines.”

“Whew, glad that’s almost over. With the stuff that came up with Brett at the same time being in the middle of negotiations with the DoD, it’s been a riotous few months,” Derek observed.

“So take a vacation,” Jack shrugged.

“I wouldn’t know what to do with it,” Derek retorted.

“Well, I’m taking off for two weeks at least,” Jack announced. His friend cocked a brow to this. “I’ll be in contact with the office the whole time in case the DoD has some questions, but I can easily handle inquiries from Westcove.”

Derek stared at his friend, morbidly fascinated, as if watching a particularly gruesome train wreck about to unfold.

“I sure hope you know what you are doing, my friend,” Derek said. Since Maia and Jack were both his friends, and he knew what a volatile combination they would make, he chose to keep quiet and stay out of the line of fire. The less they confided in him the better. He had already had a conversation with Viktor who was already foaming at the mouth waiting to see how this particular match-up would turn out.

“Fucked if I know,” Jack muttered.

It was 8:00 p.m., and the last of the trick or treaters had just left, so Maia turned off the porch lights. The oven timer had just dinged and she walked back to the kitchen to check on the pie. The filling had started bubbling through the slits on the top crust, a sure sign that it was ready. Maia pulled the pie out of the oven and transferred it to a wire rack to cool. She loved this kitchen. It had everything you needed to cook and bake: top of the line all-clad cooking pans, Le Crueset cast iron pots for stews, even a Kitchen-Aid mixer.

Then Maia remembered the ice cream. You can’t have apple pie without vanilla ice cream. She quickly punched the number for the Westcove grocery.

Kyle answered the phone.

“Hey Kyle, it’s Maia.”

“Evening, Miss Pierce. How were the trick or treaters?”

“I think they’re disappointed that the stonehouse wasn’t haunted.”

Kyle chuckled softly.

“How late are you guys staying open tonight?”

“Until ten.”

“Good, I’ll stop by around nine unless you guys run out of vanilla ice cream.”

“Nope, we’re well-stocked with it.”

“Great, see you in a bit.”

Maia pulled up beside Kyle’s pick-up truck in the parking lot of Westcove Specialty Grocer. Jack had quite a collection of cars in his garage. She had her pick of a really sporty Mercedes convertible but decided to try out the sweet-looking vintage 1969 Z28 Chevy Camaro. Jack had not informed her which cars she could use. He hadn’t expected her to stay home the entire time he was gone, had he? She would just explain the broken key cabinet later, after all, vanilla ice cream took precedence when it was a question of apple pie.

She walked through the double glass doors into a well-lit grocery store. The long counter was right in front of the doors and had two cash registers mounted on them. Kyle was behind the counter with a woman who bore a close resemblance to Grace. She surmised that this was Betty, Kyle’s mother.

“Hi, Kyle.”

“Good evening, Miss Pierce. Glad you made it in tonight,” Kyle said and then turned to the woman beside him. “Ma, this is Maia Pierce, she lives at the stonehouse where Aunt Grace works. Miss Pierce, this is my Ma, Betty.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Betty said graciously. “Goodness, Grace wasn’t kidding when she said you are the prettiest little thing.”

Maia smiled and lowered her eyes. She could easily brush off compliments from men but when it came to middle-aged grocery store owners, she could apparently get a little embarrassed. “Um, thanks. I’ll just go grab the ice cream.”

“The freezer section is all the way to the back,” Kyle offered.

As Maia made her way down the aisle, the door chimed and someone walked in. She took a peek at the security mirror installed by the front wall ceiling and saw a guy in a Frankenstein mask.

“May I help you find anything, sir?” Betty called out.

The guy mumbled something unintelligible but the voice sounded eerily familiar. The back of Maia’s neck began to prickle.

The door chimed again. This time a guy in a Michael Myer’s hockey mask and a second man in a skull mask walked in. The last guy pulled out a cord and tied it around the door bars sealing everyone in the grocery in.

“What the hell is going on?” Kyle’s angry voice thundered.

“Show some respect, boy,” the guy in the skull mask warned as he whipped an AK-47 out from under his trench coat. Maia, who was quickly making her way to the front of the grocery, heard a sickening thud, a grunt of pain, and Betty screaming.

“Leave my son alone! What do you want?” she shrieked.

Frankenstein mask hauled Kyle from behind the counter. “Show me where the surveillance cameras are. Mrs. Banning, keep your hands up. You push the button to call 911, you’ll be burying a son.”

Maia held her hands behind her head as she made her presence known. She already knew who these three guys were.

“What is going on here?” Maia asked carefully.

“Well, well, well. Look who has decided to join us,” Michael Myers mask man, who sounded like the bald Syd, said.

“Oh, Miss Pierce, please stay out of it…” Betty pleaded fearfully.

“Syd, get back and watch the door,” skull man ordered, obviously the one in charge.

Frankenstein guy returned pushing Kyle, who was now sporting a busted lip, with the barrel of a semi-automatic pistol. Maia started fuming.

“Cameras are off.”

“Great, now we can take these fucking suffocating masks off,” skull man said as he tugged off the mask to reveal the brown-haired guy who Maia assumed was Benny. Frankenstein was Tommy, who she already determined was the tall guy from the beach and she was right about which one was Syd.

“All right. Negotiations, Mrs. Banning. Our boss’s patience has run out.”

“Please let Miss Pierce and my son go.”

“I’m not leaving you, Ma,” Kyle said fiercely.

“Why would I let go of my pawns?” Benny said silkily. “Here’s how it’s gonna go. We need to store our shit here, and—I repeat—you do not want to mess with the Russian mob, so you do not want to say anything to the cops. They cannot protect you. You don’t know how far we’ve got our hooks into your police boys. And in exchange you get ten grand. Now that’s a sweet deal, don’t you think?”

“Don’t do it, Ma,” Kyle said. “We don’t want any of that drug money. It is drugs, yeah? That shit you guys are talking about.”

“How attached are you to your knee caps, boy?” Benny asked pulling a pistol from the front of his pants and pointing it at Kyle.

Betty screamed again. ”No, oh please no! I’ll cooperate… ”

“No, Ma!” Kyle yelled.

Maia decided to act … hysterical.

“Oh God, don’t shoot the boy!” She walked right in front of Benny, wringing her hands.

“Are you out of your mind, woman?” Benny shouted at her. “Get out the way.”

“Don’t shoot the boy,” Maia repeated in a shrill voice.

“I think she’s lost it.” Tommy observed. “Women, huh?”

“Get out of the way!” Benny put away the pistol and backhanded Maia.

“Miss Pierce!” Both Kyle and his mother screamed.

She was hoping for exactly this reaction from Benny. She flew back and landed on her ass right in front of Tommy.

“Tommy, lock her in the stock room and take her cell phone,” Benny told the taller guy.

“Come on, darling,” Tommy said leeringly.

Maia attacked.