Angelina Bonaparte Mysteries Box Set Nanci Rathbun (i love reading books txt) 📖

He looked at Spider. “I assume you’ll escort Ms. Bonaparte back to her car?”

“Sure thing, Colonel. I mean, sir, uh, Baddon.”

“Bad one?” I asked.

“Baddon. It’s a Welsh name, ma’am,” the colonel said. He turned to Spider. “Keep a close watch on her. DEFCON 2.”

Spider snapped to attention. “Yes, sir.”

Colonel Lewis and I exchanged business cards. He wrote his cell phone number on his and said to call as soon as I had pictures. With an exchange of handshakes all round, he departed.

“Time to get off the streets, Angie,” Spider said. “And I’m waiting to hear why the colonel thinks this is a DEFCON 2 situation.” He hustled me to his van.

“DEFCON?” I asked him as I buckled in.

“Defense Readiness Condition. It’s an Armed Forces graduating alert status. Five is situation normal. One is nuclear war. We’re at two—ready to deploy and engage the enemy. And I need to know why.” He started the engine and pulled away from the curb.

Chapter 21

He who fears dangers will not perish by them.

—Leonardo Da Vinci

Spider took a circuitous route to Marquette, doubling back and getting on and off the freeway several times, all the while checking his mirrors like the colonel had.

“Are we being followed?” I asked.

“Not to my knowledge. And believe me, I’d know.”

I relaxed a bit. “Good.”

“So tell me why the colonel upped our alert status.”

“I’d rather wait until Bart is available and only tell the story once.”

“Okay. I’ll call Bram York and let him know the situation is more tense than we thought. I want him in on the discussion with Matthews.”

“Spider, my call to Adriana from the ROTC office went to voicemail. She wasn’t supposed to go out.”

“No worries. She’s with Bram. If anything went down, he’d call me.”

“What if they both are in trouble?”

He motioned toward his phone, lying on the console between us. “We have an emergency signal. I’d know if there was a problem.”

I didn’t feel totally satisfied with that, but there was probably no way I would be totally satisfied with any of us being safe until we had the killers in custody. I suddenly realized that York was with Adriana and Spider was with me. “Who’s covering Bobbie Russell?” I asked Spider.

“A buddy from Army days who lives near Chicago. I called him and he drove up last night. Name of Eugene Malone, but they call him Mad Man Malone.” He glanced over at me. “You don’t want to know. But Bobbie is safe with him.”

“Does Bram have a nickname, too?”

“Nah. He’s just the captain.”

“Did you both serve with Colonel Lewis?”

“Nope.”

Silence. Clearly, I asked too many questions.

“So, here’s the plan,” Spider said. “I’ll take you to your car. I’ll check it out before you get in. Then I’ll deliver you to your office, check it out and take up a surveillance position outside. You call Matthews and set up a meeting, then let me know. I’ll contact York.”

His tone was matter-of-fact, but it didn’t escape me that DEFCON 2 apparently meant someone else was running my life. Yes, it was for my own safety, but I still felt a bit smothered. Smothered was better than dead, though.

We got to Marquette without incident. Spider used a mirror attached to a long handle to check under my car. Then he took my keys and asked me to park the van on the street and wait.

“For what?” I asked.

“For the sound of no explosion,” he told me.

Good God! “I can’t let you take that chance, Spider. You’re a family man.”

“I’ll stand way back, behind a concrete pillar, when I press the door release button, Angie. I don’t want my van torn up by shrapnel again.”

Again? I moved the van and waited.

Five minutes later, he jogged out of the parking structure and grinned at me. “All clear. I’ll be right behind you. No sense in stealth at this point. Let the bastards sweat.”

He did a similarly thorough job in my office, even though I assured him that new door locks and a motion detection alarm system were installed only a few months ago. When he was done, he pointed to the floor in front of the door. “I’ll install a door sweep later.”

“It’s not drafty, Spider.”

“It’s too easy to blow a chemical agent into the office through that space.”

Holy …! Spider was full of frightening ideas, but I could see the point. I nodded, too shaken to speak.

With Susan out on an audit, the office was quiet after Spider left. I booted my laptop and started to scan my inbox, when Spider unlocked the office door and came in.

I hadn’t given him a key. “Spider, you are one scary dude.”

He nodded. “Yeah, Magda says that, too. I checked the building. Security’s okay, considering all the offices, but the owner needs to install a lock on the roof door. Anybody can get in from the roof.”

“How would they get to the roof in the first place?”

“This is an older area of downtown, Angie. The buildings are close. It would be easy to jump across from one roof to the other.”

I made a note to call the supe.

“I’ll be parked out front in a silver Dodge Ram when it’s time to meet Bart.”

I didn’t ask how the truck would get here. Spider had unlimited resources, it seemed. I placed the call to Bart’s cell.

“What’s up, Angie?”

“I need to meet with you and your two security consultants today. The situation has reached a higher alert level.”

“Yeah? You okay?”

“I am. My guy is very…thorough.”

“That he is. Hold on.” He came back on the line in a few seconds. “It’s three-thirty. How does five o’clock work for you?”

“I’ll make it work. And Bart, do you have personal security?”

“Always.” He paused. “It’s that bad?”

“DEFCON 2, Bart. Ready to deploy and engage the enemy.”

“Huh. Spider’s assessment?”

“Nope. Colonel Lewis, who runs the ROTC program at Marquette and UWM. He was in the Bosnian War. I had him check the uniforms. I’ll fill you in when I get there.”

I called Spider. Then I finished scanning my