Double Dealing(9)

"He isn't happy," I said as I plugged the phone back into the battery pack that we'd brought up with us. The cabin didn’t have electricity or even running water, although it did have a hand pump connected to the aquifer directly outside the door. We'd lived in worse, but I was looking forward to getting out of the place. This pioneer stuff was not for me. "He says that the buyers will not be as willing to bid now that there is no chance for the best blades. He also told me the break-in made the news, although as you planned, we weren’t seen.”

"We never are," Felix commented. "Fucking Spaniards. I have known too many Spaniards in my life, Francois. Never, ever, trust a Spaniard!"

I could see Felix getting ready to start off on one of his angry rants, and I quickly moved to deflect him. "They'd probably say the same about our kind as well, Felix. Before we go into detailed discussion of the moral, cultural, and genetic failings of various nations, do you think we should get some breakfast ready? I was thinking, in honor of our devious dealer, perhaps we should prepare some huevos rancheros? I can see if Jordan is awake and ready to join us."

At the mention of Jordan, I could see Felix both cringe and brighten, so obvious to me, so hidden to anyone else. Then again, I guess when you’ve been around someone their entire life, you get to know them better than perhaps they even knew themselves.

Still, Felix had to play it off like he was granting me some great concession or something. "As you wish, Francois. But, let’s prepare the food first. I doubt that Miss Banks is still asleep, and she’s probably suspicious of us. I won’t give her a chance to escape because we’re not on our guard. This operation has gone bad enough already as it is.”

"Like I said, relax Felix. I checked the outside thermometer, it's below freezing out there. She's not going to run away into the deep forest wearing jeans and a sweatshirt without shoes on. She knows she'd die, and she doesn't strike me as a stupid woman," I replied. "But if you want, we can do our mise en place before I go to unlock the door."





Chapter 5





Jordan




I was bored out of my mind, sitting in the bedroom with little to do. I’d walked the room twice, and by my guess, it was ten feet wide by eleven feet long. It gave me a decent math challenge, counting the steps before multiplying them and then converting the inches into feet. And I did it with no pencil or paper even. When you get bored out of your mind, you’d be surprised what you do to keep your mind busy.

I looked around, finding nothing in the room that was even halfway entertaining. There were a couple of trunks that were locked, but that was about it. I thought about following Francois advice and going back to sleep again, but I was too wired. I needed to think.

Obviously, my first focus should have been on escape. However handsome Francois was, he was still a criminal, and I couldn't trust him at his word. I’d seen his face now, after all, and he could just as easily kill me and leave me here to rot. But, there were quite a few challenges for attempting an escape. First, I was in a locked room with no windows, and the only door led to another interior part of the cabin. In said cabin were, at least, two men who were most likely armed, if not with guns, then with at least some samurai swords.

The next problem was, I had no idea where I was. We were far enough from any road that I didn't hear traffic, but that could be as close as a half mile or as far away as twenty miles. Since Francois said it was morning, I assumed from the temperature and the cabin's construction we were in the nearby San Jacinto or San Bernardino mountains — the Sierra Nevadas were too far away. Worst of all, I had no shoes on, or even winter clothing. The best I could do was a light sweatshirt and jeans.

Shivering, I grabbed the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around my shoulders, hoping my kidnappers at least would be kind enough to lend me a jacket or something if they were going to keep me locked in the room. I was just about to knock and ask when the door rattled again, and another man opened the door. Larger and more muscular, maybe a little short of two hundred pounds, it was obvious the two were brothers. They shared the exact same hair color, nose, and jawline.

"We have breakfast for you," he said in the same lightly-accented English. "Come and eat."

I followed the man, if only because I could tell it was warmer in the other room. I followed him out, wincing as my semi-frozen feet crossed the cold boards. In the other room, obviously the main room of the cabin, I saw Francois standing over an older-looking pot belly cast iron stove, nodding and smiling to me. "Are you feeling more refreshed?"