Page 55 of In the Nick of Time
Tim shot him another dirty look. After setting him down on the sand and gravel, Doug watched the reptile crawl remarkably quickly and disappear around the side of the house.
Doug stayed in the shade of one of the cacti, scoping out what he could see from there and deciding how to approach the situation. When his cell phone vibrated in his pocket, he released a grunt, knowing it was SPAM. He hadn’t told management that Nick had been abducted; he’d just driven off into the desert without a plan.
Not having a plan was not like Doug at all. Liking Nick was also not like Doug at all, but there he was.
Doug pulled out his phone and glanced down at the screen, angling it so he could read the wordReportin the glare of the sun.
Uh, yeah, April, I lost your baby agent and hey, don’t worry. I’m on my way to get him back from an unknown enemy. Everything is fine, just peachy.
The phone slipped easily into his back pocket. He’d ask for forgiveness later, after Nick was safe once again.
Tim came busting back around the corner. Doug swore he could almost see dust rising in his wake.
“What is it?” Doug demanded.
“He’s in there. From what I could tell, there are at least three baddies along with Agent Sedgewick.”
Doug wasn’t going to ask how a tortoise could hear through cement walls. Maybe it was another subpar power.
“Any chance we know who the baddies are?”
“The head bad guy calls himself The Undertaker. I don’t know about the others. I have the feeling they are in it for money and not much else.”
“The Undertaker?” Doug scowled, racking his brain for a memory of the name. “I’ve never heard of this guy before.”
Tim moved his head up and down in what Doug assumed was agreement.
“Did you hear Nick? Is he okay?”
“Gauging by the frustration level in The Undertaker’s tone, I believe Nick is alive and, well, alive anyway.”
“What do we do now?”
“Well, youarea superhero,” Tim pointed out.
“Ex-superhero. But I get your point.”
“We need to get them out of the house,” said Tim. “And by we, I mean you.”
“Agreed.”
Doug was having a little problem getting over the fact that he was planning a rescue mission with a damn reptile.
“Do we want to know more about what they are up to?” Tim asked. “Or do we want to get Nick out of there ASAP?”
The only answer, of course, was what the fuck were they waiting for?
As Doug was contemplating—he hated, really hated, going in blind—the back door burst open and two large, muscly men burst out. Actually, they tried to burst out but managed to get stuck in the doorway like cartoon characters or one of those comedy teams from the 1930s.
Then… it happened again. And again. And again. Finally, the class-c henchmen broke free of the rewind and raced each other to the SUV. Doug probably should have stopped them, but hewas only one ex-superhero and they were obviously in a hurry to get out of there. No doubt he could track them down later.
Porkpie Man was the next to appear. “Get back here, you cowards!” he screamed as the driver reversed, narrowly missing Tim, and gunned the SUV down the drive toward the highway.
Smiling grimly—very Jack Reacher, he thought—Doug moved toward the man standing in the doorway. When he saw Doug, The Undertaker blanched, backed up, and slammed the door shut, but Doug got there before he could throw the lock.
“Oh, no, you don’t.”
When Doug flat-palmed the door, it burst open and crashed back against the wall. It was very satisfying. The Undertaker froze in seeming indecision, then he stepped toward Doug instead of away.
