C32 Chapter 32

Zane entered his house and found Sanchez sitting on his sofa.

“Hey,” Sanchez said as Zane entered. “What’s with the phone?”

“I think the battery’s flat,” Zane replied. “Damn thing’s always acting up.” He pulled out his phone, turned it off, and dismantled it.

“You think it’s bugged?” Sanchez said.

Zane nodded. “Come with me,” he said. They left Zane’s home and drove up the road to the cabin that Amanda was allowing him to use.

They entered and settled at the dining table. Zane explained everything to Sanchez about Johnson returning and that he had sent him to get new phones and that he was using Johnson’s phone till he got back. He sent Johnson a message with directions to get to the cabin when Johnson sent him a message telling him he was on the way back.

“Can you trust him?” Sanchez asked.

“I believe so. I think he is not part of the group.”

“Okay then. So what do you have in mind?”

Zane sat down and began to sketch out his idea. As he spoke another vehicle pulled up and dropped off a passenger. The passenger walked up to the door and rang the bell. Zane looked through the peephole and then opened the door letting the guest in.

“I’m so glad you came,” Zane said. He led his guest to the living room where he introduced him to Sanchez.

Sanchez, this is Jerry. Jerry, this is Sanchez. The two shook hands and gave each other the once over.

“Jerry is going to propose a truce and collaboration with the people who Hope is working for. He was one of my informants and now since I am gone, he needs to make a new alliance with whoever’s running the show. To prove his willingness to co-operate, he can also put an attractive deal on the table making them want to talk. When he goes in, he will be accompanied by law enforcement agents posing as his men. That helps us get some people inside the building so that if and when the fireworks get started we’re not blind on the outside.”

Sanchez smiled. He liked it. They all hunched together around the table in Zane’s kitchen discussing the plan and reworking it until they were sure it was watertight.

Johnson arrived at the cabin sometime later and they let him in. Zane introduced Johnson and Sanchez. They shook hands and Johnson gave them the phones. Zane took one for himself and handed the other to Sanchez.

Johnson was taken aback to see Jerry there.

“It’s okay. He’s here to help.” Zane introduced Jerry and Johnson again.

Sanchez moved off a short distance to make a call.

“I’ll get this set up. Let’s hope she goes for it.” He waved one of the new phones that Johnson had brought.

In the interim Zane brought Johnson up to speed with what was happening while Jerry stood by absorbing all the details again. He informed Johnson that he and Sanchez would move to the cabin he had arranged and that Hope had agreed to meet him that night at the house. He would speak with her and see if he could get her on board with him. If not then they had to track her and try to do everything without her.

Sanchez finally finished with the phone and joined them. “All done,” he said.

“Great,” Zane smiled. “Now I need to get cooking. Johnson, can you drop me at my place?”

Johnson gave Zane a ride back to his home and left.

Zane watched the road from inside his house for a while making sure no suspicious vehicles passed by or stopped. Then he began preparing dinner.

At six-thirty, Hope arrived by taxi. She walked down his drive and knocked on the door. Zane had finished cooking dinner and taken a shower before she arrived. He opened the door and welcomed her in.

“Something smells good,” she said as he closed the door behind her.

“Thanks. I’m hoping you think it tastes as good as it smells.”

“Well, we’ll soon find out,” Hope replied.

Zane made his way to the kitchen, “Let’s not delay the verdict,” he said as he fetched the bowls of food. Hope helped him and they sat down at the table together.

They prayed and when they were done, Zane laughed.

“What’s funny?” Hope asked.

“I was just wondering if crooks pray,” Zane said. “After all, I’ve got a criminal record now.”

Hope smiled uneasily and Zane quickly set her at ease. “Sorry. I didn’t ask you to come so I can beat up on you and your conscience. It was an honest joke. Okay?”

“Okay,” she nodded.

Zane dished up and then said, “Wait a minute. I forgot the placemats.”

He stood and went into the kitchen where he fetched a sheaf of A4 papers and returned.

“There you go,” he said. He placed the papers on the table. They had his handwriting all over them and were numbered like pages from a book. “Please. Take one.”

Hope hesitated for a moment and looked from him to the placemats and back to him again. He put his hands together to symbolize prayer and mouthed, “Please.”

Hope hesitated and then she took the first one and began to read.

She read the text that Zane had written for her and they continued their chatting so they appeared to be carrying on a normal conversation.

When she had read what he had written about the cell phone she nodded as per the instructions in the text indicating her agreement.

He placed the phone on the table and she placed hers on the table at the same time. Zane sent a message to Sanchez informing him that the phones were close to each other. He received a reply from Sanchez acknowledging that he had received the message. The FBI’s tech guys would now proceed to clone Hope’s phone as well.

Later they would use the phone to track her and listen to all conversations she was close to or in the presence of.

When dinner was finished, they put the plates in the kitchen and Hope helped him wash up. Then he made coffee and they returned to the dining table.

Zane studied Hope as they made small talk. She was a beautiful woman and he could understand how he had failed to resist her. Under her hard shell, he believed there was a kind person. A woman with a big heart, who tried to do only the best for her child and herself. A woman who had been caught up in the circumstances of her life and the paths she had walked.

He wondered if there was any way he would get Amanda to take him back. Amanda had made it clear she was running and couldn’t be associated with him. He had plea-bargained for his release and now he had a criminal record. As he weighed the possibilities, he felt his resistance crumble. Again.

Hope was talking and her voice trailed off as she noticed the way he was looking at her. She stopped talking and stood up. He pushed his chair back as she stood and rounded the table to where he sat. Wordlessly she straddled him, putting her arms around his neck. She kissed him and he returned the kiss quickly, hungrily. Their passion escalated rapidly until their mouths were glued together and their tongues dancing in unison.

Zane ran his hands down Hope’s back. She wore a cotton mini dress and he soon found the hem where she sat straddling him. His hands stroked her ass and then squeezed it. Then as they moved inwards expecting to find her thong, Zane paused in surprise. There was no thong. There was nothing!

Zane broke their kiss and looked at her questioningly. Hope smiled teasingly and nodded, not saying a word but confirming Zane’s discovery. He kissed her again and his hands found her soft folds, soaking with her juices. He picked her up and carried her off to his room.

He sat down on the bed with her still straddling him. They continued to kiss saying very little, mindful of what had been written on the ‘placemats’. She unbuttoned his shirt and her hands found his chest and his abs. He kissed her neck as he had done before. Finally, he lifted her dress over her head and placed it on the bed next to her. He unclasped her bra and freed her breasts before fastening his lips on them.

Eventually, she ended their embrace and stood, helping him remove his pants and boxer shorts. Then he lay back on the bed as she took him into her mouth. They said nothing but moved in silence enjoying the touch and feel of each other. As Hope sucked him he urged her to turn around until her pussy was above his face. He lifted his head and began to eat her. He licked her juices from her thighs and moved up to her womanhood where he buried

his tongue and fingers alternately. He could feel the effects of what he was doing to her by the way she sucked him.

Then finally she stopped and turned around positioning herself over him. She grabbed his cock and guided him into her. She settled on him quickly taking him deep into her. He took her breasts in his hands and alternately massaged and sucked them as she rode him passionately. She finally grunted as she came and he exploded inside her shortly afterward.

When they were finished, they lay beside each other. Hope touched his chest and stomach softly. Neither of them said anything for a long time as they lay next to each other with the same thoughts spinning through their mind.

Finally, Hope whispered. “You know this is the last time we meet like this.”

He nodded. “I’m thinking about the same thing. Just didn’t want to say it for fear you might take it the wrong way.”

“I won’t. I understand. I just think things are coming to an end. Things are going to change for better or worse. We can only pray for the better.”

Zane agreed. They spoke a bit longer and then Zane retrieved Hope’s clothes and let her get dressed. He called a taxi and it arrived ten minutes later. Zane made sure Hope took the phone he had prepared for her and kissed her goodnight one final time.

He watched the tail lights of the taxi disappear around the bend and waited until Johnson came by on his motorbike a short while later using the phone as a tracker.

During the dinner, with the questions and information he had written on the placemats beforehand, Hope had communicated to him that she was now staying where they were keeping her daughter. She had been reunited but her daughter had not been released yet.

She had also indicated that she was worried they were not going to release her and her daughter alive as promised. It was what Zane had feared all along.