by Lisa Hughey
Laws. Rules. Alex Saunders would never see the exceptions.
But it was what Adams-Larsen did. Except for the fact that Hannah Smith was the girls’ aunt and not their mother, she fit the standard profile for the type of clients they helped. But By-The-Book Saunders would not understand that.
This conversation underscored their differences. All the reasons they were a bad idea. The hope she’d secretly let grow and blossom withered.
“You need to go.” Kita thought about their connection, the heated touches and whispered words, the feeling that finally she was beginning to relate to a man on another level. One that until recently she didn’t even believe was possible.
But Alex Saunders would never approve of her or her methods. That truth festered like a cut flower in decaying water.
And right now, saving Hannah Smith was her top priority.
“Make me understand.” He was practically begging her as if he too was mourning the loss of what had grown between them.
But Kita closed off her heart, shut down her feelings. She couldn’t afford for him to get in her way. “I’ll meet you back at the safe house.”
“That’s it?” His gaze went flat. “We’re not even going to discuss—”
“There’s nothing to discuss.” She turned her back on him, unable to take the disappointment in his eyes. Because she knew if she explained her real calling, what she did to protect the innocent, the disappointment would only get worse. She’d been judged and found lacking often enough her life. She should have never given him the power to hurt her.
“You’re right.” Alex opened the door to the apartment hallway. He looked back, his mouth an unsmiling line, disappointment in the sharp lines of his face. “I guess I was wrong and we have nothing.”
He closed the door quietly, the click of the lock abnormally loud in her silent apartment.
Kita stood there, in the middle of her living room, and mourned for the loss. She hadn’t even realized how much she wanted him to stick around. To say “To hell with the rules and let’s do what’s right.” To believe in her and what she did. To accept her for who she was. All that regret balled in her chest and rose in her throat as she breathed heavily through her pain. She swallowed the urge to weep. Her eyes smarted, and her throat constricted.
But Kita didn’t have time.
She’d set up the false trail for Frank Donner and the police, assuming he got them involved. Kita needed to take pictures of Hannah but she’d wait until morning. The woman needed sleep.
Now she needed to make a phone call she was dreading.
She pulled out her cell and dialed Jill.
“Larsen,” Jillian answered crisply. But Kita knew she’d woken her up.
“Hey.”
It was almost comical how Jill anticipated things. “What did you do?”
“He beat her up. Bad.”
“Kita?”
She sighed. “She’s in my apartment.”
Silence. “Okay. Give me an hour. I’d already started putting a plan in place.”
Relief and gratitude nearly overwhelmed her. There was a knock at Kita’s front door and she used the interruption to swallow her feelings. “Hold on. Someone is at my door.”
“You can’t answer it,” Jill said.
“Relax. It’s probably Alex.”
“Do I want to know why you think Alex Saunders is at your door at 4 a.m.?”
“I’d guess not.” Kita put the phone down by her side so she couldn’t hear Jill yell at her. Even so she was distracted as she yanked open the door.
Shit. It wasn’t Alex. She stared at the barrel of the very lethal gun pointed at her, and took a step back.
“Hello, Ms. Kim.”
Shit.
Darla Nichols held the handgun very competently.
Kita could hear Jill in the background. Her first thought as she stared at that gun? She couldn’t afford to resist. The girls shouldn’t have to handle any more violence. She wasn’t sure Hannah had much left to give either. The best thing she could do was go with Darla Nichols and disarm her once they were away from the apartment.
“It’s a little early for a social call, Congresswoman Nichols.” She had to speak loud enough for Jill to hear her but not too loud. The last thing she needed was for Hannah to come out of her bedroom.
Kita had to give the congresswoman props. Kita’s location wasn’t that easy to find.
“Let’s go.” Darla Nichols gestured with the gun.
Kita’s second thought was that she’d never admitted to Alex how much he’d changed her view of relationships. And how much she appreciated him. Not to be morbid and, jeez, she should be able to fight Darla Nichols. But she knew that her survival was not guaranteed.
Darla Nichols didn’t know that she worked for ALIAS. That was a plus. She thought she was the judge’s aide so she wouldn’t be expecting Kita to fight back.
She also hadn’t seen Kita’s phone in her hand. Kita hoped that Jill caught some of this conversation.
“Is the gun really necessary?”
“Don’t make me shoot you.”
Kita shut her mouth.
She tucked the phone between her waistband and the small of her back. The worst fucking place for it but hopefully Darla wouldn’t pat her down.
Just in time too.
Darla tossed her a zip tie. “Bind your wrists.”
Well, that put a damper on her escape plans. Kita kept quiet, praying that Hannah and the kids were sound asleep and wouldn’t come to investigate. Getting the PlasticCuff on was awkward, and she attempted to keep the plastic relatively loose.
“Tighten it with your teeth.”
Foiled again.
Chapter 19
Alex had just walked in the door of the safe house when his phone rang. He glanced at the display. Jillian Larsen. He was tempted to ignore the call. With a sigh, he pressed the answer button. “Saunders.”
“How close are you to Kita’s apartment?” Jillian Larsen bulleted out.
Why would Kita tell Jillian he’d been at her apartment? “I fail to see how—”
“Congresswoman Nichols just abducted Kita at gunpoint.”
Alex’s heart stopped. A frigid cold swirled around him. “She could kick her ass. Why would she just go with her?”
“I’m assuming it has to do with the additional cargo in her bedroom.”
Shit. She’d done it to protect Hannah Smith… “Or did she do it to protect Adams-Larsen?” Alex asked cynically.
“Saunders. We hired Kita because, despite her aversion to rules, she has a giant heart.”
Shit. He knew that. Shame funneled through him. “What do you need me to do?”
“I’m on my way to Kita’s apartment.” Alex could hear the screech of her tires through the line. “Where are you?”
Suddenly all the other stuff fell away. They could argue the merits of right versus wrong or gray versus gray all day, but at the end of it, he wanted to snuggle up to Kita in bed and savor her.
He wanted Kita, all of her. Even the obstinate pieces he didn’t necessarily agree with. Which meant he needed to find her. Save her.
Okay. She could save herself, but he could at the very least help. “We need to figure out where Darla Nichols would take her. And why. Is this about the judge?”
“We need to see if the GPS tracker on her phone is transmitting. Maybe then we can figure out where they are going.”
“Give me the info,” Alex said.
Jillian hesitated. “Can I trust you—”
“Jillian. I will do anything for her,” Alex vowed.
“Fair enough. I’ll be at her apartment taking care of our other issue.”
Crazy thoughts careened through his mind, battering at him. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t.
Why would Darla take Kita?
Shit. He should have never ignored his gut.
He’d actually agreed with Kita that the congresswoman had seemed to be hiding something. But he hadn’t w
anted to pursue her aggressively because of the high-profile stink it would have caused. And because seriously, what were the odds that an elected public official would actually be stalking a federal judge? And he still had no idea why.
Now the crazy bitch had Kita.
Alex’s stomach cramped.
What was Darla’s motivation? Did she think Kita was somehow obstructing her chances with the judge? Except the congresswoman had been clear during their interview that she was merely looking to the judge for help in her career. Of course, she could have been lying.
She was fucking Judge Adams for recommendations on the subcommittee on foreign affairs. It wasn’t clear whether the judge truly intended to back her. The other pertinent question went back to the beginning of the investigation. Why had the judge insisted on bringing in ALIAS?
Alex strode into the living room. Shep and Dwayne looked up. “We need to wake up the judge. I need to talk to him.”
“What?”
“Congresswoman Nichols just abducted Kita at gunpoint. I want to know everything he knows about the congresswoman and I need to know yesterday.”
“Jesus. Okay.” Shep said, “Talk to Dwayne while I wake him up.”
“Listen, don’t worry. Kita can hold her own. She kicks ass.” Dwayne’s deep rumble irritated him. But when Alex looked at the large man, worry made his continually smiling face somber.
“But in a fight, if the opponent brings a gun, her odds are significantly reduced.”
Dwayne’s face blanched. “She is a badass.” But he spoke as if he were trying to reassure himself, not just Alex. “We need to come up with a plan to get her back.”
No hesitation. Warmth filled Alex. The immediate response from ALIAS was to rescue their coworker. After his mess with the last witness, some of his colleagues had distanced themselves from him, as if worried that his disciplinary sanctions might rub off on them. But the Adams-Larsen team pulled together without hesitation.
Should he call his boss?
He thought for a moment, then rejected the idea. She wouldn’t want to save Kita. That would go against protocol. Technically Alex’s responsibility was the judge, not his partner.
And that made Alex want to lose his mind.
Finally, the judge shuffled out to the living room. In old-fashioned pajamas with bedhead, the judge was just an old man.
“Why would Congresswoman Nichols kidnap Kita?”
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb, old man.” Alex had had enough.
The judge sputtered. “I can’t believe Darla—”
Alex grabbed the judge by the lapels of his stuffy pajamas and half lifted him onto his toes. “I need answers.” He shook the judge, spittle from his mouth landing on the older man’s cheek.
In the back of his mind he knew he was out of control, but all he could focus on was the fact that Kita was in harm’s way. Nothing else mattered.
Shep peeled his fingers off the judge. “Why don’t we all just take a moment to calm down?”
“I don’t want to calm the fuck down. I want Kita safe.”
Alex’s heart thundered in his chest, the beat like a death knell. What if they couldn’t find her in time?
Something Darla had said resonated in his mind. “Is she connected to your son in some way?”
“Marsh?” Bobby Adams had backed up and dropped onto the folding chair next to Dwayne. He smoothed down his rumpled hair. “As far as I know they’ve never met.”
“I can look and see if they met in an official capacity.” Dwayne flipped open the laptop in front of him.
“Do it.”
“Why did you want Adams-Larsen on this operation?” If the judge hadn’t insisted, Kita wouldn’t be in danger right now.
The judge flushed. “I wanted to see my son. He…avoids me.”
Alex shook off the urge to punch the judge. His family problems were not the issue. “What about how you hooked up with Nichols? How did that happen? She’s older than most of your regular woman.” Except for Joyce Nguyen and Colleen Adams. Okay, shit, maybe that was a dead end too.
The judge blinked as if consulting some document only he could see. “She approached me.”
“And you didn’t find that suspicious? You strike me as the kind of guy who makes his own conquests.” Without waiting for an answer, Alex changed his line of questioning. “Why do you think Darla targeted you?”
“I have the connections to get the appointments she wants.”
“So you slept with her?”
“Let’s not get judgmental. It’s a game,” Judge Adams said. “That’s politics. You play the game or you lose. Those are the rules.”
Fuck their rules. Alex wanted to show the judge his right hook.
Shep wrapped his hand around Alex’s biceps. “Ah, Alex. You may want to tone it down a bit.” He tried to pull Alex back a step.
“Yeah. No. I don’t. What I want is to figure out why a sitting congresswoman just kidnapped a woman who has ties to the judge and to his son. Darla doesn’t know that Kita isn’t your aide. She still thinks she’s working for you but her interest took an unhealthier turn when she learned that Kita knew Marsh.”
“Well, that’s bizarre.” The judge finally said, “Why would she care about Marsh?”
“Exactly,” Alex said through a jaw so tight his teeth might crack.
“Darla Nichols took over her husband’s house seat when he died a month into his second term.”
“And none of this history lesson is helping us figure out where she took Kita.” Alex had to wonder if there was some sort of connection. “How did he die?”
“Heart attack,” Dwayne interjected.
“Hardly grounds for revenge.” So as far as Alex could see there wasn’t a correlation.
“Jesus, we’ve been working under the radar for five years and all of a sudden within a month we’ve got two high-profile problems.” Dwayne rubbed his chin.
Finally, Alex had another line to pursue. “What does Adams-Larsen really do?”
Dwayne sat hyper still. “What are you talking about?”
“Kita is former CIA. Jillian and Marsh are former marshals. I’m betting you used to work for another agency. None of those agencies are particularly known for their public relations skills.” Alex couldn’t keep the rage out of his voice. “My guess, whatever her grudge is with Marsh has to do with your real business.”
Dwayne looked away. “Our image consulting business doesn’t have anything to do with why Kita was abducted.”
“You’d better hope that whatever you’re withholding doesn’t have the power to save her.” Alex wanted to punch something. Dwayne was handy. Except they’d need everyone to rescue Kita.
“I would never do anything to put a woman, especially Kita, in jeopardy.” Dwayne spoke with a sincerity that couldn’t be missed.
He had to think. Alex crouched in the chair, and put his head in hands, going over all the data from the past few days. “She’s Russian. The Russian guy was killed in your office. Could she somehow be connected to the guy who was killed at Adams-Larsen?”
“I can’t imagine,” the judge said.
“I’ve got her.” Dwayne raised his fists in triumph.
“Where is she?” The edge of the keys dug into his palm.
The computer dinged again. Dwayne said, “Wait a minute.”
“What’s going on?”
Dwayne was silent. “Kita’s trace on Darla Nichols’s dossier finally came through. There are anomalies in the congresswoman’s background.”
“Anomalies?” the judge said at the same time as Alex.
“What kind of anomalies?” All this talking wasn’t getting them any closer to Kita.
“The setup of her accounts, identity, backstop. Not all of her official details can be verified.” Dwayne was peering intently at the screen. “Jesus, it’s manufactured.”
“Which parts?”
“It will take forever to dig into it.” Dwayne continued to scroll
through the report on the screen. “Whoever did this is good.”
Alex didn’t give a good goddamn. “What does this mean for Kita?”
The judge perked up. “When did Darla meet her husband?”
“Sophomore year of college.” Even Alex knew this. “They met at a political rally. They both volunteered on their local candidate’s campaign.”
“A few years ago, the FBI arrested a ring of Russian spies who were to infiltrate society and spy on citizens with ties to certain industries.”
Alex nodded. “I remember the case. Operation Ghost Stories.”
Dwayne’s eyebrows lifted. “There were rumors that not everyone in the ring was caught. That there were actually sleepers who’d been sent much earlier in life and had undergone programming to appear like ordinary US citizens. But that was never proven, and the Russian government denied any additional personnel associated with the ring.”
Alex couldn’t wrap his mind around what Dwayne was insinuating. “You think Darla Nichols is a Russian spy?”
“Think about the genius of it,” Judge Adams said with admiration. “She studies law and marries an up-and-coming politician. Once he hits the House, she kills him, takes over, and then influences American policy.”
Alex thought they’d detoured right into cray-cray land. “Are we really going there?”
“Looks like her grandmother raised her.” Dwayne read from his screen. “She emigrated from Siberia.”
Impatience rose to the surface, bubbling through him with beats of urgency. This felt like a complete waste of time. “Why does that matter?”
“Because the Russian on the no-fly list who was killed at Adams-Larsen last month was from there too,” Dwayne said grimly.
“Russia is a huge country. Get to the fucking point.” Alex wanted to tear his hair out.
“But this particular section near Lake Baikal is small and very tight knit.”
So this was some sort of retaliation for the death of the Russian at Adams-Larsen?
Alex’s phone rang. It was Jill. “What?”
“Well, we heard from the congresswoman. She knew Kita still had her phone,” Jill said. “We’ve got a big problem.”
“Why?”