With Renzo’s help, Damon moved the body into the backseat of the car and covered it with a ragged-looking blanket. Then he got in the driver’s seat and started the car.
One foot above the accelerator, Damon hesitated and poked his head out the window. Renzo was walking to Cassandra’s house. “Hey, kid.”
He turned to face him, his shirt now covered in blood.
“Get changed and wait for Cassandra, and keep your eyes peeled, all right?” Once Renzo nodded, he added, “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m going to fix this.”
Without waiting for an answer, Damon peeled across the cement, tires squealing and smoke hovering behind.
♥ Chapter 14 ♥
The second run of the day did what it was meant to: exhaust Cassandra’s body. It was with a heaving chest she returned home, eager to drink cool water and hop in the shower. She wondered what she would find, and was only slightly disappointed to see her door closed and no sign of the guys.
She was about to slide her keys in when the door flew open and Renzo pulled her in, his arms wrapping around her. His embrace muffled her cry of shock, and it gave her pause.
When he let her go, she peered up at him. “What’s going on?”
Renzo glanced behind her instead and closed the door. Then locked it.
“Ok… Now I’m worried.” When Renzo turned to her, Cassandra’s eyes widened at the blood on his shirt. She also realized something else. “Where’s Damon?” On a breathless chuckle, she added, “Please tell me you didn’t kill him.”
When Renzo froze, Cassandra’s heart dropped in her stomach.
“No, no! God, no. Cass, you know me better than that,” Renzo hurried to add. “I didn’t kill him, he’s off… Umm…” The way he paced rather than talk, running his hands through his hair in frustration, clued her in that something happened.
“What’s going on?” Cassandra asked.
Renzo stopped mid-step, his mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish. When he finally spoke, his answer was not what she expected.
“Damon saved my life.”
♥∞♥
Damon pulled in the warehouse by the marina after triple checking he wasn't followed. It figured that Sean wasn’t a genius, but considering his previous interactions with the cop, better to be safe than sorry. It wouldn’t do to be found with a dead body in a stolen car.
Not bothering to park properly, Damon jumped out of the car and rapped twice on the door. When no one answered, he pummelled the door with his fist, then waited. Moments later, it opened to reveal one of his teammates.
“Zak.” Damon nodded in greeting, then motioned with his head to follow.
A head shorter than him, but twice his weight in bulk alone, Zak moved like a tank. He’d been trained not to be surprised, and obey orders without question. Yet when Damon opened the passenger door and showed him the dead body, he whistled in appreciation.
“Clean kill, D. Someone hit on your girl or something?”
Damon growled. “If only. This was a trained sniper, and he tried to kill Fabrizio Moretti’s son. In front of me.”
Zak’s whistle halted, and he narrowed his eyes. Despite not being a field agent, even he knew that a sanctioned hit was the opposite of good news. “Shit. All right, I’ll pull Paco in on it. With all the tech mumbo jumbo, he might find something out.”
Damon nodded, then reached in his back pocket and held up the assassin’s cell. “See what else Paco can get off this thing. And try to get rid of the car, too. In the meantime, I got someone to see.”
“No more dead bodies, I hope.” Zak’s grin said he expected the contrary.
In spite of himself, Damon returned it. “I’ll try. No promises.”
♥∞♥
Damon stared up at the skyscraper Viktor now worked in, whistling appreciatively to himself. Who said money doesn’t buy you nice digs?
He stepped in and found the receptionist desk. “Hey there,” he started, putting on his best charming smile.
It must have worked as the young blonde stopped what she was doing and looked up –really looked up. The minute she stopped ogling his biceps displayed on the top of her desk, she met his eyes. Damon could have sworn her pulse fluttered, or perhaps it was his imagination.
If only Cass would… He bit back a sigh, trying to stay in role. Focus.
“Would Mr. Beauchamp be available?”
The receptionist blinked a few times, then seemed to snap her out of her daze. “I, um, am not supposed to be giving out that information.”
Damon’s smile froze, and she jumped in response to his shift of personality. He willed himself to cool off, before he scared his only chance to get in. “Would you please make an exception? I’ve known him since I was young and am only in town for a few hours. I would love to buy him a drink.”
The receptionist gulped, then nodded slowly. “Well… I’m sure he won’t mind, if he knows you?”
The last bit came out as a question, and Damon grinned as he nodded. “Oh, he does. Most definitely.”
“Ok, well, let me check.” She took a second to look through Viktor’s calendar, then nodded. "It seems he’s having lunch in the lobby restaurant. Would you like me to show you where it is?"
“I can find my way,” Damon replied, grinning to soften the blow when she pouted.
Aromas of a well-priced menu assailed him as he strode off towards the spot. The bar was on his way and he paused by to place an order for takeout. Following the adrenaline pumping in his veins and the close call with death, he was starved enough to eat a horse. Plus, he was probably not the only one who needed sustenance.
Damon wondered if he should have told Renzo not to breathe a word of their little misadventure to Cassandra. Nah, he decided. We have enough space between us as it is and don’t need more secrets.
Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention to the pudgy man sitting in a chair by the window, overlooking the water. Whoever he’d been speaking to got up and left in a fuss, so Damon took his chance and walked over.
“Bad business deal gone sour?” His opening line lacked subtlety, but it got the reaction he expected. He towered over the table, blocking the only way out.
Viktor stopped with the fork halfway to his mouth, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“You!” he sputtered, almost too loud.
Damon dropped in the chair next to him and discreetly placed his gun under the tablecloth. “Me indeed, Viktor. Now be a good buddy and behave, I have a few questions.”
He nodded towards the gun, and Viktor gulped, sweat building on his brow even as his cheeks reddened. Damon’s gaze shifted to the plate, and the unfinished steak now cooling off.
“You should be more careful with what you eat, Vic.” A dry chuckle, then he dug the gun into Viktor’s knee. “I’m in town because you’ve gotten involved into some shady dealings with some terrible people. Old habits die hard, and I know from past encounters that you have no trouble getting your hands dirty. So, what’s the deal this time?”
“What do you care?” Viktor tossed, a failed attempt at bravery – or plain stupidity.
Damon nudged the tip of the gun deeper into his knee. Viktor jumped in his chair, nearly falling backwards in an attempt to get away. “Don’t piss me off, Viktor.” His threat was delivered in the coolest tone, and the man shuddered. “When you forced me away ten years ago, you must have known I would come back.”
The man glared at Damon, disgust etched on each line of his weathered face. “I should have put you back in jail where you belonged when I had the chance.”
“With lies,” Damon leaned forward, his expression darkening. “Don’t forget that. Meanwhile, what I have on you will put you in jail with the truth. So cut the bullshit and tell me how deep in you are.”
Viktor gulped, breaking eye contact. “Deep.”
“Is Cass in danger?”
Viktor met his gaze again, almost as if attempting to figure out hi
s play. A slow grin appeared. "You still have a soft spot for her.”
Damon gritted his teeth and strongly fought the impulse to shoot him and be done with it.
“Answer me.”
“Maybe she is, and maybe she isn’t.”
Stupid man.
Memories of what Viktor had done, of his shameful departure, crossed in his mind as vivid as if they had happened the day before. A steady wave of anger built inside him, and Damon’s hand clenched over his gun.
He wanted nothing more than to shoot the bastard and save Cassandra from his influence. At the thought of what Viktor had put her through, with all his manipulations and control-freak behaviour, keeping a lid on the rage became almost impossible.
Still, Damon forced himself to. He dug deep in his military training, slowing his breath until every cell in his body was attuned to the other. A quick glance around confirmed two security guards patrolled the area.
No matter what he wanted to do with Viktor, if he attracted their attention, it would be all too easy to set him up. And while Derek might have had some leeway with the border cops, he doubted the same applied to the local cops.
Damon leaned an inch closer, his mouth close to Viktor’s ear. With his free hand, he wrapped an arm around the pudgy bastard, pressing into his shoulder.
“I’ll say this once, so take heed. Clean up your shit and stop sending snipers. Else I’ll make an anonymous tip to Moretti. The guy may be retired, but how do you think he would react if his own son was in danger?”
All color drained from Viktor’s face at Damon’s words, delivered in an icy tone. Without waiting for the rest, Damon got to his feet, placing his back to the security guards.
“You think you can–”
Viktor should have shut up while he had the chance. Swifter than any observing eyes, Damon’s hand shot out and grabbed him right between the shoulder and the neck. To an outsider, it would appear as though he was giving him a clap on the back. Instead, he was hitting a pressure point that had the man roll his eyes to the back of his head.
By the time Damon reached the bar to grab his takeout, Viktor was passed out in his chair. It was less than the bastard deserved, but far better than what Damon truly intended to do to him.
At least it’ll be enough to put fear in the spineless prick.
♥∞♥
Cassandra knew staring with her jaw open was unladylike, but she was past caring. After a few moments of incredulous sputtering, she formed a coherent sentence. “How, exactly?”
Renzo shifted from foot to foot, finally motioning for her to follow him. She walked into her living room, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Until Renzo pointed to the wall.
“Are those… bullets… in my wall?” Her voice broke on the last word, and she stared at her friend, expecting him to deny it.
Instead, Renzo nodded – then the story came out in a rush. How they’d been talking, him and Damon, when Damon tackled him before he was shot. How he then went to take care of the shooter and disappeared with his body.
By the end of the tale, Cassandra moved to the couch, her knees wobbly. Her mind could not grasp exactly what was going on, but she also couldn’t get past the daze of one thought: Damon killed someone.
It kept going on a loop in her head, shattering any and all illusions she might have had of him. Who did I really let into my house?
With a huge effort of will, Cassandra pushed away the judging idea. Damon had wanted to tell her more, but they’d been interrupted before. On some subconscious level, she might have been doing avoiding the reality without realizing it, afraid of what she would hear.
“Cass?”
Cassandra glanced back up at Renzo, chewing on her bottom lip. “I don’t know what to say. I’m glad you’re alive, obviously. But, shit! Renzo, who would want to kill you? And why?”
He shook his head, at a loss. “Hell if I know, but I need a drink. Do you have anything strong?”
Cassandra nodded and pointed to the fridge. “Vodka in the bottom shelf of the fridge.”
He left her in the room, but she could not sit still any longer. She moved about, pacing as she listened to the sounds of the fridge opening and closing, then a bottle being uncapped.
Aikido had taught Cassandra awareness, and she’d never quite snapped out of old habits, though she no longer practiced the martial art with as much dedication as before. In the wake of Renzo’s revelations, she reverted to breathing exercises, each meant to calm her and increase her awareness all at once.
Those teachings saved her life. There was a brief noise, impossible to describe. Cassandra’s first instinct was to yell for Renzo, but after what he’d told her, she stayed silent.
Her senses, sharpened by years of martial arts training, were telling her to make herself invisible, and she gave in. She took off her sneakers and moved on tiptoes to the door.
From her new viewpoint, Cassandra had a clear view to the open concept kitchen. She couldn’t locate Renzo, at first… Then she stifled a gasp when her eyes fell on Renzo’s feet, stretched past her island.
“Don’t move.”
♥ Chapter 15 ♥
Damon swore under his breath, hitting the steering wheel with his fists as his eyes took in the never-ending throng of cars piled on the highway. He’d been stalled, advancing with the speed of a snail for the past twenty minutes, and his patience was wearing thin.
He hadn’t meant to be gone from Cassandra and Lorenzo for so long, but it seemed time was not on his side. Not taking his gaze off the road, he reached for his phone and hit a button. The wireless connection in the car rang twice, then Paco answered.
“Yeah, boss?”
“Kid, I’m stuck on the freaking highway, and I need to get back to Cassandra’s. Can you pull up some back road options?”
“Sure thing.” The clicking of a keyboard filled the silence, then Paco said, “I can see your GPS tracker. Get off at the next exit, then turn right onto the boulevard. If you keep going straight, it should bring you to Cassandra’s neighbourhood.”
“Thanks.” Damon switched lanes and took the exit, then said, “Did Zak fill you in?”
Paco didn’t even pause. “Yes sir, and no updates yet. I’m trying to crack your dead guy’s identity, but it’s as if he was reborn a year ago.”
Damon’s eyes narrowed on the road. “That’s no good. Did Zak dispose of the body?”
“And the car. As for the guy, don’t worry, I’ll keep digging.”
Curses escaped Damon, but he regained composure. It wasn’t Paco’s fault that his impatience had skyrocketed in the last minutes and he wanted results – yesterday. “Do your best, kid. I need to nail the people behind this, and fast.”
“You got it, boss.” A hesitation followed, and Damon picked up on it.
“What is it?”
“It might be nothing…”
“Spit it out.”
“Okay, well you know how you said this guy was a sniper?”
Damon thought back to what he’d observed in the car. “Yeah, he was trying to shoot at Renzo with a rifle only made for the military.”
“Well, that’s the thing: there’s no record of this guy in the military. I tried the Navy, Marines, freaking SEALs – or what I got off their files. Nada.”
Damon grunted impatiently, and Paco got back on point. “What I mean is he doesn’t seem the type. His muscle mass was less than impressive, and I may be no doctor, but I lifted one of his eyes and it looks like it’s damaged.”
“How would you even know that?”
“Before I got drafted into this hacking business, I was studying for med school.”
Damon’s jaw dropped. “Would’ve been nice to find that out firsthand, but good on you. So maybe the dead guy was aiming with his other eye.”
“All due respect, boss… I doubt it. He had arthritis in one hand, early onset. He could only shoot with one hand.”
Damon was struck dumb this time. “You’re telling me there
is no way he could’ve made that headshot?”
“Exactly.”
The car ahead of him hesitated in moving when there was space, and he hit the horn. “Damn drivers,” Damon growled. “Move already!”
Damon’s agitation increased with the news. If he had misjudged the scene, and the threat… The only thing that made sense was how little sense everything made. And yet, he needed a second opinion.
“Put Zak on speaker.”
There was shuffling, then both men were on the line. “Yeah, D?”
“Did you hear what Paco was telling me?” Damon asked.
“Yup.”
“And?” Zak was a man of few words, and sometimes it was like pulling teeth.
“I think the kid’s right. Someone wanted you to think this guy was pulling the shots, but it wasn’t him.”
“But the shots came from his rifle, Zak,” Damon pressed, undaunted. “How would that be possible?”
“Hold on.”
Static entered the line for a second, followed by the noise of a murmured conversation, then an appreciative whistle.
“Holy shit!” Paco whispered, shock coating his voice.
“Guys!”
Damon’s impatience must have gotten through even over the bad connection as Zak returned on the line.
“You’re not going to believe this, D.”
Somehow, I doubt that.
“The gun’s automated. Remote-controlled. It could have been operated from a distance, and this guy was set up to be a pawn.”
Damon hit the brakes furiously, ignoring the alarmed honking behind his car. His encounter with Wraith, Viktor, and the attack on Renzo all sped through his mind. Pieces fit together like a puzzle, and others were left on sidelines.
Was it really Viktor who had hired Wraith?
If yes, that could only mean he was done with Cassandra, for good. Which begged another question – where had the slime ball gone after calling her?
If the shooter was a puppet, someone was pulling his strings, which means…
“Fuck. It was a set up!”
There was only silence on the other end of the line as his team absorbed the news. Then movement confirmed they were on the move. Though he guessed what they were doing, Damon still said, “Zak, Paco, get the hell out of there. Blow everything and haul ass to a safe location. Whoever is behind this did it for one of two reasons. Either to have me reveal my team, or to get to Cassandra while she’s unguarded.”
Blood Ties, Love Binds Page 12