by Cynthia Eden
He snatched his hand away. “For the record, I could have attacked you back in a dozen different ways. If you think you can show me one self-defense maneuver and I’ll suddenly believe you are capable of fighting off the people who took Chase, you’re dead wrong.”
“No, you’re dead wrong.”
He frowned at her.
“Chase didn’t trick me into falling in love with him. No tricks were involved at all. I fell in love with him because I saw the man he truly is. I know Chase. I love him. And, yes, I will do anything to protect him.” When you loved someone, there was nothing you wouldn’t do. “But, for the record, I’m not planning to take down the bad guys by using my self-defense moves. You’re right. I will be out-trained there.”
His stare had turned assessing.
She stepped toe-to-toe with him. “But you know where I’m not out-trained? When it comes to tech. To hacking. If those jerks want the data unscrambled, they have to give it to me. They have to put me in front of a computer and let me access it. No other coder out there will be able to get them the data they need because, yes, I am that good when it comes to my tech.”
“So you’ll just hand it over to them.”
Was he being a deliberate jackass? “As soon as I start coding, I won’t unscramble the tech.”
His lips parted, and then Dex smiled. Finally, he seemed to get her plan. “You’ll destroy it.”
Vivian nodded.
Lacey cleared her throat. “Um, why didn’t you just do that to begin with? Am I the only one wondering this?”
“Because then we wouldn’t have our traitors,” Dex retorted. “And they’d be out there, hiding in plain sight, and another attack would just be in the works. You scrambled it to buy time, didn’t you? You were working to find the traitors on your own, but things got blown to hell when they started framing you.”
“That was a problem,” she allowed. “And when they blew up my car, the problem got a whole lot worse.” The initial glitches she’d noticed in the system had put her on red alert. She’d done her best to protect the data and try to draw out the enemies at the CIA. Since she hadn’t known who to trust, there hadn’t been a ton of options for her.
He nodded. “They had to be taken down, they had to be pulled out of the system, and the only way to do that was to make them think they were getting the data.”
Now they were close to unmasking the jerks. “I need backup. I can’t do this alone.” If she went in alone, then she and Chase could both die. “While I’m working on the data, they’ll be distracted. That will be your time to act.”
“You want us to tail you,” Dex concluded.
“Tail me, bug me, whatever. Just do it.”
The hospital door opened. They all whirled at the same time. Eric stood there, and he appeared grim as hell. He gripped a phone in his hand.
Oh, God.
“I got a message.” He swallowed. His hold on the phone tightened. “They want an exchange.”
She’d known that demand was coming.
Dex stalked toward Eric. “Did you get proof of life?”
A curt nod.
Vivian’s gaze darted to the phone.
“They want you, Vivian,” Eric said. “They get you, and we get back both Chase and Merik. They want—”
“Deal,” she agreed quickly. “They’ll get me. They can have me right now. Give them a location. Set up the switch.” She edged closer to him with a casual glide. “Just do—”
She swiped his phone.
And now she could see the image. The image that was frozen on the screen.
Eric cursed. “You don’t have to watch that.”
Her fingers were shaking as she got the image to play.
Chase was tied to a chair and slumped forward. It looked as if he’d been tortured. Blood soaked his shirt. He barely appeared to be breathing. Then his head lifted ever so slowly and turned toward whoever the hell had been recording him. “V-Vivian…” Blood dripped from his mouth.
A tear slid down her cheek. “I will trade. I will give myself up and take his place.” She looked at Eric. “Set it up. Do whatever they want.”
Dex’s fingers brushed over her arm. “Just make sure,” he said quietly, barely breathing the words into her ear, “that you do what you promised.”
***
The phone dinged.
Luc smiled as he read the text. Smiled even though he had a busted lip, a black eye, and what Chase hoped were two broken ribs. “Look at that.” Luc held up the phone. “Your buddy Eric wants to schedule a meet to swap you for your girlfriend.”
No. “I told her not to do it. No matter what.”
He’d been freaking bleeding all over the place, and he hadn’t cared. Luc had told him to deliver a message begging for the exchange. He’d said if Chase didn’t do it, he’d cut Chase’s throat.
Then cut me, bastard. Cut me. Luc had certainly cut Chase a hell of a lot before he’d started filming. Cut him. Stabbed him. What the hell ever.
Chase had stared into the phone’s camera, and said, “V-Vivian. Don’t do it. Don’t you dare fucking trade yourself for me. They’ll double cross you. Kill us both. Don’t you do it.”
“Oh, is that what you said? Sorry. I think I stopped filming right after you called her by name. Thought it would be more meaningful that way.” Smirking, Luc sent a fast response on his phone.
That’s right, dumbass. Keep using that phone. Eric will be tracing the messages. He’ll find you.
Luc glanced up. Frowned. “Why are you looking so smug? Oh, wait, is it because you think the cavalry is coming?” Once more, he wiggled the phone. “Because you think they’re going to trace this back to me? To you?” He laughed. “We’re steps ahead of Wilde. I know their tech. More importantly, I know how to beat their tech.”
If he knew…there was only one way…
Inside man.
As if on cue, the door opened once more. No ski-mask-clad goon swaggered inside. Instead, Merik stood there. His face appeared grim as he said, “Chase, buddy, you look like hell.”
Ignoring the pain that coursed through his body, Chase straightened as best he could and replied, “Merik, you sonofabitch traitor, you look like you’ll be getting an ass kicking soon.”
Luc laughed. “Mon Dieu, he’s funny.”
Merik wasn’t laughing.
Neither was Chase. He was making a promise.
Merik didn’t move away from the doorway. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of your lady for you.”
“Don’t fucking touch her!”
“Fine. Then we can make a different arrangement.” Merik’s gaze slid to Luc. “Once we have the intel, you kill her, and I’ll end him.”
Luc frowned. “Why wait? He can die now.”
“No, can’t do it yet. She’s going to insist on seeing him. I know her.”
“But I gave proof of life!”
Big whoop, you sonofabitch. Chase strained against his ropes. When he’d been kicking out and fighting Luc, they’d loosened some. Just not enough yet.
“She’s in love with him. She’ll want to see him.” Merik turned his stare back to Luc. “And after she sees you, she’ll do whatever we want.”
She’s in love with him. Merik had sounded so damn confident. “No. You don’t know her. You don’t understand her.”
“Of course, I do. I read all the files on her, just like you did. Hell, I knew about her before you did. I was CIA. Worked with Dex. That’s how Luc and I met.”
“One bloody Paris night,” Luc agreed. “For a while, we had the perfect partnership happening.”
Merik’s gaze hardened. “Then I had to leave the agency. You can only work an angle for so long. But branching out was good. It allowed me to learn all kinds of new things. Like the secrets to Wilde tech. Eric always thought he was so freaking smart. He didn’t even notice when I started using tech on him. When I bugged his devices. Over-confident asshole. But that’s okay. He’ll fall soon enough. Everyone will.”
<
br /> Chase was staring at a traitor. “I trusted you.”
“Yeah, it’s a real bitch when people lie to you, isn’t it?”
Chase clenched his jaw.
“But, hey, Vivian forgave you, so I figure you’ll forgive me, too, eventually.” He tapped his cheek. “What am I saying? Of course, you won’t forgive me. You’ll be dead, and I’ll be a rich bastard drinking a pretty drink on some sandy white beach.” He turned away. “Come on, Luc. It’s time for us to get ready for Vivian.”
“Don’t!” Chase yelled. He struggled against the ropes. “Don’t you touch her!”
Merik wasn’t looking back. Or stopping.
“I will put a bullet in your head!” Chase roared. “Don’t hurt her!”
Merik glanced back. “No, buddy, you’re wrong.” He almost seemed sad. “You’ll be the one with the bullet to the brain.”
Chase strained against the ropes. More blood poured from his wounds. Luc stabbed me too many times. Bastard.
“Damn, that’s a lot of blood. Hope you can stay alive until she gets here.” He smiled at Luc. “After all, he’s our leverage.”
No, I’m the man who is going to kill you.
Chapter Twenty
“They’re going to take you,” Eric told her grimly. “You’ll go into the parking garage, and a car will be waiting for you. They’ll probably put a blindfold over your head and put you in the back of the vehicle.”
Wonderful. More darkness.
“They’ll have disabled the security in the garage. If they’re smart, they will have multiple vehicles set to leave at the same time. The idea for all the cars is that our team will have to split up as we divide to track them.” His mouth tightened. “Their mistake. We won’t be dividing up.”
“Because I’ll be wearing your locator device.” Her hand lifted and toyed with her new earrings. They looked like small, sparkling diamonds, but they weren’t. They were GPS locators. Eric had said they would allow him to find her no matter where she went.
“Exactly.” His gaze swept over her face. “So don’t fight them when they take you. Play the role of the scared victim.”
She was scared.
“They said that they’d trade you for Chase and Merik, but we both know they aren’t just going to instantly give them up. They’ll probably promise that Chase and Merik will be let go once you unscramble the tech.”
“Ahem.” Dex waved his fingers. “My cue to cut in.” His eyes glittered. “I understand Chase is important to you.”
“Yes, he is,” she said flatly. “Very important.”
“But under no circumstances can the enemy actually get the location and real identities of our undercover operatives. You have to stop that from happening, no matter what else occurs.” He held her gaze. “Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“I understand that I can protect Chase and keep the bad guys from getting the code. That’s what I’ll do.” Chase and Merik. She had no intention of leaving either man behind.
“I think she understands,” Lacey murmured as she shot a sideways glance at Dex. “Any other words of wisdom you want to impart? Because we’re running out of time here.”
Yes, they were. The people holding Chase and Merik had sent a location address and a time for the exchange.
After a long exhale, Dex raked his fingers through his hair. “One more thing. And it’s bothering me.”
Well, that wasn’t good.
“Chase wanted me to investigate Luc. So I dug a little more, and I found something. I mean, it could be nothing. Not like it’s a red flag waving in the wind, but it’s enough that my alarm bells are ringing.”
“Oh, for goodness sake.” Lacey cocked her head toward him. “Spit it out!”
“Merik used to work for the CIA. I’d used him on several cases and found him to be a solid agent. When he left, when he said he wanted to step onto the civilian side of things, I referred him to Eric for a job.”
Eric crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t like where this is going.”
“While I was digging into Luc’s past, I cross-referenced some dates and locations. Turns out, even though Merik and Luc were never assigned to work together, they did happen to find themselves in the same foreign countries, in the exact same foreign cities, at three different times. At least three. Could be more. I just haven’t had time to dig deep enough to be certain.”
Her heartbeat sped up.
“That could be coincidence,” Lacey said. “Thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of people were probably in those same cities.”
Eric seemed to be thinking things over. “During the investigation, Merik never mentioned knowing Luc. At least, he didn’t tell me.”
“Or me,” Dex muttered. “So maybe they don’t know each other. Or…” But his voice trailed away.
Or if they do know each other and Merik kept that secret what does it mean? Not anything good, that was for certain. “Where is Luc right now?” Vivian asked.
“He was sent on an emergency mission last night, one sanctioned by his supervisor at the agency. He’s supposed to be on a plane bound for Madrid.” Dex rolled back his shoulders. “There was no video footage of him getting on the plane. It took off from a black ops site, but I have a friend in Madrid who will let me know if Luc actually steps off that plane when it lands.”
Dex didn’t trust Luc. And from the sound of things, he might not trust Merik, either?
Dex pinned her with his gaze. “I’m telling you this information because I want to make sure you trust the right people. When you go in there, don’t fall for lies or tricks.”
Her chin lifted. “When I go in there, I will only trust one person.” That had been her intent all along. “I will help Chase, and he will help me.” She knew it was time to go. Vivian squared her shoulders and turned away—
“There are lots of variables on an op like this one,” Dex’s low voice stopped Vivian in her tracks. “You might think you can control things, but the scene can go to hell in a heartbeat.”
Her heart squeezed in her chest. “He’s my variable.”
“Uh, what?”
Vivian glanced back at Dex. “Chase is my variable, and I trust him completely.”
He held her stare. “Good.” A pause. “Be careful.”
She nodded.
“We need to get to that garage,” Eric said.
Yes, they did. “Did you know,” Vivian said as their little team hurried away, “that there are more than 40,000 parking garages and lots in the US?”
***
Vivian pushed open the stairwell door and slowly walked into the parking garage. The place was massive. Dark. Cavernous. Five vehicles waited in the garage, seemingly parked in random spaces.
Five masked men were waiting there, too. Armed men. As she advanced with slow, uncertain steps, they pointed their guns at her.
Vivian’s hands lifted into the air. “I don’t have a weapon.”
One of the men rushed toward her. He patted her down. Fast and rough. Then he shoved a black cloth toward her.
Her fingers clenched in the fabric. “Where is Chase? Merik?”
“Put it on,” the man growled. His voice was low and held no accent.
She lifted up the cloth—the hood—and started to put it over—
“Wait!” Another masked man pointed toward her. “I think my wife would like those earrings.” His voice was muffled. “Give them to me.”
What?
He approached her. Pointed his gun at her. “Take off the earrings.”
“You’re really going to rob me?” Vivian licked her lips. “Is that part of the plan? Because I don’t think your boss will appreciate this little deviation of yours.”
“Give them to me.”
“They are family heirlooms. The only thing I have of my grandmother’s.” Her voice trembled because she was scared. “Please, don’t take them.”
“Take off the fucking earrings or I will take them off you.” He holstered his gun, o
nly to then immediately pull out a knife. “If you don’t have your lobes, I’m sure you can still work the scramble just fine.” He’d come closer, and she could make out his bright blue eyes.
“I’d rather keep my ear lobes, thank you.” Vivian tucked the cloth hood under her arm, and she slowly removed the earrings.
He sprang forward and snatched them from her. “Great. Thanks.” He held them up to the light. “Fucking pity.” Then he dropped them to the ground and smashed them under his booted feet.
Her breath choked out. “I don’t think your wife will like them much now.”
“I don’t have a wife.”
She’d figured that.
“And now you don’t have a tracker on you,” he added with satisfaction. “So put on the hood and let’s get out of here. My boss is waiting.”
How did he know about the earrings? Eric had given those to her. Only Eric, Lacey, and Dex had known about the trackers inside them. Eric had said he was deliberately keeping the trackers private. He’d been the one who was going to monitor her.
But these jerks knew.
She put on the hood. Someone grabbed her arm. Jerked her forward. Kept moving her and pushing her until her upper thigh hit—a bumper? The back of a car?
“Get in.” A rough order.
“This doesn’t feel like a back seat,” Vivian told him as she struggled to buy time.
“That’s because it’s not.” He didn’t tell her to get in again. He shoved her inside. Slammed her down and then laughed before he said, “Heard you don’t like tight, dark spaces. Bet you’ll be more than ready to cooperate when we finally get you out of here.”
They were locking her in the trunk. Oh, God. “Where is Chase?” Vivian cried out. “You said you’d exchange him for me! You said—”
“We lied.” The trunk slammed closed.
***
“On the move,” Lacey reported as she peered through the binoculars. “Five vehicles, and they are heading out now.”
Eric’s fingers flew over the keyboard, and the same error message appeared again on his laptop screen.
“Eric?” Lacey prompted.
“She’s offline.” He looked up as the full implications of that truth settled like ice in his gut.