The Protector

by Gennita Low

  Vivi had to look away. There were some things she refused to let her senses register. Those girls were the same ones sitting outside the bars on the stools, hiking up their already short skirts for all to see what they weren’t wearing. In here, some of them were already half naked and totally drugged out—the reward for bringing in a client. She didn’t want to see what was happening on the couches.

  Thankfully, the thug in the red pants was shoving her toward the back rooms. Not that the acts back there would be any less nauseating. The authorities seldom, if ever, raided the whorehouses here; the Triads were too powerful a group. But she had interviewed many victims over the last two years who knew the horrors that went on for those who had initially resisted their lot. They were usually freed after their relative had paid their debts. Freed…until the next time. Some of them had sought help from the United Third World organization.

  Chained to beds. Starved. Drugged. And for those who were too young to even understand what was happening…

  “I’m in,” Armando interrupted her thoughts. “I’ll let you know when I get my sister out.”

  The back was painted in red, with traditional music playing. The Triads had put some money into the place—there were mirrors and even carpeting, a luxury in these parts in what looked like a waiting room of some sort. The huge vase of fresh flowers in the middle of the room was an obscenity to what was going on here, and Vivi had to bite back a scathing remark.

  Now wasn’t the time. She would take notes now. She’d find a way later to help these women somehow.

  Jazz swallowed a curse. He should have done more than knock out that son of a bitch the other night, kept him off his feet for a few days. He wished he was close enough right now to do exactly that. Dilaver had caught sight of Vivi. That didn’t bode well.

  “What do you think he’s doing?”

  “He is smart—he’s casing the place, like we are,” Hawk said. “He’s out for revenge and he doesn’t seem like the type to sit on his ass and wait for others to do all the action.”

  Jazz watched Dilaver signaling his men. One joined him and they started staggering toward the entrance, acting drunk and rowdy. It was like watching a play within a play, seeing two different stories happening at the same time. Jazz didn’t like how the plot was moving.

  “That’s his interpreter with him. Dilaver needs him like a crutch.”

  “You sound like you’ve been up close and personal with him, Hawk.” It was just a guess. His friend had been too damn closemouthed about this lone assignment. “Tell me you didn’t know about this appearance.”

  “I didn’t,” Hawk said. “Listen up, men, I want you all to proceed with our plan.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’m walking in there, I’ll check out what’s happening. Jazz, you’re in charge.”

  Hawk going in there alleviated his fear for Vivi’s safety. “Is it going to be a problem to appear suddenly? Won’t the thugs be suspicious?”

  “No.”

  Hawk didn’t bother to explain. Jazz looked in the direction where he knew Hawk was. His friend’s shadow suddenly emerged. He was adjusting his clothes. Probably making sure his weapons weren’t too visible. Then he watched Hawk walk to the guards at the door and greet them by their names.

  “All right,” Jazz said, moving toward the alley leading to the back. “We’ll get into position like we’d planned, but you keep in contact.”

  “Sir.” Zone’s voice was urgent. He had been the first to head down the alley to the back.

  “What is it?”

  “I think Hawk should come back out. From my view, it looks like Dilaver’s men are wiring the damn place with charges. They are going to blow it up.”

  CHAPTER

  26

  “Get out!”

  Stefan stood up to leave. He hadn’t expected Alissa to say anything else. He had hurt her woman’s pride, after all, rejecting her proposal.

  “I came to you first because I didn’t want to discuss you with your brother,” he told her. He also meant to keep her distracted. “Wouldn’t you rather hear it from me than from Yeekoh?”

  “You…bastard!” Alissa looked around, then picked up her glass of wine and threw it at Stefan. She screeched in anger when he caught it in mid-air. “You think you can use me and throw me away, just like that? I brought you in. I can take you out!”

  She rushed at Stefan, pummeling him with her fists, yelling obscenities. Stefan stood there and let her. Much as he abhorred the woman’s way of life, he had used her for his own ends. He wasn’t one who saw things in black and white, and neither was Alissa. She, too, had chosen this life to suit her ends, and he knew she understood, even though she was too angry to admit it right now. He didn’t flinch when she slapped him.

  She started crying. “I know now why you never kiss me.”

  Stefan didn’t say anything. He never kissed anyone he didn’t care for. He had seen the way she kissed other men, especially her half-brother, and he had no desire to join the list. Sex was just part of the job.

  “Don’t you care about me? Just a little?”

  “Would it hurt a little less?” he asked gently.

  Alissa glared at him, her cheeks wet from her tears. “Pity? I don’t need any pity from anyone. I have everything I need.”

  “Then you don’t need me.”

  “But…” She turned away. “I do. A woman needs a man sometimes.”

  “Lis, you have all the men you want,” Stefan pointed out. “And marriage…that was just a fantasy in your head. We knew from the start there’d be no future for us. I made it clear what I wanted.” Very clear. She had been intrigued when he’d told her he would pleasure her like no one ever had. “But you’re mixing business with pleasure.”

  She swung around fiercely. “What’s wrong with that? I want you as mine. Besides, I’m getting older and you don’t seem the type to mind having a woman like me as your woman.”

  Stefan shrugged. “You label yourself. You are what you are.”

  “Oh, don’t tell me you want some pious sweet virgin for a wife. Or a normal woman. What kind of woman would fit a gunrunner? An illegal arms dealer?” She wrapped her arms around herself. “We’d be perfect, Stefan. Me. You. The sex’s great. I speak perfect English and can go anywhere with you. You even have my brother’s power behind you. What’s wrong with the picture? It’s a business deal, too.”

  Maybe she didn’t get it. Even if he had wanted her, he would never ever share her with her brother or anyone. Maybe she would never get it. He chose not to waste time explaining. “I work alone. I don’t need your brother. And I don’t need marriage as a business deal.” He walked to the door. “Goodbye, Alissa.”

  “Fucker!” she screamed and started throwing the remaining glasses at him. “You’ll come back! When you need my brother to help you out with another favor, you’ll come back to me!”

  Stefan turned to open the door. She would find out soon enough that Yeekoh would be too busy trying to rebuild his power base to do anything for a while. Especially when he discovered that someone had gotten their passwords and emptied all their overseas accounts. That all his warehouses had been “discovered” and raided by the authorities. Yeekoh would be needing his other brothers’ help, and they wouldn’t be too pleased with him. Mission completed.

  He opened the door. And frowned. Almost completed.

  Hawk had turned off his communicator. Jazz hoped he had heard the last part about the explosives.

  “As long as Dilaver is still in there, the building isn’t going to blow up,” Jazz said, assuming command. He was worried about Vivi now. Dilaver’s following her inside could only mean that the brute was after her again. He wished he were inside the casino instead of Hawk.

  “What should we do next?” Joker asked.

  Jazz thought for a moment. “This is turning out to be the real thing, boys. We’ve lost the luxury of practice. How much ammo did we bring along?”

  “Not much, sir.
We certainly didn’t bring our own explosives. Not that we need any, looking at these fuckers.”

  They had to move quickly. If they had timers on the explosives, he needed to get to them before they were discharged. “We live to improvise, so this is now Plan B. Assume positions.”

  “Let’s meet up first,” Joker said. They had all memorized the map. “Point one.”

  “Ten-four.”

  Jazz pulled out his cell phone. He punched the numbers, waited for the rings before punching in the code. An electronic voice at the other end politely asked for a verbal password.

  The line clicked several seconds after he did so. “What is it, Jazz?” T. asked.

  Red Pants was about to knock when the door flew open. A stream of obscenities came through, along with some glassware. Vivi ducked from the flying objects. She looked up curiously when the thug at her side nervously greeted the man standing there. Whoever he was, he had instilled a certain fear in her guard. He didn’t seem to be bothered by the noise behind him, either. Red Pants’ head was bowed, as if he didn’t want to meet his eyes.

  So Vivi did. If eyes could change body temperature, then this man’s could freeze blood flow. Killer eyes. The color of lightning. They narrowed a fraction at the sight of her.

  “I think you have a guest, Lis,” he said to the other unseen screaming occupant.

  He was soft-spoken, with the slightest lyrical accent that Vivi couldn’t place. She waited for him to open the door wider but he didn’t. His eyes continued to hold her prisoner and she found herself staring back.

  “I don’t want to see anyone! I gave specific instructions not to be bothered when you’re around. Why is everyone not doing what I want tonight?” More objects thudded against the back of the door, one of which missing the man’s head by inches. He didn’t flinch away.

  “I believe it’s urgent, Lis.” The stranger shifted his attention to Red Pants, changing languages with ease. “Go in first. You’d better have a good explanation why you’re disturbing her. I’d watch out for flying objects.”

  Red Pants nodded, still avoiding his eyes, and taking Vivi’s bag with him, he slipped in when the door opened wider. Vivi didn’t follow. Despite her excitement, something was very, very wrong with this picture. Was the woman Sia-Sia or not? And if so, why would Red Pants be so afraid?

  “I found her, Vivi. It’ll take some time to disarm her guards,” Armando chose that moment to remind her that there were other things going on. Since she wasn’t alone, she couldn’t answer him, or ask him what the hell he kept secret about Sia-Sia.

  The man at the door continued studying her, his strange eyes unreadable. His face looked like it’d been carved, it was so still. He appeared perfectly content to stay silent even as the muffled screaming behind him continued, this time berating Red Pants. She stared back defiantly. Whoever he was, he was still scum for being in what could be Sia-Sia’s room.

  “No!” Vivi heard the woman in the room exclaim.

  “She isn’t going to be happy with the news,” the man finally spoke.

  Vivi frowned. “How would you know?” she challenged.

  “Because she was already furious when I was about to leave just now. I didn’t know you were coming here.”

  Her frown deepened. There was a slight emphasis when he said “here,” as if he knew more than he was saying. “It isn’t your business what you know or don’t, Mr…?” She cocked her head inquiringly. She had this urge to know more about the stranger.

  “Just call me Stefan.”

  Shock reeled through her at the name. Her own gaze searched his. He was Stefan? Their insider? But he was supposed to be distracting the—

  The door suddenly swung wide open. A barely dressed woman stood beside Stefan, her hair disheveled, her makeup streaked and eyes red from crying. She was holding the old picture of Sia-Sia that Armando had given Vivi in one hand. The other held Vivi’s carnelian bracelet. She looked at Vivi up and down, disbelief in her eyes.

  “Vi…Vi? Vivi?”

  Vivi stared back. Dear God. Stefan had told them he would distract the Triad boss in charge while she and Armando did their extraction. She had assumed the Triad boss was the second brother. Not…

  “Sia-Sia?” Vivi whispered.

  Jazz gave the hand signals. There was no time to waste. This was supposed to happen tomorrow night, a controlled ambush to make sure both the Triad second brother’s and Dilaver’s men thought they were killing each other. Dilaver, however, appeared to have an alternate plan. Jazz wasn’t sure, but he could make a guess. The arms dealer wanted revenge and had taken steps to make sure that, unlike the last time, he would be the one doing the surprise attack.

  Damn it. Vivi was inside the building. He needed to get her out. Why hadn’t Hawk responded to his signal yet? He took a deep breath and exhaled. He needed to clear his mind and concentrate. Right now, the most important thing was to stop Dilaver’s men from finishing their tasks. He had to leave it to T. to help Vivi out.

  Quietly, he instructed his men. Each of them was to take care of the hostiles as quietly as possible. The best way for that was with knives. A couple of them had brought their silencers, and he nodded, indicating the furthest hostiles for them to take out. They would keep their big weapons until necessary. Right now, they had the element of surprise through stealth.

  It was difficult to ascertain how many men Dilaver had brought along. Jazz kept his eyes glued on the moving shadows. He had to find out which one was the main man; that was the one he wanted for himself.

  “Go,” he murmured into his mike.

  They streaked off at different targets, weapons ready, moving efficiently. Jazz sped toward his man, the one he hoped was in charge out here. A sudden smothered groan from one of the hostiles split the dark silence, alerting his target that something was wrong. He swung around just as Jazz reached him.

  Jazz swiftly kicked at the weapon in the other man’s hand and it landed with a thud somewhere in the darkness. His opponent pulled out a knife and crouched low. Jazz did the same. Around him, he was aware of the sounds of fighting. Fortunately, Dilaver’s men appeared to have orders to be quiet too because no one shouted; everyone just fought furiously.

  Jazz’s man pounced, weapon glinting where it caught light. Jazz jumped out of the way and lashed back. The other man was quick with the knife but he wasn’t used to fighting in the shadows. There was hesitancy in each lunge, as if he wasn’t sure of his footing.

  Jazz used his height to force the man back farther into the shadows, giving him no chance to escape. Darkness was a SEAL’s friend. He had been trained to do almost everything in the dark for survival. He could smell his opponent’s fear now as the latter realized his own mistake.

  Too late for him. Jazz easily avoided the next desperate move, tripping the man as he lunged forward. The thug fell to his knees and gasped in pain when Jazz karate-chopped the back of his neck. His knife clattered to the ground.

  Jazz quickly secured the stunned man. Then he gave him a hard smack across the face to wake him up. The man groaned loudly.

  He needed quick answers. There was no time for niceties. Vivi’s and Hawk’s lives were in danger. Without qualm, he drew blood with his sharp knife. “Answer quickly and I’ll spare you,” he grimly told his prisoner. He didn’t speak the Slavic dialect he had heard during his rescue of Vivi. He’d try English first, but he hoped the man understood some other European languages, like French or German. If not, pain is a universal patois. “Where are the explosives? How many? Show me.”

  Stefan stood at the bottom of the stairs, surveying the people in the casino. He found the person he was looking for and nodded at him. In a world with no rules, he was a man used to sudden changes of plans. Things appeared to have sped up.

  His cell phone buzzed twice, then stopped. He pulled it out to read the code, then clicked to redial.

  “You didn’t say anything about her coming in with a second assignment,” he chided gently. “I only okayed the
first. Isn’t she supposed to be getting Chang’s sister now?”

  “There isn’t time to explain, darling. There are multiple things happening right now.”

  “T., isn’t it always that way with you? Tell me.” From where he was, he could already guess the turn of events. He knew the kind of man Dilaver was. He listened without interrupting, his mind already dissecting the different scenarios that could take place within the hour. “So at least I don’t have to worry about Chang.”

  “He’s on his way out with his sister. Admiral Madison’s team are taking care of Dilaver’s men at the back, so it’s possible that nothing will happen. Nothing that goes boom, anyway.”

  Stefan quirked his lips in amusement. “You don’t seem too worried about Vivi.”

  “But I am. You too. Get her out of there.”

  “And what would I get in return for this favor?” he asked mockingly, eyes still following the men in the casino. “After all, you transferred out and left me in charge of some very unhappy men.”

  T. laughed throatily. “Don’t be mean to me, Stefan. I’m under a lot of stress.”

  “Then I’ll make sure I send Diamond to help you out after I’m done here.”

  There was a beat of silence. “Don’t do it,” T. warned. “I can take care of my assignment without him.”

  “Payback, T. I have to do a lot of stressful work tonight. So we’ll be even the next time we meet. Besides, you can’t keep running from him forever. The game is fine as long as it doesn’t interfere with my job. I foresee such a possibility in the near future. I need you back in the fold, T.”