DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 1

by james

  back at him. “Looks as if your idear of a just a few days and no contact isn’t going to

  hold.”

  He stared past her to the men standing by the palm plants. Aiden was grinning,

  Gavin was shaking his head as was Brayden and Quinlan was walking back towards the

  ballroom.

  Hell.

  Roth slapped him on his shoulder.

  Ian sighed, and said to John, “Johnno, check the security. I want to know every

  guard on duty, and list of the employees.”

  John held up the keys “We’re still going to need these?”

  Hell if he knew.

  Aiden shook his head again and started forward. Two feet away he grinned, then

  stepped forward and wrapped Ian and Darya in a hug.

  “’Bout time you came home, bro,” Aiden said.

  Ian felt Darya stiffen and burrow into him.

  “Lyubimaya, ne volnooysya”

  She only shook her head. He would make it all right.

  Brayden was next to hug him and then Gavin. Jock stayed glued to the floor by the

  palm. No surprise there.

  Old resentment started to worm its way through him.

  Screw it. He had more important things to worry about. Jock Kinncaid was the

  most stubborn man Ian had ever met and some things would simply never change.

  “Who’s this?” Aiden asked, looking at Rori and at Darya. Then his gaze landed on

  the other men.

  Ian sighed. “Could we do this elsewhere? This is rather … open.”

  His eyes scanned the crowd again, noting two men in suites stood near the

  elevators. His gaze shifted to the front door. Two more men stood there looking at him.

  Damn.

  “Two at the doors,” Rori said.

  Roth slid up to one side of him. John stepped up closer to their back. He felt Rori

  start to bend down. She’d strapped an ankle holster and her clutch piece on in the car.

  Thanks to Roth.

  “No,” he said, grabbing her hand.

  Without looking at Aiden he said, “We need a close secure location. Conference

  room still on the ground floor?”

  “Uh-yeah.”

  “Johnno, call Pete.”

  They all stood there talking quietly as if meeting up. Ryan and Tori were shoving

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 103

  back and forth. Gavin and Brayden watching them.

  Ian tightened his hold on Darya. He glanced at the hallway back towards the

  ballroom where Quinlan had disappeared to. Idiot probably went for Mom. That was all

  he needed-- another person to cover.

  John handed him the phone.

  Pete Jones answered as he always did with a simple. “What?”

  “What? Pete, tell me you put men on me.”

  A moment of silence passed before Pete’s voice, as solemn as the man himself,

  said, “That would depend on your location.”

  “I don’t care to give you that information.”

  Pete sighed. “We’re working on the damn leak and this phone is secure. Are you

  stateside yet?”

  “Affirmative.”

  The two near the front door shifted, one put his hand in his jacket.

  Ian heard the faint swish of Roth pulling his gun.

  “I’ve ordered men to watch the hotel, figuring you’d show up sooner or later.”

  Well, hell. “Have I gotten that predictable?”

  Pete snorted. “More a hopeful hunch.”

  “Descriptions, ranks and names.”

  “Don’t shoot them for the love of God. You have any idea how hard it is to find

  half ass decent agents these days?”

  “Pete.”

  “Four. Evans-five-eight, blond, blue.”

  Man number one by the elevator.

  “Becker, five-nine, brown, brown.”

  Elevator man number two.

  “Callum and Fisher. Both six even, Callum lanky, brown and hazel. Fisher,

  linebacker, bald.”

  Match. “Callum and Fisher by the door,” he said to Roth. “Check their ID’s.” To

  John he said, “Becker and Evans at the elevators, Evans is the artic one.”

  John relayed the message to Snake and Snake and Roth moved off towards their

  targets.

  “Let me know who and where or you might find a couple of agents with bullets in

  their brains,” he clicked the phone shut, knowing Pete would now know where to get in

  touch with him. Fine.

  The phone rang.

  “What?” Ian asked in tandem with Pete’s own verbosity.

  “You still need to learn some manners,” Pete’s even voice said.

  “I learned from you.” He watched Roth and Snake talking to the guys and

  checking their ID’s.

  “True. How long you in town?”

  “Don’t know.” He scanned the crowd again and stepped forward, jerking his head

  to Aiden who raised his brows and walked back across the foyer into a door marked

  private and down the hallway.

  “We need to meet.”

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 104

  Yes they did.

  He turned and saw Rori was directly behind him. “I want a name, Pete.”

  “I know that. We’re working on it.”

  “Work harder.”

  With that he flicked the phone shut and handed it off to John as they walked down

  the hallway.

  The receptionist frowned at them as they all trouped in and Aiden said, “Sally,

  we’re ordering room service in the conference room. The ladies will be joining us

  shortly.”

  She nodded and picked up the phone. “Anything in particular?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t care. We’ll let you know in a minute.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The conference room had a faux fireplace in it, a long conference table that sat

  sixteen, a sitting area in front of the fireplace and a built in entertainment/conferencing

  area in one wall.

  The door clicked shut behind them.

  * * * *

  She watched all the people around them. They’d ridden on another plane and then

  in the car to this big building.

  The man carried her like he always did, his voice gruff reminding her of pebbles

  falling on stones.

  Where were they? Maybe he was taking her to see Zoy?

  Before, in the area out front, he’d become tense, his shoulders and arms like bands

  of steel, his voice low and cold. It reminded her of the night he’d taken her from the

  monster’s den.

  Her tummy rumbled and he looked at her and grinned, those hard features

  softening. “Are you hungry, Pumpkin?”

  She nodded and laid her head back on his shoulder. He smelled nice and funny. It

  was that stick he smoked. Aunt Sonya’s man had smoked those. She didn’t like them.

  Wrinkling her nose, she smelled the better scent on his lapel and his coat was soft against

  her face. Who were all these people?

  She knew and understood the lady was Rori and there was the man John and Roth

  and Tanner and Snake. He didn’t look like a snake, but he had a snake on his bald head

  She frowned. The last two were the last behind them all walking down the hallway.

  There were other men. Five. No. One. Two. Three. Four. And a boy and another

  girl.

  She looked around as he turned with her in his arms, one of the other men saying

  something that made him grunt.

  She leaned back and watched.

  Ian said something in English to another dark haired man. She looked from him to
>
  the man who held her They both had dark hair, and the same blue eyes, the same

  eyebrows, but Ian had a streak through his eyebrow where no hair grew. She reached up

  and touched it. His gaze met hers and his eyes squinted at the edges when he smiled at

  her.

  She looked around.

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 105

  All the men. Her tummy tightened.

  Maybe, maybe he was taking her back to the lady.

  She stiffened.

  Please, please, don’t let the mean lady get me again.

  He studied her, frowning. “What’s wrong?” he asked her in Russian.

  She darted looks around, saw the old man scowling at her and tucked her face into

  Ian’s neck.

  That man looked mad.

  Again, Ian, pulled back. “What’s wrong?”

  She looked over her shoulder at the men behind them as the others she was used

  to started talking into those things in their hands. Voices coming from the strange boxes.

  But the new men--they were all big. Tall and serious. Though two looked alike.

  They were brothers, she realized. Brothers who looked alike.

  Like her and Zoy.

  Zoy--she tucked her head down again.

  “No one here will harm you,” he whispered to her. “You’re safe, Darya.” His big

  hand rubbed her back like he did when she woke up thinking the monsters were after her.

  He said she was safe, but what if there were monsters here?

  At least she had Ian, who was nice, and Rori, and Mr. Bear. Mr. Bear would keep

  her safe. She knew it.

  The big man with white and gray hair started talking, loud--he sounded like he

  was barking.

  She could understand some of what Rori, Ian and John said. She understood some

  English. But this man was angry. She could hear it in his tone, even if she didn’t

  understand the words.

  Ian’s voice said something and the old man quieted.

  He set her on the couch, but she didn’t want to let him go. Her head hurt.

  “You’re safe here,” he repeated in English and Russian.

  She wanted to talk to him. To ask him where her sister was. But she wasn’t ready

  yet to talk. She had to be quiet, quiet or the monsters would get her.

  Rori watched as Ian tried to pull the small arms from his neck, but Darya was

  having none of that. He sat beside the little girl and Rori perched on the arm of the couch,

  running her hand along the cushions to rest it on his shoulder. Felt like a bleeding brick

  under her hand. She rubbed it, felt it stiffen even more and watched as he glanced at her

  out of the corner of his eye.

  For now, she’d play the wife bit.

  Ryan--cute freckled kid--hurried over and sat on Ian’s other side.

  No one spoke.

  Rori saw the old man’s gaze harden as he looked at his son. What the hell was the

  man’s problem?

  Tall, still well built, his hair was grey and white, his face a bit tan and ruddy all at

  once. He had the same hardened angles that Ian processed. The same dark eyes. That

  same unforgiving look about him.

  Bet he was just jolly fun. And their scowls were identical she decided looking

  from one to the other. Well, not identical. Ian was a frozen mask. No real anger behind it.

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 106

  One wouldn’t know what the hell he was about. Or planning.

  But the old man. Now, he simply looked angry.

  Mr. Aiden--she was certain it was Aiden--was still grinning, and the twins were

  quiet.

  The door opened and both Snake and Roth reached out to snatch it.

  The other one--the youngest, Quinlan--walked in, raising a brow at the two men

  beside the door as he gave them a once over and said at the same time to the room in

  large, “Mom will be here in less than five minutes.” Quinlan unclipped his cell phone and

  punched a button. “The shower was over.”

  “Shower?” Ian asked.

  “You know, baby shower, gifts for the soon-to-be-parents,” one of the twins--

  Brayden?--said. Then he smiled, walked to the couch, leaned down and gave Ian a hug.

  “Thanks. I never got a chance to thank you before.”

  She watched Ian stand and slap his brother’s back. “Well, looks like Chris pulled

  through fine. Her family still doing well in New Orleans?”

  Brayden’s jaw worked a minute. “Yeah, they’re doing fine. Her brother was up

  last week in fact. She wants to go down there for the holidays.”

  Ian nodded, then shifted his gaze to the other twin. “Guess Taylor’s about to pop.

  Would have figured you’d have started on the second one by now.”

  Gavin just shook his head and grinned.

  The little boy jerked on Ian’s sleeve again. “Mr. Roy--er … Mr. Kinncaid?”

  Ian squatted down and ruffled Ryan’s dark auburn hair. “Yes, Ryan?”

  “What do I call you?” the boy asked frowning.

  Gavin, dressed in dark slacks and a pullover, placed his hands on his son’s

  shoulders and said, “Why not Uncle Ian.”

  The boys face split into a grin so wide, his freckles looked like they’d leap off his

  face. “Cool. Uncle Ian.” Then the face sobered. Those summer eyes looked for a long

  silent moment at Ian. He leaned forward and whispered something in Ian’s ear, the gangly

  arms coming up around his uncle’s neck.

  This man and kids. He killed people as regularly as she did, yet the children

  flocked to him. But then she’d seen the fury he could unleash when a child was harmed.

  Maybe it was some instinct, telling them he’d keep them safe. Their own guardian angel.

  The little boy pulled back, still grinning, yet it didn’t reach his eyes. A muscle

  bunched in Ian’s jaw, up near his ear.

  “You’re safe and happy now.” Ian cleared his throat and looked up at his brother.

  “That’s all that matters.”

  The gaggle of female chatter and giggles floated through the door seconds before

  it was opened. Again the guards stiffened.

  Rori grinned. Yes, these women looked very dangerous. Then she looked closer

  and remembered what Ian had told her of them. These were no weak females. They

  fought when need arose.

  What a strange and motley crew, she thought. The gruff old man, his smiling,

  dimpled wife who walked through the door, took one look around the room and stumbled

  to a halt.

  “Oh my, God!” She said, turning sheet white.

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 107

  Roth caught her before she hit the floor.

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 108

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Ian was at Roth’s side before anyone moved. Jock, raking a hand through his

  white hair, said, “What? What the hell’s wrong with her?”

  They laid the woman, dressed in a copper-toned pants suit on the floor. Her red

  hair, curled and soft on the rug.

  The men stood over her. Ian, Jock, Snake and Gavin.

  Gavin shoved Snake out of the way and said, “I’m a doctor.”

  Very calmly, Snake replied, “Medic.”

  “Really?” Gavin asked, taking his mother’s wrist as Snake opened her eyes and

  checked their dilatation. “For some reason that occupation never crossed my mind.”

  Rori hid a grin. She couldn’t fault Gavin for his question to Snake, who looked

  liked a bouncer or gang banger. Bald headed and lanky, a black and green snake sl
ithered

  over the top of his bald head. Normally, he had the tattoo covered with a cap, hat, or duerag.

  But not today.

  Today he looked like a kick ass body guard.

  “Yeah, I get that a lot,” Snake said.

  “A trained medic?” Gavin asked, smiling.

  “By the best in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

  “Who cares,” the big man boomed, all but looming over the prone woman. “Kaitie

  Lass! Wake up, damn it. You’re scaring the boys.”

  Like he wasn’t just as worried.

  “She only fainted, Mr. Kinncaid,” Snake said. “We could put her on the couch.”

  “I’ll get her.” Ian moved in and easily scooped the woman up as if she weighed

  nothing.

  Rori quickly moved and reached over, picking up Darya.

  When Ian laid her down, she saw his face pulled tight. First time home, his father

  doesn’t speak to him, and his mother faints.

  She looked at John and raised a brow even as Gavin shouted for Mrs. Kinncaid to

  wake up.

  John shook his head, slapped Ian on the shoulder and said, “Well, at least your

  brothers are happy to see you. Not all a complete waste.”

  “I’m happy to see him,” Ryan said. “He saved Tori’s life and mine.”

  John’s lips twitched. “Right ya are, boyo.”

  Tori tilted her head and looked at John. “I remember you from Colorado. Aunt

  Jesslyn called you Mr. John Nolastname.”

  John bowed and offered his hands to the kids. “Glad someone is happy to see me,

  sweets. How about we wait over here out of the way?” Tori took his hand and he led them

  over to the head of the conference table. She watched. Mr. Kinnciad knelt on the floor by

  his wife. Each son seemed to be joined by his wife, with the exception of the doctor and

  his obviously pregnant wife who leaned back against a wall, rubbing her enormous

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 109

  stomach. She smiled, showing dimples, her red hair pulled into a braid. Her eyes met

  Rori’s. “Hi, I’m Taylor. Figured I’d be the one passing out. Woman’s been stuffing water

  down me all day. All week, truth be known.”

  Rori took Darya’s hand and led her over to the woman. “I’m Rori. This is Darya.”

  She pointed to the woman’s belly. “When’s the big day?”

  “In two weeks, which means anytime in the next month,” Taylor Kinncaid had a