Caleb exhaled, not bothering to hide his exasperation. “That’s not very comforting.”
Heavy footsteps stopped Tasha’s response. A man appeared from the shiny marble hallway leading to the elevator bank. Tall and trim, objectively attractive but not too much, so he blended in. With the slight graying around his temples and conservative striped tie, he would have fit in at any business throughout the DC area. But he worked here, in the swanky offices on the edge of Georgetown, right next door to the high-powered sports management building.
“Mr. Murin will see you.” The man delivered his message and started walking away, not waiting to see if they followed. Barely giving her time to get off the couch.
But she’d played scenes like this before. The man was not just a man to her. She kept an eye on Niko and knew about those closest to him.
Michael Stoltz—Mickey to those who worked for him and had the displeasure of going against him—was the foundation’s attack dog. He had some official title like Director of Security, but Tasha suspected his role was a bit less civilized. That would match his very hazy no-intel-to-be-found background.
Her heels clicked against the tiles as she walked past the first few elevators to the one at the end marked PRIVATE. The only one with a guard next to it. Looked like she’d finally found the one place the public riffraff could not visit.
They rode in silence to the penthouse floor. She’d yet to meet a big-name business mogul with an office on a lower floor. The elevator doors opened directly into the plush corner office. She and Caleb took a few steps into the room before Mickey held up a hand to stop them. The move put them a good twenty feet from him.
Gleaming hardwood floors partially covered with woven carpets that likely cost more than her car greeted them. But all she could see was the man standing at the opposite side of the room, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows to the street. It was a dramatic entrance. Niko didn’t even need to move to telegraph his need to control the meeting. His I’m-in-charge vibe bounced around the room. Tasha was fine letting him live in that fantasy.
He slowly turned. The noted billionaire had just passed the threshold to forty. Never married and at the top of every “Most Eligible Bachelor” list out there. Tasha didn’t see what everyone else saw. The temptation to roll her eyes nearly overwhelmed her every time she read his name in the paper or saw him on the news.
“I can’t figure out if you’re brave or stupid.” He uncrossed his arms as he spoke.
She figured the goal was to show off his newly developed muscles. She half wondered how much he paid for those. “Probably a bit of both.”
“I told you what would happen if I saw you again, yet you walk in here without a weapon.”
That was adorable. It also meant all his fancy scanners could not penetrate the special sheath that held her knife. “What makes you think I’m not armed?”
Niko moved then. Took a few steps until he stood right behind his oversized black leather chair. “You’re saying you beat my security measures to get into the building.”
“I’m saying you shouldn’t be so cocky.” Much more of this and she might just shoot him to knock that smug look off his face.
But Mickey was already moving. He pushed away from the wall and stood right next to her. She almost wished he’d try to touch her. Showing him that women could fight, too, would be a pleasure.
“It’s fine.” Niko waved his guy off then sat down in that big chair. Looked her and Caleb up and down. Didn’t offer them a seat. “Tasha and I understand each other.”
“Yes, we do.” Instead of yelling across the stupidly big room, Tasha ignored the lack of an invitation and moved farther into the room. Got right up to the edge of the desk before she stopped and gestured to the man beside her. “This is Caleb Layne. You sent his sister on a death mission to Russia.”
To his credit, Niko’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”
“We’ve known each other a long time, Niko.”
“He’s Mr. Murin to you,” Mickey said from right behind her.
Niko smiled then launched into an introduction. “This is—”
“I don’t care.” She didn’t spare Mickey a glace.
Niko leaned back in his chair. His gaze suggested he kept sizing her up. “That’s a mistake because my head of security can be very protective.”
As if that impressed her. “So, this is the guy you hired after I kidnapped you.”
Niko sat up straight again. “What do you want, Tasha?”
“Answers.”
“Go find them somewhere else.”
She actually admired the response. Sounded like something she might say.
“My sister, Cara, is on your expedition to the Ural Mountains.” Caleb’s voice stayed even. Not exactly respectful, but not rude either. “The missing expedition.”
The man had a flare for the dramatic. She admired that, too. “I told you that you’d want to see us,” she said to Niko.
For a second, just a flash and then it was gone, Niko’s self-assurance slipped. His forehead wrinkled and his look could only be described as confused. Then he returned to his usual I’m-better-than-you half smirk. “The expedition isn’t missing.”
Not a surprise he took this tack but still annoying. To keep from giving anything away, she kept her expression neutral and didn’t fidget. Stood perfectly still. “Oh, really?”
“Everything is on track. She is working in the field and I’m sure once she gets back to the main station—”
“Two of my men are with her.” She broke in because if she let this guy talk he might never stop.
“Isn’t that interesting.” Niko’s tone suggested he found the new information anything but.
“I thought you would like that.” She didn’t. She planned to lecture them later, but Niko didn’t need to know that. “Since you’re not really funding some documentary about dead hikers from an incident years ago, why don’t you tell me what you’re really looking for in the Urals.”
“I do not have a hidden agenda.”
She noticed he matched her neutral expression with one of his own. “Does that mean you no longer play with Chechen rebels?”
“That won’t work.” The faint stain rose from his throat and covered his neck then his cheeks. He looked wound up and ready to spring in that chair. “Because that never happened.”
“You tried to overthrow the Russian government and help buy a new one.” She told the story more for Caleb and Mickey’s benefit than anything else. Well, that and to get Niko squirming. “Supplied weapons. Funneled money.”
Mickey took another step. Stood right behind her, close enough for the front of his shoes to touch the back of hers. “You need to leave right—”
She talked right over him. “Problem was, you backed some pretty nasty people who decided they liked your money but not the strings you attached to it. They double-crossed you. Covered their Chechen ties until it was too late.” She leaned in. “That’s not exactly the group of bad guys you intended to support.”
Niko’s jaw tightened. “All of this is a fiction created by you for leverage. You lied then you tried to use me.”
“I did use you.” She smiled because she couldn’t help it. “Let’s be clear on that.”
“No.”
“You know you’re not the only one with friends inside Russia, right?” she asked, ignoring the intimidation tactics. When her cell beeped she ignored that, too. This conversation was too important to push aside. Niko needed to know the power balance hadn’t shifted in his favor. He might threaten but she was the one who would act.
He visibly regained his composure. Loosened his death grip on the armrests of his chair. “It is because of my family history that you can understand why I would fund an expedition to investigate a long-running question in Russia’s history.”
“Because a random relative of yours botched the initial investigation into the hiking incident all those years ago.” Not that she cared. She didn’t believe
for one second this guy would spend that amount of money on something that didn’t directly benefit his current bottom line. It’s not as if this bit of family history was easy to uncover and trace back to him anyway. And, really, no one would care or blame him. He had enough things he’d done on his own that he should answer for first.
“You’ve done your homework,” Niko said without even blinking.
Always. “I make it my business to know everything about you.”
Caleb started to shift his weight around. He’d worked for the Alliance on the side and off-the-books but never in the field. Being this close to the action seemed to rev up the tension and kill his patience. “None of this helps my sister.”
“Working with Tasha is your mistake. One you will pay for,” Niko said in a low, menacing tone.
“Then forget she’s standing here and tell me what is happening with my sister’s expedition.”
“It’s on track.” With the rush of tension over, Niko’s shoulders seemed to relax as he leaned back a bit in his chair. Then his attention switched back to her. “You need to remove your men from my expedition. Tell them to stand down.”
Her smile only grew wider. “Not likely.”
“There are factions within Russia who may be interested in knowing the Alliance is on the ground there.” The amusement lingered right there on the edge of Niko’s tone.
Tasha found the threat anything but funny. She’d bring the full weight of every agent and weapon at her disposal to stop him from harming one member of her team. “Are you telling me you plan to commit espionage and pass top secret information to Russian authorities?”
His smile faded. “I’m telling you that once again you’re playing a dangerous game.”
She could see the hatred in his eyes. He seethed with it. “I won last time.”
“You won’t this time.”
She had what she needed. Now it was time to leave, so she gestured to Caleb to move. “We’ll see.”
“You did well in there,” she said as soon as they were out of the building and on the street. Still under Niko’s watchful eyes, thanks to his network of cameras, no doubt, but outside of listening range due to the audio jammer she’d disguised as a cell phone. She didn’t know if Niko would try to hear their conversation but she wasn’t risking it.
After a few minutes of walking, Caleb stopped with his back against the wall of the office building next door. “Other than planting the listening devices, what did we gain?”
That had been Caleb’s job. She got Niko riled up and ticked off his watchdog while Caleb pressed tiny black dots smaller than the size of mints in strategic places, like just inside the door and under the lip of the desk. He’d eventually find them but she didn’t need to ghost him forever, just for now.
“We know from Reid that the expedition is in trouble. Niko isn’t going to share information, but he is going to act and it’s going to be fast.” He would hate that she knew anything about his business and try to close that loop.
Caleb leaned his head back against the wall. “You think the expedition is part of some renewed plan for regime change in Russia?”
She didn’t know what was going on in Niko’s messed-up brain, but she knew if he was involved with this, they were in trouble. “Possibly.”
Caleb turned his head and looked straight at her. “So, now what?”
“I gave Reid the coordinates for a place to hide out. That will buy him some time while we work.”
Commuters and tourists passed by on the sidewalk. A car horn honked as an especially loud car raced by. Caleb never looked up. He kept his gaze on her. “Doing what?”
With her team scrambled, and her needing to work under the radar until she figured out what was happening and who she could trust, she’d depend on Caleb and his special expertise. “It’s time we put those hacker skills of yours to work.”
“I’m not a fan of that term.”
“Call it whatever you want, but your job is to help me piggyback whatever satellite, video feed, or intelligence—regardless of which country it comes from—we need to get me eyes on the ground.” In the meantime she’d start working on their covert travel plans to Russia.
Caleb smiled. “You’re not even giving me a challenge.”
“Let’s see if you think the job is so easy an hour from now.”
10
THEY WALKED for about half a mile, skimming a line of trees and using boulders and whatever other natural barriers he could find to partially hide their presence. A straight path would have been faster, easier. This way qualified as smarter, but even Reid had to admit that he was ready to sit down.
The way his shirt stuck to the skin around the open wound, pulling and tugging, almost guaranteed a fresh surge of blood when he tried to rip the material off. Just what he needed. Getting shot twice in one day didn’t even qualify as a record for him, but then this wasn’t supposed to be a dangerous mission.
“We need to stop.” Cara did it right after she said it. Stood out there in the open as if it didn’t matter who stumbled by.
So much for subterfuge and trying to keep the tactical advantage. He was about to point out their lack of both when her eyes narrowed. Her hand went to her throat as a sudden wariness washed over her.
His instincts flipped to high alert. “Are you okay?”
She rolled her eyes, a feat she was annoyingly good at. “You, not me.”
“Do I look like I’m having a hard time walking?” The idea of showing any weakness ticked him off. His side was killing him and his shoulder ached, but he thought he was doing a pretty good job of covering those issues. Wasn’t dragging behind. Didn’t press his hand against his side, though that would have stemmed some of the thumping there.
Clearly Cara just didn’t appreciate the male ego and feeble attempts to preserve it.
“You’ve been shot twice,” she said, as if he didn’t know that.
He waited for her to continue, but she stopped and resumed staring. “Typical day at the office for me.”
“Don’t go all super alpha moron on me.” She pointed to a pile of three rocks and then headed over to the area before he could argue. “Come with me.”
No question her initial confusion had passed. The haze cleared. Hell, she’d even gotten over what he originally suspected was a concussion and flipped right to the bossiness ordering-him-around part of the program. The hot part.
Some men might be intimidated by strong women. He was not one of them. He loved that she didn’t take his shit. He just wished she’d wait until they got to their intended destination before unleashing her stubbornness.
“We need to keep moving.” He reached out to catch her arm. The move pulled along his side and had him wincing. The only good thing is that she was too busy rummaging through her backpack to see it, so he fell back on reason. “The coordinates Tasha gave me will put us at a cabin. We can regroup from there.”
Cara’s head shot up as the paper from the bandage wrapper crinkled in her hand. “How exactly does Tasha know about some obscure cabin in the middle of the Ural Mountains?”
“It’s her job to know.” Cara just stood there, but Reid didn’t have any other intel to add. “That’s really my answer.”
“It’s not a helpful one.”
He leaned back against the rock. An edge jutted into the middle of his back but the warmth of the stone eased some of the tightness in his tense muscles. “She has contacts everywhere. Even now she’s arranging for a supply and weapons drop. Talking to her people, who talk to other people, who arrange to get us things.”
“Like an army of guys so we can fan out and find the rest of my team?” Cara tugged on the bottom of his shirt as she peeked up at him.
Reid bit back a hiss of pain as his material stuck to the skin around his wound. The ripping sensation vibrated through him but he fought to keep his voice steady. “You’re saying I’m not enough?”
Her hands froze in midair. “I don’t want anyone else to die.”<
br />
That sobered him. He dealt in death and blood every day. Hell, he practiced how to escape from being tied up and submerged underwater. How to bury a body on the run. He chose this sick life. For some reason, it kept finding her.
He took her cold hand and rubbed it between both of his. “I’m sorry about Cliff.”
“This job . . .” She blew out a long breath but didn’t continue.
Reid lowered his head, trying to get her to meet his gaze. “What?”
“Office politics are not my thing.” She slipped her fingers through his.
He didn’t understand where she was going with this, but he went along. “I bet.”
“There’s a presumption that I don’t have to work hard. Like, that I was born with math and science knowledge. As if it’s part of my genetic makeup or something stupid like that.” She treated him to a sad smile. “Then there are the whispers about how I’m sent out on fieldwork because the team needs a token woman.”
The one thing working for Tasha drove home for him was that women could kick ass. He might be stronger but she could outthink and outplan him, and that was saying something. “Geologists aren’t very evolved, are they?”
“It’s not a geology thing. It’s more of a group dynamic where the people in charge have old ideas.”
Reid read between the lines. “But not Cliff.”
She let go of his hand. “No, he got it.”
The pull away. Not this time. He reached for her again. “Come here.”
He wrapped his arms around her. Lifting the injured one sent pain surging through his side, but when she rested her head against his chest, he didn’t care if his muscles went numb.
For a few seconds the only thing that mattered was the weight of her body. The way she sank into him. Her hair had the hadn’t-been-combed-in-weeks thing going on. She still wore the ripped pants, even though she’d grabbed a fresh Henley back at the compound and threw that on.
She’d never looked better. She’d probably smelled better, but that kind of crap didn’t matter much to him. Not as long as she was alive. Now he had to keep her that way.
Under the Wire: Bad Boys Undercover Page 10