This just got interesting.
Reid nodded to Parker to open the door. When he did, Mickey stood there with no weapon and no discernible backup. Just one man out in the middle of the Ural Mountains.
Yeah, that made sense.
Mickey’s smile fell when he looked at the guns pointed at him. “Wait a second.”
“Hands up.” Parker gave the order and the man immediately complied.
“I am here on behalf of Niko Murin.” Mickey took one step. Then another. “I work for the foundation.”
“You’re a long way from your plush DC offices.” Reid didn’t have much time for the foundation or any business that sent innocents out to dangerous areas unprotected. This guy, with his fancy credentials, should have known better.
Mickey nodded. “We have a missing science expedition.”
“Do we look like scientists?” Parker asked.
“Hardly.” Mickey lowered his hands. “You look like you work for Tasha.”
The guy acted like saying her name gave him a free pass. Reid didn’t like it. “And?”
“She’s with Niko right now. They’ve decided to work together. They sent me out ahead to scout for you and the expedition.” Mickey reached into his pocket and Parker took aim. “Wait!”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“I was going to show you the message on my phone.”
Since he’d checked in with Tasha ten minutes ago and she described being with Niko as a form of slow torture, Reid doubted everyone was as chummy as Mickey pretended.
“Mickey!” Simon yelled the man’s name from one of the tunnel rooms farther back.
“I knew I should have shot him.” Parker said it, as Reid was thinking it.
A smile spread over Mickey’s face as he shifted around, clearly trying to look past the bed in the tunnel where Simon’s voice had come from. “You found them.”
“So your work here is done.” Reid wanted this guy gone. Something about the calm demeanor and monotone voice had his senses firing.
Simon broke free then and stopped in the arched tunnel. “You’re here.”
“Where is everyone else?” Mickey kept looking around.
“Gone. I mean, I know Brad is.” Simon swallowed a few times before continuing. “He was with me and they shot him.”
Mickey frowned. “They who?”
“Men with guns.”
When Mickey scanned the mine again, Reid explained. “Other men with guns. Not us.”
Not that he wanted that intel out. Simon only talked about Brad, but the rest of them were gone. For now, Reid planned to keep that bit of news quiet.
“I’m here.” Cara slipped out from behind Simon.
“Lock the door.” Reid nodded to Parker before looking at everyone else. “Let’s step back into the larger room.”
Still jumpy, Simon took a step toward the doors. “We should leave.”
Mickey stopped him with hand on his shoulder. “Soon.”
The tone worked with Mickey’s demeanor to keep Reid on edge. He felt a move coming, big and unpredictable. The kind where people got hurt. So long as Cara stayed safe and they got some answers, Reid was fine with whatever came next. He just wished he could get a better handle on Mickey.
He worked for a guy with a big ego. That had to be tough for a man with Mickey’s past. He enjoyed being in charge. But in this game he didn’t have the money and the power. Reid thought there was a pretty good chance he’d overreached and tried to get some of both.
Mickey looked around the mine as he walked farther in. He peeked first into the shaft with the cart blocking the way then into the room with the pool of water. He wasn’t exactly casing the place but seemed to be indexing every crack and pebble.
As he walked by Cara’s bag, he hesitated. Not for long. It barely lasted the time of a blink. Reid saw because he was watching for it. He couldn’t make out everything sitting on the dark bag. Personal items and her wet coat. A few . . . rocks. What had she called them? Grabbo, grabbon? Reid didn’t remember and it didn’t matter. The only piece of intel that meant anything dealt with the cobalt, and those rocks were a source.
Mickey stopped next to Simon. They stood at the entrance to the room with the pool, near the lip before the water started. Seeing them together set off an alarm bell in Reid’s brain. The odds of two guys randomly walking around the Russian countryside, this close to the hidden lab, had to be slim. And Reid didn’t believe in coincidences.
“What are you supposed to do once you find the missing scientists?” Reid asked.
Mickey didn’t hesitate in his response. “Handle them.”
Reid’s hand went to his gun. “Is that supposed to be funny?”
“Being honest.” Mickey took his gun out of his pocket. “I hear you Alliance guys prefer that.”
Cara must have clued in because she went from listening to glaring. Her gaze bounced down to Mickey’s gun then back to his face. “What’s happening?”
“Don’t play dumb, Cara.” Mickey motioned for her to come closer. “It’s over.”
She didn’t move. If anything, she inched closer to Reid. Just like he wanted. “Leave her out of this.”
“Oh, she’s in it.” Mickey laughed. “What, you didn’t think she was really out here to investigate a decades-old case, did you?”
Simon looked around. The fact that he was in trouble finally seemed to dawn on him. His gaze traveled from person to person but he didn’t move. Looked like he was frozen to the spot. Since that spot happened to be next to a wild card with a gun, he’d chosen a bad place to stand.
“Simon’s your man.” Reid became less and less convinced of that by the second. That was the piece that fit. Mickey needed a man on the ground. Whether he was working alone or with Niko, they’d been in DC. Someone else set up the lab and would perform the actual work.
That led Reid right back to Simon. He’d shown up at the wrong time. His story didn’t make sense. Even now he looked confused but didn’t seem to have the sense to be scared.
“This guy?” Mickey hitched a thumb in Simon’s general direction.
Simon frowned. “Where did you get a gun?”
“It’s just stupid to be out here unarmed.” Mickey looked over at Parker. “Right?”
“You should put yours down now.” Parker closed in. He stood between everyone and the front doors. His size and shot would make it hard for anyone to pass.
Reid depended on that. He looked over, thinking to grab Cara, but she was a few steps too many away from him. He needed her to move.
“Not going to happen.” Mickey took out a second weapon. “The guns stay with me.”
No matter how many weapons he had on him he could still only fire two at a time. That put him at a disadvantage. Apparently he missed the part where he was outmatched.
“Do you want to die?” Reid asked.
Mickey glanced over at Cara. “It’s time for us to shut this down, honey.”
Her mouth twisted into a frown. “Stop acting like we’re working together.”
Reid refused to believe that. Not her. Not with this guy. “Nice try.”
“What, you think I needed a botanist for my plans?” Mickey’s grin turned feral. “A geologist knows about cobalt.”
“What are you talking about?” Simon grabbed for Mickey’s arm.
Mickey pushed him away. “This guy means nothing to me.”
Reid could see they were headed right for maximum chaos. Once bullets started ricocheting in here they were all in trouble. “Okay, everyone calm down.”
Mickey pointed the gun at Simon. “He’s useless to me.”
Simon took another step back. “Come on, man.”
“See?” Mickey fired. Hit Simon in the center of his chest. A red splotch was already forming on his shirt as he plunged backward into the water.
Reid started toward Mickey, hoping to get there before he could get the shot off. But Reid was too late. The gun fired and he lunged for Simon, thinking to sav
e him from what would likely be a deadly plunge into the pool.
He almost got there. Made it right to the edge before Mickey grabbed him. The former Stasi guard had the advantage while Reid was focused on Simon and knocked the gun out of his hand. When the pieces stopped moving, Reid was on his knees next to Mickey . . . with a gun pointed at his forehead.
Mickey looked up at Parker and Cara. “Now, let’s talk about my lab.”
23
TASHA SLIPPED inside the mine without anyone shooting her. That was a triumph of sorts. So was getting Niko to stay quiet. He complained the entire bumpy ride over. When she reminded him that he chose to join her, he threatened to have her thrown in a top secret Russian prison in the arctic region of the Urals.
If he was trying to convince her he was innocent, he was failing miserably.
They rounded the corner and she shoved Niko back against the wall. Had to put a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. Then they listened. As Mickey suggested he was working on something other than Niko’s grand plan, Niko’s eyes narrowed. By the time they got to the lab, Niko shook with fury.
It looked like they found their rogue player: Mickey, with a very big gun and Reid kneeling at his feet. The last part didn’t bother Tasha that much. Reid knew how to get out of a situation like this. If Mickey had been smart he’d have made a run at Cara. Her safety would have given him much greater leverage over her men.
Time to make an entrance.
She grabbed Niko by the collar and dragged him in with her. Being stunned and in a full fit of fury, he was easy to throw around. She had to remind herself that he was a potential target today. Her job was to protect him, even if it killed her.
“I guess we know why the security at the campsite sucked.”
“Tasha.” Mickey pressed the gun tighter against Reid’s head. “Perfect. Everyone is here. Even my boss.”
“What are you doing?” Niko asked the question as he ventured one step too close to Mickey before Tasha pulled him back.
“What you should have done but you were too busy worrying about restoring power to Russia.” Mickey shook his head. “The system is corrupt. Don’t you get it, the leaders can’t be saved.”
“This doesn’t sound crazy at all.” Reid’s comment earned him a knock against the side of his head with the gun. He bent down and his hands hit the floor but he didn’t fall over.
Tasha took that as a good sign. “It’s time to put an end to this madness.”
“I agree.” Mickey gestured to Cara. “Come here.”
Reid lifted his head. “Do not move.”
“I will put a bullet in his skull.” Mickey pressed the gun to Reid’s temple.
“He won’t.” Reid pleaded with Cara now.
“He’s former Stasi,” Parker said, reminding them all that this guy might not have a lot to lose. And that he had skills. Not to rival the Alliance, but he was a threat, and this close to Reid, a significant one.
“My partner apparently is dead.” Mickey almost laughed as he said it.
The nonchalance seemed to snap Cara out of her stunned stupor. “Brad?”
“You’re interchangeable and you will be easier to manage than he ever was. I won’t even need to pretend that I plan on paying you.”
“Not that it’s your money anyway.” Tasha glanced at Niko. “Now we know where those payments from your accounts were going.”
“For all his supposed skills, he’s an easy man to scam.” Mickey shifted his weight as he grew more comfortable with the topic. “All that talk about Russia being strong again. So misguided. The last country capable of producing a bomb like mine or to run the world is the one we’re standing in.”
“I’m going to kill you.” Niko took a step forward.
Tasha held him back. “Doubtful.”
She mentally measured the distance between her and Reid. In close quarters like this, someone was almost guaranteed to get hurt. Hit Mickey, and he’d fire. Bullets would ping and bounce, and that barrel hovered right by Reid’s ear. It was tough to miss at that distance.
Still, she knew Reid had a plan. He always had a plan. She just wished she knew what it was.
Cara tried to keep calm, a task that proved impossible. Her knees shook and her head spun. Seeing Reid in danger knocked every ounce of control out of her. She wanted to rush in and grab that gun. Stupid moves, but she wasn’t thinking rationally. For the first time in her life she abandoned what made sense and moved on instinct.
Right now part of that depended on keeping Mickey talking. He seemed impressed with his plan. Fine, let him tell it. The longer they stalled, the more time Reid had, and the closer Parker could get to Mickey. Between the two of them, they could get off a shot. Add in Tasha and the combination should be lethal.
That made her wonder if there was another plan at work here. One she didn’t know about.
Not that her instincts were all that reliable at the moment. She’d been so sure Simon was lying, that he had something to do with the cobalt bomb. The botany angle never made sense but the money part did. Simon was the guy who lived big. He threw money around, drove an expensive car. Had to live in the right part of town.
Word was, he took part in the expedition because he needed the cash, and an expedition with some level of danger like this one came with a bonus. In light of all that had happened, they should have received combat pay. If she lived through the next few minutes, she’d demand it.
But her staying alive was not her number one concern right now. She ached for Reid. Seeing him sitting there in the dirt ripped her inside out. She knew he had another gun, or he usually did. She couldn’t remember where he put it when they came in from the truck.
The damn truck. Those stolen minutes had been perfect, but now she regretted them. If they had come back earlier or been more aware . . . She didn’t know if Mickey crawled out from under his rock during that time, but being off-duty couldn’t have been a good choice.
One more thing she needed to atone for. Right after she got combat pay she’d start working on her bigger apology. This time for everything. Reid would not die today, because she hadn’t told him she loved him and that would happen. She refused to believe this would go any other way but her telling him how she felt about him. How she’d always felt and how being away from him destroyed her.
So much death. So many lives lost over what sounded like a man’s greed. Not principles or because he was under threat. No, Mickey was motivated by money.
“So, you used your boss’s money to hire Brad to set up the lab,” she said to him.
“If it wasn’t for the Russian special forces performing that midnight raid and grabbing the scientists from their tents, the lab would be operational now.”
“Was the secret work camp location up north in the Urals, the one that was blown up and started all of this, also yours?” Cara couldn’t believe one man could wield that much power in a country he didn’t live in, but weirder things had happened.
“My original partner, an old scientist friend from my days in Germany. He should have sided with me, but he took his intel to the Russians.” Mickey shrugged. “His mistake.”
Reid’s eyes narrowed. “You’re saying you destroyed the lab?”
“All I had to do was make sure some of other old friends knew about the disloyalty.” Mickey actually winked. “They pulled off the maneuver. It worked, but it made Russian special forces pretty angry. Hence the scene at the tents and shaking down the scientists for information, thinking they had some but only Brad did.”
She tried to process all that loss and deception. She also tried to imagine Brad crawling down into a makeshift lab each night and setting up the equipment. Even weirder to think about him doing all the work on his own. Brad had been smart but not a genius. He was the type who depended on assistants. Not exactly the guy she would pick as the father of the cobalt bomb.
Mickey looked at her. “Brad insisted he needed you. Frankly, I thought he had a crush, but grabbing you should h
ave been easy enough.”
She fought off a shiver. Refused to give him the satisfaction. “Should have.”
The thought of being locked away with those two in that tiny lab was too horrible to imagine, but at least the plan made some sense now. Brad depended on her. Maybe that’s why the CIA picked her. Maybe someone else was in on this. She almost didn’t care so long as Mickey stopped pointing the gun at Reid.
“You used my expedition.” Niko sounded stunned by the idea. He shook his head. “How dare you?”
It seemed like a ridiculous thing to say. Weapons were out. Poor Simon was floating in a pool of God knew what. Commandos could storm the building at any time. And Niko worried about a lack of loyalty. The way Cara saw it, that was the least of their problems.
“Don’t pretend it was really about that hiking incident,” Mickey said in a singsongy voice. “You lied and I lied. The only difference is I stand to make a lot of money off my lie.”
“A perfect match. Greed for greed.” Reid didn’t even bother to mumble his comment.
The last thing they needed was for him to tip this madman over the edge. “Reid.”
“Yes, Cara. Warn your boyfriend to be careful with what he says,” Mickey said. “Tasha might tolerate insolence. I don’t. Not after having to listen to Niko here drone on about unnecessary bullshit and follow his useless orders just so I could get closer to the money.”
She hated that he acted so familiar. First he tried to pretend she was in on his plan. Now he stood there, ignoring the fact that trained gunmen—Alliance members, no less—were aiming at him. There was no way out here. More would die, but Tasha was not going to let Mickey get by her. No question about that.
Calling him a madman was not accurate. This guy was about ego and cash. He didn’t care about anyone except himself. He wasn’t mad. He was dangerous, maybe evil. She had no idea how to fight either.
“Once you get out of here you still have to deal with Russian special forces.” Reid sounded so calm. The man looming above him looked ready to execute him, and Reid didn’t even flinch. “They will kill you rather than let you move around with that cobalt.”
Under the Wire: Bad Boys Undercover Page 24