by Lexi Blake
Something about the way her sister was talking gave her the creeps. “Okay, now you sound all Frankensteiny. Create soldiers?”
“You are so sarcastic. I swear you lose manners every month you spend out in that jungle. I was simply talking about helping soldiers be the best they can be. At home. In the battlefield, for those who choose not to leave the service. I want the mind and body to work together, and I think Theo’s the kind of guy who could help me.”
“And you say you don’t have a crush on him.”
Hope was quiet for a moment. “Like you never took one look at a man and wanted him, knew he could be perfect for you. Tell me you don’t feel this way about that Graham guy. I see the way you look at him. You never looked at Roger like that.”
“It’s different. I spent weeks getting to know Ten before I even met him in person. Yes, I saw his picture and thought he was attractive, but it’s deeper than that. We fit together somehow. Also, he doesn’t have a girlfriend.” Who would be out here any minute, although she’d made it plain she meant to have revenge on the men. Erin hadn’t been happy being left behind. She could imagine the words she and Theo had when the door to their room had closed. Ten had merely dropped off his bags, kissed her senseless, and told her he would be back soon.
She guessed he wasn’t terribly worried about Hope anymore. Or maybe he was giving her what she’d asked for. He’d backed off and hadn’t mentioned his suspicions again.
“Girlfriend. Not wife.” Hope sat back, crossing her legs and looking every inch the lady of the manor.
“You know I don’t think you’ll be able to break those two up. For all the time they’ve been together they act more like a new couple than anything else. They’re very loving with each other. They don’t seem to like to be apart often.”
“Doesn’t she seem a little old for him?”
“She’s the same age as you.”
Hope fiddled with her glass. “Not that it matters. We’ll have to agree to disagree on the matter. Would it help if I promise you my true motivations are all professional when it comes to Mr. Taggart? If during the course of our working together something happens to come about organically, I wouldn’t refuse it. But I’m concerned with what he can do for my project. It doesn’t matter that he deserves someone better than his current companion.”
Naturally Erin chose that moment to step out. Hope was facing away from her.
“He needs someone educated. Someone who can really elevate him,” Hope continued.
Faith saw the moment it hit Erin what they were talking about, but Erin seemed to shake it off.
“Everything smells delicious,” Erin said, sitting down beside them. “I’m sure the boys are going to enjoy themselves, but this view is spectacular. Thanks so much for having me.”
“I’m thrilled to get to show it to you,” Faith assured her.
Erin accepted the champagne the server gave her. “So, Hope, the last time we met you were talking about some kind of project you were working on. Something about soldiers?”
“It’s one of those boring things laymen rarely understand.” She nodded to the servant, who began to serve the salad course. “I’m sure what my sister does is so much more exciting. Besides, I’m taking a short break.”
“It sounded important. I hope nothing’s wrong,” Erin said politely.
Hope sat back. “Sometimes family affairs get entangled, if you know what I mean. This issue of Faith’s has everyone worried at Kronberg. I was supposed to push forward into the next phase of trials, but now they’re rethinking the project.”
Were they? “The vaccine came through the lab work fine. It’s real flu vaccine, according to the lab.”
There was something about the way her sister hesitated before turning her way. Something odd. It reminded her of how Hope used to act when she wanted to throw their nannies off the scent of something she’d done wrong. Likely no one else would have noticed. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened perfectly, but for a second there had been an upward tug to her lips. A fraction of satisfaction in her sister’s face. “You didn’t tell me. When did you get the news? Damn it, Faith. How could you not mention this to me?”
“I got the call a couple of days ago. I told you I wasn’t going to do anything drastic.”
Hope stood up, her hand already on her cell. “I know what you said, but if it got out that our charity work was being undermined or that we’d made some kind of terrible mistake and poisoned people in Africa, it could send the stock plummeting and the board would blame me. Maybe I can get a meeting next week. You two enjoy. I’ve got to make a few calls.”
She walked off, chattering into her phone about getting the vice president in charge of research on the line.
Faith looked down at her chilled shrimp salad but her appetite was gone.
When she looked up, Erin was staring at the door Hope had walked into, a speculative look on her face.
“Do you think she was lying to me?” Faith asked quietly.
Erin turned. “Why would your sister lie? I’m sure she was surprised, that’s all. I’m sorry. Ten asked me to stay away from this subject with you. Apparently you’re not in synch when it comes to your sister.”
“Why would Ten talk to you about…did he leave you here to protect me?”
Erin’s lips curved up slightly. “Well, he didn’t leave you here alone, did he? Ratfink bastard. I’m sorry. I don’t like your sister very much. And yes, she was lying to you. I would bet anything she knew about the lab reports, which makes me wonder why she’s here. Can you redo the tests? On another sample?”
“Nope. Oddly enough, there was a fire at the clinic. All the samples are gone.”
“That’s convenient for her.”
“Yes, isn’t it?” She wouldn’t be able to wait. It was time to tell her boyfriend she’d been wrong about her sister.
* * * *
Ten teed up on the second hole, the world green and perfect all around him. It was a veritable Eden. And like Eden, it was occupied by a snake. “Tell me what you’ve learned about Hope McDonald.”
Nikolai Markovic stood to one side, dressed in the pleated shorts and golf shirt of the country club’s well-trained caddies. “I can tell you for certain that she hasn’t been here for days. She got in early this morning. After you filed the flight plan. It would have been easy enough to get the information. She’s actually her father’s secondary contact on all business practices. She likely received notification that the jet was being used. She then came in on a Kronberg private jet.”
“Which means McDonald knows, too,” Theo said with a frown. “Do we have eyes on him?”
“My intelligence puts him in Paris.” The second of their caddies was even bigger than Markovic, and he didn’t have the Russian’s talent with accents. Brody Carter was at least six foot seven, with a wingspan bigger than a flipping condor. And he was as Aussie as they came. Theo’s set of clubs looked like a play set in his hands. “Walt’s been monitoring him from London. I’ve got a report on everyone he’s met while he’s been in Europe. The ones on and off the books. He’s a bloody bastard, that one is. I can’t prove it because the hotel he’s meeting at doesn’t have a video feed for us to hack into, but at least three men with suspected terrorist ties have been in that hotel with him.”
McDonald was a slippery sucker. He knew how to hide his tracks. There was a reason he’d gotten away with this shit for decades. “No photos of them together. No audio recording? We still haven’t gotten to anyone on his team?”
Brody shook his head. “They’re all seemingly clean. He keeps a tight rein on his men, and I suspect only the two closest aides have any idea what he does at these meetings.”
“How about a woman? He keeps a mistress. Let’s shove someone in his bed.” It was the way they did it in the good old CIA.
“Already talked about that. No one wants to send our female operatives into that kind of a mess. Try talking Taggart into doing it. I’m betting Theo there won’t let
his girl go any more than Nick is going to let Des,” Brody shot back.
“I left Russia because of games like this. No female I know is going to be treated like a piece of meat. Not while I’m walking. This is not the way we do things here. You should get back to the Agency where morals have no meaning.” There was a chill coming off the Russian that was colder than a fucking Siberian winter.
If Faith was an operative, would he ship her in to coldly gather information, using her body as a tool? Hell, no. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. It was the way we did things at the Agency. I suppose you think what I’ve done with Faith is wrong, too. It makes me wonder why you’re still here backing me up and if I need to find someone who gives a shit about my back.”
Theo sighed. “Dude, unwad your manties for a second. Nick’s a good guy.”
“Who thinks I’m a bad guy.” It wasn’t far from true.
Nick held up a hand. “It’s different thing. McDonald is dangerous. He would kill any woman. We have proof of this now. You’re protecting Faith. Am I wrong? Are you going to kill her on your way out?”
He felt himself flush. “Of course not. I’m not going to allow anyone to hurt her.”
The Russian’s shoulder shrugged negligently. “See. It’s different. If one of our female operatives felt she needed to protect an innocent by being in his bed, this I would support. Not Des though. She has to settle for being in a not so innocent man’s bed. And what are manties? Sometimes you Americans are as hard to understand as the Aussie.”
“I’m bloody simple, you rat-arsed bastard,” Brody shot back.
Theo ignored the two as they started to bicker. “Chill, Ten. No one thinks you’re the bad guy here. You’re going to take care of Faith.”
“As much as she’ll let me.” He had to get them back on track. “I need to know if there’s any movement from McDonald. Try to get someone in that hotel. Bribe an employee. I don’t care. I want it done.”
“Right. Will do, boss. For now, though, it seems like he’s going to hang around in France until the party,” Brody explained.
“Let me know if that changes.” He lined up the shot, planting his feet and preparing for his swing. Another thing Franklin Grant had taught him. He’d been taught to play golf and tennis, to properly ride a horse, precise and proper etiquette. Everything he needed to fit into polite society. He’d also been taught how to fit into criminal society. Why did they feel like one and the same?
Lately, the only time he felt real at all was when he was making love to Faith.
He swung back and connected, sending the ball down the fairway. If anyone was watching, all they would see was two buddies and their caddies. The golf course was actually perfect for this meeting. There was a line of sight in every direction, and it would be difficult to hear without being in close.
He stepped back and allowed Theo to move in. “I would prefer actual eyes on the man. I need to be off this island before he gets here. I can pass a computer check and I’ve done a lot to conceal my identity, but if he sees me up close, the likelihood that he’ll recognize me goes up. No doubt about that. Pictures are different than the real thing.”
“We’ll have you out of here before the bastard comes to town. Walt’s been keeping an eye on who’s gone through your cover. He thinks it’s going to hold,” Brody assured.
Hutch thought so, too. No one had gone past the initial reports. They weren’t trying to scratch past the surface on any of the operatives. It was a good thing, but he had more to worry about than McDonald figuring out he was coming.
He had to figure out what to do with Faith. It had been simple at one point. Get the information he needed. Get away and then use it on the fucker. Get his job back or die trying.
Dying suddenly didn’t seem like an option, and neither did a clean getaway.
He wanted Faith in his life, in his bed.
The Russian took over. “Des and I have done reconnaissance on the buildings in the compound. I’ve sent it all to you. I managed to get my hands on the schematics. There are a couple of buildings on the property that look to be interesting, but I think you’re right. I think the main workshop is where he keeps his office. No one goes in there. It’s locked with some fairly substantial technology.”
Theo took his shot and Brody took the club, placing it back in the bag.
“Hutch got in about twenty minutes ago, and from his text it sounds like he’s settling into our island house,” Brody explained. “Nick and I sleep here at the resort, but Big Tag found us a place on the south side of the island. It’s off the grid with the exception of an Internet connection that Hutch says uses a sat line he’s bringing himself. He’s staying out there.”
At least they had a decent base of operations. “Do I have a way out?”
Nick nodded. “Yes. We’ve got both a boat and a small plane out at the house. According to island records, it’s a beach house owned by a wealthy British family. It actually is, but the family happens to be connected to MI6, and they’re allowing us to use their setup, so it should be safe.”
“And we’ve got new identification for you. Passports. Driver’s licenses. They won’t be able to track you as you leave the island. You’ll be able to get back to the States and handle the information as you see fit,” Brody explained.
It was all lined up. All his ducks neat in a row, and he was worried that none of it mattered if he didn’t come out of this with Faith at his side.
And where did that leave Jamie? A stinking corpse with no vengeance.
I’m a stinking corpse anyway, dumbass. Do you honestly think I want vengeance more than I want you to be happy? Do you even remember me, brother?
He strode down the fairway toward where his ball sat. He could clear the hole in two. It was an easy par three, but he’d powered through to where he only needed a putt to sink the ball.
He and Jamie had enjoyed playing. If Jamie were here, he would have joked about everything. The game, their jobs, their girls.
“I think I should go to the safe house right away.” Theo stepped up beside him. “Erin was pissed that we left her behind with that crazy bitch. I’m actually scared about what she’s planning. She mentioned hanging me by my balls.”
Maybe he still had a brother. A few of them. If he let them in. “I’ll talk to her. It was my call. I need someone watching out for Faith. I’m almost certain her sister was behind the attempt on her life. I want a sample of that vaccine Kronberg shipped to her. Something’s not right.”
“Good luck with that,” Nick said. “There was a fire at the clinic a few days ago. Damon has been keeping an eye on it. He thinks it was arson. You should be getting his report sometime today. I would bet anything that vaccine is gone, and the next time Kronberg sends them a shipment, it will be exactly what they say it is.”
Shit. He was dealing with two fronts here. He strode to where the little white ball sat. If only the world were as simple as golf. He saw the target, lined it up, and sank his putt. In the real world, a lion popped out from behind a bush, ate his ball, and then turned on him. “She can’t be left alone with Hope.”
He sunk the ball. One under par.
Theo stood fifteen feet behind him. The boy needed to work on his game. “We’ll make sure she’s fine. We’ll take some up-close shots of the building tonight and get them to Hutch. At least he can tell us exactly what we’re dealing with. Damn it.”
His shot went wide. He strode over, trying again.
Brody came to stand beside Ten. “There’s something else. Liam O’Donnell sent me some reports and asked me to get them to you. He didn’t want them on your phone or laptop in case Faith saw them without you preparing her.”
His gut took a nosedive. O’Donnell had told him he was working on something. “What?”
“He thinks he can prove that the senator was involved in not one but two crimes involving his own family members as the victims.” Brody stared out over the green, a grave look in his eyes. “If he’s right, y
ou can bring the senator down without getting into that building.”
“His wife’s death?” He’d wondered about that. It seemed so coincidental that his wife had been murdered.
Brody nodded. “Apparently Liam has discovered a witness who claims her husband was hired to kill McDonald’s wife. Naturally the husband is dead. Shanked in prison sixteen years ago. Before her death, Alice McDonald visited a divorce lawyer. She’d also hired a PI who disappeared under mysterious circumstances a week after Alice’s murder.”
“That’s all conjecture. It makes a great story, but it won’t put McDonald away. I need proof.” Could he be satisfied if he put MacDonald in prison for the rest of his life? “What’s the other crime he’s looking at?”
Brody hesitated. “McDonald was behind Faith’s kidnapping.”
Ten felt his jaw drop and an unholy rage threatened to take over. The man wouldn’t make it to prison. He would strangle the senator. He would wrap his hands around the fucker’s throat and squeeze and squeeze until he turned blue and then purple, and then Ten would squeeze some more. Would that be too humane? Maybe gutting the man would be more satisfying. Playing in his entrails. Or feeding him to some mangy mutt. Yeah, that would be better.
“Are you breathing, mate?”
“What did you say to him?” Theo seemed to have gotten the ball in the hole and was now studying Ten with a look of horrified wonder on his face. “Dude, you are really red.”
“Ah, you told him about senator’s part in Faith’s kidnapping.” The Russian nodded approvingly. “See, this is why I’m not worried. He is in love with her. No man turns so red unless he’s in love. Well, or he drinks too much vodka and someone insults his mother. My mother was good woman.”
“Shit.” Theo handed Nick his putter. “Why would he do that?”
Ten tried to force himself to calm down. He couldn’t murder the man here. He needed time and space to think about how to properly punish the senator. “Politics or money. It’s all the senator cares about.”