by Dianna Love
His grip tightened, but someone—the not Nick guy—bumped them on his way out, in a rush to leave.
She pulled back and gave Logan a quick kiss and a smile, saying loud enough for the Banker, “Make me proud, baby.”
Logan chuckled. “Anything for you, Sugar.” The effort to hold back from calling all this off showed in Logan’s knuckles that were turning white on the fist he balled.
When the Banker stepped away, Margaux fell into step beside him.
The young man with the iPod headphones appeared next to them and by the time they reached the door the female suit strode past to step in front of the Banker. Outside, two men peeled away from the wall to flank Margaux and their boss. A dark SUV that probably had armored panels and bullet resistant windows pulled up and the rear door opened.
Ninety minutes and everything would be over.
She could do this and so could Logan, if the Banker didn’t throw any more surprises at them.
If he did, he’d get a first hand view of Margaux’s deadly skills. She’d keep him alive, if she could, but alive came in many forms.
CHAPTER 42
Logan hadn’t thought ninety minutes would be enough time, but now it felt like every second was dragging. Changed into the dark blue suits that matched the security detail on the convention center, he moved past the real security for the convention that was focused on the crowd of three thousand waiting to hear Wilder speak.
The head of Wilder Explorations had gained millions of new friends with forward thinking that would revolutionize natural gas extraction, but he’d gained a handful of powerful enemies, too.
Once this went down, Logan would send word through his INTERPOL channels that would be relayed to the FBI. The US needed to know the truth about Wilder’s drilling plans and China’s part in this.
None of that would happen if he and his men didn’t make it out of here with Wilder.
The Feds would be all over this building once the Banker made the call to report a bomb threat.
Logan’s cell phone buzzed. He answered, “All set, Cuz?”
Nitro confirmed, “All quiet here. This is some boring shit.”
“Consider it comp time.”
“Funny. No one has come out of the operations building since three of them showed up this morning with donuts. Nobody brings me donuts on a job.”
Logan passed a security guard who gave him a long look and Logan nodded back as if saying, “Carry on.” Must have worked. The guy turned back to where the emcee was wrapping up his introductions and everyone was clapping.
When the noise died down, Nitro said, “Got a wide open area. Good view for a quarter mile in any direction. Based on the information our sponsor supplied, this should be fine for the party.”
Nitro was saying he and Angel had secured the area. No one could stroll up into the strike zone without Angel or Nitro seeing them well in advance with enough time to intercept and send them away from the drill site.
Logan still had a bad feeling in his gut about this. He didn’t like splitting up his team and was close to a meltdown over letting Margaux walk out with the Banker. But there would be no Wilder to hand over if she was so much as scratched when he saw her again.
“Cuz?”
Dammit. No mental wandering. “All good. Just make sure no one changes the plan.”
“You got it.”
Logan hung up as he reached the access door to the bowels of the convention center. He locked it behind him and worked his way to the level where service people pushed flat bed carts filled with miscellaneous equipment and furniture. Someone passed him carrying an elaborate floral display that trailed a sweet scent to mix with the concrete and cardboard warehouse smells.
He spotted all six “bombs” hidden right where he’d directed Party Man to place them. None of them would explode, but only a pro would be able to determine that upon first glance. Party Man had used cold pyrotechnics for the one that had been placed to actually ‘ignite’ next to the power center.
When that one went off, it would make noise and put on a show.
That was the spot the Banker would send law enforcement first—to find a bomb.
Logan reached the door that would lead to the side of the stage where Wilder was talking.
Party Man, Ty and Moose were standing with the rigid posture of security and had curly wires running to their ears, but only to listen to the security’s chatter. Not to talk.
Wilder had images flashing on a large screen behind him. His enthusiasm over a new way of accessing resources was contagious. The audience clapped, leaned forward listening, then clapped again.
Logan intended to see Wilder get what he deserved after the way he’d planned to screw this country. Wilder had a shock of blond hair that he brushed back with his hand at times. He smiled and had a rugged look to him, like he went out and drilled the sites himself. At thirty-eight, he had a future here that most men would envy, but he was greedy.
In eleven minutes he’d get everything he wanted.
Until the Feds locked him up.
CHAPTER 43
Margaux followed the Banker into the elevator that filled up quickly with his four guards. Overkill considering they’d taken away her Sig the minute she stepped into the Banker’s car.
The eighteen-story building they were now in had appeared to be under renovations in the lobby. She played it as relaxed as she could, considering the circumstances, and asked, “Is there a restaurant here?”
“No. Not for another few months.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ve heard the term bird’s eye view, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes.”
“I want a front row seat to the show.”
He had a spot where they could watch Logan? That might not be so bad. She stepped out of the elevator car at the top floor and the six of them walked through a hall to a door. On the other side were metal steps that went up ten feet to a landing. The guard leading them opened the door and held it as they all stepped out into a brisk wind.
No matter how calm it was on the ground, it was always windy up top.
The building was an old mix of glass and steel. Nothing special and a squatty shape that took up most of a block, but it did have a wide open roof.
The Banker strolled over to the edge and stopped at the parapet that came up to his waist. He looked down.
One push and she could watch his head crack open like an egg.
The guards fanned out in a half-circle behind him, all within ten feet, weapons handy. What good would standing there do if someone had a sniper rifle?
Of course, someone would have to know the Banker was coming up here.
She walked over to him. “How’d you know we could come up here?”
“I had someone acquire this building just for the view.”
She caught the smirk in his tone. He was so proud of his ability to snap his fingers and make people jump. She wondered if he’d been behind something else. “Just like you had someone chase us in a helicopter through downtown Denver after our initial meeting with you?”
“Of course, but that was unsuccessful. Unfortunate for those I’d paid.”
“I hope China’s making it worth your time for this.” Because they would have diplomatic issues out the wazoo once this got out.
The Banker turned to lean his hip against the wall. “China isn’t paying for anything.”
Warning bells clanged so loudly Margaux thought her head would burst. She kept her composure, barely. “Trust me, Dragan doesn’t give a shit whose money ends up his pocket. He only wants to know that it’s going to be paid on time.”
For the first time since meeting the Banker, he broke out a genuine smile. The kind a person had when they realized everything they’d ever wanted in life was coming true.
Not the expression Margaux wanted to see on his face right now. “Something funny?”
“Yes. You and Dragan are quite the pair. I would have been happy
finding one of you, but both was unexpected.” He’d put on sunshades, but now he pulled them off, squinting a moment in the glaring overcast skies. “Did you really think Snake Eyes could locate someone like me, Duke?”
No. This couldn’t be happening.
Margaux’s skin felt clammy. She started searching back in her mind to before she walked into the Trophy Room. Logan told her the Banker had set up the kidnapping as a test.
It hadn’t been just for Logan.
“Ah, I see you’re figuring it out.” The Banker stood there, confident of his immortality. “It took some arranging, but I only sent you in to see what Dragan would do if he thought you were the contact. I had no idea you two would team up and make this job even more delightful.”
Her insides were shaking.
After all this, Sabrina and the team were still going to be hunted down.
And Logan was in a trap.
She had to keep her wits about her and find out how much trouble Logan and his guys were in then she had to get away from the Banker to help everyone. Before that happened, she needed intel. “You’re not so clever, you know. You don’t have Wilder yet.”
“Wilder is unimportant to me. He and his drilling patents just need to go away. All I have to do is to make sure that when this is done Wilder is considered a terrorist and that this country fears his drilling technology enough to shut it down for years.”
He didn’t need Wilder? “So what? You’re just going to call the Feds in on Dragan and Wilder? Dragan’s too smart to be caught. He’ll sacrifice Wilder and get his men out.”
“Oh, he’ll try. But he won’t be able to leave a city that is panicked.”
“Over a bomb scare? It’ll cause some traffic issues down here, but that’s not enough to stop Dragan.” She taunted him with a smile. Come on, Banker, get pissed.
He lost his happy face. “That’s the problem with peons like you and Dragan. You think so small. At the same moment that I have someone calling in the bomb threat at the convention center, I also have someone calling in the explosion at Wilder’s drilling site.”
“So? The drill site is fifty-seven miles south of here.”
“And close enough to a fault line for a potential earthquake.”
She gave him a frown of disbelief and waved her hand in dismissal. “Isn’t that a stretch? Fracturing isn’t the big threat it’s touted to be if they’re careful about how they flood the water and chemicals through the system.”
He twirled his glasses, too comfortable again. “In a normal operation when the charges set off to break up shale are minor and controlled, yes. But Wilder’s technology drills a diagonal off the horizontal cut. He also creates wider holes in the charge points by setting off multiple charges in one area that are not deep. The idea is to then shoot a lot of mini-explosions from there, creating longer but thinner cracks in the shale. All very clever and green conscious.”
Time was wasting. She needed a sketch and he was painting the big picture. “Is there a point to this geological lesson? I’m still not seeing the punch line.”
“The technicians sabotaging Wilder’s signature site will shove a specially developed explosive that will detonate in a continual charge. The earthquake at that point is only a fifty-fifty possibility, but once the drill site blows it will take a very long time to determine exactly what happened. Those technicians believe they will activate the charges and walk out before they’re in any danger, because they have no idea what they’ve sent down in that hole.”
“You’re going to kill the techs.”
“And let’s not forget Dragan’s two men. Never, ever, leave witnesses.”
Oh, shit. Nitro and Angel were going in expecting to kidnap techs and they’d rush into a detonation. She saw red. Blood red. She could kill the Banker. Right now. His guards would mow her down, but this abomination would be dead.
“You’re thinking about killing me. But you won’t.”
“Oh, why not?”
“Because you and Dragan are more than business partners. You’re a woman in love and he has that crazy-eyed, touch-her-and-you’ll-die look. I’m willing to bet you won’t commit suicide by attacking me as long as there’s a chance to save Dragan. And there’s always a chance. Just like when you two were in the jungle.”
He was right. She wouldn’t let Logan down by letting emotions control her decisions.
The Banker explained, “Dragan has until the first news report leaks about a possible earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone that runs parallel to the Pacific coast. That is not just possible, but probable. The tsunami in Japan hit in less than an hour after the earthquake.”
He couldn’t be serious. “You can’t know that exploding that drill site will set off any earthquake, much less one large enough to cause a tidal wave.”
“Oh, please. Give me more credit than that. I would never leave anything up to chance. I have one more trick up my sleeve you haven’t seen yet, but you will.”
He was serious. He had a plan to launch a tsunami on the Pacific Northwest.
His watch started beeping. “Show time.”
Margaux struggled not to throw up. She had no way to warn Logan or Nitro.
Another thought slammed her in the solar plexus.
Sabrina and the team would be here.
A helicopter approached fast from the south. This location made more complete sense now. The Banker was exiting by air.
Margaux had to figure out how he intended to create a tsunami and stop him. She had her doubts, but not enough to waste time thinking about possibilities when this man dealt in absolutes.
She wouldn’t underestimate a death merchant who had built his reputation on never making a threat he couldn’t back.
CHAPTER 44
Nick stared down Josh and Tanner who glared at him while they waited on the call from Talia. He repeated, “She’ll come through. She’s invested.”
“Sabrina sent two full teams to Seattle on the word of a woman you met one time.”
Nick shouldn’t have told Sabrina about Talia, but Sabrina wouldn’t have mobilized a team without all the information. Talia had called to tell him Margaux would be in downtown Seattle today and forced to play a role in a terrorist plot.
His phone buzzed. “Start talking.”
“Dragan and his team are planting fake bombs as a cover to kidnap Svenson Wilder. You have thirteen minutes to intercept him. If it were me, I’d pull Wilder out through the loading docks if they plan to exit once a bomb alert is released.”
“Where?”
“Washington State Convention Center. Three thousand in attendance.”
“You’re sure the bombs are fake?”
“I’m sure the intel is good, but I can’t be sure about what’s planted without looking at them in person. Don’t forget our deal.”
“I won’t.”
Nick snapped the phone shut. “Call Ryder and tell him to bring the other four Sabrina hired to the back loading docks of the convention center. Let’s go.” He led the charge to the loading docks for the convention center, but couldn’t take the chance of faulty intel.
He told Josh, “Call in a bomb threat for the convention center. We’re going in locked and loaded as soon as we have everyone.”
If SWAT showed up, things would get dicey since Nick and his team were wearing the same gear, right down to protective face shields that were tinted to protect their identity.
CHAPTER 45
Keeping an eye on Wilder as he strutted back and forth across the stage, pointing as images scrolled on the mega-screen, Logan explained to Moose, Ty and Party Man why Margaux wasn’t with him.
Moose had thick eyebrows on his wide forehead. He pushed one up. “She did that? Took one for the team?”
“Yes.”
Party Man leaned over to Moose. “Still thinking about ways to torture her?”
Moose hesitated a second too long and Logan cleared up any confusion. “No one touches her.”
That drew
a smirk from Moose who had just baited Logan.
He wasn’t in a joking mood. “Two minutes.”
His men took their positions, moving closer to the stage to wait for an interruption from security that would send people out due to a bomb threat.
Logan and his men would step up to escort Wilder. They’d take a route back through the service area where they had a GMC Yukon waiting that Party Man had already confirmed as on site. From that point—
An explosion rocked the room.
Party Man shook his head. “Not my shit, Cuz. Wrong location, too.”
People were standing up at their seats and looking around, not sure what they’d just heard and felt. Security was rushing around, hands at their ears listening.
Logan took in Wilder who had that confused dog look. Why wasn’t he anxious and searching the security to see who was going to kidnap him?
Another blast hit further away.
People started running for the exits, shoving and yelling.
“Let’s get him,” Logan told his men and leaped up on the stage to hook Wilder by the arm before the star of the show took off toward the exit.
Wilder’s face had lost color. “What’s happening?”
He sounded genuinely terrified.
Logan kept his voice professional. “We’re going to escort you out, Mr. Wilder. Just come with us.”
Security was ushering the attendees out but two of them were fighting against the tide to get to the stage.
Party Man held his ear and announced, “Exits are getting blocked. We need to go.”
Logan put his hand up in a stop motion, hoping those two security guards were too busy to argue. Then he gave Wilder a tug.
Wilder didn’t balk this time. “Hurry up. Let’s get out of here.”
“Just stay calm, Mr. Wilder,” Logan told him as they moved to the service exit.
As soon as they reached the service area, Logan pulled his Glock 21 and stopped Wilder. “We’re taking you to the Banker.”
“What Banker?”
Logan got that sick kicked-in-the-nuts feeling. “The one who cut the deal between you and China.”