by Angel Payne
Archer’s head was covered in an all-black, traditional keffiyeh, with its long length held in place by a shiny gold version of the tagiyyah band. That was where the authentic portion of the outfit ended. A black leather vest was the only thing covering the guy from shoulder to waist, unless the accessories counted. A black leather hawking gauntlet was secured to one of his forearms and a thick leather strip around his neck was supposed to be a…what was that…a scarf? Tait snorted again. Because that was practical if a guy was undercover in a real Bedouin camp, right? Didn’t matter. The pants were even more ridiculous. Sheathing Archer’s long legs were shiny black pajama bottoms that billowed more than the frothy drapes on the set across the way, whipping up to expose the guy’s bare feet.
“Sure.” Kellan finally moved his arm. He swiped it across his body, folded the other on top then dropped his head fast against them both. “Whatever you say, Master Aladdin.”
“Suck my dick, monkey lice.”
Tait choked on his water. Sometimes getting in a chuckle was simply worth it. When he finally sobered, he offered, “You’re taking a giant one for the team, Runway.”
Ethan kicked up a brow. “Just one?”
He dropped a sympathetic nod. “It won’t be forgotten.”
“Damn right it won’t,” Kellan jibed.
“Didn’t I just tell you to suck my dick?” Ethan snapped.
“No, thanks.” Kell’s mouth actually threatened a small smile. Tait prepped himself to note the day and time, since the guy cracked a grin as often as the sun had an eclipse, but the moment was lost as Kell jerked his chin around. “But I think you’ll have a taker in her.”
It wasn’t a brain-buster to see Bella walk out in a high fashion version of a gold harem girl costume, complete with sheer ivory pants covering a barely there bikini bottom and a halter top covered in gold rhinestones. She was also barefoot, with anklets that hand gold bells on them. Her hair was long and loose, with strands of gold bells braided into it in a few places.
When the starlet saw Ethan, she let out a little yelp of delight and hurried over. The chings of her outfit echoed across the garden. “Mio Dio, Ethan.” Her gaze, heavy and sultry, didn’t hide any secrets about what the woman wanted to do with him. “Grant is right. You are a demigod.” When that acted like the permission slip for Tait and Kell to let their guffaws fly free, she chided, “If you two are jealous and want in on the fun, I’m sure Grant can find some ensembles for you, too.”
They both went silent.
Tait braced himself for Archer’s version of a full retaliation now, probably in the form of sucking face with Bella until they looked like murder victims from her smeared lipstick, but the guy’s self-restraint was impressive. Though he still raked the area with an irked glare, he dutifully let Bella rearrange his scarf, or whatever the fuck that thing was, until she seemed satisfied with the artful angles at which it grazed his bare chest. Shit. The guy was whipped. Bad.
“Everyone ready to roll?” he finally asked Bella. Tait’s ears did a figurative perk. Something in Ethan’s voice was…off. No. Something was missing, which was baffling considering the man’s norm of verbal minimalism. Was Archer okay? Damn it, was he falling harder than he should for Bella? Was his head still in the game?
Get a grip, T-Bomb. He wasn’t the one who currently resembled a mash-up of Lawrence of Arabia and Electric Boogaloo Goes to Morocco. Maybe he needed to cut Archer a little slack.
Over at the tent, Fulsom began directing his assistants in positioning his tripod, the set floods, and the reflector panels, which helped illuminate a large bed and the seventy pillows piled on top. A moment later, Lor finally made his appearance in his typical tailored suit and silk shirt. Ava Chestain, Bella’s stylist, was with him. Tait jotted a mental note. Pretty boy Lor seemed seriously into her. If the woman was woven into Lor’s plots, even unknowingly, things were going to be messy. She and Rayna were tight.
He exchanged a nod with Kellan. The moment had come to move closer to the man. Ethan offered his arm to Bella and followed their path across the lawn.
As they neared the tent, Tait noticed the light wasn’t the only thing that began to change. Ethan’s mien, which had been so full of calm focus just a minute ago, now seemed nettled as a panther that’d been awakened by a she-cat’s mating scent. Trouble was…that cat wasn’t Bella. Ethan followed every move Ava made, completely locked as the woman helped Fulsom’s assistant to put the last-minute touches on Bella’s exotic look. Since that put Ethan’s head and eyes in her general vicinity, Bella didn’t pick up on the nuance. The actress was glad to be the center of attention in any way she got it.
Tait released a black laugh to himself. Maybe Kellan had been right yesterday. Watching camels spit and sand fly was a hell of an easier gig than this.
The shit got thicker when Lor finished up his banter with Fulsom then walked over to the bed, where the crew now positioned Ethan and Bella for their first shots. While Kell engaged Fulsom in a battery of questions about crap like f-stops and digital tweaking, Tait was able to fully observe Lor, picking apart the man’s behaviors for anything remotely suspicious…not to mention any wayward memory sticks that might conveniently fall out of his pockets.
The guy was smooth. Tait could confirm that much. Lor bantered with Bella with every speck of charm intact, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand like an admiring prince instead of the guy who’d been banging her in Malibu less than a week ago. When he turned to Ava, he simply squeezed out a bigger glob of the royal court formula, bussing her knuckles but turning her hand over and grazing the inside of her wrist with his lips, too. He gave her a gaze filled with the same seductive intent.
Though Ava pulled her hand away from Lor right away, teasing that she was working and he had to behave, it was like tossing a cup of water at the forest fire of murderous intent now raging across Ethan’s face. It was a good thing the only “weapon” the guy could conceal in those pajamas was his cock.
Tait looked at Kell, who’d caught the same bead on Ethan. Kell twitched just the top of his head toward Lor but thanks to their Bullet Ninjas telepathy, that was the only directive needed. Tait made his way toward Lor. Time to creatively divert the target, before their teammate killed the guy for kissing a woman’s hand.
He got drop-kicked and sidelined after barely hitting the field. By a spook in a bun wig, a pencil skirt, and black platform pumps. And new for today, a pair of thick black glasses and a formfitting, pale purple sweater set that made his palms itch to rip up a little cashmere.
“Mr. Lemare.” Luna layered a Southern farm girl accent to her voice that surely revirginized her with the force of its innocence. “Hi! Ahhh, I’m Ronni—from Accounting? I dunno if you remember me?”
“Not really,” the man murmured, letting his gaze linger over the swells of her breasts, “but that is completely my fault, dear girl, not yours. What can I do for you?” Since he got away with ogling her top half, he openly admired her hips and legs.
Tait suddenly felt a lot more sympathetic toward Runway’s jealous pain. The only thing that stopped him from lunging and clocking the guy was the supposition that Lor’s lothario bullshit was just a half-plausible cover. If people fled from Lemare the skank, they wouldn’t see Lor the terrorist, right?
Luna let her eyes go wide. She added a “nervous” little lip bite and a thoroughly convincing blush. That made it official. Once Tait had her alone again, he was going to throttle her—before kissing her until she never thought of turning that color for anyone but him again.
“I’m so, so sorry to bust in on you here,” she declared to Lor, acting the part of a production minion to perfection. “I mean, everyone on set knows how important this photo shoot is. I normally wouldn’t have left to come bother you like a stalker in the corn, but with the shooting schedule changing up to allow all this, along with the extra rehearsals everyone’s attending for the live broadcast, I didn’t know when we would see you on set again, and—”
�
��It’s fine.” The man had clearly reached the tolerance point for his accountant’s babbling, no matter how stunning her rack. “How can I help you?”
“We just need these checks signed.” She giggled and bobbed her head back and forth. “You know what they say. Gotta pay the piper, right?”
Lor obliged “Ronnie” by scribbling on a handful of checks. Luna maintained the chatter stream the whole time, commenting on everything from the weather to a “mighty fine wedding reception” she attended at the hotel up the hill a few years back. Tait couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. The way the woman committed to her cover identity…it was goddamned impressive, a skill at which even well-trained agents had to labor. She fascinated him even deeper. Made him want her even more.
Burned him up with the longing to protect her. Especially now.
He wasn’t clueless about this shit. Luna had been sent here without previous notification to any of them, meaning it was urgent—and also required her to get so close to Lor, she could likely tell what he’d had for lunch just by sniffing his breath. It set Tait on a razor’s edge of apprehension, especially when he watched her slip a hand into the man’s inner jacket pocket.
Screw the pooch sideways. If Lor noticed her action in the tiniest corner of his eye, “Ronnie” would be caught and—
Caught at what?
Tait muffled a growl. From the grunt that came from Kell, who’d made his way back to his side, it didn’t sound like he was the only one. “What the hell’s going on?” his friend grumbled.
Tait gave him three syllables in answer. “NFC.” No fucking clue.
Lor pivoted back on Luna just as her palm cleared the pocket.
The man’s face darkened to a full glower.
For two seconds.
“Bee!”
Luna whacked at his coat and the air, adding shrieks to the mix. A loud clang from the tent compounded the chaos. Ava winced sheepishly in front of the prop hookah and copper urn she’d just toppled.
“What the hell?” Grant yelled.
“My thought precisely.” Lor glared at Luna.
“It—it was a big bee,” she explained. “Really. Whillikers, it was huge!”
“I just need to know if it’s gone.” The interjection came from Ava. She was in the corner of the tent, visibly shaking now. “S-sorry. I’m allergic. A lot allergic. And my epi pen is—”
“Where?” Ethan issued the charge, enforcing it by lunging off the bed and to her side. Fulsom fumed in impatience, Bella frowned in confusion…and Ava bowed her head in submission.
Comprehension slammed Tait now. Archer wasn’t just playing with the idea of being with Ava. Hell, he’d already gone there—and was clearly burning to go back again. No wonder the guy’s tension level was taking bites out of the ozone layer. Adding insult on top of that injury on this crazy anomaly of a mission was the target who’d made Ava his target. If Lor hadn’t made that obvious before now, he did so by rushing to Ava himself, clutching both her shoulders in order to turn her totally from Ethan.
“Mi dolce,” he murmured, “I had no idea, about your condition. Perhaps it is not a good idea for you to be out here, sì?”
“She’s not an invalid.” Ethan exhaled, clearly trying to be diplomatic instead of defensive. “She just has to make sure her epinephrine pen is nearby.” He hiked a brow at Ava. “And it is, right?”
Tait didn’t know whether to slam his hands to his face or whomp them in applause. Had Archer just pulled an openly Dominant move on Ava while she stood in the arms of another man?
As riveted as he was by the cojones of his teammate, another sight took urgent priority. Knowing Kell had an eye on things under the tent, he took advantage of the chance to beat feet toward “Ronnie,” who gathered up her folder and purse then hustled her tight-skirted ass back toward the Huntington’s main entrance.
He followed her into the next themed botanical area, a collection of palm species that formed a lush grove around winding paths. Despite tottering on the hard-packed trail in those damn heels, Luna picked up the pace, looking like she was fleeing a swarm of zombies.
He caught up to her at a spot where the path expanded into a little clearing that included a bench and natural rock waterfall. He would’ve chuckled at how incongruous she looked, missing only the pencil in her ear in a setting that warranted more a caftan and flats, but he was busy fighting off the alarms of apprehension she’d set off ever since her hand came out of Lor’s pocket.
“Luna. Luna.” After a burst of speed, he was able to pull her into an area submersed in deep shade. He expected her to struggle a little. He didn’t expect the whack she sent across his face. “What the hell?” he seethed. “It’s me, damn it.”
“I’m aware of that.” She stared back with eyes that were darkened by abject panic as well as the dreaded blue contacts. “I’m also aware that I don’t have time for your drama right now, Weasley. Let me go.”
Good thing for her he was an expert on shoving aside frustration in favor of rational thought. “Imagine that. I don’t have time for drama, either, especially after I watched you pinch something from Lor’s jacket. Based on the determination that those checks are fakes and your real reason for getting here so urgently was whatever you took from—”
She silenced him by holding up one object. A black computer memory stick. “You mean this?” While he gaped at the treasure, she explained, “Rhett caught a break when he lingered after a script revision meeting. He saw Lor move the stick from his satchel into the jacket. We moved fast, not knowing how long he’d keep it there.”
He clenched his jaw as his senses seesawed between elation and irritation. “I don’t know whether to kiss you for the stones it took to do that, or boot your ass for not letting us handle it.”
“Right,” she sneered, “because Lor’s suspicions wouldn’t have spiked with even one of you Tarzans pawing at him. And don’t harp at me about how you would’ve tricked him out of the jacket by spilling something on him, or whatever the new SOF trick is. Short of burning the thing off his body, none of you were getting close to it any time soon.”
“Okay. Point taken. But what happens when he notices the stick’s gone? He tucked it in close for a reason.”
“I’m new, not stupid. Slipped a duplicate in its place. With any luck, we’ve bought ourselves a few hours, maybe longer. Let’s just hope the stick still works with the first laptop.”
She finished that by peering around him, still breathing hard as if she expected those zombies to bear down on them any second. Tait gave in to the craving to nudge her face around with a firm hand, backing it up with an unwavering stare down at her. “So you headed back to the studio now?”
“No!” She forced down a long breath before repeating in a more subdued cadence, “No. ‘Ronnie’ is leaving the Accounting pool and ‘going back to Arkansas’ right away. From now on, I’m back to playing exclusive engagements at the Foxfire. Laudia the smart-ass bartender will keep mixing the G and T’s while praying her buddy Enzo isn’t into playing the ‘gee, you remind me of someone’ game.”
The words shifted into sarcasm but everything about her face, from the evasion of her eyes to the trembles of her lips, betrayed what was really going on beneath her bravado. “Hey,” he murmured, prodding her face higher, “listen to me. Colton knows that Lor’s going to be jumpy. He also knows he can’t have you at that bar without some backup in place, and—”
She cut him off by beating his hand away. “Stop it!” The thin veneer of her composure toppled. Her face crumpled and her body sagged despite how she hugged herself so tight, she rocked from the effort. “Don’t do that to me. Don’t make me think everything’s simply going to be all better.” When she glanced at what must’ve been the mute perplexity on his face, she grated, “I’m the last thing on Dan’s mind right now, okay? Whatever this is—whatever the hell Lor and the Aragons are up to—it’s a giant arrow dipped in some crazy-ass poison, and we still have no idea where it’s coming from or whose
ass it’s aimed at. You know what that means? Collateral damage, that’s what that means.”
She stopped and forced herself to breathe again. Like that did any good. From the way she ground her lower lip into hamburger, Tait now realized that the woman wasn’t just skittish. She was terrified. His logic, born from years of instinct and field training, took the next step from there.
“What happened?” He asked it in a tone that conveyed he not only knew there was an answer but expected to get it. “What happened, Luna?”
She let out a leaden sigh. “Galvaz is dead.”
He didn’t gasp or groan. His knowing nod might have skated at the edge of callous but it was also the display of strength she needed right now, and hadn’t gotten from Colton. Not that Tait could blame the guy. Losing Galvaz was a loss that couldn’t have come at a shittier time, especially if the Aragons had dealt the blow. He had a feeling he could already solve that little mystery, too.
“I take it he didn’t go peacefully in his sleep?”
“Bullet through the forehead.” Her voice was a rasp. Her forehead crunched and her eyes squeezed shut.
“Colton has proof?”
She dipped her head. “They—they took a picture. Dan got it as a text from Galvaz’s number.”
“That’s certainly a way of telling the spooks you’re onto them.”
Luna fell into a taut stillness, which got him even more stressed than all the frightened fidgeting. “He—he knew it was going to happen.” Her stare stayed riveted to the center of his chest. She raked him there with her fingertips, the motions awkward and needy, which clearly deepened her fear. “Weasley…he knew. When he called in two nights ago…remember what I told you? He gave us specific directions about all of it, about taking care of his family. He made Dan promise that his wife and kids would get US citizenship and witness protection. He talked about his little girl. He wanted her to get a college education. He told us she’s really good at math. He was so proud of her.” Tears shone in her eyes then brimmed and rained down her cheeks. “He was so calm,” she uttered. “He was so…resigned. He knew what was going to happen and yet he did it anyway. He thanked Dan for the chance to do something right. Said he’d spent so many years doing shitty things but he wasn’t a shitty person. He was just lost. Just…lost.”