by Rebecca Deel
Another step back and the bellhop bumped into Ben. When he tried to turn toward the elevator muttering under his breath about getting the manager, Nico grabbed the man, spun him toward the wall, and shoved him against the flat surface.
“What did you put in the coffee?”
“Nothing. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He wrenched Scar’s arm up behind his back. “Try again.”
The man cursed. “Let me go or I’ll call the cops.”
The elevator doors slid open. Nico glanced at the occupants. A pity they were right on time. He would have preferred them to be ten minutes late. Now, Nico wouldn’t obtain the answers he needed. “Don’t bother. They’re already here.”
Two men strode from the car, badges displayed prominently on their belt along with their sidearms. “What’s going on?” the blond agent asked.
“This guy brought up an order of coffee we didn’t ask for.”
“Is this related to our witness?” the dark-haired agent asked.
“Probably. I’ve never known a hotel to deliver room service not requested.” Nico wrenched Scar’s arm higher causing him to bellow in pain. “You want to search him, or should I?”
Blondie motioned for him to proceed.
Nico glanced at Ben who took over the hold, then he searched the man for weapons. A moment later, a pile of weapons and a small empty plastic tube littered the hallway. No ID on him. Scar, now facing Nico, glared at him. “What did you put in the coffee?”
The man remained mute.
“Wasting your time,” the dark-haired agent said. “He’s just a flunky. No way he’s smart enough to call the shots.”
Blondie pulled out his handcuffs. “Call the Murfreesboro PD, Mike. We’ll let them take this guy off our hands.”
Nico stepped aside after the bellhop was cuffed. “I’m taking a sample of the coffee,” he told the ATF agents. Turning toward Joe, he said, “Get a clean, empty container from Sam. I’ll arrange for a pick up to have the coffee analyzed.”
“Copy that.” He caught the key card Ben tossed him and disappeared into the suite. When he returned, he had a small capped test tube in his hand and a pair of rubber gloves. “She said to pour the coffee into the mug and let it cool before we dump it into the tube.”
Nico tugged on the gloves and poured some of the steaming liquid into the mug. By the time the local police arrived, the coffee had cooled enough to pour into the tube. That done, he capped the tube and slid it into his pocket.
While the police talked to his teammates, Nico returned to the suite. Mercy hurried toward him, her face pale.
“What happened?”
“A man claiming to be a bellhop brought coffee we didn’t order. He acted squirrelly, insisting he’d be fired if he didn’t deliver the coffee to you. He didn’t have an ID, but he had a pile of weapons on him along with an empty plastic vial.”
“How did the Scorpions find me?”
Nico cupped her biceps. “Three government agencies knew we were here.” The president had suspected a leak. Looked like his suspicions had been confirmed. With three government agencies involved, narrowing down the source of the leak would be almost impossible, even for Fortress.
Worse, if the tangos knew Mercy was in the Garden Hotel, they would be waiting for another chance to grab her when they realized the attempt to poison her failed.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Mercy shivered at Nico’s words. He didn’t blame her. Not only had the enemy managed to find her despite Shadow’s protection, they had cobbled together a plan to harm her, maybe even kill her.
“The Scorpions want to kill me now?”
Nico’s hands tightened on her arms. “We don’t know if the Scorpions are behind this. We also don’t know what the bellhop poured into the coffee. It might be something as benign as sleeping pills. Even if you didn’t drink the coffee, your security team might have. If he’d managed to take us out, you would have been vulnerable to attack again.”
“Why do they want me?” She dragged a hand through her hair. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
“We’ll figure it out and stop them.”
“How? We don’t know who to go after.”
“With two million dollars at stake, someone will talk. We’ll follow the money to see where the trail leads.”
“And if the trail leads back to the Scorpions?”
Nico brushed his thumb over the line of her jaw. “I’ll have a reason to dismantle the organization sooner.”
Mercy’s eyes widened at his solemn statement as she realized Nico had planned to destroy the Scorpions anyway. Had she honestly thought he would allow a threat to her safety?
“Nico, you can’t take them on.”
“They hurt you, Mercy, and are still a threat to your safety,” he said, his voice gentle. “I can’t let them continue to operate or you will never be safe.”
“Your team was outnumbered in Mexico.” She laid her hand over his heart. “I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me.”
“This is not on you. They drew the lines of battle. I won’t walk away from the fight. The price is too high.” Higher than she realized and that he was willing to admit.
Before she could form a strong argument for him to stay away from the Scorpions, a sharp knock sounded on the door. Ben stepped inside the room. “Local cops need to talk to you, and the ATF is ready to talk to Mercy.”
Nico glanced at Sam, who nodded. He turned, brushed his lips over Mercy’s, and returned to the hallway followed by his EOD man. The ATF agents nodded at him as they walked into the suite.
He spent several minutes fielding questions from the Murfreesboro police who were frustrated at the large gaps in his knowledge. They weren’t the only ones. Nico would continue to tug at the strings of this knot. When he tugged on the right one, the whole thing would unravel and he would know who was at the center of this threat to Mercy. That person would pay.
“Did you know the bellhop?” Detective Whiddon asked.
“No.”
A frown from the officer. “Why did you assume something was wrong?”
“Have you ever known of room service sending up anything without a guest requesting it?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Add to that Mercy is a protected witness, and you can see why I’m suspicious.”
“I’ll have the coffee tested. If there’s nothing but coffee, I’ll have to let the bellhop go.”
“Understood.” Releasing the bellhop would give Nico a chance to get the information he wanted. Unlike the police, he didn’t have to follow the rule of law, and he was very good at getting answers.
After answering two more questions, the detective left and Nico returned to the suite.
“I didn’t hear anything about weapons or a pipeline into the US,” Mercy told Blondie. “Hector kept me in the cave except when he had the guards bring me into his compound.”
“How many times did that happen?” Black Hair asked.
“Three. I don’t know how long it was between grilling sessions.”
“What did Hector want to know?”
“If the government would send someone to rescue me, how soon, and who. Hector wanted to know how to prepare for an attack.” Her hand fisted. “He became more and more angry each time he questioned me. I didn’t have the answers he wanted.”
“When you couldn’t answer the questions, what did Hector do?” Blondie leaned close to Mercy and laid his hand over hers. His gaze was intent, the expression on his face sympathetic.
Nico frowned at his gesture and crossed the room to sit beside Mercy on the couch. He laid his arm across her shoulders, settling her against his side. He stared at Blondie as he spoke to Mercy. “How do you feel, kitten?”
Blondie jerked his hand away. Smart man.
“I’m fine. Agents Jackson and Robard have been kind.” Amusement filled her voice.
Nico broke eye contact with the agent and turned to
Mercy. He winked at her.
“We have a few more questions,” Black Hair said.
“Ask them now.” Nico could already see fatigue setting in again on Mercy. “We need to take Mercy back to the safe house. Obviously, our location here has been compromised.”
“We can arrange a safe house that will be more secure,” Blondie said, his eyes glittering. “We’ll assign agents who can protect her.”
Nico’s eyes narrowed at the insinuation that he and his team couldn’t protect her. “Not a chance. You have ten minutes. Make them count.”
With a glare Nico’s direction, Blondie asked, “Mercy, when you couldn’t answer Hector’s questions, what did he do?”
Mercy shuddered.
Nico cupped her nape in a silent reminder that she was safe. Although he knew the questions were necessary, he hated allowing the agents to put Mercy through painful memories again.
“He told me if I didn’t have answers the next time he questioned me, he would rape me, then pass me around to his men to see if that would loosen my tongue.”
Sam scowled when she heard Hector’s threats.
Black Hair flinched. “Did he give you any indication if he had an end game other than freeing his boss?”
Mercy shook her head. “That seemed to be his sole purpose.”
They reviewed her story again, clarifying a minor point here and there.
At the ten-minute mark, Nico said, “Time’s up. If you have more questions, contact Fortress Security. They’ll get me a message and we will make arrangements for Mercy to talk to you.”
“We need to bring her into the office for more questions,” Blondie said.
“You know that’s not going to happen.”
“You can’t deny us access to her.”
“I’m trying to keep Mercy alive.”
Black Hair stood, signaling to his partner. “We appreciate your help, Ms. Powers.”
“I wish I could have done more.”
“What you gave us is more than we had four days ago. Your information confirmed a few things.”
“I don’t see how, but I’m glad to be of some help.”
Black Hair put a hand underneath his jacket.
Immediately, Nico and Sam were on their feet. Nico stepped in front of Mercy, weapon up and aimed at the agent. Sam had Blondie in her sights, her Sig aimed center mass.
Black Hair froze. “I’m getting a business card.”
“Slow.” Nico watched every move as the agent removed a small case, extracted a white business card, and handed it to him. He glanced at the name. “I’ll have Fortress contact you if Mercy thinks of anything new, Jackson.”
“Do you have a business card?” Blondie asked.
Nico’s lip curled. “Unlike you, I don’t pass them out like candy. If you need to contact me, call Fortress and leave a message for Nico. They’ll make sure I get it.”
With a sneer, Blondie stalked from the room without waiting for his partner. Jackson’s gaze lingered on Mercy a moment before he refocused on Nico. “You didn’t hear this from me, but there are rumors floating that there’s a leak in Washington.”
“Do they know where?”
Jackson grimaced. “Our house.”
Nico stilled. “Have you heard a name?”
A head shake.
“Why do you think you have a leak in-house?”
“We’ve planned raids on known weapons warehouses frequented by the Scorpions. The intel’s good, our sources solid. But in more than half of them, we came up empty. The stash is gone by the time we arrive. Three times, we were ambushed and lost agents. One of our own is selling us out. I don’t know how many layers deep this goes, so watch your back. Don’t trust anyone from the ATF.”
“Including you?”
“Especially me or Robard. We were assigned to Mercy’s case and instructed to offer her sanctuary and protection. In fact, our boss was quite insistent that we take her into protective custody. He’s getting pressure from a bigwig in D.C. to get her under our control.”
Nico snorted.
A wry smile curved Jackson’s lips. “Yeah, that’s what I told him when I found out a Fortress team was providing security.”
Mercy moved to stand beside Nico. “Why does your boss want me in a safe house you control?”
“Someone thinks you know too much, Ms. Powers, and in our business, knowledge can be deadly.” Jackson shifted his gaze to Nico. “I’ll tell you the official line to keep me up to date on any further developments and information you come across. Do yourself and Mercy a favor. Don’t. I don’t want her to fall into the Scorpions’ hands.” With a nod, he followed his partner from the suite.
A moment later, Nico’s teammates returned. He motioned for them to sit and summarized the information Agent Jackson shared.
Trace whistled. “Bet it hurt to admit they have a traitor in their midst.”
“At least now I have a direction to aim Zane.” He frowned. “I have a friend who works in ATF. I might contact him.”
Mercy laid her hand on Nico’s arm. “Agent Jackson said not to trust anyone from his agency.”
“I’d trust Harry with my life and have on many occasions. He was my battle buddy. We watched each other’s backs during several tours through the Sand Box.”
“You would be trusting him with Mercy’s life,” Joe said.
He turned to Mercy, heart in his throat. “I know,” he murmured. “Do you trust me?”
“You must know I do.”
“We have to start somewhere. If it turns out I trusted the wrong man, we’ll handle the fallout and dig up the information we need another way.”
“But this is the fastest.”
He inclined his head.
“Do it. The sooner we end this, the sooner you and the rest of Shadow will be safe.”
Again, she’d put concern for his team ahead of concern for her own safety. Shadow had protected many principals in the past five years. None concerned themselves with anything beyond their personal safety. Mercy Powers was unique.
Nico turned to his team. “Sam, Joe, scout around. See if our bellhop has friends loitering in the area in case the coffee didn’t work.”
Sam hoisted her medical bag to her shoulder and followed Joe from the suite.
“Ben, settle the bill.” Nico tossed him a key card. “Rendezvous with Joe and Sam. Make sure our rides haven’t been tampered with.”
“Copy that.”
Nico turned to Trace. “Stay with Mercy while I talk to Zane.” He walked onto the balcony and shut the French doors.
#
Mercy gathered the plates, cutlery, and glassware with Trace’s help and laid everything on the serving cart. Once that was done, Trace wheeled the cart into the hall while Mercy collected the trash and tossed it into the waste can.
She glanced around to be sure she hadn’t missed anything in the cleaning process. “Has your team used this hotel before?”
“Twice.” His gaze darkened. “We haven’t had problems with a security breach until today.”
“Lucky me.” When the operative didn’t reply, Mercy turned to find him watching her. “What is it?”
“Nico is a good man.”
“I know.” She hadn’t doubted that from the moment she first saw Nico in the Mexican cave.
“Do you? He can take a hit and still function. He’ll act like the hit didn’t faze him when he’s bleeding inside. As tough as he is, someone could still hurt him.”
“You mean I could hurt him.” Mercy sat on the couch. “I have no intention of doing that to him or myself. I’m just as vulnerable emotionally right now as he is.”
“Don’t toy with his heart. If you can’t see a relationship between you, stop it now before he slides any deeper. He’s already had his heart ripped out and stomped on once.”
Her stomach knotted. “What happened?”
Nico’s friend shook his head. “It’s his story to tell. If he shares the information, it’s a sign he’s inves
ted in your relationship.”
Before she replied, Nico returned from the balcony. He pulled up short, his gaze shifting from Mercy to Trace and back. “Problem?”
Trace turned his head to stare at Mercy, one eyebrow raised, leaving it up to her whether or not she told Nico about their conversation.
Right. “Everything is fine. We spruced up while you spoke to Zane. What did he say?”
Although he didn’t look convinced, Nico said, “Zane’s bots will continue scouring the Net for mention of our names, but he’ll concentrate his own search on the ATF. Sam sent me a text. A team of two men are watching the entrance to the hotel. The back alley’s clear for now. We need to move. Zane said the Net chatter about Mercy picked up a few minutes ago. He’s afraid a second team is nearby waiting for a crack at Mercy.”
Mercy pressed a hand to her stomach. Whoever these people were, they were persistent.
Trace frowned. “Won’t do us any favors to give them time to set up an ambush.”
“They’ve already had almost an hour.” Nico pulled out his phone and made a call. “Joe, drive around to the back of the hotel. I’m sending Trace down to move the second SUV. Be ready. Got a feeling our bellhop didn’t come to the party alone.”
Trace gave Nico some kind of hand signal and left the suite. When Nico ended his call, he crossed the room to her side. He trailed the backs of his fingers over Mercy’s bruised cheek, his touch so light she barely felt the contact. “Ready?”
She nodded despite ice water running through her veins. The sooner Shadow was out of here, the quicker they would be safe.
“Remember to do exactly what I tell you. You’ll be safe, Mercy. You have my word.”
He’d make sure of it, she realized. Even if he had to sacrifice his own life to ensure her safety. That’s when she realized Nico Rivera was becoming more than a friend. “I want you safe, too, Nico. You and your teammates.”
His eyes lit as he bent his head to kiss her lightly. “We’re well trained, kitten, but thank you for caring.” He clasped her hand and led her to the door. After checking to be sure the hallway was clear, Nico headed toward the stairs.