by Julia Sykes
And dances with the daffodils.
The memories instantly evaporated, and I forgot they’d even surfaced. I turned to Carlos.
“Where are we?” I asked, coolly composed.
“This is where we keep the whores,” Carlos replied before he made a grab for me.
I dodged easily, but one of the other men’s fists tangled in my hair. I hissed when he yanked me toward him, my back hitting his heavily muscled chest. I hesitated, uncertain if I should demonstrate my lethal skills. I didn’t want the men to see me as a threat, but I couldn’t allow them to overpower me, either.
The decision was made for me when Carlos produced a syringe from his pocket.
Bliss.
If the drug entered my system, I’d be lost to mindless lust, powerless and suggestible. I’d probably be on my knees sucking their cocks in a matter of minutes. I’d seen it happen to women often enough while I was operating in Colombia, and I wasn’t about to let that happen to me.
I jabbed my elbow back into the stomach of the man who held my hair. He released me with a grunt, and at the same time, my arm whipped out, knocking Carlos’ wrist aside so it smashed against the wall. The threat of the syringe dropped from his hand. He snarled and reached behind him, drawing the gun that had been tucked in his waistband. I grabbed the weapon before he raised it, disarming him and taking it for myself. I swung it in an upward arc, clipping him hard beneath the chin. He dropped with a curse.
“Don’t,” I warned the other two, training the gun on one man, then the other as I took a step back out of their physical range. “Don’t fuck with me ever again,” I said coldly. “I came here to deal with your boss. I could be an asset in expanding his business in Chicago.”
“You’d be a better asset as a whore,” Carlos seethed.
I kicked him in the stomach, and he went back down, wheezing.
“Not interested,” I replied, still ice cold. “Call your boss and set up a meeting. If he wants to take control of Chicago, he’ll need help. I have a few friends on the force who would be interested in facilitating his business in exchange for a cut. I’m here to set it up.” The lies were all established from the file Alex had given me. If Moreno’s men chose to look into my story, there would be falsified documents in the CPD database to back me up. “Make the call,” I commanded.
Carlos struggled to his feet, but this time, he kept a wary distance. He’d learned his lesson.
He glowered at me with undisguised loathing, and I firmed my grip on his gun, keeping it trained on him. He spat on the floor, but he retrieved his phone from his pocket and connected the call.
After a few seconds, he spoke into the receiver in rapid fire Spanish. I kept my face carefully blank, not betraying that I understood every word he was saying. It took a few minutes of argument, but finally Carlos came to an agreement with the person on the other end of the line.
He put his phone away, still scowling at me. “Come back tomorrow night. Six o’clock. Juan David wants to talk to you.”
I nodded, even though Moreno was my target. I wasn’t surprised that I would have to work my way up to gain access to him. After all, I was an unknown to these men. They’d want to check my story and vet me with their immediate boss before allowing me to meet with Cristian Moreno himself. I’d bide my time and establish trust. When the time was right, I’d bring in Nate under the pretense that he was another dirty cop. Then we’d move on Moreno.
“I’ll be back tomorrow, then,” I agreed. I didn’t give Carlos his gun. “But I’m keeping this,” I informed him. No way was I going to leave this place unarmed. They’d probably shoot me out of spite as soon as I was vulnerable.
I didn’t turn my back on them as I eased toward the front door and slipped out into the night. I quickly made my way back to the black van and hopped into the driver’s seat before speeding away from the danger they posed. If I lingered, they might decide to take out their rage on me. Men like that didn’t take it well when a woman kicked their ass.
I allowed three minutes to pass before I retrieved my phone from the console and called Alex.
“Natalie,” he answered after it rang once. “Update me.”
“I’m in,” I replied. “I meet with Juan David tomorrow evening. It’ll take a little while, but I’ll work my way up to Moreno. This is the first step.”
“Good. Take me through the events of tonight. You established contact with Moreno’s men at the club?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I got in with Carlos Lopez right before the feds arrived.”
The feds.
The agent waiting for us in the alley.
My arm around his neck as I took him down.
Jason.
“Natalie? What’s wrong?” Alex’s voice penetrated my mounting panic and horror. How could I have forgotten about attacking Jason? How could I forget him?
“Natalie, talk to me.”
I couldn’t tell him about Jason. I couldn’t think…
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze…
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
“I’m here,” I said to Alex, all thoughts of Jason melting away. Calm settled over me, and I flowed back into conversation with my handler. “Moreno’s men followed me into the van. They gave me directions to a brothel. They tried to dose me with Bliss, but I convinced them to call their boss and arrange a meeting instead. They think I’m a dirty cop, and I told them I have friends on the force who want in. The way is clear for me to bring Nate in once I gain their trust.”
There was a pause. “Something upset you,” Alex said calmly. “What happened?”
Bright green eyes, wide with shock.
His voice rough with disbelief as he uttered my name.
Jason, going limp in my hold.
And then my heart with pleasure fills…
My mind cleared. “I hate the Bliss trafficking,” I said to Alex. “What they’re doing to those women is awful. It’s upsetting.”
“You’ll help take out Moreno,” he reassured me.
“Yes,” I agreed.
“Go dark for now,” he ordered. “Check in when you’re ready for Nathaniel to join you.”
“Understood.” I ended the call, obeying my handler.
Idly, I wiped at my cheeks. I didn’t understand why they were wet.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was my mission.
Chapter 19
Jason
I wiped the blood from my knuckles and stormed back to where my black sedan was parked at the curb outside the run-down apartment complex. I’d spent the last three hours tearing my way through the neighborhood, interrogating every one of the dealers I came across. They were easy prey here: mostly addicts who dealt for the Latin Kings to support their habit. It was the best place I had to investigate until Sam got back to me with more intel. If Moreno’s men were networking with the Kings to establish themselves in Chicago, then this was where I’d start. I’d destroy anyone who stood in my path to Natalie. As it was, I’d already resorted to unsanctioned interrogation methods to get the answers I wanted. The blood on my hands wasn’t my own. No one had died, but I’d certainly left the men I’d questioned in bloodier condition than I’d found them.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any solid leads yet. The men I’d encountered so far dealt in cocaine, not Bliss. They had ties to the Kings, but they weren’t able to give me more than first names of their connections, and they were unable to provide locations where I might find their bosses.
As I slammed my car door behind me, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I answered immediately when I saw the caller ID.
“Sam,” I said in clipped tones. “What do you have for me?”
“You�
��ve been busy,” she replied drily. “I’ve been tracking your movements. I thought you were running surveillance, not infiltrating locations with a pattern of drug dealing.”
Fuck. I’d forgotten about the damn tracking device she’d insisted I wear in the inner lining of my jacket.
“Did you call to scold me or because you have new intel?” I growled.
“I’m not scolding you. I’m worried about you.” She sighed. “But yes, I do have something for you. I checked the CCTV cameras around Aqua Lounge. They were still live fifteen minutes before the bust. I have footage of three of Moreno’s suspected associates entering the club. So then I backtracked, following their movements through traffic cams to see where they were before they came to the club. They all left a townhouse at eight fifty-three PM before heading to Aqua Lounge.”
“What’s the address?” I demanded, throwing my car into gear and preparing to track the men down.
“You can go there if you want, but Natalie’s not there anymore,” Sam replied.
“Anymore? You mean she was there earlier?”
“So after I found the location, I checked traffic cams in the timeframe after we busted Aqua Lounge. A black van arrived at ten forty-six. Natalie and the men got out and went into the townhouse. She left seventeen minutes later.”
“Where did she go?” I ground out, eager to have a direction so I could start closing the distance between us.
“I followed the van to another townhouse several blocks away. She went in at eleven eighteen and hasn’t come back out.”
I glanced at the clock on the dashboard: three forty-one AM. Natalie would be sleeping. That would make my task easier. She wouldn’t get the upper hand if I caught her by surprise. She wouldn’t escape me again.
“Give me the address,” I ordered.
Sam complied, and I slammed down on the gas as I sped in that direction.
“What are you going to do?” Sam asked. “Should I tell Parkinson you’re bringing Natalie into the field office?”
“No,” I snarled at the idea of Parkinson knowing Natalie was alive and within my reach. “I won’t have anyone at the Bureau coming near her. They left her for dead five years ago. And I have no idea what she’s been doing all this time. I need answers.”
“You’re not…” Sam began hesitantly. “You’re not going to hurt her, are you?”
“Why would you even ask me that?” I demanded, my fury rising. Of course I’d never harm Natalie. I had plans for interrogating her if she proved reticent, but none of them involved her in pain.
“You seem… I don’t know. Kind of crazy. And definitely angry.”
“Of course I’m angry!” I burst out.
I took a deep breath, struggling to calm myself. If Sam decided I couldn’t handle this, she’d turn everything over to Parkinson. It was a small miracle that she hadn’t done so already. I wasn’t sure exactly why she was helping me behind the Director’s back, but I didn’t have time to puzzle over it. All I could think about was getting to Natalie. Now, I was only minutes away from her.
“Parkinson let me think Natalie was dead all this time,” I said, more calmly. “I can’t trust her to know anything about this. I won’t have the Bureau getting their hands on her, especially when I don’t know why she was with the Colombians. If the Bureau suspects she’s involved with Moreno, she won’t be treated gently. Once I have more information, I can decide how to move forward.”
“All right,” Sam said after a moment of hesitation. “I get it. I do. I know what losing her did to you.”
I grimaced. I’d briefly forgotten that the curious little geek had hacked into my psychologist’s files and read up on all of my darkest secrets. Maybe it was a sense of guilt over that violation of trust that was causing her to help me now. Or maybe she really did care about reuniting me with Natalie, knowing how her supposed death had destroyed me. After losing Dex to another woman, Sam knew the pain of heartbreak. Even if the man she loved was still alive, he was out of her reach. That pain bound Sam and me in a way I’d never have thought possible. Now, I was grateful for it. I would need a friend in the Bureau in the coming days, and Sam was one of the most intelligent agents I’d ever known.
“But you have to promise you’ll keep me updated on what’s going on,” Sam continued in an uncharacteristically stern tone. “If you’re not bringing Natalie to the field office, where are you going to take her?”
“My apartment,” I replied. “The place where she’s staying might be compromised if Moreno’s people know where to find her. I don’t want any nasty surprises.”
“And how will you convince her to come with you? She attacked you before. She might again.”
“You let me worry about that,” I said grimly. I had a plan in place. Natalie wouldn’t escape me again. “I want you to cut the feeds on the CCTV around where she’s staying, and I want you to erase any footage you’ve found of her in the city.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I don’t want Parkinson to have anything on her.”
And because I don’t want a record of what I’m going to do.
“Okay,” she agreed. “But swear to me that you’ll call me tomorrow with an update.”
“I will,” I promised. I had no choice but to trust Sam. I needed her to stay on my side, or she might betray me to Parkinson. “In the meantime, I want you to keep looking into Natalie’s ties to Moreno. I want to know what she was doing with his men and where the fuck she’s been for the last five years.”
“I’m on it,” she confirmed. “I’ll update you when you check in with me.” It was a subtle threat; she was implying that she’d withhold any information she found if I didn’t keep contact with her. The shy little mouse was bolder than I’d thought.
“Fine,” I agreed and ended the call. I was nearly at my destination, and I didn’t want to waste any time finishing off a conversation with Sam when I could be getting to Natalie.
I pulled up onto the curb directly in front of the address Sam had given me. I needed to be able to move from the townhouse back to my sedan as fast as possible. I planned to subdue Natalie, and I didn’t want to be seen. Although considering the time, it was unlikely anyone would be around to see me.
As I crossed the sidewalk to the front stoop, I rested my hand on the gun holstered at my side. I’d made sure to gather a few provisions from the Bureau before I’d started my hunt. Natalie wasn’t going to slip through my fingers again.
There was no point knocking. Natalie was well trained enough that she wouldn’t open the door for anyone at this hour. And picking the lock would only give her time to plan a counterattack when I managed to get in; she’d recognize the scrape of a pick in the lock, even if she was sleeping.
I took a deep breath and then launched into action. I kicked the door open, the wood splintering as it gave way. Natalie barely made a sound as she scrambled out of bed to meet the threat I posed, but I caught her gasp before she fell silent.
I didn’t allow her time to gather her wits. Or a weapon.
I headed straight in the direction of the soft sound she’d made, speeding down the short corridor before shoving my way into a darkened bedroom. Natalie’s silhouette raced toward me, framed by the streetlight that glowed through the drawn blinds.
I fired the gun.
She didn’t slow. Her body collided with mine, forcing me back a step as her weight barreled into me.
I didn’t meet her with aggression. I simply wrapped my arms around her and waited for the tranquilizer to take effect. She jerked and writhed, struggling in the cage of my arms.
“Jason,” she slurred my name as she softened against me. I wished it was because she didn’t want to fight me, but I knew it was the drugs settling into her system.
“I’ve got you,” I murmured as she sagged in my arms. I wasn’t sure if it was a statement of reassurance or dark triumph.
Part III
Reunion
Chapter 20
Natalie
Fear surfaced along with consciousness. Awareness that I was bound hit me like a blow to the chest. I could feel the supple leather around my wrists and ankles, trapping me in place for torment.
Bound. Helpless. Tortured.
Pleasure. Pain.
Fear.
A low, horrified moan left my lips, but I didn’t fight the restraints. I’d given up fighting a long time ago. I was powerless to break free. The acceptance was almost as terrifying as the sensation of being trapped.
A large, warm hand cupped my cheek in a soothing gesture.
Alex.
I choked on a sob and began to tremble. I both craved and dreaded that touch. It meant the torment was over, but my secret desire for the comforting contact made my stomach turn.
“Look at me,” he commanded. “Open your eyes, Natalie.”
I didn’t dare disobey a direct order. I opened my eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. Bright green eyes stared down at me.
Green eyes. Not gold.
“Jason?” His name shook as it left my lips.
His fingers sank into my hair, running through the silken strands in an achingly familiar motion.
“I’m here,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”
I’ve got you. Those words were the last thing I remembered before the drugs pulled me under and I passed out in his arms.
I started to tremble again as panic spiked through my system.
I had to get away from Jason. He wasn’t safe with me.
I looked around wildly, searching for a way out. I was in a utilitarian bedroom, a place devoid of decoration or personality. There was a single chest of drawers and a nightstand beside the massive iron four-poster bed. I lay on the mattress, my body spread out. Leather cuffs encircled my wrists and ankles, anchored to the bedposts by thick chains.
My breath came in short, shallow gasps.
I was trapped. I couldn’t fight my way out. I couldn’t put distance between me and Jason.