"They sure don't," Maia murmured as she took a sip of her cosmopolitan.
The emcee started the program for the evening by welcoming the attendees from different countries. The show was kicked off by an energetic dance number followed by a set from a popular female soloist. Then there was a break for a raffle draw, a typical event at such conferences. Maia was getting restless. She felt a knot in her stomach wondering how she would react to seeing Lee again.
"And now, for our main attraction tonight let me present to you Baltimore's local pride, Ezra Crows!"
There was thunderous applause, whistles and cheering. Obviously, the crowd was pumped up for tonight's headliner.
The dimmed lights on stage were turned up suddenly to reveal the band. The crowd went wild. It was then Maia saw him.
Lee Isaac. He was wearing a white t-shirt, low-waisted torn jeans and biker boots. His dark brown hair, which was longer than she remembered, brushed his shoulders. He was as beautiful as ever. He was tall, about 6'1", and lean and lanky, a typical rock star build. The young female fans who were gathered right in front of the stage were screaming so loud, Maia thought some of them were going to faint.
Ezra Crows started their set with one of their energetic rock numbers. The band immediately followed this with a slow ballad. Lee still had the voice of an angel and it had not lost the power to hold her enthralled. As the song reached its chorus, Maia realized belatedly that it was the same piece of music he had been working on during one of their vacations together. It felt bittersweet to be listening to it now. She closed her eyes as she recalled that day on the beach. He was having a blast writing it, scribbling, singing a few lines, both of them laughing when it didn't sound right. Maia's eyes shot open when she heard him suddenly stumbling over the lyrics. Her heart caught in her throat when she saw his shocked brown eyes focus on her before turning away from the crowd to concentrate on strumming his guitar in his attempt to regain his composure. His band mates were frowning at him. When he turned back to face the audience, he started singing flawlessly again. He was fighting the urge to look in her direction, but in the end he only had eyes for her.
After his set, Maia wanted to flee. That voice, that voice had unlocked a hum of emotions and memories that threatened to overwhelm her. She decided to head for the bar to get another drink. Apparently everyone else had the same idea so even with three bars set up in the ballroom, it was three people deep by the time she got there.
Would he look for her? Should she have waited for him like a groupie beside the stage? What if he hated her?
Maia finally placed her order for a dirty martini after waiting for twenty minutes. A hand clamped down on her left arm and she was spun around and yanked into a hard chest.
Lee. He had changed his shirt but his longish hair was still curling from sweat.
"Maia?" his voice was hoarse.
Oh shit.
"Hi Lee."
His mouth tightened. He turned on his heels and dragged her along the length of the ballroom, not caring if he created a scene. His long rapid strides making it difficult for her stiletto heels to keep up with him.
"Lee, what the hell, slow down!"
They were behind the stage now and Lee pushed her into a dimly lit corner. Without saying a word his lips came down hard on hers in an angry, angst-filled kiss. His tongue invaded her mouth ruthlessly, fiercely tangling with hers. When his hand went under her skirt to palm her ass to bring her closer to him, Maia stiffened and dragged her lips away.
"Lee, stop it," she hissed.
Lee cradled her face with both hands, using his thumbs to force her to look up into his emerald eyes that were glittering with a mixture of anger and hurt. "You left me like a parched man in the desert. Disappear for five years ... I'm damn well having my fill of you!"
He kissed her again but this time it was more gentle, coaxing. Maia responded tentatively. Lee's kisses were great, but she was acutely aware that she was not reacting the way she once would have. And definitely not the way she did with Jack. Lee groaned into her neck, clearly aroused as his hardness started pushing into her belly. Shit, she needed to do something before she got fucked by the side of the stage like some groupie. He loosened the wrapped dress and trailed kisses down her neck.
"Are you staying in this hotel?" Lee whispered huskily.
"Um ... yes."
"Let's go to your room."
"No, Lee. I don't think that's a good idea," Maia said as she firmly pushed him away. "I'm here for the medical conference not you. I'm not one of your groupies."
Lee cursed and dragged his fingers through his long hair as he regarded her closely while she attempted to straighten her dress. He seemed to come to something of a resolution. "Wanna go get a drink and catch up?" he asked sheepishly in his trademark boyish charm.
"Now that I can do." Maia smiled up at him.
"God, you're as beautiful as ever," he said kissing her forehead as he entwined his fingers with hers and tugged her beside him. Together they walked across the expanse of the ballroom, fingers laced together and oblivious of curious stares around them.
***
Rick Grayson parked in front of what looked like an abandoned house in Ellwood Park. He had a tail from the DEA but they pulled up discreetly a couple of blocks up. He did not bother to wear a tracking device either, not wanting to risk raising any red flags when they did a scan on him. Picking up his briefcase with his laptop he walked up the worn-out porch steps and the door opened before he had even knocked.
The two guards from the convention center led him to a room where they ran a metal detector up and down his body. They inspected his briefcase with some electronic scanner to detect tracking devices.
"Where's Colt?" Rick attempted to make conversation.
"He's elsewhere," one of the men answered tersely.
Rick did a scan of the dilapidated structure. It was apparent that the drugs were kept elsewhere and that this location was just used as a checkpoint.
"Let's go."
The two men flanked him as they led him to the back of the house where there was a waiting vehicle. The driver already had the engine running. One of the guys got in the back seat with Rick, while the other got into the front passenger seat.
Without warning, the guy beside him put a hood over his head.
Damn. He had been hoping that he wouldn't have to wear one of these. When the car started moving, Rick concentrated hard on correlating the speed of the car, the elapsed-time and direction of the turns made. They traveled about five minutes before the car pulled up and stopped.
Rick was told to step out, still hooded as he was led up a short flight of steps. A door slid open before him as he was prodded through and led a further short distance before being relieved of the hood.
Rick blinked a couple of times and took in his surroundings. He determined that he was in a warehouse given the industrial-looking walls and ceilings of the room he was taken to. In front of him stood a tall, blonde man.
Sergei Reznikov in the flesh.
"Welcome Mr. Redmond. I trust my men treated you cordially."
"They did. May I?" Rick said as he gestured to his laptop. The Russian nodded and he fired up his computer. The sooner he got this deal done the better.
"Account number?"
Sergei rattled out the numbers while eyeing his own computer. Rick observed fifteen suitcases stacked up behind Reznikov. That was $22.5 million right there, and God knows if that was only for tonight's take.
A cell phone rang somewhere. Reznikov's henchman walked in swiftly and handed the Russian the phone. Sergei's face was blank as he listened to the caller.
"Are you sure?" the Russian asked softly but menace laced his voice. "Take care of it."
Sergei handed the phone back to his man and walked behind Rick. Rick went on alert.
He heard a gun cocked behind him and a cold muzzle nudged behind his skull.
Fuck!
"Would you explain to me, Mr. Redmond,
how two DEA agents were found not too far from the address we gave you?"
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"We took care of them of course."
"I have no idea," Rick replied in a steady voice while feigning surprise. "Are you sure you have no spies in your network. Where is Colt?"
"Colt was the one who took down those agents. I employ very reliable men, and Colt is one of my best."
"Look, I don't know what's going on," Rick hedged as he turned and looked Reznikov right in the eye. "Someone obviously tipped off the DEA. Maybe one of your other clients, because it damn well wasn't me."
Reznikov lowered his gun and Rick nearly exhaled in relief. Instead he regulated his nerves even if his instincts were screaming for him to get the hell out of there. He barely noticed the Russian nod to someone behind him before he felt a blunt blow to the back of his head before everything went dark.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lee pushed Maia gently into the door frame of her hotel room, his lips descending purposefully, lightly brushing against hers before pulling back.
"Sorry, I can't help it," Lee said, a corner of his mouth tilting up in a half-grin.
They had had a heart-to-heart talk over a few drinks at the hotel bistro. Lee admitted to being a mess during the first few months after Maia had left him but he had channeled all his anger and heartbreak into his music and his band had actually become very successful after that. He had tried to get into a committed relationship three years before but that had fizzled out in nine months.
"See, you probably would have gotten tired of me the same way," Maia said.
Lee reached his hand up and stroke her face with the back of his fingers. "Princess, somehow I doubt that. What I felt for Yvonne was nothing compared to what I felt for you. I wanted to marry you to keep you."
Maia felt her face flush uncomfortably before lowering her eyes. "I'm not the marrying kind, Lee."
He sighed. "I should hate you. You give me pieces of you when I want it all. All I've ever wanted to do was take care of you, be with you, but I feel like you're holding on to a part of you that you wouldn't let anyone see. Has someone hurt you, Maia?"
Maia did not answer him, instead keeping the topic on his band and their rise to fame and how they became popular in Baltimore. She decided not to encourage interest from Lee. Reznikov obviously knew she was in town; besides Lee and she had made a spectacular scene at the gala before spending time together at the lounge. There was no question she was on radar now. There was no further reason for her to play with his feelings.
"I'm really glad that we were able to clear the air. You were kinda unfinished business for me," Maia told him.
Lee winced and said, "Are we, Princess? Are we really finished?"
Maia immediately thought of Jack. How he had, in a week, managed to infiltrate her defenses more than any other man had ever done.
"Nothing's gonna come out of this. I don't want to hurt you."
Lee nodded, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Maia's heart ached for him and she reached out to take his hands in hers. "We had so many good times. Let's just remember that."
He smile was bittersweet. "Making love to you on the beach was an incredible experience, Maia. One of the best."
Okaaaay, no more trips down memory lane, Maia thought as she started feeling an inkling of guilt.
He had insisted on escorting her back to her room. Maia had hesitated, worried how Jack would react, but as soon as the thought came up she quickly quelled it and berated herself for letting her feelings for him make her second-guess her actions. Jack could just suck it up.
After that gentle kiss, Lee groaned, burying his face in her hair and pulling her close. "Damn it, I don't want to let you go."
"Lee ..."
"Let's spend the weekend together."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
Lee pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers. "Would you at least see me tomorrow at Addison Hall. We're playing a set at 9 pm."
"I had planned to go anyway."
Lee smiled down at her. "See you tomorrow night then, Princess."
"Princess?" Jack scoffed irritably on the phone. He called Maia the minute she stepped into her room.
"I'm in no mood, Jack," Maia retorted.
Good, Jack fumed. Because he was in a terrible mood. He had observed them in the lounge, but since there was no audio he could only imagine what they were talking about. The fact that rocker boy had escorted Maia back to her hotel room had him all wound up in anticipatory dread. If Lee Isaac thought, for one minute, that he would be able to cross that threshold into Maia's hotel room, he was in for a rude awakening, because Jack had every intention of crashing in and throwing him out.
"He's lucky he didn't try anything else. What were you two chatting about for almost two hours?"
"What, you didn't have the lounge bugged?"
"There were cameras, no audio. So?"
Maia sighed irritably. "I don't have time to soothe your ego."
Jack was thankful Derek couldn't hear Maia's side of the conversation. He was behaving like an insecure pimply-faced high school boy who had been lucky enough to date the prom queen. But again he'd never had any real competition when it came to women. He was rich and attractive, and he'd never had to feel insecure until now. Rock stars have the reputation of attracting hordes of groupies and judging from the crowds of screaming women almost prostrate at his feet, Lee was no exception. Even if it was an expected play, watching Lee kissing his woman was enough to make him want to jump out of his skin.
Jack tried a different tactic. "Sorry, babe. I just missed you today."
"Your surveillance cameras were on my ass all day."
Jack chuckled. "Not the same, babe. Maybe I can come by tonight for a nightcap."
Derek interjected, "Hey, I thought we were doing that together."
"Your shift is over?" Maia asked absently.
"Yes, Scott's turning controls over to our replacements. We'll resume tomorrow afternoon."
"I can't believe you've sat all day watching the cameras," Maia said. "Don't you have a company to run?"
"I have to go to New Park on Tuesday. But I can do the rest remotely. With Thanksgiving around the corner, not a lot of people have their mind set on work. So how about me coming to your room?"
Derek gave a snort while Jack shot him a "shut up" look.
"Can't tonight."
Jack frowned. That was Maia's evasive tone. He could always call her on her bullshit. He heard clothes rustling and drawers slamming like she was rushing to go somewhere, not winding down for the night.
"Why?"
"Jack, not now. I have to be somewhere."
There it was.
"Where are you going?" Jack asked, his voice rising with each word. Derek sat on alert beside him.
"I'm going to be late. Follow me on surveillance if you have to, but do not delay me any further."
The line went dead.
"Damn you, Maia," Jack cursed as he shoved the phone into his back pocket.
"She just left her room," Derek said. The surveillance van was very crowded with five people crammed in it. Two guys from AGS were taking over duties for the night and through the morning. They all watched Maia get into an elevator and punch the button for the basement garage.
"Where the hell is she going?" Jack asked no one in particular. He whipped out his phone and hit the button to call her. It went directly to voicemail.
One of the guys had already brought up the cameras to the basement and the area directly in front of the elevator. A black van similar to their surveillance one was parked waiting for her.
"It's one of our comm vans, she's fine," their AGS replacement said.
"The fuck she's fine. Why would she get into one?"
The two new guys looked at each other knowingly and said nothing. Jack wanted to knock their heads together. He knew exactly what they were thinking. The black van carrying Maia started to drive out of the garage.
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"Jack," Derek's voice was amused and grave at the same time. "Obviously, our girl didn't want you nosing into this particular phone conversation. My bet is, it's a different mission and a very delicate one. Leave it be for now. Maia will share if there is no danger to the client."
Jack was beginning to get an idea of what Mike Callahan had gone through. He needed to remind himself that this was Maia's job and stop behaving like an overprotective lunatic every time she decided to do something off the playbook. He could get her hurt or even worse killed.
"I need a drink," Jack muttered. Derek clapped him on the back. "Let's go buddy. You'll feel better after some whiskey."
***
"It's good to hear from you again, Agent Pierce," Alexsey Volynksy said through the secure line. As Maia guessed, the number in Germany was simply a relay, and Volynksy was still in Russian territory.
"I was pleased you contacted me," Maia replied. "Everyone was wondering where you were after I freed you from Reznikov's dungeons."
Alexsey went on to describe how he had found out that his cousin, Mikhail Gavlik, had planned to free him from Reznikov only to force him to sign over his family's controlling shares in their pharmaceutical company so Gavlik could have complete dominion. Volynksy had been able to get most of his family and relatives out of Russia.
"Your cousin is manufacturing illegal drugs."
"The Rave-IX. I know. I am embarrassed that it has come to this."
"Why contact me?"
"There is a faction sympathetic to my cause and the Volynsky family. They want to restore me to control but the journey to their stronghold is a perilous one. They will have a team of private soldiers to protect me, but I am very uneasy. I need someone I can trust, and that someone is you."
Maia turned wary. "What are you saying?"
"The pieces are falling into place. We should be ready by early January. Would that be enough time to clear your schedule and come get me?"
Maia shook her head. She did not want to step foot in Russia again, she had nearly been whacked the last time she had been there and here was Volynsky asking her to come get him as though she was simply picking up a relative from the airport.
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