Harlequin Intrigue November 2013 - Bundle 2 of 2

by Carla Cassidy

  “You don’t have to tell me stories.” She smacked her hand against his hard stomach. “I’ve seen you in action, Loki. I’m a believer.”

  “Good. Then you’re going to trust me now on how this is going to go down.” He kissed the side of her head and pulled open the door of the lobby.

  She stiffened and blocked his entrance to the hotel. “I don’t like the sound of that. Why are you already warning me to trust you?”

  Reaching over her head, he pushed open the door. “Let’s get back to the room first.”

  When they got to their room, Deb rounded on him. “What are you planning to do?”

  “Now that we have the plans and know where Zendaris is keeping Bobby?” He aimed his fingers into a gun and shot at her. “Bring in the reinforcements.”

  “Reinforcements?”

  He yanked his cell phone from its charger and turned it on.

  “Th-they might ping you and discover our location.”

  “Ping away. I’ve already given them our location.”

  “What? You’re bringing in Prospero?”

  “Specifically, Team Three—Cade Stark, J.D. and Gage Booker.”

  “You already contacted them?”

  “Before our fake fire alarm and they’re all on their way.”

  She sank to the edge of the bed. “What if Zendaris finds out?”

  “How’s he going to find out? This is Team Three we’re talking about here. I don’t know why you didn’t trust them to begin with, Deb. Those guys have your back. They knew you hadn’t turned.” He typed a message on his phone. “I’m giving them the warehouse location now.”

  Fear and uncertainty swirled through her body, pumping up her adrenaline. “Unless they’re lying. What if they just said that and instead they’re on their way to bring me down?”

  The bed dipped as he sat beside her and took her fidgeting hands in his. “Not everyone is out to bring you down. Look at Robert. You probably wondered what some old ex-marine wanted with a teenage girl he’d caught stealing from him. And all he wanted was to help you. I didn’t even know Bobby was my son when I’d decided to help you. Team Three, those guys are your brothers. Let them help you, too.”

  “It’s just—” she gripped his hands and fought the tears “—I’ve been doing it on my own for so long.”

  “You don’t have to. Your brothers in arms are on the way, ready and willing to do anything to get Bobby back. And I’m here, ready and willing to be a father to Bobby—and more if you want it.”

  Her heart jumped, but she dared not look at his face. Did he mean he’d stick around? Want to be a family? Or had he said that to shore up her courage for the battle ahead?

  She’d take it for now.

  She dragged in a breath. “Where are they going to be?”

  “We’re not going to meet anywhere. We’re doing this by secure text. I’ll wait for their responses, but they’ll probably move in and do surveillance on the warehouse before any meeting Zendaris sets up. We need to make sure Bobby’s physically located at the property first. If they go in there with guns blazing and Bobby’s not there, we’ll tip Zendaris’s hand.”

  “This is really happening.” She jumped up from the bed and paced the room. “Where are they now?”

  “J.D. was coming in from Colorado, Gage from Texas and Cade from Europe. Given the time zones and the fact they’re all coming in on private jets, they should be here soon.”

  “And Jack? Does Jack Coburn know?”

  “He knows.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” She folded her arms and wedged a shoulder against the wall.

  “I didn’t want to worry you and I wasn’t sure what role they could play, but as long as we had the plans I figured they had a right to know.”

  “I don’t know whether to feel betrayed or happy.”

  “That’s kind of how I felt when you told me about Bobby.”

  The pulse in her throat throbbed. “I never meant to betray you, Beau. I did it to protect myself, and yeah, because I didn’t trust that you’d be there for Bobby.”

  He crossed the room to her slowly, his gaze never leaving her face, their electric connection as strong as it was the night their eyes first met at that bar in Zurich.

  When he reached her, he curled one arm around her waist and cupped the back of her head with the other. “Woman, I know why you did it and it still pisses me off. But, God help me, it’s not enough to make me give you up.”

  His kiss weakened her knees, and she had to cling to his neck so she wouldn’t melt at his feet. His lips slid from her mouth and touched her cheeks, nose and eyes. As they hovered near her mouth again, she whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

  He ended her apology by sealing his lips over hers.

  For the next hour, they communicated back and forth with Prospero Team Three. The three of them were on their way to Crosstown with enough ammunition and supplies to start a second revolution.

  Beau assured them he’d let them know as soon as Zendaris set up the meeting. They agreed that if they got confirmation of Bobby’s presence in the warehouse, they’d move in.

  “I’m hoping that’s the case. I really have no desire to meet Zendaris face-to-face.” She toyed with the edge of the room service menu. “D-do you think even if they saw Bobby, they’d wait for the meeting so they could nail Zendaris, too?”

  “I think—” he smoothed his thumb across the back of her hand “—they will do whatever it takes to secure Bobby and deal with Zendaris later. At least we have the anti-drone plans.”

  She shook her head to clear it of doubts. “You’re right. You know, I joined the team later. One of the original members died on assignment. Jack replaced him with me. As the only woman, I always felt a little on the outside.”

  “Their actions today will forever prove that false.” He picked up the menu. “Is it just me, or did we totally forget to eat?”

  “Between fake fire drills and stuffing a fake fireman into our trunk and inviting the cavalry out to the rescue, yeah, I think we’ve been a little too busy to think about food.”

  “I’m usually never too busy to think about food.” He leaned over and kissed her mouth. “Or other things.”

  She snatched the menu out of his hands. “When you talk like that, it makes me believe all the stories about Loki, including the ones I’d rather not think about.”

  “Totally exaggerated. Now let’s order some room service.”

  “Ugh, can we go down to the restaurant to eat?”

  “It’s the same food. Are you getting tired of looking at my face?”

  She trailed her fingers across his stubbled jaw. “Never, but now that Damon is safely in my trunk, it would be nice to get out of this room and sit at a table.”

  They sat across from each other in the hotel restaurant, and Beau picked up his sandwich. “Same sandwich I would’ve gotten upstairs.”

  “But we get the added bonus of listening to the couple arguing at that table and the toddler throwing his food at that one.”

  Beau scratched his jaw. “Does Bobby do that?”

  “Occasionally.”

  The phone buzzed and Deb dropped her fork. This is it.

  “It’s a phone call.”

  “Answer it and tell him to call you back in five minutes.” Beau waved for the check and stuffed two French fries in his mouth.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you have the plans?”

  “Yes. Can you call me back in five minutes so I can have some privacy?”

  He clicked his tongue. “You mean you’re not holed up in your hotel room crying your eyes out?”

  No, I’m working on double-crossing you.

  “Five minutes.”

  Beau tossed some bills on the table. “Did he
ask you about the plans?”

  “I told him I had them.”

  They rushed back upstairs and just as Deb stepped inside the room, the phone rang. She answered and put it on speaker.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Meet me at the Central T stop on the Red Line. You’ll be picked up and taken to your son where we’ll make the exchange.”

  Deb laughed but it came out more like a snort through her dry mouth. “Do you think I’m stupid? You’ll have me picked up and killed while you steal the plans. No, thanks. Next.”

  Zendaris sighed. “You really need to work on your trust issues, Agent Sinclair. If I tell you where Bobby is first, who’s to say you won’t enlist some help? You see, I have trust issues, too.”

  She rolled her eyes at Beau. “I can drive to the T stop, and you can have me followed to make sure I’m on my own. I’m not playing games. I have the plans and I want my son back.”

  “I think I can work with that. But we’ll leave a car for you, so we can make sure there’s no tracking device on it. And you’ll be following another car to the location, so you’re not getting the address in advance. If we pick up any tail on you, it’s over.”

  “I’m bringing my weapon. So there’d better not be any funny business when I pick up the car or follow the other car.”

  “I think two distrustful people just worked out a deal. Be at the T station at nine o’clock tonight.”

  Zendaris ended the call, and all of Deb’s strength evaporated. She sat on the floor, the phone cradled limply in her palm.

  “You did it.” Beau pulled her to her feet and swung her around. “The terms are great.”

  She finally got her mouth working. “Where will you be?”

  “I’ll be waiting at the warehouse. We’ll all be there, waiting for you, Deb.”

  Covering her face with her hands, she murmured, “I’m scared. I’m scared for Bobby.”

  “I am, too, but this is our best chance.”

  She parted her fingers. “You’re scared, too?”

  “Damn right. I’m scared I’m never going to get the chance to meet my boy. I’m scared I’m going to lose you. I’m scared that the great Loki can’t live up to his reputation.”

  She threw her arms around his broad shoulders. This wasn’t just about her anymore. This man deserved a chance with his son, the son she’d denied him for two years.

  “Don’t be scared, Loki. We can do this.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Deb was the luckiest woman alive.

  Beau surveyed the cache of weapons and explosives and equipment that Team Three had arrayed before him on the floor of the abandoned warehouse. These guys meant business.

  They’d secured the abandoned warehouse on the same property as Zendaris’s, coming in under the guise of a food truck making a delivery. Even if anyone at Zendaris’s warehouse had seen the truck coming in, they’d put it down to commercial activity involving the food bank in the area. Plenty of food service warehouses crouched in the shadow of the Suffolk County Jail.

  Not the safest place to keep a kid—unless the kid wasn’t yours and you didn’t give a damn about his health or safety.

  He’d hated leaving Deb at the hotel to make her way to the Central T station alone, but she was no wilting flower. She had a weapon and she knew how to use it.

  His place was here with her support team, and what a team it was. How could she ever have doubted these guys for a minute?

  “You ever work much with explosives, Loki?” J.D. shook his head. “I mean, Slater?”

  “Some. My style is more stealth.”

  J.D. patted the cheek of Gage Booker, the senator’s son, and said, “We don’t let Gage here get too close. He doesn’t want to damage his pretty face.”

  Gage laughed. “You’re the one who needs to watch out, J.D. It’s your wedding coming up.”

  “Yeah, maybe I’d better go wait in the truck.”

  Cade Stark kicked up his feet on a crate while he loaded ammunition into his gun. “We haven’t caught a glimpse of Deb’s son yet. Make sure she realizes that when this is all over. It’s not about nailing Zendaris. It’s about rescuing her son.”

  “He’s my son, too.”

  Silence settled over the small office space.

  J.D. broke it with a whistle, and Booker coughed. “Zurich?”

  “She told you?”

  Booker held up his hands. “She told me she’d met you while on assignment out there, but the hotel during that time was like a spy convention. I never put two and two together when Deb announced her pregnancy.”

  Stark said, “Deb’s on the private side. Zendaris tried this same scheme with my son. That’s why he and my wife are in Europe right now. I want nothing more than to bring this SOB down, but your boy comes first.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  Booker caressed the scope on a high-powered rifle. “You told her to get them outside, right?”

  “Yeah. Zendaris knows she’s skittish and even agreed to let her bring her weapon, but he’ll make her give that up. She can trade her weapon for the concession of meeting outside.”

  J.D. checked his watch. “Gentlemen, I believe it’s time we took up our positions.”

  Booker had the sniper’s position on an opposing warehouse’s rooftop. J.D. would also be on top of a warehouse with several mobile explosive devices. Stark had the peripheral area covered for any incoming personnel and to stop Zendaris’s escape, if it came to that.

  And Beau planned to be as close to Deb and Bobby as he could possibly be in case anything went wrong and to follow the action. He’d never admitted fear to anyone like he had to Deb this afternoon in the hotel. She had such an exalted image of the great Loki, he’d almost convinced himself that she’d turn away from him in disgust once he’d revealed how scared he was.

  She hadn’t.

  Beau slipped out of the warehouse into the cloudy night. A storm was brewing for tomorrow, but for tonight at least they didn’t have to battle the elements. One battle was enough.

  He crept along the side of the abandoned warehouse. Zendaris’s people wouldn’t be expecting anyone to be in the area. The deliveries had died down by five o’clock. A couple of workers from the food bank had wandered over to check on some supplies, but there had been no activity since.

  Zendaris’s warehouse was a hulking shape backed up to a chain-link fence. Beau dropped to his belly and crawled toward a foul-smelling Dumpster several yards from the warehouse door.

  And waited.

  * * *

  DEB’S CLAMMY HANDS had almost slipped off the steering wheel several times during the drive, especially when she thought her guide was veering in a different direction from Crosstown. Now as she followed him through the gates of the warehouse area, she let out a pent-up breath.

  Her gaze darted among the dark shapes that littered the property. Could her Team Three coworkers already be here? Brothers, Beau had called them—brothers in arms. If they were truly here, she’d never doubt them again.

  Of course, she was leading them right to Zendaris and the anti-drone plans—something all of them thirsted for.

  The car ahead of her parked in front of a windowless warehouse and she gulped. Was that where they’d been holding Bobby? She pulled in behind her escort. She left the plans on the seat of the car and scrambled from the front seat, clutching her weapon.

  A pair of lights on the outside of the warehouse came on, bathing the pavement with a yellow glow. Good. They couldn’t claim it was too dark to stay outside.

  Stay outside. That’s what Beau had told her to do.

  The driver of the car didn’t say a word. He stood beside the warehouse with his arms crossed. Had he taken Damon’s job? Had Zendaris wondered what had happened to
Damon?

  He was probably being interviewed by a CIA agent about now. Beau had abandoned the car with Damon in the trunk somewhere out near Roxbury and gave the tip to Jack. In a gesture of good faith, Jack would let the CIA have a crack at Damon first.

  Another car roared through the gates, cutting its lights. Deb jerked back as the car swerved next to hers.

  A bald man jumped from the driver’s seat and opened the back door of the black sedan. A slim man of medium height emerged, straightening the cuffs of his jacket. Deb could smell Armani.

  He adjusted his dark sunglasses, tipped the brim of his fedora and smiled. “Agent Sinclair. May I call you Deb? I feel like we have such a connection.”

  “I feel like I have a bad taste in my mouth that I can’t spit out.” She raised her weapon.

  He chuckled. “I have to admit, I like my women...softer, but you’d be a handful in bed. Guess you weren’t that good if the father of your child abandoned you. You know a lot about abandonment, don’t you, Deb? Just think, if circumstances had turned out differently and that old marine hadn’t turned your life around, you could’ve had a job with me.”

  He’d picked the wrong tactics to use with her. Insults only made her stronger, fiercer. If he liked his women soft—he was gonna hate her.

  “Where’s my son, you slimy piece of excrement?”

  “Where are my plans, you bitch?”

  “I have the plans, but you’re not getting them or my gun until I see my son, bitch.”

  He swept his arm forward. “He’s inside. I’ll take you to him, and you can bring the plans with you. Once I verify their veracity, I’ll give you your bratty sick kid.”

  “No. I’m not walking into a trap.” She waved her gun. “Bring him out here, to me. I’ll secure him in the car and give you the plans.”

  He caressed his chin as if he had a pointed beard on the end of it—like the devil. He’d sent imposters in his place before, but she was confronting the real Zendaris. She could smell it.

  He snapped his fingers at the man by the warehouse door.

  To Deb’s relief, the flunky turned and unlocked the door. The warehouse swallowed him up and then spit him back out several minutes later. In his wake, an older black man was carrying Bobby in his arms. He must’ve been the one who’d impersonated Robert.