Terms of Engagement

by Kylie Brant

  Like the message she’d left on Niko’s machine.

  It had been simple enough to record after the robotic voice’s invitation. Not like talking to the man at all. And she’d been carefully coached by the detectives on what to say. How to sound. They’d walked her through every step of the conversation she’d have with him when he returned her call.

  But it was the waiting for the call that was excruciating. And somehow she knew that was exactly the way Niko had planned it.

  Lindsay dreamed of Wisconsin. The rolling green hills punctuated with trees. The acres of pasture surrounding the farm, dotted with black-and-white cows. The trim, old-fashioned barn, freshly painted. Gravel roads ribboning through the countryside. Postcard perfect.

  But shadows moved over the scene. A pulsing, breathing menace that punctured the peace. The roads swelled. Darkened. She saw them froth and bubble, angry rivers of blood slashing through the hills. Covering the livestock. The grass. The buildings. It rose and built until it carried away everything that belonged there. She saw her family swimming feebly against the tide of it, and screamed silently. Struggled to reach them. But she couldn’t move. The wall of blood held her stationary even as it carried away everything she cared about. And all she could do was struggle and scream and scream and scream…

  She woke with a gasp, sitting upright in bed, her breath heaving out of her lungs as if she’d uttered those screams that had been trapped inside her. Swiping a hand over her face, she discovered her cheeks were damp. It had seemed so real…

  The cell phone next to her bed shrilled and her attention jerked toward it. That’s what had awakened her. Pulled her from one nightmare into the real thing.

  “Wait.”

  Jack was standing in the doorway, wearing only a pair of hastily donned jeans that he hadn’t bothered to fasten. As the cell rang again he flipped on the hallway light and called downstairs. “You ready?”

  “Give me a minute,” came a disembodied voice. Then after the next ring, “Okay. Go.”

  Lindsay reached for the trak phone and brought it to her ear. “Hello?” It wasn’t an effort to manufacture the groggy tone. But it took every bit of strength she had not to recoil when she heard the voice on the other end.

  “Gracie. We have unfinished business, you and I.”

  Jack crossed the room to sit down beside her, tilting his head close to hers to hear what he could of the other side of the conversation.

  “Seems to me you tried to finish that business a couple days ago.”

  “I might have been a bit overzealous. Jet-lagged, you know. But if I’d wanted you dead, you’d be in the ground.”

  “I appreciate your restraint.”

  His low laugh had a chill breaking out over her skin. “Ah, Gracie. I’ve missed you, you know. Tell me, who was that with you at your apartment? Someone you’re screwing?”

  “If you wanted an update on my love life, Niko, you came a long way for nothing.” She was supremely aware of the detectives listening in on the conversation downstairs. “I don’t have one.”

  “We can change that. Although I can’t say that I care for that dye job you’ve done.” Incredibly, a tinge of possessiveness entered his tone. “You knew how much I loved your hair. Why’d you cut it?”

  Jack was signaling her to draw out the conversation. But God help her, she didn’t know how much longer she could without retching. The sound of his voice had never faded from her memory. To hear it live filled her with revulsion.

  Not to mention fear. A sharp, cold blade of it was slicing through her, leaving her feeling shredded and vulnerable. And that was precisely his intention.

  “As I said in my message, I think it’s time we put an end to our disagreement. We need to come to a compromise.”

  His laugh sounded again, ugly and satisfied. “You’re hardly in a position to bargain. How is that family of yours, anyway? I’ll bet your sister is getting to that sweet age. Ripe for the plucking. Maybe I should forget all about you and have her brought to me. I could teach her everything I taught you.”

  Her stomach twisted in silent protest. “We both know you aren’t interested in my family. Or in me. But you are interested in that memory card.”

  There was a pause. When he spoke again the bantering tone was gone and his words were laced with menace. “You have cost me time and money, bitch, and my patience is nearly gone.”

  “I didn’t know you had any. Patience, that is.”

  Jack was violently shaking his head, and she could read his lips: Don’t bait him!

  But there was a strange calm coming over her. She’d never backed down from Niko when they were together. Not until the end. Not until she’d learned what he was capable of. He wouldn’t expect her to play it timid and meek. She was following her instincts on this one.

  “I indulged you too much when we were together. You needed more discipline.”

  “I’ve learned discipline, Niko. I’ve learned how to get what I want. You can have what you want, too. The memory card in exchange for your promise to leave my family alone.”

  “You’ll have made copies of the photos.”

  “And that’s incentive for you to keep your promise.” She held her breath, prayed he’d dig no further. She’d been a naive innocent when she was with him. And it’d take an innocent to believe she could bargain with the likes of him. She just needed him to believe she was the same woman he’d known years ago.

  “Tell me where you’re at. I’ll pick you up.”

  It was one thing, Lindsay thought, to want him to think her naive. It was another to have him believe she was stupid. “I think not. We’ll meet in the daylight. A public place.” She pretended to think for a moment. “There’s a Metrodome on Interstate 57. It’s closed for repairs. Meet me in the south parking lot at noon tomorrow.”

  “Nine-thirty. And I’m sure I don’t have to remind you what happens if you involve the cops.”

  A boulder-size lump formed in her throat. Going to the cops in New York had signed her friends’ death warrants. “That didn’t work out particularly well last time.”

  “For either of us. The detective cost me a good sum before he met…an unfortunate accident. And his death is on your head. For bringing him into it. If you make that mistake again, your family is dead.”

  She had to force the word out. “Understood.”

  “Good.” His tone turned oily as he said caressingly, “And, Gracie? Wear something sexy for me. We have some catching up to do.”

  Jack caught the phone when she would have dropped it, and she leaned forward, her head between her knees. Her stomach heaved and roiled and it was all she could do to avoid being sick.

  “Tell me you got something,” he called to the crew downstairs.

  There were voices raised in response but she couldn’t make them out. There was a buzzing in her ears, a pounding in her chest. She hauled in great gulps of air, battling back the wave of emotion that churned and whipped inside her.

  “It’s not too late.” Jack’s voice in her ear was urgent. “There’s another way to do this. You don’t have to be at the meet. Why put yourself through it? There’s no point.”

  It was a long moment before she was able to straighten again. Longer before she could manage a response. “I don’t expect you to understand. But I do have to go through with this.” She owed it to her friends. To Nathan. Ricky. Wendy. All of them lay cold and buried because she’d brought Niko Rassi into their lives. He was still a threat. He’d be a threat until he was behind bars.

  Feeling ancient, she rose and went to join the detectives downstairs. It was seven hours before she would meet with Niko again.

  Sleep would be impossible.

  Niko Rassi pulled the rental car back into the slot in front of his motel room and got out of the vehicle. The stolen cell phone was now lying in the bottom of a storm sewer. He re-entered the room with a grimace of distaste. The place was a hellhole. But it accepted cash and the man at the front desk was suitabl
y apathetic. From the looks of him, that apathy was chemically induced, which could only work in Niko’s favor. His memory wasn’t likely to be too reliable about the man who’d requested the cabin farthest from the road.

  He locked the door behind him, smiled when he saw his equipment lying neatly in wait for his return. Anticipation thrummed inside him, the buzz almost sexual.

  Or maybe that reaction was the result of talking to Gracie again. Hearing her voice. God, she’d always been a smart-ass. Daring to talk to him the way no one else would. His fault, for allowing it. It had been necessary, of course, to bind her to him. She’d learned whom she was dealing with at the end.

  He sat down at the rickety desk and reached into the box of shells. Each had been meticulously fed through his hydraulic reloader, packed with his signature load. But it was the top one he withdrew. One with the engraving he’d specially designed prior to loading it.

  Gracie. One finger stroked the engraved lettering like a lover smoothing over bare skin. She’d pay for talking to him like that. She’d pay for many things. It had been necessary to make her think that she actually had a say in their meeting. That he didn’t have every detail planned. But she’d learn that soon enough.

  There was no hurry when he took her. Things in New York were calm for once. He could spare a few more days away, especially when he was so close to having everything he’d wanted for the last few years.

  He’d told her the truth—she’d cost him dearly. And she’d pay for that. He’d take his time when he hurt her, fully enjoy the pleasure it brought him. She’d tell him exactly where those copies that she’d made of the photos were.

  He got aroused just thinking about it. He took his gun out and laid it on the desktop, ejecting the cartridge to refill it with his chosen shells. He and Gracie had a lot of catching up to do. Just thinking of her creamy white skin and long, strong legs turned him rock hard. He’d screw her a few more times, just to see if it was as good as his memory recalled.

  And this time when he was done with her, the bullet with her name on it would finally find its target.

  Chapter 12

  “Okay, you’re miked for sound. I’ll be the one walking you through it. Just remember the drill.”

  Lindsay nodded, though at the moment her mind was such a jumble that she couldn’t have plucked out any one piece of information that had been drummed into her over the last few hours. Jack finished securing her bulletproof vest over the thin tank she wore. Then she slipped into the zippered sweatshirt someone had rounded up for her. Her own clothes wouldn’t have fit over the vest.

  “We’ll have snipers situated on top of the Metrodome. Ava Carter will be up there, and she’s the best. The construction trucks that have been present daily since the explosion will be there, but they’ll be full of SWAT team members. No civilians will be on-site. Anyone you happen to see dressed as a construction worker is going to be one of us. Full perimeter will be secured around the area. Rassi’s photo has been distributed.”

  She struggled with the zipper, her fingers feeling thick and wooden. “How will you keep other civilians from stumbling onto the scene without scaring off Niko?”

  “Don’t worry about that. It’s what we do, okay?” Jack batted her hands aside and zipped the sweatshirt for her. “Tactical command and marksmen were set up before daylight. Some of the squad’s already waiting in the construction vans parked there. The rest of us will arrive there by eight in other trucks supplied by the construction firm. To Rassi, everything’s going to look normal.”

  Lindsay didn’t dispute him, although doubt rolled queasily through her. Jack was probably right. He’d once told her she attributed too much power to Niko. He was evil but not omnipotent. And he was no match for a full SWAT team. She’d be safe enough.

  The nerves churning in her stomach had much more to do with facing him again.

  Jack surveyed her, his expression grim. “I hate this.”

  “You’ve mentioned.”

  If anything, his mouth went tighter. “It’s not too late. No one would blame you for deciding to allow a decoy—” When she shook her head, he broke off, then cursed.

  “I’m the one who will draw him there. He recognized me from a few seconds on the news, Jack. He’s not going to be fooled by a random decoy.” He wouldn’t understand that she needed to do this. Needed to face down the monster who’d murdered her friends. Terrorized her. Threatened her family. It had all started with her and Niko. It had to end that way, too.

  “Langley!”

  Telsom’s bellow up the steps had Jack grimacing. “I’ve got to go.”

  There was a tug in her heart, a quick little squeeze. “I know. Be careful.”

  A muscle jumped in his jaw, but he only gave her a curt nod and strode out the door. Lindsay released a shaky breath, prepared to follow him. But he reappeared as quickly as he’d exited.

  “What—”

  He didn’t give her time to complete the question. He was at her side in two quick steps, one arm hauling her to him. And his mouth covered hers, all his pent-up frustration rife in his kiss.

  His lips were hard, demanding. And she returned the demand with her own. The familiar thrill zinged through her system, awakening a thousand nerve endings already spiked with adrenaline. There was just time to lock her arms around his neck. To go on tiptoe and twist her mouth beneath his, drawing as much as she could of the taste and texture of his lips before he broke away again. And the intensity of his gaze was fierce enough to torch her blood.

  “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  The utter lack of sentiment in his words was belied by the heat in his eyes. “You, either.”

  And this time when he walked out the door, she knew he wouldn’t be back. She sank down on the bed. Took a deep, calming breath. And then meticulously went over every detail the detectives had drummed into her. In less than two hours she was going to see Niko again. Talk to him. And maybe this time, finally, he was going to account for everything he’d cost her.

  The vest was hot. Coupled with the sweatshirt, it was boosting Lindsay’s body temperature by several degrees. She could feel perspiration trickling down her back as she sat in the car in the south lot of the Metrodome.

  Time inched by at snail speed. Mendel had decreed that she arrive twenty minutes early. He’d said, and she agreed, that it would seem normal for her to try and arrive first. Niko wouldn’t approach unless he saw her, anyway.

  “Okay, it’s nine-twenty. You can get out of the car.” Jack’s voice sounded in the earbud microphone she wore, hidden by her hair. She knew he’d be relaying orders from the commander. His voice would be the only one she heard throughout the incident, and there was comfort in that. She wasn’t alone. Not this time.

  She left Detective Simmons in position, crouched down in the back floor of the car, and got out of the vehicle. Threw a quick anxious look around the area that wasn’t totally pretense.

  “Okay, that’s good. Look a little jittery, he’d expect that. Walk out to the center of the lot and stop. Look around some more.”

  She did as he directed. The lot was practically empty. Telsom had made sure the Metrodome management and construction crew stayed away. So the men she saw scattered on the scaffolding with piles of brick and mortar had to be cops.

  Shielding her eyes with her hand, she looked down the long drive running past the lot. It was a designated drive, so any car on it would have to be purposefully approaching the Metrodome. There was no other destination.

  Turning to pace, she scanned the area. If she had come here alone, she might have found the presence of the “workers” mildly comforting. If she hadn’t known just what Niko was capable of.

  “We’ve got a car turning into the drive.”

  Her stomach lurched. She managed to turn and pace, as if impatience and nerves required a release. That wasn’t far from the truth.

  “Posted officers will be checking ID. Hang on. You’re doing great.”

  Despite the
dispassionate professional tone—or perhaps because of it—Lindsay found Jack’s voice in her ear calming. Reassuring. She could have done this without him. Would have. But she couldn’t deny that knowing he was close made it easier. And now wasn’t the time to examine the reasons for that.

  In the distance she could see an inflatable Santa gently bobbing in front of a store. The incongruity of the sight filled her with dark humor. If all went according to plan, Niko would spend Christmas behind bars. But somehow the thought failed to calm her.

  Shoving her hands in the pocket of the sweatshirt, she continued to move. It was past time for the meeting. Nine-forty the last time she checked. But yeah, it would be like Niko to keep her waiting. To make sure she was crawling out of her skin with nerves before he made an appearance.

  “Indefinite ID. We’re going to allow the car to enter the lot. Stay well clear of it. Move in front of the construction van with the ladder on top.”

  With her pulse pounding in her ears, Lindsay obeyed. The directive would give her cover in case Niko was in the car and intent on a drive-by shooting. But she knew instinctively he wasn’t going to risk that. There was the memory card, for one thing. He would want to have possession of that before he dispensed with her.

  And his ego would demand doing this face-to-face. He’d want to see her fear. He’d delight in watching her reaction when he taunted her with threats. She could appreciate the emotion. There was a part of her that would be deeply satisfied at watching his reaction when the place swarmed with cops.

  The car cruised by, to pull up close to the structure. Time stilled. Her lungs burned. Lindsay hadn’t even realized she’d been holding her breath. The car door began to swing open. A figure emerged.

  Her breath whooshed out of her. Unless the intervening time had been very unkind to him, the car’s occupant wasn’t Niko. This man was short, stout and balding, with an ill-tempered expression that heralded ire.