by Lexi Blake
“Oh, my gorgeous boy. I think you know.”
He did. Baz had Penny, and he was out of options.
* * * *
Penny closed her eyes against the bright light of day as she was pulled out of the van Baz had shoved her in.
“Do you remember what our deal is, love?” Baz asked, his voice silky and smooth. He was dressed for the occasion in slacks and a sport coat, his eyes hidden behind a pair of aviators.
She forced herself to nod. She’d come quietly because he’d been willing to not put bullets in the unconscious team members’ heads. “I do.”
“Excellent. Because I have friends who can finish the job if I call them. I actually feel a bit sick that I didn’t take the chance and off Weston. I always hated that bastard. So far above the rest of us.”
“The waiters.”
“What?” Baz shook his head and then it cleared. “Yes, of course. The waiters.” He stepped behind her. “Of course I could always just shoot you, but I think Damon wants you warm.”
She had no doubt that Baz would prefer to murder her in front of Damon.
Baz shoved her a little. “You better hope that your lover isn’t lying about having the package.”
“You better hope that the German intelligence agents aren’t waiting for you.” She stumbled but managed to keep on her feet.
“What are you talking about?”
He didn’t know? The word about Champion had always been that he could be hyper focused to the point that he missed things he shouldn’t. He tended to work alone. He might not know.
“Nothing.” She wasn’t going to hand him information. “I’m sure if Damon says he has the package that he has it.”
“He better.” He looked back into the van at the woman who was driving. “Stay here. You don’t want to cross me. I got you that job. I can take it away, and you won’t like how I get you fired.”
Candice, the turncoat traitor who hopefully would die horribly, nodded. “I get it. Just please hurry. I don’t know how long I can keep the van here.”
“You’ll keep it here as long as I need you to, bitch.” Baz shook his head. “Good help really is hard to find these days.”
“Or it could be no one wants to work with you.” It had been that way at SIS. Only Damon had been able to really stand the man, and now she understood why. Damon held himself apart because he believed everyone would leave him one way or another. Baz had offered him company, but Damon hadn’t been emotionally involved. It had been the best relationship he could manage.
“No one can keep up with me. Move.” He gripped her elbow, forcing her to walk beside him.
She couldn’t forget about that gun in his coat. And there was a possibility that she was wrong about the waiters. If they really did belong to Baz, he could still make good on his threat. She had to do everything she could to keep her people alive.
How quickly they’d become her people. A few short days and she knew she would care about them forever.
“Damon could keep up with you.” For some reason she wanted him talking. Baz seemed to love to talk. Even if he was insulting her, he wasn’t fully thinking about what was about to happen. She needed to keep him engaged. He was moving toward what looked like a forest of cement slabs. The Holocaust Memorial.
If she could get away from him in there, she might have a chance, but she had to find Damon first.
If she ran, what would happen to her friends?
“We’re meeting him in the south corner. And he certainly can’t keep up with me now. I saw to that. Poor Damon with his damaged heart. It’s rather fitting, actually. He’s always had a metaphorical one. I just made it real.” He stopped in front of a bench. “Sit here.”
She sat on the bench, Baz firmly behind her with a hand close to her throat. She was sure they looked somewhat affectionate. Just two tourists enjoying the beauty of Berlin.
“Damon, you’re not here,” Baz said into his device.
She couldn’t see him, but she knew he would be touching the device in his ear, the one he’d taken off Simon’s unconscious body. “I guess you don’t want her. Well, I wouldn’t either. She’s a bit chunky. Look, you don’t have to take the girl. I’ll pay you well. My employers are willing to write you a check. And you know I’d be more than happy to get rid of her for you. It would be my pleasure.”
Damon walked out from between the slabs, moving with none of his normal grace. His chest was working, moving up and down as he forced his lungs to take in oxygen.
“Oh, look, you ran. You know, I remember a time when you could run for hours and I wouldn’t even be able to tell. You were so fit, so young.” Baz’s voice lowered, taking on the intimate tones of a lover.
Damon didn’t look at him, his eyes steady on her. “Are you all right, love?”
Penny nodded. Just being in the same space with him, seeing that he was alive and whole, brought a calm to her she hadn’t possessed before. “Yes. I’m fine. Damon, you can’t give it to him. You know that, right?”
Damon’s face softened. “You’re telling me what I can’t do again. It’s a pattern with you.”
She could see people moving through the columns of concrete in the memorial. She caught flashes of them as they walked through. Why couldn’t anyone see that something terrible was happening under their noses?
“Do you have the package?” Baz asked.
Damon nodded.
She had to stop him. There would be far too many lives at risk if The Collective got their hands on that information again. “Damon, don’t give it to him. Get out of here.”
He could lose himself in that maze. It would be so easy. Even now she saw little splashes of color as someone ran by and then disappeared again.
“But if I leave he’ll kill you.” Damon was perfectly calm, as though they were discussing dinner plans and not the possible fate of the world.
She needed to remind him what was at stake. “And if you give him that information, thousands will die. You know what they’re planning. You have to sacrifice me. You have to. This is a choice between one woman and the world. There is no choice.”
“You’re right. There is no choice.” He held up a small thumb drive dangling from the end of a lanyard. “You are my world, love.”
Her heart cried out for him, but she shook her head. “No, Damon.”
She wanted him to survive, couldn’t stand the thought of living in a world without him, but she couldn’t trade her freedom when it meant the deaths of so many others.
Where was Ian Taggart? Where was the rest of the team?
Baz’s hand tightened on her shoulder to almost the point of pain. “Well, isn’t that touching? It actually makes me sick.”
“I don’t care what it does to you, Baz,” Damon replied. “If you want this, you’ll let her go.”
“How do I know that’s got anything at all on it? That could be a blank drive. I’m afraid I’m going to need more than your word. Where is Walter Bennett?”
Damon shook his head. “He’s long gone, and you won’t find him again.”
“That is a tragedy. I was so looking forward to spending time with him.”
“It’s not going to happen. You can take the package or you’ll have nothing to give your bosses.” Damon gripped the drive in his palm, shielding it from view. “I’ll go with you, Baz. Take me instead of her. I’m the one you want.”
She didn’t even try to stop the tears now. “No.”
“Shut up.” Baz let her feel the barrel of his gun against her back. “If you say another word, I’ll do you right here in front of him.”
Now Damon wasn’t looking at her. He was focused on the man behind her, and she could feel his will. “I know you have a way out of here. You likely have some way to drug me. I’ll submit to all of it if you let her go.”
“And what if what I really want is for you to submit to me completely?” The question came out in a menacing purr.
Penny felt her fists clench at the thought of her Damon bowing down to thi
s man. He was proud. Sometimes his pride had been all he had to hold on to in the world. He couldn’t give himself over.
“Then I’ll call you Master,” Damon replied evenly. “If you want, Basil, I’ll be your dog. That is what you want, right?”
“You can’t imagine what I want from you.”
She saw him then. The man who had brought the tea. He’d ditched the waiter outfit and now he stalked closer. She had to strain, but she heard him call out.
“Ich habe ihn. Komm schnell. Der Brite ist in Schwierigkeiten.”
Translation. I have him. Come quickly. The Brit is in trouble.
She’d thought they brought the drugged tea, but what if they had just been scouting? Candice had drugged the tea. Baz was bluffing. He didn’t have anyone else. Her friends were safe and the German agents were about to cause some serious problems for them.
What they needed was a bit of chaos.
Penny gritted her teeth and prayed she could survive the next few moments.
* * * *
Damon tried not to think about how frightened Penelope must be. In a few moments, she would be free and once she was out of the line of fire, he would do whatever he had to do.
Though he rather hoped Taggart would choose to show up sometime soon.
He’d meant every word he said. He would do anything to save Penelope, including giving up the package, but he hoped he didn’t have to.
Another bloody gift she’d given him. Hope. He never used to have it. It was so much better to see the world through Penelope’s eyes than his own.
Baz stood behind Penelope, one hand on her shoulder and the other behind her back. He could only imagine that Baz was holding a gun on her. The second time in a week someone had threatened to kill her. “You can’t imagine what I want from you.”
Someone shouted in German behind him, and Damon watched as Penelope’s eyes flared. She knew what they’d said and it meant something to her. Her lips pursed.
She was planning something. She might be the translator, but he’d learned to read her body language. He was an expert in Penelope Cash, in the way she looked when she was happy or mad, or just about to do something incredibly stupid that would make him want to toss her over his knee and blister her bottom.
After they made it to the embassy, of course.
He had to keep Baz talking. He’d said something about Damon not knowing what he really wanted.
“You’ll have it. All you have to do is let her walk away from this.” Damon took a step forward. “Think about it, Baz. You can make your bosses very happy with you and you’ll have me on a leash, ready to do anything you want.”
The thought made him nauseous, but he would do it. He would be Baz’s slave right up until he got the chance to cut the bugger’s throat and watch him bleed out.
“Are you offering to fuck me, Damon?” There was no way to mistake how hot Baz’s eyes got.
“If you let her go, yes. Haven’t you figured it out? Do you remember when we used to talk about the things we were willing to do for our country? I said anything. I was wrong. She’s the one thing I can’t sacrifice. She’s the one thing I’ll do anything for. Every man has something he wants above everything else. I want Penelope to live.”
A bitter laugh huffed from Baz’s mouth. “You don’t know a bloody thing. You think I want a quick fuck? I wanted to be the thing you would never sacrifice. I wanted that. And if I can’t be that to you, then no one can.”
“Penelope!” Damon moved forward, screaming her name.
But she was already on the move. She threw herself to the side, her head ducking down even as Baz fired.
A splash of crimson formed on her right arm, blood blooming.
“Halt!” a new voice rang out. A tall blond man moved with the grace of a natural predator. He held a Ruger in a two-fisted grip and spoke in accented English. “You will lay down the weapon.”
German intelligence. He never thought he’d be happy to see them.
Baz stopped, his jaw clenching.
Damon reached down and helped Penelope up. “Are you all right?”
Of course she wasn’t all right. She’d been shot. But she simply nodded. “I think so. It hurts, but I think it grazed me. The bleeding isn’t bad at all.”
He looked at her side, and it was more of a burn than anything else.
Taggart walked up behind them with another German in tow. “Thank god. I thought we’d lost him. Damon, this is Agent Eberstark. I told him we’d been tracking Bennett in a joint MI6/CIA mission. I think you’ll find that the Agency has been in contact with your bosses, but we can settle everything up once we get this fucker in custody.”
Bloody bastard. There was a reason he loved Tag. The man was cool under pressure and he could lie like a pro. Damon made sure to stand in front of Penelope. He didn’t want her in the line of fire one second longer. “Bennett, you should give it up now. You’re surrounded. There’s nowhere to go.”
Baz frowned, his gun still up. “I’m not Bennett and you bloody well know it.”
The first German stared, keeping Baz in his sights. “I thought Bennett was an American.”
“He’s turned out to be a master of disguise,” Taggart said in a perfect British accent. He grinned a little and was back to sounding as American as apple pie. “British accents aren’t hard. He was trying to get to England.”
“His accomplice is in that black van over there. She’s actually British,” Penelope said. “You should arrest her.”
Eberstark smiled. “How did he catch you, Miss Cash? I thought you were in the suite. We checked it out to see how many of the team Knight here was leaving behind.”
Penelope’s hands rested on his hips. “He knew we were about to catch him so he had his partner drug the tea you brought up. He figured out that Damon and I are closer than normal partners so he thought he could use me to get away.”
Eberstark nodded. “Ah, well, I would try to save that fucker there, but I’m certainly not sleeping with him.”
Damon went still as he felt Penelope’s hand slide into his pocket. What was she doing now?
“The game is up, Bennett. We’re not going to allow you to sell your work on the black market.” Damon needed to get Penelope out of here. The bullets could start flying again at any moment.
Taggart looked over at Damon. “I’m damn glad I found you. Jake’s back at the embassy talking to Ten. He knows the plan went all to hell and he’s ready to help. I suspect we’ll spend a lot of time in debrief with our new friends.”
He might not always understand Penelope, but thank god he spoke spy fluently. Jake was waiting for him. He needed to get to the embassy, the American one this time. It was the only shot they had at carrying out the plan to destroy the drive.
“I am not Walter Bennett. They’re playing you. Damon’s got the package. He’s got it in his pocket. Check it.” Baz wasn’t letting up. Even with three guns on him, because Taggart had his out now, he wasn’t backing down.
Oh, his girl was a smart one. He reached into his pockets and pulled them out, showing everyone they were perfectly empty. “Would you like to check my jacket?”
Eberstark shook his head. “Not at all. We’ll take this one into custody and have a nice long chat. Taggart, you will come with us? We don’t want to cut our allies out of anything, as you would certainly never have cut us out.”
The last was said with a definite zing, but then everyone knew the game.
And Baz knew that it was over.
He pulled the trigger and fired straight into Eberstark’s body, felling the German agent with a single bullet to the neck.
Eberstark’s partner fired back, but Baz was on the move and now tourists were screaming and running, making the entire park a dangerous mess.
“Go!” Taggart yelled, his SIG in his hand. “Get her out of here. You know what to do.”
Damon took Penelope’s hand. She was his mission. Getting her out alive was the only thing that mattered. He ran with h
er, directly back to the memorial where he could lose them both. The slabs started out around his knees, but then the ground sloped down and before long the sun was obscured as they went underground. They raced along the narrow square-set path.
“The embassy is to the left,” Penelope said.
“Give me the package, love.” He held out his hand. He didn’t want her caught with it, didn’t want her to have anything at all to do with what was going to happen.
He’d just pocketed the drive when he felt a burning sensation in his arm. He turned and Baz was running across the tops of the slabs.
“If I’m going down, you’re going with me, Damon.” He took aim, but Baz’s right shoulder was thrown as a bullet slammed into him. Baz yelled as he threw himself to the ground.
“Go!” Taggart said. He leapt from one slab to the next. He had to be four or five meters off the ground. “I’ll deal with this fuck. If I can find him, damn it.”
He took Penelope’s hand and broke to the left. His heart was thudding in his chest as he ran up the sloping path. By the time they made it out of the memorial, his breath was sawing in and out.
He would make it. He couldn’t see the embassy from where he stood, but it was close. Right behind the building ahead.
Sirens wailed all around him. Another threat. The German police wouldn’t care that he had a mission. They would only know that a couple of Brits and a yank had been firing in the middle of tourist central.
If they were taken in, they would have no idea who to trust.
“Run, love. You can go faster than me.” He jogged beside her, letting go of her hand.
Penelope didn’t speed up. “No. We go together.”
He would slow her down. “Please. Go. Get Jake. He’s at the American Embassy. Do you know where it is? Please, love. I need him. I won’t be able to make it.”
“I love you, Damon.” She took off.
He had to try. Damon forced his legs to move. He still had the package. He couldn’t give it to her, couldn’t give her that responsibility. If they were going to come after someone, it had to be him. Even if it meant he died because he couldn’t live in a world that didn’t have her in it. Jake knew the plan. Jake would come and get him.