by Misty Evans
Where Emit, Cal, Rory, and Beatrice were gathered around the table.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
They hadn’t finished switching out the windows for those with reflective coating and bulletproof glass.
“Two of my men are across from this building. As you can see from the video, they are in position to, shall we say, cause trouble for the people gathered in that room. If the people in that room try to leave…”
He zoomed out and she saw a car sitting on the side street next to RSS headquarters. “Boom,” he said.
A car bomb. Her mental curses rivaled those Jax was using in her ear.
He was the mastermind behind the bomb, this she knew. Although his expertise was in chemical warfare, chemicals needed a way to be dispersed. Bombs were the easiest and quickest way to disperse anything he liked.
A new thought registered. Abdel was probably the man who’d created the bomb that had taken the legs of Jax’s friend.
No one could see what she was seeing, yet she hoped from Abdel’s description, they understood there was a bomb. And snipers.
Her repertoire of curse words was pretty extensive, but she kept coming back to shit. Because heaven help her, she was knee deep in the stuff.
“I’ll tell you what,” she said, lowering the gun. “I’ll cut you a deal.”
“Ruby” Jax snarled. “What’s going on?”
Abdel stared at her, nonplussed. “I believe this will be entertaining. Please, go ahead. Tell me about this deal.”
So smug. She wanted to wring that out of him.
But not yet. First, she needed to save the dog and the people inside Rock Star Security.
She attempted to put more sincerity into her smile. Her lips didn’t want to cooperate. “I’ll come with you willingly if you leave my friends alone. No fuss, no fight.”
“Oh, well, of course.” Abdel rocked in the chair. He didn’t seem moved by her act or the fact she’d lowered the gun from his head. “That seems so reasonable, especially since you have no options.”
The mockery in his voice made her see red. She had to control that reaction since that’s exactly what he wanted. For her to lose control and give him a reason to shoot the damned dog and take out everyone at RSS.
You’re good but I’m better, she mentally taunted him.
It wasn’t bluster. She knew she was better than Abdel Al-Safari any day. He may have fooled her once, but he didn’t have that upper hand anymore. She knew him for what he really was now, and her gloves were coming off.
But not until Beatrice and the others were out of the line of fire.
She needed a bluff. A solid one. “I’m serious, Abdel. I’ll put down my gun and let you handcuff me. We’ll walk out together. No one gets hurt.”
Except you, jackass, when I rip your evil heart out.
In an effort to convince him, she laid her gun on the floor.
God, did that kill her—to be unarmed and at his mercy, even if it was only for a few moments. It would have been easier to put a bullet in his head and end this right now.
As if he’d read her mind, he added some insurance to his threat. “If anything happens to me, my men are instructed to shoot to kill.”
Of course they were. She hoped Rory or Zeb or Jax was picking up on this and understanding there was another layer of danger here.
“What’s he talking about?” Rory said in her ear. “The men he’s referring to, the ‘boom’ he mentioned. We’re under surveillance here, aren’t we? There are guns on us? A bomb?”
Bless him. “You’ve covered all your bases, haven’t you, Abdel?” she said. “Threatening innocent people here in my apartment as well as those in the Rock Star Security office.”
“Holy shit,” she heard Jax say, his exclamation followed by those of Zeb and Rory.
They knew, and the specifics of what they didn’t, they’d figure out in short order. In the meantime, she had to play along until someone got Beatrice and the crew to safety.
The man in the thousand dollar suit appeared pleased with himself. “Mohammed and I are not your everyday terrorists, Agent McKellen. We are businessmen. We play into your stereotype of Middle Eastern terrorists because that’s what you want and that gets us what we want. You believe we are short-sighted and only focused on wiping out the infidels, while in reality, we want so much more.”
She needed to keep him talking in order to give the others time. “And what is that?”
“The world.” He sounded as if he were disappointed at her obtuseness. “We have been infiltrating every major military and spy group in the world for years. From Mossad to M5 to your own Department of Homeland Security. When your partner offered me a deal to be an asset inside Mohammed’s camp, I nearly laughed. It was so easy saying yes while I planned an extensive strategy to lead the US into giving Mohammed whatever he needed to expand our military knowledge of your endeavors. You are not dealing with a small-time organization. We are superiorly educated, well-funded, and shrewd. As you can see by the fact that I am here soliciting your cooperation.”
What a nice way of putting it. He was blackmailing her as he’d done with Elliot. Only with Elliot, he’d dangled a carrot. With her, he was threatening to kill people. “I’ll do whatever you say, Abdel. Just don’t hurt anyone, okay?”
“Kick the gun over to me.” Smugness coated his words and brightened his face even more. “Get on your knees.”
Forcing her to her knees was smart, making her less dangerous.
At least that’s what he thought.
Ruby kicked her gun toward him, the butt end coming to a stop under his loafered foot. “Let the dog go,” she said. She needed something in exchange for her bowing to him. “Then I’ll get down on my knees.”
He eyed her as if she were a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. “You’ll get on your knees, Ruby McKellen, or the dog will die. The humans as well.”
Dan let go another whimper. Rory was talking in her ear, saying they’d found the snipers’ positions but didn’t want to alert them, so they had to sit tight for now.
So they knew about the snipers, but did they grasp there was a car bomb?
Jax spit commands at her…what she should say, what she should do. Near her, Dan continued to whimper.
Concentrate! Tune them out.
This was on her. She needed to look at this awful situation from every angle, fast. Was there any way to alert Jax to the car bomb?
Was there a way to keep Jax from plowing into this apartment at any moment and taking Al-Safari out?
Doing that would result in the worst of outcomes. If none of the others realized there was a bomb, Jax taking out Abdel would end in massive bloodshed, and it would all be on Jax’s conscious.
And hers.
“You’re going to ruin that perfect suit of yours by shooting the dog?” She shook her head at Abdel. “For all of your education and shrewdness, that doesn’t seem like your style. That thing probably cost more than my boss at the CIA makes in a year. I have a hard time believing you’re going to ruin it with dog brains.”
Dan’s whimper turned to a cry. The man was sobbing.
Maybe she had been a little graphic with that one, but she couldn’t give into him too easily or Abdel might get suspicious.
“And unless you have a spare suit in Dan’s bedroom, you’re going to have a tough time getting me out of the country if you look like you just murdered someone.”
For a long moment, Abdel held her stare, his eyes calculating, cold. Maybe he did have a fresh suit waiting for him.
Begrudgingly, she folded herself down until she was on her knees, holding her hands up in surrender. “There. Satisfied? Now let the damn dog go.”
The corner of his right eye twitched. The slightest of movements, but it conveyed his delight in her surrender. He gripped Woodstock by the neck and dumped the dog onto the floor, the Pug hitting like a cement brick, going down on her side, but recovering as she rolled to her feet, all black tongue and wagging body.
>
She ran to Ruby, jumping up on her and trying to kiss her. The dog was small, but solid, and nearly knocked her over. Dan, suddenly mobilized, lunged for her, picking the mass of dog up and burying his face in the dog’s short hair.
“Get out,” Abdel ordered Dan, standing up and brushing dog hair from his lap. “Before I change my mind.”
Really? Abdel was going to let Dan go?
No way. He probably intended to shoot the poor guy in the back.
Ruby needn’t have worried. Dan sidled next to her, no longer crying, his arms still full of Woodstock. “I’m not leaving Ruby.”
Oh, jeez. Now of all times, the man had suddenly grown a backbone.
Maybe it was for the best. At least he wasn’t going to get shot in the back.
The front was still an option.
“What the fuck is wrong with this guy?” Jax demanded. “Get him out of there!”
“It’s okay,” Ruby told both Jax and Dan. “Do what the man says, Dan. I’ll be all right.”
“He’s the jerk that broke into your apartment the other night, isn’t he?” Dan shifted from one foot to another. His body was shaking with fear. “What does he want with you?”
In a split-second, Abdel’s black gun veered from Ruby to Dan, aiming at Dan’s chest. “I gave you a chance, now I have changed my mind.”
“Get out!” Ruby shouted at Dan, shoving him away.
But it was too late.
Abdel’s gun went off.
BOOM!
Jax’s heart seized, beelining from his chest straight into the floor.
Get to her!
Bounding up the final few stairs to the third floor, he heard his own breathing in his ears. Recriminations screamed through his brain. He should have never left Ruby alone. He should have put a camera on her. He shouldn’t have been so damn far away.
Setting up shop across the street had given him an advantage, assuming like they all had that Al-Safari would be coming for Ruby after she was home. They’d stayed well back and out of sight in case the bastard was watching the place.
The damn terrorist had already been inside.
He’d outsmarted them.
Jax hated being duped. He’d always been skeptical, cynical. Yet, here he was being outmaneuvered and outplayed by a goddamn terrorist.
Again.
The sound of the gunshot had erupted in stereo, making it all the worse. He’d heard the boom in his ear bud as well as from inside the room itself as he’d hauled ass down the hall.
They couldn’t take the chance that Al-Safari was working alone, especially since he had men stationed at the new headquarters. He might have a few with him here, too. It only made sense.
Rory had told Jax and Colton to wait—give him a minute to scan the area for other mercenaries—before they rode to Ruby’s rescue.
And now she might be dead.
Because he’d listened to logic instead of his gut.
Standing just outside the door of Dan’s apartment, Zeb across from him and Colton behind him, Jax forced his heart to stop throwing itself against his ribs like a trapped gorilla wanting out. He nodded at Zeb and prepared to kick in the door.
Rory shouted in his ear, “Stand down! Stand down! I’ve detected a car bomb outside our building. Kill Al-Safari and we’re all going up in a ball of flames here!”
And shit to the tenth, what the hell did he do now?
A car bomb? A fucking car bomb outside SFI headquarters?
The place would never stand up to a car bomb. Not in the middle of the remodeling when only half of the security measures were in place. Emit, Cal, Beatrice, Rory…all of them would die.
Pressing his ear to the door, he listened, trying to gauge what was going on inside. He heard the sound of scuffling and…
“You fucking bastard. You didn’t have to shoot him.”
Ruby?
A flush of short-lived relief rushed over him. Her comm must have come off because her voice was floating through the door, not in his ear, but it was her. She was swearing and…
Pleading?
“Don’t, please, just don’t. He never did anything to you. He shouldn’t die simply because he’s my neighbor. Let me stop the bleeding. Someone will have heard the gunshot. They’ll call the police. We should go.”
He wanted to say her name, to burst inside and make sure she wasn’t injured.
But hell, he couldn’t do it. Not with the others trapped in the SFI office.
She was alive and begging for Dan’s life. He needed to believe in her, in her training. She wasn’t the Agency’s top operative for nothing.
Had been the Agency’s top operative. He’d screwed that up royally for her, hadn’t he?
No time to worry about that now.
“Take me,” he heard Ruby say. “Let’s go before the cops get here.”
“Fall back,” Rory said to Jax and his crew over their comms. “Now, before you get caught and Al-Safari blows us sky high.”
Goddamn it. Their only chance of getting Beatrice and her baby, Cal, and Emit out of this alive was to let the bastard go.
With Ruby.
Not going to happen.
Jax motioned at Colton to fall back. Zeb faded into the shadows, disappearing into the vacant apartment he’d been hiding in before. Colton went back down the stairs. Jax made haste to get into Ruby’s apartment.
He was slipping inside when the door to Dan’s apartment flew open and Ruby came tripping out, her hands zip-tied in front of her. For a brief second, as she slammed into the far wall with her shoulder, her eyes met his.
Deep concern etched her forehead, but controlled confidence shone in her gaze. It only took that split-second for him to know she had this. She knew what she was doing and knew that he was going to back her up.
He gave her a nod, putting all the silent encouragement he could into it, letting her know she was right—he wasn’t letting her down. He had her back and he would damn sure not let Al-Safari hurt her.
He may have put a little something extra into his look as well. Something that he hoped conveyed how he felt about her. How much he…
Oh, hell. I love you.
As if she read his mind, her face softened a bit. A tiny twitch at the corner of her mouth told him she got his message.
The dog, Woodstock, was barking like crazy and Al-Safari was swearing in his native language. Ruby’s gaze cut right, signaling Jax that the terrorist was about to emerge.
Jax raised his gun.
One shot and he could take the bastard out, Ruby’s orders about leaving the man alive be damned.
But he saw her shaking her head, tiny movements so she didn’t call Al-Safari’s attention to her, but letting Jax know that she didn’t want him to intervene. Not yet.
She had a plan.
And she wasn’t putting Beatrice and the others in any more danger than they already were.
Both frustration and pride bloomed in his chest. Ruby was the consummate spy, no matter what was on the line. She knew taking out Al-Safari wouldn’t only kill any chance she had at finding out all the facts about his and Izala’s intricate plans, but it might also seal the fate of those back at SFI headquarters.
He lowered his weapon and pulled back, a second before Al-Safari emerged.
He closed the door to Ruby’s apartment, mentally cursing every bone in his body. As a SEAL, he’d been trained to never believe in a no-win situation. There was always a way around, under, or through any circumstance, he simply needed to figure it out.
The familiar burn of anger turned his stomach to acid. He hated Al-Safari, hated himself for letting this low-life, scum-sucking SOB get the drop on him.
The thin door muffled the shuffle of footsteps in the hallway. “I need clothes, toiletries,” Ruby said. Her voice was strong and the violent red haze in front of Jax’s eyes cleared a bit. “Let me stop at my place and grab a few things.”
The terrorist laughed, a sharp sound that pierced the air. “You still conside
r me easily duped. You’ll touch nothing in your apartment, Agent McKellen.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Jax heard Ruby stop outside the door and his intuition wavered between hiding just in case she got Al-Safari to go along with her, and needing to be this close to her, hear what she was saying. “I’m not going to try anything. You’ve proven you’re a worthy adversary and I agreed to go along peacefully, but I need my things.”
“You won’t be needing your things where I am taking you.”
“You don’t understand.” Her voice was thick with earnestness. “I’m…”
“We do not have time for this. The jet is waiting. Move.”
A jet. He was going to fly her out of the country on a private plane.
In Jax’s ear, Rory spoke up. “Contacting O’Hare and Midway now for flight plans filed by private aircraft.”
Jax heard a slight struggle, as if Al-Safari had grabbed Ruby and she was resisting.
Every cell in Jax’s body reacted, urging him to throw open the door and riddle the terrorist with bullets.
Ruby’s voice rose. “I’m having my period, you idiot. I need my goddamn tampons.”
A heavy silence fell. No struggle, no arguing, as if the two had squared off against each other just outside the door.
Jax almost snickered.
Al-Safari no doubt didn’t one hundred percent believe her. On the other hand, if she were telling the truth…
“Unless, of course,” Ruby continued, “you want me to bleed all over your fancy leather seats in the jet.”
One, two, three heartbeats of dead quiet passed. Al-Safari, like any male, didn’t want to talk menstruation, but had to analyze the risk of going without tampons.
Nothing changed, but Jax took one step back from the door, then two. He’d swear on a Bible, the terrorist was about to give in.
Once again amazed at Ruby’s resourcefulness, he slipped silently into her bedroom, past the bed, and into the bathroom. Prayed.
The click of the apartment door was loud as Ruby burst in.
She’d won the skirmish. Al-Safari had given in.
All Jax had to do was stay concealed until Ruby was ready to take the bastard down.
He slid behind the bathroom door, concealing himself.