“You mean like a duel? You want to make this an honorable thing?”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “I never said anything about giving him a weapon. I just wanted to remove the mess of killing other people so I could kill him.”
“Not going to happen. Now, what’s your preference?”
Gabriel lifted his head slightly as he glanced in the rearview mirror and then turned away from the expensive-looking shops and apartment buildings. “He’s going to have a chauffeur and several bodyguards with him when he travels. Not to mention that the car itself will be a nearly impenetrable monster. Bulletproof side panels, doors, and windows. The tires will be run flats. We would need a tank to stop it, and I’m trying to not draw that much attention to us.”
“Then that means we have to get him at home. Do you trust the security code that Nadia gave us?”
Gabriel was silent for several seconds, his eyes jumping back to the rearview mirror several times while his hands tightened on the wheel. “I think…I think we will have to trust it. Unfortunately, that is not our biggest concern right now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“We have a tail. And it’s not Russian.”
Justin’s heart sped up a little as he shifted in his seat to use the mirror on his door to look at the car behind them. “How can you tell?”
“The driver is being subtle. Cautious.”
“So?”
“The secret police don’t care about being subtle in Moscow,” Gabriel said with a bite of growing frustration.
“Shit.” Justin reached into his pocket and pulled out the gun he was carrying. He carefully chambered a round but left the safety on. “We need to lose them.”
Gabriel flashed him a look that made it clear that Justin was a moron stating the obvious. A moment later, he made another turn, heading farther away from the heart of the city and into a tighter warren of apartment buildings. The main thing was that the cars were more spaced out and fewer, giving Gabriel the chance to pick up some speed. Justin glanced over his shoulder to see the plain white car still behind them and speeding up as well.
“Can I ask why it seems you are not particularly surprised that someone other than the Russian police is following us?” Gabriel growled.
“It might be…because…I sort of got a call from my old boss telling me to get my ass west of Berlin. He implied that I might encounter trouble if I didn’t.”
Gabriel reached across and smacked Justin hard on the chest, swearing loudly in Russian. “How? When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was spotted in fucking Budapest by another agent who apparently knows my face.” He hated to admit that he’d gotten sloppy when he’d chosen one of his favorite hotels, one he’d stayed at frequently on his trips to the country before he acquired his own flat there. He just hadn’t been thinking about his past because his entire focus had been on keeping Gabriel safe and alive.
“That was over a week ago! You didn’t think I’d find it important?”
“It was after we killed Sacha. You were still dealing with your injuries from Germany, figuring out where to find information on your sister, and then your mother’s name came up.” With every word he spoke, Justin knew that his excuse was weak and lame. He’d chickened out when he should have told Gabriel immediately. This was jeopardizing both their lives and their entire reason for being in Russia in the first place. He knew better. You didn’t keep vital information from a partner or a lover. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner. Right after the damn call.”
Gabriel glared over at him for a heartbeat, teeth clenched, before looking at the road again. He sped up, taking a turn fast enough to make the tires squeal. “Is this a situation where you can call someone, or we can pull over and talk to them? Reason with them?”
“No, it’s not.” Stopping was definitely not an option. Justin was pretty damn sure this was a one-warning situation, and he’d already ignored it. If they stopped, they were going to be shot and quietly disposed of. “They know why you’re in town and are afraid you’re going to cause an international incident that will be blamed on the US intelligence community.”
“I don’t give a shit about anyone’s spy games!”
“I know.” Justin wracked his brain. There had to be someone he could call or something he could do to clean up this mess his presence had created.
Shots rang out. Two bullets pinged off the frame of the car and they both ducked down. Justin looked around to find that they’d entered an area where there was no one else on the street. Fuck. He wanted to tell Gabriel to find a place where there were more people, but he didn’t think that would necessarily stop the fuckers from trying to kill them. It would only endanger the lives of innocent people.
Gabriel stomped on the gas, and the car leaped forward with an angry growl. Their pursuers sped up as well, matching them turn for turn as they wove their way through the city. They couldn’t keep this up, or they were going to attract the attention of the actual police, which would make life infinitely more difficult.
Two more shots rang out and Justin swore. They needed a new plan.
Soft ringing barely reached above the sound of the car engine. They looked at each other for a minute before Justin was scrambling to find his phone. The screen showed an unknown caller.
“Do you think it’s the people chasing us?” Gabriel asked.
“At this point, anything is possible,” Justin muttered before answering the call.
“Mallory, why the fuck are you tearing around my town?” demanded an all too familiar voice with a slight southern accent.
“Colton?” Justin’s heart leaped and he twisted around in his seat to look back at the car still following them. “Are you fucking chasing me?”
“No, but they gave me a heads-up some rogue motherfuckers were going to be taken out in town. Said I should keep my nose out of it. When I got the lowdown it was you, I thought I’d give you a call. I’m guessing that they’ve already spotted you.”
“And started firing,” Justin grumbled.
“If you can lose them, I’ve got a place to hide you for a bit.”
Justin nearly laughed. “Because you can’t keep your nose out of it.” He shouldn’t have been surprised when it came to his old friend. Colton had enjoyed playing it fast and loose with the agency rules whenever he got the chance. And saving Justin’s ass would give him something to hold over his head. “Yeah, we can. Where are you?”
“Get outside the Third Ring Road to the Tekstilshchiki District.”
“Tekstilshchiki? They still got you hiding out with the burned-out cars?”
“What? What’s in the Tekstilshchiki District?” Gabriel demanded as he took another turn. The back tires hit a patch of ice, causing the car to fishtail wildly. Gabriel expertly fought the grumpy vehicle, getting it under control before they could crash into another car.
“Head there,” Justin snapped, tightening his hold on the phone while bracing his feet against the floorboards. “I’ve got a friend who can hide us. We’ve just got to lose our tail first.”
“Remember the old garage we hit? I’m there.” The call ended suddenly, but Justin wasn’t too surprised. Neither he nor Colton had been much for hanging out on the line. Never knew who was listening.
“Get to Tekstilshchiki. I can give you directions from there.”
Gabriel shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. “Are you sure we can trust this friend of yours?”
“Not really, but I think our odds are currently better with him than with our new friends.”
A low grunt of agreement was Gabriel’s only comment as he focused on driving. They whipped through one neighborhood after another, looking for a way to either sideline the car or lose it completely. They needed to disappear. The longer they were on the road, the higher the chance of being noticed by others. They didn’t need to capture the attention of the police or anyone who might have a connection back to Nicolai Krestyanov.
The opportunity they were looking for finally presented itself in the form of a train. Gabriel looked over at Justin and flashed him an evil grin as he stomped on the gas, speeding toward the gated crossing. Justin’s heart jumped in his chest, and he gripped the handle on the door as if his life depended on it. He found his right foot pressed hard to the floor of the car, but he couldn’t figure out if his body was wishing he had access to the brake or the gas.
The car was an older model, and they’d already put her through her paces for the past ten minutes trying to elude the pursuing agents. The train was a massive monster of steel and iron, barreling down the tracks like an enraged rhino. If Gabriel mistimed this, the engine was going to tear through them like tissue paper.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” Justin whispered again and again between clenched teeth.
“Maybe later, darling,” Gabriel murmured, sounding as calm as always while directing the car around the other stopped vehicles and over the tracks. The car rumbled and bounced over the uneven surface while the train warning whistle pierced the air.
Justin gasped, unable to breathe. He could clearly see the angry and horror-filled expression of the engineer as they crossed the tracks in front of the train, exiting on the other side with inches to spare. Tires squealed and the car jerked as Gabriel directed them around more waiting cars.
Air finally entered Justin’s lungs again as he twisted around to see the speeding train separating them from their pursuers. Gabriel slowed up a little as he made a series of quick turns, putting more distance between them and the agents sent to kill them.
Prying his hand off the door handle, Justin sank into his seat. “Fuck,” he sighed. “Next time, I’m driving.”
“You could have done it better?” Gabriel demanded, his voice full of fire.
“Nope. But if I was driving, I would have been less likely to piss my pants.”
“Well, maybe your friend will have some fresh panties to change into when we reach him.”
Justin smirked at Gabriel. He wanted to climb onto the man’s lap and kiss him. That shit had been too damn close. His main concern when arriving in Moscow had been Nicolai and any of the goons he might send after Gabriel. He didn’t want to contemplate them being hunted on two separate fronts.
Gabriel wanted to throttle Justin. He should have mentioned the damn CIA threat sooner. He should never have kept that to himself. Yes, he would have sent the asshole back to the US, which he knew was the very thing that Justin feared, but Justin was in enough trouble just being near Gabriel—they didn’t need to go looking for more.
But that little bubble of rage would have to wait until they were alone again.
Following Justin’s directions, Gabriel found the garage and pulled into the open spot. This might be a “safe” location, but his heart was still pounding fiercely in his chest as he waited for yet another attack.
The second the car was inside what appeared to be an old warehouse, the metal door rolled down with a loud rumble like thunder across an empty plain. Gabriel shut off the engine and grabbed the gun from the leather shoulder holster he was wearing. He at least felt somewhat better to see that Justin was also holding his gun, the safety snapped off.
“Tell me again how much you trust him,” Gabriel said, reaching for the handle to open the car door.
Justin lifted his free hand and kind of rocked it back and forth. “Eh…let’s go with like fifty-fifty. Colton is…” He drifted off as a man stepped into the lights of the warehouse, a wide grin across his face.
His very handsome face.
Which did not make Gabriel feel better in the slightest.
Of course, Colton was handsome. And grinning at Justin like he wanted to pin him against the nearest surface and have at him…again.
Gabriel was getting his first taste of jealousy, and it had him contemplating shooting this Colton just for the hell of it. Might not be the smartest decision, but he was pretty sure it would make him feel a whole lot better.
They slowly got out of the car at the same time, weapons still in hand. Colton stopped his approach of Justin and lifted both of his empty hands in the air.
“Hey now,” Colton said in a warm voice full of friendly southern twang. Oh yeah, Gabriel definitely wanted to shoot him. He just needed this lovely man to give him the slightest reason. “We’re all friends here. There’s no one else, I swear.”
“You’ll forgive me my caution. I’ve worked with you,” Justin said with a little smirk.
“And I’ve already been shot at several times by your coworkers,” Gabriel added.
Colton flashed Gabriel what was likely his most winning smile. “Yeah, they can be a bit overzealous. But I think once everyone calms down, they’ll realize that the world is better off having Justin Mallory in it. He keeps things interesting.”
Justin closed this car door and stepped out into the open, extending his empty hand to Colton. “And knows how to find the best stash of whiskey in any bar, business, or home.”
“Fuck yes,” Colton growled. He grabbed Justin’s hand and pulled him in for a bear hug, slapping his back several times as they laughed. Gabriel immediately lifted his gun, pointing it at Colton. He should have been relieved to see there was no knife in his hand to stab Justin. No gun. Justin was safe, and yet he still wanted to pull the trigger.
Over Colton’s shoulder, Justin threw him a warning look that clearly said, “Lower the damn gun and behave.” Gabriel glared at Justin and then rolled his eyes, slowly dropping the gun to his thigh. He didn’t put it away. Not fucking yet.
“Where were we?” Colton asked as he released Justin and stepped back. “Hiding out in some little hovel in a bad fucking part of Baku.”
Justin snorted. “It felt like all of Baku was the bad part in those days. Or were we just hanging with the wrong people?”
“Stuck for two days in the place with limited food and ammo, and you uncover a stash of twenty-year-old Irish whiskey,” Colton continued. Pointing his finger at Justin, he grinned. “For that, I thought I should at least save you this one time.”
“That and all the times I saved your ass.” Justin holstered his gun, but Gabriel refused to put his up. “A few more times and we might be even.”
“Hopefully, this will be the last time you need to be saved,” Gabriel said sharply, drawing their attention over to him.
“True.” Justin nodded, looking a little sheepish since this mess was directly linked to him. “Colton Washburn, this is Gabriel Prescott. He’s—”
“The Reaper,” Colton said in a hushed tone. He shook his head as if in surprise, and then a wry smile spread across his face. “I’ve got to admit that I’ve always prayed that I would never be in the same room with you.” He looked over at Justin and chuckled. “Only you would travel with the goddamn Russian Boogie Man.”
Justin laughed and looked at Gabriel over the roof of the car. Gabriel understood his amusement all too well. They had shared so much over the past several months. When he was with Justin, he didn’t feel like the Reaper or Death. He was just a man who was trying to figure out how many dogs would be too many in the life they wanted to have together. He was the man Justin held tightly in the darkness when nightmares woke him. Nightmares where Justin had replaced Ivan in that blood-splattered hotel room so many years ago.
“Love to live life on the edge,” Justin murmured.
“Well, the Reaper’s rep only got bigger when he apparently wiped out an entire house he was being held in and then disappeared without a trace, only to reappear almost instantly in Budapest to take out Krestyanov’s number two.”
Gabriel wanted to laugh this time. His disappearance and killing spree in Germany were thanks to Justin, but his lover kept his mouth shut, seeming all too pleased to let Gabriel’s reputation grow to ridiculous proportions.
“And I’m assuming that you’re in town to take out the number-one asshole,” Colton continued.
“You seem to have a lot of people whispering in
your ear,” Gabriel said.
Colton shrugged. “I might have been installed by The Company as Moscow’s number-one guy for drugs and prostitution, but only because rumors travel fast through those circles. And I’ve been watching the Krestyanov family drop like flies over the past couple of years. Unless you count Nadia Krestyanov, there’s only one major player left. Nicolai Krestyanov. Trust me, there are a lot of people who will be happy to see him gone.”
“Well, if you’ve anything useful to share with the class, now is a good time.” Justin placed his hand on Colton’s shoulder. “The sooner we take care of old Nicolai, the sooner we’re out of Russia, and I can get back to my retirement.”
Colton scratched his jaw and smiled at Justin. “You know…I just might.”
If Gabriel clenched his teeth any harder, he was going to break a tooth. He wanted to say that they didn’t need any help from this Colton, but Gabriel wasn’t going to let jealousy completely blind him. They were already facing an uphill battle even with Nadia’s notes. If the American spy knew something useful, then he’d accept it. The only thing that he was willing to trust was that Colton didn’t look like he was interested in getting Justin killed. Gabriel, on the other hand, well…that was another story, he was sure.
Chapter 16
Colton splashed some whiskey in both of their glasses and put the half-empty bottle back on the scarred wood counter with a heavy thud. “I know you’re not going to listen, but you’ve lost your fucking mind,” he grumbled. He’d lost some of his southern twang and easygoing demeanor since Gabriel had slipped down the stairs to the bathroom.
Leaning against the wall, Justin accepted the offered glass, keeping his face perfectly blank. They’d already spent the better part of an hour going over the blueprint that Colton had on hand of Nicolai’s house, talking through the security system. There were only a few small differences between what Nadia had noted and what Colton pointed out. While they might appear minor, Justin was worried that they could prove to be critical in a pinch. And they were already in a pinch considering they were talking two men against at least two dozen on the grounds armed to conquer a small Eastern Bloc country.
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