Dangerous Connections (Aegis Group Book 9)

by Sidney Bristol

  They did need help. And Silas wasn’t all that bad. He’d saved her last night and he’d stuck with her today. Clearly she could trust him a little.

  She lowered her voice. “We’re going to the UN. Chayan is going to testify to a closed session about what’s really going on and how bad it is.”

  “You’re...” Silas blinked at her a few times.

  “I know this is dangerous. We both know it is. But if China and Russia can get enough votes to admit Dauria, they’ll never change. They’ll continue being a dictatorship. People will keep dying. Nothing will get better. We have to do this, Silas. And nothing is going to stop us.”

  “How are you going to do this?” he asked calmly. Too calmly.

  “We’re flying back. Tomorrow. That’s why I needed the passport. And before you blame me again, I don’t know who died or why. But... You’re probably right and last night was likely connected.”

  “Probably? Likely?” His brows lifted. “Sugar, you really think the two of you can just walk onto a plane after today?”

  “Yes.” She did not appreciate his tone. She knew what she was doing.

  “You really think the Mongolian officials are going to just let him fly off?”

  “They don’t extradite people to Dauria.”

  “Even important government officials?” Silas shook his head. “Things might be different for some nobody trying to get away, but I get the feeling your friend is important.”

  “He is.”

  He shoved a hand through his hair. “Then this plan won’t work.”

  “Yes, it will.” She clung to those words in desperation.

  It had to work. She’d promised Chayan she would make it work. After everything he’d lost she couldn’t fail him now.

  The train shifted. Ekko staggered back into a boarding alcove. Silas was caught unaware as well and stumbled into her. Their feet tangled and his weight pushed her up against the wall in an almost intimate fashion. Her cheeks burned as his words ran through her head.

  I don’t even like you.

  She planted her hands against his chest.

  The train swung again, plastering them even closer together.

  “Shit, sorry,” Silas mumbled.

  “Get off.” She shoved at him.

  She had much more important things to worry about than last night’s rejection. So why did it sting all over again? Why were her eyes prickling?

  “Sorry,” Silas said again.

  She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath and the scent of his spicy cologne.

  Ekko caught sight of an older gentleman passing by. He darted a look at them, his brows drawing down, and muttered something that sounded like, “Get a room.”

  Her face heated and she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.

  “You okay?” Silas asked.

  “Fine,” she snapped and looked up at him. “You want to know why I don’t trust you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t like you very much.”

  “Ekko.” Silas groaned. “I didn’t mean to say that last night.”

  “Really?” She pressed her back against the door in an effort to put a little more space between them.

  He ducked his head, so they were eye to eye. Again he gave her that intense stare that seemed to be looking past her skin. It was unnerving.

  “Really,” he said.

  She was torn between believing him and the still lingering sting of rejection.

  “I said what I had to.” His words slowed and he glanced over his shoulder. “We couldn’t keep doing what we were doing.”

  “Your go to move is to insult me?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  He closed his eyes. “Not my best moment.”

  The sting lessened. She hadn’t liked admitting even to herself that his words had struck home with her. Then again she couldn’t blame him for not liking her after the way she’d treated him. It was her fault. So why was she still irritated with him?

  Deep down she knew the answer.

  Despite everything she’d done to push him away, Silas had stuck with her. She liked him and she couldn’t afford that kind of distraction. Yet here he was in all his tall, dark and handsome glory.

  She was so screwed.

  THURSDAY. HOTEL, ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia.

  Silas didn’t exactly feel good about their plan by the time they reached the Ulaanbaatar train station, but at least he had a plan. He’d exchanged a few texts with Zain before taking his phone apart. It was enough that his boss knew about the developing situation and with the home office’s support they’d get out of this. Somehow.

  Of all the jobs to go it alone on, why this one?

  He glanced over his shoulder at Chayan. The man had slept a bit on the train. He still looked as though he were about to drop from exhaustion. If they had to run Silas doubted Chayan would be able to keep up. They needed to go to ground and rest for the night. All three of them needed a hot meal and a real change of clothes. He and Chayan had swapped out their jackets and got a couple hats and scarves at a small shop not far from the station, but that wasn’t enough change. A trained operative would still spot them. Even Ekko’s clothes looked too much like her.

  Oddly, she hadn’t hesitated when it came to dumping most of the stuff she’d brought with her. He didn’t even think she’d kept her make-up kit.

  Ekko sped up a step to walk alongside Silas. “You really don’t think my suite is safe enough now?”

  Silas didn’t look at her. His ears were still ringing from the shrieking sound she’d made when he told her they couldn’t go back to the hotel.

  Did she really think the hotel was safe?

  He’d ultimately compromised on this plan. But he didn’t have much hope for what they’d get back from their rooms. Both of them had gone to the border with a small bag. Clearly he’d gotten his hopes up too much when she’d willingly left things behind on the train. Ekko wasn’t budging over the rest of their things.

  Their trio slowed at the corner stand where many of the hotel staff came for a quick bite to eat on their breaks. Silas looked over the line of people. He wasn’t going to pay someone they didn’t know. It had to be a familiar face.

  Just then a young man stepped into line. He wore the red and black uniform of a bellman. Silas vaguely remembered the young man taking another member of their entourage into a suite near Ekko’s.

  “That one.” Silas nodded at the boy.

  She pursed her lips. “You sure?”

  “Yes. Him or nothing.”

  “Fine.” Ekko sighed and took a step forward.

  Silas grabbed her arm. “Be careful. Don’t say more than you have to.”

  “I know what I’m doing,” she insisted.

  He nearly bit his tongue in half.

  She was so damn confident about everything. He wanted to believe her she sounded so certain, and yet he knew they were playing with fire.

  Silas and Chayan hung back as Ekko chatted with the bellman. At one point she put her hand on the young man’s arm and smiled that smile. The one that made her face glow.

  Why did Silas feel a punch of jealousy?

  She wasn’t for him. She was a client. In the grand scheme of things that didn’t mean much. There were no company rules against fooling around with those in their care. The harsh truth was that sometimes having that personal connection made the job easier. Not to mention some of the people they rescued wanted or needed that fantasy to lose themselves in after what they’d just endured.

  It was different this time though. Silas was the only one keeping them alive. He had no one else to fall back on. He had to be on at all times. If he got distracted or lost in her body, that might mean their lives.

  “He’s going up to check on things now,” Ekko announced as she rejoined them.

  “Great.”

  “Chayan, you don’t look so good.” She crossed to the other man’s side and brushed her fingers over his face.

  “Just tir
ed, that’s all,” he said barely louder than a whisper.

  Ekko directed her stare at Silas. “We need somewhere to rest.”

  “I know.”

  “Okay, so where are we going?”

  “Once we have our luggage, we’ll pick a cheap place that’ll take cash. We can’t risk leaving a trail.”

  His answer seemed to satisfy her.

  They stood there with their backs to the cool stone wall of the hotel in the shadows and waited.

  The minutes ticked by.

  A nagging voice in his head said they needed to leave, but he knew Ekko wasn’t going to. Not without whatever was in her room. If she was going to work with him, she had to understand the severity of the situation. He just prayed it wasn’t a boneheaded move that cost them their lives.

  Almost half an hour later the wide eyed bellman stepped back out.

  Something was wrong.

  Silas grabbed Ekko’s arm before she could take more than a step toward the young man.

  He caught the man’s eye and crooked his finger. The bellman walked toward them, his steps halting as if he didn’t want to get near them.

  “We need to go,” Silas said.

  Ekko tried to pull out of his grasp. “Don’t be crazy. Why didn’t he bring our stuff?”

  The bellman stopped a few feet away. That was as close as he was willing to come. He began talking, speaking in what Silas assumed was Mongolian.

  “What’s he saying?” Silas asked Chayan.

  The other man shrugged. “Not sure. He’s speaking so fast. Something’s wrong with the room.”

  Silas glanced up and down the street, looking for anyone paying them special attention.

  The bellman whirled and Ekko took a step toward him before Silas pulled her back.

  “No.” His gut was screaming at them to move, to get away from here.

  “What happened?” Chayan asked.

  Ekko growled and yanked her arm from Silas’ grasp. “Someone has been in our room. It’s totally trashed.”

  “We go now,” Silas said putting steel in his voice.

  “Wait.” Ekko tugged on his arm, but not terribly hard.

  Chayan stuck close to Silas’ heels. At least he didn’t want to get caught.

  Silas hailed a cab. There were always a few hanging around the hotel. It was a tight fit with the three of them.

  “Ask where we can get a room for an hour,” Silas directed.

  “Seriously?” Ekko scowled up at him.

  “They take cash and they don’t ask questions,” he said slowly, hanging onto his patience.

  Ekko went back and forth with the driver, putting on a smile and laughing a bit before the driver set on a destination.

  “I cannot believe this,” she muttered.

  “What exactly did the bellman say?” Silas kept his voice low and watched the driver.

  “Just that the room was totally ransacked. The sofa was turned over. The mattress was on end. What I’d left in the room was everywhere. My computer was smashed.”

  “That wasn’t your main computer?”

  “No, it’s my travel rig.” She looked up at him and spoke slowly. “There isn’t anything on it outside of a few games and my streaming equipment.”

  “Your browser history though...”

  “I wiped it,” she whispered.

  Silas nodded. He wasn’t about to believe she was as thorough as she thought she was. But at least she’d tried.

  Their driver wove through the city and took them to one of the poorest hotels Silas had ever seen. Worse than the dump he’d stayed in the one time when he had to go into Mexico to find his cousin on a bender, and Silas had thought that the worst place on earth.

  He paid the driver and got the other two out. Despite Ekko’s protests that she spoke the language, Silas was the one who went to the window and procured them a room. It didn’t take much to come to an understanding and he hoped he was less memorable than Ekko.

  Armed with a key he led the other two up to the largest room the hotel had to offer. It was a set of adjoining rooms that had seen better days. There were cracks in the plaster and the smaller room was right up under the roof. On a rainy night he was fairly certain whoever stayed here would also get a complimentary shower.

  Silas went over both rooms before locking them in and heading out to procure a few supplies. Namely food, water and a disposable cell phone. Both of which he found on the block they were staying at. He was quick enough in the errand that neither Ekko nor Chayan had even removed their coats before he returned.

  “You two eat. I need to make some calls.” Silas paused in the adjoining door between the rooms. “Ekko, did you actually book flights for tomorrow?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to have three tickets under my name when there were only two coming here.”

  Silas nodded.

  He didn’t have much faith in her plan to simply fly to New York. It would be more complicated than that. These things always were. But he had a feeling that until he let Ekko fail completely, she’d fight him every step of the way.

  It took a little jiggling to get the door to shut, but he managed well enough. He powered on the burner and dialed Zain’s direct line. Normally he’d call their operations desk and let the issue route to the people working, but this was an unusual situation.

  The line rang twice.

  “Hello?” Zain’s voice had an edge to it.

  “It’s Silas.”

  “Thank God. Fuck. Are you okay? What about Ekko? Andrea’s—”

  “Your wife owes me. Ekko’s fine. Did we make the news?”

  “Yes.” Zain’s voice darkened. “The man. Who is he?”

  “Chayan something.”

  “What the hell was Ekko thinking?”

  “She’s thinking she has to do something drastic. This Chayan guy worked for the government.”

  “Shit...”

  “All she’s said so far is that Chayan is going to testify at the UN against allowing Dauria into the club.”

  “God damn it. And she never told you her plan?”

  “No. Hey, do we know who died last night?”

  Zain was silent for a few seconds. “The news is saying it was just a guy out on a walk. We know he had a record that included forging passports. He was an associate of someone we’ve worked with before.”

  “And Ekko had Chayan a passport at the border.” Silas had known there was a connection. He hated being right.

  “What’s your plan? Are you safe?”

  “For now. We got out in the confusion. Ekko insists we’re just getting on a plane tomorrow and flying to New York.”

  “That’s not going to work.”

  “No, it’s not but I can’t make her see that.”

  “Do you have a plan?”

  “Not a great one. I was hoping you’d have some backup available.”

  “I’m working on it. I needed to know more before I sent anyone to you.”

  Silas and Zain went back and forth, comparing notes and what little they knew. It was not a comforting conversation, but it had to happen. With Zain’s help Silas was at least able to make some notes about available flights and alternate routes if they were able to get on a plane.

  Tomorrow the goal would be one of two things. Either they got out of the country or they found somewhere safe to hole up.

  Silas ended the call only after Zain promised to make his apologies to Silas’ sister. There was no way he was going to make it back in time for her birthday, even if they did manage a flight out tomorrow.

  That done, Silas opened the adjoining door once more.

  “Sh,” Ekko said and slid through the barely open crack.

  Silas frowned into the room.

  “Chayan passed out. Here.” She passed him the remaining food, still warm.

  He gave the room one more look before following Ekko to the small table and chairs. He tucked into the food, eating without tasting it. The small fare they’d got
ten on the train hadn’t held him over well and he was starving. Besides, he didn’t know when or where his next meal was coming from. He was almost done before he realized Ekko was just sitting there watching him.

  Silas glanced up at her and chewed slowly.

  She’d turned his opinion of her on its head today. He had to give it to her, she’d fooled him handily. At least he thought she had.

  “Tell me, always being in front of a camera. Is that normal for you or...?”

  Ekko glanced away and sputtered a bit. “No. No, it’s not. It’s been awful, but necessary.”

  He shook his head and sat back. “You took hiding in plain sight to the next level.”

  “It made sense.” She shrugged. “The more I was on camera the less likely it was that anything would happen to me. My regular viewers have complained a bit about it, but what else was I supposed to do?”

  “That was smart.” He stared at her in this new light. What had she said before about only streaming for a set amount of time?

  “You think so?” She peered sideways at him.

  “Yeah. I’m guessing your fans realized something was up, but I assumed you were just trying to be in the spotlight because that’s what you liked.”

  “I don’t actually like all the attention,” she said.

  “Then why do you... Why the videos?”

  “It’s streaming and it’s not about me. It’s either about the game or the community. I just happen to be the person doing most of the talking.”

  Silas studied her, taking in the open, honest expression. He’d never seen her like this. No pretense. She wasn’t huffing or rolling her eyes at him. Because she wasn’t trying to hide what she was really up to any more. He wasn’t sure he could trust her entirely, but he saw through the act now.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  She frowned. “What for?”

  “I didn’t think kindly about you,” he said slowly. “I bought into what I saw.”

  “That’s my fault, not yours. And I’m sorry, too. I guess I thought if I was bitchy enough or a pain in the ass you’d leave. I took my frustrations out on you. I don’t feel good about that.”

  Silas snorted. “You’d have to do much worse to drive me off, sugar.”

  “I’m not saying I’m a cake walk to deal with, but... Do you think we can start over? Can we work on getting home and do that as a team?”