Dangerous Heat (Aegis Group, #8)

by Sidney Bristol

The hours ticked by. The shed grew hotter, the boy’s skin was sticky with sweat. They’d stopped asking her questions, which was a relief. It wasn’t like she could explain what the plan had been to them without incriminating herself.

  The less she said the better. She knew she was going down. Whatever Luke was doing, someone had to take the fall, and she still owed him. Hell, she deserved to go down for what she’d done to Cane.

  She bent her head and kissed the top of James’ head. He was the same age as her oldest, and it was easy to envision herself sitting in the dark with her own babies trapped in this nightmare.

  “Someone’s coming,” Patrick whispered.

  “Stand. Come on.” Mia pushed to her feet, helping both boys up.

  She took their hands, holding on tight, and stared at the line of light under the door.

  First one shadow bisected the line then another. Voices reached her, one all too familiar. Luke.

  A thin, fragile cry reached her hears.

  Mia knew that sound.

  Her heart leapt up into her throat and she froze.

  No.

  No, this wasn’t the deal.

  If she played her part her babies were supposed to be left out of this.

  The door opened, light blinded her.

  “Mama!” her oldest cried out.

  James and Patrick whimpered, one chanting no, no, no a dozen times. She knew she should do something, but she was frozen in horror at the sight of her terrified children.

  Do something, her heart screamed. Her body just wouldn’t listen.

  Rough hands grabbed Mia before she could snap out of it. The men dragged her away from the boys while her two children were carried into the shed by two of Luke’s thugs.

  “No. What are you doing with my babies?” She whirled, throwing her weight toward the shed, but the big white man holding her was too strong.

  “Shut up,” Luke snapped. He reached out and grabbed her braids, craning her head back. “Nothing happens to your precious brats if you keep doing your part. Understand?”

  Tears streamed down Mia’s face.

  This was not how things were supposed to happen. This should have been an easy way to repay her debt, but it was going to cost her soul. She knew it.

  Luke stared down at her. He’d always come off as cold, but right now she might as well have been a bug to him. She knew he’d sacrifice her. When this was over, she’d bear the brunt of the wrong. She was smart enough to know that. But her children shouldn’t have to account for her sins.

  “Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Just don’t hurt my children or those boys.” She blinked back tears, but they kept coming.

  “You’re going to make a phone call.” Luke held out his hand and another big, beefy white guy handed him her cell phone. “You’re going to call Cane. You’re going to tell him you’re hurt, his brothers are with you and you’re in fear for your life. Understand?”

  She snatched at the phone, but he pulled it away from her.

  “Stick to that script, understood?”

  Luke was up to something. She didn’t know what, and she didn’t care. Not when her children’s lives were in the balance.

  Mia was going to hell. Nothing she did would bring herself back from the line she was about to cross.

  She powered on her phone, holding her breath in an attempt to contain her sobs. The instant it finished booting up the device nearly vibrated out of her hand with notifications coming in fast and furious. She ignored them and tapped the phone and Cane’s contact.

  She was hurt.

  The boys were with her.

  She feared for her life.

  Easy enough.

  “Mia? Mia, are you there? Hello?”

  “C-Cane?” She covered her mouth, a sob shaking her body.

  “Where are you? Are my brothers with you? Are you all right?”

  “N-n-no,” she practically wailed.

  “No you aren’t all right? No the boys aren’t with you? Where are you, baby?”

  “I don’t know. J-James and Patrick are here...” And her children’s lives depended on her performance.

  “Give that to me,” Luke muttered. “Cane De Jong. It’s been a minute.”

  Mia’s knees buckled. This was it. Everything was coming to a head and there was no stopping it now.

  “Let me make this clear, Cane. If you want to see your girlfriend or your brothers alive, you will do what I tell you to do.” He turned, his words drowned out by her own sounds of grief.

  Part of her had grown to love Cane. Today that love died. She had no illusion of coming out of this unscathed. She’d realized that after only a few months. She was a sacrificial lamb. There was no changing things. Cane would learn of her deception somehow and this wonderful fantasy she had where they became a family was over.

  “It’s done,” Luke announced.

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  “I’m playing the short game.” Luke pocketed her phone and glanced at the men. “Someone get Bekker for me. Load them all up. I want them off my property in less than five, understand?”

  “What are you doing? Where are you taking us?” Mia asked.

  Luke barely glanced at her. His lip curled, and he ignored her questions. She was a bug to him. Insignificant. She didn’t matter. But her babies mattered. And she’d gotten them caught up in this.

  She was the worst mother ever.

  21.

  Friday. Mlilo Animal Reserve, South Africa.

  Paxton took Cane’s phone from him, the call end screen going dark. He turned toward Zain tapping furiously at his laptop. It was a minor miracle they’d all been at the grill grabbing lunch at the same time.

  “Did you get anything?” Paxton asked.

  “A lot.” Zain’s tone didn’t mean anything good.

  “The vote happened this morning.” Cane’s voice shook.

  Paxton glanced back at the man. He could see the resemblance to Coco in the cheek bones, nose and mouth.

  Cane stared at Paxton from where he sat at the conference table that was now their war room.

  “What do you mean?” Coco asked. She sat next to her brother, her hand on his arm, proving that she wasn’t quite done with him yet.

  “I mean...” He turned to look at her. “So many of the things we need to do get stalled or warped because of special interest groups. Lobbyists are polluting the process and we can’t get things done that are in the best interest of the everyday man and woman. The reason I’ve been traveling back and forth between here and Cape Town and everywhere else is because so many representatives are over a barrel. They owe someone. They have to vote a certain way to stay in office. We can’t do our job if we’re subject to the whims of others.”

  “I saw this on the news.” Zain leaned back in his chair.

  “Six months ago, I introduced a plan to reduce what lobbyists and special interest groups can do. Right now it’s too easy—and legal—for them to literally buy votes. That’s not the way to enact change. So I’ve been meeting with people, getting them on board and this morning we did the vote.” Cane glanced at his sister. “I was waiting to hear back when you came by.”

  “Did it pass?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” Cane’s face was a twisted mask of torture, his brow furrowed, mouth screwed up. This should have been a major victory. Instead it was their personal tragedy. “But Luke doesn’t know that yet. He wants me to throw the vote, to let it fail. And I can’t. I can’t take it back.”

  “How long have you known Mia?” Zain asked.

  Paxton didn’t like how his boss asked that question.

  Cane frowned. “We’ve been dating a while now.”

  Zain frowned at his screen. “I’m looking at her call logs...”

  Paxton did not want to know how Zain could find these things out. It probably wasn’t entirely legal. Then again, what did Paxton know? Zain had contacts all over the world.

  “What? Tell me,” Cane demanded.

  Z
ain turned his full attention on Cane. “Mia has been in regular contact with Luke going back since she got this phone seven months ago.”

  “What? No. No, that’s not possible.” Cane shook his head.

  “These records don’t lie.” Zain turned his screen around. “This number I’ve highlighted? I traced it back, and it goes to a line registered to Luke Nodorf.”

  Cane’s mouth hung open. The woman he was supposed to marry wasn’t who she said she was. Not at all.

  “But we’re getting married...” Cane blinked.

  “Mia was bait all along,” Paxton said. “This Luke guy sounds like a real dirty bastard. If I was him, I’d want to know your secrets. Exploit your weaknesses. But I’m guessing that’s been the problem. You might be a shitty brother, but you’re a good politician.”

  “Cane would never take a bribe.” Coco nodded. “So when Luke realizes he’s about to lose out to a new law and that he can’t buy Cane off he goes for the jugular.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I can’t believe Mia’s in on this. I just can’t. She’s a victim in all of this. She has to be.” Cane shut his eyes, not wanting to hear the truth.

  “Patrick and James are still missing.” Coco reached over and took her brother’s hands. “Regardless of how guilty she may or may not be, we have to think about our brothers. What can we do for them?”

  “Call the cops.” Paxton wondered if Lepta Team was around. Didn’t they have a former hostage negotiator on their roster? “With what we know, they’ll have no problem finding Luke and the kids.”

  “No,” both Coco and Cane said in unison.

  Coco shared a look with her brother. Just a look, and yet it said so much more. They were still twins, still shared a bond. “The cops aren’t an option. Either they’ll tell Luke we know or they won’t dare go up against him.”

  “Then we go get the kids.” Paxton glanced at Zain. “This is what we do, right? All of our licenses are in order to work within South Africa. We’ve practically got a private army on the ground. We can have at least a dozen guys suited up to go before we nail down a plan of attack.”

  “Would you?” Cane stared at him, completely serious.

  Paxton had the sudden feeling he’d walked into a trap. “You knew who we were when you came here.”

  “Yeah. I might have.” Cane set his mouth in a grim line and stared at the table. “When my sister shows up with some GI Joe looking guy, I ask questions. So yeah, I know who you are and I thought... What are my options?”

  “You didn’t really come to ask me to hide then, did you?” Coco pulled her hands away from him.

  Cane snatched her hand back, “I did. Coco, the last thing I want is for you to get involved.”

  Paxton didn’t—couldn’t—care about Cane’s motivations. What Paxton understood was that there were two boys out there who were caught up in shit that didn’t concern them. Bad people were doing bad things to children. And Paxton wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

  “Boss?” He glanced up at Zain.

  “Fine. Yes, God damn it. Get whoever is around together. I’ll grab a mobile command station and we’ll be on the road in ten, got it? We have to be quick. Right now Mia and Luke’s cells are transmitting from the same location. I can’t imagine he’d stick around there long. If we want to get both of them, we move now.”

  “Coco?” Paxton caught her eye and nodded toward the hall.

  She got up, pulling away from her brother and walked to Paxton, spine straight, head up.

  He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her out of the room, then pulled her behind the door where they had some measure of privacy as the others filed out.

  “Don’t blame him, okay?” he stared into her troubled eyes.

  “He’s using us. He’s using you.”

  Paxton cupped her face. “To save your brothers. Remember that.”

  “He manipulated—”

  “You and Cane have a lot to work out. But right now, be there for each other. Okay?”

  “I want to go with you.” She leaned toward him, her hands on his sides.

  “No.” He shook his head, recalling two close calls at the garage. “I can’t focus on your brothers if I’m worried about you. And Cane’s right, you’re a target. Just stay here. Please? For me?”

  “Fine.” She tipped her chin up and lifted her hand to run her finger down his nose. “Don’t get hurt.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And don’t break your nose again.” She lifted up on tiptoe and kissed his lips.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  FRIDAY. MLILO ANIMAL Reserve, South Africa.

  Ebrahim pulled his baseball cap low on his face.

  This was too easy.

  The security around Mlilo was focused outward, not inward. All he’d had to do was hop on a delivery truck, keep his head down and ride it on in. Once inside, so long as he kept his hat and sunglasses in place, no one recognized him. There were enough research teams working alongside each other that it was possible to stroll the grounds and be completely anonymous.

  Where was the bitch?

  She’d had the audacity to come to his home after what she’d done to him?

  His family were practically forced out of their home from being harassed by the cops. Ebrahim couldn’t hardly show his face anywhere. If it wasn’t for Bekker offering him a job if he jumped ship, Ebrahim didn’t know where he’d be. He owed that man a hell of a lot.

  But this?

  This Ebrahim was doing for himself.

  The harassment would never end until he made it stop.

  Today was that day.

  Coco wasn’t the only person who had it out for him, but she was the one who most often phoned the police. He was positive she’d followed him, stalked him even.

  Turnabout was fair play. Only this time he was going to finish the job Bekker had given him. Coco was going to die, just like her precious pangolins and rhinos.

  Now, where was she?

  “If I were a rat where would I be?” Ebrahim paused and turned in a circle.

  He knew Coco lived on the Mlilo grounds and rarely left. But where? And would she be there now?

  For all he knew she could still be in Soweto. He’d seen her just after noon. It was creeping toward evening now. That was a lot of hours.

  No, he was willing to bet she was here. He just had to keep watching.

  Pangolins were her thing. She was always shadowing the animals like a nursemaid. He’d check there first.

  Ebrahim skirted the busier areas, taking a meandering path toward the pangolin hut the kid had told him about. The workers were beginning to thin out as they left for the day. There was no one around to see him slip inside.

  He turned on the lights and took in the building. From what he’d gathered, few of the pangolins in Mlilo’s care would remain here. They were mostly injured or relocated adults. He strolled down the center row, peering into the enclosures.

  There were easily six full grown pangolins.

  Such a damn waste.

  He could make a year or more worth of profit out of this room alone. But he had no way to get the pangolins out. It would take crates, people, muscle he didn’t have with him.

  No, best to not get distracted from his goal.

  Ebrahim’s phone vibrated at that moment. He pulled it out and winced when he saw Bekker on the screen. Great.

  “Yeah, boss?” Ebrahim peered once more into an adult pangolin’s enclosure. Could he get one out?

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m out working on a thing.” Ebrahim didn’t want to count his chickens before they’d hatched.

  “Are you at Mlilo? One of the boys said you were running your mouth about the woman.”

  Fuck.

  Who’d heard?

  “I might in the area,” Ebrahim replied.

  “Luke wants the girl. If you get her, bring her here.”

  Anger kicked him so fast he couldn’t think straigh
t. “What? No.”

  A single beat of silence.

  Ebrahim wanted to stick those words back in his mouth.

  You didn’t tell Bekker no.

  When Bekker spoke, it was with the growl of a tiger in his throat. “You will bring Coco here and I won’t kill you for fucking up. Understand?”

  Ebrahim was out of options. He stared at the cinderblock wall, his blood boiling and said words that damned himself. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good.”

  The call ended.

  “Fucking. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Arg!” He paced the building, rage making him consider all kinds of things.

  But the truth was, Bekker had offered Ebrahim a better life. He was able to protect Ebrahim and his family because of that stuck-up white boy. Ebrahim would get another shot. Today wasn’t the end of it.

  A muffled voice reached him through the door.

  He glanced over his shoulder in time to see the doorknob rattle.

  Shit.

  Ebrahim planted his hands on the top of the enclosure and vaulted inside, pressing his back to the cinderblocks that made up the animal’s habitat.

  The muffled voice grew clearer as the door swung open.

  “Weird. Why are the lights on?” a familiar voice said.

  Coco.

  A man sighed. “Maybe someone left them on?”

  “No one asked you to comment,” another woman said. “Here, start filling water.”

  Ebrahim glanced down.

  A very small pangolin, maybe a few months old if that, pawed at his knee, its beady eyes looking up at him with an air of expectancy. It wasn’t old enough to be without its mother. Hadn’t that kid tried to bring a baby pangolin in?

  The pieces were falling into place.

  Ebrahim reached under his shirt and drew his revolver.

  The little pangolin nuzzled his knee. He reached down and rolled the creature to its back, the thick tail thumping the ground.

  “What?” Coco called out. “What is it, Sushi Roll? I don’t have a bottle for you yet.”

  Footsteps came closer.

  It was now or never.

  Ebrahim stood and used his momentum to vault back out of the enclosure. He hit the ground, landing on his feet, almost nose to nose with Coco. She gasped and stared at him. Before she could react, he grabbed her and pulled her in front of him, pressing the business end of the revolver to her head.