Slipping out of bed, he carefully eased over to the window and peered outside without shifting the curtain. Sure enough, he saw movement. More than that. He knew in that instant that they weren’t alone. Squinting harder, he could see them. Operatives in black positioning themselves for a morning surprise. They’d be the astonished ones if he could get in motion fast.
Dammit, though. The house was completely surrounded.
How? How could this have happened? No one could possibly know they were here at his safe house, let alone that he even had a safe house.
His mouth tightened and his fists balled up at his side.
He stormed into the bedroom and woke up Nicole, not caring that he was rough and rude. Anger seethed through him. It was one thing for her to give herself up, but he wasn’t going down with her.
“Nick… what’s wrong?” she asked sleepily.
He didn’t give her the opportunity to wake up fully, but held on to her shoulders and glared right into her eyes.
“Who did you tell we were here?”
“No one,” she said meekly.
“You had to. I didn’t, so who did you tell and how did you do it?”
He released her, and she sat up clutching the covers to her. “I didn’t tell anyone!”
“Liar!
He stormed out of the bedroom and was about to start tearing his own house apart when he remembered the new purse she’d cobbled together with items from the stolen suitcase. As he flipped the purse upside down, Nicole ran out of the bedroom wrapped in the sheet.
“Nick, don’t!”
Too late. Out tumbled some cosmetic items, a few bills of money, and a phone.
The ashen look on her face told him all he needed to know. Well, almost.
He bent to pick up the phone. “One of mine. You used one of my own phones against me.”
“It’s not like that.” She rushed forward, but he shifted sideways, avoiding her. Nicole held her hands up and admitted, “I sent a message to my father. No one else, I swear. I needed to let him know I was okay.”
Nearly frothing with anger, Nick knew he had to think fast. He could yell at her later, but first, he needed her to understand what she’d done. She’d given them up. “You betrayed me,” he said.
“No, I didn’t. It was just my dad. He’s military, just like you. He taught me to—”
Fully exasperated now, he grabbed his hair. “It’s not about what your father used to do, Nicole. It’s about who he shared your information with, either through his former chain of command or with whoever he spoke to while I got to safety. I’m not sure how. It could be purely by accident, but your father led those men out there here today.”
Nicole started shaking her head. Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t believe that. This can’t be happening. Not again.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant by “not again,” nor did he have time to find out right now.
“Those guys are armed to the teeth. You can bet they’re not here to gather intel or do reconnaissance. They’re here to finish the job I was sent to do.”
Shock registered on her face. “And, what was that?”
“It was to tail you at first, but I won’t lie. Once I realized how complex this was…what was at stake, I knew their plan included more. I was sent to kill you, Nicole. That’s not happening. Not anymore. Yeah, I’m mad as fuck about what you did, but right now, we need to leave.”
Horror and fear were beginning to overtake her, he could tell. “How can we, when we’re surrounded?”
“I don’t know,” Nick said honestly. “But we’re going to fucking try.”
This was a far cry from lounging in bed with a warm, sexy woman and hoping for another blow job.
No such luck.
How the hell had Nicole found his burner phones? When had she had the chance to contact her father? Probably when he showered. It didn’t really matter now, though.
What was done was done.
The men outside were doing the work he was supposed to do. He’d never wanted to admit that was why he was sent. The “gather intel” was a decoy and a cover for the real mission. Search out and destroy. Just like he’d done in China. Only, this time, he couldn’t pull the trigger. Literally.
Nicole had redressed in her clothes from the previous day they’d washed and dried overnight. Fear resonated in her dark eyes, and he was certain she hadn’t intentionally tried to get them both killed.
This was life and death now.
No doubt about it.
Those men were here to finish what he couldn’t do. Even though he was highly-skilled and thorough, he and Nicole were clearly outnumbered by at least six or seven men. There was no way he could fight them all off on his own. The only option was for him to leverage the remaining cover of darkness and his knowledge of his property to get Nicole to safety.
He knew for a fact that the men outside had already disabled his Mustang in some manner. That was what he would have done. That left Nicole and him no other option other than to flee on foot before the sun rose fully.
Nick retrieved a small lock box from under the sofa and removed a wad of cash, a stack of passports, a handgun with ammunition and a fixed-blade survival knife. He also reached in and took out a picture which he folded and then eased into the breast pocket of the windbreaker he was wearing.
“Do you have everything?” he asked her.
Without speaking, she nodded.
“Good. Come with me. Don’t fight me. Don't ask questions, just do. Got it?”
She nodded and then added, “I’ve got it.”
Nick allowed himself a final, long, look around the place, and then told Nicole to follow him out the smaller back door. Tugging on a cord, he shouted out, “Run for the bushes and dive down!”
Before they got there, a loud, powerful explosion propelled them both into the brush, and debris began to rain down all around them. Nick rolled on top of her, covering her from the scorching hot rubble of what was the house. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a second explosion bathing the property in orange flames with a billowy, thick, black cloud rising up from it.
It wasn’t what he’d preferred, but he did what he had to do.
“Fuck!” Nicole exclaimed, crouching to avoid the ashes and sparks. “What just happened?”
“I did it to buy us some time. But now it’s time to get the fuck out of here.”
Nicole
Nicole’s heart was in her throat as she ran after Nick through the woods. She didn’t want to be like all those stupid movie characters who’d trip and fall and then get attacked by the villain, zombies, or whatever was after them.
She sprinted over branches and slick leaves, careful not to lose her footing as Nick led the way.
They hadn’t stuck around to do a tally, but by her count, there were at least two or three men—operatives of some sort—who were seriously injured by the blast… or worse. When they were far enough away from the house and ensuing fire, Nick pulled her down into a thicket.
“Stay here.”
She grabbed him before he could rush off. “You’re just going to leave me here?”
“No,” he said, his eyes dimming as dawn approached. “I’ll double back and find us a vehicle.”
“But, Nick, what if the—”
Even though she could tell he was still pissed off at her, he kissed her soundly on the lips and said, “This time, do exactly as I’ve fucking instructed you. Got it?”
She nodded.
“I’ll be right back. Do not move, Nicole. I mean it.”
“Go,” she said, now feeling like a scolded child. However, he had every right to treat her that way. It was her fault they were now in this situation. His idyllic, secret retreat had paid the price. She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to live that down or get him to forgive her.
It was all a damn shame considering the magical night they’d spent together, loving each other every way they could.
She harrumphed at her own choic
e of words.
Loving? Was that possible? Could it have really been more than fucking each other’s brains out?
Deep down, she hoped so. Nick was unbelievably sexy, a skilled lover, and he made her laugh, matching her wit for wit.
She didn’t want things to end. They couldn’t.
He stirred reactions in her she never knew possible and made her want to do all sorts of crazy shit.
Earlier this morning, after they’d had sex for the third time, he had fallen into a deep, satiated sleep in her arms. She’d wanted to do the same thing, but couldn’t do it. She was consumed with him, his smell, his feel, and she couldn’t doze off yet for wanting more of him. It wasn’t simply how his cock felt inside of her or how he made her come like a water hose. It was his eyes, and his voice, and his gentle, caring touch. The incredible sex was the final bonus on what she felt was the sharpest and most poignant connection she’d ever made.
She squinted as she tried to make him out. She saw movement and didn’t know whether it was Nick or someone else. Wanting to go to him, she remained where she was, not wanting to go against him this time. She owed him that much for all he’d done for her.
A few minutes later, an armored vehicle barreled through the woods, crushing brush and bushes as it crawled toward where she was hiding. Her heart raced out of control. This felt like one of those defining moments. A moment of truth. A line in the sand. Life or death. The assault team had found her and were about to end it.
Which sucked because she and Nick had just found each other and had some real plans and purpose for her life for the first time. More than punching a clock, answering to a boss, or doing a job for however long they chose to employ you. She was tired of bouncing around and trying to figure out who was on her side, who was against her, who wanted to use her for something, and who wanted to toss her aside.
Fuck them all. Especially the pricks in the Hummer.
When the lights hit her, highlighting her location, she stood tall, straightening her back, and proudly raising her middle finger to let them know she wasn’t going down without a fight.
The vehicle swerved and came to a stop next to her. The window rolled down, and Nick smiled out at her.
“Thatta girl,” he said. “You’ve got balls the size of Maryland.”
Her shoulders slumped in relief, and she could probably pass out from the adrenaline loss. “Is that a good thing?”
“It is in my book. Get in.”
Nicole ran to the other side and climbed in, slamming the door as he took off. He drove one of these with the precision of a man who’d gotten a lot of experience getting out of impossible situations.
“Where did you get this?” she asked, holding on tightly.
“The ambush team stashed it after their arrival. I literally ran into it.”
He steered through trees working his way back to the road they’d come in on yesterday. She was finally able to lock her seatbelt when he gunned it and high-tailed it out of there, steering south back toward New York City.
“Do you have a new plan?”
“Damn right I do,” he said.
She cocked her head and waited.
He pulled off the road and put the vehicle in park. Stretching his arm out over the seat, he faced her. “We’ve been doing this all wrong.”
“How so?”
“We’ve been on the run, but no more. Now, it’s time to turn the tables on the situation and take control.”
She frowned at him. “I don’t understand. Wouldn’t it be easier to go north to Canada?”
He shook his head and grinned. “Nope. It’s time we go on the offensive. Reacting to what they might throw at us is too much work. We’re going to steer them the way we want. And, I have the perfect leverage.”
Nicole lifted a brow and shrugged at him, wondering what it was.
He reached into the pocket of his jeans and withdrew the small silver device, holding it up to catch the morning sunlight. “This.”
Seeing the data drive she’d escaped the office with, she flattened her mouth. “You son of a bitch. You had it all along.”
“As I said, leverage.”
“But against who, Nick?”
He flipped the USB drive over in his fist and tucked it back into his pocket. He connected his eyes with hers and pressed. “Back there you said something about ‘not again’ regarding your father. What was that all about?”
Nicole’s heart lurched to her stomach and back, but she had to tell Nick.
Leverage…
Not that she needed to have something over him. Though he needed to know the dark secret in her past. Perhaps they could use the information to get themselves out of this mess.
She licked her lips and swallowed hard. “My mother, Anna, was a very beautiful woman. So kind and loving and I really was the world to her.”
“I can understand that,” Nick admitted.
Trying not to let that sink in too much, she continued. “I always thought she was from Boston, a first generation American, but she was actually born in the Ukraine and raised in Russia until she was a teenager when she was sent here to live an American life, but she was really an embedded Russian spy,” Nicole said.
“Shit,” Nick said, breathing out. “I didn’t know that.”
“I know. No one does now. Just Dad and me.”
“What happened?” Nick asked.
“What usually happens? A poor kid from Eastern Europe becomes enamored by the American dream and switched sides, working as a double-agent. All the years she and Dad were together, she was still reporting into the Russians with fake information while still getting their secrets. It was her own arrangement, but her contact was killed in Berlin, and she was left high and dry.” She took a break to recall what her dad told her when she was eighteen. “Dad discovered that she was a Russian spy and did what he thought was best… what was right. He turned her in, and she was to be sent back to Russia. I remember her being so sad and upset. I didn’t know what it was all about at the time. Then, it all came out about her double-crossing, and she was granted asylum in exchange for Russian secrets. A few weeks later, she was dead. Hit and run accident. I don’t think Dad ever forgave himself for it.”
“He did what he thought was right… for his country,” Nick offered.
Nicole wasn’t hearing it, though. “He should have done what was right for his family!”
Nick reached over and placed his hand on her leg for support. “I know. You’re right.”
“He’s being overprotective of me again, wanting to keep the same situation from repeating. I mean, I respect him and love him, but ever since he admitted what happened, things have been tense between us. I’ve kept my distance for a long time.”
“Do you think he knows something we don’t?”
“Something like what?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Nick stated. “But, he knew who to call when he heard from you. They were exactly the wrong people. One of the three groups out to silence you. The Chinese, the black-suited goons, and me.”
She switched her eyes over to him. “Yeah, but you were hired to watch me. So, we’re looking at a fourth entity.”
“Right. So, we need to bring everyone together and get all the players in one room to sort this shit out.”
“Even Dad?”
Nick sighed. “I suppose so. You need to understand once and for all where his loyalties lie.”
“Meaning, will he sell me out like he did my mom, all in the name of the country?”
With a shrug, Nick said, “The lines of patriotism are sometimes blurred.”
She hoped Dad would do the right thing this time.
Nicole
The Plaza Hotel, Manhattan
Using Nick’s stash of money, they took the train into Manhattan and booked a room at The Plaza Hotel under the name Marley Daniels. They’d come up with the cover on the train when they watched a fellow passenger take a sip from his paper bag covered Jack Daniels and sing
Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” at the top of his lungs.
Upon arrival, they were given a room on the third floor. Nicole waited in the room while Nick went out and returned with two business suits – one for him and one for her.
“Did you make the phone call?” he asked as she checked out the designer threads.
“Yes. We have a meeting with Shanice Terrill, the conference services manager, at 2:00 p.m.”
“Excellent. It’ll give me time to clean up and for you to make that phone call.”
Nicole bit her lip as she’d been doing most of the afternoon when she considered what Nick wanted her to do. She knew it had to happen, though. So, she did as she was told.
While he was out, she called her father’s coded line and told him in clear terms that she’d be at the Plaza Hotel in New York City tomorrow and needed to see him. If her father had anything to do with this, she’d know once and for all.
It was now a waiting game.
At exactly two p.m., Nicole waltzed into the lobby of The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. She wore a sharp, crisp Donna Karan suit in black and gold with a satin scarf in cherry, teal, and black looped at the neck. Her hair was twisted into a smart knot and held firmly with a pearl and crystal hair ornament. She removed her sunglasses as she approached the front desk.
She saw her reflection and had to give Nick a nod for his fashion choice for her. She never would have been bold enough to buy something so glamorous yet professional on her own.
I can so get used to this.
“Welcome to The Plaza. How may I help you?” the front desk assistant asked.
“Marley Daniels for Shanice Terrill. I have an appointment.”
“Let me ring her for you. One moment.”
Nicole tried not to pace as she waited. She wasn’t left too long before an African-American woman in her mid-thirties stepped out and welcomed her. She carried a cell phone and a master key card with her, as well as a thick packet of information regarding events at The Plaza. Nicole tried not to be bored with the facts and figures about the facilities—how many people it would hold theater style as opposed to cocktail rounds—but she nodded along, all the same.
Two Firefighters Next Door: A Bad Boy MFM Romance Page 32
