by Lexi Blake
“Glad to help out, partner,” Walt replied cheerily. “And Ezra, you dropped Ariel off for her lunch date. Hayley says you’re really enjoying the fish and chips at Meg’s this afternoon.”
They had put together alibis very quickly. He would be the only one to take the fall, and that was how he wanted it. He would take Kim and they would figure out how to bring that fucker down. All that mattered was not leaving her in Levi’s hands.
He would be alone with her for the first time in years. He would have to work with her, stay with her, protect her.
It might be the most dangerous thing he’d ever done.
“All right, according to your GPS, you’re on the road that leads to the airfield. It should be flat without any structures on either side. I would take the limo out here,” Walt said.
Ariel pulled a ski mask over her head and brought her gun up. “I’m ready. I’m going to blow a tire. It’s a risky move, but I know Kim. She would rather I took the chance than allow her to go with him. God only knows what he’ll do with her. I doubt he’s taking her back to Langley. But this is your call.”
The limo could roll. A car accident could kill her.
She would want him to take the chance. He knew damn well he would want her to. If Levi got her on that plane, she would disappear and he would never see her again, never know what happened to her.
He couldn’t live with that outcome.
“Do it.”
Ariel slid the passenger-side window down and moved her graceful body out, balancing against the windowsill. She showed zero hesitation to put herself in harm’s way. If he lost control, she would be flung out of the vehicle, and there was no way she survived.
So he wouldn’t lose control. He let a cold professionalism settle over him. He was retrieving an asset, that was all. He’d done it a hundred times.
The trouble was the asset he was usually attempting to liberate hadn’t held him late at night, hadn’t wrapped her body around his in perfect communion, hadn’t made his whole world spin.
Hadn’t wrecked his soul with her betrayal. Hadn’t turned to the enemy for comfort.
His hands tightened on the wheel as Ariel took her shot. She only needed one. She took out one of the back tires with the precision of a true artist. A loud screech seemed to bend the air around him, and Ariel slid back into her seat.
The minute her belt clicked on, he slammed on the brakes as the limo swerved and the driver tried to regain control. The back of the limo fishtailed and the sparks flashed from where metal met concrete. Up ahead, he could see the second vehicle slowing down, but Nick and Brody were there. Before the car could stop, they had weapons trained on the men inside.
Nick and Brody had their faces covered. He was the only one who wasn’t going to bother. He didn’t care if they all knew. If he got caught, he would tell them he hired a group of mercenaries and no, he couldn’t quite remember their names.
The limo spun off the road and seemed to hit something that sent it lurching to its side.
He threw the Benz in park and got out of the car. She had to be in that limo. Levi wouldn’t have put her anywhere else. Levi had always said Kim was the queen, and he’d made sure to bring a car fit for one.
Ezra would have brought a car fit for a woman who tended to blow everything up. To him, Kim wasn’t a queen. She was a goddess who controlled so much of his world. Who brought pleasure and pain. Order and chaos.
“Ezra, no bodies.” Ariel was out of the car, moving around to the driver’s side. “We get her and we leave. If we have bodies, we have press.”
And if they had press, they had trouble.
The door came open and he saw the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. Kim crawled from the wreckage, her blonde hair out of its tidy bun and wild around her face. He started to move to help her as the driver door came open and a burly man started to climb out.
Ezra planted his feet and took aim. She couldn’t get across the road if that asshole got between them. “Get your hands up and don’t move if you want to live.”
His gut twisted because this could go south so fucking fast. If the bullets started flying, they would be outnumbered. Where was Levi?
The driver’s hands came up as Kim swung a leg over and managed to drop to the ground. He could see the zip ties on her wrists, but it looked like she’d busted them apart. She had both hands free as she got to her feet. She immediately went for the small holster she kept at her ankle when she wore slacks. She would have a backup there, likely a single-use gun she’d printed. It would be made of resin so it wouldn’t set off metal detectors. Despite the fact that he hadn’t lived with her in years, he still knew her habits. She kept a 3D printer with some super illegal files in most of her safe houses. It would only give her one shot, but sometimes that was all she needed.
The Benz pulled up beside him. Ariel had taken over driving. She’d opened the back seat passenger door so they could both slide in. “Let’s go.”
But Kim seemed to have other ideas. She had that gun in her hand and she turned back to the limo.
He wanted so badly to let her do it, end the threat. But they were sitting on a powder keg, and it could go off any second. “Kim, get in the car. Now.”
She faced him, her expression going stubborn. “He’s right there. He’s knocked out and vulnerable.”
And didn’t that sound perfect? Maybe they did have enough time. Maybe it would be worth it. If he got taken in and Levi was dead, he could handle that particular outcome.
But Brody Carter had a son and a wife, and Nick’s wife had recently given birth to their first, a daughter. Ariel had recently gotten married.
Then the questioning was over because the driver decided to take his shot. The driver moved a hand and came up with a gun pointed right at him. Ezra dropped to the pavement and rolled as Kim turned and fired on the driver.
“Now, Kim,” he shouted. They were out of time. Like they always seemed to be with Levi. Ariel was right. Levi was likely trying some shady shit, and he would want to cover it up. But if there was a body…
She cursed and ran for the car as the driver took another shot. Ezra gave her some cover but felt a bullet graze his left shoulder. It burned but he managed to fire again, sending the driver back into his hidey-hole.
“She’s in,” Ariel shouted. “And Walt says the police received a call about an accident. We need to move.”
He backed toward the car, firing off another couple of shots to keep the driver at bay before sliding in the open door. Before he could even slam it shut, Ariel was taking off.
He leaned over and covered Kim’s head, getting them both below the windows. Sure enough someone was firing as Ariel sped away.
“Nick and Brody are off,” she said in a low voice. “The other car isn’t following. They’re back trying to help the limo, which means they’ve been ordered not to follow.”
“Police are coming from your east,” Walt announced. “I’ll send you the best route to get to Damon’s garage. He’s got a car stored there. I’ll meet you and give you the address for the safe house. Ari, drop them off and then get to that restaurant. It’s the one by the Tate. Hayley’s waiting for you. I want you on CCTV asap. Nick and Brody are going back to their surveillance job, and I’ll send a car for Damon.”
Kim was quiet underneath him, perfectly still as he covered her. He’d expected she’d fight him, not let him protect her. She could be fierce.
“Will do,” Ari said. “Keep your heads down. Kim, it’s good to have you back.”
“It’s good to not be kidnapped and taken to a bunker somewhere,” Kim replied quietly.
He stayed where he was, covering her with his body. They couldn’t get up until they were well past that airfield. Levi might have men waiting there, men who would try to take her back. “Are you all right?”
He wanted to hold her, but now that he was here with her, everything that sat between them rustled around in his head again. She was trouble. She’d always been tro
uble. Even when she was trying to love him, she somehow managed to hurt him.
What the hell was he doing? He should send her to Tag and let him figure this all out. Even as he thought the words, he knew he wouldn’t do it.
“I am now,” she replied. “Thank you for coming for me.”
He went silent as they drove back into the city, wondering if he hadn’t made a terrible mistake.
Chapter Three
When the door to the storage unit closed, Solo was finally able to take a deep breath. “Thank you so much for helping extract me.”
She turned to Walt, a lanky, unassuming genius of a man. She’d met him during her brief stay at The Garden a few weeks before.
Had that really only been weeks ago? It felt like she’d aged a decade in that time. It hadn’t been so long since she’d been forced to run with Beck and the others when The Garden had been raided. They’d used the secret exit that had taken them into underground London to an apartment not far from this garage of Damon’s. They’d taken this same sedate sedan and fled north to a country home.
She knew that for Tucker and his now wife Roni it had been a harrowing time, but for her it had been something different. For her it had meant spending time with Beck, having a few moments where he didn’t look at her like she was some kind of demon sent to steal his soul. For those few days, they’d relied on each other again.
“Hey, I’m happy to help. I was working on a couple of experiments. This totally livened up the day.” Walt gave her a broad smile and gestured to the woman who’d come with him. “Steph came along to make sure no one needed a stitch up. Apparently she’s way better with a suture than I am.”
Stephanie Carter was a pretty woman with shoulder-length brown hair and big, kind eyes. She was a physician, one who still worked as a GP. The Garden had a plethora of medical professionals. “Well, you’re an epidemiologist, not a general practitioner. I brought my kit. Ezra, looks like you got hit.”
He’d been grazed. She’d checked it out in the car when they’d felt safe enough to sit up. While she’d been laid out on the back seat, Beck’s big body covering hers, she’d felt safe. She’d felt like he still loved her.
It was time to wake up and face the truth.
Beck took off his shirt. “It’s already stopped bleeding. I don’t think it needs stitches. Burned like hell though. Did Brody and Nick make it back all right?”
Steph opened the bag she’d been carrying and pulled out a first aid kit. “They’re both good, and I think this was exactly what they needed. They’ve been feeling so dad-like these days. It’s good to get the old adrenaline up over something that isn’t baby related.”
Her gut knotted. She hadn’t thought about the fact that Brody and Nick had kids. “I’m sorry I dragged them into this.”
“They wouldn’t have come along if they hadn’t wanted to.” Beck hopped on the stool that sat by the table. Damon had completely replenished this way station since they’d used it all those weeks before. He’d replaced the water and food and weapons they’d taken with them while they’d hid from British intelligence.
Now she would hide from her own agency.
“Well, please let them know how much I appreciate it.” She didn’t know when she would be able to repay them. Likely never. In fact, she might not be able to pay for anything. She hadn’t even thought about it. “I need a computer. I need to figure out if he froze my accounts.”
Walt nodded. “There’s an encrypted laptop on the table. I thought you might need it. It’s set to ping around the globe a couple of times to mask its location. Feel free to use it. You can take it with you, and I’ve also included several burner phones. Expect a call from Big Tag at some point. He’s in a crabby mood, by the way. But then he usually is.”
Steph flashed a smile as she dabbed at the burn mark on Beck’s left arm. “He’s quite charming when he wants to be. Though it’s super early back in the States, so I don’t think he’s going to turn the charm on. Maybe he’ll take a nap or something.”
She seriously doubted it. The good news was she would thank him, ask him for any updates he had, and then let him off the hook. It wasn’t Big Tag’s job to save her. She’d actually burned the man a couple of times, though she hadn’t meant to. She’d done it because it was her job.
She didn’t have one of those anymore.
She stepped up to the laptop. She would be able to tell a lot about what was going on based on whether or not she could get into her accounts.
“Tell me you still keep money stashed across the globe.” Beck winced as Steph applied a topical to his burn.
“Of course.” She had accounts and then she had shadow accounts, money stored in business accounts that couldn’t be traced back to her easily. Then there was the cash she had in various safes. “I’m sure Levi knows where most of my safe houses are. I don’t suppose I could sneak back into my London flat.”
“No,” Beck said with a frown. “I assure you he has someone watching it. He probably has for a long time. I’m surprised you would suggest it.”
“My e-reader is there.” A lot of things were there, and she would have to leave them all behind. All her ID, her phone, everything in her handbag was still in Levi’s hands. God, she should have killed that fucker but she’d had to use her only bullet to scare away the driver. “I was enjoying my book. I bet that asshole will shut down my account for that, too.”
She tried her main account, the one she was sure the Agency knew about.
Beck moved in behind her. He hadn’t bothered to put a shirt on. His cut chest was on display. “What’s the verdict?”
She gritted her teeth as the message came up. “This one’s frozen. I can assume most of them are.” She wanted to throw the laptop across the garage, but that wouldn’t help her. “Levi might want to do this quietly, but at least someone at the Agency knows. He couldn’t have frozen my accounts without permission.”
“Can you call the president?” Beck asked. “He put you on this mission in the first place.”
She wished it was that easy. “Yes, he did, privately. Technically the Agency doesn’t know I was working for POTUS. Realistically everyone knew, but as it’s been pointed out to me so recently, Hayes is only going to be in office for a few more months. Whatever’s going on, he won’t be around long enough to fix it.”
“He could pardon you,” Steph pointed out.
“For a crime that won’t ever be on the books?” It was the conundrum she was in. No one would acknowledge McDonald had been a problem, therefore technically there was no crime. But the Agency wouldn’t forgive or forget, and she knew there would be a whole lot of her coworkers who bought what Levi was selling. There would be a bunch of assholes who would glory in her downfall. “Look, I knew when I took the job that Hayes wouldn’t be able to get me out of trouble if I fell into it. He and Connor Sparks did as much as they could, and now I’m on my own.”
“That sucks,” Walt said.
She appreciated the fact that he didn’t try to find a way out of the situation for her. He simply stated the obvious. “It does. Do we know if Levi survived?”
She brought up a secondary account. Same message.
Behind her Beck cursed under his breath, obviously understanding the state she was in. “Please tell me he died in the accident. Also, are the police looking for us?”
Steph handed him a fresh T-shirt. “I was listening to the radio and they dispatched an ambulance. Two men were treated at the scene—one for scrapes and cuts and the other was listed as a possible concussion, but no one was taken in.”
“And the police were called away long before they should have been,” Walt added. “I think we can bet there won’t be a report. He’s cleaning up as we speak.”
She made it to the third account, got the same message, and gave up. She closed the laptop. “Well, he’s likely got access to roughly forty million now. He’ll use it to try to find me.”
Beck gingerly pulled the shirt over his head, win
cing when he moved his arm. “We’ll see about that. I know some pretty good hackers. And some lawyers, if it comes to that.”
She didn’t want to pull him in any further than he already was. “It’s cool. I know some, too. I’ll see what I can do about it.”
She wasn’t going to cry. She had to suck it up because she couldn’t let Beck see how weak she felt, how much she wanted to beg him to help her, to stay with her. She needed to acknowledge that she had to face this alone.
Beck turned back to Walt. “You think it’s safe for us to be on the streets? I’d like to get to the safe house as soon as possible. How far away is it?”
“Oh, it’s a drive,” Walt replied. “I’ve programmed the route into the computer. I’ll monitor you the whole way and let you know if we need to change course. You’re going to take the Chunnel across to France and then make your way to Paris. That’s where the safe house is.”
She could handle Paris. She had a small flat there, but she wouldn’t be visiting it. Levi definitely knew about that place. She would take a couple of days and figure out where to go from there.
Then she would disappear until she could clear her name.
She turned to Beck. “Thanks for the save. I can take it from here.”
A single brow arched over his heavenly eyes. “Oh, you can take it from here? I’m supposed to hang around and wait to be arrested?”
She didn’t see that happening. Beck was far more protected than she was. Damon Knight had serious pull in Europe, and Big Tag could work miracles in the States. Neither of those men owed her anything. Beyond that, Levi had shown his true hand today. “Levi’s not coming after you.”
“He’s always looking for an excuse. Every time I’ve come up against the man in the last few years, he’s tried to kill me.”
“Killing you would cause him problems.” She wasn’t sure what Beck’s point was. It would be far better for him in the long run if he wasn’t in the middle of this war she found herself in. “I think it’s best you stay here in London and work on the problem with Damon. I’ll find a way to contact you when I land somewhere.”
