by JB Lynn
DeeDee complied quickly, almost inadvertently bucking her rider off.
“Hey!” God protested.
“You too, sweetheart.” Patrick carefully picked Piss up and put her on the floor of the backseat.
“Thank you,” she meowed politely.
As though he understood her, he stroked her head. Closing that door, he took his gun back, grabbed my elbow, opened the front passenger door and propelled me into the seat. Once I was settled, he brushed my hair off my face to get a better look at me. “You’re going to be the death of me, Mags.”
“I certainly hope not,” I murmured, remembering why I found him so attractive and having difficulty recalling why we didn’t work as a couple. Then I remembered he was in love with someone else and I sat back against my seat, destroying the intimacy of the moment.
He closed my door, hurried around to the other side and climbed behind the wheel.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“I saw you at Belgard’s place and followed you over.”
“What were you doing there?”
“Looking for you?”
“Why?”
He started the vehicle. “Rumor has it that you’ve got Vinny looking for you. After what happened to Zeke and your father, I figured trouble wouldn’t be too far behind you.”
“But,” I protested. “That doesn’t explain why—”
He held up a hand to silence me. “We didn’t work out and I handled things badly,” he had the good grace to look chagrined, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a connection, Mags. We’ve had that since the very first time we met.” He smiled at the memory. “Remember that?”
I nodded. “You must have thought Delveccio was nuts to want to hire me.”
He chuckled. “I did, but then I met you and saw what he did.”
“Someone desperate enough to agree to do anything to save her niece?”
He shook his head. “Someone who—”
He never got to finish that thought.
“Alone not,” DeeDee growled, interrupting him.
“We’re surrounded,” God whispered.
Looking outside the SUV I realized he was right.
Chapter 23
“Ninjas!” DeeDee barked excitedly.
Clad all in black, including masks that only revealed their eyes, a group of men surrounded the SUV.
Patrick reached for his gun.
“Don’t,” I warned, reaching across the vehicle and putting my hand on his arm. “It’s okay.”
“It’s okay?” he asked incredulously, his gaze flicking from the windshield to the rearview mirrors watching the men encircling us.
“I know these guys.”
“You know these guys?” His voice cracked with disbelief.
“Yup,” I sort of lied, hoping I was right that they were Ms. Whitehat’s ninja team, otherwise we were screwed.
“You knew they’d show up,” God deduced.
I nodded. I’d given Armani my phone so that no one could track me through that, but I hadn’t ditched her car knowing that it was being tracked by Whitehat’s organization.
“Clever girl. Geronimo!” The lizard dove down the front of my shirt.
Patrick’s eyes widened.
“I’ve got this under control,” I told him as one of the masked men opened my door and motioned for me to get out. “Just sit tight.”
I slid out of the SUV and followed the ninja toward an approaching van. I tried to stand up straight and look unafraid, but my heart was racing.
“Breathe,” God whispered. “You stopped breathing.”
The van stopped and I sucked in a breath.
“Get in,” the masked driver ordered, jumping out and holding the door for me.
I did as told and climbed behind the steering wheel. Ms. Whitehat sat in the passenger seat.
“We have a problem, Ms. Lee.” There was something that sounded a lot like stress in her usually cool tone.
“I don’t think so. Marlene’s in the SUV.” I pointed in its direction. “She’s been sedated, but she should be okay.”
“You’re worried about the wrong twin.”
My stomach dropped. “Darlene?”
“She’s going to try to bargain for your family’s safety with Redcoat. She took something she shouldn’t have and now she’s not only in trouble with Redcoat, but with the organization.” Bitterness and concern warred in the woman’s tone.
“The cipher?” I guessed.
She looked at me sharply. “What do you know about that?”
I held up my hands defensively. “Not much.”
Whitehat turned away from me. “Darlene’s gone to trade it. The orders for the mission are clear: kill Redcoat and retrieve the cipher…”
She paused for a long moment and I knew that whatever else she was going to say, was going to be bad.
“Darlene is considered to be acceptable collateral damage.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Alarm made my tone strident.
“You have to understand that I’m only part of the organization and it’s my boss’s boss who’s calling the shots on this one and it puts my team at opposite purposes.” There was no mistaking the frustration in her tone.
“Talk about office politics,” I joked weakly.
“Assuming that the other team gets there first, no effort will be made to protect Darlene,” Whitehat continued grimly. “That’s why I wanted to see you, to give you the option of trying to protect her.”
“Thanks?” I asked, not quite sure which end was up.
“But if you don’t want to,” she added hurriedly, “because of your responsibilities to your niece, I’d understand. It’s completely your choice.”
“Some choice,” I muttered.
To her credit, Whitehat remained silent, giving me a moment to mull things over.
“You do know I’m not exactly rescuer material,” I pointed out.
“Your nieces would disagree, as would Marlene.”
“Marlene’s been unconscious the whole time,” I said. “She has no idea what I’ve done. I’d like to keep it that way. Can you help me with that?”
Whitehat nodded. “I can arrange to have her dropped off outside the emergency room of the nearest hospital.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
I fell silent, wondering if doing that to Marlene was one of the two wrongs that would make a right.
“You have to go,” God pointed out. “You’ll never forgive yourself if something happens to her.”
Even the unflappable Ms. Whitehat looked alarmed by the squeaking of my chest.
“I’ll need my friend to take my pets home,” I said quietly pointing to the SUV.
She glanced in the direction of the vehicle. “I have no problem with Mulligan doing that, but he can’t help you with the operation.”
“I wouldn’t want him to,” I said quickly. “No one else needs to be put in danger.”
She nodded. “Go tell him the plan and I’ll put things in motion on my end.”
I opened the door and slid out of the van, before I closed the door, I looked back at her. “Why are you doing this?”
“This?”
“Why are you going to the trouble to give me the chance to save Darlene?”
A strange smile twitched her lips. “Perhaps because I understand what it’s like to be willing to do anything, even something monumentally stupid, to save someone you love.”
For a split second I felt a strange kinship with her.
“Hurry,” she said, turning away.
I hurried back to the SUV. “You can go back to the B&B with DeeDee and Piss,” I offered the lizard.
“And leave you alone?” he asked indignantly. “Never!”
Glancing at Marlene, who was still out of it, I climbed back into Patrick’s vehicle, trying to ignore the fact my every move was being watched by a gaggle of ninjas.
“What the hell is going on?” His voice was gruff, but his eyes wer
e worried.
“I need you to do something for me.”
“What?”
I bit back a smile. Another man might have said “sure” or “anything” but my favorite redheaded hitman wanted the specifics. “I need you to take DeeDee and Piss back to the B&B. You don’t have to bring them inside, just drop them down the street. They’ll know how to get themselves home. Right guys?” I looked between the seats for their confirmation.
“Right!” DeeDee barked loyally.
“And I need you to let these people take Marlene,” I said, looking back at Patrick. “They’ll take her to the hospital.”
“And you trust them?” His voice cracked with incredulity as he looked out at his surrounded vehicle.
I nodded.
“And where are you going to be while I’m playing chauffer to your pets?”
“I’ve got something else to do.”
“What?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Can’t or won’t?” A challenge flashed in his eyes.
“Won’t,” I conceded, “but it’s for your own safety.”
He rubbed the center of his forehead like I was giving him a headache. “You’re protecting me?”
“I’m trying to. I’m trying to protect a lot of people.”
“I don’t think—”
I silenced him by pressing a finger to his mouth. His lips stilled beneath my touch. “I don’t have much time and this is the best way.”
His green gaze bored into mine, searching for something.
“Please?” I begged.
He nodded, grabbed my hand and kissed my finger. “Be careful.”
I nodded and opened the door to climb out. Then I closed it again. “One more thing.”
“What now?” he asked warily.
“I don’t suppose you have an extra gun I could have, do you?”
Chapter 24
There were a lot of things Patrick couldn’t give me, like stability, romantic dates in public, or peace of mind, but he could always arm me.
After he’d given me a gun, and I told DeeDee and Piss to go straight home with him, I climbed out of the SUV. A ninja motioned for me to follow him. I was led to a nondescript sedan and ushered into the backseat.
Once I was inside, it sped away. I fought the urge to turn back in my seat to watch what might be my last view of those I loved. Instead, I balled my hands into fists and stared straight ahead.
“How long until we get there?” I asked.
The three black-clad men didn’t reply.
I guess ninjas, or whatever the hell those guys are, aren’t terribly chatty. The car ride was silent and tense. The only one who had something to say was God.
“Where do you think they’re taking us?” he asked.
The man in the seat beside me turned his head to find the source of the squeaking.
I stared straight ahead like I didn’t hear anything.
“This is going to be a tricky operation,” the lizard continued.
Hoping he would get the hint to stop talking, I didn’t respond.
“You’ll be going up against the bad guys and the semi-good guys,” God worried.
“Are you wearing a wire?” the guy sitting beside me asked.
“Me?” Nervous, the pitch of my voice crept upward. “No.”
“Then what’s that sound?”
The man in the front passenger seat turned to watch while his cohort interrogated me.
“It’s my pet lizard,” I admitted sheepishly.
“Lizards squeak?” the guy in front asked.
“I do not squeak!” God thundered, which of course sounded like loud squeaking to them.
“Here!” I said, yanking my shirt up, exposing my chest and the reptile nestled in my bra. “See? No wire. Just an idiot lizard who doesn’t know when to shut up.”
God cleared his throat. “You do realize you’re flashing a bunch of men you don’t know, don’t you?”
Mortified, I pulled my shirt back down and grumbled, “I hope you’re satisfied.”
“We’re here,” the driver announced. “They’re just over that hill.” He pointed to his right as he stopped the car.
I opened my door and was halfway out of the car before I realized that none of the men had moved. “Aren’t you coming?”
“You’re on your own,” the driver said. “Order is to drop you and get out.”
“Awesome,” I muttered. “Tell your boss I said thanks for almost nothing.” I slammed the door shut and began to trudge up the hill. Behind me, I heard the sedan drive away.
“So what’s the plan?” God asked.
“Die young?” I suggested.
“You can always turn around.” He scrambled up onto my shoulder.
“You’re the one who told me how I had to come or I’d never forgive myself,” I reminded him.
Amazingly, he had no witty response to that. All I heard was my own heavy breathing as I attempted to scale the steepest hill I’d ever climbed.
I tripped over something and nearly fell down.
“Easy,” God yelled. “You’re about as graceful as an ice skating elephant.”
“Shut up,” I huffed. “It’s dark. I’m scared. And I don’t want to hear one more word out of you unless you’ve got something that’s actually helpful to say.”
Finally, I reached the top of the hill. Looking down, I saw a house a few hundred yards away. The lights were on inside and three cars were parked outside. There was a window wide open on the first floor, which might have been a way to access the house...if I’d had a stepladder.
I could make out the shadowy figure of a man patrolling the side of the house closest to me. Fortunately, his back was to me. I dropped down onto the ground before he turned around.
“You don’t even know if Darlene is in there,” God whispered quietly.
He had a point.
“I could go in and see,” he offered.
“No,” I replied automatically.
“It’s a lot safer than you trying to peek in the windows,” he countered. “They’ll never even see me.” Without waiting for my reply, he jumped off my shoulder and raced toward the building, quickly disappearing from sight.
“Please be careful,” I whispered after him.
I lay there, waiting for what seemed like forever. Watching the guard patrolling the perimeter of the house, I wondered if coming there had been a mistake. I wasn’t equipped to launch a rescue mission. I was outmanned, outgunned, and probably didn’t have the skills to pull this off even under the best of circumstances.
“She’s there,” God panted in my ear.
I yelped in surprise and clapped a hand over my mouth. Looking over in the guard’s direction, I saw that he gave no indication that he’d heard me.
“She’s there,” God repeated. “But Redcoat just gave her three minutes to live.”
“Three minutes?” That wasn’t enough time to come up with a plan and launch an attack.
“Considering how long it took me to get out of there and back up the hill, I figure you’ve got about a minute left to save her.”
I pulled out the gun Patrick had given me, hating the way my hand shook.
“You don’t have to—” God began.
I didn’t hear the rest of what he said. Scrambling to my feet, I raced full-speed down the hill while the guard had his back to me. I had one chance to save Darlene. This was it. I’d let her down years before, I wouldn’t falter now.
Heart pounding, legs churning, I ran faster than I ever had, determined to reach the house.
The guard must have heard my footsteps because he turned around, raising his gun.
Before he could squeeze off a shot, a ball of black fell from the sky.
“Hey, tough guy,” the crow cawed, flying straight for the guard’s face to provide a distraction.
As the guard tried to fight off the dive-bombing bird, I ran up the stairs, threw open the door and burst into the house.
