“No, just needed some air,” she said.
“Boss says it’s not a good idea for you to go out.” The man ambled toward her, a frown permanently etched into his face.
“The neighbors are all at work, their homes empty. No security footage. And twelve-foot walls. I think I’ll be fine. Five minutes, okay?”
The man continued to scowl at her for a moment. She stared right back, refusing to give in. She hadn’t survived as one of Orlando’s girls without a spine of steel. The leader of The Patrol might have leapt at the chance to help her betray Orlando, but that didn’t mean she was in any way protected. Tanya was leverage. The Patrol wanted her for their own purposes. For the moment, she was happy enough to play along because it got her out of the frying pan, but soon the fire would heat up.
“Five minutes,” he said.
Tanya turned and strolled down the path and around the little water feature in the middle of the backyard.
Earlier, when she’d first checked the visibility from the back windows, she’d identified a blind spot in the right-hand corner, thanks to the fountain and a small tree with widely-spread limbs. That would be her spot for as long as she was trapped here. Five minutes was enough time for her to send up a signal.
She veered to the left, tipping her head up as though to enjoy the rare glimpse of blue skies and sunshine. This time of year it, was an unusual enough sight for England that most people would be remarking about it. Hopefully the men from The Patrol were distracted enough that they weren’t watching her as closely as they should.
The old, flagstone path wound toward a pretty bench under the tree. She meandered toward it, her heart thumping against her ribs with every step.
Everything was going wrong, and she didn’t know why.
She sank down onto the bench, bracing her hands on the slats. After a moment with no one coming to investigate what she was doing, she bent and grasped the edge of a stone. Part of the corner stuck up, making it easy to pry it from its earthly habitat.
A burner phone lay in a dug out patch wrapped inside a plastic bag. Scraping the dirt from under her nails had been a chore, but worth it to secure the phone. She picked it up and pressed the unlock key. Powering it off wasn’t an option because it would make too much noise and take too much time.
She stared at the screen.
No messages.
No texts.
No missed calls.
Radio silence.
Nothing made sense.
Did she dare try again?
Tanya bit her lip.
How much time did she have to wait? It’d already been several days and she still wasn’t getting any sort of instructions.
What was she going to do?
She’d avoided the truth, but she couldn’t any longer. The one person who should have been in her corner was most likely the one who’d betrayed her.
There was no chill, no goose flesh or sense of dread with the thought. Fear had blinded her to the truth she didn’t want to accept, that she was truly fucked and alone in this.
Or was she?
She glanced over her shoulder.
Tanya had two options: she could accept the hand she’d been dealt, or she could fight back. Running was easy. All she had to do was stay one step ahead of the man she’d learned inside and out. She could anticipate his actions because she’d been doing it for almost two years.
Fighting back was harder.
She chewed her lip.
When had she ever taken the easy way out?
Tanya plugged in a number by memory and prayed it was still in service. This could bite her in the ass, or it could be her magic bullet. Either way, she had to do something. She finished the message and hit the send button.
The unmistakable sound of the ancient door knob sliding against the jamb turned her stomach. She needed to give them something, but what?
Tanya tucked the phone into its grave and pushed the stone back into its place. With any luck, she’d be able to take another walk in the garden after dark and check for a reply then. She stood, smoothing the ground with her feet and dusting her hands on her sweater dress.
Everything would be fine.
She had to cling to that lie or else she would fall apart. Quade’s death couldn’t be without purpose. It all had to mean something. And if that meant that for a little while she had to play the role of a scared stupid woman with only one bargaining chip, she’d make it count. She just couldn’t overplay her hand.
“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered to herself.
“Time to come inside,” a deep voice called out.
Great.
One of her pseudo guards must have tattled on her. The guy in charge wasn’t as much of an idiot as she’d hoped. She had to be careful or she’d raise further suspicion.
I was just taking a breather in the garden. That’s it.
Tanya swallowed.
She could do this. She was trained for deep cover. All she was doing was putting her training to use. She’d hoped it would never come to this, that everything would go according to plan, but it hadn’t.
There was still no explanation for why Orlando had killed Quade. None at all.
That moment, the three of them eating dinner on the terrace, would be forever burned into Tanya’s mind. She should have known something was wrong when it had been just the three of them. Orlando liked an audience, but this had been a show for one. Her. Somehow Orlando had found out the truth, and everything was unraveling.
“Tanya?”
“Coming,” she called out.
She wiped her hands on the top of her leggings, and tugged the sweater lower, covering the evidence of her activity.
I can do this.
Tanya set her gaze on the house and ignored the internal tremor that said, no, you can’t do this. A plan would come to her. Someone would finally pick up the other end of the phone. It would all be okay. It had to be. She needed to believe that. It was how she’d survived childhood and adolescence, it could get her through this as well.
The garden gate squeaked.
The hair on the back of her neck rose.
Everyone was in the house, so who was at the back gate?
The man’s eyes staring at her went wide and his mouth opened on a shout she never heard.
Too late, Tanya pushed her weight forward.
Arms wrapped around her, hauling her up and off her feet.
She sucked down a deep breath and drove her elbow back into the person’s ribs. Pain shot up her arm. She’d hit something hard enough her hand went numb. The man holding her grunted, but otherwise hauled her through the gate.
Two other men flanking the first took steps forward, their tactical rifles aimed at the back of the cottage.
“I’ve got her,” an American man said.
Orlando’s thugs?
No.
Not yet.
She hadn’t had the chance to do anything, warn anyone.
Tanya twisted, thrashing against the man. All her training, the time spent learning how to defend herself, flew out the window. In her state of sheer panic, she reacted on a base level, using her feet, nails and hands to fight back against his iron grip.
“Two more coming around the side,” another of the men said.
Tanya threw her head back and screamed.
“Fuck, we’re on your side. We were sent to rescue you,” the man said against her ear.
The only people she wanted to hear from wouldn’t send armed men after her, which meant they were from Orlando.
He picked her up under one arm, each step jarring her.
“Go, man, go!”
A bullet ricocheted off the ancient, stone wall around the garden, sending shards flying every which way.
“Help! Someone help me,” Tanya yelled.
The man holding her tossed her none-too-gently into the back of an idling van.
“We are here to help you,” he said.
She locked gazes with the dark eyed
stranger.
“Orlando sent us,” he said.
Tanya was a dead woman. Quade had died for nothing.
2.
Thursday. Berlin, Germany.
Orlando Steiner paced the room.
“I should have heard something by now, shouldn’t I?”
He glanced at the empty chair, the sun gleaming off the gold-gilt arms.
“It’s too soon. I’d still like an update or something.” He scrubbed a hand across his face. He didn’t like spinning this many plates at once. It inevitably led to something not being carried through to the end, and he hated incomplete projects.
“Things were going to be rough for a while,” he muttered.
He took a few paces, his head cocked to the side. Sometimes he could still hear her voice, the calm sound of reason in this otherwise chaotic world.
“At least the leak was plugged. Am I right?” He stared at the cushions, their light floral pattern bringing back spring memories. “Tanya is still a loose end, but any moment now, we will have an update and then we can make a plan. I should have listened to you when you first said there was something wrong with her. I thought it was just the way she was raised, all that mumbo-jumbo about her dad. But no. I’ll have it taken care of, and from here on out, I will listen to you.”
Orlando knew Elda wasn’t there, that she’d died long ago, but he found that vocalizing his thoughts to her helped. Especially during the hard times. So long as he didn’t do it while anyone was around.
“Everything is coming to a head. I have a good feeling about these American buyers. I have to remember not to speak English around them. They have this tendency to talk more when they don’t realize I can understand them. You’d laugh at their idiotic carrying on. So full of themselves and their ideals.”
One thing at a time.
First, he’d take care of Tanya, and then he’d look into a new accountant.
“I’ve just about recovered all the files from Quade’s laptop. I always wondered how he could be so good at shuffling cash around and never get caught. I guess now we know. He wasn’t really on our side.”
Orlando would need to be extra careful for the next few months until the waters calmed. It was inevitable word would get out. Someone would talk about his loyalty issue, and skittish customers would give him a wide berth. At least until they needed something.
He checked his phone again.
Still nothing from his customers or the Aegis Group team.
He sighed and paced to the window, staring down on the narrow street with its cobble-stone lanes and people the size of ants shuffling around.
“You would have loved this place, you know? It’s so full of history and culture. I can’t believe you never came to Berlin before. Such a pity.”
Elda’s life had been snuffed out before she’d been able to truly see the world. He’d always wanted to take her to exotic places. Their father was likely rolling over in his grave at the idea of his bastard son taking care of his daughter. Elda had always been the single, bright spot of good in his life. Orlando had made many of his early decisions in life based on her guidance.
Without her, it was all different. Then again, he’d never have gotten this far if he’d stayed his previous course. He owed his upward momentum to her untimely demise. If he had to choose, it would be a tough call. Have his sister alive and well, or have his empire and money? If he were more cold-hearted that wouldn’t even be a choice. That heart, the emotional response, was something he needed to squash, or else it would get him killed.
He’d cared for Tanya and she’d nearly destroyed him.
The phone on the desk vibrated.
Orlando pivoted and crossed to the antique wooden piece where he did his work and scooped up the phone, frowning at the name.
The last person he wanted to speak with.
He grimaced and answered.
“I didn’t expect to hear from you.” Which was Orlando’s polite way of saying, I shouldn’t be hearing from you.
“Checkin’ in is all,” the man said.
“There’s no reason to check in. Nothing new has happened.”
“Everythin’ handled, then?”
“What do you think?” Orlando let his tone go icy.
“Anythin’ I can do?”
“You can keep doing what I told you to do, which is nothing.”
“But my wife...”
“Is fine.”
“Can I speak to her?”
“She’s resting.” Orlando tapped the laptop keys. He had one monitor of video feeds, keeping him up to date on his living pawns. “Can you imagine how painful life without the one you love could be? Because I can tell you it’s not pleasant.”
“Sorry, sir, I just wanted to be of assistance is all.”
“If I need you, I will phone for you. Understand?”
“Quite clear, sir.”
“Good day.” Orlando hung up the phone.
Another plate teetered.
Maybe he could delegate this one to someone else?
Did he dare?
The truth was, Orlando didn’t know who he could trust anymore. Quade had been with him going on three years, almost ever since Elda’s death. It’d taken losing his sister to truly understand who the people he could trust were, and to open his eyes that his allies didn’t give two shits about him. He’d bought into the lie that they were all in it together, but when he needed help, there hadn’t been any to give.
He’d been weak when he’d fallen for Tanya. She was perfectly chosen to suit his tastes. If he wasn’t so pissed about it, he’d have to congratulate whoever had trained her. Still, she couldn’t fake love, and he’d always known she’d been holding back. His lust had blinded him.
Oh, the conversations they’d have once she was back in the fold. She was so much smarter than he’d given her credit for. To play the role so well, for so long? That took talent. He’d enjoy getting her back, breaking her spirit, and exacting his pound of flesh. She’d not only betrayed his business, but him, and he couldn’t let her go that easily.
The phone vibrated again, and this time, his customer’s name flashed across the screen.
He breathed a sigh of relief. If they were still contacting him about the goods, then Tanya hadn’t yet been able to pass along her intel. He didn’t know who she worked for or what clandestine agency had trained her, but if she’d ratted him out they’d be on his customers already. He had to act fast to move the merchandise before his window closed. If everything played out just right he’d get his revenge on not just Tanya, but everyone.
Thursday. Boston, United Kingdom.
Isaac gripped the side of the van and stared at the newly rescued asset. Her chest heaved and her eyes were wide. All the color had drained from her face, making her complexion more like aged, bone china. Her gaze remained fastened to his, fear making her pupils large, black dots.
People reacted in all kinds of ways to being rescued. Most were frantic or cried in joy or relief. Others couldn’t believe it. Still others had to be bodily carried from where they were held. Very few were more afraid after their rescue. Tanya’s breathing, the dilation of her eyes, the sweat dotting her brow, the woman was on the verge of a panic attack.
“Hey, it’s all going to be okay,” Isaac said.
“Incoming,” Shane said from the back of the van.
Adam turned the wheel. Tanya lurched, pitching head first into the opposite wall. Isaac caught her around the waist, pulling her up against him and tightened his hold on the side of the empty van.
“Faster,” Kyle ordered.
“I’ve got you,” Isaac said to the woman.
She didn’t so much as acknowledge him.
“Tanya? Squeeze my hand if you understand me.” If he didn’t get her calmed down soon they’d be carrying her, and that felt more like an abduction than a rescue.
There was nothing normal about her reaction. She was so inside her head, she might as well not even be there. Hell, she was
shaking so violently he was half afraid they’d missed some medical condition.
God, Isaac had a bad feeling about this whole thing. It wasn’t a simple get-the-girl job, it was more than that, and the trembling woman in his arms was at the center of it all.
“Guys?” Isaac glanced at the rear of the van. “Something’s not right.”
“They’re almost on us,” Kyle said.
“Can’t go faster,” Adam called out.
“Find us some cover before they ram the van,” Shane yelled.
Isaac remembered the last time they were in a van accident all too well. His arm had popped out of the socket, and for a while, he’d been certain he’d broken some of the small bones in his hand.
“Hold on,” Adam said. “Garage is on the left.”
Isaac clamped his arm around Tanya’s waist not a moment too soon. The van turned sharply, sending her lurching into him, her head ramming his chest. The whole vehicle shuddered as it stopped. He rocked back on his heels, holding them both upright with his grip on the van.
Shane and Kyle leapt out the back of the van, guns up and masks down.
This whole op was a bad idea getting worse with every passing second.
Muzzle fire created spots of white in his vision. The retort of the guns in the enclosed space made his ears ring.
The pursuing vehicle skidded out of sight.
“Go,” Kyle hollered.
Felix nodded at Isaac and then jumped out of the van.
Some things were at least going according to plan.
He couldn’t coddle Tanya. Right now, the most important thing was getting her under cover and away from these people.
Isaac picked her up. She didn’t respond in the slightest, staring blankly ahead. He kept his head low and stepped out of the van, Adam at his back. While Shane and Kyle kept the men from following them into the building, Isaac and the others ducked into what’d been an empty service station. Three smaller, faster getaway vehicles sat ready and waiting.
“What’s wrong? Did she get hit?” Adam asked.
“I don’t know, I think she’s having a panic attack.”
“Shit.”
Dangerous in Action (Aegis Group Alpha Team, #2) Page 2
