Dev cocked his head and then pulled Jessica next to a large potted fern, her heels clacking on the marble floor. Hand to his ear, he dipped his head to the side of her throat.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Ssh. I think there’s something wrong with my earpiece. Meade’s voice is static in my ear.” He kissed the side of her throat, in case anyone watched. “Did you make out what he said?”
“The weasel is heading straight to Yogi and Boo Boo?” Jessica whispered back. “Where the hell does Teddy come up with this nonsense?”
Devlin smiled against her throat, feathering kisses until he nibbled the corner of her mouth. “You get my Friends reference, but you don’t know Yogi Bear? Woman, if we’re going to have kids, you need a crash course in Saturday morning cartoons.”
She pulled back. “Kids? Dev—”
“I know. Definitely a conversation for later,” he said kissing her quickly. “C’mon, we’re needed upstairs. The carrot we dangled must have set a fire under their butts. Look at March. His smile is stretched so tight, it’s going to snap and spool up over his skull like a window shade.”
“Eew!” she replied with a snort. She touched her hair, pressing on the earpiece beneath. “Teddy says wait...”
Devlin shook his head. “Nope. It’s now or never. Let’s roll.”
“Wait, Dev…we can’t just charge in. We need to talk,” she argued.
He looked at her. “Upstairs. Teddy’s been keeping tabs. We’ll decide then.”
Chapter Fourteen
Teddy waited, hidden in plain sight with a handful of staff. When Devlin and Jess got to the top of the stair, he gestured toward the end of the corridor.
An intimate bar with a small private lounge divided the upstairs, leaving one side for overnight guests and the other for offices.
“The senator and his cronies are in the last office at the far side of the hall,” Devlin murmured. “Ted identified a small secret service detail. One outside the office door and the other at the bottom of the stairs.”
Jessica opened her purse and took out a compact. Opening the lid, she angled the mirror for a look. It registered three weapons. “Men in Black wannabes,” she muttered. “Must they all look like they just ate a bug?”
“Save it, Jess.” He bit the inside of his cheek not to laugh. “We’ll need the humor later. Hopefully, not as we’re hauled away for treason.”
She snapped the compact shut, stowing it in her purse. “Lorenzo is a goddamned genius. Our friend at the end of the hall is armed with two semi-automatic Glocks and a standard issue Sig Sauer.” Fingering the pearl drop at her throat, she took Devlin’s hand, her fingers traveling to one of his cufflinks. “Which one is the grenade?”
“That one. The other is a smoke bomb, same as your earrings,” he replied.
She laced her fingers with his and shook her head. “I traded the earrings for something a little different. They’re gas.”
“Gas?” He exhaled, not happy. “I’ve created a monster…Jess, we cannot introduce a poison into the air. The collateral damage would kill our chances to nail these bastards.”
“Oooh, honey. I love those! So unique! Where did you get them?” a woman asked, stopping to admire Jessica’s shoes.
Jess turned with a smile. “Their custom made. Italian.”
“Wow, you can tell they’re European. So chic and I’m totally jealous!” she said touching Jessica’s arm before moving on toward the stairs.
She exhaled. “Are most society women that vacant, or is it just me?”
“Not all, but a lot.”
Turning back to Devlin, she squeezed his hand. “When I said gas, I didn’t mean poison. The decoy releases the strong smell from a gas leak. This building is old and there’s street construction outside. In this case, New York City’s inept bureaucracy works to our advantage.” She shrugged. “But that’s just one earring. The other is tear gas.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this when we prepared? I don’t like surprises, Banning. Not when it puts lives at risk,” he replied annoyed.
“Banning? So, we’re pulling rank now, our we?” She frowned. “I didn’t know I was going to swap gadgets until I went to hair and makeup, as Teddy called it, and if you put your dick back in your pants and think for one second, you’d realize why.”
“Enlighten me before I charge in with just my dick in my hand.”
She yanked her hand from him. “I have as much at stake as you, Devlin Law. You have one smoke screen. One. What if we needed another diversion, or two? Having the smell of gas coupled with smoke will send people running. They might fall or trample each other, but an explosion might seriously hurt someone, and like you said, collateral damage must be kept to a minimum.”
He sniffed, watching annoyance cloud her eyes. He reached to cup her cheek, not letting her jerk away. “You’re right.”
Hmmph.
“No, really. I’m not used to that kind of advanced thinking. Teddy and I usually have to improvise. We’re the MacGyvers of spying because nothing ever goes as planned.”
She snorted again. “Well, lawyers like contingencies. We’re trained to look for footholds everywhere.”
“You mean loopholes.” He grinned, running his thumb under her bottom lip.
“Can we do this, then? I can see Teddy’s reflection in the brass wall fixture and he’s practically crawling out of his skin.”
***
The ambassador’s face pixelated on the computer screen, his image choppy and his voice out of sync, but it was clear he was not happy.
“Do you have an idea what time it is here?” He stood at his desk, disheveled. “I don’t appreciate being woken from a dead sleep, so you’d better have a good reason for calling me at this time of night!”
“Sit down and shut up, Durov. Of course, there’s a good reason or why else would we bother.” Harmon poured himself a scotch from the oak drink table beside the desk.
The office was opulent. More of a library with a gas burning fireplace and leather sofas, soft wing backed chairs and a large antique carved desk set back against a stained-glass window facing the street.
The ambassador smoothed his hair back and sank into his chair with an aggravated exhale. “So tell me, then. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”
Harmon explained, and as he elaborated he watched Durov’s eyes narrow and shift.
“Law is lying,” he sputtered. “I know for a fact there’s no second list. Ivan was the only one with access to the files and he’s dead. We destroyed his laptop and had his corpse searched in Kyiv. A cavity search, if you get my meaning. There was nothing on his person or in his person.”
“Your report said you found the torn end of an envelope flap inside his breast pocket,” Harmon continued.
Durov nodded. “Yes, I made that no secret, but as I said before, that shred could have come from anything. It had no markings or writing, just Ivan’s blood. We tested it for any hint of what the envelope contained and came up empty.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences, Durov.” Harmon looked at the others. “Do you, Frank?”
Lauder downed his own drink, getting up to refill his glass. “Leave me out of this. I did my part and that’s enough.” He pointed the edge of the bottle at Harmon. “I can barely look at myself in the mirror anymore. I’m done, you hear me. Done.”
“Drink up and shut up, Lauder. You sold your soul the moment you took your first cut.”
“What are you trying to say, Harmon?” Durov asked, taking a cup of coffee from his valet. “That I didn’t do my part? We have CCTV of Ivan giving the chip to the female. After that, your people shot out the hotel’s camera system. I had my spies at the embassy search the woman’s belongings while the doctors treated her wounds. We left her with nothing but her boots.”
“Her boots?” Senator March laughed. “You’re an idiot, Durov, and your people are even more inept. Her boots were the first place you should have looked.”
<
br /> “You failed, Ambassador, and since Mr. Law has injected doubt into what should have been a done deal, we are once again in need of a scapegoat.” Harmon gave a slight nod, and Durov’s valet stepped on-screen, grabbed the man’s head and twisted, snapping his neck.
“What the fuck!” Lauder stared at the Skyped image of Durov slumped across his desk. “You’re out of fucking control, Harmon!”
Outraged, the senator pushed from his chair. “Are you completely insane? Durov is the Ukrainian ambassador! You can’t just murder public officials!”
“Correction, Senator,” Harmon said, “Durov was the ambassador, and sadly his country is in the midst of a grave divide.” He ran a hand over the laptop’s lid. “It looks to me like his enemies got the better of him, after the fact.”
The senator slumped into a winged back chair. “This is so fucked up, Cliff. Who’s next? One of us?” He glanced around the room, his eyes narrowing. “Are you sure this place isn’t wired for sound, or worse, video?”
“I’m not an amateur, Senator,” Harmon growled. “This room is completely soundproof. Anyone listening from the outside will hear nothing but the party on the opposite side of the door.”
The senator nodded, exhaling. “Good. I don’t have to reiterate how disastrous it would be if this conversation were to get out. There isn’t a spin-doctor alive who could stem the hemorrhage.”
“Hello, boys,” Devlin said with a nod as he walked in with Jessica from the galley passage. “Looks like the gang’s all here. Good. Saves me from having to repeat myself.”
“This is a closed meeting!” The senator’s eyes flicked to the office door, locked from the inside. “How did you get in here?”
Devlin tsked. “Senator, really. Your kind are so busy playing two ends against the middle, you’ve forgotten how important that middle is in the grand scheme of things. If you must know, Jessica and I came in through the Butler’s Pantry. You look at servants as bought and paid for, maybe even bribed, but you forget some are actually patriots. We were let in.”
“Law, you and Banning need to leave the way you came in. Right now. Trust me. You don’t want to be here,” Lauder said with a pointed nod.
Devlin shook his head. “Trust you? Frank, you really shouldn’t use words you don’t understand.”
“Stop your pontificating, Law. What are you really here for? What do you want?” Harmon asked.
“You four at the end of a noose.” Devlin glanced at the static image of Durov slumped at his desk and shrugged. “I guess it’s just three little pigs, then.”
Harmon reached for his gun, but Jessica pulled a throwing star from the back of her watch, nailing the man in the wrist.
“You bitch!” he hissed, clutching his hand as blood seeped between his fingers.
Lauder got to his feet, mouth open, but the 9mm in Devlin’s hand had him sinking back to his seat.
“Don’t look so surprised, Chief. You’re the one who sold my abilities as well-trained.” She crooked her fingers in quotes. “Except you underestimated my abilities when you sold me to Ivan. Especially when his expectations weren’t part of my original job description.”
Harmon tied a handkerchief around his hand. “You can have your moment, Law, but this goes deeper than what you see in this room. You’re a dead man walking and you know it, and I will personally oversee the sale of your bitch to the highest bidder.”
“Why are you sweating, Senator? Is it because you see the red light on Jessica’s purse? Everything said is being recorded, a live feed to a truck outside the building. New York’s constant construction helped provide cover. You’re ruined.”
Jessica smiled sweetly. “Your deduction was spot on, Mr. Harmon. I kept Ivan’s list in my boot until it was safe to remove it. Paper and digital copies have been made and have been delivered to the president, the prime ministers of England, Germany and France, as well as every other head of state and every major news outlet. The mainstream media will have no choice but to cover the story, regardless of pressure.”
The senator’s hands shook as he downed his drink. He held the glass to his chest afterward, his eyes on Devlin.
“Isn’t there some kind of deal to be made? You’re a young man with obvious skills. This arrangement was all Harmon’s idea. He’s the one at fault. The rest of us are pawns he’s been blackmailing for years.” Sweat trickled from his forehead, and he licked his lips gesturing to Lauder.
“Frank will vouch for me.” He nodded. “Harmon’s been blackmailing him, too.”
Devlin shook his head. “No deal, Senator. Every set of eyes staring back on us from thousands of milk cartons won’t allow it. You peddled children, you son of a bitch. There is nowhere for you to go. Ivan knew it, and you know it too. Even if you rot in jail for the rest of your life, you’ll be someone’s bitch, on your knees or with your ass spread, paying for your crimes.”
Harmon sat at the desk, his eyes shifting from Devlin to the door and back. “You think your torpedo will sink this ship? You won’t even make a dent in the hull.”
“Perhaps,” Jessica replied first. “But at least they’ll be a few less rats to catch, especially with Ivan’s list to round up the rest of the vermin.”
The man snarled, grabbing a letter-opener from the desk. He clamored over the top, flinging it knife-style at Jessica’s chest.
“Jess!” Devlin dove between her and the spinning blade, taking the sharp end in the shoulder.
He hissed as the point pierced his tux, rolling with Jessica to the floor as the door burst open. Pulling it loose, he dropped it to the floor.
“Dev!” she reached for him, but he shook his head.
“I’m fine! Don’t let them get away!” Shots peppered the room from the senator’s secret service agent, as the senator and Harmon rushed for the door. Lauder slumped in his chair, hit.
Devlin shoved Jessica behind a chair as he returned fire, but not before she threw her last two stars, nailing the men each in the back of the leg.
The men stumbled, crashing into each other and it the one distraction they needed.
“Jess! Your earrings!”
She palmed both decoys, lobbing the pearl buds point blank at the floor between them and the gunshots. Devlin did the same, chucking his cufflink.
The grenade exploded, splintering wood from the walls and furniture.
Jessica tore the sheer overlay from her gown, ripping it in two. She handed half to Devlin and wrapped the other around her face.
The agent coughed, faltering to one knee as his arm came up to shield is eyes, but it was too late.
Teddy rushed to the door as people screamed from the hall outside. “Time to go, lover.” He cold cocked the agent and then grabbed Harmon and the senator, handcuffing them to each other.
“I took care of the agent downstairs, but what about this piece of shit?” he asked, wiping his eyes before gesturing to Lauder.
Devlin reached two fingers to his throat, feeling for a pulse. He pulled his hand back and wiped the blood on his pants. “He’s dead.”
“Good,” Ted replied and lifted his gun, shooting Frank Lauder in the head.
“Jesus, Meade. What the hell’s wrong with you? He’s already dead,” Devlin ground out.
He shrugged. “Just making sure.” He shoved his gun in his pocket and yanked March and Harmon up by their collars. “Let’s go, boys. You’ve got a lot of s’plainin’ to do.”
Epilogue
“Just look at that sky!” Jessica squealed, hugging Devlin as close as she could through her parka. “Isn’t it amazing?”
“What’s amazing is my balls haven’t broken off in one piece. I knew the northern territories would be cold, but this gives new meaning to the word frigid,” he replied.
She laughed. “But look at those colors. Greens and pinks! It’s as if heaven itself is throwing a techno dance party and we’ve got VIP tickets.” Pushing her fur-lined hood back, she went up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for bringing me h
ere, Devlin. It’s a dream come true, really.”
He turned her in his arms and smirked, shaking his head. “It’s like trying to hug Nanook of the North.” He took her by the hand and tugged her back to the glamping tent they rented for the night.
“What are you doing? We’re missing the spectacle of a lifetime?” she asked, watching him peel his coat from his shoulders.
“It’s funny you should use that turn of phrase,” he replied, helping her take her coat off as well.
She eyed him, her head angled suspiciously. “What phrase?”
“Want a drink? I think we both need a little something to warm the blood.” Evading her question, he poured them both a cognac, walking back from the drinks table with two snifters.
She took the glass from him and touched the edge of hers to his. “Slainte,” she murmured and lifted the rim to her lips.
Something clinked in the glass, and she lowered her hand to peer into the reddish-brown spirits. Something silvery caught her notice at the bottom of the glass, and her eyes flew to Devlin.
He smirked, lifting one shoulder and letting it drop. “What? The cognac not to your liking, love?”
“No, the drink is fine. It’s what’s in it that has me curious.”
With a grin, he slipped two fingers under her glass and lifted the snifter to her lips. “I guess you’ll have to drain the glass to find out. And mind you, this is a vintage Remy Martin, so no wasting a single drop.”
“You’re wicked, you know that?” she laughed. “I am not about to play chug-a-lug with a four-hundred-dollar bottle of cognac.”
He took the glass from her and put it on the end table beside them. “I may be wicked, but you’re a spoil sport.”
Devlin dipped two fingers into the snifter and Jessica sucked in a breath trying not to squeal again, but before she could say a word, he fished out the item and stuck it in his mouth.
Mouth open, she exhaled a rough breath.
Dangerous Law (Suit Romance Series): A Rogue Operative Romance Page 11
