by Lexi Blake
“You see, not innocent at all.” Fedor glanced down at the phone again.
“Have you thought about the fact that someone might blame you if she dies?” Tucker said. “Steph has people who care about her. Strong people.”
“Yes, I was surprised that the mouse had ties to a man like Ian Taggart,” Fedor agreed. “But this I do not worry about. He is a man I can handle. He will play by his rules and they have nothing to do with mine. Besides, I believe her ties are as a client. He won’t come after me over a client. She has no family.”
Oh, but she did. It brought tears to her eyes to think of it. She had Avery and Liam and Aidan.
She could have Brody if she was only brave enough to really love him. Not in a passive way, as she had since the moment she met him. She’d always known she couldn’t have him, and that made loving him easy.
But real love, honest deep-down love required something more than sacrifice. It required her to live, to believe, to have faith.
Tucker looked up at him, his eyes steady. “She has more family than you can imagine. You think family is blood and some oath you make because you have a mutual need to make money and pretend you’re doing it for the right reasons. You don’t know what a family can be when it’s truly chosen, when it has nothing to do with need and everything to do with the fact that the people around you give a shit. You think she’s a random client. She’s not Brody Carter’s client. She’s his lover and he won’t forget her. She’s not Taggart’s fucking client. She’s his friend, and I’ve learned that some people can do remarkable things for their friends. You think you can toss us aside, but friends keep up with friends in my world. Friends find a way.”
“Well, good for you. Perhaps Mr. Taggart will find you before de Vries kills you. I wouldn’t be surprised. You’re quite good at handling pain.” Fedor glanced over and said something in his native language that had all the men standing taller. All the guns came out and Steph knew they were close.
There was a loud slam as a door came open and a group of men strode in, all wearing black and carrying weapons that were banned in most countries. She didn’t know much about guns, but these looked state of the art. The team moved in like a well-schooled predatory flock.
Outnumbered. There had to be fourteen, maybe fifteen, versus Fedor’s six or seven. And it was a military crew against Fedor’s mobsters. A chill went up Steph’s spine.
“Mr. de Vries, where is my sister?” Fedor didn’t seem at all fazed by the fact that he was outnumbered.
De Vries glanced behind him and nodded. A man from the back pulled along a woman with a cloth bag over her head. Anya. Steph recognized the blue scrub pants she’d been wearing that night and the top with pink and yellow flowers that had caused the kids of the village they served to call her the Flower Lady. Flowers and bling and glitter. Anya loved anything bright and cheerful.
It would bother her that she’d been forced to wear dirty clothes. Anya loved her girly products. Even when they would go deep into rural villages, Anya would carry small tubes of body lotion, shower gel, and dry shampoo so she could stay clean and sweet smelling.
De Vries took hold of her elbow and pulled her up. He dragged the bag over her head. “She’s right here. Now give me what I want or I’ll take you all down.”
“Fedor?” Anya blinked, though the lights weren’t bright in here. She squinted and seemed to be trying to focus. “Fedor, what have you done? Stephanie? Is that you?”
“Everything’s all right,” she called out. “You’re going to be okay.”
Fedor held up a hand. “Both of you be quiet. Say another word and I’ll have you gagged.”
“Like I haven’t heard that before,” Steph said. Yes, she’d said that out loud.
Petor put a hand on her arm, but she was already thinking. If she let them get her into the car, she wouldn’t see Brody again. The minute Anya was safe with her brother, all bets were off. Somehow, she had the feeling that Fedor would honor his agreement since she’d upheld her end of the bargain. Now she had to find a way to get herself and Tucker out.
Could she really leave Alfi? Maybe. He was a dick. He was the kind of man who slung Nate’s diaper bag into the backseat of a Jeep without closing the top so everything went everywhere and then complained about it later. He’d bitched until she’d gotten in the back and shoved it all into her bag without even organizing it. It still wasn’t organized.
Oh, god. She knew where the drive was. He’d tossed it in the back after he’d thrown the bag in. She remembered the moment clearly. They’d been rushing to the Jeep and she’d been locking Nate’s car seat when Alfi had told her to be quiet. They’d stood there in the darkness, holding their breaths. After a moment, whatever had spooked Alfi was gone and they’d driven off as quietly as possible.
She’d had the damn thing all along, buried under rattles and diapers and wipes.
How could she use that to get them out?
“You will send my sister over and then we will back off and you can take these three with you,” Fedor commanded.
De Vries’s eyes narrowed. “If you so much as breathe the wrong way, I will kill you. Is that the man who says he knows where the thumb drive that fucking journalist had is?”
Steph kept her mouth shut because she was fairly certain she wasn’t up for as much physical pain as Tucker had been. It wouldn’t help to admit she knew anyway. It would only make Tucker useless to them, and that would get him a sure bullet to the brain.
Fedor put a hand on Tucker’s head. “It is, but you should know he’s hard headed. I tried to get him to tell me. I think he wants to go with the girl.”
“He’ll tell me,” de Vries promised. He eyed Alfi. “And you are merely coming along because I need to give my men someone to torture.”
“Excellent. I always knew I was the pretty one.” Alfi took a deep breath. “But I would leave the doc behind if I was you. She knows nothing and she’ll be more trouble than she’s worth. Let Fedor take her back to her people. Ain’t no one coming after me or the pup there, but they will come after her.”
“I’ve already tried this line of thought on them,” Anya said. “Neither one of us knows shit, but this one doesn’t understand. He is very thick in the head.”
“Do you want me to take another finger, bitch?” de Vries growled.
Fedor’s gun was up and aimed in a heartbeat.
Anya raised a hand, showing him her wrapped right pinkie finger. “He didn’t even get that right, Fe. He left me this one. Fuck you and whatever happens, know you deserve every bit of it. I can’t wait to see what Carter does to you. He’s going to take you apart and eat your intestines.”
She walked toward her brother, her middle finger shoved in the air.
Not broken then. And it was good that Anya had some faith. Steph looked at her friend. “He might pull his intestines out, but Brody would never eat them. He’s a gentleman.”
“Not so much a gentleman that he didn’t knock you up,” Anya replied. “As I’m being held prisoner by the cavemen, all I think of is the good thing that will come out of this is Brody will pull his head out of asshole and man up, as you Americans say.”
“Do the women ever shut up? And who the hell is Carter?” de Vries asked.
“He’s the man who’s going to kick your arse, as we say Down Under,” Alfi replied.
Fedor’s group closed ranks around Anya as she made it to their side. Anya put her hand on her brother’s arm before reaching for Steph.
“Come along. He’s not going to let them take any of you,” Anya whispered. “He never was. Now he will kill them all and we need to take cover.”
Fedor’s eyes never left the other team, but his lips curled in a way that let Steph know he’d heard his sister and was happy she knew him so well.
He hadn’t meant to let them go?
“Bring over the younger one,” de Vries commanded. “Something about him is familiar to me.”
“I think perhaps I will keep them to en
sure that we are allowed to leave this place,” Fedor replied. “When I know where this drive thing is, we can talk again.”
“Shadrova,” de Vries yelled.
The guns came up and that was the moment that Steph heard something she didn’t expect. A low, familiar baseline wailed from the speakers on the walls.
Everyone froze, looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.
Was that Guns N’ Roses?
“You see, that’s where you assholes always go wrong.” Ian Taggart strode out from behind one of the islands of crates awaiting transportation. “You got no style. You need a theme song.”
The men seemed to move in perfect accord, all guns trained on the new guy. Taggart was a massive presence wearing all black, a Kevlar vest over his big chest. And he wasn’t alone. Li O’Donnell was right beside him dressed exactly like his boss and friend.
“Don’t take him too seriously. I’m pretty sure he stole those lines from a kid’s movie. And I thought ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ was your theme song,” Li mentioned casually as he carried a big-ass gun like he meant it. “Isn’t this ‘Paradise City’?”
It was. And it was surreal because no one seemed to know what was going on. Even the big bad mercenaries didn’t seem to know how to react.
How the hell were they here? How had they found her?
“It is indeed, my old friend,” Taggart replied. “‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ is my sweet, sweet lovemaking song. This is the one I kill assholes to. GN’R provides the soundtrack to my whole life. Hello, Fedor. I thought I told you we would meet again. You have something of mine and I’m here to fucking take it back. You boys might not give a shit about your people, but I’m smart enough to microchip all my puppies. Tucker, you brilliant motherfucker. You get all the hookers you want, my brother. I’m paying.”
She looked down at Tucker, who was staring at de Vries, seeming not to hear Taggart. That was why he’d come along, why he’d allowed himself to be tortured? Because he’d known he could be the beacon that brought their people here. He’d had little time to figure out what to do, but he’d offered himself up in an instant.
“Perhaps we could talk, Mr. Taggart,” Fedor said, his voice steady. “My sister is right. I was about to murder them all and give you your people back.”
“You’re outnumbered, you idiots,” de Vries yelled.
Taggart smiled, the pure, happy smile of a predator about to get a meal he’d long been denied. “Not on your life, asshole. You see, you forget. I came prepared. I brought snipers to the party. Hello, boys.”
Suddenly the room seemed filled with red laser lights painting the chests or heads of every man in there.
“Speaking of parties, I’m supposed to be at one in about five hours,” Taggart said, glancing down at his watch. “So we should get this one started.”
“Aye, I’m double-booked, too, brother, and I have to be there to work the grill.” Li continued on as though they were talking about a damn hair appointment that was running long. “Adam can’t do medium rare to save his life. He overcooks everything.”
She gasped as an arm curled around her waist and started hauling her back.
“Time to go, luv.”
Brody. It was Brody. He was here. Oh, god, Brody was here and he was taking her away from the brink of what would have been death and pain, and she wanted to turn and hold on to him and beg his forgiveness.
That was when she noticed Brody wasn’t alone. Theo and Case Taggart had his back, providing him with access to move to her and start to drag her away.
“Anya, I think you should go with the doctor’s friends,” Fedor said, never taking his eyes off Taggart. “I don’t believe they’ll hurt you.”
“I think I better stay here and try to explain that you are an idiot, but you don’t deserve to die,” Anya replied.
Alfi got to his feet. “Bloody hell. Save me from stubborn women. I’ll take her.”
Before Anya could say another word, Alfi had her in a fireman’s hold, walking her back to the McKay-Taggart line.
“If you think we’re going down without a fight, you better think again,” de Vries promised.
“You are going to run to the back of this bloody building and you’re going to hide,” Brody whispered into her ear. His voice was cold as ice, his hold on her not at all lover like.
He was angry. So angry. She could feel it.
“I can walk, Brody,” she said, trying not to be a burden.
“Alex McKay is back there along with Erin, and they’re going to get you someplace safe. I want you safe. I can’t do my job if you’re not safe. Is that clear?”
She was going to have to handle his rage at another time. Now wasn’t the time to argue or to explain that she’d seen the light.
She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone. She’d only wanted to go to a party and see her friends. That had been the reason, the motivation behind her crime. It hadn’t been the same for de Vries. De Vries meant to kill them all. His sin was an act of evil, hers of youth.
She might never be able to find the meaning in it that Kai and Avery talked about, but maybe she could try to have something good in her life, try to forgive herself enough to be worthy of them.
“Yes, Brody. You can let me walk. I’ll go back there. Tucker needs help. They hurt his feet.”
“Can’t worry about Tucker because I can’t trust you,” he whispered back. “Get behind me. Something’s wrong.”
She found herself pushed behind Brody’s body. Theo Taggart moved in behind her.
“I’ve got her back, Carter,” he promised. “But you’re right. I got a feeling de Vries won’t go down and Big Brother is going to get his firefight.”
“Why don’t we get the women and hurt puppies out of here and then we’ll talk?” Taggart seemed tenser than before, as though he’d realized what his brother had as well.
“The puppy? Are you talking about that animal there? Now I recognize him.” De Vries was staring at Tucker. “Since when do you hire true mercenaries, Taggart? I didn’t see it at first. He’s cut his hair. What the hell are you doing here, Razor?”
Tucker managed to get to his feet, his face contorting with pain. “Razor? Are you talking about me? Do you know me?”
“But you already know all of this, Taggart. We call him Doctor Razor because he cuts so deep. I find it interesting that he is here with your doctor. You like to experiment, don’t you? What were you doing with this one in Africa? Something terrible, I assume,” de Vries said.
Tucker shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t do something like that. I would never hurt someone.”
A low laugh came from the mercenary. “Very cute, Razor. And you call me a monster when you’re harboring the worst I’ve ever seen.” De Vries took a step back. “I think we’ll call it a day. Don’t think this is over.”
“Taggart, take her,” Brody ordered. “I’ve got a better chance at getting Tucker out than you do, and this is about to all go to hell.”
Steph looked up at him, trying to memorize his face. “Please don’t make me leave you.”
His jaw hardened, his eyes flinty as he looked down at her. “Go, now.”
Theo Taggart took her by the arm and started to lead her back. “Hurry, I need to drop you with Erin and get my ass back out here. Please don’t give me trouble.”
She kept up, but turned to see Brody’s big form becoming smaller as Theo led her away.
Through her tears she wondered if the battle had already been lost before she’d even started to fight it.
* * * *
Brody shoved down his fear, trying to stay cool and calm. All these years of fighting and he’d never once had his heart in his throat the way it was now. He’d been trained to handle the anxiety, the pressure, the fear of having his life in danger. It didn’t bother him. Most of the time he welcomed the adrenaline rush, sort of lived for it.
Not this time.
He had no idea how to handle losing her. This was everything he’d though
t it would be and more. And this was what it would mean to be with her. She would never take her own safety seriously. Every single day would be a fight to curb her self-destructive tendencies.
How many times would she lie to him? Go behind his back and put herself in danger because a dark impulse made her do it? How would he explain this to their son?
Stop. Breathe. Work the op and let everything else go.
She was safe for now. Alex wouldn’t let her move. Erin would put her on her ass before she’d let Steph run out in the middle of a firefight. He trusted Erin and Alex to keep her where he wanted her.
He moved through the Ukrainian group, who seemed to have figured out that this had gone to hell and they better pick a side. The men at the back of the group were looking to their leader.
Fedor glanced his way and nodded toward Tucker. His voice was low as he spoke Brody’s way. “Take him. He’s in shock over something. I’m sorry about his pain, but I had to do everything I could to save my sister. I thought if I had the drive, I could avoid all bloodshed. Well, here at least. I would have gone after the fucker sooner or later.”
“You’re lucky I don’t kill you here and now,” Brody replied. “I’m only sparing you because of Anya.”
“And your doctor might have something to say about it, too, no? I think we both have difficult females in our lives.” Fedor moved in front of Tucker, blocking him from fire. “You need to move him out of here. De Vries is getting antsy and he’s right about one thing. He’s better armed than my men. I don’t think he will go down without a fight.”
And Taggart wouldn’t let him get away.
“If you step back out that direction, I think you’ll find a small tactical group led by a man who goes by the name of Mr. White,” Big Tag explained. “Well, he has so many douchebag names we can’t keep up with them, but feel free to call him whatever you like. He’ll have the place surrounded by now and I think you’ll find he’s more than willing to provide you with an escort out of the US. He’s got a couple of places where he likes to take his new friends.”
