Silver Fire (Guardians)

by Victoria Paige

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “This is bullshit and you know it,” Derek growled. He had pushed Sophie behind him and backed them away from Viktor and the other Guardians. Sophie’s mind was having trouble processing everything that was happening. Had the CIA been keeping tabs on her all along? How did they hear about the stolen research so quickly? She had her hands on Derek’s back and felt his muscles bunch with tension beneath his shirt.

  “All they want to do is question her,” Viktor replied carefully. “I will not force Dr. Leroux to come with us. But might I suggest, Derek, that you let Sophie come with us willingly. Wouldn’t you rather they question her on neutral ground like AGS than snatch her and take her to an unknown location?”

  Sophie walked around Derek, evading his outstretched arm that was trying to keep her behind him. She was not getting him into trouble.

  “Sophie,” Derek said with irritation.

  Sophie angled her eyes at him. “Honestly, Derek, there’s four of them and there’s you. If they wanted to take me by force, you think you can stop them?”

  “Your confidence in my abilities is gratifying,” he answered dryly.

  A ghost of a smile cracked Viktor’s otherwise expressionless face.

  “What exactly does the CIA know?” Sophie asked.

  “That the research was stolen, that’s about it,” Viktor replied.

  “I’m not letting her out of my sight,” Derek put in.

  “I’ll be in the room myself,” Viktor said.

  “Since when did you start doing what the CIA tells you?” Derek asked. “You don’t even trust them.”

  “I still don’t,” Viktor threw over his shoulder when he turned around and started walking away, expecting the rest of them to follow.

  Derek exhaled harshly and looked at her. “You don’t have to go to AGS if you don’t want to. They legally do not have the right to just bring you in.”

  Sophie smiled wryly. “Derek, thanks for the reassurance, but the CIA is rarely known for doing things legally, are they?”

  “I can call Beth and give her a heads up,” Stephen, who was observing the whole exchange quietly, spoke up for the first time.

  “Better not say that aloud,” Sophie said, half-joking, half-seriously. “Or they may bring you in too.”

  Derek grunted in agreement and put his hand possessively on the small of her back as they walked out of Silver Fire Research.

  ***

  Sophie was getting very familiar with the AGS surroundings. She might as well move in here considering how frequently she had visited in the past week alone. She voiced this out loud to Derek, who glanced at her sharply and told her not to get ridiculous ideas, but she could tell he was very unhappy with the current situation. She could see the wheels turning in his head as the tactician in him weighed in their options, unlike Sophie, who was pretty much resigned to her fate. Let the CIA lock her down. She was a menace to the public.

  After more than an hour of waiting, Viktor opened the door to the situation room, letting a brunette in a dark gray, expensively-cut pantsuit precede him. She had flawless, light olive skin and the most amazing green eyes. Right now those green eyes were focused on Sophie. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m Marissa Cole.” Sophie doubted if that was her real name.

  As the brunette took her seat at the head of the table, Viktor walked to the corner of the room and just leaned back to observe. A trace of annoyance flashed across Ms. Cole’s face. Derek cleared his throat, causing Sophie and Marissa to look at him. Derek had been controlling a grin.

  “Something funny, Lockwood?” Marissa asked sternly.

  “No, something just snagged in my throat,” Derek replied lamely. Viktor remained expressionless.

  Great, Derek just annoyed a CIA agent. Sophie wanted to roll her eyes but considered that the tension was high enough in the room.

  “We just finished interviewing Nash Becker,” Marissa said. “He did not want to give us descriptions of the men who blackmailed him, not until we offered him protective custody. That the Beckers were left alive did not make sense. The perpetrators didn’t seem to care if we have their descriptions.”

  “No masks?”

  “None.”

  “Viktor told me that you built the cores,” Marissa said curtly. “The CIA had suspected as much.”

  “Do you have bugs in my office?” Sophie snapped.

  “The NSA intercepted chatter between Blackstone and an as of yet unidentified contact in South Africa. The line was secure on the other end, but we suspect it was Damian Stoltz, the principal at SASTac, a security firm in South Africa.”

  “Why is the CIA even interested in Blackstone and SASTac?” Derek asked.

  “We want stability in the region,” Marissa explained. “That can’t happen if foreign companies keep exploiting towns and taking their natural resources. People like Abu-Haxa are the good guys for now, but if the US turns a blind eye to what’s happening there, Africa will become another hotbed for terrorism, and America will be branded again as the great Satan. We’ve already seen what Abu-Haxa was willing to do. They were willing to send their Brotherhood to the US to eliminate a threat—you.”

  Derek stiffened beside her; he obviously did not want a reminder of the numerous attempts on her life.

  “Well, I’m not a threat anymore, the research is gone.”

  “How easy is it to follow the blueprint in the documents and build a bomb?”

  Sophie had made cryptic notes in the document detailing improvements in the design, but she did not trust the CIA just yet.

  “They have their hands on it, they can build it,” Sophie replied as she tried to hold the piercing green eyes that were boring into her. She couldn’t.

  Marissa cursed. “Damn it, Dr. Leroux, I’m trying to protect you. Would there be a reason for them to come after you to finish the zefinium bomb?”

  “Sophie?” Derek prompted when she did not reply.

  “I honestly don’t know,” Sophie said quietly. “If their technicians and physicists are competent enough, they’ll figure it out. I do have some proprietary methods that improve the design, but that wouldn’t stop construction. They may end up with what you call a dirty bomb.”

  A knock sounded on the door before it opened. Manning walked in and handed Viktor a folder. The AGS head inspected it before handing the contents to Marissa Cole.

  “Tim is running facial recognition now,” Manning said before exiting the room.

  “Do any of these men look familiar?” Marissa laid out three composite sketches of the men who had threatened and coerced Becker.

  Sophie felt the blood drain from her face as she recognized the middle picture. Apparently, Derek did too because he exploded from his chair and started pacing the room.

  “Fuck!” Derek growled. “Fuck!”

  Marissa’s brow shot up. “I guess you both do. Which one? All three?”

  “The middle one.”

  “The guy named Justin?”

  Sophie was confused. “He gave me his real name?”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Derek demanded.

  “Where did you meet him?”

  “At the bar, he was sitting beside me.”

  Viktor moved forward, an alert, guarded look crossing his face. “The same bar where Maia’s picture was taken?”

  “Yes,” Derek replied tersely.

  “Someone took a picture of Maia?” Sophie asked, but no one seemed to have heard her.

  Derek looked at Viktor. “Three men were in the car that took out the Escalade. I bet you these are the same three men. This.” He angrily tapped on the picture. “This is an in-your-face challenge to me. He wanted me to know that he got close to Sophie, and he could take me out when he wanted to. Fucking piece of shit,” Derek snarled viciously. “I should have beaten the shit out of him when I had the chance.”

  “So, I’m gathering there had been some sort of confrontation,” Marissa clarified.

  “Justin told me that Dere
k was too old for me,” Sophie informed the other woman. The brunette’s lips tipped up into the beginnings of a smile and Viktor, for the first time since she had met him, gave a short laugh, prompting a glare from Derek. “Which my friend Beth shared with Derek when he got to the bar. Justin and Derek exchanged a few words. I thought Justin acted very mature walking away.”

  Derek snorted. “We know why. He’s after your research and did not want to blow his cover.”

  “And here I thought he genuinely liked me,” Sophie quipped.

  “This is not a joke, Sophie,” Derek said, his expression hard. “You do not want sociopaths like Justin to take an interest in you.”

  “I find all this hard to believe. He appeared so harmless and just plain affable,” Sophie said, bewildered.

  Viktor shook his head and weighed in. “His type is dangerous. He walked up and sat beside his mark with an experienced AGS agent, an ex-AGS agent, an ex-Navy SEAL and an investigative reporter sitting right there and no one clocked him.”

  “I agree. The man is a chameleon experienced in blending into the environment,” Marissa said, glancing down at the photo. “He looks young, but I would bet he’s in his late twenties.”

  “Are you all going to lock me down?” Sophie asked the one question that was foremost in her mind.

  Marissa shook her head. “We’ve considered that route, but decided against it. We will have someone watch over you discreetly.”

  “You want to use her as bait.”

  “Very good, Lockwood, you know the game very well.” Marissa tossed Derek a snide look.

  “I’m not letting her out of my sight,” Derek repeated his earlier statement. “And you spooks better not fabricate any lunatic plan to keep her away from me.”

  Viktor sighed. “We’re aware, Derek and you make it extremely difficult to draw Justin out, but you better watch your six because this guy has you marked. He has already made an attempt on you. He may try again.”

  “That’s my problem,” Derek told him. “Are we done here?”

  Viktor and Marissa nodded.

  “Come on, Angel.” Her man gently grasped her upper arm and guided her out of the room.

  ***

  “I can’t believe our boy Justin stole the zee-bomb research,” Beth said as she forked a big piece of waffle into her mouth. Derek had gotten Sophie home around 4:00 a.m. and the poor woman was so wiped out, she could barely brush her teeth. By the time he got in beside her, she was snoring lightly. Sighing, Derek tucked her into him and tried to catch some shut-eye, but his brain was in overdrive figuring out how he could have missed Justin as a potential threat. Easy. He let jealousy blind him from anything else. If he had faced him squarely, he could have picked up the nuances of his coldness. A plain college boy who was a head shorter than he was, playing it cool and collected was unusual. Too mature and too experienced. Damn it to hell.

  Three hours later, Beth called Sophie and demanded to come over. So now they were having coffee, waffles and bacon. Same as the first morning when Sophie and Beth had stayed over.

  Sophie was sitting with one foot on the chair, knee cocked and shin pressing against the table. She was eating bacon as fast as Derek could fry them. Apparently lack of sleep and stress made her ravenous. For Derek, lack of sleep only made him horny as fuck, and he’d been trying to avoid looking down Sophie’s crotch as he leaned in to dish more bacon on the plate. She was wearing damned skimpy shorts and he was pretty sure she wasn’t wearing any underwear. He better not get a hard on right now.

  “No question he is one slick son of a bitch,” Sophie said, stumbling on the cuss word. Derek chuckled. She didn’t curse much, but when talking to Beth she tried to match her friend’s brashness. Damned cute.

  “Derek, aren’t you eating?”

  “Making sure I make enough bacon for you, sweetheart,” Derek drawled.

  “Aw, isn’t he sweet,” Beth mocked, turning back to Sophie. “Aren’t you hiring more security?”

  “Justin and his goons are probably out of the country by now,” Sophie said airily, knowing to keep her mouth shut in front of her friend.

  His condo intercom buzzed. Frowning, he pressed the call button and said, “Yeah.”

  “We’re coming up.” It was Jack.

  Derek shook his head. Crazy morning just got crazier. He ground more coffee beans.

  Minutes later, a key was heard at the door. Jack walked through along with Maia, who was carrying a big brown paper bag.

  “Glad I got enough beignets!” Maia chirped as she spied Beth.

  Jack made himself quickly at home by taking out two coffee mugs to pour out the rest of the coffee from the flask.

  “Beignets, hmm,” Beth drooled as she peered into the brown bag. “Classy chick. I haven’t had this since New Orleans.” Taking a quick bite of the pillowy pastry, the reporter looked like she was about to have an orgasm. “This thing is the shit,” she exclaimed. “Where do you get these?”

  “Corner shop from our building is a Creole restaurant. I talked them into making beignets on Sunday mornings,” Maia said.

  “You’re kick-ass and resourceful. If you weren’t married already, I’d ask you to move in with me,” Beth said and laughed when Jack shot her a look. “Sorry McCord, huge crush on your wife.”

  “You and everyone else,” Jack muttered.

  “Are you feeling OK after yesterday?” Sophie asked Maia. The redhead still had a huge bandage on the side of her forehead.

  “Yeah, went to the hospital Saturday afternoon, had an MRI and full body scan. Perfect health.”

  “I was trying to convince Derek to go to the hospital, but he was being bull-headed.” Sophie shot him a dirty look.

  “I’m fine, Angel, all your favorite parts are in working order,” Derek responded roguishly.

  Jack heaved himself up on the countertop, Maia moved between his legs, leaning into him.

  “I can’t believe none of us ‘made’ Justin,” Maia muttered, sipping on her coffee. “Damned embarrassing. I can blame three martinis, but you Derek, what’s your excuse? You even had a conversation with the man.”

  “Two sentences hardly make a conversation,” Derek fired back.

  “Derek was thinking with his dick,” Jack murmured and chuckled as his wife smacked his thigh.

  “True,” Beth agreed. “Maybe you’re not the best person to keep Sophie safe, Derek.”

  Derek scowled at Beth. “I’ll pretend you didn’t say that, Beth, because I’m not letting Sophie out of my damned sight.” He looked at Sophie. “I’m taking you to work, picking you up. You sleep in my bed. End of.”

  “I’m seeing a strange re-enactment of us, Jack,” Maia murmured to her husband.

  “Talking about re-enactment,” Derek said reflectively. “Do you remember a Marissa Cole, Maia? She was the spook at AGS this morning.”

  Maia’s clear blue eyes got big like saucers. “Damn straight I remember, she broke Viktor’s heart.”

  “Viktor has a heart?” Jack, Derek and Beth said in unison. Everyone broke out in laughter except Maia, who patiently waited for everyone to stop laughing.

  “All right, may be nothing that dramatic. Shit, actually it was,” Maia countered. “That was over eight years ago. Marissa had just started in the clandestine program of the CIA, she and Viktor had a job together. I’ve never seen Viktor so...different. He laughed more and was almost always in a good mood until that time I guess when they broke up. Heard him almost yelling into the phone.”

  “Viktor was yelling?” Derek never heard Viktor yell. He was always cold and in control, except those times he was yelling at Maia.

  “Well, he frequently yells at me,” Maia said.

  “He yells at those that matter to him,” Derek finally concluded. “And then what?”

  “He smashed his phone and bolted out of his office. The next day, the light was gone. He was back to his cold sarcastic self,” Maia said sadly.

  “That’s about the time he started taking
subs,” Derek added.

  “Viktor Baran is a dom?” Beth said with clear interest.

  “Shit,” Maia muttered. “Reporter.”

  “I’m sure Beth knows better than to babble about Viktor Baran’s sexual proclivities,” Sophie said, giving her friend a pointed stare.

  Beth stuffed another beignet in her mouth. “You’re right, haven’t met the guy but from what I’ve heard, I don’t want to get on his radar.”

  “You’re probably already on his,” Derek said.

  “What? How?”

  “Me,” Sophie stated simply.

  “Girl, you’re so much trouble, but I love you,” Beth said, standing up and giving Sophie a tight hug.

  “Last week was the week from hell,” Sophie said with a sigh. “I hope this week is better. I’m so tired at getting shot at.”

  Derek took the seat beside her, scooted over and held her hands, staring straight at her eyes. “We’ll get you through this, Sophie. I promise not to let anything happen to you.”

  “It’s not me I’m worried about, Derek,” Sophie said. “Everyone else is getting hurt because of me. I feel like we’re just waiting for the next crisis to hit. Don’t you feel it?”

  Derek smiled at her reassuringly, but he felt it too. A heavy feeling in his gut, and he was scared for Sophie.

  ***

  It was almost 3:00 p.m. when everyone had left. Derek cleared the empty pizza boxes and wrapped up the leftover slices in foil. Sophie was on the phone with Christopher Blackstone, relaying the bad news. She had been at it for over twenty minutes, obviously in a frustrating conversation. Derek wasn’t at all sure Christopher Blackstone was innocent in the stolen research debacle. Clearly, he leaked the information about the zefinium cores to SASTac, and Derek had a hunch that this Justin guy worked for the security company, either directly or indirectly.

  Sophie walked past the kitchen and tossed her phone on the counter, saying over her shoulder, “Taking a shower.” She was in a temper and all tensed up. Derek quickly wiped down the counters and threw the beer bottles in the recycling bin. He made sure the doors were locked before following Sophie in his bedroom.