by Mel Comley
‘Fortunately for you, yes.’ He smiled and put her at ease. ‘Do you need money for the telephone?’
‘Would you mind?’
He dug in the pocket of his suit trousers and came out with a handful of centimes. ‘Take what you want, madame.’
Hesitantly, Lorne messed around with the coins in his palm, but she had no idea which one she needed to make a call to England. She intended ringing her father, back in London, as Tony’s number was on speed dial on her mobile, and she didn’t have a clue what it was. ‘If it’s not too much trouble, I need to ring England,’
Shrugging he handed her a euro coin.
She tapped her foot as the phone rang several times before her father picked up. ‘Oh, Dad. Thank God you’re home.’
‘Lorne? Where are you? How …’
‘Dad I haven’t got time to answer your questions, I need help.’
‘I know. Tony’s been in touch. I’m flying out tomorr— ’
‘No, Dad. Please, don’t come out here. I’m fine, I’ve escaped, but I need to get in touch with Tony quickly. I was wondering if you could ring MI5 HQ for me?’
‘No need for that, love, I have his number right here. Can you hold the line while I ring him on my mobile?’
‘Be quick, Dad, I haven’t much money. I’m in St Etienne.’
Lorne turned to face the man again, exchanged smiles with him, and then cast a worried eye up the road. Surely Baldwin must have woken up by now and alerted his goons!
‘Lorne?’
‘I’m here, Dad.’
‘Tony’s in the town now. Is there a landmark nearby where you can wait for him?’
She glanced over her shoulder and saw the large building with a yellow sign off to the right. ‘That’s brilliant, Dad. Tell him to wait outside the Post Office for me. If I’m not there when he arrives, tell him to be patient, I’ll probably be hiding in a bush or something just in case Baldwin or his men come looking for me.’
She heard him relay her message to Tony before including her in a conversation again. ‘Lorne, the minute Tony picks you up I want you back on a plane heading home ASAP, do you hear me?’
‘I hear you, Dad, but you know that ain’t going to happen.’
‘Right, then we’ll both be bloody-minded. I’m flying out tomorrow, and I’ll catch up with you in Monaco. Until then stay safe, darling.’
Before she had the chance to argue he’d hung up.
Lorne thanked her knight in shining armour for coming to her rescue, shook his hand, then turned and ran down the road.
A few minutes later she arrived at the Post Office, but felt too exposed standing outside the agreed rendezvous point and quickly ducked behind a parked delivery van. Her neck soon ached from constantly searching all around her, but her panic turned to joy when Tony pulled up outside the large stone building.
After collapsing into the passenger seat beside the agent, she let out a large breath. ‘Boy, am I glad to see you.’
‘Not half as glad as I am to see you,’ he said. ‘Jesus, Lorne, what did that fucker do to you? He gathered her in his arms. ‘I’ll show you just how much I’ve missed you when we find a hotel,’ he whispered against her ear.
Lorne smiled at the thought of her lying in his arms. Maybe having a broken nose and ripped clothing could be made up for, after all.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
After booking into a less luxurious hotel than the one Baldwin had taken her to, Tony and Lorne entered their room and stood by the door wordlessly staring at each other.
The moment lasted for what seemed like hours. Tony was the first to react unable to bear it any longer. He gently grabbed her by the wrist and slowly pulled her towards him. Eyes locked on each other, understanding in their depths, their thoughts and desires radiating for the other to read.
Lorne felt self-conscious about the way she looked, with her torn clothes and bloody face and although Tony eyed her with sympathy, she knew he was too much of a gent to tell her how awful she looked. He lowered his head, their lips barely touching before his tongue began its searching, probing journey.
A satisfying moan caught in her throat that seemed to amuse Tony, pulling away from him she asked, ‘Something funny, agent boy.’
Instead of getting annoyed like he usually did when she called him the detested name, he took a step back and placed one hand behind her knees and swept her off her feet. Seconds later, he placed her gently on the bed and froze. A puzzled look crossed her face, but disappeared when she understood the meaning of his hesitation. Her hand stroked the side of his face she smiled when he trapped it with his own, turned it over and started kissing and licking her palm. An involuntary shiver rippled through her body. Desperate to feel him on top of her, Lorne grabbed him by the lapels and slowly pulled him down.
‘You’re beautiful.’ His lips trailed down her throat, causing her to arch her hips and let out a sigh. His impatient hands tugged at her jacket and shook as he undid the tiny pearl shaped buttons on her blouse.
‘Oh, Tony,’ she whispered, as his mouth sought out the mound of her breast and slipped around her nipple. Her desire level went through the ceiling, urgently she tore off his jacket before ripping open his shirt, not giving a second thought to the fact that they were travelling light and his shirts were in short supply. She ran her hands down his taut chest, past his flat stomach and found the zip of his trousers, easing it down and with a shaking hand she searched out the opening. Tony paused, anticipating her next move.
Diving pass the folds of his boxers, Lorne stroked a teasing finger up and down his erection, making him suck in a deep breath. Finding the whole seduction scenario too much to take, Tony ripped off the rest of her clothes and his throwing them in a pile on the floral patterned carpet.
‘I’ve wanted you for so long,’ he whispered in her ear before his lips trailed a seductive line down her trembling body, past her breasts, down over her stomach, he kissed her hip bones that were jutting out, begging not to be forgotten, before finally ending up at her very core.
With his tongue probing, and his teeth nibbling the sensitive area, Lorne’s hands gripped and twisted the cover of the bed on either side of her. Her heart thumped loudly as if she had an arrhythmia. Finally, she uttered the words she sensed Tony was longing to hear. ‘Please, take me, Tony. Please.’
He entered her with the ease of a well-oiled piece of machinery, lubricated and ready to perform. Tony towered above her and the changing expressions covering his face fascinated her. It amused her slightly the way his eyes clenched shut. ‘Tony, look at me,’ she ordered, feeling masterful and in charge of their fate. His eyelids opened and glistened with desire.
She smiled shyly, feeling suddenly insecure for some reason. Blushing, she turned to look at the wall to her right. Tony paused to ask what was wrong. A single tear slipped down her face. The next thing she knew he had slipped out of her and was tenderly gathering her in his arms. ‘Lorne? What’s up?’ When she didn’t respond, his finger tipped under her chin and pulled her head round to face him. ‘Don’t shut me out, hon.’
‘I’m so sorry, Tony. I want this so much, but …’
Propping himself up on his elbow, he ran his forefinger down her cheek with the gentlest of touches, and his thumb wiped away the tear that had settled there. ‘Then what’s the problem?’
Lorne hesitated, looking deep into his eyes she felt a pang of guilt as she saw the concern evident in their depths. ‘He was going to rape me.’
‘What?’ Tony shouted, he sat up and dragged his fingers down his face, then returned to his position beside her, dragging Lorne into his arms again and placing her head on his chest. ‘But, he didn’t?’ he asked more softly.
For the first time that day, she felt safe, safe and relieved that she hadn’t come to any serious harm, like Charlie had when Baldwin abducted her. She started to play with the soft hairs on his chest and shook her head. ‘No, thank goodness. He had a needle full of clear liquid, I think it was pro
bably heroin he was about to inject me with, but I managed to hit him with a lamp. We were staying in a posh suite, luckily, the lamp was made of brass, so the impact turned out to be substantial.’
‘Ouch!’
‘I was so scared. I can’t believe I even thought of fighting him.’
‘It was probably a combination of things that motivated you. Seeing that he was about to drug and rape you, and then there was the contributing factor of the hatred you felt for him because of the way he treated your daughter. A mother’s love and instincts to protect or avenge more than likely came into play.’
‘It kind of brought it all home to me what Charlie had to contend with last year. I’m so proud of the way she’s handled everything.’
‘She’s obviously riddled with your brave genes.’ Tony laughed as his hand stroked her arm sending flames of desire running through her.
‘What happens now?’
‘Well, the minute I realised he had taken you, I rang London. They’re sending out a couple of agents to help. I’ll keep quiet about you escaping until tomorrow, otherwise, they might deploy the agents elsewhere. I’d like to bring Baldwin down once and for all and the more reinforcements we have out here to do that, the better. Now, how about we get some sleep?’
She looked up at him, desire written in her face. ‘How about we don’t?’
Grinning, he didn’t need asking twice …
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The following morning a loud thumping on their hotel room door, woke the pair of new lovers.
‘Jesus! It’s nearly ten,’ Tony said, giving Lorne a quick kiss on the lips before jumping out of bed to put on his trousers.
She stretched under the covers and smiled at him. ‘I take it a repeat of last night’s action is out of the question then?’
The glint in her eye and her teasing smile must have amused Tony, as he leapt on to the bed again. ‘You little minx, I can see you getting me into severe trouble. As much as I’d love to make love to you again I have a feeling that’s the reinforcements at the door. Now, get your amazingly firm arse out of this bed, and into the bathroom, and don’t forget to take your clothes with you.’ He winked at her. ‘And we’ll sort out the encore later, that’s a promise.’ He tore back the bedclothes and ran his love-filled eyes over her naked body, somehow resisting the temptation to jump on her again by shoving her out of the bed.
Lorne wiggled her way towards the bathroom picking up her clothes en-route. Before entering the bathroom she paused and looked back over her shoulder to see if he was watching her, she needn’t have worried, he appeared transfixed by the movement of her body, and as she gazed down, the bulge in his trousers made it obvious he was enjoying the show.
Another thunderous knock on the door brought Tony’s focus back to getting dressed. He threw on his blue shirt, leaving it hanging out on purpose, hoping to disguise his erection; he squeezed his eyes shut as the shower started, anticipating he was about to receive the ribbing of his life from his colleagues.
When he threw open the door two men, both in their mid-twenties, were standing either side of it, arms folded, their heads resting against the doorframe, knowing smiles on their smug faces.
‘Busy were you, Warner?’
‘Fuck off, Taylor.’ He stood back and both men entered the room, their eyes glued to the messed up bed. Shit! This is all I need. This will keep these guys in ammunition for bloody months. ‘We were forced to share a bed, lack of funds from HQ and it was the only room available when we booked in late last night.’
‘Who’re you trying to fucking kid? So you got her back then, when?’ The other man said a look of distrust set on his face.
‘Yeah, and she was damn lucky to escape from the bastard. I got a call from her, well, her father actually, about twelve last night.’
‘Nice and convenient!’
‘Your point is, Weir?’
The agent shrugged and sat down on the end of the bed. ‘Just saying … haven’t got us out here under false pretences I hope, Warner?’
They all glanced at the bathroom door when they heard the shower stop. Under his breath Taylor said, ‘Can’t wait to see what all the fuss is about.’
‘All right you two fucking behave yourselves when she comes out, do you hear me?’
‘Or?’ Weir asked, stretching his legs out.
‘All right, cut the crap. We need to get this guy and there’s no way on this earth I could manage that alone. You’re here now so stop the whinging, okay? Is HQ still tracking his vehicle?’
‘As far as I know, I’ve got to tell them we’ve located you and the girl anyway, I’ll make the call.’ Taylor went back out into the hallway and left Warner and Weir eyeing each other cautiously.
‘Come on then let’s have it, Weir?’ Tony propped himself up against the dressing table and crossed his arms in front of him.
‘I think we’ve been down this road before, mate, haven’t we?’
‘This is different. Lorne and I know where we stand. She knows the job …’ Just then the bathroom door opened and Lorne breezed into the room, her shoulders back and ready for a fight.
‘Don’t stop now, Tony. The conversation was just getting interesting.’ She stopped in front of the man lounging on the bed, her arm outstretched ready to shake his hand.
Weir accepted her hand with a shocked look and a half-smile. Lorne made sure her handshake was much firmer than usual and felt a glow of satisfaction rise inside when she noted the surprise in the agent’s eyes.
Still holding her hand, Weir rose from the bed. ‘Pleased to meet you, Lorne. You had us worried there for a while. Glad to see you back safe. You were lucky to have escaped from Baldwin. Hope he came off worse than you in the fight?’
‘He did, I assure you. You were worried, well that’s good to know.’ She removed her hand from his and forced a smile. ‘You were saying, Tony?’
Tony was wearing his strongest poker face and his eyes remained firmly on hers. But Lorne simply smiled at him and pushed him aside in order to retrieve the dryer out of the dressing table drawer. Both men watched her trundle back into the bathroom acting as though she didn’t have a care in the world.
Weir shook his head and mumbled, ‘I rest my case.’ Meaning he was comparing Lorne to Tony’s other conquests.
Before Tony could fight his corner again a sullen-faced Taylor came back into the room.
‘What’s up?’ Tony asked, his concern matching that of his colleague.
‘It’s Baldwin … He’s gone already.’
‘What? When?’ Tony and Weir asked at the same time.
Taylor’s eyes screwed up and zeroed in on Tony. ‘Probably while you were screwing her ladyship in …’
Fearing that Tony was about to lunge at Taylor, Weir stood between them.
‘Fuck off, Taylor. Just give us the facts without the wisecracks,’ Tony demanded.
The three men turned to face Lorne when she opened the bathroom door and wandered back into the relatively small room, her hair dried and heavily made-up to disguise her black eyes. ‘What?’ she asked puzzled.
Tony nodded for Taylor to continue, ‘Baldwin left his hotel in the early hours of this morning,’ he turned to Tony and stated his voice full of accusation. ‘Apparently, HQ has been trying to contact you every hour on the hour since.’
Lorne blushed and Tony dashed to his phone, which was sitting on the small bedside table. He let out a heavy breath and threw the phone on the bed. ‘Bloody battery is dead. Don’t look at me like that, you two. I found Lorne well after midnight, badly beaten as you can see. And by the time she went over what had happened …’
‘Stop! Tony you shouldn’t have to make excuses for me. If you guys don’t believe what went on here last night then that’s your problem not ours.’ She jutted out her breasts stubbornly, and then folded her arms when she realised three sets of eyes were focused on her slightly exposed cleavage.
Weir retorted under his breath, ‘Guess it’s our fau
lt Baldwin’s got away again, is it? Mind you, you should be used to that— ’
‘All right, Weir, that was uncalled for. Arguing amongst ourselves isn’t getting us anywhere. Taylor, have HQ got a location on Baldwin?’ Tony asked.
‘He was last spotted going past the junction for Orange on the A7, approximately 220kilometres from here, showing no signs of stopping either.’
Taylor had a map in his hand and Tony took it from him, studied it for a few moments then said, ‘That’s strange, he usually takes a break every few hundred kilometres, wonder what that’s all about?’
Lorne was the first to offer a suggestion. ‘Consider this. Every time he’s stopped something has happened.’ She hesitated as the men contemplated her idea, looking perplexed. It wasn’t until Tony gave her a quick nod urging her to carry on that she continued, ‘When we stopped at Le Mans, the Lieutenant’s body was found. Then he abducted me. Makes you wonder if he’s playing games with us, or warning us?’
‘You have a point, Lorne. Maybe he’s meeting up with someone further on and he’s rushing to get there. Have you guys got a rental car?’
‘Yep,’ Weir answered. ‘We better get on the move before he connects with anyone else. You guys get things sorted here and check out. We’ll try and locate some breakfast for all of us, meet up again outside in what, ten minutes?’
After the two agents left the room, Tony walked over to Lorne and gathered her in his arms. She released a comforting sigh as her head came to rest on his chest. ‘Hey, ignore their leg-pulling, they’re harmless enough. You all ready to go?’
Lorne smiled up at him. ‘It’ll take me a couple of minutes to pack my bag and Tony…’
Head tilted, his eyes asked the question.
‘Don’t worry about the guys. I might have taken a year off work, but coming up with suitable put downs is built-in, something that’ll never abandon me. Don’t forget the ‘pigs’ I had to deal with in the MET, no pun intended. What I’m trying to say is, don’t feel as though you need to jump to my defence all the time.’
