The Scotland Yard Exchange Series

by Stephanie Queen

  It felt a lot like having a terminal disease.

  The front door banged open and she heard footsteps clamoring down the hall, straight to the kitchen. She jumped from her chair and saw him. Chauncey. She put herself in his path. The moment his body impacted hers his arms enveloped her in a tight squeeze. She felt him kissing her hair and her forehead until he lifted his hands from around her. He took her face and pulled her mouth to his in a kiss that possessed her and stole her breath, quite literally. She couldn’t feel her feet on the ground. The dizzying feeling of his solidness, of his being there, and of wanting to be part of him had her clinging to him as if he were the edge of a cliff and her survival depended on it. She kissed him back for all she was worth, with her tongue and her teeth and her lips. She held nothing back.

  “Jesus Christ almighty,” Oscar said.

  She heard a scuffle when Chauncey broke off the kiss and turned away from her. He held onto her arms and she looked past him. Oscar had a grip on a woman in the threshold of the doorway.

  “I see you still don’t trust me,” Chauncey said.

  Oscar dragged Mary to a kitchen chair and practically threw her down on it, latching the dangling handcuff onto the chair leg. The woman was bent into an uncomfortable-looking position, Sophia thought, and she was about to say something, but Chauncey spoke first. He moved her aside as he did and walked to the table.

  “This can no longer go easy for you Mary, if you’re of a mind to run. Or maybe I should let Azzam have at you now, making sure he knows we’ve interrogated you.” Chauncey looked at Oscar and they exchanged one of those meaningful man nods.

  Sophia had no idea what they were about now, but she quit feeling sorry for this woman. This was the traitor—the mole responsible for setting them all up—and in particular her Chauncey. How dare the tart not trust Chauncey Miller?

  She launched herself at the woman and pulled her by the hair, turning her head around. “What the hell is wrong with you? These men are heroes and you don’t trust them? You know better. I thought you were supposed to be Scotland Yard? You know Chauncey Miller and you know he’s the most trustworthy, most dependable, and noble man on the planet. You’d goddamn well better trust them and tell them everything they want to know starting with where Azzam’s hideout is, and where he’s getting all his money and where the bugs are…”

  “Bugs?” Chauncey interrupted her and she tore her stare away from the scared-to-death face of Mary the Mole to see his suppressed smile.

  “You know—listening devices. They’ve known our every move. They must…”

  “The Yard is watched and tapped.” The woman almost whispered.

  They all turned to her. She strained to sit upright, but the cuffs prevented her. She met their gazes and Sophia could see the swollen, tear-stained face for what it was. The face of a pathetic woman on the edge of losing it all, including her mind. She decided she ought to be more careful. Maybe, her conscience suggested, she even ought to leave the interrogation to the professionals.

  Chauncey said, “If you don’t mind, I’ll take it from here.” She nodded and stepped back, feeling a bit queasy.

  “Let’s get down to it. We have no time,” Chauncey said to the woman. “We need to assume that Azzam has found out his henchmen’s mistake in taking Mauve and he’ll be back—likely in person this time—to correct his mistake. Oscar—call David and have him send a detail of no less than six of the best over here now.” Chauncey glanced at her. It fascinated her to see him at work—really at work—not just on-the-run-from-a bad-guy kind of work.

  Then she uttered something totally out of character for her. “Can I do anything to help you?” Naturally he looked at her askance. Then his eyes softened.

  “All I need from you is to stay alive. As long as you can stay at my side or Oscar’s for the duration and keep yourself out of harm’s way, that would be more than enough.”

  She heard the intensity of emotion in his voice like he meant every syllable from the bottom of his soul.

  Mary the Mole harrumphed with a cynical squint behind Chauncey’s back, so only Sophia saw the look. She didn’t like this woman—on a whole different level now.

  “Never mind her and your sweet talk,” Mary shot at them. “If you really are going to find my daughter we need to figure out where he has her.”

  “Any ideas?” Chauncey asked her.

  “I told you I don’t know! Don’t you think I would have done something if I knew…?” Mary’s voice crumbled.

  This could be a long night, Sophia thought, when Oscar spoke up.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure Miller has a brilliant plan up his sleeve.” He turned to Chauncey. “I know you well enough to know that much.”

  Sophia was about to question how Oscar could possibly know Chauncey so well, but Chauncey cut her off and went with the man’s bluff.

  “That’s right. I do. I know Azzam inside and out. I know all the places he used to haunt, the places he kept and the people he used to associate with. Now that he’s running low on resources I’m betting he’ll return—to one choice area in particular. I’ll go there and scout it to see what I can find. You will all stay here.” He waved at her and Oscar and then turned to Mary. “Except you. You’re coming with me. I don’t trust you.”

  “Don’t worry. I want to be there when we find my baby girl. I…I won’t give you any trouble. I know I’ll need to stay away from HQ because they watch it, but at some point Azzam will get suspicious. I need to answer my phone when he calls. What are you going to do about that?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I plan to wrap it up by morning. Azzam will either be in custody or dead.”

  There was no hesitation in the statement. Sophia shuddered. Oscar gave an approving nod.

  “Where do you have in mind?”

  “There’s a warehouse district where he and his brother did a lot of business a year ago. I know of one street in particular with two buildings that might be likely. One of the owners might owe him—or be scared of him.”

  “I think I should come with you for backup,” Oscar said.

  “No need for two of us to be running around on this hunting expedition. I’ll call for backup when I find the location.”

  “What about me?” Sophia stood with her hands on her hips. “Do you think I’m just going to wait here like a sitting duck for him to come back and get me?” Her voice held that telltale squeak. It charmed him—meaning he felt a stirring where he had no business having any moving parts at this crucial juncture of the chase. It occurred to him he was conducting a murder and a kidnap investigation, running for his life and on protective detail of his Pixie all at once. His heart pumped louder at the thought.

  “Don’t worry, we’ve got backup on the way.”

  “Yeah. Like that worked last time.” He watched her fold her arms over those ample breasts. He compressed his lips, but didn’t drag his gaze from her. She was turning him on. He couldn’t stop himself from remembering how her breasts felt in his hands, soft and heavy, and how her nipples tasted in his mouth, the hard nubs between his teeth. Warmth rose up in him along with everything else. He raked a hand through his hair and dragged his eyes away from her.

  “Oscar will be with you.” He spoke in a gravelly voice.

  She stepped toward him and wrapped herself around him as if she knew how he felt.

  Mary said, “Why don’t you get her out of here and leave an undercover detective as a stand-in?”

  Sophia ripped herself from his arms and snapped, “No.” She looked up at him and he knew she was thinking about Polly, the policewoman who’d given her life for Sophia.

  “Don’t worry. There’s no need to take any more chances. You and Oscar can stay at David’s place.”

  “Don’t bother. He has David Young and his wife staked out too,” Mary said.

  “Damn it. I thought you didn’t know anything? How many men does Azzam have working on this?”

  “By my count at least a dozen.”

>   “You’re finally providing some useful information. Where else is he staking out besides HQ, your place, here, and David’s?

  “That’s it. That’s all I know about—that’s what he forced me to give him—names and places.”

  “Good. Then I have a plan. Plan B I should say. As soon as he finds out he has the wrong woman, he will come back after Pixie, but he won’t be sure she’s still here. He’ll be calling you. You’ll tell him she’s at HQ. We’ll have Oscar take her there now. His people will be watching. They’ll see Sophia going in the front door, but he won’t dare go after her there.”

  “But then he’ll expect me to go into Headquarters too. And if I don’t do what he says he’ll kill my daughter.” Mary’s voice shook.

  “He’ll never get that far. While Sophia is on the move, you and I will be all over his old district and I’ll get some undercover people on it too, if necessary.”

  “I have some people you could use,” Oscar said.

  They all turned to the man, who was pushed back in his chair with one boot propped on the table and looking very relaxed. Chauncey snorted.

  “Of course you do. Perfect. Call them in—but not yet.” He looked at his watch. “It hasn’t been two hours yet and it’s off hours. We have some time to find him before he comes back for Pixie and before he calls you,” he said turning to Mary.

  “Enough of all this talk. Let’s get to those warehouses and find my baby girl.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Sophia said and she took a step toward the door ahead of them all. “Try and stop me.”

  The first instant fired up the alarm in his blood and then he reigned in with reason. And laughed. “Pixie, you are not going traipsing around warehouses looking for Azzam bin Naah Al Basri, the man who is looking to kill you—to kill us both. Are you crazy?” He watched her brows knit and the frown stamp her face. She may as well be stamping her feet in defiance. Her defiance boiled his blood, but not with anger. He felt those stirrings again and sighed.

  “All right. Yes, of course you’re crazy. Who wouldn’t be under the circumstances? I want you with me, but I can’t protect you when we’re walking into his territory. He’ll have us outnumbered.”

  “It makes no sense to tell him I’m going to HQ if I really am going to HQ. What good is that?”

  “He won’t try and come after you at HQ. And if he suspects Mary is lying and he comes back for you at the house—then you won’t be there.”

  “Then why wasn’t I at HQ in the first place?”

  “Because it’s not a hotel, goddamn it, and we don’t keep visitors there overnight for protection. We keep them in safe houses. Plus we weren’t sure who the mole was until now. I didn’t want to take any chances with you getting taken or hurt.”

  “So now it’s safe for me to go to HQ.”

  “Yes.”

  “But I’d rather be with you,” she said in a breathy voice. “Danger or not.”

  He reached out and dragged her in for one last kiss in spite of the groaning protest by Mary.

  “What if Azzam doesn’t call Mary the Mole?” Oscar said.

  Mary looked daggers at him. Sophia popped out of Chauncey’s arms, surprised.

  “Mary?” Chauncey said. “Of course he’ll call her. He calls her with regularity to check up on her. I rigged her home phone to forward calls to my cell.”

  “How handy,” Oscar said.

  “Can we leave now?” Mary sounded distressed.

  Oscar let his boot thud to the floor and lumbered up from his chair. The man walked over to Pixie and laid a hand on her shoulder, even while she was still in Chauncey’s arms. His reluctance doubled at leaving her, but it was too late to backtrack on his plan. Not to mention it really would be crazy for him to drag her into the warehouse district to skulk around looking for Azzam or his men. He had no idea what he might find.

  “Don’t be so impatient, Mary. He hasn’t called yet. We need to prepare you for that call.”

  “What are you going to do? Hold me at gunpoint?”

  “Not a bad idea. But no. I’m going to have to trust you. More importantly you’re going to have to trust me. And do as I say. Absolutely.” Unlike his Pixie, who had so much trouble with that. And unlike Pixie, if Mary tried to defy him he would not find it charming.

  He sent Pixie to get her bag to leave with Oscar. While she was gone he coached Mary on what to say to Azzam.

  Pixie flew back into the room within a minute. “I’ll be coming back here, right? I mean after you find Azzam and arrest him?”

  He wasn’t sure what to say. He’d refused to think of Pixie and their relationship post-Azzam capture.

  “Whatever you want, my Pixie, but this is my father’s house, not mine.” He knew he sounded cryptic. The longing expression on her face tightened his insides. He shoved all thoughts beyond the immediate situation from his mind, forcing a smile and walking her to the front door.

  “As soon as the backup arrives, you’ll be safe and I’ll be able to breathe better.”

  “You don’t have to wait for backup. I have things in hand,” Oscar said.

  “We really do need to go.” Chauncey checked his watch.

  “Azzam is due to call in an hour,” Mary said. “We’re running out of time. Especially if we need to take the Tube.”

  “No. I have a car. It’s a spare my father and I share when we want to move about discreetly.”

  “You keep a spare car for undercover work?” Pixie said.

  He nodded at her. His hand reached up to caress her face, then he slipped out the door and into the dark with Mary in tow.

  Chapter 13

  On the way to the car, Chauncey retrieved his phone with one hand while ushering his captive with the other.

  “You’re going to have to trust me at some point,” Mary said.

  “Sure. As soon as you’re behind bars. I’ll send you a card.”

  “I can’t go to jail! What about my Suzie?” She stopped at the car door and dug in her heels.

  “You’re not coming? Suit yourself. I don’t need you. If I find Bonnie, I’ll let you know. Otherwise these guys are going to take you in.” He gestured to the cars pulling up at the curb and the uniformed men jumping out and running to the house. One came toward them. He recognized David in the dark, not because he could see the man’s face, but because of his elegant bearing.

  “I was just about to call you,” Chauncey said, as David clapped him on the back.

  “Is this your mole, then?”

  “Yes. Mary the Mole.”

  David raised his brow at that.

  “Oscar’s name for her. I rather like it. She’s been less than a hundred percent cooperative.”

  “I, I don’t mean to be difficult. I’ll do whatever you say,” she stammered, looking mostly at David. He had that effect on people.

  “Good. Then you’ll set up Azzam for us when he calls. Tell him you arranged to meet me for drinks socially, like we planned. I’ll let you know where when the time comes.”

  “You’ll set him up. You mean you’ll kill him and then I’ll never see Suzie again. I won’t do it.”

  “She’s a mother, Chauncey. You’ll never change her mind. Isn’t there any other way to find the girl?” David asked.

  “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t jeopardize my father and Mauve any more than I’d jeopardize your daughter. We’ll find them. But I want him distracted and elsewhere and thinking you’re still on his team.” He asked David, “Do we have eyes on the known hangouts and safe houses?”

  “I’ve told Azzam about all the surveillance, so he’s staying away from those places,” Mary spoke up, finally giving him something useful.

  “Good. You tell me all the places you’ve warned him off and maybe there’s a place that I know about that we’re not covering.”

  Mary reeled off the list of addresses that the Yard was watching and she’d warned Azzam away from.

  “That about does it. We have nothing more on our official list. With
out going into your files, do you know of any others where someone might be watching?” David asked.

  “I know of one other area—a few old buildings used a while back where I ran into his brother on occasion before we got him,” Chauncey told him.

  “What’s the address?” David asked.

  “I’m going alone—or should I say we’re going alone.” He grabbed Mary’s arm with a steel grip. He looked toward the house. “I have Oscar inside to watch out for Pixie. David, I need you to go back to the office and start cleaning up—get the bugs out of the office and run security on the computer files—but don’t be too obvious about it.” He turned to Mary. “Who does he have watching HQ?”

  “I, I’m not sure of his name. I only know him as Hari. He doesn’t look Middle Eastern, though.”

  “Is he heavyset?” David asked.

  “Yes.”

  David nodded at him. “We know the bugger. He’s on a few posters. He’s got nerve coming by HQ.”

  “Hari doesn’t watch from the street. He has a second story place diagonally across,” she told them.

  “Good. We’ll get him,” David said.

  Chauncey nodded and his spirits lifted with the woman’s cooperation.

  “No, you can’t! Then Azzam will know,” Mary’s voice rose to dog whistle pitch.

  “Don’t worry Mary, we’ll have Bonnie by the time they wrap up Hari,” Chauncey said in a quiet consoling voice.

  “In the meantime you’ll need to get a Mary look-alike over to the pub near HQ and having beers with someone who might look like me—have them sit at the booth in the back where the lighting is particularly poor. If we have any luck and he hasn’t discovered the mistake about Mauve yet—or if he controls his impulse to immediately come back here, then we can distract him for a bit with the decoy.”

  “Excellent plan.” David beamed. “Only one problem.”