Angela felt a sting of pain in her abdomen and the force knocked her back into the counter. She looked back at Tauna and saw the assassin lowering her leg. Angela brought the gun up to fire, but Tauna was a second faster.
A blow to the chest and Angela was thrown against the kitchen counter. Another blow and the gun was gone and she was hit hard in the head. Angela fell to the ground, trying to regain her senses and her vision was slightly blurry. When things came back into focus, she found herself staring down the barrel of Tauna’s gun.
She pulled the trigger and Angela clamped her eyes shut. But there was nothing. No shot. No bullet in her face. No pain. Just the sound of a click.
Angela cautiously opened her eyes and saw she was still staring down the barrel. Tauna holstered the gun beneath her coat and stepped away from Angela to help herself to some of the coffee. “Reckless as ever, Lockhart.”
Angela pulled herself off the ground. Tauna handed her a steaming cup of fresh coffee and the blond woman accepted it. But she didn’t drink, just stared at the surface.
Tauna poured herself a cup and sipped from it before rolling her eyes. “Come on, Angela. If I really came here to kill you, I would have done it while you were still asleep.”
“If this isn’t an assassination, then why the hell are you here?” asked Angela. “What possible reason could you have for breaking into my home?”
“Some home.” Tauna looked around the small apartment with a disdainful eye. There were empty liquor bottles lining the counter. Dishes piled in the sink. The garbage was nearly overflowing with empty packages for instant dinners.
Tauna walked from the kitchen to the small living room and looked at the scattered papers on the coffee table. She returned to the chair she’d been sitting in when Angela discovered her.
“Something tells me you didn’t come here to give me decorating tips.” Angela walked to the chair seated across the coffee table from Tauna and sat down. She took a careful sip of the coffee and, confident it wasn’t drugged in some way, took a bigger sip. “This is…pretty good.”
“Nutmeg in the grounds,” said Tauna. “No substitute for decent beans, but it helps.”
“You’re not here to kill me, I get that. So why are you here?”
“I have a job for you,” said Tauna.
Angela scoffed. “Seriously?”
“Believe me, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be here.” Tauna crossed her legs. “But Dante has a job and he feels you’re the best person to complete the task.”
“I’m not sure why Dante would trust me to do anything after I tried to kill him. And I have no idea why you think I’d be willing to do anything for him after he had Christian killed.”
“Carter Brennen,” said Tauna. “We can deliver him.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before, too.”
Tauna shifted in her chair, reaching into her jacket with her free hand. As her hand moved beneath the leather, Angela’s body tensed. She was ready to defend herself if Tauna pulled out a weapon. But Angela relaxed once she saw Tauna’s hand emerge from the jacket, holding a portable USB drive.
“You can see for yourself.” Tauna tossed the drive onto the table, where it landed amongst the papers.
“What’s on there?”
“Surveillance footage we’ve obtained of Brennen. Nothing on there will allow you to locate him, but it will prove to you that we have the means of finding him. You complete this job for us, we provide you with the rest of our intelligence. And with that, you can locate him.”
“Who says I need your help?”
“Because it’s been almost two years since you left America. Two years you’ve been running around Russia, trying to muscle information out of every criminal you can get your hands on, desperate for any scraps on Brennen you can find.” Angela gestured to the table. “It seems you’ve collected a lot, but are no closer to finding him.”
“That was before. I’m onto something now. Something big.”
Tauna gave a nod. “Yes, that’s right. How is Nikolai these days?”
Angela’s fingers tightened around the mug’s handle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Nikolai Brezhnev?” asked Tauna, with a sarcastically-raised eyebrow. “You know, the Russian mobster you kidnapped the other night, after killing several of his bodyguards? Threatened to brutally torture him unless he told you everything he knows about Brennen? Stop me when this sounds familiar.”
“How did you—?”
“Information is power, Lockhart. And Infernum has many contacts throughout the world,” said Tauna. “Brezhnev has done some work for us in the past, he’s a very valuable commodity.”
“Explains why he knew my name. I wish I knew he was one of yours earlier,” said Angela, narrowing her eyes. “I would’ve been less gentle.”
“The point is Brezhnev won’t tell you anything we don’t want him to tell you,” said Tauna. “He may be scared of you, but he fears Dante even more. And one word from us, he’ll become silent.”
“Unless I do this job.”
Tauna looked around the messy, small apartment. “How much longer do you think you can live in this shithole? You’re burning through your nest egg, Lockhart. You’ve expended every resource at your disposal trying to locate Brennen and still you’re no closer. Pretty soon, you won’t even be able to afford a place like this.”
“What do you know?”
Tauna snickered. “Do you really think we’d just let you go? We’ve monitored every move you’ve made since you left the States. There is no way we were just going to sit back and allow you to roam free. The only reason I haven’t personally slit your throat in the middle of the night is because Dante said you were not to be touched.”
Angela flashed an insincere smile. “Oh, how sweet. He still cares.” She sipped her coffee. “Next time, I’ll be sure to chop off his damn head.”
Tauna set her mug on the table. “Tread carefully. Even my patience has its limits.”
“So does mine,” said Angela. “I expelled the last of it trusting Dante to be a man of his word. Instead, he fed me false information, made me believe Christian was responsible for Jeff’s death. I came very close to killing the man I—” She stopped herself, not allowing herself to say the word. Instead she cleared her throat. “And all because Dante wanted to play some silly little mind game. Because he was afraid he might lose his favorite new assassin.”
Tauna laughed and shook her head. “You are really enamored with yourself. Dante was more worried about Pierce getting too much information on Infernum and bringing it back to the criminals who run the Agency.”
Angela furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” asked Tauna. “The Agency isn’t what you think it is. They have no connection to the United States government. They’re an organization run by a criminal elite. That’s why Dante is so concerned with their activities.”
“Worried they might horn in on his territory?”
Tauna shook her head. “If only you knew.”
Angela set the mug on the table and stared at the thumb drive. She reached out and picked it up, her gaze still lingering on it. “For the sake of argument, let’s say I go along with this.” Her line of sight shifted to Tauna. “Who’s the target?”
“It’s not a hit,” said Tauna. “We want you to rescue someone. Like the big hero you are.”
“A name.”
“Viktor Samarin.”
“Never heard of him.”
“Of course you haven’t,” said Tauna. “In addition to the proof we can find Brennen, that drive also contains information on Samarin. Review it and consider our offer. I’ll return in twenty-four hours and you’ll let me know your decision.”
Tauna rose from her chair and folded her arms, staring at Angela. “This is an opportunity for you, Lockhart. To not only locate the man who’s evaded you for so long, but to also make peace between yourself a
nd Dante. Believe me, he is not the sort of man you want as an enemy. You do this for us and you can close a very bloody and dark chapter in your life story.”
Tauna left the apartment without waiting for a response. Once the door was closed, Angela walked over to it and made sure the locks were secure. She leaned against the door with a sigh and held the USB drive between her thumb and forefinger, staring intently at it.
“There’s no closing that chapter. Not until Dante pays for what he did.”
CHAPTER 5
Angela sat perched over her laptop. After Tauna departed, she didn’t bother returning to bed. She had work to do, review everything Tauna provided her with and try and figure out what her next move should be. Naturally she was distrustful of Tauna and Dante. But on the other hand, this could be the break she’d been looking for.
What was sticking in her mind, more than what Dante knew about Brennen, more than the reasons Infernum wanted Viktor Samarin, was what Tauna told her about the Agency. In between reviewing Tauna’s intel on Samarin, Angela also did some checking on her former employers.
At first, Angela thought Tauna was trying to rattle her. Another of Dante’s mind games. But now the more she delved into her former employers, the more she started to believe that Tauna wasn’t the one lying.
When Angela was recruited by Mason Draconi to the Agency, he told her they were a black ops government organization, no official acknowledgment of their existence. And now she knew why.
Her cell phone rang and Angela answered it within a second. “Rossi?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” The voice on the other end belonged to Nick Rossi. He and Angela were both at Quantico at the same time and though they’d grown apart after Angela joined the Agency, they had managed to keep in touch for a bit. Until Jeff’s death and Angela went off the grid.
“What did you find out?” asked Angela.
“I looked up this man you’re after, Viktor Samarin,” said Rossi. “He’s a Russian biologist, apparently was working on some pretty secret—and dangerous—stuff for the military.”
“Did you find out anything about this LD-68?”
She heard his sigh over the phone. “Not a lot. Anything I could find was pretty highly classified. But it looks like it’s pretty dangerous. There were rumblings about an auction in Istanbul for it. Some pretty powerful people were after it.”
“So I see,” said Angela.
Rossi’s limited information fit with what Tauna provided her. An arms dealer named Johnny Venom tried to sell Fury on behalf of the Agency and Tauna and a thief, Dalton Moore, were sent by Dante to steal the weapon. The Agency dispatched the assassin known only as Vincente after them.
The data on the USB drive said that Moore destroyed Fury. Which explained why Dante wanted Viktor Samarin. He was the man who created the weapon and the only one who could replicate it.
“Hey Lock, I gotta ask,” began Rossi, hesitance evident in his tone, “what the hell is going on here? Three years ago, I’m told you died. Then you call me up out of the blue and start asking questions about a Russian scientist whose been missing for over a year.”
Angela rubbed her forehead. “It’s…a very long story, Ross.”
“Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“No…not yet, anyway.”
“If you need anything…”
“All I need is to know whether or not what I’ve heard is on the level,” said Angela. “And you’ve pretty much confirmed that. Thanks.”
“Watch your back and call me if you need anything.”
“I will.” She hung up and set the phone on the table beside her laptop.
Angela reviewed the other information on the computer. She knew the name Johnny Venom, put Julie Kim on his trail after Christian’s death. Both he and Dante had an unpleasant history and if Venom was trying to sell Fury, then it would make sense why Dante would want to screw that up.
But Dante wanted Samarin now. There was only one obvious reason why—Dante wanted Samarin to replicate Fury. Wanted to use it for his own purposes.
She couldn’t let a man like Dante get his hands on something as deadly as Fury. Couldn’t let it fall into anyone’s hands. But if she didn’t do the job, she knew Dante would just find someone else to do it.
Why her? Dante had to know that sending Angela after Samarin would be a risk. She couldn’t be trusted. Unless that was all part of his plan. Using Angela as nothing more than a pawn in a game of chess against the Agency.
The information on Brennen seemed accurate. Surveillance photos and video. Consistent with what she’d learned of the arms dealer over the past two years. Tauna was unfortunately right about one thing—Angela hadn’t gotten very far in her investigation.
Angela leaned back in the chair. She reached for the small table by the side and picked up her drink, a vodka tonic with the ice clinking as she sipped it.
“If I’m going to help Infernum, it’s going to be on my terms,” she whispered to herself. “I’m not going to let Dante play me.”
She set down the drink and leaned over the laptop, reading over the information again. It was time to change the game. And Angela was beginning to formulate a plan that would ensure neither Dante nor the Agency could get their hands on Fury. And in the process, she’d still be able to get her hands on Carter Brennen.
***
There was a knock on the door at ten o’clock in the morning. Twenty-four hours after Tauna’s last visit, right on the dot. Angela opened the door and saw the assassin standing there with her hands resting on her hips.
“Come in,” said Angela, moving clear of the doorway. Tauna nodded and walked inside. She went straight to the living room and saw two cups of coffee resting on the table.
“Hospitality? From you?” asked Tauna with a glance over her shoulder. “How much cyanide did you put in those cups?”
“I’m trying to be civilized here, Tauna. Even though we both know it’s more than you deserve,” said Angela, sitting across from her.
“So I take it you’ve reviewed the information I provided?”
Angela nodded. “Yeah. And it looks like it checks out. Everything there about Samarin and Fury seems to be on the level. I say ‘seems to be’ because I’m sure there’s some things you’re holding back.”
“Then what do you say?” asked Tauna.
Angela picked up her coffee and took a sip from it. She gazed at Tauna with steely eyes. “First, I need to know why you picked me. You can’t seriously tell me that Infernum has no one else in Russia who can do this job. And I see no reason why you couldn’t just grab Samarin yourself.”
“Because the Agency is after him as well. And I understand you have history with two of their operatives working this case.” Tauna took out her smartphone, making a few gestures across the glass. She held it in front of her so Angela could see the display.
Two photos, side by side. The one on the left was Julie Kim, Christian’s former partner. Angela didn’t have a whole lot of interaction with her, but she certainly recognized the woman. But it was the other man who caused Angela’s eyes to widen.
“Quartermain,” she said, almost grunting the name.
“You know how both of them operate. It’s knowledge that will prove valuable,” said Tauna. “But more than that, if you’re caught, no one would ever believe Angela Lockhart was working for Infernum again.”
“So I’m what, your puppet?”
“You’ve always been a puppet, Angela. The only difference is now you can see the strings.”
Angela leaned forward, setting her cup down and keeping her gaze on Tauna. “This is the way it’s going to go down. I’ll get Samarin but I only turn him over to you once Brennen is dead. Are we clear?”
“That sounds acceptable,” said Tauna.
“Good, now how do we do this?” asked Angela.
“Samarin is being held in prison under the name Alexei Garin, but that’s the extent of our knowledge. We have no idea where in the prison he’s being h
eld.”
“How do I get in?” asked Angela.
“How’s your Russian?”
“Gotten better in the past two years,” she said.
“Good. We can provide you with forged credentials that will get you inside, a government representative conducting a surprise inspection of the facility,” said Tauna. “But once inside, it will be your job to break away from your escorts, find out what cell Samarin is in, and then get him out.”
“Any extraction options?” asked Angela.
Tauna shook her head. “If we tried to get a chopper or anything in there, we’d spook the Russian military and that’s a problem that we’d rather avoid.”
Angela sighed. “So let’s get this straight—I have to break into a Russian prison, find a man hidden somewhere inside amongst the hundreds of violent inmates, break him out, and somehow find a method of escape that won’t be cut off?”
Tauna leaned back and smiled. “It’s certainly a challenge. But if anyone is capable of pulling it off, I would think it’d be you.”
Angela shook her head. “This isn’t possible. Doing this without any sort of support team would require months of prep. I need help or it can’t be done.”
“Brezhnev has people on the inside,” said Tauna. “I’ll put in a call, tell him you’re going to need back-up.”
“The same Brezhnev whose life I’ve made a living hell?” Angela scoffed. “Oh, he’ll have my back, all right. And then one of his guys will ram a shiv in it.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll help,” said Tauna. “Brezhnev fears me more than he hates you.”
CHAPTER 6
Angela walked into the visitor’s entrance of Vanko Prison, wearing a black pants-suit, glasses, and a black wig to help better conceal her identity. After spending the better part of the past two years assaulting any and every thug with connections to the Russian mob in order to find out information on Brennen, it was likely that some of the men in here would recognize her.
“Yes?” asked the guard behind the glass partition.
Angela held up the false identification she was given by Tauna. “Eva Vasin, FSIN,” she said in Russian. The Federalnaya Sluzhba Ispolneniya Nakazaniy was Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service, responsible for security and maintenance of all the prisons in the country.
The Fixers (Infernum Book 4) Page 3
