A Deadly Business

by Desiree Holt

“Do you have eyes in the back of your head?” she teased.

  “Nope. Just extra-good hearing. Besides, no one else would be coming in here at three in the morning. Otherwise every alarm in the place would have gone off. What can we do for you?”

  She mounted the one step to the platform where he sat and held out her phone.

  “Call the number on my screen. Someone’s going to give you instructions to set up a secure video conference for me.”

  Johnny shook his head. “I don’t need to call anyone. We do it all the time.”

  “This is different.” She ground her teeth. “Just do me a favor and make the call.”

  He shrugged but called the number, setting things up according to instructions.

  “Done,” he told her in less than two minutes. He positioned her at the screen and flicked on the camera eye. “We’ll be up in three, two, one.”

  The screen came to life, and Brian Gould’s face filled it.

  “We’ve got a big problem,” he said.

  “Yeah, so I gathered. What’s up?”

  “Since our call the other day, we’ve had people monitoring every move Stefan Maes has made. We tried tapping his phone calls, but all his cells are encrypted and what he discusses on landlines is pure bullcrap.”

  “Get to the point, Brian.” Avery’s nerves were doing a jitterbug on her skin. She smelled disaster as if it was right here in her office.

  “Up until today it’s been business as usual. Then, this morning, he went to a place in Canary Wharf where he often has breakfast. But he never came out. He just…disappeared.”

  Avery stared at the screen. “Disappeared?”

  “When my men finally went in to check it out, they were long gone.”

  “Disguise, right?” She wanted to scream at the sloppiness and stupidity.

  Brian nodded. “Wherever he went, he and that sidekick of his, Val Desmet, are long gone.”

  “And when did all this happen?” she asked.

  Brian’s features twisted in a grimace of distress. “Four hours ago.”

  “Four hours—” Avery stopped, ground her teeth, and made an effort to pull herself together. “And you’re just now hearing about it?”

  “They were sure they could find him. He’s been very visible. They went to every one of his regular spots that he hits during the day. They even went to his house with a phony warrant. He’s in the wind and so are the regular driver and Desmet.” He sighed. “Avery, I don’t even know what to say.”

  “How about you’re hiring new help.”

  “Yeah.” He scratched his head. “No kidding.”

  “Well fuck. Just…fuck.”

  Avery wanted to say things even worse than that. She wanted to rail and rage at the stupidity of the situation. She wanted to put her fist through the video screen, or take out her gun and shoot it. But she was a professional and she had to address the most important thing here.

  “Is our couple compromised? Do you think he’s headed to Princessa Key?”

  Brian took a moment to answer while Avery tried not to fidget. But shit! If this whole thing had blown up in their faces, after trying to cover all bases, she might have to go on a rampage herself.

  “Well?” she prompted.

  “I’m trying to think of the best way to answer this. There is no evidence that Maes knows where Marissa disappeared to. And we left no paper trail anywhere. But with Maes, nothing is absolute. You know that. However, I can’t imagine why he’d be going there.”

  “So, you woke me up to, what, tell me you’ve lost the target and you have no idea who’s in danger and who isn’t?”

  She was as angry as she’d ever been, but she could not let it get to her. She was above all else a professional. Besides, she had to figure out what to do about Marissa and Justin.

  “I woke you to give you a heads-up that Maes is in the wind and we don’t know where he’ll show up next. He could even be heading for Arrowhead Bay, since that was the last place Marissa was spotted. I thought you might like to know he could show up in your neighborhood. If he can’t find her, he’ll start tearing up the countryside, go after anyone he thinks might give him information. That’s how he operates.”

  “Fine. If he shows up here, we’ll be ready for him. And I’m going to warn Justin and Marissa. I might even pull them out of there.”

  “And go where? If we don’t know where Maes is headed, is anyplace safe?”

  Avery wanted to put her fist through the screen, but she didn’t have the luxury of anger.

  “You’re right. But I will put them on alert.

  “Good. It’s always better to be prepared.” He heaved a sigh. “I don’t know where to begin apologizing, Avery. My people dropped the ball on this and I can tell you, they won’t be happy with what comes next. But that’s another game.”

  “So, we just wait to see where he shows up?” God. She wanted to shoot those people herself. They were supposed to be professionals.

  “No way. I have my own handpicked people casting a net for them. And I will make sure every piece of information, good and bad, gets forwarded to you.”

  “Okay.” She shook her head. “I’ll get my own people ready.”

  “I’m damn sorry, Avery. You know this isn’t the way I operate.”

  “Yeah. Later.”

  She signaled Johnny to cut the connection.

  “What next, boss?” He wasn’t one to mince words.

  “Wake up Mike Perez and tell him we need available firepower just in case.” She slapped her hand against her forehead. “And this would have to happen during Fourth of July week when this place is loaded with every kind of stranger. Today is Saturday, so there probably isn’t two square inches of free space anywhere. What better way to slip into town?”

  Johnny scrolled down on the screen that listed their agents and where each one was at any given moment.

  “We’ve got ten bodies not currently assigned. I’ll send the list to Mike and tell him you said to get his ass out of bed and put them on standby.”

  Avery snorted a laugh. “I’m sure he’ll love that. Hildy?”

  The girl looked up from her keyboards. “Yes, boss?”

  “Get me every single thing you can on Stefan Maes, his associates, even his maid. Go back two years and find out who his associates were when the CIA and Interpol took him down, and where they are now.”

  “On it, boss.”

  “And all of you? I want updates the minute you get even the tiniest piece of information.”

  In her office, she turned on the desk lamp and brewed herself coffee in her single-serving coffeemaker. The moment it was ready, she carried the mug to her desk and treated herself to a swallow of the rich, hot brew. Then she sat at her desk, woke up her tablet, and turned on her computer.

  She hated to wake Justin and Marissa at this ungodly hour, especially when there was no clear indication Maes was headed their way. But better safe than sorry, she told herself, as she punched Justin’s number into a burner phone.

  As she waited for him to answer she wondered if things could possibly be any more fucked-up.

  Chapter 8

  Maes had made sure Joubert ordered the pantry on the plane fully stocked for the long, transatlantic flight, although he deliberately had not brought a steward on this trip. His regular man was doing another errand for him, and he was unwilling to add one more strange face to the mix. Instead, one of Raca’s men served coffee and pastries to them once they were airborne, and would handle lunch.

  Maes took his and moved to the seat beside Joubert. The other man was pale, and his hand shook as he lifted the coffee mug to his lips.

  “You know, Henri,” he said in a mild voice, “none of this would be necessary if you fucking bastards hadn’t all turned your backs on me.”

  Joubert wrapped his thin fin
gers around his mug. “We had no choice, Stefan. The authorities were all over everything. We would have been left with nothing if they knew of the connection.”

  “So instead,” Maes went on, still in that deceptively mild voice, “it is I who lost it all. Even the Swiss banks kicked me out because of the pressure brought to bear.”

  “We had no choice,” the other man mumbled, and took another sip of his coffee.

  “Well, no matter now.” Maes tamped down his anger. “This will all be over soon. I want to thank you for your cooperation.”

  “I’m only doing this because of my family, you bastard,” Joubert snapped. “I have no idea what you’re planning to do at Rosewood, but it is my fervent prayer someone will put a bullet in you.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Maes said. “Remember, someone has to give the orders to the men, um, staying with your wife and child.”

  Joubert’s face paled. “You’d better not hurt a hair on their heads,” he said. He might have been more effective if his voice hadn’t trembled.

  Maes just smiled. Not saying a word.

  “I want to speak to my wife.”

  Maes saw the fear in the man’s eyes but also determination. He could accommodate this. As long as Joubert thought his family was safe, he’d do whatever they wanted.

  “We can do that.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Joubert’s house. When one of the men he had stationed there answered, he said, “Put the wife on.”

  Joubert’s hand was shaking when he took the phone. “Nathalie? Sweetheart? Are you and the little one okay? Is everything good?” He listened for a moment. “I am going to do exactly what they want. No worries. And then they will let you go.” He paused. “Je t’aime.”

  Maes grabbed the phone back and disconnected the call. “Satisfied?” he asked the man.

  “As much as I can be.”

  “Just do your part and all will be well.”

  The men had unpacked their weapons and were checking them. “You aren’t going to kill all those people, are you?” Henri took out a handkerchief and mopped his face.”

  “Now, Henri,” Maes soothed, “this is just a little extra insurance to convince people we mean business. Just close your eyes and rest until we land. Your part is over for the moment, and you played it well.”

  Retreating to his seat in the back, Maes set the alarm on his watch.

  “Keep checking on Joubert,” he told Val. “I don’t want him to stroke out before we’re finished with him. We need him to be alert and give nothing away until we’re finally on the helicopter and he has radioed to Rosewood.”

  “No problem.”

  Val had opened his laptop and would be checking activity in Maes’s businesses and emailing to people where necessary. Raca would have the men checking and rechecking their weapons once more before packing them again in the rigid cases.

  Maes leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Now he could take the time to rest during the long flight ahead of them.

  * * * *

  After three tours as a SEAL and a career with Vigilance, Justin had perfected the art of waking instantly. The moment the phone in his nightstand pinged, his eyes opened, and his years of training had him instantly alert.

  He looked at the screen. Avery.

  This couldn’t be good.

  “What’s up? You wouldn’t call at this hour just to see how we are.”

  “Just listen to me,” Avery told him. “Don’t say anything until I give you the whole picture.”

  “Understood.”

  He listened while Avery relayed all the data she’d received from Brian Gould.

  “Is there any indication Maes knows where she is?”

  “No,” Avery told him. “but keep your sat phone with you at all times, and report in regularly.”

  “You think we should get ready for an invasion? Really? Should I have brought my LaRue anyway?”

  “No.” She sighed. “I just want you guys safe.”

  “Also at the top of our list,” he assured her.

  “I explained the situation to Walt. And don’t worry,” she said before Justin could object. “I can share information with him. Walt’s almost more closemouthed than I am. But he does deserve to know why she’s there just in case the unexpected happens.”

  “Understood and agreed.”

  “I have Hildy digging for anything that would give us even the slightest hint where Maes is heading, and why,” she told him. “Ginger will take over when she gets here after eight. That’s it for the moment. I just wish I didn’t have the feeling we’re missing something here. Brief Marissa without scaring the pants off her, and check in regularly.”

  “Ten four.”

  He disconnected the call and placed the phone back on the nightstand, right next to the Smith & Wesson he was never without. Even in the most intimate situations, it was always within immediate reach.

  “That has to be the most cryptic phone conversation I have ever eavesdropped on,” Marissa said. “And believe me, I’ve listened in on plenty. So, let’s have it. Has Maes been spotted?”

  Justin leaned back against the pillows and drew Marissa’s body against his, keeping his arm around her. He took her right hand in his and played with her fingers as he tried to figure out how to phrase what he’d learned without scaring the shit out of her.

  “Justin?” She looked up at him. “I appreciate that you want to choose your words carefully, but I am not a hothouse flower. I know you were a big bad SEAL and want to take care of me, but keep this in mind. I spent three years running a dangerous op for the CIA. Whatever it is, I can take it. Just spit it out.”

  “Okay, then. Here it is. Stefan Maes has up and disappeared.”

  “What?” She pushed herself to sit up straight. “He’s disappeared? Are you kidding me?”

  “I wish. Brian Gould just called Avery. Since the chatter popped up and you spotted that couple and their friends, he’s had people keeping an eye on Maes. Apparently not very well.”

  He repeated everything Avery had told him.

  “But that’s—that’s—unbelievable.” She shook her head. “What kind of people did he have on the lookout?”

  “Not his usual, it seems.”

  She frowned. “Do they think he’ll come here? We covered our tracks very well. There’s no way he can track us to Princessa Key. I mean, I am so far off the grid here I practically don’t exist.”

  “Agreed. But since our motto is never to leave anything to chance, she wanted us to have a heads-up.”

  She started to get up, but Justin pulled her back. “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “We need to make sure our guns are loaded and ready.”

  He pulled her back against his body and wrapped his arms around her.

  “They’ve been loaded and ready since we got here, honey. I don’t think we’ll need them, but if we do, we’re ready. Now.” He turned her to face him. “Since we’re wide awake and sunrise is a long time away, whatever shall we do with our time?”

  She laughed, that warm throaty laugh that made his cock stand up and sent heat surging through his body. No other woman had ever affected him this way. There was something very special about her that woke up emotions he had deliberately locked away. Despite the fact that two Vigilance agents had recently married, he’d never felt a relationship was good for someone in this business. Then Marissa moved to Arrowhead Bay and the first time he saw her he thought, Run as fast as you can. She can mess up your life.

  But it seemed impossible for him to do that. When she signed up for the kickboxing lessons with him, he’d thought to refuse her. Then he was glad he didn’t. He’d had plans to take it slow. Very slow. And maybe that’s the way it would have gone except for Stefan Maes and the price on her head.

  But now here they were, thrust into this si
tuation, sharing a villa—sharing a bedroom!—and with every passing hour she became more important to him. They hadn’t really discussed what would happen when this thing with Maes was resolved, but he wanted to figure out how to keep her in his life. He hoped she wanted the same thing.

  Later they’d talk, he reminded himself. After.

  He tugged her sleep shirt over her head and eased her down to her back. Her skin was warm from sleep, and smelled of the scented cream she liked to use on it. Flowers of some kind. He wished he could identify them. Whatever it was, it made him want her more than ever.

  He lowered his head and took her mouth in a kiss, at first gentle, but more intense by the moment as hunger grabbed him. He thrust his tongue inside, tasting the liquid silk while he coasted a hand slowly down her body. When he brushed his fingers over a breast he discovered the nipple already taut and beaded, and laughed, a low sound.

  “Aren’t you the woman who told me she had a hard time responding to men?”

  She pressed a soft kiss to his neck. “Apparently you’ve put that worry to bed.”

  He trailed tiny kisses along her jaw and down the column of her neck, pressing his tongue into the hollow of her throat to feel the heavy beating of her pulse.

  “Mmmm.” She hummed in satisfaction. “Despite the phone call, what a great way to wake up.”

  After a while, they fell back asleep, awaking to the bright sunshine of a classic tropical day. As he’d been doing every day since they arrived, Justin ordered breakfast from room service then did his usual tour to make sure the house was secure. But this morning he added something to his routine. He lifted his Smith & Wesson M&P .45 from the nightstand, checked the load, and tucked it against the small of his back. The slightly larger Heckler & Koch he brought out to the patio, leaving it on the table where they’d eat breakfast.

  Marissa cocked an eyebrow when she spotted it. “You think we’ll be attacked by the pool?”

  He smoothed his hands along the soft skin of her upper arms. “I don’t think we’ll be attacked anywhere, but I’d rather have them and not need them than the other way around.”

  “Okay. I should probably keep mine with me, too. Right?”