by C. J. Miller
“You have to trust us, Simon. We aren’t working for Barnett. We’re working for the West Company.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Simon said. He seemed to be thinking over what they had said. He put his phone in his pocket. “Tell me how this is going down.”
Finn clapped Simon on the back and put his arm around Hyde. “We end this with Barnett. Together.”
* * *
Finn considered his options. Simon was alive. The driving force behind this mission was gone. If he and Hyde quit, Barnett’s drug Whiteout would hit the street. Was that Finn’s problem? He and Hyde could turn the information they had over to the DEA.
Except Barnett had the DEA, or at least some agents, in his pocket. The West Company could mobilize a team to bring Barnett down.
Finn’s phone rang and he answered.
“Where are you?” Barnett asked.
He was in his hotel room with Simon and Hyde, talking, sorting out their next move. “In my hotel room, sleeping. If you recall, I was up all night making a delivery with the Miami PD on my back.”
“We have big problems. Sydney is dead,” Barnett said.
Finn glanced at Simon. He was talking to Hyde about Lydia and Thea. Was Simon responsible for Sydney’s death? He had come at him and Hyde. Who else had he taken out in the Barnett cartel?
“How? The Shadow Crew?” Finn asked. Throw suspicion elsewhere.
“I don’t know who. That’s why I’m calling you,” Barnett said.
“The last time I saw Sydney, he was at the warehouse handling the delivery,” Finn said.
Simon and Hyde’s gazes were now pinned on him.
“What is happening over there?” Barnett asked. He was yelling and swearing, having another tantrum.
“Let me look into it,” Finn said. “I’ll head over to the warehouse.”
“If Sydney is dead, it’s been compromised. I’ve already secured a team to move the goods elsewhere. I’ll be there in a few hours,” Barnett said.
“In Miami?” Finn asked. That didn’t fit the mental timeline he was composing. He wanted to hand this mission over to the West Company. They couldn’t mobilize in hours.
“Yes, Miami. Clearly, you and Sydney do not have this handled. Do you know how much money is on the line? This screwup will cost me.” Barnett said.
No concern for his dead business partner. Classic narcissist. “I get it,” Finn said. “Tell me where to meet you.”
“I’ll call when I’m closer.” Barnett disconnected the phone.
Finn relayed the information to Simon and Hyde.
“Did you kill Sydney?” Finn asked. He wouldn’t blame Simon. Finn needed to know what they were dealing with.
Simon shook his head. “No. That weasel runs around doing Barnett’s bidding. The guy is scum, but I wouldn’t have wasted my time with him. He doesn’t make decisions. He’s Barnett’s lapdog.”
Finn believed him. Simon wouldn’t have a reason to lie about it. He had killed before on a mission. In this case, Simon was working under his own rules. The kill wouldn’t have been sanctioned.
“When Barnett steps onto US soil, we can arrest him,” Hyde said.
“Abby isn’t sure they have enough evidence to tie him to Whiteout. He has a team moving the chemicals from the warehouse,” Finn said. “If he’s arrested, he won’t tell us where he took them. They’ll hit the street.”
“Simon and I will go to the warehouse and see if we can track the goods. He couldn’t have emptied the warehouse that fast,” Hyde said.
Finn didn’t like Hyde being without him. Simon had been a good operative, but he was out of practice. He wouldn’t be as careful with Hyde. He didn’t love her the way Finn did.
Love? Finn loved her. Looking at her intense face, his love for her swelled to the point he felt dizzy. Inevitable, perhaps, but absolutely for sure, Finn loved her.
“What’s wrong?” Hyde asked.
His mouth felt dry. Finn swallowed. Now was not the time to declare his love. His love for her didn’t change the mission. But it would change him. He could stop doing a job he loved so he could be a husband and a father. The idea didn’t repulse him, but he couldn’t make a major life decision on the heels of a soul-shaking realization. Hyde seemed convinced she could find a happy, satisfying life in Bearcreek. He could, too. If he was with her, they would make their own adventures. “Thinking about our next steps. I could go with you to the warehouse.”
Hyde looked at her phone. “If Barnett calls, you need to be here. Simon and I will run this down. Abby is calling.” She answered. After a few seconds her face paled. “I understand. Yes, I’ll tell Finn.”
She looked at Finn and took a deep breath. “The Whiteout we bought on the street contained a lethal poison. The same poison was found in the victim who OD’ed on Whiteout. One of the chemicals on the truck is poison. If that shipment makes it to users, people will die.”
* * *
Hyde and Simon waited in the car a block away from the warehouse. In a desolate part of town, Hyde hadn’t expected traffic, but the street was dead.
“Is this a trap?” Simon asked.
Hyde understood his concern. After what he had been through with Barnett, he was right not to trust and to be suspicious. “Could be. Do you want to wait here and I’ll check it out?”
Simon was staring straight ahead. “I’ll go with you. But Alex, wait.” Simon set his hand on her arm. “Are you telling me everything about Lydia and Thea?”
Hyde read the pain in his eyes. “I’m sure there’s lots Lydia wants to tell you about what she’s been through and is going through, but yes, I’m on the level with you.”
Simon rested his head on the seat. “She changed me. That one day and that one night with Lydia changed me. I didn’t want to do this work anymore. It didn’t seem worth it, not when I thought about having a life with her.”
Hyde’s stomach clenched. It was how she felt about her life. It was how she felt about Finn. Ignoring her feelings for Finn had only made them roar louder and grow impossibly stronger. Attraction had crossed over into love. It had been for some time, Finn on her mind, Finn in her heart.
“What’s wrong?” Simon asked.
Hyde marshalled her expression. “Thinking.”
“About Finn?” Simon asked.
No point in lying when he had followed her train of thought. “Yes.”
“What’s going on with you two?” Simon asked.
“When this mission is over, I’m returning to Bearcreek to be with my family. Finn will go on doing this work. It will be over between us,” Hyde said. Her stomach bottomed out and pain tightened her chest.
“That’s hard to believe,” Simon said.
“It’s what we discussed would happen,” Hyde said. Not in those terms, but it was inevitable.
“Has it changed since you talked about it?” Simon asked.
The circumstances hadn’t. How she felt hadn’t. The main difference was that she was ready to admit to herself that her dream of having a home and family of her own included Finn. “Not for Finn.” She’d need to rework those dreams.
“He looks at you like you’re more than partners on a mission,” Simon said. “I think you might be selling him short. Have you told him how you feel?”
She had and he had fled. The life she wanted scared him. Which was strange, considering the life he led scared her.
A gun appeared in her peripheral vision, the metal glinting in the sun. Her blood pressure soared. Before she could react, the driver’s-side door was pulled open. Hyde reached for her gun, but it got tangled in her seat belt. Releasing the belt, Hyde angled her head to get a better look at the person aiming a gun at her.
Reed Barnett grabbed her arm and dragged her from the car. His expression was menacing.
Struggling to her feet, she swung her gun in his direction. He stopped the motion with a swift kick. Her gun went flying and Hyde cursed herself for letting it happen. Simon stood on the passenger side, his gun drawn and aimed in their direction.
“Alexandra. Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing here? Are you the reason Sydney is dead?”
She decided to play stupid. “Please don’t tell Finn. He’s been busy and when I met Roger,” she inclined her head to Simon, who was now standing with two of Barnett’s guards, a gun to his head, his own gun missing from his hands. “I wanted to talk to someone.” Would Barnett recognize Simon?
“The stupid act doesn’t suit you,” Barnett said. “I’ll get to the truth. You’ll help me. And Simon. How wonderful to see you. I should have made sure you were dead. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
* * *
Finn couldn’t wait in the hotel room for Barnett to call. He had to talk to Barnett and find out why Whiteout contained poison. Before he could call, his phone rang with a restricted call. Finn answered. “Yeah.”
“I have your lover with me at the pier.” Barnett’s voice was threatening. “I don’t know what you two, or should I say three, were planning, but if it was to cross me, you have made a grave error. Come to the pier. I want the truth.”
Finn felt anger welling inside him. “Alex is with you?”
“Yes. And Simon. You have ten minutes.”
Finn alerted the West Company on his way to the pier. They couldn’t help him in time. Finn pictured Hyde injured, and terror shot through him. When he had met Hyde, she had been escaping prison. She had looked wild and petrified and the image was burned into his brain. Was that how she felt now?
Finn had wanted to step away from the mission and he hadn’t. Now Barnett had the woman he loved and Simon. The situation was spiraling out of control.
Finn could handle this. He had been in tight spots before. But never when Hyde’s life was on the line. Finn had three weapons strapped to his body and he would use them as needed.
* * *
The rocking motion of the boat nauseated Hyde. Combined with sitting in the Florida sun, she felt ill. She closed her eyes, but it didn’t help. Barnett was forcing Finn to come to the pier. He would be thrown onto the boat with her and Simon and the drugs laced with poison.
When Finn arrived, Barnett would kill them. Or, more likely, have his guards kill them. Why keep them alive? He knew he had been betrayed. Barnett would clean house.
Hyde wouldn’t go down without a fight.
When Finn appeared alone with his hands tied in front of him, Hyde’s heart dropped. She had hoped that Finn would ignore Barnett or wait for backup. He hadn’t abandoned the mission. He hadn’t abandoned her.
Their gazes connected, and emotions spiraled between them. With a look, she felt and knew so much. Finn cared for her. Loved her? They were more than partners on the mission, and they were more than blowing off steam between assignments. This was real and this meant something to them. Their futures would converge somehow.
The boat jerked. Panic settled over her. The boat was moving away from the pier. Hyde couldn’t guess the destination. Her phone and weapon were gone. She was sure Finn’s had been taken. With their hands bound, swimming would be impossible. They needed a way out of this.
Barnett looked at them, a sneer on his face. “Who will tell me who killed Sydney? Whoever tells me first gets killed the quickest.”
Simon, Hyde and Finn exchanged looks. They hadn’t killed Sydney.
“The Shadow Crew,” Hyde said. “Like I’ve been telling you.”
Barnett looked at his gun. “Wrong answer,” Barnett said. He shot in her direction. She waited for the searing burn of pain and feeling nothing, relief passed over her. He had missed.
A second shot. She was hit in the leg. Finn roared in anger and launched himself at Barnett. Barnett’s guards intercepted before he could make contact. He was shoved onto the ground next to her.
“You’re outgunned,” Barnett said.
Finn pressed his hands over her leg. The bleeding didn’t stop. Dizziness surged through her and she struggled to stay alert.
“I need to stop the bleeding. She needs medical attention,” Finn said.
If Barnett was a better shot, she’d be dead.
“That’s too bad. We’re not turning around,” Barnett said. “I want answers. The longer I’m kept waiting, the more bullets I fire and the more she bleeds.”
“Stop this.” Ruby appeared in the doorway. “They said they don’t know.” She took Barnett’s arm, turning the barrel of the gun away from them.
Barnett shook Ruby off. “This doesn’t involve you, Ruby. Go,” Barnett said, jerking his thumb behind him.
Ruby’s face changed. Her mouth drew into a hard line and her eyes narrowed. She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders in an uncharacteristic display of aggression. “I won’t. Let them go. We can do what’s needed without more bloodshed.”
Barnett turned and backhanded Ruby across the face. She stumbled back, falling against the doorjamb. Crouching low on the floor, her shoulders hunched forward. Her strength had turned to a posture of defeat.
“Answers!” he said, firing again in their direction. His shot missed. They wouldn’t get lucky again.
“Why did you poison the drugs?” Finn asked. “What’s the point?”
“Are you worried about a bunch of junkies dying? Thousands dead, thanks to me.”
Thanks to Barnett? A terror plot to rid Miami of junkies?
“It will take the authorities months to make the connection. By then, Whiteout will be everywhere. Junkies will be dying to get some. Literally. Call it what you want, but I’m doing the US a favor. Cleaning up the streets.”
Ruby stood. She seemed unsteady on her feet. Her cheek was red where Barnett had struck her. No outrage on her face, only cold indifference.
Hyde willed Ruby to run and run fast. Even jumping overboard would give her a better chance of survival. Sometimes, those were the best odds to play. Instead Ruby approached Barnett from behind in two long strides. His eyes grew wide and then blood exploded from his chest. Barnett fell to the ground, and Ruby held a small gun in her hand, pointing it up toward the sky.
Finn reached for Hyde, tucking her against him. Hyde waited for Ruby to turn the gun on them. A complete break with reality or maybe she’d snapped and lost her mind. Finn and Simon were on their feet, moving toward Ruby.
Ruby faced each of the other guards and killed them with the small derringer in her hand. “Sorry, Reed. I beat you to the punch. I’m cleaning up the streets.” She checked Barnett’s pulse. “He’s dead.” Ruby untied Simon, Finn and Hyde.
Finn removed his shirt and belt. He wrapped his belt around Hyde’s thigh to slow the bleeding and pressed hard against the wound with his shirt.
Hyde stared at her, the pain in her thigh second only to her shock. “Ruby? What did you do?”
Ruby tucked the gun in her waistband. “I’ve been waiting months to do that. I got the go-ahead from Connor West to kill Barnett once we’d secured the drugs. I’ve secured the drugs.”
Simon, Hyde and Finn didn’t move. Surprise had rendered them mute.
“Come on. We need to destroy this boat.” Ruby tossed a bag at Hyde.
Hyde opened it. Inside was C4, a detonator and wire.
“Do your thing,” Ruby said. “Make it fast before you bleed out.”
* * *
Standing on the Miami pier, Hyde pressed the detonator. The boat carrying Barnett’s drugs exploded. She watched, wanting to be sure the drugs were demolished. Barnett’s body had gone down with his ship and his guards were handcuffed on the pier.
She turned to thank Ruby, but the woman was gone.
An ambulance was wa
iting at the end of the pier. Finn lifted Hyde into his arms. “Allow me to carry you to your chariot.”
“Finn, wait. I have something I need to say before this is over.” They’d have debriefings and medical evaluations and reports to write to wrap up the mission. She wanted to tell Finn how she felt before all of that. She had nothing to lose except him.
“You’re bleeding. You need medical help,” Finn said.
“It’s a superficial wound. What I need to tell you is important,” Hyde said.
Finn stopped walking, the boards of the pier creaking under his weight, but didn’t put her down. “Say anything you want to me.”
Hyde threaded her arms around his neck. “I came back to this life for this mission. I’m glad I did. I realized something.”
Their gazes connected. “That you’re a great spy?”
She shook her head. “That I love you.”
Finn’s arms tightened around her. “I love you, too.”
Not the response she had expected. Her heart filled with joy. She smelled the salt air and heard the sound of the water lapping against the pylons. Simon, the ambulances and the police waiting seemed far away and completely unimportant. It was her and Finn. Finally, the pins had clicked into place and they were on the same page. “I thought I would need to convince you that being together was right. I had a speech planned.”
Finn kissed her. “As fun as that would be to hear, we could go back to the way things were. Spy or not, I can still meet you anywhere, anytime.”
It wasn’t what Hyde wanted. “I’m not looking for an affair or a series of affairs around the world, even if they are with you.”
“Neither am I. I’ll do my job. You’ll do yours. And we’ll call Bearcreek home. Our home. Together.”
Surprise rolled over her. “You want to live with me?” Hyde asked.
“Live with. Be with. Come home to. All of it,” Finn said.
Hyde kissed him. “Then I would say yes to that.”
* * *
Lydia made a beautiful bride. As Simon stood at the altar, committing himself to Lydia and Thea, Hyde’s chest filled with happiness. It had taken eight months of talking and explanations, but her sister understood why Simon had disappeared. She and Simon were starting their life together as a family with their daughter.
