Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge)

by Natasza Waters

  Lumina and her friend slid past the line of waiting short, glittering skirts, and guys in suit pants using their outside voices, putting on their machismo for the ladies. He had to get inside, and he didn’t have time to wait in the lineup. The girls obviously knew the big bastard who kept the crowd in line. Here goes nothing.

  “Lumina!” He broke into a run toward the guy. “Hey man,” he said, putting a pant into his voice. “My sister just went in there. I need her now. Family emergency. Can you get her?” A tight crease lined his brow to keep the expression tense. “Please.” He knew damn well the guy couldn’t leave his post, but whether he’d let him in was another question. The bouncer was built like a brick shithouse. He hoped he had a brain the size of a dust speck.

  Bubba, or whatever his name was, unhooked the thick, twined rope and jerked his head.

  “Thanks, man.” He gave him a quick punch on the arm before heading into the head banging remix of a top ten song. Bodies gyrated on the dance floor with little room to move. Normally that would be a good thing, and a great excuse to get close to the girl of choice, but right now it sucked. Using his search grid, he scanned the crowd. Where the hell had she gone? He worked through the crowd to get a better look at the people at the bar. Bingo. Far right. He straightened, removed his shades and hooked them on the collar of his shirt. Straight up, that’s how he’d play this. Squirt was somewhere in this city, and the sand in the hourglass was draining fast. He wasn’t leaving until he had knowledge he didn’t have before.

  Lumina’s back was toward him, but her friend saw his gaze centered on them, and she quickly said something to her. Lumina whirled around with a perfect pirouette. Blue eyes he could drown in narrowed at him. Everything about her was delicate. Ethereal was the best he could describe. He loved women with long legs, and she had a pair that had him slipping from his intent on working her until he got what he wanted.

  With only twenty feet to go, he saw a guy intercept and step in front of her. Maybe the guy was just pushing his way into the bar to get a drink, but as Tony neared he saw the guy had gripped Lumina’s upper arm. He wore a suit and a knockoff designer watch. Tony curved to the right to get a different vantage point. The guy had Lumina pushed up against the bar and was talking in her ear. Her body was as tense as a board, and she shook her head. The grip the guy had on her arm deepened, pressing into her skin. Did she know this guy? He seemed at least ten years her senior.

  As the guy’s fingers dug deeper and caused a quirk of pain on Lumina’s face Tony reached out and gripped the guy’s wrist, giving it a twist. He released his hold on Lumina and turned with a jerk.

  “Who the fuck are you?” the guy bellowed. Tony had run into plenty of guys high on some psychedelic drug; their eyes always gave them away. Perspiration beaded on the guy’s forehead.

  Tony leaned in. “Looks to me like you’re bothering her.” Finger marks welted on Lumina’s translucent skin, and he considered breaking the guy’s arm. Her eyes darted between them. “Think it’s time for you to hit the road, friend.”

  “Do you know who I am?” the guy yelled, anger romping in his eyes.

  Tony got nice and personal with his ear. “I do. You’re the guy who’s going to the hospital if you don’t…back…the…fuck…away from her.” He leaned back just enough so the guy could see his eyes. Although the guy strained to pull his hand away, he wasn’t making any progress. Tony released his grip and the guy staggered back a step.

  “Later,” he shouted at Lumina, and stormed through the crowd.

  “Hey, I’m…” He paused when his gaze locked with hers. Whoa, what the hell was that? He thought, feeling a definite deep impact. “Anthony,” he finished. Something stopped him from giving her a Tom, Dick or Harry name. She nodded slightly, but didn’t offer hers. The girl knew how to give a killer look. She didn’t flinch or flicker. She had a steadfast stare that actually unnerved him. He raised a brow. “And you’re…?”

  “Wondering what you want,” she said, continuing to stare him down with those incredible eyes.

  He raised both hands. “Just saying hi, honey.”

  “Not your honey, honey,” she said.

  Okay, a few hackles raised. Couldn’t blame her after the old guy had manhandled her. Time to deploy the Anthony Bale charm. “Listen,” he leaned in to her ear to be heard over the loud music. “You’re Lumina, correct?”

  “No.”

  His cheek stroked hers and her soft skin transmitted a distinct message to the man inside him. A faint, indistinguishable smell curled into his senses. No cloying perfume or hair product stopped his breathing, just her enticing smell: sweet and sensual. “I think you are,” he growled in her ear. His hand had its own intentions and it came to rest on her hip. He didn’t miss the slight ripple under her skin with his touch, and his pants were becoming increasingly tight.

  “Lumin,” she corrected. Her voice was soft and perfect in pitch against his ear. “The ‘A,’” she clarified, “is my middle name. Alana. The casino uses Lumina for the show, thought it had a nicer ring to it.”

  Even her name was magical. He breathed in heavily to center himself. “It’s a beautiful name, and it matches the woman.” She moved back a step, her eyes a little wider, her pupils dilated. “I’m looking for someone, Lumin. A little girl’s life depends on it. I’m hoping you can help me find him.”

  She searched his eyes. “Who are you looking for?”

  When she leaned in to speak, her breasts pressed against his chest. Self-control kicked in and stopped him from grasping her waist and drawing her sleek body against him. His own body had gone rock-hard. He couldn’t stop it, but he had to control it. “A man named Pedro Quadero.”

  Lumin’s expression altered to wary. “What does a little girl have to do with a drug lord?”

  Tony considered telling her some bullshit story, but the truth poured out. “Her father is a bastard and owes this guy a lot of money. Gambling, as far as we know. He’s taken her hostage and wants to pay his debt with her ransom.”

  “What an asshole.” Lumin blinked. “How old is she?”

  “Eight. Her name is Gabriella…I call her squirt. I owe her another play date, and I’m going to deliver.”

  A smile graced her lips, and blue eyes twinkled under the club lights. He didn’t even realize he’d leaned close enough that their lips almost touched. “My buddy Mace is her mother’s boyfriend and my best friend. We need to find Pedro. Squirt and her asshole father shouldn’t be far away. He’s holding both of them until we deliver the money.”

  “Then why don’t you?” she asked.

  “Because it’s extortion and we don’t give in to terrorists, plus we have no guarantee he’ll let squirt go.”

  “You sound like a cop or something.”

  “Not exactly, ma’am.”

  He felt a delicate hand grab his, and she pulled him through the crowd, swinging hip to hip on the dance floor toward the bathrooms. They pushed through a door which led into a hallway buffered from the music.

  “If you’re not the police, then who? Pedro is one of, if not the most dangerous man in this town.” She backed up against the wall, putting a little breathing space between them.

  He placed a hand on either side of her shoulders, and resisted the overwhelming desire to taste her very kissable, pale, rose-colored lips. “Lumin, I don’t want to put you in danger. I just need you to point me in the right direction. If we can find squirt, we’ll be in and gone within minutes. The only person who’ll be paying a price is her father. Squirt deserves a good father and my buddy Mace is that guy.”

  Lumin’s expression was all sorts of concerned. “I don’t know where Pedro is, but I know someone who does. Give me an hour and then meet me at the east entrance with a car. I don’t have one.”

  “Okay, sweetheart.” He paused, and his gaze dropped to her lips. The reaction in his pants was instantly hard, and even in the darkened corridor he saw the blush on her cheeks. “Thank you.” Neither of them moved. His
mind went blank, but boiler room heat began a flash fire in his chest and he blinked as possessive nerves began to spark all over him. “I’ll see you in an hour.” He wanted…what did he want? He dropped one arm and she slid away. He watched her disappear down the corridor. With graceful, quick steps she vanished, but something didn’t vanish: her essence, it stuck to him like sand on a wet body.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “How can we trust some Vegas showgirl?” Nina mumbled, walking in small circles. Mace slid an arm around her waist to stop her nervous pacing.

  Nina had called her parents and explained everything. They wanted to fly to Vegas, but she stopped them by reassuring them they would get Gabriella back.

  “Tinman has a sixth sense when it comes to people, Nina. If he thinks Lumin can help, he’s probably right.”

  “Why would she involve herself? She doesn’t know us?”

  “Because she’s a decent woman,” Tony interjected, a hot spark of protection igniting to vouch for Lumin.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he heard from behind him, and turned around. Lumin appeared from behind a thick palm tree like a nymph appearing in the forest. Mace and Nina swiveled as well. All four of them evaluated each other.

  “I’m Lumin Edenridge.” She held her hand out to Nina, who eyed her warily then took her hand.

  “Thank you for helping us, Lumin. I’m Nina Samson.”

  “Mace Callahan. Wherever we’re going, let’s do it now.”

  They piled in the car, and Lumin guided them to the highway and out toward the desert.

  Nina twisted. “Where are we going?”

  “I have some friends who know everyone important in Las Vegas. Good and bad. Steven had to fight off Pedro himself not long ago. He’s a very powerful man.”

  “Who is he?” Mace asked, shooting a quick glance in the rear view mirror.

  “You were just in his casino. Steven Porter and his wife Moira live outside of town.”

  Lumin certainly knew the right people, Tony thought to himself.

  Twenty minutes later, she guided them to an enormous mansion sprawled across the foothills of the Nevada mountain range.

  “Whoa, these guys have a few coins in the piggy bank.” Mace uttered what they were all probably thinking.

  Lumin didn’t ring the doorbell, but instead led them around the side of the majestic home and entered in a side door. The laundry room was the size of half a normal house in the ’burbs. Following Lumin, they entered a kitchen that only the extremely rich could afford.

  “Mina!” The screech of two little toddlers in unison turned everyone’s head. She scooped them up and gave them both a kiss as they strangled her in a big hug.

  A man and woman sat at an enormous antique wood table, etched with deep marks that only time and use could create. The table alone must have cost thousands, never mind the expensive cabinetry in a kitchen big enough to seat two SEAL teams. He presumed the man in the expensive suit with his tie loosened, sitting with a glass filled with amber liquid, was Steven Porter. The beautiful woman with kind eyes sitting beside him had to be Moira.

  “Moira Porter,” the woman said, rising and extending a hand. “Please, have a seat. You all look like you need a good meal. Margarita is almost finished preparing dinner.”

  “Mace Callahan, ma’am, and this is Nina Samson and Tony Bale.”

  “Ma’am,” Tony said, but didn’t take his eyes off Lumin, who twirled around the kitchen with the children in her arms. She put the children down when she saw him staring, and he was staring.

  “Your head on the mission or somewhere else?” Mace growled into his ear.

  “Welcome,” Steven Porter said, and it carried a command to sit down as well as a greeting. All of them moved to the table. The guy reminded him a little of Ghost: a big man, with a big voice and sharp, intelligent eyes that noticed everything.

  “Sir, we’re looking for someone. Lumin says you know him,” Mace stated, sitting next to Nina.

  “That’s what Mina explained to us.” Steven Porter turned an ice-blue, critical gaze on Nina. “Your daughter has been taken.”

  “Yes, sir.” Nina leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. “She’s been taken for ransom to pay for a gambling debt.”

  “By your daughter’s father.”

  “He hasn’t earned the right to be her father. Until a short while ago, he didn’t know she existed. He conned both of us.” Nina’s hand slid across the surface and grasped Mace’s hand.

  “You’re not law enforcement,” Steven noted.

  “They’re Navy,” Moira Porter spoke up, and gave them an inquisitive look. “Special ops, is my guess.”

  “Good guess.” Tony nodded.

  “My wife does that a lot,” Steven added. “She was Coast Guard for many years, till I whisked her away from Canada.”

  “Hey, where are you from?” Nina piped up.

  “Vancouver.” Moira took the place setting from Margarita.

  “I’m from Victoria,” Nina said.

  “Esquimalt?”

  “Yes,” Nina confirmed. “Mace and Tony are U.S. Navy SEALs.”

  “SEALs?” Lumin gave Tony a wary smile. “That explains a lot.”

  Tony’s heart ticked like a big clock in a silent room. For some reason when she said it or maybe how she said it, he felt proud. No, not proud, over-fuckin’-joyed that she seemed impressed with that.

  Steven Porter pulled his tie and Moira slid it from his neck as if both minds worked in sync without a word spoken. “I dealt with Pedro earlier this year,” Steven explained. “He’s bad news in this town. As bad as it gets. The task of getting your daughter back won’t be easy. He employs hundreds of men to cover his ass and do his dirty work. In consideration of your skills, you’re probably the only people in this city who have a chance of getting her out unharmed. Pedro is a heartless prick. What he wants, he gets, unless he’s up against someone bigger and deadlier.”

  “That says something about you, doesn’t it, sir?” Tony queried with a raised brow.

  Moira’s expression tightened, and a purse of her lips gave the answer. “Steven is not a patient man, especially when someone is trying to blackmail him. Pedro has an eerie knack of finding someone’s weak spot, or what he thinks is a weak spot.”

  Mace slipped an arm across Nina’s shoulder, and pulled her close to reassure her. “And did he?” Mace asked.

  “Not a viable one. My brother, Kyle, had a rough start in life, but he’s conquered his demons. We played offense, which put Pedro at a disadvantage. I’m proud of my brother’s accomplishments since he’s been clean from drugs. His past is not mine. Pedro wove truth with a mountain of lies to extradite money from Moira and me. He didn’t get very far, and I have some allies in this city and LA. My biggest weakness is my wife and the twins. Pedro tried to kidnap them as a second offensive maneuver. He failed. With that, he was taken into custody and had an uncomfortable drive into the desert. He’s stayed far away from us since then. Like any bully, he’ll retreat if he thinks his chances are slim to none. I have no doubt he’ll take advantage of an opportunity like any scavenger. Our lives have still been affected by him. Keep that in mind.”

  “Daddy.” The little girl who looked a lot like her father, with blonde hair and big blue eyes, stretched her arms up.

  Steven lifted and cuddled her against his chest. “I’m sure your daughter is your world, and we’ll help you get her back, Nina.” His little girl hugged him and nestled herself in his arms. “If you want or need extra help, call me. I’ll have it to you within minutes.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Porter.” Nina let out a breath and gave Mace a meaningful look.

  “Don’t worry, babe, we’ll have Gabbs back by tonight. Where does he keep himself hidden, Mr. Porter?” Mace asked.

  “Margarita, pen and paper, por favor.”

  “Si, Señor.” Margarita, a woman reaching an age where she should be retiring, hurriedly handed him what he’d asked for.
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  Steven wrote down an address and slid it across the table. As Nina reached for it, he pulled it back. “Pedro does not like to lose,” he warned. “Don’t let him know you’re here or you’ll risk your daughter’s life. And before you go running off to save her, you will have something to eat. You all look beat. Margarita?”

  “Dinner is ready, Señor Porter.”

  Tony set his eyes on Lumin, who had the other twin on her lap. The little boy played with the ends of her ponytail draped across her slim shoulder. “Thank you,” Tony mouthed.

  A quick smile graced her lips before being replaced by her benignly beautiful expression.

  He wished he had more time to get to know this woman, but squirt was top priority.

  They ate hastily, and within twenty minutes were standing at the door offering their thanks and a goodbye.

  “Are you coming?” Tony asked, seeing Lumin standing beside Moira.

  She shook her head. “Good luck.”

  Nina and Mace were already halfway down the stairs of the massive entrance. “Tinman,” Nina called.

  “Thank you again, Lumin. I hope…”

  “Hurry,” she said and nodded toward his friends.

  He made it halfway down the steps and although he resisted, he couldn’t help but turn around for one last look. Moira and Steven had disappeared and Lumin was only a shadow on the vast landing. “Who was that guy in the bar?”

  “My boss.”

  “Tinman,” Nina yelled.

  “She’s out of her mind with worry. Go save her daughter.”

  Tony took a step upwards. Instinct pushed at him to stay and help her even though she wasn’t the priority. That wasn’t SEAL mentality. “Will he hurt you?”

  “I can take care of myself, Mr. Bale. Only the strong survive in Las Vegas. I’m not just a pretty face.”

  That, he’d already figured out. Mace started the car with a heavy foot on the gas. “Be careful, beautiful.” He took a last look at her, and it bothered him to think it would be the last. “I work at NAB Coronado. SEAL Team One, Alpha Squad. If you ever need anything, call me. I owe you.”