Promises to Keep

by Maegan Beaumont

  Ben cut him a look. “You didn’t sleep with her.” He shook his head in disgust. “Do you even have testicles?”

  “Ask your mom, she’d know.” He reached for the nachos. They were cold, but whatever.

  Ben laughed. “The only way she’d notice your balls is if they were bright white and shaped like Vicodin.” He paused the game and tossed the controller onto the table. It landed in the nachos. “Seriously, how are you gonna get over that chick if you won’t let yourself get over her?”

  “Careful, kid.” It’d been over a year since he’d seen Sabrina, if you didn’t count every time he closed his eyes. Forget about her? He’d have better luck forgetting how to breathe.

  Ben just laughed. “First off, I’m not a kid. I’m only three years younger than you are. Second—”

  The cell on the coffee table let out a beep. Ben picked it up and rolled his eyes before flipping it open. “It’s the asshole,” he said in a stage whisper before he spoke in the phone. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?”

  Four

  He and Ben had been called into the FSS Barcelona office at three a.m. By Livingston Shaw. Whatever was about to go down couldn’t be good.

  Michael thought of the last time he’d been called into a private audience with Shaw. He’d been told that the implant in his back wasn’t just a tracking device used to keep tabs on him; it was also there to kill him if he got out of line.

  He reached for the base of his spine. It was still there. It would always be there—a capsule, the size of a dime. Inside was enough military-grade biotoxin to wipe out a small town. It was rigged with a detonation chip that responded to a phone number. Once the number was dialed, voice-recognition software would take over. A one-word code plus a seven-digit code was all it would take to kill him.

  He looked at Ben. He and his father were the only two who could detonate the capsule. One was his boss; the other was his partner. Ben looked at him and smiled. Michael dropped his hand and stared at the floor.

  First Security Solutions had offices all over the world. On the surface, they were a private firm that provided protection to visiting US dignitaries and supplemental security to American Embassies worldwide. But that was a bunch of bullshit.

  In reality, FSS was a privatized military organization that specialized in government-sanctioned covert ops. They were wolves in sheep’s clothing. They went places that’d give the CIA a case of the flop sweats and did things that’d make a SEAL hide in his mother’s skirts. Michael had been on board for three years now, and he’d hated every single second of it.

  They took the elevator to the thirty-second floor. The doors slid open, revealing an expansive office—blood-red carpet surrounded by endless banks of bulletproof windows. He didn’t have to see it to know what it looked like. Eleven offices in as many countries and they all looked the same, right down to the throw pillows and drink coasters.

  “Shit,” Ben said under his breath. Michael looked up to see Brian Lark standing next to the boss’s desk, poised like a pet dog. Which was exactly what he was.

  He felt the rage—years old and bone deep—rear its ugly head. Their eyes met, and Lark’s dimples popped out as the smirk deepened to an actual smile. Heavily muscled arms covered in coffee-colored skin crossed over his massive chest. Lark knew exactly what he was thinking, could read his bring it on, asshole expression from across the room. Michael’s hand fell to the grip of his Kimber .45 and began to lift it off his hip.

  Ben stepped in front of him, suddenly all business. “Don’t do it,” he said in a low voice. Michael looked at him; the I’m just a fuck-up vibe he usually threw off was gone in favor of something closer to the truth.

  “Michael, Benjamin, please join us,” Livingston Shaw said from his desk. His tone and words were warm, welcoming even, but Michael knew better. Livingston Shaw was Genghis Khan in a ten-thousand-dollar suit. He didn’t do warm or welcoming unless it served a purpose.

  The kid nailed him with a hard look. “Keep it together,” Ben said in that same low voice before he turned to his father and flashed him a smile. “I’d rather be playing Xbox,” he said as he strolled across the room. Michael stayed where he was, taking a few seconds to get himself under control. Lark just kept grinning.

  “Michael … ” Shaw let the word trail off, but its meaning was clear. Get your ass in here—now. He left the elevator and made himself follow the kid. Stopping a safe distance away, he stood, feet planted shoulder width apart, hands behind his back to hide the fact that they were balled into fists. Shaw smiled up at him, his guileless blue eyes alert and sharp despite the fact that it was the middle of the night. “I just received confirmation that the first phase of the Cordova operation is complete.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said in a barely controlled tone while staring at the spot just above Shaw’s head. “Cordova is due back in Barcelona later today. I’ll be ready to move after dark.”

  “Good. After which, the two of you will be without assignment,” Shaw said. “I have a private matter that needs your attention.”

  Ben’s head snapped up from studying his fingernails. “What? Oh, hell no. A month between jobs, that’s the deal,” he said. “I’m going—”

  “Benjamin.” Shaw’s tone said that anyone else would be dead by now.

  “—to Vegas.” Ben sighed. “I had tickets to see Celine.”

  “What do you need done, sir?” Michael said. The sooner they got their assignment, the sooner he could get the hell out of here. Every second counted when you were fighting a losing battle against a homicidal urge to kill the man who betrayed you.

  “I knew I could count on you, Michael.” Shaw smiled and gestured past them, to the reception area they’d passed on their way in. Sitting there quietly was an older gentleman in a suit slightly less expensive than Shaw’s, with a full head of silver hair and sharp brown eyes. Michael guessed him to be in his early seventies. He looked haggard, worn down—like he was trapped in hell and couldn’t find his way out. He knew that look. He’d seen it in the mirror.

  Shaw stood and circled the desk. “Michael, Benjamin, I’d like you to meet Senator Leon Maddox. His grandson is missing, and you’re going to find him.”

  Five

  Missing.

  Michael cut his partner a sidelong glance. His usual smartass grin had given way to an expression that left little question as to how he felt about the implication that word offered.

  “You were right to come to me, Leon. I only wish you’d done so sooner,” Shaw said, sitting next to the Senator before looking up at the small cluster of men. “I assure you, my son and Mr. O’Shea are the best FSS has to offer. Both have extensive experience when it comes to rescue and recovery.” Shaw gave him a slight smile that caused the muscle in Michael’s jaw to clench tight.

  Leon Maddox swept a skeptical gaze over him, one that said he knew exactly who he was and exactly what he’d done, and that he was not to be trusted. “Thank you, Livingston. In the interest of foreign relations, I foolishly agreed to allow the Spanish authorities to handle the situation. I regret it.” He settled his gaze on Ben. “I understand you’re quite the tracker.”

  “I’m the best,” Ben said, shooting a hostile glare at his father. “But green-lighting an off-the-books black op to find junior is a bit overkill, don’t ya think?”

  “Benjamin—”

  “No, Livingston. The boy’s right.” Maddox looked at the man sitting next to him. “It’s a total abuse of my power and our friendship that I should even be here asking for help.” He looked up at the kid. “But I am. And I’m not ashamed to say I’ll use you and your friend here, along with whoever and whatever is necessary, to see my grandson returned,” Maddox said as he stood. He held his hand out to Ben, who shook it. Maddox turned to Michael and gave him a long quiet look. “I don’t trust you.”

  “I don’t blame you.” He looked the old man in the eye.
>
  Maddox issued a quiet bark of laughter before holding out his hand. “I want my grandson home, and I want the bastards that took him dead. Every last one of them. I want it understood that they’ve messed with the wrong man. Am I clear?”

  “As a bell, sir.” He took the hand offered and gave it a firm shake before moving to the side, letting the Senator pass on his way to the elevator.

  “They were visiting family friends—an old boarding school roommate of Senator Maddox’s son, Jon.” Shaw used a discreet button panel on his desk to activate the large LED screen behind his desk. “It was to be a quick trip before school started for their children—Claire, age nine, and Leo, age six.” The screen behind Shaw flipped through various family photos. The Maddox family on the steps of the Alhambra palace in Granada. Leo and Claire sitting in the stands at the Plaza de Toros Monumental. The screen flashed to a close-up of Leo. “He and his mother took an early-morning trip to Mercat Del Encants. She became distracted by a merchant, and when she turned back around, Leo was gone.” Shaw dropped his hands onto his desk.

  “No ransom demands?” Michael said.

  “No,” Shaw said.

  “Surveillance?”

  His boss nodded and hit another button. Leo’s picture was replaced by surprisingly clear security footage. The camera was aimed directly at a string of high-priced booths. To the left of the screen, a well-dressed blonde strolled the aisle with a small boy in tow. The blonde was stopped in the middle of the thoroughfare by a young girl peddling scarves. The boy pulled away, eager to use his mother’s distraction to his best advantage. She turned her head for a few seconds—five at best—but it was enough. The instant her back was turned, a man swept into the frame, ball cap pulled low to hide his face, and scooped the boy into his arms. He clamped a hand over Leo’s mouth and was gone before the blonde even manages to tell the girl no thanks.

  Shaw paused the feed. “That’s it. Ten seconds of tape. Less than helpful, I’m afraid.”

  The guy on the screen kept his face turned away. He seemed to know that the camera was there, so it was safe to assume that whoever he was, he’d planned the abduction. Michael studied the frozen images on the screen and tried not to let the look of absolute terror on the boy’s face bother him.

  “Where was their security detail?”

  Shaw inclined his head and shrugged. “Jon Maddox is an up and comer—his father is pinning presidential hopes on his chest, but his wife, Sara, is … less than cooperative. She’d been expressly forbidden from taking Leo from the hotel without his detail, and she agreed not to do so.”

  “But she did it anyway,” Ben said, shooting Michael a sidelong glance.

  “Any chance she’s involved?” Michael said.

  Shaw shook his head. “No. She’s completely beside herself. Leon said she’s been under heavy sedation since the abduction.”

  Michael said nothing. He wasn’t counting anyone out—not even the old man. Leon Maddox played the part of bereaved grandfather to a T, but if he’d learned anything it was that the face most people showed the world was a lie.

  “What about her?” He tipped his chin at the screen, indicating the young woman with the scarves. “Anyone talk to her? Ask her what she saw?”

  “Spanish authorities haven’t been able to find her.”

  “Bullshit. They can’t find one girl?” This came from Lark, who until now had been content to sit quietly. He crossed his arms over his chest, shooting a pointed look Michael’s way. “Either they don’t care or they’ve been paid not to look,” he said.

  “My guess is both,” Michael said, studying the frozen video. The girl looked scared, that’s for sure, but she didn’t look surprised by what was happening. “I guess we have our square one.” Michael stood, ready to get started, but his partner had different ideas.

  “I have a question,” Ben said, his clear blue eyes gone ice cold. “Why the hell do you care about some kid that got snatched from a flea market?”

  “Leon Maddox is my friend.” Shaw folded his hands on his blotter and pinned his son with a glare.

  “You don’t have friends; you have chess pieces.” Ben shook his head. “There’s always something in it for you. So what is it?”

  “Believe it or not, Benjamin, I happen to care a great deal about what happens to Leo Maddox—”

  “You care?” Ben shot to his feet. “Well, look at you … all magnanimous and shit,” he said with a laugh. “I’d like to know where your nobility was the day Mason and Emily—”

  “That’s enough, Benjamin.”

  Ben went still. “That’s where you’re wrong, Dad. It’ll never be enough,” he said, and Michael was sure he was seconds away from launching himself across the desk at his father. Instead, he turned and stalked his way toward the elevator. They watched him go in silence.

  “Benjamin has always had a flair for the dramatic, I’m afraid,” Shaw said, turning his attention to Michael. “Despite his suspicions as to where my motives lie, it’s imperative that Leo Maddox be found. So much so that I’m willing to offer you a deal: I’m giving you one week. If you can find and bring the Maddox boy home within that time, I’ll set you free.”

  Six

  When Michael got back to their suite, he looked around the room and shook his head. The wall was now wearing the congealed nachos Ben had been eating before their meeting with his father, and the coffee table that held them looked like it had exploded into kindling and strewn itself around the room.

  “Like what you’ve done with the place,” he said, letting his gaze settle on his partner, sitting on the couch, playing Xbox.

  Ben shrugged while working the controller. This time he was killing zombies by the dozen.

  “Who’re Mason and Emily?” Michael said.

  Ben was quiet for a few seconds, like he wasn’t going to answer. “Mason was my brother.” He shifted the rest of the words around like he was having trouble making them leave his mouth. “Emily was his wife.”

  Michael rubbed the back of his neck and winced at what he was about to say. “Wanna talk about it?”

  “Nothing to talk about, Dr. Phil. They’re dead.”

  “Fair enough.” Michael looked at his watch. It was just after five in the morning. The marketplace where the Maddox kid disappeared would be up and running, the vendors and peddlers setting up for the day. If they were going to find the girl, now was the best time to do it. “Come on, let’s go find the girl in the surveillance video, see what we can get out of her.”

  Ben shook his head, let out a brief bark of laughter. “Don’t you ever get tired of asking how high when he says to jump?”

  Now it was Michael’s turn to laugh. “Really? I don’t have the luxury of saying no,” he said. “What I have is a goddamn dirty bomb in my back and a boss just looking for an excuse to blow me the fuck up, so you can take your little pity party or whatever the hell this is and shove it up your ass.”

  Ben cut him a look. “He’s not the only one who’s got your number, you know.” It was a reminder that, if he wanted to, Ben could make him just as dead as his father could.

  “You aren’t gonna kill me.” Michael sounded more sure than he actually felt. “No one else will work with you.”

  Ben smiled. “True. Besides, you owe me a favor. I can’t kill you until I collect.”

  It was a reminder of exactly what Ben had done for him twenty-two months ago. He’d been shanghaied into another job. Taken away from Sabrina at the precise moment she needed him most. Ben had given him a small reprieve. Somehow he’d used his status as the boss’s son to his advantage and gotten Michael back to Sabrina in time to save her life. She’d be dead if not for Ben. He hadn’t forgotten that, nor had he forgotten that Ben’s help had come at a price.

  “I know.”

  Ben shrugged and changed the subject. “Let me guess. My father told you that if you
find this kid, he’ll cut you loose, right?” Ben’s glare was steady and fixed on the screen full of flesh-eating mutants.

  “Yes.” Michael leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest in an effort to keep his fingers from finding the capsule embedded in the small of his back.

  Ben finally paused the game. “He’ll never do it. He’ll never let you go. That’s not how my father is built. He’d kill you in a heartbeat if he thought you’d outlived your purpose, but let you go? No way.”

  He shrugged. Ben was right; Livingston Shaw kept his word only when it suited him. “I know, but that’s a pretty hefty carrot to dangle, which means finding the Maddox kid isn’t just about looking out for an old friend. There’s a reason he’s helping Maddox. If I can figure out why, I might be able to use it as leverage somehow. The only way to do that is to find the boy.”

  Ben un-paused the game only to let his on-screen icon be overtaken by the undead. He watched the carnage for a few seconds before shifting his gaze back to Michael. “Do you miss her?”

  The shift in conversation topic was abrupt. Michael didn’t understand the correlation between his feelings for Sabrina and Shaw’s motivations in finding Leo Maddox, but he knew he’d need Ben’s help if he had any hope of succeeding.

  “Every second of every day.”

  “What would you be willing to do to get back to her? To be able to stay with her?” Ben’s face had taken on a strange gravity, as if the weight of the world rested in this one question.

  “Anything.”

  The answer must have been the right one, because Ben tossed the game controller on the floor where the coffee table had once been. He stood. “Good to know. Give me a few minutes to change and we’ll go.” Ben left the room, leaving Michael to wonder exactly what kind of debt he owed and what kind of man he owed it to.

  Seven

  Michael stepped around an old man spreading out a tattered blanket before dumping a box out onto it. Matchbox cars and antique lighters tumbled out along with bootleg DVDs and kitchen gadgets. “Perdóneme, señor,” he said. The old-timer shot him a glare as he passed, which he returned with a wry smile. He tended to have that effect on people.