And he, for one, wasn’t going to throw that chance away.
29
* Megan *
It was close to midnight. The snow was easing off and Megan was once again stuck in a room with her captive. At least this time she wasn’t alone. Lake, Grunt, Claire, Joe, Callum, Matt and Kirsty sat around Caroline’s guestroom on the second floor of the castle. The room was huge, outfitted with a massive bed, desk and chair, sofa and armchair, all in shades of blue with white. It was gorgeous. But the décor wasn’t the reason they were there.
Candles flickered on the tops of the desk and dresser, and Megan wished the electricity was back on, because she would seriously have killed for some coffee. Especially since the first thing Claire had told her when Grunt brought her back to the castle was that the pub had a generator. Megan bet Claire had coffee. But then, Claire had also been stuck with Betty, so she guessed that evened things out.
“Talk,” Grunt ordered from where he was standing beside the armchair Claire was curled up in. Normally he would have been sitting in the chair with his wife in his lap. Megan could only assume he was standing because he expected Dimitri to make a run for it and he wanted to be ready.
Dimitri let out a sigh, ran a hand over his hair then looked around the room. “I’m an independent contractor.”
“You mean a gun for hire,” Kirsty said, making Lake smile.
“I’m a gun for hire, love,” he said.
“No you’re not.” She wriggled closer to him on the sofa. “You’re a security specialist.”
They shared a secret smile that sent shivers through Megan’s body. It took her a minute to realise it was envy she felt.
“Anyway,” their captive said, “I was in the army until about six months ago.”
“Which army?” Grunt asked.
“US Rangers,” Dimitri said.
Grunt grunted, and Megan didn’t know if that was a good grunt or a bad one.
“So you’re American?” Megan asked.
“Sometimes,” Dimitri said. “Mostly. That’s not the point. The point is this, about a year ago my sister went missing in Eastern Europe.”
Megan felt her heart miss a beat and wondered at the calm, even tone Dimitri was using to tell his story. What exactly did it hide? She looked over at Claire, only to see her own worry mirrored back at her. If Megan’s sister went missing, she would rip the world apart looking for her. And she knew Claire would do the same.
“When the authorities came up with nothing,” Dimitri said, “I resigned my commission and went hunting on my own.”
It sent a chill up Megan’s spine when he said “hunting” instead of “investigating.”
“I followed rumours, hitting dead ends, until I heard the same name whispered over and over.”
Grunt looked at his best friend Joe, and they seemed to communicate with the telepathic link Megan had always wanted with her twin.
“Rudi Abramovich,” Joe said.
Dimitri’s lips thinned as he nodded.
Lake turned to Joe. “Fill us in.” It was an order.
“Rudi runs a crime ring out of Eastern Europe—Romania mostly, but he moves around. He has a base in London. His speciality is skin trade.” He looked at Dimitri. “Slaves.”
Dimitri nodded. His fists clenched beside him, where he sat perched on the end of the bed. Megan had the insane urge to rush over to his side and rub his back, as though it would somehow help ease his pain.
“He snatches young women,” Dimitri said. “Tourists, locals, runaways, then sells them off to the highest bidder.”
“You think he sold your sister.” It wasn’t a question. Lake already knew the answer.
“Sold or killed.” Dimitri’s voice was flat.
Megan couldn’t take it anymore. She walked across the room from where she’d been standing beside the window and sat on the bed beside Dimitri.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “That’s awful.”
She covered his clenched fist with her hand. Dimitri stared into her eyes for a moment, then surprised them both by turning his hand and linking their fingers. Megan faced her friends and family and mentally dared them to say something. It was only hand holding. A little comfort for a distraught man. Nothing more.
Lake eyed her thoughtfully before talking to Dimitri. “What’s this got to do with Claire?”
“Rudi wants Claire delivered to him. I don’t know why. But he ordered her specifically. I got in on the job because Reynard was an idiot. A rank amateur who was hiring guys without checking them out. He’s worked with Rudi before and wanted to curry favour to get higher in the organisation. He didn’t have a clue what he was doing. Most of the guys he hired were wannabe soldiers. He put together a mini-army for one snatch and grab.”
Megan stiffened beside him. “You weren’t actually going to help him take my sister, were you?” Because it sure as hell sounded like he wasn’t impressed by their professionalism.
Grunt made a loud growling noise from deep in his chest. It went a long way towards proving Megan’s theory that he was related to King Kong. She noticed her frowning sister did nothing to soothe the beast. From the fury in her eyes, Claire was pretty close to growling herself.
“No,” Dimitri said hastily, his eyes on Grunt. “My plan was to foil his attempts while gathering intel.”
“You know you’re really crap at planning.” Megan remembered his promise to come up with something when she was taken. She hadn’t been impressed.
Dimitri shrugged. “There were plenty of times in the past week where we could have lifted Claire. I made sure it wasn’t possible.”
“And we should thank you?” Megan was really beginning to regret holding the guy’s hand.
“No. But you should listen.” He looked at Grunt. “He’s got it in for you. Reynard told me that Rudi wants Claire to get back at you. He had a buyer set up for her. A guy in the Middle East who is known for going through slaves. He planned to put Claire in place and then feed you the information. There was talk of photos and video.”
Grunt stepped away from the armchair, turned and put his fist through the door. He then retracted his fist, perched on the chair beside Claire and wrapped his arm around her as though nothing had happened.
“Nobody touches my wife,” he said.
Claire smiled and snuggled into her husband. They were both nuts.
“Yeah,” Joe said. “We’re all getting that, big guy.”
“Why is this Rudi guy after you?” Lake asked as Kirsty and Megan shared a wide-eyed look over Grunt’s show of strength.
If Megan was reading the girl-look correctly, and she was fluent in girl-looks, then Kirsty was just as impressed, and slightly disturbed, as she was.
“It was one of the first jobs we took when we went out on our own,” Joe answered for Grunt. “A client in the US wanted us to escort his daughter home from Romania. He said she was in a bad relationship and feared for her life. He wanted protection for her when she made a move to leave the guy.” Joe let out a sigh. “We went to Bucharest, met up with the woman in a back-street café. She had a black eye and swollen lip, and that was just the damage we could see. She wanted to go back and pack her stuff, but we intervened. It was clear she had to get out of there straight away. She didn’t even have a passport on her, said the husband kept it in his safe. We figured we could smuggle her over the border into Moldova or the Ukraine, then contact some people we knew and get her papers made up so we could get her on a flight to the US.”
Joe looked at Grunt, who was staring, stony-faced, into the distance. Every muscle in his body was tense while Claire petted his chest and made cooing noises.
“She had guards,” Joe said. “She didn’t even know she was being followed until they attacked when we left the café. I got her out of there while Grunt dealt with the guards. One of them got away.” He looked at Grunt, whose jaw was tight. “It wasn’t your fault. The cops turned up and the whole situation went to hell.” He looked back at Lake. “We foun
d out later that the girl was Rudi’s wife. And Rudi had Grunt’s face on camera. It stands to reason he would have eventually tracked him down. He’d want payback. The sick bastard would see it as quid pro quo—we took his wife, he takes Grunt’s.”
“I don’t like his thinking,” Claire said, stating the obvious. “I don’t even know this Rudi guy. I don’t want to be his pro anything.”
“I won’t let him take you,” Grunt promised.
“I know.” Claire looked perfectly relaxed as she snuggled closer to her man.
“As much as I appreciate your declaration,” Dimitri said to Grunt, taking his life in his hands and proving he wasn’t the sharpest tack in the box, “Rudi isn’t going to quit. He’ll keep coming until he gets what he wants.”
“Or gets dead.” Grunt’s dark eyes dared Dimitri to object.
“I don’t hear anything about anyone killing anyone,” Matt said into the silence that followed Grunt’s declaration. Megan’s brother rubbed a hand down his face. He looked beyond tired after an evening gathering statements and sorting out prisoners. Invertary was far too much work for one cop. He stared Dimitri down. “You’re going on the record, saying this was a kidnapping for hire. That will sort out a lot of my paperwork. The last thing I want to see are charges brought against Lake and his guys.”
Dimitri shook his head. “I can’t.” Everyone in the room became instantly tense. “I can’t blow my cover. I need to go back to Rudi. I need to find my sister.”
“We’ll find your sister,” Joe said. “We’ll do it when we deal with Rudi.” He looked at Grunt, who nodded his approval.
“No,” Claire said, looking slightly green. “You can’t go away. I need you here.”
Grunt leaned over to kiss her forehead. “We won’t be gone long. You’ll be safe. Lake will look after you.”
“No. No, Lake can’t. I need you.”
“I understand, but...”
“No buts.” Claire started to cry. “You have to stay here.”
“For goodness’ sake,” Megan said. “Just tell him already.”
Claire’s bottom lip pouted as she stared at Megan. “I wanted it to be special.” Then she blinked. “How do you know, anyway?” A wide smile lit up her face. “Did the twin bond kick in?”
Megan shook her head and pointed at Dimitri. “He was snooping.”
“Oh.” Claire’s shoulders fell.
“Claire, baby, what’s going on?” Grunt looked about five minutes away from going postal on everybody in the room.
Claire looked up at her husband as she patted his chest. “You need to stay here because we’re going to have a baby.” Her smile was tremulous.
Grunt didn’t move. Didn’t speak. He just stared at Claire. People began to shift nervously.
“Did you hear me, Samuel?” Claire tried again. “We’re going to have a baby.”
In one lightning-fast move, he hooked his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her lips to his. The kiss was not PG rated. Megan was about to fetch a bucket of water when they came up for air.
“I’m having a kid,” Grunt told Joe with a loopy grin. “I can’t go to Romania.” His whole demeanour darkened. “And Rudi better not come here.”
He sat in the armchair, hauled Claire into his lap and held her tight. “Mine,” he growled.
“Yours,” Claire said on a sigh.
“Okay.” Dimitri’s eyes went wide at the sight before him. “So the big guy isn’t going to Romania.” He looked at Matt. “I need to go.”
“What makes you think you can get close enough to Rudi to find out what you need to know?” Joe asked. “You’re just one of the guys Reynard hired. You never even met Rudi.”
Dimitri’s hand tightened on Megan’s as he looked at Joe. “He’ll see me because I’m going to bring him the thing he wants. I’m going to take him the woman.”
Grunt started that scary growling sound again. Dimitri ignored him as he turned to Megan.
“I’m going to take Megan to Romania and tell him she’s Claire.”
“Hell no!” Matt shouted as he shot to his feet.
“Grunt, sort him out,” Claire demanded as she sat up. “He’s not taking my sister to a slave trader.”
“No, he’s not, baby.” Grunt climbed to his feet.
Matt and Grunt stood shoulder to shoulder as they faced off against Dimitri. Megan’s head reeled. She was barely aware that she was still holding Dimitri’s hand—the hand of the man who wanted to sell her off.
“You want to set up an op, don’t you?” Joe said calmly. “Use Megan to get inside, find the information you need then bust out with Megan.”
Dimitri blanched. “You thought I wanted to give her to him?” He shook his head in disgust.
“An operation like that would need coordination.” Lake looked over at Callum.
“We need to eliminate the threat,” Callum said. “This might be the most effective way.”
Megan shook off Dimitri’s hand and walked to the window. The snow had stopped entirely. Outside was a world of beauty and peace. Nothing like the state inside her head, where thoughts raced and jostled for position.
“You can’t be serious about sending my sister into a situation like that?” Matt demanded of Lake. “She doesn’t have a freaking clue about guys like Rudi. She has no training, no skill. It would be like leading a lamb to the slaughter.”
“She can take care of herself,” Dimitri said. “And she’ll have backup.”
“I’ll go,” Joe said. “This is our mess and Grunt needs to stay here.”
Grunt grunted.
“You’ve run situations like this before,” Lake said to Callum, who nodded.
“We need more men,” Callum said.
“I can set up a team,” Lake told him.
“Is anybody listening to me?” Matt demanded. “She isn’t going. Sort this out another way. And while we’re at it, Dimitri is staying here to testify. Nobody is going anywhere.”
Grunt’s hand came down heavily on Matt’s shoulder. “Rudi won’t stop. He’ll keep coming until Claire is taken or dead.”
“I agree we need to stop him, but not with Megan. One sister isn’t more important than the other,” Matt said through clenched teeth.
“Hear, hear,” Claire shouted. “My sister isn’t going to Romania.”
“Yes,” Megan said evenly, and everyone in the room gave her their full attention. “Yes, I am.”
There was a moment of stunned silence before everyone started shouting at once. Megan’s eyes found Dimitri. He was silent, staring at her, and he looked almost proud. He nodded his thanks to her and Megan inclined her head in acceptance. A strange sort of exhilaration swept through her body. For years she’d been looking for her calling. The career that suited her. She had a strange feeling it had just found her.
She straightened her shoulders and smiled at the group.
She was going to be a gun for hire.
And she was going to kick ass.
30
* Rainne and Alastair *
On the morning that should have been Lake’s wedding, Rainne found the only member of her family who ever gave a damn about her in the war room, making plans. Okay, so it was the kitchen, but from the look on Lake’s face he was definitely scheming about something. Rainne stepped straight up to her brother and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“How you feeling?” Lake said as he pulled her to him.
“Good, I’m good. Love you, big brother.”
He smiled down at her, squeezing her tight. Those smiles were new. Thanks to Kirsty, Lake let himself show emotion a whole lot more than he ever did when they were growing up. Although there was twelve years between them and her memories of Lake were those of a child, she remembered him as a wary man. Always watching, assessing and analysing.
It wasn’t surprising considering their parents had made it clear from early on exactly how much they disapproved of Lake—all because he had a different ideology. Their rejection of h
im had taught Rainne at an early age that if she wanted them to accept her, she needed to do as she was told.
“You’re thinking hard, Rainbow. What’s up?” Lake patted her back as she clung to him.
This was new too. He never used to be good at showing or accepting affection. Rainne had a lot to thank Kirsty for.
“I’m so pleased you found Kirsty,” she said.
“So am I.” She could hear the laughter in his voice. “Now, do you want to tell me what you’re after?”
She grinned against his chest. “Can’t I just give my big brother a hug?”
“Absolutely. Anytime. Now what do you need?”
She stepped back from his hug. “I need to check on Alastair at the clinic. I’m worried about him. Can you spare someone to take me into town?”
She knew better than to take a snowmobile and go on her own. The guys were all on high alert after the attack and watching the women like hawks. Lake would be the worst. Years of experience had taught her that sometimes it was best to humour his overprotective streak. It made him happy.
Lake cocked an eyebrow at Mitch, who was leaning against the breakfast bar, nursing a mug of coffee. It was clear from Mitch’s rumpled appearance that he was still getting over the night before. His usual suit was replaced by faded jeans and a crinkled grey T-shirt. His hair was a mess, his feet were bare and he was obviously thinking too hard about something.
“You ever ridden a snowmobile?” Lake said.
Dark thoughts cleared from Mitch’s face and his eyes lit up. “How hard can it be?”
Lake nodded to Rainne. “Give her a lift to the clinic and back, will you?”
“My pleasure.” Mitch put his mug on the counter. “Meet you outside.” He practically ran from the room, eager to get on the machine. All sign of the troubled man he’d been a moment earlier had disappeared.
Here Comes the Rainne Again Page 19
