“Don’t be. I couldn’t have done what you did.”
“We did it together.” She gulped the water. It was the truth. She may have been the one to walk into the building, but without the rest of the women it wouldn’t have happened.
“I just hope the guys understand.”
“I hope Dimitri understands.”
“He will once he realises you got the information he needs.”
Megan wasn’t so sure. In Dimitri’s eyes she’d put his sister at risk. Megan didn’t see it that way. She was certain the level of risk in the plan she’d just pulled off was less than it would have been if she’d gone in with Dimitri.
She knew now that there was no way the two of them could have disabled the guards and then walked out of there. It would have been chaos. And, assuming Dimitri was even able to knock Rudi out long enough for them to get the information on the ring, Rudi would have known as soon as he came to that they’d accessed his records. The police wouldn’t have had a chance to plan for a raid. Rudi would have shut things down. Megan rested her forehead against the cool glass of the passenger window as Elle used the fob Rachel had given her to open the security door to the private garage.
No, this way was better. She just hoped Dimitri would come to understand that.
“Come on,” Elle said after she’d parked the car in one of Rachel’s spots. “You need a cocktail.”
“After a shower.”
They climbed out of the car and headed to the elevator. Before the doors opened, Megan turned to her friend and confessed. “I was terrified I would screw the whole thing up.”
“It’s okay.” Elle pulled her into a tight hug. “It’s okay.”
And then they rode together up to Rachel’s apartment.
Chapter Twenty
Elle was right. Cocktails did help. So did the long, steaming hot shower Megan took where she scrubbed her skin red to remove the memory of the body search. Unfortunately, it would take a lot more than expensive body wash and a loofah to rid her of the memory of touching Rudi.
“When do you think the guys will calm down?” Megan sat on the edge of Rachel’s pool, sipping a blue cocktail with a cherry in it. Elle said the drink was called: She got away with it. Megan wasn’t sure the name was legit, but the taste was heaven.
“Duh, never,” Elle replied from the bar in the corner of the pool room, where she was mixing more drinks from her imagination.
“They might calm down a little when they realise how successful the operation was.” Julia sounded more hopeful than convinced. “Maybe Rachel should send them a text to let them know we have Rudi’s records. They must be worried about it.”
“Bad idea,” Elle said. “Better not to contact them until we know they’re calm and rational.”
“Which might happen faster if we keep them informed.”
The sight of Julia gently arguing with Rachel
made Megan do a double take. She was overwhelmed with a surge of pride and had to fight the urge to break into a cheer.
Elle cast a sceptical glance at Julia. “And they’ll forgive us for cutting them out of the loop, they’ll then offer to cater to our every whim and we’ll all live happily ever after.”
Julia let out a heavy sigh. “Okay, I get the point. But I don’t like shouting and there will be shouting when we see them.”
“Earplugs,” Rachel announced. “Discreet and effective. Put them in, think of something you can cope with, like puppies, and smile politely no matter what happens.”
“Helpful,” Megan said.
Rachel inclined her head. “It’s a gift.” She took another sip of the luminous blue liquid. “For heaven’s sake, Julia, put on a swimsuit.”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Julia said, as though she was being offered another cup of tea rather than being criticised. Amazingly, the tactic shut Rachel down.
Megan looked at her friend. While the rest of the women were in swimwear they’d borrowed from Rachel’s vast selection, the best Julia had managed was to take off her brown woollen dress. She sat beside the pool in her white utilitarian underwear and a full length beige slip. Seriously. A slip. Megan thought they’d stopped making those in the fifties. As soon as this mess was over she was taking Julia shopping for some lingerie designed in the twenty-first century.
Elle plopped down beside Megan and swished her feet in the water. “Don’t you worry the pool will crack and you’ll drown in your sleep?” she asked Rachel.
Rachel reclined, elegantly, on a white lounger. Her eyes closed. “No.”
“Come on.” Elle pointed at the pool. “There’s a glass ceiling between your bed and a tonne of water. You can’t tell me you don’t lie there awake at night looking for cracks.”
“I like looking at the water at night. It’s relaxing.” Rachel didn’t open her eyes, but took a sip of her cocktail.
“But you’re under the water.” Elle just couldn’t get her head around this. “It’s unnatural.”
Rachel opened her eyes. “So is your hair.”
Megan held up a hand. “Hey, remember you promised to retire your inner bitch for the evening.”
“I apologise,” Rachel said, in a tone that conveyed she couldn’t care less.
“I like my blue hair.” Elle fluffed her bob. “It’s groovy.”
“Do people still say groovy?” Julia asked.
“Julia, hon, you need to join this century,” Elle told her, mirroring Megan’s thoughts. “Retro is in again.”
Julia looked down at her slip. “I’m not very good at being in this century.”
“We can tell by your wardrobe,” Rachel said.
Elle frowned at her boss. “Don’t worry, Julia. Tomorrow we’ll take you shopping and help you out. We’ll get you a cool new wardrobe.”
“Makeover!” Megan held her glass aloft as she grinned.
“I don’t know…” Julia chewed her bottom lip.
“It will be fun,” Elle declared.
Julia blushed. “Okay. We can do that.”
“After we deal with the men,” Megan pointed out.
“Yep,” Elle said. “After we deal with the men.”
“And just how do you think you’ll deal with us?” said a baritone behind them.
Megan squealed and jumped into the pool, still holding her cocktail glass. She spluttered as she brushed her wet hair from her face, only to find Elle and Julia in the water beside her. Rachel was still lounging on her seat, her position unchanged. The woman had nerves of steel.
“Who let you in?” Rachel barked at them. “This building has security.”
“We let ourselves in. The security is pants.” A vein throbbed in Callum’s neck. Not a good sign. “Put on a robe and go deal with your concierge. He thinks we’re here to attack you.”
“Are you?” Rachel stared at the men coolly.
“No. Sort him out. We have things to discuss.”
“What’s to stop me going down there and summoning the police instead? I’m sure they’d be happy to remove you from my home.”
That vein throbbed again. “Don’t test me, Rachel.”
Megan swallowed hard. It was very clear they’d pushed the man to his limit. Even Rachel was wise enough to back down.
“Fine. I’ll be back shortly.” She grabbed a plush white robe, slipped into it, along with some designer flip-flops, and headed out of the apartment.
Megan noticed that only Callum watched her leave. Joe was staring at Julia, who was now cowering behind Elle. And Dimitri was glaring at Megan. Fury vibrated off the three men. This wasn’t good. She would have much rather dealt with them when they’d calmed down—in a couple of months. Maybe. She tried to casually glance around her, looking for an exit that didn’t take her past the men.
“Please,” Dimitri said. “Try to run. I dare you.”
Her eyes snapped back to him. The sight of his tense muscles and death ray glare made her decide staying in the water was a better plan. She wasn’t a coward by any stretch of the
imagination, but she still took a step closer to Elle. Safety in numbers and all that.
“Get out of the pool,” Callum ordered. “We need to debrief.”
Megan caught Elle’s eyes, and saw the same surprise she felt at Callum’s term. Debrief sounded very civilised. Perhaps he wasn’t that mad after all.
“By debrief,” Joe said, “he means find out why you scrapped the operation, went AWOL and put the life of one of your teammates in danger.” He pointed at Megan. “You could have been killed. You went in there alone, unarmed, to face off against a guy who’s known for hurting women. Not cool. Seriously, not cool.”
“You kept your team in the dark,” Dimitri said. “You kept your partner in the dark. You risked lives. Yours. Claire’s. Mine. Katrina’s.”
Okay, so not so civilised.
“Out. Now.” Callum’s voice was deadly low. The kind of tone no one dared argue with.
With slumped shoulders the women moved in a line towards the stairs. Dimitri grabbed a couple of towels and threw them at her and Elle as they climbed out of the pool. Julia, who had just noticed her slip and white underwear had turned transparent, was trying to cover herself with her hands while her face turned pink. Joe took the last towel, stepped up to Julia and wrapped it around her. She held it tight as she stared at his feet.
“Living room.” Callum barked.
He stepped to the side to let Megan and Elle pass. Megan could have sworn she heard his teeth grind together. They obviously weren’t moving fast enough for Joe, who picked Julia up and strode from the room with her in his arms. She squealed her protest, but Joe ignored her.
Megan caught Dimitri’s eyes and opened her mouth to explain. He held up a hand, fury emanating from his very pores. “Don’t. I’m so mad at you I can’t think straight.”
She snapped her mouth closed and hurried after the other women. By the time Rachel came back everyone was downstairs in the living room. The three women were sitting in a row on one of her huge expensive sofas, clutching their towels around them. The London skyline was behind them and the men were standing, arms folded, staring at them.
Rachel sashayed into the room and stood behind the sofa, folding her arms to mirror the men. No one said a word. A few seconds later the door banged open and Ryan ran in.
“What’d I miss?” He sounded particularly gleeful, which made all of the women frown at him.
Callum cast him a cool glance. “We haven’t started yet.”
“Cool. Time to grab a snack then.” He headed into Rachel’s kitchen.
“I didn’t say you could help yourself, Ryan,” Rachel told him and Ryan just grinned as he opened the fridge.
“Okay,” Callum said. “Before we get into how stupid…”
“Irresponsible…” Joe said.
“And dangerous…” Dimitri added.
“Your stunt was today,” Callum continued. “You four are going to start at the top. I want every detail of this plan. Now.”
Megan shared a glance with Elle. Julia was studying her feet, her shoulders hunched as she curled in on herself.
“Now!” Callum shouted.
Megan took a breath. Seriously, what was the worst that could happen here? The guys were mad, sure, but they wouldn’t hurt them, so the worst they were looking at was some shouting and posturing. She squared her shoulders. Years of dealing with her cop brother had made sure she was immune to angry posturing.
“It started when you lot decided to hang Claire out to dry,” Megan said, and all eyes snapped to her.
“And let a rapist carry on with his business,” Rachel added.
“When I signed up for this, it was on the assurance that Claire would be made safe during this operation.” Megan glared at the men. They were angry? Well so was she. “You lot broke your end of the deal.”
“I told you Claire would be safe,” Joe said.
“Eventually. The key word here is eventually. I want my sister safe now.”
“So you jeopardised my sister to make it happen?” Dimitri’s anger was barely contained, breaking through in the tight white lines around his mouth.
“Exactly the same way you jeopardised mine to get the information you needed on Katrina.”
“You put yourself at risk.” Dimitri took a step towards her. Callum slapped his palm in the middle of Dimitri’s chest. “It better have been worth the risk. You and the rest of your girl gang better not have fucked up getting the information we need on Katrina’s whereabouts.” Dimitri’s eyes were pure black.
Megan felt her indignation evaporate. She’d mess around with him over many things, but not this, this was too important. And she, more than anyone else in the room, understood his fear.
“Elle,” she said.
“We have everything,” Elle said. “My laptop is decrypting it now. We’ll know where your sister is very soon.”
The air went out of Dimitri. As though his knees couldn’t hold him, he sank to the chair behind him.
“You’re sure?” he asked Elle.
“Absolutely.”
The lines around his mouth faded as he looked back at Megan with eyes too dark to read.
She held his gaze. “I wouldn’t screw up something that important.”
“But you could have,” Dimitri said.
She shook her head. “No, not that part. All I wanted was a chance to sort out the problem for my sister at the same time as getting the information you needed on yours. Is that so much to ask? You know what I’m fighting for here. You more than anyone else.”
With a reluctant air, Dimitri gave her a stiff nod.
“How did you do it?” Callum asked. “How did you immobilise Rudi and the guards without Dimitri to help you?”
Megan glanced at her friends. “Well, Hope said if I went in there alone and played to his ego, he’d dismiss the guards to spend time with me. That’s exactly what happened. I amused him and he didn’t see me as a threat. He told the guard to leave. I drugged him and then I got the information we needed.”
There was silence. Four guys stared at Megan with identical expressions. She wasn’t sure what the expressions were, stunned maybe? Worried? Nope, it was too hard to tell. Time ticked by and still no one spoke.
Elle clapped her hands and stood. “Great, well I’m glad we cleared that up.” She gave Megan a “what the hell?” look. “How about we order pizza?” She headed towards the phone.
“Sit.” Callum ordered.
Elle didn’t argue. She sat.
“You drugged him?” Callum’s voice sounded strained.
“Yes.”
“Explain.” It was another order. Megan was beginning to get a bit cheesed off by the many orders coming her way.
“Okay,” Megan said. “It’s like this. We knew from our many, many team meetings and briefings, that I wouldn’t be allowed to take any tech into the building. So we went old school.” She couldn’t resist a grin at Elle and Julia—who was still staring at the floor. “Julia spoke to a guy she knew in the props department at the BBC. He found the coolest ring for me. It’d been used in a spy movie and was hollowed out, to hold liquid. It even had a little injector spike that shot out when you shook hands.” She couldn’t stop the excitement that seeped into her voice. So sue her, that ring was seriously righteous. “Anyway, Rachel tapped her family connections, who are in the pharmaceutical business, and we filled the ring with a ketamine and rohypnol cocktail.”
“I need to sit down for this,” Callum muttered as he perched on the edge of the armchair behind him.
“It was totally cool. The ring worked perfectly. As soon as Rudi shook my hand, it activated and he was injected with the drug. If you think about it, it was poetic. A ring to knock him out and get the ring with the records.”
“I just realised,” Elle said. “You had the ring to rule them all.”
They fist bumped.
“Holy crap.” Joe ran a hand over his head. “It’s like hearing about a train wreck after the fact.”
�
�You dosed the guy with date rape drugs?” Callum said.
“I need a drink.” Dimitri headed for the kitchen where Ryan pulled out a bottle of whisky.
Megan scrunched up her nose. “I didn’t sexually abuse him or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“No. I wasn’t thinking that.” Callum took the glass of whisky Dimitri handed him and emptied it in one swallow. “What did you do to him?”
“I secured him to his chair. And then I used the micro USB connection lead that was hidden in my shoe heel to connect to his laptop.” She grinned widely. “Julia’s friend, the prop guy at the BBC, modified my shoes for me. He did such a great job, the modifications didn’t even turn up when they ran my shoes through their scanner.”
The men just stared at her. Megan didn’t know what to make of that. In the end, she decided they were awed by the brilliance of the plan. She elbowed Elle, signalling it was her turn again.
“While Rudi was a slobbering mess,” Elle said, “Megan downloaded the information on his ring to an old MP3 player I’d modified. She then wiped the data from the ring and uploaded a virus to it that should travel through Rudi’s cloud account to his data storage unit in Switzerland.”
“Holy shit,” Ryan said. “You can do that?”
Elle stuck her nose in the air. “Of course.” She sighed. “Fine. I may have asked Harry to work on the programme. I may have told him it was a hypothetical situation. I may have made it into a challenge so he’d write the code by the time we needed it.”
Callum held his glass out to Dimitri who took it and went for a refill.
Elle cleared her throat. “It’s not that I couldn’t have written the code myself. It’s just that Harry is a freaking genius and did it way faster.”
“He doesn’t know you used his code to break into a secure facility, does he?” Callum asked.
“To be clear,” Elle said. “It’s not the whole facility, just the storage area Rudi uses. It will wipe out everything there, but it won’t spread.”
Callum took the refilled glass from Dimitri and nodded his thanks. He downed it in one go again. “Do you four realise how many international laws you broke doing that shit?”
Reckless (Benson's Boys Book 1) Page 15
