The Temptation

by Cheyenne McCray

  Karl’s patience was nearly non-existent as he waited.

  A door closed in the background. John no longer spoke in a whisper as he said, “I would never plot to kill you.”

  “Don’t fuck with me.” Karl’s tone was hard. “Let me fill you in on a little secret. Should anything happen to me and I should die in any way, I’ve arranged for all data and photographs to be released to every major news service. Careers will crumble and lives will be shattered. That includes yours.”

  He thought he could hear John swallow. “You don’t have to worry. That won’t happen.”

  “I am not concerned.” Karl put ice cold into his words. “But I may have to teach you another lesson. You need to learn what happens when you fuck with me.”

  “Really, that’s not necessary.” John’s tone had raised a notch with a slight edge of panic.

  A knock and a woman’s voice in the background. “Who is it?”

  “Nothing.” John cleared his throat and spoke louder. “Go back to sleep.” When it was quiet again, John lowered his tone. “I’ll do anything. Just don’t kill anyone else or release the photos. Please.”

  Karl smiled to himself. “Oh, you’ll do whatever I tell you to do.” He had no doubt about that.

  Chapter 18

  X marks the spot

  Ryan, Nick, Zane, and I met in the sitting room of our suite early the following afternoon. Georgina hadn’t checked in with any one of us and I was starting to get concerned. But she was an excellent agent and knew how to handle herself. We just needed to give her more time.

  “I’m sure Bachmann’s operation is being run out of that penthouse.” I sat cross-legged on the couch, my elbow on my knee and my chin resting in my hand as I thought over the problem. “Now to get in there and find out.”

  Zane thrummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “That’s going to be tricky.”

  “But it has to be done.” I had just taken a shower and I pushed damp hair from my brow. “We may have to come at it from the outside.”

  Nick looked thoughtful. “You may be right.”

  Ryan leaned back in his chair. “That or pull the fire alarm.”

  “Or better yet, both.” I raised my head. “We pull the fire alarm, distract Bachmann, and have enough time to rappel to the penthouse windows before emergency crews arrive and anyone notices us.”

  “That should do it.” Nick nodded. “We’ve got the gear in the van.”

  “Everyone have black to wear?” I asked. “And balaclavas?”

  Zane grinned. “What self-respecting spies wouldn’t pack black with masks?”

  “Arm yourselves and prepare for the worst,” I said. “We just need to watch out for our sister and get her out of there.”

  Wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt, Zane brought up our gear in a suitcase. Nick and I were already dressed in black and had on black gloves. I hadn’t put on my balaclava just yet—I’d wait until we were on the roof. My Glock was holstered on my right, in a sheath on my left was a folding knife, and I had pocketed a glasscutter.

  Zane went to the stairwell door to the penthouse and waited there. Nick and I went to the rooftop and secured our rappelling gear and pulled on our balaclavas. We each took a different side of the penthouse and waited for Ryan to trip the alarm when we gave him the signal. The moment the alarm started blaring, we went over the edge.

  My breathing came fast and hard. I didn’t dare look below at how far it was as I eased down the side of the building to a picture window. I had to pick the right window or I’d lose the element of surprise.

  The curtains weren’t drawn. Apparently Bachmann—or whoever was in here—wasn’t concerned about anyone looking in from the top floor. I peered into a window on one side of the column and saw a bedroom. On the other side of the column was another empty room.

  I chose the empty room on the right and pulled a glasscutter out of my pocket. Glass squeaked as I cut in a deep, large X, weakening the glass.

  “Ready?” I said into my earpiece as I stuffed the cutter back into my pocket.

  “Affirmative,” came Nick’s voice.

  “It’s a go,” Zane responded.

  “On my count.” I took a deep breath. “One…two…now!”

  I pushed away from the building and swung toward the window with the X, feet first. My feet hit the X dead center. The glass shattered and sprayed the room. At the same time I swung into the room I released my line, allowing my feet to land on the floor. I disengaged and in seconds I had my Glock in a two-fisted grip.

  No sounds came from the other side of the door. I opened the door and saw that the room was still empty, then slipped inside.

  The alarm was blaring and I hoped that it had masked the sound of shattering glass.

  With the barrel of my Glock pointed up, I slipped into the next room, made sure it was clear, then hurried to the next door and listened. This time I heard talking.

  “You should just leave her here,” came a man’s hard voice.

  “And have the authorities find her when they come through?” The answering voice sounded angry but I wasn’t sure if it was Bachmann or not. “Are you an idiot? Not only could she identify me but she will also come in quite useful. Of that I am sure.”

  Rori. They have to be talking about Rori.

  “I can kill her,” the first man said.

  “No.” The other man answered in a growl. “We need her.”

  My heart beating like crazy, I slowly opened the door and saw that I was looking into a sitting room with furniture covered in slate gray and gold fabric. Two men, one with a ponytail and the other about Bachmann’s size, had a woman between them and were dragging her toward the front door of the penthouse.

  Rori. The woman was my sister.

  She was struggling but the man who was Bachmann’s size put the muzzle of a gun to her head and she stopped trying to get away. “Fight me anymore and I will be done with you.” It was definitely Bachmann’s voice, his Swedish accent strong. At the same time I saw that a piece of his ear was missing.

  Definitely Bachmann.

  I had my weapon trained on him. I could blow his brains out right now. But he had a gun to my sister’s head.

  “Bachmann.” I stepped out of the bedroom, my gun raised and still aimed at his head. “Let her go.”

  “Lexi Steele.” He turned and faced me, Rori still in his grip. I wouldn’t have recognized him if it wasn’t for his voice, he looked so different. He sneered as he brought Rori around, gun pressed to her temple. “You can take off that mask. I know it’s you.”

  “Lexi?” Rori said in disbelief. “That can’t be her.” Tears stained her eyes and I wanted to kill Bachmann now.

  I didn’t take off my mask. I didn’t budge. “Let her go.”

  The ponytailed man covered Bachmann as he moved toward the door.

  “Now is not the time.” Bachmann said as he eased out the door with Rori. Zane would be out there and I hoped he could do something.

  I pointed my weapon at Ponytail as Bachmann disappeared through the front door. Backing up, Ponytail started to follow when Nick stepped into the sitting room. Now we both had our weapons trained on Ponytail but Bachmann was gone.

  With no hesitation I pulled my trigger and Ponytail went down, a bullet through his brain.

  Nick jogged to my side and we headed through the front door. The stairwell door was closing and Zane stood there looking pissed as Bachmann and Rori disappeared from sight.

  “I couldn’t get to him without the danger of him shooting Rori,” Zane said.

  “I know,” I said, fury in my tone. “Same here.”

  Bachmann had to take the stairs because the elevators couldn’t be used when a fire alarm was tripped. I started to head toward the stairwell but Zane shook his head. “He said he’ll kill her if he hears the door opening and he’ll leave her body behind.”

  The thought send a sick chill through my belly.

  “Ryan is still out there.” I pulled off
my balaclava and Nick and Zane removed theirs. “Ryan, have you been getting all of this?”

  “Already ahead of you.” Ryan’s tone was hard. “I’m on my way to the stairwell now.”

  I wanted to say, “Be careful,” but I knew it wasn’t necessary.

  Sounds of emergency vehicles and shouts came from around Ryan over the earpiece.

  “Shit,” Ryan said. “They won’t let me in.”

  Nick, Zane, and I carried our balaclavas so that we could ditch them in the first trash receptacle we came across and we pulled out our shirts to cover our pocketed weapons.

  We took off down the stairwell. Bachmann had likely had enough of a lead that he wouldn’t be able to hear us coming down the stairs. We all wore athletic shoes, too, and didn’t make a lot of noise just as we had been trained.

  “They’re coming out,” Ryan said when we were about halfway down the stairs. “I don’t see a weapon but I think he’s got it pressed to her back and is using his body to shield it.”

  “Follow him,” I said as we ran faster down the stairs.

  “On it,” Ryan replied. “He’s going for a cab so I’ll follow him in the van.”

  Emergency crews were still arriving as Nick, Zane, and I burst out of the hotel and into the open after ditching our balaclavas. My eyes blinked against the brightness of the sun.

  “Where are you?” I said over the earpiece to Ryan.

  He gave us a play-by-play as he followed the cab. We got into the car that we’d rented at the airport and had parked with a police placard on the dashboard. We removed the placard and headed in the direction that Ryan and Bachmann were going, Nick driving.

  “I think I lost him.” Ryan sounded furious. “Damn it.”

  My heart sank as Nick slowed the car. “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “I’m still driving but I don’t see a cab with that license plate.”

  I leaned back against the passenger seat. My face was flushed not only from running down twenty flights of stairs, but from anger as well. We’d screwed up. Now what would Bachmann do?

  We arranged with Ryan to meet him at a rendezvous point. Zane, Nick, and I were quiet on the drive, each of us lost in our own furious thoughts.

  Chapter 19

  Rotten to the core

  My phone rang just as we reached the rendezvous with Ryan. As we sat in the car, I looked at the caller ID screen. It showed “Blocked Caller”.

  “I think it’s Bachmann.” I stared at the phone, afraid to answer it.

  “Go ahead, Lex.” Zane met my gaze. “She’s okay. I’m sure of it.”

  I answered the phone. “This is Lexi.”

  “Your stunt at the hotel nearly cost your sister’s life.” Bachmann’s voice was cold but even. “It still might.”

  “Just tell me what you want.” I tried to keep my tone calm. “Please don’t hurt her.”

  “I want you to meet with me,” Bachmann said. “But if you bring anyone with you, or anyone follows you, I will start chopping off her fingers, one by one.”

  “No.” The word was sharp as I spoke it. “I’ll meet you and I won’t bring anyone with me.”

  “And you will come unarmed.”

  I gripped the phone hard. “I’ll come unarmed.”

  “I will call you soon.” Bachmann’s voice dropped an octave. “I am looking forward to our next chat.”

  He disconnected the call.

  “We won’t let you go alone.” Nick’s eyes were narrowed.

  “I don’t have a choice.” Frustrated, I pushed my hand through my hair. “I need to get to Rori.”

  “We’re not making any trades.” Nick’s voice was hard. “We’ll find her.”

  “He’s right, Lex.” Zane studied me. “We can’t do that.”

  I didn’t answer. We’d blown our chance in the hotel earlier. Would we have another?

  We ate sandwiches at a deli while we waited for my phone to ring again. I didn’t feel like eating but Nick threatened to pin me to the floor and force-feed me and my brothers echoed that threat, so I gave in. Didn’t mean I liked it. But inside I knew I needed to because I had to keep up my strength. I just had to get something down.

  When my phone finally did ring, it was Georgina.

  “Where have you been?” I asked.

  “It’s complicated,” Georgina said. “We need to meet and talk in person.”

  Twenty minutes after I told her where we were, she showed up at the deli. She looked exhausted but as beautiful as always.

  “What happened?” I asked her.

  “Rough night.” She gave an ironic smile. “Rough client.”

  I frowned. “Didn’t you knock him out or something before anything could happen?”

  She shook her head. “The bastard took my phone and purse and tied me to the bed. I had to go along with him to play the part.” She lifted up her sleeve, revealing a huge bruise. “He was on the rough side. I’ve got plenty of these to show for it.”

  My brothers and Nick scowled. Ryan narrowed his gaze. “Give me his name and I’ll take care of him.”

  Georgina shook her head. “It’s all part of the game.” She raised her hand before anyone could say anything else. “You need to hear what I have to say.”

  We were quiet as Georgina took a deep breath. “I’m not positive how he’s involved, but Charles Carter is a part of this whole mess.”

  “RED’s SAC?” I looked at her with shock.

  She nodded. “He was with one of the call girls. Fortunately he didn’t see me but I got a good look at him.”

  “That would explain how Lexi was found,” Nick said, his gaze furious.

  I stared at her in disbelief. “That must be why the operation was shut down.”

  “And why we weren’t allowed to use RED resources to locate and rescue Rori,” Zane said.

  “You don’t think Oxford is in on it, do you?” Ryan asked.

  “Never.” I shook my head. “Our ASAC is one of the most moral people I know and I could tell she wasn’t happy with what was handed down to us. She was just following orders.”

  “And that’s not all.” Georgina paused. “The man I was with last night was the President’s Chief of Staff, John Maldonado.”

  This time the shock was so great that everyone stared at her. No one said a word.

  “Shit,” Ryan finally said. “No f’n way.”

  Georgina nodded. “It was definitely him.” She pushed hair off her forehead and another big bruise was on her temple. “And he is an animal in private. He’s nothing like the cool, calm, and rational appearing man that we see in public. He has an absolute ruthless side.”

  I realized my mouth was still open from the surprise. “This is worse than we thought. Much worse.”

  Nick had a cold look in his eyes and Zane was shaking his head. “Just how deep does this go?” Zane asked.

  “He likes to talk,” Georgina said. “He went on about how I and ‘the rest of the whores’ should be grateful to him or we wouldn’t have a job. Every time he hit me he’d tell me I should be on my knees, thankful for everything he gave me.”

  Ryan looked like he was about to come out of his seat.

  Georgina spoke like it was all part of the job. She was smooth and professional and one of the strongest women I’d ever known. But something told me that this particular job bothered her more than any other she’d been on.

  “John Maldonado and Charles Carter.” Zane shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

  “Not to mention the two other politicians I saw who went into Bachmann’s penthouse,” I said. “Who knows what parts they all play in this mess?”

  After we finished discussing everything, we headed to a different hotel. We didn’t want to take the chance of running into any of Bachmann’s men who were now no doubt aware that I was around. Not to mention the break-in and the dead man in the penthouse. Law enforcement would likely be all over the place and we didn’t have RED to cover up anything.

  We checked into a hote
l—not quite as ritzy, but still nice. Ryan went back to the other hotel to recover our things because he’d been in the van the whole time and likely no one would recognize him.

  Bachmann still hadn’t called back.

  When Nick and I were in our room, I rubbed my arms with both hands. My skin felt like ants were crawling all over me and I wanted to squirm.

  “Why doesn’t he call, damn it?” I paced the length of the room that had a king-sized bed. “He’s had plenty of time.”

  “Let me see your shoe.” Nick sat on the edge of the bed and held out his hand.

  I frowned but took off my right athletic shoe and handed it to him. He stuck something between the treads.

  “A GPS transmitter.” He handed the shoe back to me and I looked at it. The device looked like an ordinary pebble stuck in the treads. “Should be undetectable according to our gizmo guys at RED,” Nick added. “Just in case.”

  I sat on the bed next to him, still holding my shoe. “You worry too much about me.”

  Nick placed his warm hand on my thigh. “Maybe I do.”

  I glanced at his hand on my thigh. “I can’t let anything happen to Rori.” I raised my head and looked at Nick again. “I’ll do what it takes, even if it’s just a slim chance.”

  “You can’t help her if you’re dead.” A hard look was in his eyes.

  “I don’t know what else to do.” I found myself with my head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around me and held me close.

  In all my years, after everything I’d been through as a sniper, an assassin, and a RED agent, I’d never felt so helpless as I did right then. My sister was in the hands of one of the most evil and ruthless men the world had known and I didn’t know what to do about it.

  “I’m not going to let him hurt you or Rori.” Nick’s voice was low, his breath warm against my ear. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

  I turned my face to him and the shoe tumbled out of my hands as he kissed me.

  It was a kiss filled with the kind of passion that came from love. Not the I-want-to-have-sex kiss, but something genuine and real that made me feel solid inside. Whole. A feeling I had never experienced before.