Show of Force

by Elle James

  Mack’s heart stopped for a moment.

  But the bullet hit the wall instead of Riley’s head. She broke free of her captor’s grip, rounded behind him and kicked at the back of his legs. His knees buckled and he fell to the floor. Riley grabbed his wrist, the one holding the gun, and twisted it up behind his back. He held on as long as he could, until the gun fell from his grip and clattered to the floor.

  A shout rose from the man holding Toby, and he dropped the boy to the floor. He shook his hand, where a bright red bite mark appeared.

  Toby scrambled on all fours toward Mack.

  The man who’d been holding him dived toward the kid, snagged his ankle and yanked him back.

  Mack launched himself across the room and drove his fist into the man’s face.

  The thug released his hold on Toby and brought his fists up to defend himself against Mack’s furious onslaught.

  As he fought Toby’s captor, he could see Riley in his peripheral vision. She’d jumped on the back of the man who’d threatened to kill her and her brother and held his arm tightly up between his shoulder blades.

  Declan pushed through the door, scooped the boy up into his arms and handed him off to Mustang, who’d arrived behind him.

  Mack threw a punch to his guy’s gut.

  The man doubled over as Mack brought up his knee, jamming it into his face. Then he grabbed the man’s collar at the back of his neck and sent him flying behind Mack into Declan.

  Declan sent the man facedown on the floor and planted a knee in his back.

  Mack swung around, kicked the gun out of Riley’s prisoner’s reach and smiled down at her. “You make it hard for a man to save you.”

  She nodded. “I don’t need a man to save me, but it’s nice to know you could.”

  Declan cinched his guy’s wrists with zip ties and handed a couple extras to Mack. He and Riley secured her prisoner and left him lying on the floor.

  Mack helped Riley to her feet and into his arms.

  Gus and Snow appeared in the doorway.

  “The rest of the building is clear,” Gus said.

  “We found a body in another room. An older woman. No sign of struggle, but possibly poisoned. She had foam in her mouth.”

  Riley laid her head against Mack’s chest. “The woman was Margaret Weems. My nanny.”

  “Your nanny?” Declan asked, his brow furrowed.

  Riley nodded. “She was my handler.” She shook her head. “I never knew. I thought she was the kind older woman who always lived next door to my parents. She was my surrogate grandmother. And when my parents died in that car wreck, it was natural for me to hire her as Toby’s nanny.”

  Mack’s chest tightened at the sorrow in Riley’s face. “Who poisoned her?”

  “She did it herself.” Riley twisted a ring on her finger that hadn’t been there before. “She helped me to escape. I think she was tired and wanted to go out on her own terms.” She lifted her chin toward the men tied up on the floor. “They would have killed her anyway.”

  Mack brushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

  Riley rubbed her hand over her arm. “I’m okay.”

  He could tell she wasn’t, but he refused to argue. Not when they might still be in danger. “Let’s call the police and get them to clean up this mess.”

  “Better yet, let’s call the FBI,” Riley said.

  “Are you sure?” Mack asked. “We could get you as far away from this as possible before we let them in on what’s going on.”

  Riley shook her head. “No. I’m ready to face them. I’ve lived with this hanging over my head for so long, I need to deal with it, no matter the consequences.”

  Mustang entered the room, carrying Toby.

  Riley smiled at the child and held open her arms. “Toby, sweetie. Everything is going to be all right.”

  The boy fell into her arms and buried his face against her neck. “I was scared.”

  “I know. So was I. But you were so brave.” She kissed the top of his head. “Would you like to come live with me in the city?”

  He lifted his head and stared into her face. “Yes, please.” Toby kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her neck.

  Mack’s heart swelled at the love between the brother and sister. Riley would do anything for the kid. Even lay down her life for him.

  She looked at him over Toby’s head.

  Mack held his arms open.

  Riley stepped into them, still holding Toby. Mack wrapped them in his embrace and held them, praying he could do this for a lot longer. Maybe the rest of his life.

  Declan stepped out of the building to get good cell phone reception to place a call to Charlie, who made the call to her contact in the FBI. Within twenty minutes, several unmarked vehicles arrived to process the scene in the abandoned factory.

  Mack waited in fear of the FBI taking Riley prisoner and escorting her to an undisclosed location where they would interrogate her.

  But they didn’t. They thanked her for being an upstanding American citizen and doing the right thing, despite the odds stacked against her. She’d still have to answer questions, but she wasn’t going to jail or a detention facility to be interrogated.

  Two hours after the incident, Mack sat with Riley on a concrete step outside the old factory, with Toby asleep in his lap.

  “What’s going to happen from here?” he asked.

  Riley shrugged. “I don’t even know whether or not I’ll be allowed to work at Quest anymore.”

  “Seems to me you’re one of the most patriotic people in this country, despite what your parents and handler had in mind for you.”

  “You see it that way, but I doubt Quest will. They will learn that I was a trained Russian spy. They won’t look beyond those words.”

  “My mother always told me, ‘Don’t borrow trouble.’” He slipped an arm around her shoulders. “You worked with the FBI to find out who was stealing secrets from Quest. Surely Quest will take that into account and let you stay on.”

  “I hope so. I’m Toby’s only support. I need my job.” She leaned into the curve of his arm. “What’s going to happen to us? Now that I have Toby back, you’ll move on to another assignment for Charlie.”

  “I’d like to see you still.” Mack glanced down at the sleeping boy on his lap. “If you and Toby will have me around.”

  Riley wrapped her arm around Mack’s waist. “I’d be sad if you didn’t come around. I’ve been so busy being a provider and part-time parent to Toby, I forgot what it was like to be just me.”

  “I’d love to have the chance to learn who you are and be a part of Toby’s life. I think my brother would have liked him. He’s a fighter, this kid.”

  “Thank you for not giving up on us,” Riley said. She leaned up in his arms and brushed her lips across his. “I think I could get used to having you around.”

  Mack’s heart warmed. Surrounded by Riley and Toby, he’d never felt more complete. Since his own brother’s death, he’d gone through life trying to prove to himself and the memory of Aiden that he was worthy of the life he’d been granted and that had been stolen from a little boy.

  He didn’t have to chase after that proof anymore. But he vowed to be a part of Riley’s and Toby’s lives. And he would do his best to make sure they had the long, healthy lives they deserved.

  Epilogue

  Riley sat on the arm of the chair beside Mack in Charlie’s living room. The team of Force Recon marines sat in a circle of sofas and chairs with Charlie at the head of the group.

  Toby was in the kitchen with Charlie’s chef, making cookies for all of them, happily chattering away to a master chef like he was his best buddy.

  Riley rested her hand on Mack’s shoulder. A week had passed since Margaret’s death and the subsequent arrests of Steve
Pruett, Tracy Gibson and the six men who’d been involved in Riley and Toby’s abduction.

  “I’ve worked with my contact in the FBI to clear Riley of all suspicion.”

  “Did you mention she’d been sent to assassinate you?”

  “I did,” Charlie said. “I also told them she didn’t go through with it and never would. Riley is a true-blue American, despite her training as a Russian sleeper spy.”

  “And they bought it?” Riley asked.

  Charlie nodded. “My dear husband wasn’t the only one who had tight connections with the FBI. I have my own contacts, and they assured me you would have no trouble obtaining clearances and continuing your work in the Special Projects division at Quest.”

  Riley smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Halverson. I was worried about how I’d provide for myself and my brother if I lost my job.”

  “Rest assured,” Charlie said, “I also had a talk with one of the members of the board of directors at Quest. Though Steve Pruett, Tracy Gibson and Bridgett Paulson were arrested, I understand Ms. Paulson is out on bail to be with her children.”

  “Who offered to bail her out?” Mack asked. “I got the impression she didn’t know anyone who could afford that kind of money.”

  Charlie shrugged. “I don’t keep up with all the ins and outs of every investigation. I’m sure someone came up with the money. The poor woman was conscripted into the service of the Russians under duress. Like most women, she would do anything to protect her children, even set out electronic surveillance devices in her place of employment and pass on the orders and the packet of money to Steve Pruett to kidnap a child. She didn’t know what was in that packet until Pruett dumped the boy in her lap.”

  “I’m surprised they let her out, and that they didn’t take her children away from her,” Riley said.

  “I’m betting someone of influence had a lot to do with Ms. Paulson’s bail being set low. She’ll probably get off on her part in the kidnapping and the bugging of your office.”

  Charlie sighed. “She did, however, lose her job. But I have it on good authority she has an even better position that doesn’t require her to work at night. She was able to place her children in a reputable day care and she’ll be home with them every night.”

  “Again, I can’t imagine who made that happen.” Declan shook his head, his lips quirking upward.

  Grace stood behind where he sat, her hand on his shoulder. “Charlie, you’re too kind.”

  Again, Charlie shrugged. “What good is money if you can’t help out other people less fortunate?”

  “I’m glad Bridgett and her children won’t suffer because of what happened. She was merely a pawn in a larger game.” Absently, Riley twisted the ring on her finger. “I’m just sorry Margaret decided she’d had enough and took her own life.” She stared down at the ring on her right hand. “She left me this ring with the strangest request.”

  Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “What ring?”

  Riley slipped the ring from her finger, crossed the room and held it out to the widow. “Her last wish was for me to look for the meaning of this ring and I’d know what to do.” She shook her head. “I did a Google search on the ring and found the symbol to be a pattern called a trinity knot. The inscription inside the ring is in Russian.”

  “Can you read it?” Mack asked.

  Riley snorted. “My parents were Russian, but in their effort to Americanize me, they refused to speak Russian in our house. I can’t even read a word of Russian.” She turned to Charlie to take the ring.

  The older woman’s face was pale, her eyes rounded, and the hand holding the ring shook. “I’ve seen this before. I know this ring.”

  Riley frowned. “Did you know Margaret?”

  Charlie shook her head. “No. But I knew my husband. Or at least I thought I did.” She took the ring and left the room, hurrying to another part of the house.

  Riley frowned, her gaze following the widow until she disappeared down a hallway leading toward the master bedroom.

  Mack stood and slipped an arm around her waist. “What do you make of her response?”

  “I don’t know what to make of it.”

  “Do you suppose Mr. Halverson knew Margaret?” Riley’s roommate, Grace, asked.

  Riley shrugged. “Apparently, there’s a lot I didn’t know about the woman I regarded as my surrogate grandmother. I thought she was just a nice old lady. Not a Russian sleeper spy handler. I wish she hadn’t taken her life. I have a million questions I would have liked to ask her.” She gave her roommate a sad smile. “I considered her a member of my family. She probably knew my parents even better than I did.”

  “She obviously cared about you and Toby, or she wouldn’t have set you free in that basement,” Mack noted.

  “True. Now I’ll never know the true extent of the underground spy movement.”

  “Perhaps the ring is a key to what more can be found,” Grace suggested. “One of our classmates in college studied Russian. I think she went on to be a professor at one of the colleges here in the DC area. We could see if she can translate the inscription.”

  Riley nodded, wondering if Charlie would return the ring to her. The woman had been gone for several minutes with no sign of returning.

  “What did you find out about the men in the factory basement?” Mack asked Declan.

  “Charlie’s contact in the FBI ran a background check and facial recognition software on them. They were Russians here on expired visas. They traced them back to connections with the Russian spy network. They were known for some pretty heinous torture treatments against the motherland enemies.”

  Riley shivered, her body remembering the shock of the electric cattle prod. She was very fortunate the marines had found her sooner rather than later. Though Margaret had helped her to escape, she wasn’t so sure she’d have made it out alive if Mack and his team hadn’t arrived when they did.

  She leaned into the strength of his body, thankful he’d been Charlie’s bodyguard at that gala. Riley truly believed fate had brought them together. And if at all possible, she hoped they could stay together for a very long time, getting to know each other better. Her body warmed at the thought of getting to know Mack’s body better, knowing it would be a challenge with Toby living with her. But she was up for the challenge and couldn’t imagine a life without her little brother.

  Mack had been to her apartment several times since the incident in the old factory basement. Toby had taken to him immediately. Apparently, the boy had needed a strong male role model in his life.

  Riley couldn’t think of anyone who better fit that mold.

  Moments later, Charlie reappeared with another ring. This one was bolder and broader. A more masculine version of the one Margaret had given Riley.

  It had the trinity knot symbol on top and the same inscription inside, всегда и навсегда.

  Jonah stepped forward. “We could enter the phrase in an online translator,” he suggested.

  Everyone in the living room followed him to the computer lab Mr. Halverson had constructed prior to his death.

  Jonah sat at his keyboard, booted the computer and waited. When the monitor blinked to life, he quickly selected a translation application, switched the keyboard to Russian and keyed the letters of the inscription.

  A second later, they had their answer.

  Always and forever.

  Riley shook her head. “I still don’t know what it means. And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it.”

  “I’ll ask our classmate to research the rings and the inscription,” Grace said. “Maybe she will come up with something more specific.” She tapped her chin, and her brow lowered. “Come to think of it... I swear I saw something in one of the files I looked in when I was in your old boss’s office at Quest. There was a file marked ‘Trinity’ in the cabinet in his office. I didn’t thi
nk much of it then, but perhaps it has something to do with the ring, since it has the trinity knot on it.”

  Riley stared at her friend, her thoughts going beyond Grace’s pretty face. “It’s all too coincidental.”

  “I don’t believe in coincidence,” Mack said.

  “I’d like to know what they all have to do with each other,” Riley said. “I can visit Emily Monday morning when the university is open and I might find her in her office.”

  “You’ve had enough excitement for a lifetime. Why not let one of the others check into the rings?” Charlie suggested. “No one will be watching them or expecting them to go on the hunt for ring meanings.”

  Riley wanted to follow through on everything to do with the rings, Margaret’s assignment and anything else tied to her connection with the Russian trinity knot rings.

  “Toby needs you. If you start digging into the rings and their meaning, you might put him at risk again.”

  Charlie nodded. “Mack will be with you and the child until we’re certain you aren’t going to be taken again to be retrained and brainwashed. I’d feel better if you didn’t go after the rings and their meanings.”

  “Me, too,” Mack said.

  Riley’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “But it’s my life. It’s the reason all of this happened in the first place.”

  As if on cue, Toby entered the room with a tray almost as big as he was, piled high with several different kinds of cookies. He was followed by the chef, who carried another tray with a large pitcher of lemonade and glasses filled with ice.

  Riley took one look at the little boy’s beaming face and knew she couldn’t drag him into the fray again. Toby deserved a normal life where he wasn’t being kidnapped or tortured by people who would use him as a spy in their own selfish or political machinations.

  “Okay,” Riley said quietly. “I’ll leave it up to you to assign someone else to research the rings.” She handed the rings back to Charlie and bent to Toby. “What have you got here?”

  “Cookies,” Toby said, a smile spreading across his face as he attempted to set the tray on a coffee table, nearly dumping the cookies on the floor.