The man straightened and turned toward them, pushing a thick mop of curly black hair from his dark face. “I clean,” he said in heavily accented English. “I do trash.” He pointed at the can.
“You’re not supposed to pick up the trash today,” Delaney said, enunciating each word slowly. “Didn’t your boss tell you?”
The man gave him a puzzled look. He probably wondered why a red-haired giant was telling him not to do his job. “Was at my sister house. My ride no come, so I come myself.” He smiled.
“No,” Delaney said. “You no come today. Understand?”
She spotted a flash of white in the man’s gloved hand and addressed him in Spanish. “Qué tiene usted?”
His brown eyes snapped to hers, widening. “I find,” he answered in English, holding up a sealed white business envelope with a piece of tape dangling from the edge. “Just now. On top of trash can.” He pointed again.
Delaney snatched it from his grasp and flipped it over. He turned his back to the worker to face Nina. Without a word, he held up the envelope to show her what was printed on it.
WARRIOR GIRL
Pulse pounding, she lurched forward to grab it from Delaney. They looked at each other for a long moment.
“Should we open it?” Delaney said in a low voice.
“Hell yes.”
The evidence techs wouldn’t be happy, but there might be something time-sensitive inside. She would take the ass-chewing later. Right now, they needed information. She slid a finger under the flap and pulled out a white index card. Delaney peered over her shoulder as she read.
ONE IF BY LAND, TWO IF BY SEA
Nina remembered the famous phrase from history classes. “That was from the night of Paul Revere’s ride, right?”
Delaney nodded. “They were supposed to light one lantern if the British were attacking by land, two lanterns if they were crossing the Charles River.” He frowned. “Why would the Cipher bring that up?”
“Paul Revere,” Nina said. “His house is one of the stops on the Freedom Trail. We’ve got to notify the EOC.”
“Hold on a sec.” Delaney paused with his hand halfway to his earbud. “The lanterns were lit in the steeple of the Old North Church. Another stop on the Trail.”
Leave it to a Boston native. “Good point,” she said. “You go ahead and advise the EOC, I’ll try to get more info from the Public Works guy. He might be more chatty in Spanish.”
Delaney walked away to use his comm without drawing attention. As soon as he moved, Nina saw that the Public Works employee had vanished. She had been so intent on the envelope she hadn’t seen him leave. They would need his information and a formal statement.
Cursing herself for not telling him to stay, she jogged along the sidewalk, scanning the area. She spotted the man’s bright vest two blocks down cleaning trash in an alley and picked up her speed. He must not have understood Delaney about not picking up trash today. Or perhaps he didn’t believe him.
“Disculpe,” she called out to the man.
He appeared not to hear and kept moving, disappearing between two buildings.
She raced after him, rounding the corner where she’d last seen him.
A fist shot out from her left, delivering a stunning blow to the side of her head. She stumbled, trying to regain her footing. She saw the yellow Public Works vest only as a blur before the man circled behind her to wrap his arms around her, covering her mouth with his gloved hand.
When he bent his head to whisper in her ear, his English had no accent. “You won’t get away this time, Nina.”
Even after eleven years, she knew that voice.
Chapter 20
The Cipher drew in a deep breath, inhaling her unique scent. Nina’s fear intoxicated him. Aroused him. Primed him. He tucked her tiny frame against his chest and felt her heart race like the wings of a hummingbird. The solution to his puzzle had been posted online only three hours ago. He had not expected her to arrive in Boston so quickly.
This was not how he had planned their reunion. She was making a habit of displeasing him. He would have to teach her another lesson. See to it that she learned obedience before she died.
He tightened his hand over her lush lips, silencing her and immobilizing her head at the same time. He clamped her upper body with the other arm, crushing her harder against him. She sank her teeth into his index finger. Fortunately, the thermoplastic rubber knuckle guard prevented her bite from penetrating his tactical glove. He felt her jaw working, trying to chew her way through the reinforced fabric. A chuckle escaped his lips. She struggled, exciting him again. His little Warrior Girl wanted to fight. Good.
Her arms slid behind her, inching between their bodies. Before he realized what she was doing, her hand found his crotch. She grabbed his balls through his pants, squeezed with surprising strength, and twisted with a violent jerk of her wrist.
Breath flew from his lungs in a loud blast. He tried to master himself, but his knees buckled. She didn’t let go, twisting sharply in the other direction. Yielding to the pain, he shoved her away, finally breaking her grip. Doubling over, he sucked in air, his hands involuntarily clutching between his legs. She would pay dearly for this.
She spit out a piece of nylon string torn from the glove. “Down on your knees.”
He lifted his head to see the muzzle of her semiautomatic aimed straight at him. The gun didn’t waver.
She narrowed her eyes. “Hands behind your back.”
The bitch had no way of knowing what it was like to have your nuts rearranged and clearly didn’t understand that he couldn’t put his hands behind his back if he wanted to. Which he didn’t. He would not kneel at her command. In the end, she would kneel before him. She would pray to him, but he would not grant her salvation.
He beat back a wave of nausea as the pain threatened to overwhelm him. “Can’t.”
She kept her weapon trained on him with one hand and raised the other to her ear, no doubt preparing to call in the cavalry. He was out of options. She had become yet another adversary in the cage. About to defeat him.
He would not allow it.
Pushing through the agony in his loins, he planted his feet and launched himself at her. Time slowed. The instant he exploded forward, she squeezed the trigger. In a split second he felt the devastating blow of a hollow-point round thudding into the center of his chest.
He collapsed.
She rushed toward him, eyes traveling the length of his body. “Stay down. I’ll get rescue.” She started for her earpiece again.
Whether she contacted them or not, police would locate the source of the gunfire in less than a minute. He had studied the capabilities of the Boston PD before he made his plans. He had one final play. Nina had no way of knowing he wore body armor.
He flung out his foot, executing a perfect leg sweep. Her feet flew up in the air, and she crashed down onto the hard pavement beside him, winded. Her gun slid across the alley to clatter against the brick wall well out of reach.
Before she could recover, he rolled on top of her, his bulk preventing her from getting sufficient air to scream or fight. He brought his face so close to hers their lips nearly touched. “Not yet, little Warrior Girl, but soon. Very soon.”
In that moment, he wanted her more than he had wanted anything else in his life. She was just as he remembered and yet, so much more. He wrapped his hands around her slender throat, the terror reflected in her wide eyes a thing of beauty. “You will be mine again,” he whispered.