“Why?” she asked, staring at him. Then it hit her. “Of course. You’re not working for MI6. You’re working for the other guys.”
“I’ve been working for both for a long time,” he said. “Sometimes you have to do what you have to do, just to stay alive.”
“So you’re a double agent,” she said. “Jesus. Only me. Only in my world could things get so messed up.”
He smiled and said, “It is what it is. Now let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the docks,” he said. “We’ll meet at the rendezvous area.”
“What’s the point of that?” she asked.
“I have to make sure that they didn’t get out somehow,” he said. “If they did, and she’s there, I have to recapture her.”
She stared at him. “So that was all part of the plan? Wait for Shane to see if he succeeded? If he did, grab her again, squeeze her father down a little bit more, take out everybody involved, and then walk away?”
“I’ve been trying to walk away from this nightmare for a long time,” he said. “This is the perfect opportunity.”
“Unbelievable,” she said.
“Now,” he said, “grab your bag and let’s go.” She picked up her bag, still swearing, when her phone vibrated slightly. She looked at him and asked, “Can I go to the bathroom?”
“Yes, but don’t close the door.” She rolled her eyes at that, then walked in quickly, used the bathroom, then trying to send a quick message. But even as she typed it, the phone was ripped out of her hand.
“That’ll be your last freebie,” he said calmly.
She glared at him. “And what? You’ll just kill me?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I should have popped you before, just to make sure that you wouldn’t be a problem, but I know he wants leverage, so this is my answer.”
“Great,” she said, swearing. But now that she didn’t have a phone, she couldn’t send the needed intel to Shane. “Let’s go see who won the battle, your guy or my guy,” she said. “Hands down, I’m saying my guy.”
“Good,” he said. “Then I can take everybody I need and get out of this.”
“You’ll never get out of it,” she said. “You’re in too deep.”
“Which is why I’m working so hard to get out,” he said. “Sometimes things just snowball.” He led her away, the gun in his pocket, smiling at the early morning staff, as he took her down to the basement of the hotel.
“What if I cry out?” she asked, in a conversational voice. “I mean, just out of curiosity.”
“Well, whatever attention you attract,” he said, “that’s fine. I’ll just have to kill them too.” At that, she fell silent because she knew instinctively that he would. “Were you involved in the shooting in New York?”
“No, of course not,” he said. “I wouldn’t dirty my hands with that. That was another team entirely.”
“Oh, I see. So there’s honor among thieves. You only kill when you need to?”
“Something like that,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry about it though. This won’t be your day.”
“Hasn’t been my week yet,” she said.
“Too bad lover boy didn’t leave you back in New York,” he said.
“We didn’t think it was safe,” she murmured.
“You know something? It probably wasn’t, but it’s not very safe for you here either.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think he thought it would be this bad.”
“Well then, he didn’t look at every contingency, did he?”
“No, I think he was trying to get along with MI6,” she muttered, “but they just stabbed him in the back.”
“I’ll have to come up with a really good way to make sure my ass is covered.”
“Sure. Like what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll convince them that you were a part of all this from the beginning.” He gave her a smile that made her blood run cold, as she stared into his dead flat eyes.
The trip was hard, fast, furious, and completely in darkness. Nobody inside made a sound. Even outside, driving with the lights off during a full moon, they slipped through the city and headed for the docks. Only as they arrived, the engine idling, staring around from the back seat, did Aleah ask, “Is it safe?”
He twisted to look at her, the pain evident in her face. “Yes,” he said, “at the moment anyway. How are you doing?”
“It’ll be hours yet,” she said, her hands on her belly.
“You mean, you hope so.”
She gave a broken laugh. “This is not how I intended to give birth,” she said. “On the other hand, I’m not a captive all alone in that nasty-ass apartment,” she said. “So, for that, I thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, “but we’re far from done yet.”
“I get it.” She took a long slow deep breath, and he watched as the movement shifted up and down her body.
Shane looked at Diesel. “We need to get moving.”
Diesel nodded. “I’ll go ahead and scout things out,” he said. “We should have a boat waiting. I’ll give you the signal.”
“Okay,” Shane replied.
Diesel slipped out of the truck, closed the door with a nearly silent click, and disappeared from sight. With their bags ready, Shane opened up his side and carefully helped Aleah out of the back seat.
“How long until the next one?” he asked.
“Hopefully a long time,” she said. “They’re getting worse.”
“I hear you,” he said, “but hang on, until we can get you on the ship.”
She laughed. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It’s not easy at all,” he said. “I get that. I’ve never been in this position, and I understand it’s not easy on you.” He smiled. “I’m just asking you to do what you can to help us get you there.”
“I’ll do anything I can to save my child,” she said.
He hesitated, looked at her, and said, “I didn’t ask, and nobody said, but who is the father?”
She smiled a gentle smile. “Renault. A good man,” she said. “Hopefully he’s waiting for me, but I have no idea.”
“Does he know anything about this?”
“I don’t know. He was in the military but was deployed before I was taken. I have no way of knowing what he knows and couldn’t trust anything my captors would tell me anyway.”
“Would your father have told him?”
“Never. He didn’t approve.”
“Got it,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean that Renault’s still not the best man for you.”
“I would take him in a heartbeat, if I could,” she said. “He’s one of the most honorable men I know, which puts him in a completely different class from all the men my father associates with.”
“And your father himself.”