Bloody hell. He was practically stopped with his back inches from the brick wall behind him to avoid impact when the brunette got close, and she had no clue she was about to run into him.
“Hey,” he said.
She glanced up, her eyes widening when she realized she was about to collide with him, and stumbled. She tripped over her own damn feet and bounced into him.
He cursed, tried to shove her aside but she’d already gripped his forearm to steady herself and managed to knock both their phones loose in the process.
He hissed in a breath when his phone clattered a few feet down the sidewalk, then dove for it. It had incredibly sensitive information on it. He couldn’t risk anyone else seeing it.
But the damn woman was closer.
“I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed, scooping both phones up before he could reach his, and handed it over to him.
He snatched it from her. “Watch where you’re bloody well going,” he snapped, sidestepping her to look for the blonde.
A spurt of panic hit him when he saw she was already turning the corner, headed to the right. Away from where he needed her to go, and toward the closest underground station instead.
Shit!
Without giving the brunette another glance, he broke into a run, determined to lure the blonde in the opposite direction she’d just gone.
If she got on the tube, it was over. Even if he managed to follow her home without being detected, her neighborhood was too busy to attempt a kidnapping on the street, and they weren’t going to risk breaking into her flat. He liked the money, but not enough to risk getting himself arrested.
When he turned the corner, his heart sank. She was half a block up now, and there were too many people around for him to grab her.
Unwilling to give up just yet, he kept following, struggling to come up with a different plan to salvage this. Except the number of cameras and people around made it impossible.
Finally, he stopped, anger pumping through him as he watched the blonde cross the street and approach the entrance to the underground.
Fuming, dreading what Luka would do when he found out, he spun around and put his phone to his ear as he stalked back the way he’d come. That bloody idiot brunette had cost him this entire operation. “Abort,” he growled when the man picked up. “She’s gone.”
And now he’d have to face the consequences of his first failed target acquisition.
THE ASSHOLE WASN’T paying any attention to her at all as he ran up the alley after the blonde.
It always surprised Megan how oblivious most criminals were. Heaver didn’t have a damn clue that she’d just tagged his phone with a nearly invisible electronic device, and that everything on it was now being transmitted to headquarters.
Finding and tracking him here to this alley hadn’t been easy, but Amber was a tech goddess for a reason. They’d taken a risk in using the intel breadcrumbs fed to them by their shadowy source, but it had panned out. Amber had used every tool available to make this happen, putting together enough intel for Megan and Ty to find Heaver two days ago and follow him to this spot.
Amber had also started the next phase already by posing as a buyer specifically interested in Eden, sending Tarasov a picture of her and giving her location. Now that Megan had tagged Heaver’s phone, Amber’s job would be a lot easier. It should just be a matter of planting Eden in the previously specified area and waiting for Tarasov’s crew to ID her to get that ball rolling for the next phase.
Except Megan wasn’t done with phase one yet.
She waited until Heaver disappeared from view before doubling back and following him, the sheathed blade strapped tight to her calf under the leg of her jeans. She had a loaded syringe in her “purse” from Eden in case things got messy.
Not three seconds passed before Ty’s voice came through her earpiece. “Where you going?” He was tracking her via her phone from a car a block over.
“He’s following the target.” She kept her voice at a murmur so as not to be overheard. “I’m going to make sure she’s safe.”
No way would Megan desert her when this bastard and his pals were tracking her. The trafficking ring worked with tight time windows. As long as the woman got away from him right now, she should be safe and in the clear.
“Okay, but don’t take any chances if he sees you. I’ll follow as close as I can.”
I can take care of myself. “Roger that,” she said instead, knowing better than to argue about her ability to protect herself. Of anyone, Ty was the most intimately familiar with her skills. They both knew she could more than handle this asshole if he tried anything.
Near the end of the alley she turned her reversible jacket inside out and put on the hat she’d shoved into her bag earlier to change her appearance. Even though she’d literally run into him moments ago, she doubted he’d been paying close enough attention to her to recognize her with the changes.
Rounding the corner, she took in the situation within seconds. Heaver was partway up the next block with his back to her, staring after the blonde, who was now angling toward the underground station. Suddenly he stopped and looked back.
Avoiding eye contact, Megan immediately crossed the street at an angle and hurried on. He wasn’t moving, and judging from the expression on his face as he looked around, he was pissed that his prey had escaped.
She kept going anyway, positioning herself between him and the blonde just in case he decided to make a last-ditch attempt to grab her. Besides, from what Amber and some of the others had been able to piece together, a few of his buddies were no doubt somewhere close by in a van, waiting for the signal to intercept.
Heaver spun around and stalked back the way he’d come, his expression livid. Megan didn’t trust him or the assholes he was working with not to keep pursuing the woman, so she tailed the blonde down into the underground anyway, staying close to her while they waited for the next train to arrive at the platform.
There was no sign of Heaver, and no one else was watching the blonde. But Megan was seeing this through.
She stepped aboard the train and kept watch, getting off with the woman two stops later and following her to a brick, Victorian-era building that had been converted into flats. She waited until the woman was safely inside, then scanned her surroundings to ensure no one had followed before checking in with Ty.
Clear. “She’s home safe. Where are you?”
“Right behind you.”
A dark gray compact appeared around the corner ahead and pulled up to the curb beside her. The passenger door popped open before she could reach it, and there was Ty.
“Hey, dimples,” he murmured as she climbed in, leaning over to cup the back of her neck and kiss her.
Her pulse skipped, triumph and adrenaline mixing with arousal. It was so hot to know he was armed right now, especially since it was illegal here, and that he’d been watching her back this entire time.
“Hi,” she answered when he straightened a few moments later, a little breathless. “They won’t get her now.”
“Nope. But we’ll get them.”
Damn right, they would. And on that note…
She took out her phone and called her sister as Ty drove them away from the building. “You got it?” she asked Amber. By now the little device she’d stuck to Heaver’s phone should have spewed its contents onto Lady Ada.