“But what are you doing?”
“I’m going to go give Drake what he wants. And then he’s going to tell me where your grandfather is.”
“Then should we call the police?”
God, I adored her. “Let me handle this, okay?”
“Maybe they can help you?”
This situation was way beyond any municipal police force. “I’m going to need you to stay here. You don’t answer the door to anyone. You don’t call anyone. You don’t do anything until I get back.”
“I think I should come with you.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I can help.”
“No.”
“But don’t you think—”
“Blaire. It’s not going to happen.”
She exhaled violently. “It’s so hard to wait.”
“Just a bit longer, okay?”
“Okay.”
The shot and the pill had taken the edge off the mind-altering pain, which in turn gave me renewed energy. I ate two energy bars and drank a bottle of water while I carefully packed a weapons bag, holstered my weapons, and put a dark jacket over it all.
I took a burner phone out of the closet and then locked it up again.
I turned to her. “Watch TV or sleep, but stay away from the windows and don’t answer the door.”
She rushed to me and put her arms around my neck. Her kiss was so sweet.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
I stood in the dark shadows of the abandoned warehouse and waited for Drake to show up. I could sense his men drawing in closer.
“Well, shit. I didn’t think you’d make it back here,” Drake drawled, as I stepped out of the shadows.
I didn’t answer.
His grin was sly. “How was Asia?”
“It was a shit trip, thanks for asking.”
“You know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Which practically makes us BFFs.”
“And yet I want to pound your face until you’re unrecognizable.”
He laughed. He knew I wouldn’t lay a hand on him—not while his men were present. “Do you have the drive?”
“First you call your dogs off Andrusha and his wife.”
He put his phone to his ear. “Escort our guests back home. They are officially off our radar.”
He hung up and looked at me. “Your friends will be home in about fifteen minutes. You can give them a call there.”
“I want answers.”
He shrugged. “Since our bromance is brand new, I’m feeling generous. What do you want to know?”
“Is the old man dirty? What is his role in all of this?”
“He’s an innocent bystander.”
“How?”
“The Canadian government decided to go after a broker who specializes in stealing government secrets and selling them to the highest bidder. They were running a bust, with fake information, in hopes of smoking them out. At the last hour, the courier, who was a captain of a cargo ship heading to Asia, had an unfortunate accident. That’s why they approached ol’ Grandpops to smuggle it on his ship.”
“And he agreed?”
“He didn’t have much choice. We threatened his family if he didn’t comply. But someone fucked up, and the sale, much to the anger of the broker, was called off. Unfortunately, the flash drive was already on its way to the Philippines, and that’s when things went off the rails.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I thought you said the information was fake. Why go to all this trouble to retrieve fake data?”
“That was the fuck-up. One of our agents went rogue and put some real and very dangerous information on that drive—and naturally our government wanted it back.”
“Why didn’t you just intercept the boat and search for the damn thing yourself?”
“I managed to put someone on the boat, but they couldn’t find it. There are over nine hundred containers on that ship. They didn’t know where to start looking. That’s when we decided to work with Blaire.”
“Why did you think Blaire could help?”
“We squeezed the captain pretty hard, and suddenly he admitted that the grandfather said that if something went wrong, Blaire would show up. But we weren’t sure he wasn’t just saying that to get us off his case. Regardless, it was a lead we were willing to pursue.”
I shook my head. “You know, this is why people have a healthy distrust of the government. What a complete fuck-up.”
“We made a tactical error when we sent the grandfather in alone to get the USB drive back when he was in Manila. And since it was blowing up in our face, we could afford no paper trails. We needed to send Blaire in with a skilled individual who could make it happen. You should know that your reputation—as one of the best in the business—precedes you.”
“I’ve left that life behind.”
“Sometimes that life doesn’t let us leave.”
This prick was getting on my nerves. “Who has the grandfather?”
He looked regretful. “We think the broker figured out, in part, what was going on. They still want that information—so they took the old man for leverage.”
“Why not just go get the grandfather yourself? He knows where he hid the flash drive.”
“At first, we weren’t sure where he was or even if he was alive. We decided to focus our resources on retrieving the data ourselves.”
“You realize that your logic and strategy are so flawed it’s almost laughable.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t know why you are complaining—this all worked out.”
“Who has the grandfather now?”
“The broker contracted his capture out to a third party. A particularly vicious group is holding him down at an old canning factory near the Ballantyne Pier building.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “He’s in Vancouver?”
“I found out recently that he’s been here since before you left.”
I shook my head in disgust. “You could have saved him.”
He seemed genuinely confused. “Why do you care so much about him?”
This whole situation disgusted me, reminding me of why I had left this world. “When are you sending in a team to extract him?”
He shook his head. “Nice try, but we didn’t get sign-off. Upper management doesn’t want any part of this stink trailing back to them.”
“Fucking cowards. How much time do I have?”
He shrugged. “Two hours? Maybe three? And then I think the gig will be up. Our mole will be arrested, and the broker will know the deal is over.”
I yanked off the chain around my neck and tossed it at him. It held the flash drive. “The sniper that followed us never made a move. Is he one of yours?”
His mouth tightened. “That’s classified.”
“What can you tell me about him?”
“Absolutely nothing.”
His body jerked in a familiar way before he was knocked practically off his feet. A second later, the piercing sound of a bullet whizzed by my ear.
I dove to the ground, rolling behind a large wooden box. Around me, Drake’s men shouted. Gunfire lit up the building, and the sound was so deafening it sounded like thunder.