A Love For Always (27 page)

Lassiter shrugged. “Fair enough. But you guys aren’t law enforcement. You can’t go vigilante and hunt down these guys.”

“Watch us,” Nate growled.
 

“Nate,” Travis warned quietly. His friend turned his attention to the DEA agent. “If there’s nothing else you can tell us, we can take it from here.”

Lassiter was about to say something else when a black Ford Explorer and a white utility van pulled up beside them.
 

Gabe stepped out from the SUV’s passenger side. Another guy, who looked to be six and a half feet tall and the size of a rig, rounded the black vehicle and stood beside Gabe. Nate recognized the part African American guy with Gabe as John Manning.
 

Lassiter took a step back, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “What’s this? You brought in the AGS? Were they the group that went after Yoshida?”

Obviously, Lassiter knew Gabe.
 

Gabe locked eyes with Nate. “We have information.” He then looked pointedly at the DEA agent—his meaning clear. He wasn’t saying anything else in the presence of Lassiter.

“Listen, Sullivan,” Lassiter snarled, his face flushing red at the implication that he was the odd man out. “You may be working with the high and mighty Viktor Baran, but your organization cannot operate within the homeland without government supervision.”

“You sure about that?” Gabe snorted. “If you knew Baran at all,
supervision
is not in his vocabulary. Once we take over a mission, we get carte blanche. Check your sources, Lassiter.”

“Well, I’m not going to stand by and let you take down one of my men without giving him due process.”

“Fuck due process,” Travis said. “He admitted to setting the bomb off at the restaurant the first time.”

“HE WHAT?” Nate yelled. This was the first he had heard of this. “Fuck this. You’re wasting our time, Lassiter. Get the fuck out of here and let us handle this. We will try”—he gritted through his teeth—“to bring Bowen back in one piece.”

“No dice. DEA is in on this—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Gabe said in exasperation. He turned to the big guy with him. “Manning?”

“With pleasure.” Manning yanked something from the thigh pocket of his cargos. His other massive arm locked around Lassiter’s neck in a strangle hold at the same time he plunged a needle into the side of his neck.

“What the fuck?” Lassiter was no slouch, but he was no match for the AGS’s equivalent of the Incredible Hulk.
 

Lassiter struggled a bit more, but the tranquilizer rapidly took effect. Manning easily hefted the unconscious DEA agent on his shoulder and marched to the white van.

Nate wasn’t new to AGS’s methods, but this disconcerted him. Still, he couldn’t help grinning. “You boys do realize you all just tranq’d a federal agent?”

Gabe shrugged, the corner of his lips hitching in a smile. “What can I say? Baran’s rubbing off on me.”

“Heaven help us,” Travis muttered. “We’ll deal with blowback later. We need to get your woman back.”
 

Nate couldn’t agree more.

Dr. Lester walked past the male huddle toward the white van, presumably to check on Lassiter.
 
“You boys are so much trouble,” she groused.

*****

For the most part, she was treated well. As long as she did as she was told, walked toward where she was told, she didn’t get yanked around too much. Cade handled her as gently as possible, but when he wasn’t close to her, that Shelby guy was a bit rougher. Sylvie didn’t like the look in that man’s eyes, which were ice cold blue and emotionless. His hair was so blond it was almost white. It was long and tied back in a ponytail. He was tall, but then again, Sylvie was always tiny when compared to most men. His bulky build though made him look shorter. Right now, this scary dude was babysitting her. She didn’t know where the other guys were.
 

She’d been hooded before they led her into the car. It was taken off when they got into some kind of loft apartment. The buildings around the window didn’t look familiar, but they’d been traveling for half an hour. At least she knew they were still in the Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. area.

“So,” Sylvie said, “what’s your story?”

Shelby glanced sharply at her, before his lips twisted derisively. “You don’t need to pretend you’re interested in me, you know. All we want is your father to hand over his biochemist and you’ll be free.”

“Really? Now that Cade’s been pegged, he won’t try and use me to get away to wherever rats hide when their cover is blown?”

“Harsh,” Shelby chuckled. “You have to understand. This is business. Nothing personal. I think Cade actually likes you. Said you actually cared about your employees.”

“Too bad he didn’t like me enough—” Sylvie took a deep breath“—not to sell me out to the sharks.”

“Like I said.” Shelby turned his back on her and strode to the kitchen. “It’s nothing personal. Care for a drink?”

Before Sylvie could answer, a side door opened. She didn’t know this loft joined to a separate one.
 

“We’re on in five minutes,” Cade said, entering the room.

“Five minutes to what?” Sylvie asked.

“Video conference with your father. Our man is already situated in Osaka waiting for the hand off if it occurs.”

“How can my father be sure you’ll let me go unharmed?”

“After he agrees, we’ll call Reece and have him pick you up somewhere. Someone will be transmitting the feed to your father.”

“Okay, this doesn’t make sense.” Her brows drew together. “If you return me to Nate, then my father can renege on the deal?”

“Oh, well, that’s his choice,” Shelby said gleefully, as if the thought excited him. “You see, sweetheart, timing is everything. Reece will be picking you up in open space, a park surrounded by tall buildings. A sniper rifle will be trained on your head. The hand off should happen within minutes. So either Reece finds you alive or dead on a park bench. That’s the scenario.”

“Sick.” Sylvie was shaking her head as she glanced up at Cade. “How can you even contemplate doing something like this? I trusted you.”

“Be careful who you trust, Sylvie,” Cade said softly. “Let that be a lesson.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She glared at her former employee.

Cade got down on his haunches and flicked an errant strand of hair from her face. Sylvie jerked her head away, fighting against the overwhelming urge to spit on his face. “I’m talking about Nate. You need to be careful of him.”

“Don’t try to project—”

“He didn’t tell you about me.”

“He had his reasons”

“He’s former CIA, Sylvie; they’ll always keep secrets. I don’t think you’ll ever be happy with a man like that.”

“As opposed to a man like you?”

Cade chuckled. “No. I’m just as bad as Reece when it comes to secrets, as you already know. You deserve some happiness, girl.”

“Well, I was happy until you decided to blow up my restaurant and take me away from the man I love,” Sylvie sniped.

“Ah, Sylvie, soon you’ll find out that the man you love is keeping secrets from you.”

“What are you saying?” Sylvie asked. Fingers of fear gripped her heart. For days she’d felt Nate was overcompensating for something. He was so out of character, telling her he loved her every chance he got, that she couldn’t bring herself to take the words for what they meant and say it back. But she did love him. She’d
always
loved him.
 

“I see my girl has doubts.”

Sylvie bristled. “I am not your girl.”

“Okay, we’re on,” a third crewman announced and handed Cade a laptop. The third man returned to the adjoining door and closed it.
 

“Ready to see your father, Sylvie?” Cade asked.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be wearing ski masks?” Sylvie retorted.

Shelby barked with laughter. “She’s funny, Bowen.” Turning mirth-filled eyes on her, he said, “We’re not terrorists, Sylvie. Besides, our faces will probably be on BOLO soon. We’re not keeping these faces,” Shelby said.
 

“This is getting more bizarre by the second,” Sylvie muttered.

“Ready, Sylvie?” Cade prompted again.
 

Without waiting for her acquiesce, her father’s distraught face appeared on the screen. “Sylvie! Are you all right?”

It really made no sense why people asked that question all the time when circumstances indicated the opposite. No, she wasn’t all right. She’d been kidnapped by a lunatic group who thought they could get away by simply changing their faces.
 

“I’m fine. They’re treating me well. By this I take it you’re making the trade?” she asked hopefully. From what she’d learned from Cade, the biochemist would be paid very well. The only problem was the ACS didn’t want to let go of their potential moneymaker. Her father came for her when he thought she was in danger. Surely that meant he cared very much.

“I trusted your man to take care of you,” her father said regretfully.

“Dad?” Her heart sank. “What . . . what do you mean?”

“I cannot let Toshiro leave our compound. He needs special care.”

“He’s autistic,” Shelby added.

“Well, can someone come with him?” Sylvie looked at Cade. “Your client will pay for his complete care, right?”

“Absolutely,” Cade replied, but the look of pity in his eyes made Sylvie more nervous. “But that’s not the point, Sylvie. Ask him why he cares more for his biochemist than his own daughter.”

Her father glared at Cade through the screen. “This is very complicated. I should have brought you back with me.”

“This is not Nate’s fault,” Sylvie argued.
 

“Oh, I think it is,” Cade countered.
 

“Why do you hate him so much?”
 

“I don’t hate him,” Cade said. “He thinks because of his connections, he can step all over protocol and wipe the slate clean with just one phone call to the fucking Admiral. He’s too cocky for his own good and needs to be taken down a peg.”

“You’re jealous of his success,” Sylvie whispered. “You set him up carefully, didn’t you? Made him trust you, like you had my best interests at heart.”

“This is neither here nor there,” Cade muttered. “Now ask your father why he won’t give up Toshiro. And I might add, your dear Nate knows about it, but didn’t tell you.”

Sylvie was almost afraid to ask, so she let her eyes do the talking.

Her father looked like he’d aged twenty years. He wouldn’t look at her. “Toshiro is my son, Sylvie. I can’t just hand him over. Trust is very important with his condition. If he loses that stability, he may even become useless to their client. Where would that leave him?”

Her father’s words disappeared into the ringing in her ears. She always knew her father had children elsewhere, but she didn’t think it would come down to this. And Nate knew this? How could he not tell her there was no way her father would make the trade? Was he trying to fix her problems behind her back? A surge of anger spiked toward her man, but it quickly dissipated. There was a possibility they might kill her, and she didn’t want her last thoughts of Nate to be anger.
 

Sylvie squared her shoulders, even when they wanted to slump in resignation. Keeping the tears at bay, she addressed the men in the room. She wagged a finger between Cade and Shelby. “You two knew this?”

Both men nodded.
 

“We just found out two weeks ago,” Cade added.
 

“There’s no way he’ll make the trade,” Sylvie said. “Even I can see that. What were you guys thinking?”

“Life and death,” Shelby answered when Cade just kept quiet. “Mr. Yoshida, how much do you care for Sylvie?”

Her father didn’t say anything.

“Let me rephrase. What scenario can you live with? Both children alive, but both away from you? Or you get to keep your son, but your daughter dies?”

Sylvie gasped as her eyes flew to Cade who immediately looked away. “Cade? You said . . .”

“I said I had no intentions of killing you,” her former friend said. “But if I have no choice then . . . I’m sorry, Sylvie. A point needs to be made or The Jackal Pack will lose credibility.”

“Why do you care about losing credibility among criminals?”

Shelby grabbed her chin. “Enough!” He turned his head to the screen. “What is the custom of the Yakuza, Mr. Yoshida? Finger cutting, right?”

“No!” Her father spoke in harsh Japanese, cursing Shelby and his ancestors.
 

Sylvie cringed. The blond man was bluffing, right?

“Hold her, Cade.” Shelby walked to the bureau and opened a drawer.

“Nothing personal, Sylvie,” Cade whispered in her ear as his trunk of an arm banded across her chest.
 

Her heart constricted as images of shorn fingers assailed her mind. Where did those flashbacks come from? She was three when she left Japan. Had she witnessed finger cutting before?

When Shelby returned, he unsnapped a canvas roll and laid out its contents.
 

“Do not touch her!” her father yelled through the screen. “I’m so sorry, Sylvie. Your man was supposed to protect you.”

Sylvie was not paying attention to her father. Her eyes were riveted on the sharp plier-like cutter Shelby selected from his torture instruments.
 

“You come at me with that and I will kick you in the balls,” Sylvie threatened.

“Cute.” Shelby smirked at her. “Your foot comes anywhere near my balls, Sylvie, and I will start with your thumb. You will never hold a knife again.”

“Shelby,” Cade started.

“Shut up, Bowen. You’re The Jackal and you’ve turned pussy.”
 

“I knew you’ve always wanted my position,” Cade snarled.

“No. I was fine to be your second, but you’ve lost your edge ever since you’ve gone undercover as a chef!”

Sylvie took advantage of their distraction and kicked at Shelby, except he managed to guard his crotch.
 

“Damn it!” the blond yelled, glaring at Cade. “You got her?”

“Sylvie, don’t fight,” Cade pleaded. “You’ll only make things worse.”