Cops 02 - Love on the Run (24 page)

He walked toward her. Bianca tried to move away from his touch, but the guards held her steady. “I must say, you and Parker have impeccable taste in women,” he murmured as he trailed his fingers down the opening of her top. He made a point to stop and caress her breasts along the way.

“Fuck you, you pathetic piece of shit.” She spoke through clenched teeth, her hatred for him making her see red.

“And she’s the perfect balance as well; an innocent angel on the outside, a filthy slut on the inside.”

“I hope you enjoyed yourself just now.” Tony’s voice was deadly calm. “You make sure you hold onto that memory, because you’re going to be taking it with you to your grave very shortly.”

Before Dimitryi could respond, the door opened again, and a new guard entered. The man’s heavily accented voice floated across the room, but Tony couldn’t understand the Russian words he spoke. Once he’d finished speaking, a huge grin suddenly spread across Dimitryi’s face.

“It seems that Parker and his wife have arrived in Vegas, and they should be at the house shortly.” He motioned for everyone to leave. At the door, he turned to Tony. “I’ll give you two a chance to be alone for the last time, while I leave to prepare for my latest guests.”

Jack stared out the window of the SUV he and Clarke rode in and watched the Nevada desert roll by. They’d been met at their gate by two men who confirmed that they’d been sent by Captain Reyes.

He turned his attention away from the scenery to study Clarke. For a woman who was completely terrified of planes, she’d done remarkably well. Even after all this time, she still managed to amaze him.

His cell phone vibrated, and Jack shifted to pull it out of his pocket. “This is Parker.”

“Jack, this is Agent Matt Sullivan.” Jack hadn’t spoken to the FBI agent since they’d worked together to rescue Clarke when she got kidnapped months ago.

“Listen carefully, Jack.” Matt spoke urgently before Jack could say a word. “You’ve been set up. The men you are with aren’t there to help you. They work for Dimitryi Ivanov.”

Jack was grateful for the sunglasses he wore; otherwise, every ounce of fury and betrayal he felt would be on display for everyone to see.

Jack saw the driver glance at him in the rearview mirror, and he knew that he needed to say something quick before they got suspicious. “How’s it going, Pops,” he lied. “Yeah, Mexico is beautiful.”

“I take it they’re watching you,” Matt observed.

“Oh, you know it.” Jack put as much false cheerfulness into his voice as he could muster, when all he really wanted to do was kill each of the bastards with his bare hands.

“We’re en route to intercept your vehicle. Our ETA is about five minutes. Do you have a weapon?”

“Of course. She’s always by my side.” He looked at Clarke, who stared at him in curiosity. Jack was sure she knew something was up. They’d talked to her father just before they left their hotel in Mexico and filled him in on what was going on. “Good. You’re going to need it. Stay alert, Jack. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” Matt disconnected the call, but Jack kept talking.

“No problem. I’ll give Clarke a kiss for you.” He hung up and leaned over to kiss Clarke on the cheek.

“Something’s wrong.” Her voice was only a hint of a whisper in his ear. Jack nodded slightly. He held on to Clarke, trying to stay calm for her sake while fighting his own increasing unease.

It seemed as if hours had gone by before Jack finally noticed a car pull alongside their SUV. He caught a glimpse of someone in the passenger seat who looked a lot like Matt. Jack was still trying to figure out if he was correct when the car suddenly sped up, cut in front of their SUV, and slammed on its brakes.

Jack barely had time to register what was happening when the loud and jarring impact of metal crashing against metal had him bracing his feet firmly against the floor to keep Clarke and himself from slamming into the front seat.

The airbags in the SUV deployed when it crashed into the vehicle in front of it, and that seemed to stun the men long enough for Jack to pull his gun.

“Get down!” He shoved Clarke to the floor of the vehicle as he fired his gun, putting a hole in the back of the man’s head sitting directly in front of him. Jack immediately changed the focus of his aim to the man in the driver’s seat.

“Don’t you fucking move!” he yelled, barely hearing the sounds of smashing glass as agents broke windows and forced the doors open.

“It’s Matt, Jack. Are either of you hurt?” Jack kept his weapon trained at the man’s head until an agent forced the man from the car. He finally lowered his weapon and reached for Clarke. She wrapped herself around him, clinging desperately, her body trembling against his.

“You okay?”

She nodded. Jack glanced over her shoulder at Matt. “We’re good.” He helped Clarke from the SUV and into the back of another waiting car. Another agent sat in the driver’s seat.

Matt climbed into the passenger seat.

“What the fuck is going on, Matt?” Jack demanded as the car drove away. Matt turned and looked at him over the seat.

“I know you have a lot of questions, but let’s hold off on them until we get you to the safe house.”

“I’m not holding off on shit until you tell me if you’ve found Tony and Bianca yet.”

Insistent, he refused to back down until he knew for certain they were both safe.

Matt sighed heavily. “We don’t have them yet.” He held up a hand to ward off Jack’s next comment. “But we know where they are. We have an agent working undercover who’s confirmed seeing them, and we should have them very soon. I promise you.”

*

Tony leaned against the wall next to Bianca and stole a brief kiss, needing to feel connected to her, even if he couldn’t actually hold her in his arms like he so desperately wanted.

Bianca leaned back. “Oh, God, baby, are you okay?” Her worried gaze moved over him like a caress, and he felt soothed by the love and concern he saw in her eyes and heard in her voice.

Tony’s head throbbed like a son of a bitch, but there was no way in hell he’d tell her that. Instead, he leaned over and kissed her again. “Don’t worry, baby.” He tried to sound reassuring. “I’m fine.”

The sound of someone at the door made Tony lean his body in front of Bianca. The cocktail of drugs that bitch, Elizabeth/Reggie, had given him still lingered in his system, and they made his body feel sluggish and unsteady. With his bound wrists and ankles, he knew he was virtually defenseless, making it next to impossible to protect himself against an attack.

But he would gladly give his own life in order to save hers.

In spite of his weakened physical condition, Tony’s mind was incredibly focused and fueled with a burning need for revenge. As he glanced at Bianca, trying so hard to be brave and not reveal just how terrified he knew she must be, Tony promised himself that before this was all over, he would personally see to it that Dimitryi paid for every second of pain and suffering he’d caused her.

The door finally opened, and the guard who’d notified Dimitryi of Jack and Clarke’s arrival slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. He quickly walked toward them, pulling a knife out of his belt along the way.

“It’s okay, I’m a friend.” The heavy accent he’d spoken with earlier was completely gone. “My name is Tomas, and I work with Agent Sullivan.” He squatted down in front of them. “Hold tight.” He made quick work of cutting through the duct tape securing their ankles and feet.

Tony flexed his arms and legs, wincing in pain as circulation began to move through his limbs again. After a brief moment, he slowly stood, his legs shaky, and helped Bianca to her feet. She wrapped her arms around him, and he held on as tight as he could.

“We need to get outta here right now.” The man’s voice was tense and urgent. “It won’t be long before Dimitryi figures out that your friends aren’t on their way here like I said. And when he does, he’ll be looking for all three of us.”

“If they’re not headed here, where are they?” Tony asked.

“Don’t worry. Matt has them. They’re much safer than we are at the moment.” Bending down, Tomas lifted his pant leg and removed a gun holstered to his ankle.

“Here.” He held the weapon out to Tony. “Take this.” Tony tucked it into the waist of his pants and concealed it with his shirt.

“We’re in the basement of one of Dimitryi’s clubs, and we have to get back to the ground floor in order to get out.” Tony and Bianca followed the man toward the door when it suddenly flew open.

“Going somewhere, Tomas?” Reggie walked into the room. Three guards followed closely behind her, their weapons drawn.

“Dimitryi asked me to get them ready for transport.” Tomas’s accent was back as he slipped into his role. But Tony could tell by the look on her face that Reggie wasn’t buying any part of what he’d just said.

Tony had been in enough of these situations to recognize when things were about to go from really bad to totally fucked up in the blink of an eye, and he had no intention of allowing Bianca, Tomas, or himself to end up on the receiving end of any of it.

He was easing the weapon from underneath his shirt when he saw Reggie give Tomas a slow smile.

“I don’t think so,” she said calmly, and Tony had just enough time to push Bianca out of the way before he opened fire. His bullets found two of the guards, and he pointed his gun at the third guard who now had Tomas pinned to the floor.

Before he could take a shot, the sound of bullets flying past his head from the doorway drove him to the floor. He crouched down behind one of the support beams in the room as he returned fire in that direction until the man cried out in pain, and the hallway became silent.

Tony had been so focused on eliminating the guards that he’d lost track of Reggie, never realizing that she’d moved into position behind him until it was too late. He felt hard, cold steel press against the back of his head.

“Say good night, Tate.” Tony never had a chance to feel the fear of dying before he heard shots, and the gun at his head suddenly disappeared. When he looked down, he saw Reggie’s dead body on the floor next to him.

“Good night, you fucking bitch.” He stared up at Bianca in shock. He didn’t know when or how she’d managed to get hold of a weapon, but there she stood, a gun clutched in her hands as pure hatred burned in her eyes.

Tony stood and went to Bianca and pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, baby…it’s over.” She had a death grip on the gun, and it took him a moment to convince her to let it go.

“You did so great.” He spoke soothingly, kissed her gently, and finally managed to get the weapon away from her. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I had to stop her.” He heard the slight quiver in her whispered words, felt the tremor in her body. “She killed Jazmin, she wanted to kill you. I couldn’t let her hurt you, let her…” “Shh, I know.” Tony held her face between his hands. “You saved my ass, baby.” He looked into her beautiful green eyes, shining brightly with unshed tears. “Thank you…love you so much.”

“Guys, we gotta go before Dimitryi gets back and brings more guards with him.” Tony glanced at Tomas over Bianca’s head and nodded.

“You’re right.” He urged Bianca toward the door. “Come on, baby. Let’s get the fuck outta here.”

Once they were out of the room, Tomas locked the door and led the way down the hallway. Tony covered the rear, and they kept Bianca safely between the two of them.

They reached the stairs and ran up the flights until they reached the emergency exit door on the ground level.

“There should be a car waiting for us once we get outside. When I open this door, it’s going to set off the alarm, and that will bring a shitload of security from inside the club this way. So we gotta stay close and move fast. Otherwise, they’ll be all over us before we can get clear of this place and reach our ride outta here.”

Tony smiled grimly. “Then let’s do this.” They each grabbed one of Bianca’s hands, and Tomas wasted no time pushing the door open. The sound of the blaring alarm had them all wincing as they ran from the club into the dry heat of the Nevada night.

As soon as they were outside, they tried to blend in with the crowds of people on the street, moving as quickly as they could without drawing too much attention to themselves.

They’d walked about a half block when they heard a piercing whistle, and they looked in the direction of the sound. “Yes!” Tomas’s face split into a huge grin. “Let’s go!” They followed as Tomas zigzagged in and out of people and traffic until they reached a minivan parked across the street. The side door slid open, and they all quickly piled inside the van as the driver pulled away from the curb. Tony held Bianca in his lap, refusing to let her go, even for a second.

“Yes, sir, we have them.” One of the other agents in the minivan was speaking on a cell phone. “Everybody okay?” he asked. Tony looked at Bianca. Even bumped, bruised, and disheveled, she was still the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

“You good, baby?” He rubbed a smudge of dirt off her cheek and placed a kiss on her hair. She nodded, and her grip on him tightened slightly as if she never wanted to let him go.

And that was more than fine with Tony.

He looked at the agent. “Yeah, we’re fine.”

“They’re okay.” The agent spoke into the phone again. “Our ETA is about fifteen minutes.” He disconnected the call and looked in their direction.

“I’m Agent Tim O’Neil, and this” — he motioned toward the man driving the minivan — “is my partner, Agent Jeremy Connors. It’s good to see everyone alive and in one piece. We’re headed to a safe house now. We should be there shortly.” “What about Jack and Clarke?” Tony asked.

“Matt is taking them to the house as well. We’ll debrief once everyone arrives.”

“Hey.” Tomas spoke to Tony. “You did damn good work back there.”

“Thanks, man.” Tony reached out to shake Tomas’s hand. “So did you. You can cover my ass anytime.”

“It seems to me like you already have the perfect person for that job.” Tomas grinned at Bianca.

“She is pretty incredible, isn’t she?” Tony smiled at a blushing Bianca.