Dangerous Protector (Aegis Group Book 5) (23 page)

“Your guy shoots me, I shoot her.”

“You do that, you get nothing.”

“We both get nothing.” Scott grinned.

Just what Marco thought. Scott wasn’t in this for the money or anything tangible.

“Make the deal,” Ghost said.

“How about this?” Marco shifted. Just a little. His gun was in the door of the car. He could grab it in a split second, but it might not be fast enough.

“The password,” Scott said again.

“You know you’ll need more than one, right? We’ve had time to do a lot of altering.” Marco put his hand on the open window.

Scott swore.

“There’s a code though. We used a list to generate all new passwords. I’m sure you know it.”

“You tell me the password and the code, she lives.”

“No, she stays. I tell you that, Fiona stays here.”

“No can do. I need her. Just like you do.” Scott smiled.

“I don’t need her. I already got what I wanted. You forget, I went into this knowing what I needed.” Marco shrugged. It was a lie, but let Scott think otherwise. “It’s a good deal, Scott. If you have the passwords and the code, I’m sure you can sort it all out. You’re good like that.”

“The guys in the car are armed. I see two guns.” Ghost must have moved closer if he could see more than just the driver. Marco didn’t dare glance around for the other man.

Scott turned and said something to the men in the SUV.

“Driver is moving,” Ghost said.

The driver got out and circled the SUV. His firearm was out of sight, but Marco assumed the man was still armed.

“Meet him halfway,” Scott said.

“Not without Fiona.”

Marco hated hostage situations. Someone was always going to lose. He might survive this, but if Fiona died… If she were hurt… Surviving might be the worst outcome.

Scott and the driver spoke in hushed tones. It appeared not everyone was in agreement.

The driver reached over, wrenched Fiona from Scott, and marched her forward.

Damn it.

Leaving the car meant being exposed. With no weapon besides the knife in his boot. He hadn’t dared keep his gun on him for fear that they’d split with Fiona before he got eyes on her.

Marco took one step and then another forward. He couldn’t look at Fiona or the fear in her eyes. He kept his gaze on the man, and Scott just over his shoulder.

They met halfway between the cars.

“Password? Code?” The driver bit off both words.

Yeah, Marco figured everyone here wanted to put a bullet between his eyes. It was great making friends.

“Can you remember this? Or should you write it down?” Marco asked.

“Tell me.”

“N, zero, V, four, B, L four, C, K.”

n0v4bl4ck.

Marco didn’t have proof.

Just a hunch.

He heard Fiona’s shark intake of breath.

“The code?”

“He’ll know it.” Marco tipped his head forward.

The driver frowned.

“That’s it. It’s the password. Scott’ll know the code when he sees the password.” Marco rocked forward on the balls of his feet.

“I’m ready,” Ghost whispered.

Yeah, Marco was sure Ghost was ready to shoot at something.

“Take her.” The driver shoved Fiona forward.

Marco caught her around the waist and dragged her close. She might hate him, but she was alive. He backed up, as did the driver, neither turning their back on the other. This was a threat Marco knew.

“Get in the car. Crawl through the driver’s side. Now.” He pushed Fiona behind him.

“Movement in the truck,” Ghost said.

The car door creaked open.

Marco grabbed the gun from the car door and pointed it at the other vehicle the same moment the guy in the back seat aimed at him.

Scott was cursing a blue streak, but got into the SUV. The driver had drawn his weapon, aiming from the hip as he circled to the front of the truck.

“Yo, Marco. Cops are headed your way. Get out now.”

“Copy that.” He dropped into the car and shoved Fiona aside. “Get down.”

Tires squealed and two shots popped off, hitting the front of the car. The hiss of air had him groaning.

Great.

They were going to have to hoof it.

“Out the other side. Go.” He didn’t have time to assure himself Fiona was okay. If they didn’t get out of here soon, the cops would scoop them up and he’d never get the chance to set everything straight.

Fiona and Marco spilled out the passenger side of the car. Scott’s SUV peeled out.

“Come on. We’ve got to go, now.” Marco grabbed Fiona’s hand and ran. “Ghost? Where are you?”

No answer.

They sprinted across the grass toward some trees, but the sound of sirens was too close. If Ghost wasn’t close enough to pick them up, they were done for. It wouldn’t go well for Marco if they were caught, not after everything else—including another stolen car.

A four-door sedan screeched to a stop at the curb.

Marco grabbed the door handle, jerked the back door open and shoved her inside, climbing in after.

“I’ve got bad news,” Ghost said.

“Save it,” Marco snapped.

Ghost stomped on the gas and the car shot forward, then took a sharp left turn. Fiona tumbled into Marco’s lap. He wrapped his arms around her, dragging her across his thighs and buried his face in her hair.

He had her back. For how long, he didn’t know, but she was here.

“Marco?” Ghost twisted to peer back at them.

“What? Just drive.”

“NueEnergy just made contact.” Ghost careened around a turn, nearly side swiping a guy on a bicycle.

“What?” Fiona yelped.

“They’ve got Danny. And they want to make a trade.”

22.

Scott’s hands shook. His
stomach churned. Sweat soaked the back of his shirt.

The suburban houses passed in a blur.

The soldier boy knew.

How the fuck did he know?

Scott had covered his tracks. Nothing should be able to connect him with his handle. He’d been careful. So how had the idiot figured it out and not Brat?

It was over. This whole ruse was done for. When they got back to the condo, he’d go out for something…and never come back. He’d found Brat once, he could find her again.

A phone rang and Scott started.

Goon #1 answered his cell, one hand on the wheel. His side of the conversation was monosyllabic.

Scott could wait until the goons were off shining their guns or something. He’d go out through the garage and hoof it to the bus stop. He had a few things stashed across town. It wouldn’t take long to get there. He’d burn this identity and figure it out from there. Yeah, he didn’t have cash, but with Brat out of his hands, and no doubt headed straight to the FBI, he had to cover his ass any way possible.

Goon #1 whipped the SUV into the rental’s garage and turned to face him.

“Lila wants an update.” He held the phone out to Scott.

Fuck. That. Bitch.

Scott swallowed and took the cell.

“Now you want to talk to me,” Scott said by way of a greeting. She couldn’t bother to answer him unless it was what she wanted.

“The passwords. Did you get them?”

“Yeah.”

“Well?”

“I’ll do a remote test, make sure we’re not triggering anything.”

“I can handle that.”

“No, you can’t. The password is a cipher only I know. I tell you, you can’t use it. Answer the next time I fucking call.”

Scott jabbed at the red button.

Yeah, it would be a cold day in hell before he breathed that name to Lila. Delivering that cipher to her was a death sentence for him.

He slid out of the SUV and stalked up the stairs.

For the next hour he’d need to appear to work, so he went to the station he’d set up on one side of the room. At least he’d planned for this. The desk was out of the line of sight from the Goon Squad’s headquarters at the front of the house and within a few feet of the stairs that led down to the garage. When the moment was right, he’d be gone, no one the wiser.

He plopped down and pecked away at a tablet he’d picked up while their access was down. Using the neighbor’s WiFi he had some maneuverability, which was great since he had a lot of groundwork to do.

“Lila wants me to help keep you focused.” Goon #1 leaned against the kitchen counter, arms crossed, staring at Scott.

“Did she now?”

“The password meant something to you.”

Scott didn’t reply. Okay, so maybe he needed to take care of the Goon Squad before he peeled out. Fewer lose ends that way, though it’d be infinitely messier. At least he’d get to work his frustrations out on something worthwhile.

Fiona followed Marco up
the flight of darkened steps and waited for him to unlock a door. She didn’t know where Ghost had gone, and wasn’t sure she wanted to. She wasn’t free. Marco hadn’t saved her; he was simply putting her in a new cage.

He held the door, and she stepped into a large, one room apartment. It was too small to be called a studio. Hell, maybe it was an office with beds against two walls, black-out curtains and a rig set up across the room.

Marco loomed over her, an imposing shadow in the dim interior. He reached for her. Her throat constricted, invisible hands squeezing the life out of her.

“Don’t,” she snapped, hugging her arms around herself. The memory of Scott’s hand was too strong in her memory. Two men she’d trusted. Two men who’d put her in danger. Two men who wouldn’t miss her if she died.

“He hurt you.”

“You did, too.” She shouldered past him, needed some space. Yes, Scott had bruised her skin, but Marco had cut her soul.

“Fiona…”

“What?” She glanced over her shoulder at him.

What could he possibly say to her now?

“I’m sorry.” Marco stood there, hands at his sides, that same unreadable expression on his face.

“For what?”

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“Don’t bother.” She rolled her eyes and turned toward the window, squinting to see anything out in the darkness.

“I should have told you the truth.” The mattress springs squeaked under his weight.

“Which truth? When?”

“What I’d done.”

“What did you do, Marco?” She couldn’t hold back the venom in her voice. She’d trusted him. Completely. And he was the reason she was in this mess to begin with. Well, most of it.

“I was supposed to pick you up at the bar on Friday. That was my plan.” The rasp of Marco’s stubble across his fingers was the only sound on the room. “Then…I don’t know. You sat down and I changed my mind.”

“Because sad, pathetic me was just too easy?”

“No. I don’t know why.”

“What about Danny?”

“That…” He sighed. “That just happened. It was a coincidence my plan coincided with his release.”

“Is he really in danger?”

“No one has seen or heard from him in days. Someone named Randy called me. Left a message. And Ghost heard it. Said he has Danny and wants to talk tomorrow.”

About her.

“Ghost told me in the beginning that someone would end up taking the fall for what we were doing. I…I didn’t listen. I didn’t think it through—”

“Because nothing matters more than your family.”

“Damn it, Fiona, I’m trying to explain.”

“You don’t need to. I get it. The company hurt your family, so you’ll do whatever it takes to hurt them back, no matter who gets the blame.”

“I was trying to undo it. Fuck.” He stood and took a single step to the other window, then back again. He was a big ban, in a tight space with nowhere to go. “Yes, I put what Ghost gave me onto your work laptop. Then Scott showed up, and we found the cameras. That was the moment I realize I’d fucked up. My plan was to…to take you away. Get Ghost to undo what we’d done. Make it right. And it’s all gone to hell. I’m sorry, Fiona, I’m so fucking sorry.”

“You should be.” She glared at him. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? To me? To…everything? I trusted you. I…”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Yes, she’d made the choice to pursue him. To go after a guy she had no business letting past her front door. And for what? A night of thrills? She hadn’t expected Scott’s betrayal, but Marco’s had blindsided her.

“You wanted my trust. You said you were protecting me. When really, all you wanted was to use me for your own…” She opened and closed her mouth. For his own gain? To fix his family? Fuck, she didn’t know but it hurt.

“I was protecting you. I am protecting you, Fiona.” Marco took a step toward her.

“No, you were using me, Marco.” She held up her hands. The last thing she wanted was for him to touch her again. She was barely holding herself together.

“It was wrong,” he said.

“You’re just now figuring that out?” She laughed, but the sound was hollow. Bitter.

“No. I knew it was the wrong thing to do from the beginning, I just…I made a mistake. I didn’t think anyone would get hurt. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“You think?”

“Fiona…”

“I don’t care, Marco. I just can’t. I need…I need to get out of here. I need to call the Marshalls’ office and sort this out somehow.”

“Scott is Nova.”

She pressed her hands over her ears, still not ready for that. If he was, then let the Marshalls have him. If not, then she just wanted to burrow into a new identity, become someone else who didn’t fall in love with heartless men like Marco.

Fiona sucked down a breath that shook her whole body.

She’d known better than to fall for Marco. He’d told her not to. But her heart didn’t listen. She couldn’t control it. And look where that’d gotten her.

On the run and hiding from her own shadow.

Marco’s hands stroked her shoulders.

She yearned for and dreaded his touch.

He pulled her into his arms, and she buried her face against his chest, even though his touch branded her. She was his, damn it, and he didn’t want her. Not like she wanted him.

She hated him. Hated what he’d done to her, how he’d used her, and that she’d opened up to him about the truth. Her real truth. And it’d been a mistake. The whole thing was fake. A lie. All those moments they’d shared were an act. She’d fallen for a version of Marco that didn’t exist, but for this moment, for this second, she wanted that lie to hold her. To tell her it would be okay, even if that too were a lie.

Marco closed his eyes
and squeezed Fiona. He doubted the moment would last, but for as long as she’d let him, he was going to hold her, damn it. Things were going to hell, and all he knew was that one way or another, he was going to get her out of this.

The door swung open and Ghost stepped in.

Talk about bad timing.

Fiona’s head jerked up, and she stepped away from Marco, glaring at him. Seems he wasn’t forgiven after all. Not that he expected to be. If she hated him forever she’d be within her rights.

“We’ve got problems,” Ghost said.

“What now?” Marco flexed his hands. He was in the mood for a problem he could punch.

“I’m pretty sure we had a tail from the park.”

“What?” Marco stared at Ghost. And he was only now mentioning this?

“I lost them, but we might want to move.” Ghost crossed to the window and peered out.

Fiona sat on the edge of the bed, her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands.

“Let me see if I get it all straight,” she said. “Your cousin is being held hostage by my former employers. My ex is…you think my ex is really Nova. And now we’re being followed by someone else. Is that it?”

“Mostly, yeah.” Ghost pulled the curtains together a bit more. “I bet the tail was NueEnergy. Their set-up is more…sophisticated than what Scott has to work with. Those guys with him are no joke, though. My money’s on ex-Special Forces. Makes me wonder who Good Global has working for them who could get guys like that on short notice. Someone with connections.” Ghost wasn’t really talking to them anymore. More like at them.

“What is it everyone wants? Me?” Fiona’s face creased, and damn if Marco didn’t want to squeeze her again.

“The guys behind NueEnergy want you silenced and what they think we stole.” Marco sat on the other bed since he couldn’t go to her.

“And Scott?”

“I think Good Global is in over their heads.”

“They wanted me to sort the files,” she said. “They said they were feds, trying to put together a case to charge NueEnergy for…something.”

“Smart play, but Scott isn’t the law. Maybe someone behind the scenes at Good Global knows someone or is trying to spin it so they can cover their asses by turning NueEnergy in, but they aren’t the feds.”

“No. I can’t believe I fell for that.” She covered her face.

“Not to break up the pity party, but we’ve got to decide what we’re doing.” Ghost jerked the power strip out of the wall, cutting the electricity to the monitors.

“I’ve got to find Danny. See if they really have him, or if they’re bluffing.” Marco grimaced. His cousin was a fuckup, but he didn’t deserve to get dragged into this mess.

“I have to contact the Marshalls,” Fiona said.

“The guy in the message said he’d contact you tomorrow about Danny.” Ghost leaned against the table loaded with monitors. “You can contact the Marshalls if you want, but they aren’t going to be able to do anything to help you.”

“You don’t know that.” Fiona frowned.

“Government agencies have miles of red tape. Doing something ‘fast’ is a six-week process at best. Until they push the paper through, you’re fucked and on your own, but hey, if you want to try that route, be my guest.” Ghost shrugged.

“Thanks for the input. I think I need a phone.” Fiona’s smile was all teeth.

“Have we been monitoring her phone?” Marco needed to diffuse this situation before one of these two caught fire and burned the place down.

“Yeah. Some guy named Eric called. He’s with the Marshalls. You know him?” Ghost asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I know Eric. What’d he say?”

“He was calling to schedule a meeting with you.”

“Great.”

“In a few weeks.”

“Shit.”

“Call him in the morning,” Marco said. “If they can get you somewhere safe, we can figure out the rest of this.”

“She’s the one everyone wants.” Ghost gestured at Fiona.

“Which is why she needs to get out of here.” It was time Marco put Fiona first. She’d suffered enough because of them.