Diamonds Are Truly Forever: An Agent Ex Novel 2 (16 page)

“It was combined with a jab in the thigh by a Kubotan.”

“Out with it, Stace.”

She hated it when he used that soft, sympathetic tone. It made it harder to leave him. “Em stabbed him with a syringe full of something, probably digitalis, when he came to my aid. At least, I think digitalis is what it was. Grimley had a heart attack and died. I’m assured it will all look perfectly natural to the coroner.” She served him some chicken and passed him the pasta as if this were normal dinner conversation.

Drew frowned and grabbed her wrist, squeezing it for reassurance as she held the pasta plate out to him. “Grimley’s an infamous assassin. I thought he retired years ago. You’re really okay?” He looked at her with concern shining in his eyes.

She shrugged. “I’m fine. You should have seen me run when Grimley threw that Brazilian wandering spider at me. And heard my ear-piercing scream.” She laughed softly.

Drew didn’t smile back at her. “I’m sorry about this shit. I really am. Emmett hasn’t briefed me yet. But I’ll get to the bottom of it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He squeezed her wrist again and released it. “Who was Grimley working for, does the chief know?”

She shook her head and set the pasta down. “Em tried to find out, but Grimley died without talking. Em doesn’t know. He’s looking into it. I told him it’s probably the Bevil. I mean, who else would try to scare me and kill me with spiders?” She shuddered. “Em said anyone could make it look like the Bevil is after me. He told me to tell you about the incident.”

Drew looked thoughtful. “That’s it?”

She nodded. “That’s all I know.” She changed the subject. “The exterminator came today. He left his card.”

“Have you been in the guest room yet to make sure our old friend is dead?”

She shook her head. “No, not yet.”

“I’ll do it.” Drew pursed his lips as she passed him the salad. “How was lunch with your mother?”

Now he wanted details? Better late than never. It was nice of him to ask.

“Oh, you know, the usual with her—drama. She thinks Sam is having an affair. She wants me to spy on him for her.”

Drew sputtered. “She suspects Sam’s having an affair and she wants
you
to spy on him?”

“Yes, me. Who else?”

He looked as if he was about to laugh.

“I’m glad to have lifted your mood.” She shook her head. “Don’t look so stunned. I can do it.” His lack of faith piqued her. “I already have a plan. I got a job as a temporary office assistant at Attitude so I can keep an eye on him and pick up any office gossip. I start on Monday.”

“What?” He was about to come out of his chair. “I thought we had a plan to keep you safe here at the town house.”

“Oh, come on. Attitude is completely safe, much safer than sitting around here. They have tight security, including guards on the premises. They’re a defense contractor. They have to take security seriously.”

He sighed and she knew she’d won that part of the argument.

“And as for Sam, office affairs are on the rise. The office is practically an affair incubator. It seems logical to see what he’s up to there.”

“Sam, having an affair?” He looked and sounded skeptical.

“Yeah, I know, who else would have him? But there it is. My mother is suspicious.”

“You’ve spent a lot more time with him and your mom since we separated. Have you noticed anything suspicious?” Drew asked.

“You mean, do I think he’s having an affair?” She pursed her lips and thought about things. Sam had been acting differently this past year. “He
is
gone a lot more often than he used to be. And he spends a ton of time and money on that boat he bought a year ago, the
Attitude and Latitude.

“He takes chances, going out in rough surf and bad weather like he’s auditioning for
Deadliest Catch
or something. Most men have a midlife crisis and buy a fast car. Sam’s that way with his boat.

“He’s meticulous and finicky with it, too. You need his permission to go on board and heaven help you if you touch the wrong thing or open the wrong drawer. It’s his version of a man cave. Even Mom’s not allowed.

“I’ve been out fishing with him a time or two on it, but I’ve never seen any signs of another woman. It’s not the kind of boat made for seduction.”

Drew frowned, looking as if he didn’t like what he’d just heard. “You’re really going to be spying now? It’s dangerous stuff, Stace.”

“I thought you’d be pleased. I’m finally taking an interest in your line of work.” She didn’t understand his concern. “It’s just keeping an eye on Sam. And I have you around to help and give me pointers.”

He arched a brow. “You want my help?”

“You are the expert.”

“Can’t argue with that,” he said.

“Good. We can start tomorrow. I need a few gizmos.”

“Stace, no.”

“Every spy has gizmos.”

“No.” He shook his head.

“Bond has gizmos. Maxwell Smart has gizmos. I bet you have gizmos.” She studied him closely as she twisted her napkin in her lap, but he didn’t give away whether he did or didn’t.

“Thinking of you with gizmos gives me a headache,” he said.

“If I can’t have gizmos, I’ll need weapons,” she teased.

He gave her a deadpan stare.

“I heard there’s an excellent spy supply store in downtown Seattle. I thought we could go there tomorrow and you could help me pick a few things out. You know, Q-type devices for the job.”

He looked deep in thought and didn’t answer.

“I can go by myself.”

“No.”

She snapped her fingers. “Still tied to the old ball and chain. If that’s the case, it’s either we sit here and stare at each other or go do something fun.”

“Real spies don’t go to spy supply stores,” he said.

She shrugged. “You’ll be the first. At least no one will suspect your true occupation. When you think about it, it’s a great cover.”

He squinted, looking as if he was deep in thought. “Yeah, sure,” he said finally.

That went well.

“I rented a few movies to watch after dinner,” she said casually.

He nodded, still looking deep in thought.

“Which would you rather watch first—
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
or
Red
?”

He sputtered. “Interesting choices. Did you pick those out yourself?”

She shrugged and smiled. “I had a little help. I thought we could use some humor around here.”

She tried very hard to not break out laughing again. But it was either that or cry.

CHAPTER NINE

“Are you going to be okay by yourself tonight in the guest room?” Drew asked Staci, sincere in his concern.

She took the movie out of the DVD player and put it in its plastic case. “I think I’ll survive.” The look she gave him meant she’d rather be alone and would probably lock her door.

Not to worry. He had no intention of jumping her bones again. Damn her.

“Sure?” he asked, half hoping she’d relent and sleep with him again. After the incident in the grocery store, he wanted to know she was safe every minute.

She lifted her chin, a dead giveaway she was using defiance to cover her fear. “According to Gary the Exterminator’s note, all the big, bad spiders should be dead. Gary seems very reliable. I’m sure you did your due diligence and made sure he has an A-rating.”

She headed up the stairs for bed, pausing a few steps up. “Be ready to go by ten tomorrow. I want to get to the spy store early.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said. In the past, when he was home, off duty, and between missions, he liked to sleep in. It was practically the only sleep he ever got.

Staci knew that. She liked to rise earlier than he did. In happier days, she used to get up and make him breakfast, then come back to bed and tease him awake with a message and sex. He was certain she was getting back at him for what they’d done on the sofa earlier. It hadn’t been all his doing. She knew that.

Staci eyed him warily, nodded, and headed up the stairs. A few seconds later he heard her in the bathroom, running water, probably brushing her teeth.

He jumped up and grabbed the two DVDs she’d rented. Sure enough he spotted NCS’s QR code sticker on the back of
Red.
Personally, he thought the theme of the two movies—assassination and elimination—was a message in itself. He grabbed his cell phone and snapped a picture of the QR code sticker.

It took him to a website advertising movie snacks. NCS used a bunch of these sites as dummies and decoys in case anyone else checked the QR code. He captured a picture of a bag of popcorn from the website, ran it through the steganography decoding software on his phone, and came up with another QR code, which he ran through a software decoding program, which pointed him to another website. He typed in his password of the day and came up with an incident report on Staci’s attack in aisle five.

Thaddeaus Grimley had been one bad dude. In his heyday, he’d been an expert sniper and poisoner, a SMASH assassin. Knives had never been his thing. He was responsible for killing more than a dozen CIA agents over the years and at least two hundred civilians. Not so great a feat by today’s standards when terrorists and psychos took out thousands at a time. But Grimley killed one at a time, and had never been caught or convicted.

Almost ninety, he hadn’t been suspected in any killings for over a decade. Like the Morgan Freeman character in
Red,
he’d been pastured and put in a nursing home. Redmond Valley Nursing Home, to be precise. It was conveniently located five blocks from the grocery store where Staci had been attacked. Apparently, Grimley, who was legally too blind to drive, had taken the nursing home bus to the store along with the other residents who needed to pick up a few items.

Emmett had seen Grimley try to prick Staci’s right thigh with something. So much for Staci’s assertion that Grimley was feeling her up. Though he may have been doing that, too. Staci swatted Grimley’s hand, knocking the vial away before Grimley could inject it. He’d then gotten a knife on Staci’s neck before Emmett could reach her.

Grimley must have been desperate, or simply reckless with old age and overconfidence, to think he could get away with slitting someone’s throat in broad daylight in a store full of patrons.

Drew frowned. Either that or Grimley was terrified of failing and would rather risk being caught than not succeed.

Drew tried to shake off the thought—RIOT was after Staci. Really after Staci. Stalking her. Following her. They knew where she was, who she was with, and even the store where she shopped.

He returned to reading the report.

The chief found a vial on the floor next to Grimley as the assassin lay dying from the injection of poison Emmett had given him. A bit of poetic justice.

The chief had watched Staci carefully and hadn’t seen any signs of poisoning. He slipped her a mild sedative to keep her calm.

He’d sent the vial to the lab to be analyzed. It contained a dose of full-strength venom, big enough to kill two or three Stacis, from the most lethal spider in the world—the Brazilian wandering spider.

Drew could have sworn his heart stopped for just an instant before kicking back in again and banging angrily in his chest.

So that was the plan—inject Staci with the venom and then pretend the spider had bitten her?

Clever. Jack would have gotten a kick out of it.

But Drew didn’t like the obvious reference to Bevilacqua and his boss Carlos Meano.

The Bevil was in prison. Jack had killed Meano before dying in the explosion.

It was a good thing for Grimley that he was already dead. If he’d lived, Drew would have tracked him down and tortured him.

Drew swallowed hard and kept reading the report.

Drew was to keep a sharp eye on Staci and, if any of the following symptoms manifested, get her to the NCS-approved ER immediately: loss of muscle control, breathing problems, paralysis, asphyxiation, pain, or priapism.

What the hell was priapism? He was pretty sure it didn’t have anything to do with a small electric car.

He looked it up.

Priapism was a painful medical condition in which the erect penis or clitoris doesn’t return to the flaccid state. In fact, venom from the Brazilian wandering spider was being used in research to treat erectile dysfunction.

Damn. You mean that female hard-on Staci’d had for him could possibly have nothing to do with love, lust, unrequited longing, or his blatant sexiness and prowess?

Drew stared at the wall and frowned. There was the possibility a man like old Grimley was experimenting on himself with the stuff.

Drew shook his head. He had to get a look a Staci’s thigh and see if there was any painful swelling. Not that he’d noticed anything before. In fact, she’d been doing some heavy breathing, but definitely hadn’t lost muscle control.