Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries Book 11) (30 page)

She was good.

“I don’t think so.” She replied to his question about the guards in a quiet, calm voice. “He should be able to deal with the problem with ease. Any luck on your end?”

“She’s asking if Fain’s been able to cut into the feed.” Hutch wasn’t as careful as Mia. Since Case couldn’t see him, he had to hope Hutch wasn’t being watched carefully. “I told him what to do.”

“It’s not as easy as you made it sound, asshole.” Ezra sounded frustrated. “I’m not a tech guy. I might have pointed that out.”

Hutch’s irritated tone came over the line. “I could get it done in five minutes if you let me. I can probably figure out how to hack the internal systems here, too. I think we should come in.”

He couldn’t afford to pull Hutch out now. He needed his tech guy to do the job. He would save the dressing down for later. “Hutch, I know this isn’t your thing, but I’m going to need you to do your job. Get in, download the system, and get out. We can’t be sure what kind of security they have. Getting in and putting physical hands on the system is our best shot. You agreed with me earlier today.”

“Earlier today I didn’t get the feeling that someone was watching me. Something’s wrong with this place. I can feel it,” Hutch said.

Shit. He hadn’t imagined this possibility, but hearing the tremor in Hutch’s voice made him realize what was happening. “No. What you feel is PTSD. This is the first time you’ve been back out in the field, brother. I promise, it’s normal to be afraid. It’s time to shut that fear down and do your job. A lot of people are depending on you. Theo is depending on you.”

“I can do it,” Mia offered. “I certainly know how to download a system. Give me the drive.”

Michael looked his way. “Let her do it.”

Fain was shaking his head. “Somebody better do something because I’m having no luck at all with these cameras.”

Hutch came back on the line. “I’m fine. If I get caught in the hallway, I’ll say I was looking for the bathroom. Could you distract the big guy who’s obviously carrying a gun while I slip back there? The other two are moving around outside, but the one to your left is doing an inner perimeter sweep and he keeps looking that way. I need about thirty seconds.”

Case felt his whole body go tense. The guard had a gun. “Get those fucking cameras up, Fain. I need to see where she is. I thought you said the security wasn’t serious.”

Fain turned slightly and sent him a narrowed glare. “I was the chauffeur. I saw what was happening at the door. I assumed you and Michael would handle the rest of it. Naturally there’s some security inside. Do you want me to go over there? I could explain something was wrong with the car and I need to see Ms. Danvers. Heaven forbid we trust her to talk to someone in a public place.”

“Fine.” He hated the way the entire experience was making him feel. He knew Mia had been in tighter spots, but she hadn’t been his then. Now that she belonged to him, wasn’t it his job to ensure her safety?

Or was it his job to care about her and let Mia be Mia?

 “Hi, I was wondering if there was a place I could make a call from. My cell can’t find a signal here.”

He didn’t need security cameras to see the smile on her face. He could hear it, but he knew it wouldn’t be as bright as the ones she’d given to him over the last few days. Those smiles had lit up his whole fucking world. But even a half smile from his Mia would distract a man for however long she wanted him distracted. “Very good. Just a few minutes more and we’ll have you out of there.”

A few more minutes and she would be walking out of that place and he would be able to breathe again. She would get on a plane and he could concentrate. Or would he simply sit around and wonder what kind of trouble she was getting into back home? He wasn’t stupid enough to believe she would honestly sit at her condo in Austin and wait for him. She was pissed off and a pissed off Mia could cause trouble.

He had to find a way to make her see reason.

A deep voice came over the feed. “We’re kind of in a dead zone, if you know what I mean. Sorry about that, but if you walk outside, you should be able to get a signal.”

Michael looked back. “He sounds Western. Colorado or Wyoming. What’s an American doing working security here?”

Fain’s head came up. “Holy shit. Is she talking to one of Theo’s fellow bank robbers?”

“Tell her what we think, Case,” Michael urged. “She can ask him about Theo. Subtly.”

Or he would completely lose control of the situation because she would sense a great story and run with it like the thoroughbred reporter she was. Maybe she wouldn’t notice. Maybe she wouldn’t pick up on the possibilities and she would simply do the job he’d asked her to and walk away.

“You’re American?” Mia asked.

Michael fist pumped. “That’s a smart girl.”

Fain nodded. “See, I would totally let her watch my back.”

They were determined to make him the bad guy. He was saved from responding by the guard’s reply. “Yes. I’m American. Born and raised in New York.”

“You sound like you’re from Colorado or Wyoming.” Nothing got past Mia.

“Keep it up, spy chick,” Michael said. “That’s going to be her superhero name from here on out.”

Luckily she couldn’t hear Michael in her ear. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the street?”

Michael turned back to his job, but not before Case saw a shit-eating grin on his face.

The guard’s conversation with Mia continued to play out in Case’s ear. “Not at all. I’m from upstate New York. Lived there all my life until I left for the military. You’re a lovely woman. Are you here alone?”

Oh, that was so not fucking happening. “Tell him you have a husband waiting for you and then excuse yourself to find him. Hutch should have gotten to the offices by now. You can rejoin the party until I tell you Hutch is ready to come back out.”

“Almost got it,” Fain said, his hands moving over the keys.

“I came with my brother.” It was obvious Mia wasn’t listening to him anymore. She simply continued on in her sultry voice. “I seem to have lost him, but that’s okay. I found the only other American here.”

“What are you doing, Mia?” He’d given her a direct fucking order.

“Hey, I’ve got someone walking up to the hotel who looks mighty familiar,” Michael said. “I think we’re in trouble.”

Case knew they were in trouble because the guard kept talking. “There are two more. My brothers. We all work here.”

His brothers? All Americans? Case could feel the adrenaline begin to pump through his veins. Mia had told him everything Tony Santos had told her. According to the intel Mia had provided him, there were at least three soldiers in Hope McDonald’s clutches. Whoever Mia was currently talking to could be one of those men, could be one of Theo’s new “brothers.”

Could be insanely dangerous to be close to.

“Are they all as big as you?” Mia asked in her flirty tone.

“They’re tiny compared to me,” came the reply. “I’m afraid I got all the muscle in our family.”

He didn’t care how big the motherfucker was, he needed to stay away from Case’s girl. “Mia, you walk away right now. You think this is making me jealous? It’s not. It’s making me pissed off that you can’t follow orders. This is exactly why I’m shipping you home as fast as I can.”

“I’m serious, Case,” Michael said. “I think…maybe I’m seeing things. How are the cams coming?”

“How did three New York boys end up in Cartagena?” Mia asked.

In front of him the screen flickered and he could see the walkway outside the building.

“Got one up,” Fain said. “I’m working on the others. I think I got the only one that’s not connected to the inside.”

“I don’t…I need to do my job,” the guard was saying in Case’s ear. Case agreed with him utterly. For just a second he almost relaxed. Then the guard continued, his voice going low. “You’re very pretty. I would like to spend some time with you, but I can’t sneak you back to our room. They watch us. She watches us.”

“Case, I think your brother’s here,” Michael said.

Fuck. Case stood and moved to the window Michael was standing at. He held his hands out for the binoculars. Theo was here? Theo was walking down the street?

God, what should he do? Would Theo be happy to see him? Would he know Case at all?

“Robert, I think we should go,” a deep voice said in his ear. “We’ve been called back into base. Apparently there’s a problem coming our way.”

That hadn’t been Theo’s voice. It was someone else. Mia had two guards to deal with. Shit. He shouldn’t have done this. He looked down the street, searching for the man Michael had talked about.

“Mia, if you don’t show up outside in thirty seconds I’m going to come in, and you won’t like how I’ll come in.” He would take care of two birds with one stone. He would have Fain grab Mia and Hutch and he would take Theo and run like hell.

“He’s right there.” Michael pointed to a large figure moving down the sidewalk. He wasn’t alone. There was another man with him and two more at his back. What was Theo doing?

“Thanks for the advice.” Mia’s voice was light, but he could hear the slight strain in her tone. It proved she had some sense. “I’ll pick up a signal outside. Hope you have a nice night.”

Then he heard her gasp.

“Hello,” a very familiar voice said. “I think we should talk, don’t you?”

“I’m not kidding, Mia.” Case was confused because he was watching Theo walk down the street. How could he hear him talking? It had to be a mistake. “You better get your sweet ass out here.”

The man’s face turned up and he pointed at the hotel.

That wasn’t Theo. That was Ian. Shit. Theo was with Mia.

“Why don’t you turn over the communication device hidden in that lovely ear of yours and we can have a real talk,” Theo was saying. “I’m afraid I’ve already picked up your…brother…partner whatever you want to call him. If you don’t want him to die, you’ll come quietly and explain exactly what you’re doing here.”

He felt frozen in place. The first words he’d heard from his brother and they were threats against Mia. And Hutch. God, Theo wouldn’t hurt Hutch. Hutch had been their buddy for years. Theo had spent all his off time playing video games with Hutch sitting beside him before he’d gotten together with Erin. He couldn’t hurt Hutch.

“I’m going in.”

The feed from Mia’s device went dead. Case’s heart nearly stopped. He tossed the headphones aside.

“Hey, you’re not going in without backup.” Michael put down the binoculars.

Fain was already on his feet. “I’ll go, though apparently we’ve now got a McKay-Taggart crew with us.”

“It’s Ian, Liam, Alex, and I’m pretty sure that’s Andrew Lawless walking next to him,” Michael explained.

Case started for the door, but he knew what had happened. “You told your new boss everything, didn’t you, you limp dick asswipe.”

Fain didn’t seem concerned. He strode right alongside Case. “He’s my boss now. I suppose he called your brother since he’s kind of Ian’s boss, too. That makes you low man on the totem pole.”

“There’s no time to argue.” Michael kept up despite the fact that his leg had to still ache. He’d had a couple of days to recover, but it was obvious to Case that it was still stiff. “And don’t tell me to stay behind. I’m coming with you. Someone’s going to have to explain everything to Ian.”

But he knew his brother better than that. He even knew damn well how Ian had found him. All McKay-Taggart field operatives got what Ian liked to call the “lost puppy chip.” Case, Michael, and Hutch all had GPS enabled microchips implanted in their hands. Not that it had done Theo any good. McDonald had simply cut it out of him. But it had apparently led his oldest brother right to him.

“You’re going to thank me later,” Fain said as they rushed down the stairs. “We need this backup. You have zero idea what we’re going into.”

“Only because you’re the moron who couldn’t follow simple instructions to get the security cams up,” Case said between clenched teeth. He had to keep it together. It was a big building, but there were only a couple of entrances and exits. They could run, but they wouldn’t be able to hide in there forever.

He hit the lobby at a run and damn near knocked over a bigger, older version of himself. Like he’d thought, Ian didn’t ask for explanations. He looked at Case and his body went still.

“What do you need?”

That was his brother. He knew when the shit had hit the fan and he didn’t ask for explanations.

“Theo’s in the building across the road. He’s got Mia and Hutch. You should probably know we’re going to have to blast our way out and the building is very likely owned by a cartel.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Lawless asked, his face going a nice shade of red. He turned with the group as they made their way out to the street.

“What’s wrong with Malone?” Liam asked, his voice cool and calm. “You’re walking stiff.”

“He got shot during the near kidnapping,” Lawless complained, proving that Fain was a tattletale.

“How many ways out of the building are there?” Ian ignored everything but Case.

“Three, but I’m going in the front.” He had to get to Mia.

“I’m going after my sister,” Lawless insisted. He was a tall, well-built man in his mid-thirties. He wore a suit, his golden hair slightly shaggy. “I can’t believe she’s involved in this.”

“Maybe you don’t know her the way I do then,” Case shot back as he crossed the street and started to make for the door. He pulled his SIG. There would be no playing around. He needed to get to her, to see that she was all right.

Theo. No. He needed to get her and save Theo.

“Subtlety,” Ian said, his voice a bark. “Keep that piece under cover until we need it. You do not want the Cartagena police involved. Malone, do you know where the exits are?”

“I do,” Michael said as they approached the building. “I can get to the back. There’s a loading dock there and a small door to the alley on the way.”

“Li, go with Malone. Alex?” Ian asked.

“I’ll take the door,” McKay said. “I wish we’d had time to set up comms.”

“Yeah, little brother and I are going to have a long talk about proper communication at the end of this,” Ian vowed. “It might end with my foot up his ass.”