Dungeon Royale (Masters and Mercenaries) (10 page)

He took a long breath and caught her scent. God, she still smelled like sex, and he knew in a moment that it didn’t matter. He wanted her. He wanted something sweet in his bloody life and he’d have her. He would protect her. “Did you ditch the knickers? I’ll warn you, if I find out you haven’t, I intend to spank you, love.”

He felt her shiver against him. “I took them off in the loo. I threw them away.”

He could picture her rushing to the stalls to comply before anyone saw her. “That must have been quite difficult. Those stalls are very tight. I’m proud of you, Penelope. I think we’ll get on quite well together.”

Her face tipped toward his. “Oh, I didn’t go into the stalls. My perfectly horrid aunt accused me of being a trollop, so I took them off in the salon and tossed them away right in front of her. It was all quite scandalous. Maybe she can put that in her yearly holiday card.”

Her cheeks were stained with pink, but she held her head up.

One orgasm and his sub was turning into a cheeky brat.

She stepped off the escalator and moved toward the platform, the wind from a departing train blowing her hair back. “Oh, no. I dropped my card.”

He turned to see if he could still catch it.

And that was when he saw him.

Basil Champion the third stood right in front of the escalator, his eyes trained on Damon. “You look good for a dead man.”

Chapter Five

Damon stood stock-still, almost unable to believe his eyes.

Baz. The man who’d been his best mate for ten years, who’d helped him found The Garden, who had stood beside him and fought back their enemies.

Now Baz was the enemy.

Baz leaned against the large median that divided the escalators. It was a shiny metallic, roughly two feet wide. All around him people were getting on or off the escalators, a crowd protecting him. “Come on, Damon. Surely you have something to say to me. It’s been almost a year after all. And look at you all up and moving about. I knew you’d pull through. Oh, did your girl there drop this?”

He held up the blue and white card Penelope had dropped.

“Damon, I think we should call the police.” She started to move, pulling out her mobile. “You’re wanted for attempted murder, Mr. Champion.”

Baz threw back his head and laughed. He was dressed in all black, a ball cap on his head. He would blend into the crowd, easily moving about the city. Damon doubted that the CCTVs would pick up his face. He was too well trained. SIS had made sure of that. “Good god, man. You’re shagging the help. How the mighty have fallen. Get rid of the girl. We need to talk.”

Damon reached out, pulling Penelope behind him. This was one of those things he intended to avoid later. He would teach her to always stay behind him in a dangerous situation. “You don’t move a muscle. That’s an order.”

“But Damon, I can’t get a signal,” she complained. “We need to find the authorities.”

The authorities wouldn’t be able to handle Baz. They would only cause trouble and this was between him and his ex-mate. He needed to get Penelope somewhere safe. “And I need you to keep your mouth shut for a moment. This is none of your concern. Get on the next train toward Holborn. Change to Piccadilly and a friend of mine will be waiting for you at Gloucester Road. Do you understand my instructions?”

Her hand clutched his arm. “Damon, I can’t leave you.”

Anger and fear were a toxic mix in his system. “You bloody well can, and if you can’t follow orders then I have absolutely no use for you. Are we understood? I am your superior and I expect to be obeyed without question, so you will move your arse and if I find out you’ve called anyone, I’ll make your life a living hell and you know I can do it.”

He knew he’d been too harsh, but she was standing right in front of a hardened killer who wouldn’t think twice about slitting her throat if he thought it would get to Damon. He couldn’t be gentle with her.

And damn it, she was supposed to obey. He glanced briefly at her, enough to see that she’d gone bright red, tears shining in her eyes, but her mouth remained stubbornly closed and she nodded.

“I need my card.” She moved toward Baz, holding her hand out as though he would just politely give it back to her and not use her as a hostage.

Damon gripped her wrist, pulling her back. “Bloody well take mine and get the fuck out of here.”

“You’re being terribly rude, Damon. I hope he doesn’t shoot you again, but only because I’m a better person than you.” She turned and walked off.

Baz chuckled. “Isn’t she that stick-up-her-arse translator? She’s gotten a bit cheeky. Maybe you took the stick out and replaced it with something more personal, eh, mate? You always did like the chunky ones.”

“Give me one reason I don’t kill you right here.” Because now that Penelope was out of the line of fire, he couldn’t think of a single good one.

And he was definitely getting her a gun and making sure she knew how to use it.

Baz twirled his finger, gesturing to the large crowds around them. “Well, first of all, you don’t really want me to open fire on all these very nice people. And then there’s all the CCTVs. I don’t think Nigel wants his golden boy featured on telly. Or maybe that would solve his problem. They don’t want you in the field, you know. You’re used goods, done up and all that fun stuff.”

He needed to stay calm, but he felt his anger rising, a real visceral element threatening to take over his body. “You don’t know a damn thing.”

Baz shrugged negligently. “Course I do. I read your medical records. When I need a good laugh, I read them again. They’re my favorite bedtime story. You can’t seriously think we don’t still have people at SIS, do you? As for that, I work for a company that has even better access than SIS. Taggart’s crew did a good job hiding your medical records. SIS doesn’t even know you saw a doctor in Dallas. You know, the one who found the issue with your heart. It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”

He thought Adam Miles had hidden those files. The doctors who had saved his life hadn’t found the damage to his heart. It had only been once he saw a specialist in Dallas that the true extent of the damage had been discovered. Taggart had helped him hide it from Nigel, but it looked like the news was out. “That’s really none of your business, is it?”

“It’s all my business. But don’t worry that I’ll tattle. I like the idea of playing this game with you.” He stopped for moment, his eyes looking up and down Damon, making him uncomfortable in a way only Baz ever could. “I meant what I said though. You really do look good.”

He tried to ignore Baz’s personal comments, sticking on the more professional statements he’d made. The thought turned his blood cold. He’d been gone for months. He hadn’t really thought about the fact that there could be more moles. He couldn’t even convince Nigel that The Collective existed. “If you have people in SIS, I promise you I’ll find them.”

“Maybe you already have.” His eyes drifted to where Penelope had disappeared. “She would be the perfect mole, you know. She’s so innocent looking no one would suspect her. Maybe your new girl is really working with me. After all, how else did I find you so quickly?”

If there was one thing he knew, it was that Penelope Cash couldn’t betray a fly, much less her country. “Don’t bother. I won’t believe a bloody thing you say about her.”

“It’s worth a try. Think about it. She really is perfect. She’s smart. She’s always in the office. She could get access to your records and no one would suspect her because she’s such a sweet little thing.”

He wasn’t going to allow Baz to drone on. “I’m going to bring you in. I promise. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to be the one who takes you down.”

Baz’s eyes went oddly blank and the smile on his face dimmed. “It would be fitting, of course. You know I didn’t really want to shoot you. I had to. I had to try to keep my place in SIS. I’m not as valuable on the outside.”

His heart was racing, adrenaline beginning to pound through his system. He kept his eyes on Baz, ready for any kind of movement from him. “I’m so sorry to have wrecked your plans.”

“I think I didn’t finish the job because I didn’t really want to. You know the drill. Two to the chest. One to the head. I couldn’t do it.” Baz took a long breath. “I knew it was a mistake the minute I walked out, but I couldn’t make myself go back and finish the job.”

He was supposed to feel sympathetic because Baz had only shot him once? Had only taken out one of his lungs? “What are you doing here?”

He needed to get his hands on him. He could wrestle him to the ground and…what? Get him to HQ? The British Transport Police would show up and he didn’t exactly carry an SIS card on him. They would both get shoved into lockup while things got sorted out.

“I told you. We need to talk.”

That would be a mistake. Baz was a snake. One didn’t sit about and talk to a snake. One stepped on it before it managed to bite. “We have nothing to talk about.”

His smile was back. “I think we do. We need to have a sit-down, and if you don’t give me what I want, I’ll have to do something drastic to convince you. I’ve been watching you. You like the girl. Let’s talk about what happened to the last girl you fancied. Jane. I think that was her name. She was prettier than this one. You’re slumming, mate.”

Damon had been the one to bury Jane. She hadn’t had any family past the one she’d found at The Garden. He’d trained her, hired her to work, allowed her to live in the building. He’d fucked her when it was convenient. He certainly hadn’t loved her, but he’d been fond of the girl. She’d been his responsibility, under his care, and Baz had taken her life because she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The need to wrap his hands around Baz’s throat was overwhelming. It took everything Damon had not to move on him. He heard the train whoosh in. Penelope would be safe on the train. She would be on her way to the station where Taggart was waiting for them. She could tell him what had happened, and Taggart would come.

And then he could deal with Baz.

“Why don’t we go somewhere quiet and have this talk of yours?” The minute he got Baz out of the crowd, he would pull the knife he had in an ankle strap and slit the fucker’s throat.

Baz’s dark eyes rolled. “I’m not going to be alone with you, Damon. I’m not that stupid, and it wouldn’t go the way you think it would.”

“I’m not going to stand here in the middle of the station and conduct business.” He needed to get Baz away from so many potential hostages.

“Fine. I’ll make it simple for you then. I need you to get me in to see Nigel. It’s serious. We have a major problem, and I’m the only one who can help. Tell him it concerns the assignment on the ship.”

The train pulled away, the sound accompanied by a rush of air.

Penelope was gone, and there was no way Damon would allow Baz into SIS headquarters or within a mile of Nigel.

Baz’s eyes trailed to the escalators, narrowing. They were filled with travelers.

Damon remained still. He would only have one shot at him. The crowd would slow him down. “If you want to talk, this is how to do it. Surrender yourself and we’ll have a chat. The only way you see Nigel is from behind bars.”

Baz’s jaw tightened, eyes hardening. “That’s not going to happen. We will talk, Damon. On my terms. And tell your girlfriend that I’ll be seeing her.”

In an instant, he took off, but not on the escalator stairs. No, he leapt onto the metallic median that divided them and started running up at a near-impossible angle.

Damon followed, gracefully hauling his body onto the median. He stared up for the merest moment before starting to climb.

Everyone was watching, turning, and shouts began as Baz moved easily up toward the station above. The minute he got to ground level, he would be able to lose himself on the streets.

Damon followed but his dress shoes were already slipping.

And he could feel his body failing.

Baz stopped halfway up, turning slightly. “Don’t even bother. These aren’t exactly shoes you can get in a store. One of the perks of my job. Our tech guys are far better than yours.”

He stood there, grinning down as Damon struggled.

“Are your lungs burning already? How’s the old ticker working?”

God, he wished Baz hadn’t found those records. Damon managed to move another three feet before slipping again. Rage poured through him and he pushed on, jumping to the escalator steps when a spot opened. The steps were moving in the opposite direction of where he needed to go. “Move!”

The crowd shifted, trying to get out of his way, but he was fighting an uphill battle.

His lungs burned, his heart pumping. He pushed, dragging oxygen in, forcing it down as he ran.

And Baz just stood there and laughed. “It’s not going to work, mate. You’re done for. You should let them put you out to pasture because I might not have taken your life when I shot you, but I damn sure took your balls.”

He was almost there. Blood pounded in his ears, blocking out everything except the sound of his heart threatening to explode.

“Tell your slag if she wants a real man, I can take care of her,” Baz shouted, his arms out as though embracing the chaos he’d wrought.