Kiss the Enemy (Slye Temp) (31 page)

But she’d never promised to keep information that threatened national security to herself.

CHAPTER 38

Nick leaned against the door of his Ferrari 458 Spider and checked his watch again. It hadn’t been the husky female voice that had gotten his attention and convinced him to meet a stranger, but the short and specific message.

Him:
“Hello.”

Her:
“Meet me on the top parking deck of the Varsity if you want to find Margaux.”

Him:
“And you are?”

Her:
“Hanging up.”

He was on time and in another twelve seconds, she’d be officially late.

A silver spacecraft masquerading as land transportation rolled past a lineup of vintage college cars, which sounded kinder than calling them beaters. The Lamborghini Veneno parked next to Nick’s fire-red convertible.

The doors slid up and away on the Veneno. A woman wearing a Burberry trench coat over wool slacks and thick knit sweater unfolded from the driver’s seat. The boots made her appear tall. She was an attractive mid-forties.

Why did he not want to believe what he saw? “You know I’m Nick. Do I get a name?”

“Talia.”

“That’s as good as anything I could make up.”

Her lips twitched. “All you need to know is that I’ll help you if we can come to terms.”

“First I have to believe that you can be of value to me. What do you know about Margaux?”

“I know about the DEA bust that went bad.”

He shrugged. “Anyone could get that info.”

“I know that she entered the Trophy Room to find the Russian meeting the Banker.”

Nick asked, “What’s the Russian’s name?”

“Dragan Stoli. Do you want to continue twenty questions or do you want to discuss how to help your friend?”

“We aren’t sure Margaux’s still alive,” he bluffed.

“She’s alive.”

Nick scratched his nose and shoved his hands in his pockets. “How do you know?”

“Because she met with the Banker today.”

That headache Nick had been trying to kill just came back to life. “Are you trying to say she’s working for the Banker?”

“No. She and Dragan met with the Banker about an operation they’ve taken on.”

This just got better by the minute. “What’s your interest in all this?”

“I want to capture the Banker.”

He’d gone out on a limb for riskier propositions. Sabrina might balk, which was why Nick would have to file this under
doing whatever it took to get Margaux back
. “If I agree, what do you want?”

“A day alone with the Banker when he’s captured.”

“Margaux has to come out of this alive, too.”

“That’s possible.” She tapped her finger on her cheek. “But for that, I’ll need something else in trade.”

“Like what?”

“A favor at some point.”

As deals went, this one was gut shot full of holes, but no one had come up with a better offer. He extended his gloved hand to shake.

She gave him an apologetic smile. “No exchange of fingerprints or DNA. We have a deal. I’ll be in touch.”  She turned toward her car.

“What about Dragan?”

Glancing back, she lifted a shoulder. “I don’t need him alive. Do you?”

“Nope.” 

CHAPTER 39

Margaux ordered food while Logan opened the Banker’s envelope. She’d seen Nitro on her way into the Sam’s Diner on Curtis Street in downtown Denver, but that was only because Nitro had wanted to be seen. She and Logan had to get out of here without being followed by anyone, the Banker’s people in particular.

Logan said it would be simple and quick, but they’d have to split up. She had a moment of anxiety that he was sending her out of the picture, but then she remembered that the Banker required her presence in Seattle.  

Reaching into the large envelope, Logan pulled out a black sports watch, looked at it and shoved it back inside. He pulled out papers.

“What’s that watch for?”  She kept her voice down, but the diner had a comfortable noise level with people chatting and so many hard surfaces.

Logan paused in reading the first of three sheets. “The watch is to coordinate with our
sponsor
during the event.”  The Banker was their sponsor and the event was the job. “IDs are included. We just have to add the photos. Security clothes will be on site in a locked room. Must be what one of the keys is for.”

Drinks, two hamburgers and fries were delivered as Logan scanned the details. She jumped on her food, starving. Sometimes there was nothing better than fried potatoes and a hamburger.

He muttered, “Shit.”

“That good, huh?”

“We’re going to be pushed to hit this time frame.”  He chomped on his hamburger and was picking up fries when she wiped her hands on her napkin. Done.

She looked around. “How long before we leave here?”

Logan stopped reading and lifted his head. “About ten minutes. As soon as I give Nitro a sign, why?”

“Because unlike you and the boys on the way back, I couldn’t just pee at the edge of the woods.”

“Damn. Sorry. We’ve got a few minutes.”

“Be back in a minute.”  She’d been watching a woman struggle with two small kids near the bathroom. The table was covered in food, baby toys for the toddler and a stuffed animal the older one had tossed on the floor.

Margaux approached the table at an angle that allowed her to watch Logan out of the corner of her eye. His head was still bent over the Banker’s notes. She swooped down and picked up the stuffed cow that squeaked. The toddler turned at the noise and started calling out, “Mine. Mine. Mine.”

The poor mother grabbed for him as he tried to nose dive out of the high chair.

“This is yours?” Margaux asked, waving the stuffed animal and smiling at the little boy who clapped his hands. She leaned over to hand it to him and play squeaky in his face.

The mother’s face was etched with relief that said she’d expected someone to ream her for her children making a mess. She said, “Thanks,” and turned back to deal with the other one climbing around under the table.

Margaux went on to the bathroom, having only used twenty seconds to swipe the ignored cell phone. She waited for one of the waitresses to leave before she dialed Nick’s new burner number.

“What?”

“It’s me,” she whispered.

“You still in Colorado?”

“Denver, but not for long. I only have a minute.”  She explained about meeting the Banker, impressing Nick, and wrapped it up quickly with, “I didn’t have a chance to get the details. Dragan is reading them now and we’re leaving in a few minutes, but the good news is no fatalities planned.”

“We’ll be there.”

“Don’t interfere and mess up what Dragan has in motion.”

“Why?”

She stopped herself before she said,
Because Dragan needs something from the Banker and must have a plan to get that when he has Wilder to hand over.
Instead, she said, “Because we’ll lose our shot at the Banker. Just tell Sabrina that I’m trusting her and the team not to bring the Feds or Homeland in on this.”

“Jesus, Duke, why not just put her at the top of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list when this is done?”

“Bagging the Banker is worth keeping chaos out of this, isn’t it?”

“Haven’t you forfeited enough to get him, Duke?”

“This isn’t about Nanci, Nick. I know the team doesn’t believe me but it hasn’t been about her for a long time. There’s too much at stake and I don’t have time to tell you all of it. Would I like to see him bleed out? Sure. But that’s not what matters right now. He didn’t know I was the one in Atlanta hunting him, but after this that will change. With his resources, he’ll find out about all of us and we’ll all have prices on our heads, just like Nanci did.”

“Are you saying you don’t think we can handle him?”

“I’m saying I don’t want any more blood on my hands. This guy is too powerful and too insane to let walk away when we have a chance to stop him. He’s brokering deals to play one country against another. That’s someone who can start the next world war.”

“Okay. I’m sold that your head’s screwed back in the right direction.”

She would take that as a glowing recommendation from anyone else, but Nick wasn’t the best judge of stability. “Gotta go. Remember, don’t close in until the trade is done. I’ll call if I can, but I’m going to see this through to the end.” 

On her way back, she cleared the call off the phone, wiped it down and let the phone drop into the ginormous purse next to the young mother’s chair.

Logan stood when she reached the table. “Put your coat on.”

“Yes, Dad.”  When she had it zipped, he reached for the hood and pulled it up on her head.

Then he kissed her, a quick touch that tasted like french fries and her man. Before he pulled back, he said, “Start slowly toward the door with me until I say now.”

Halfway to the door, a taxi sitting outside burst into flames. The diner sat on a corner. Cars running through the traffic light slowed to look. Traffic dropped to a crawl, clogging the intersection.”

Logan’s grip on Margaux tightened. “Now.”  He pulled her into a run. She was with him every step.

Outside, they pushed through the crowd huddling close enough to see the car burn.

Logan whispered at her ear, “It’s pyrotechnics. Won’t explode.”  He paused at the curb then gave a tug and they were out in the middle of cars parked everywhere. Sirens whined in the distance, coming fast.

Two black crotch rocket motorcycles wove between cars with a high-pitched whine. They cut across the intersection and whipped up to Logan, both doing stoppies with the rear wheels picking up off the ground.

Logan shouted to Margaux, “Get on that one. We’ll meet up later.”

She climbed on behind her driver and wrapped her arms around him a second before he blasted into traffic again, juking right and left like a pro running back. Icy air blasted her face. He reached down and covered her freezing hands with his jacket. She kept her head tucked against his back.

The whomp, whomp, whomp of a helicopter closed in on them.

A searchlight beamed down, spotlighting them.

She had a feeling this was Nitro driving and he wouldn’t panic. He spun through turn after turn, finally forcing the helicopter to peel off when he turned the bike down a narrow street bordered by tall buildings. He pulled under an overhang where deliveries were made at the back of a building and spun around to face out.

She heard him saying, “Boxed in on the west side.”  He was quiet, then, “Ten four.”

Had the Banker sent someone to follow Logan back to his men? If so, why? He needed Logan to do this job.

Margaux played everything back through her mind from the point of being dropped off, eating and making the call to Nick.

Nick had asked if she was still in Colorado.

She hadn’t told him where she was specifically. Not even the address of the house in the mountains she’d called from.

That didn’t mean Sabrina had a team here. Between Margaux and Logan, there were a lot of people after them.

“Get ready,” Nitro told her.

“For what?”

“To make a run. Logan’s doubling back to grab the helicopter’s attention to give us a chance to escape.”

“What about him and Angel?”

“He dropped Angel off to get the truck. Logan’ll lose those clowns in the chopper.”

He might not.

She didn’t get a chance to argue. Nitro gunned the motor and she wrapped up against him again. They flew out of the opening. She caught sight of the chopper buzzing down a street going in the opposite direction.

Following Logan who was alone. No backup.

An hour out of the city, Nitro pulled off the side of the road and let her get off before he stashed the bike behind a pile of boulders.

Less than a minute later, Angel pulled up in a dual cab truck.

Nitro took the front passenger seat and Margaux climbed into the back this time. “Where’s Logan?”

Angel answered. “Lost contact. He’ll show up later.”

She grabbed the back of Angel’s seat and pulled herself forward. “You
lost
contact? What if he’s caught?”

Nitro was peeling out of his jacket with the heat running high. “He’s not caught. He’ll be fine.”

“We should go back.”

Angel shook his head. “Cuz gave orders to get you back to camp.”

She understood why these men thought Logan was invincible, but Logan was a man who could bleed and die.  

CHAPTER 40

Logan was a human popsicle by the time he walked into the camp. He’d left the street bike with Moose at the base of the last hill rather than fight his way up the ruts on a motorcycle designed for highways. Dual sport motorcycles were better suited for the terrain up this mountain, but in downtown Denver he’d take a crotch rocket any day.

Margaux stood near the fire with a mug of coffee. She was staring off into the woods.

But she was safe. He’d had no doubt that Nitro would get her back here, but that hadn’t stopped him from worrying about all the things that could go wrong.

Like a coyote crossing the dark road out of nowhere.

Nitro could ride anything on two wheels, but sometimes bad luck happened to the best of them.

Not this time. Logan eased up behind Margaux, wanting to hold her and feel her safe in his arms, but not in front of his men. He wasn’t fooling anyone when it came to her, but they had a mission and she was going to be in the middle of it.

Party Man looked up and grinned at Logan, causing Margaux to turn.

When she did, her eyes told the tale. She was wracked with worry. She dropped the mug and dove at him.

He wrapped her up and the hell with what anyone thought. He hugged her to him.

They stayed that way for several minutes with her drawing hard breaths and him feeling at peace.

Then she hit him in the abs.

He grunted. The woman had a punch. “What was that for?”

She pushed away and unleashed her anger. “Taking off without backup. Don’t put your life at risk like that. I’m not fragile dammit. Pull a stunt like that again and I’ll make you pay.”