aHunter4Trust (19 page)

Tamsin was determined to see justice done.

No matter what the cost.

“I will not let you go into Winchester’s
office without me.”

“You made that quite clear.” Tamsin started
down the stairs. “I can take care of myself.”

“I would die if something happened to you.”
Darrogh spoke in a quiet voice. “We are connected and what happens to one of
us, happens to both.”

Tamsin stopped her descent. “I hadn’t
considered that.”

“I cannot allow you to walk into this
danger alone.”

Tamsin turned to him and put her hand on
his chest. “A compromise then. I will go into his office and you can wait
outside the door. Will that give you enough time to reach me?”

Darrogh nodded. “If you sense danger, then
so will I.”

Tamsin stood up on her tiptoes and gave him
a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s settled. Let’s go get the information.”

Darrogh fought the urge to touch the cheek
she had kissed. It felt as if he had been caressed by lightning-infused pleasure.
He shook off the sensation and forced his mind back to the protection of
Tamsin. He stilled his breathing, and followed her as she moved through the
customers. She headed to the side door and had opened it before he could stop
her.

He blocked her way with his arm. “This exit
is not being monitored.”

“It’s quicker.” Tamsin dodged under him and
out the door. “The sooner I speak with Winchester, the better.”

“Let me go first.”

Darrogh stepped out the door into a side
alley.

It ran the full length of the bank.

One end was the rear of another building
that had a junction that led into two other side streets. The other end was the
main street. Opposite the bank was a brick building with a number of empty
doorways. Darrogh looked up at the camera monitoring the entrance. It was
directed toward the rear alley and away from the door.

A tingling sensation raced up his spine.

He held his arm out to stop Tamsin from
moving.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught
movement from one of the doors across from them. It was out of range of the
camera. He pushed Tamsin back against the building just as the crack of a gun
being fired split the air.

Tamsin’s heart froze.

They were being shot at.

A bullet whizzed by Darrogh’s head and
slammed into the wall beside him. Shards of brick flew off and hit his face.
Tamsin gasped when she saw the blood oozing down his cheek. He didn’t wince. He
continued to stay in front of her and move both of them back toward the
building.

“We need help.” Darrogh looked up at the
rooftop. “I’ll hold them off until the others get here.”

If only she hadn’t been so flippant about
her protection. She always took the side door when she left the bank. It was
second nature, so she hadn’t thought about letting Darrogh set up the
surveillance before she took the detour. It was too late for regrets now.

“Who would be so bold to attack in
daylight?”

“Albireons.” Darrogh spit the word out.
“Inside.”

“The door has locked behind us.”

“Run.”

“I can’t leave you here alone.” Tamsin saw
a movement out of the corner of her eye and screamed. “Look out.”

Darrogh spun around and blocked the fist
that was intended for his jaw. He wrenched the arm high in the air. Tamsin
heard the distinct cracking of bone. He twisted the man’s neck and then threw
the body off to the side.

Another attacker jumped on his back.

Tamsin shuddered with horror.

Every blow to Darrogh’s body felt like a
physical attack on her. This time, Darrogh spun his body around and slammed
into the wall behind him. His attacker was crushed, and his hold on Darrogh
loosened as he slid down the wall.

An Albireon reached for her.

She hefted her purse in the air and beat it
against the man’s outreached arm. Darrogh pulled him away and slammed the man’s
head against the wall, just as another gunshot rang out. This time the shot
whizzed by her head.

She was grabbed by the arm and dragged down
the alley toward the main road. She dug the heels of her leather loafers into
the cobblestones and pulled her weight back. It had no effect. The man
continued to pull her away from Darrogh. A black SUV drove up and stopped so
that it blocked the exit.

Tamsin’s heart pounded in her chest.

She was being kidnapped.

From behind, she could hear the sound of
another body landing on the ground. She pulled at the fingers clasped around
her arm just as Darrogh launched himself at the man holding her. He seized the
hand that was locked onto Tamsin, and wrenched it from her. She fell backwards
just as he freed her. Darrogh grabbed her abductor around the neck and twisted
his head. She heard the sickening crunch of his neck being broken.

Darrogh dropped the body.

Two more Albireons jumped out of the car.

Darrogh pulled Tamsin up from the ground.
“We need to leave,” he said in a calm voice.

Tamsin couldn’t avoid looking at the body
at her feet. It was Albireon, not human, but that didn’t lessen her horror. Her
stomach rolled with nausea. Five men had been killed in less than a minute. She
tried to move, but her legs were frozen. Darrogh picked her up in his arms and
carried her back to the side door. He put her down on her feet in front of the
keypad lock beside the door.

“Do you know the combination?”

Tamsin punched in the numbers.

Nothing happened.

She could hear running feet approaching.
Darrogh turned and positioned his body in front of her. She sensed him tensing
and knew that he was preparing to fight the new attackers. Frantically, she
pushed in the code again. Still, the door refused to open. The code must have
been changed since she left the bank. She glanced behind her shoulder just in
time to see a man running at them with a gun raised. Darrogh took a step
forward. Tamsin braced herself for another attack.

Two shots rang out.

Both assailants fell to the ground.

Darrogh looked up to the roof of the bank.
She followed his glance and saw the glint of glass. Somehow, Breanon had
repositioned himself from his watch at the front door. The SUV at the end of
the alley, sped off.

Darrogh turned back to Tamsin and put his hand
over hers. “Are you injured?”

She shook her head. “There were so many of
them.”

“They are dead.”

Tamsin looked into his calm eyes and
exhaled. It seemed impossible that they had lived through that attack. She wiped
away the blood from his cheek. “You’re hurt.”

“The bullet missed.”

“You could have been killed.” Her voice
shook as she fought back tears.

Darrogh pulled her into his arms and ran a
hand down her back. He held her close until her breathing and heartbeat
returned to normal. When her panic and shock had subsided, he leaned back and
looked down at her.

“I promised to protect you with my life.”

“I never expected you to be tested. We
should call the police and let them know about the attack.”

The side door swung open and Savis rushed
out.

Darrogh helped her inside. The whole time
he used his body to block her view of the alley. Another shudder went through
her as she remembered the men lying dead on the cobblestones. She had always
thought herself safe from violence. Now in the space of a three days, she’d
experienced more brutality than most people do in a lifetime. She rested her
head on Darrogh’s chest and let the warmth of his embrace comfort her.

Darrogh spoke in a low voice to Savis.
“Make certain they cannot hurt us.”

Savis was gone for several minutes. When he
returned, his words sent a shiver through her. “Six Albireons and one human at
the end of the alley. You need to leave the area.”

Tamsin straightened up in Darrogh’s arms.
“I want to find Winchester. He’s responsible for all of this.”

“Those were Albireons.” Darrogh’s voice was
low. “Henry Kingsley must have notified them when he left the bank.”

Tamsin stepped back from Darrogh. “All the
more reason for us to see Winchester. He knows what is happening.”

“It is safer if we leave London.”

“Not until I have the password to his
firewall.” Tamsin straightened the collar of her blouse and pulled her jacket
down. “Once I have that, I will do whatever you want.”

Darrogh looked at Savis. “How important is the
code?”

“It will save us at least two weeks.”

“They will have covered their tracks by
then.” Darrogh sighed. “Make certain that Breanon is covering us. Firbin and
Jehon can take care of the bodies.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

Darrogh shook his head. “Stay here. Once we
have the code, I will pass it to you. Get into their records and do what you
need as fast as possible. We do not want them to suspect anything before we
have a chance to follow their money trail.”

“Understood.”

Darrogh took her arm and walked her to the
foyer.

She knew that he was upset by her decision,
but she couldn’t let these people win. It went against everything she believed
in. She needed to see this through and get the information that Savis needed.
Only then, would they be able to find out how much this organization had
penetrated the world’s banks. If they were lucky, it was only Nethercott’s that
they had under their control. She shuddered to think what would happen to the
country and the world if more banks were affected. If this organization was
determined to destroy Earth, then decimating the planet’s economy would be go a
long ways toward doing it.

“Did you use the side door to meet
Winchester?”

Tamsin shook her head. “I seldom went to
see him during the day. I used the side exit because I loved the small
restaurant one street over.”

Darrogh nodded. “We will not go the normal
route to Nethercott’s office. We’ll take the transit and then backtrack.”

Tamsin didn’t argue. They walked to the
underground and took a circuitous route around the city until they arrived at
Nethercott’s office. Darrogh wouldn’t let her approach the bank until he was
certain that no one was following them.

The bank was a stark contrast to
Creighton’s. Where Creighton’s was old brick, wooden trim and Victorian in
design, Nethercott’s was glass and steel. There were no smiling greetings, just
cold, professional courtesy. She was recognized, and when she asked to see
Winchester, she was directed to go up in the elevator to the top floor.

Winchester’s office was empty.

“It’s best if I go in alone.” Tamsin kept
her voice low. “Knock on the door when he’s coming.”

“I do not approve.” Darrogh scowled. “He
could still hurt you.”

“I’ll yell.” Tamsin brushed her hand across
his chest. “If he has plans to hurt me, he’ll have someone else do it.”

“It is dangerous being in the enemy’s
territory.”

Tamsin’s eyes widened. She hadn’t thought
about it like that, but she guessed that Winchester was now truly an enemy. “I
will be very careful.”

She entered the office and shut the door
behind her.

Two full walls of windows surrounded a
glass and metal desk. A couple of modern plastic chairs were in front of the
desk and two sofas sat against the far wall. A chill raced through her as she
took in the starkness of Winchester’s work space. It was a true reflection of
her ex-fiancé; he was cold and impersonal.

She straightened her shoulders and pushed
away from the door. She glanced up to see if there were any security cameras
monitoring the office. There were none. She doubted that Winchester allowed
anyone to question his actions.

The desk drawer was the best place to look.

She pulled on the handle of the top drawer
in the center of the desk. It was locked. She then tried all of the other
drawers. They opened, and a quick look through the contents showed no small
black book. She felt under each drawer looking for a key to use on the lock.
Again, she came up empty.

She bit her lip and looked around the room.
Where would he hide a spare key? Winchester didn’t trust people, and he was
fanatical about having a backup for everything. He would have put a second key
somewhere close. There were very few books or decorations in the room and she
doubted that he would put a key in anything so obvious.

She looked at the closed door to his
private restroom.

Winchester was vain and obsessive about his
appearance.

He was constantly checking that his hair
was in place and that there was nothing stuck in his teeth. She used to think
he spent more time in front of the mirror than doing work. Now that she knew he
funded his bank’s growth by stealing from Creighton’s, she understood why he
didn’t need to make an effort.

She opened the restroom door. It had a
sink, toilet, and two mirrors. One above the sink and one behind the toilet.
She ran her fingers along the edges of the mirrors and came away empty. The
only other place was the small sink cabinet. She pulled the drawers out and
again nothing.

With a frown she gave the room one last
look, letting her eyes linger on the expensive hairspray and aftershave that
were sitting on the shelf above the sink. There was also a can of cheap
deodorant. Winchester only used designer fragrances and sprays. This was out of
place.

She shook the can.

It rattled.

She felt along the edges of the can and
discovered a false bottom. When she unscrewed it a key fell out. She ran back
to the locked desk drawer and inserted the key. It turned in the lock and a
click later, the drawer was open.

The black book was on top.

She rifled through the pages until she
found a section called Creighton’s. She grabbed a pen and paper from her purse
and wrote everything down. Then she turned to the Nethercott section and wrote
down all of the different passcodes there. Her fingers shook by the time she
was done.

She wasn’t in the clear yet. She needed to
get the key back in its hiding spot before Winchester arrived. She had just
finished replacing the can, when she heard Darrogh’s knock, followed by his
voice in her head.

“
Winchester has arrived.
”