Dangerous in Training (Aegis Group, #2) (12 page)

The car pulled up next to a long single story building painted an avocado green.

Mason twisted, finally acknowledging her presence.

“This is us,” he said.

She nodded and slid out of the car. The driver was out and had her bag in hand before she’d even shaken the wedgie out.

Mason continued to speak to the driver, the big, foreign grin on his face starting to creep her out. Mason was more of the growling bear type of guy. Money exchanged hands, Mason took her bag, and then their ride was gone, leaving them on some random street in a city she couldn’t even pronounce.

“Come on.” Mason nudged her under the long portico that ran the length of the building.

“What is this place? What is going on?”

“A hotel. You’re going to go to the front desk and ask to speak to Abraham. I’ll be just outside the front doors, okay?”

“What? Why me?”

“There’s no time to explain.”

“Make time.” She stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips, just like she did when a patient got surly or obstinate. It’d even worked on Mason a handful of times.

“Hannah.” He grabbed her arm and stepped in close. “Abraham and Zain had a falling out. He’s our contact. I don’t want him to connect me to Aegis before he agrees to do the job for us.”

“What job is that?”

“IDs. Money. Weapons. Phones. The works. You ask to see Abraham, get a room number, and I’ll follow you in. I’ll be there, right behind you.”

“What makes you think he won’t hurt me?” Though she’d been around Aegis since her father was hired, she didn’t actually know how things worked.

Mason sighed, clearly exasperated with her questions. Well, fuck him if he didn’t want to answer. She wasn’t going into a situation without some idea of what to expect.

“Zain said Abraham has a code. It makes him hard to work with.”

“What code? Who is he?” This would go so much faster if Mason would just give her the information up front.

“Abraham deals mostly in guns. I don’t know all the details of his code, but he’s Jewish. I’m guessing no deliveries on the Sabbath, he doesn’t work with some nationalities, and he keeps kosher, but it’s just a guess. Satisfied?”

“Why did he and Zain fall out?”

“Zain violated one of his nationality rules. It was a mistake, not a conscious one, but Abraham never forgave him for it. Satisfied?”

“Yes. Let’s go.” She didn’t want to ask the next question—why Aegis would need to work with an arms dealer. Some questions didn’t need answers.

Hannah straightened her spine, pushed her shoulders back and tipped her chin up. Women in spy movies were always confident. She’d rather curl up in a corner and cry, but then what good would she be to Christine and Natalie? She’d demanded to stay, to help, so she couldn’t fall to pieces.

The doors to the lobby of the hotel stood open. Several fans moved the humid air around, not doing a lot to cool the place. A man sat at the front desk, flipping through a magazine while a telenovella played on the old TV at the center of a seating area.

The clerk glanced up, but his expression never altered.

“Hi.” Hannah stopped at the desk, one hand on the edge for the sake of balance. “Abraham?”

The man continued to stare at her. No acknowledgement that she’d spoken. No questions. Just a blank, empty gaze aimed her way.

Did she need to say something else? Was there a code word? A handshake or a knock?

“Who’s asking?” The voice was cool rain on a hot day, so close she felt the chilly fingertips of his presence down her spine.

Hannah turned, searching for the man behind the voice.

He stood just inside a hallway leading to what appeared to be rooms, a newspaper shielding his face. He was better dressed than anyone they’d seen thus far. His creamy colored linen suit was creased, but it looked a hell of a lot cooler than the cotton clothing she’d thrown on earlier.

“Are you Abraham?” she asked.

“Who are you?” He folded the newspaper in his hands and tucked it under his arm.

“Depends on who I’m speaking to.”

The corners of his mouth turned up and he smiled, flashing her two rows of perfectly white teeth.

“Abraham.” He held out his hand.

“Hannah.” She shook his hand, hoping the tremble didn’t give her away.

“And your friend?” Abraham nodded at the doors.

“That’s Mason.”

“Hm.” His brows lifted, but he didn’t once glance away from her.

Mason prowled into the lobby and came to stand just behind her, one hand at her hip. Even she recognized it for a possessive hold, one that annoyed her to no end. This Mason didn’t remember last night. He thought they were...whatever they’d been to each other before. He had no right to play caveman to her.

“Let me guess...Army Ranger? Navy SEAL? Black ops?” Abraham extended his arm toward Mason, who simply shook it without offering a reply. “You’re a private contractor now, aren’t you?”

“That would be a good guess,” Mason replied.

“
Gracias
, Pablo.” Abraham waved at the desk clerk, then turned, flicking the end of the newspaper down the hall. “Let’s conduct business in private, hm?”

“Lead the way.” Mason’s arm tightened around her waist, keeping them glued together.

When she wasn’t so scared, she was going to kick his ass. Somehow. Some way.

Abraham led them into one of the last rooms on the hall, unlocked the door and stepped inside, holding the door for them. Mason’s weight shifted slightly, pulling her backward, off balance. He smoothly stepped in front of her, one hand at the small of his back—wrapped around the handle of a gun.

“I’m curious how you found me,” Abraham said.

The cold, clicking sound of a gun being cocked froze the air in Hannah’s lungs. She might be sheltered, but her father had ensured she could shoot and handle any kind of legal fire arm. Nothing sounded like a real gun being prepared to fire. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think.

“Harbor master.” Mason shifted, pulling the gun out of his waistband a little at a time. “A little cash and they gave us the names of all the private boats that had docked in the last seven days, even highlighted the ones still in port. It’s not our fault you didn’t think to use an alias.”

The lights flipped on in the room and Abraham lowered the weapon, lifting his shoulders.

“It was a risk worth taking,” he said. “Come in. Shut the door.”

“What?” Her voice broke. They should leave. Run now. Not waltz into the lair of a mad man.

“Close the door, Hannah,” Mason said without turning toward her.

“Are you nuts?” she muttered under her breath, but did as he asked.

The room was cleaner than she’d expected based on the exterior of the hotel. The furniture was sparse, but shone from polishing. A suitcase lay open on the desk and several large black travel cases sat around the perimeter of the room. The kind guns might be transported in.

She did not want to know.

Abraham crossed to the kitchenette and opened the fridge.

“Who are you sending a message to?” Mason turned, studying the room openly.

“If you don’t know the answer to that, you’re in a lot more trouble than I’d guessed. Drink?” Abraham gestured to the practically antique refrigerator with rows of bottled water and beer.

“Water, thanks.”

“Roberto de la Cruz. Or Cruz as most people call him here.” Abraham handed out two bottles of water and took a beer for himself.

“What’s Cruz do?” Mason took one of the two arm chairs while Abraham strolled to the barred window and gazed out on the front street.

“A little of this, a little of that, but his specialty over the last year has been girls. Whatever your fancy, you can get them from Cruz.”

Mason glanced at Hannah, brows drawn low.

It wasn’t tied to Aegis then? They were just after her?

“We’re looking for two girls he kidnapped last night,” Mason said.

“Friends of yours?” Abraham turned and sipped from the bottle.

“More or less, yeah.” Mason twisted off the cap to his water and she followed suit.

“Then I’m sorry, but they’re likely already gone. Unless they were special, then, I wish—for their sakes—they are dead.” Abraham’s gaze slid to her. “If I were you, I’d leave before Cruz saw you. You’d fetch a high price if he ever got his hands on you.”

“I can’t leave them,” Hannah blurted. She couldn’t leave any of them. Faceless, nameless girls lined her thoughts, each one needing help no one was offering.

“What is it you need? I must say, I’m curious what you think two people can do. Cruz owns a large chunk of the city, more or less.”

“IDs. Credit cards, burner phones, a tablet if you have it. Cash. A couple guns. Some equipment.” Mason ticked each one off on a finger.

“That costs.”

“I’m aware.”

“What I can’t supply, I know someone who can. It’ll take a few hours and I need some photographs.”

“If I can borrow a phone I can put half the cost in any account right now. The rest on delivery.”

“Easiest deal I’ve made all month. There’s a room next door, you can rest there while my guy puts the package together. You have preferences on your weapons?” Abraham set his bottle down on a dresser and hoisted a black case onto the bed.

Ho-ly crap.

She did not need to see this or be part of it.

“Can I go next door?” Hannah’s throat felt like sandpaper and her heart was making a good attempt at breaking her ribs, it was pounding so hard.

“Hannah...” Mason stared at her, probably trying to communicate something she couldn’t understand without a flashing neon sign.

She needed out of here. Out of this world, if only for a moment.

“Key is on top of the fridge.” Abraham waved in the general vicinity of the kitchenette.

Hannah stood so fast the chair skidded backward. She grabbed the key and let herself out of the room, into the hallway. The humidity wrapped around her, easing the dryness of her throat, but it did nothing for the pounding in her head. She stumbled the few steps to the next room, unlocked it and slammed the door behind her, twisting all three locks into place.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

Mason tapped on the door, doing his best not to break it down. For nearly forty-five minutes he’d had to sit around, shoot the bull with Abraham and talk guns when all he wanted to do was have Hannah in his line of sight. He’d recognized the panic in her eye, the fear, but there wasn’t time to coddle her, to ease her into it all or explain anything.

“Hannah, open the door.” He knocked again.

If she didn’t answer, he was going to kick it in.

First one lock, then another scraped and the door cracked open, a sliver of Hannah’s face visible.

He blew out a breath and splayed his hand against the wood.

“Open the door,” he said.

She stepped back and he slipped in, locking the door behind him. Mason drew his first easy breath since the moment Abraham lowered his gun. Mason’s hands shook and he wanted to hold her, but he couldn’t. Not until he was certain the tremors had stopped. For some reason he couldn’t shake the urge to hold her tight. As if he’d held her like a lover once before.

He had to be strong for both of them now. Being close to Abraham was both protecting them, and putting them in danger, a reality he was all too aware of after nearly an hour with the other man.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Hannah backed up, arms wrapped around her waist.

“It would have been safer for you to stay.”

“And have a panic attack in front of that guy?” She gestured to the wall separating their rooms.

“You’re doing fine.” He set his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them slightly to keep the shakes away. For someone thrown into a covert, fly by the seat of your pants operation, she’d done okay. Especially when she’d walked into the lobby and stared Abraham down like he was dirt. It was some act. He was proud of her.

“I’m not fine, Mason. We’re in trouble—
because of me
.”

“No, we’re not. We’re okay.”

“Mason...you don’t know that.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Do we have a safe place to stay?”

“Are you calling this safe?” She gestured at the room.

“For now, yeah. As soon as we pick up the stuff from Abraham, we’ll move. Find somewhere more low key.”

“Isn’t there someone we can tell about this? The cops? The...I don’t know, an American embassy or something?”

“The cops would likely turn you over to Cruz and kill me. The closest American embassy is hundreds of miles away. We could maybe make some calls, put a bug in someone’s ear at the CIA or FBI, but they can’t act fast enough.” Her friends would be gone long before the government could rally enough support to launch a rescue attempt.

“Is this what you do?”

“Yeah, something like this.” He nodded.

Hannah turned and strode across the room, peering out the window by way of a tiny slit between the curtains.

“I shouldn’t be here. I should have left. Can we call anyone at Aegis? My dad?”

“He’s still radio silent, and we could call some of the guys, but who would pay the bill? If you go home, there is no vested interest in bringing those girls home.” The facts were, Aegis went where they were paid to go. It was rarely a charity thing. There were too many people whose livelihoods depended on the jobs they took paying their mortgages.

“How are you paying for it?” she asked.

“Aegis is. You’re here. Your dad would spend anything to keep you safe.” It was one of the points Zain had made, the one reason Zain hadn’t already booked a private plane just for Hannah. So long as she was there, Aegis would get the job done.

“So as long as I’m here and supposedly in danger, Aegis will do whatever it takes?”

“Until your dad gets back and sends a team of guys to yank us out of here, yeah. Getting those girls back is going to be expensive, and someone has to pay for it.”

“So I can’t leave.”

“You can.” And he’d stay and figure something out on his own, but it wouldn’t be enough. Maybe if he was Travis or one of the other guys who could tank through something like a one-man army, but he didn’t have those skills.