Authors: Jo Davis

Tags: #Intelligence Service, #National Security, #General, #Romance, #Erotic Fiction, #Suspense Fiction, #Suspense, #Erotica, #Fiction

I Spy a Dark Obsession (34 page)

BOOK: I Spy a Dark Obsession

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“How so?”

“Said to pull around back, employee entrance. He doesn’t want to be seen talking to us.” They shared a significant look.

“He’s never done that before?”

“Nope.”

Silence hung heavily in the car as they rode the rest of the way to the bar. Pulling up to the seedy establishment, Blaze steered the car around back as instructed. The alley, which accommodated regular deliveries from trucks carrying beer and liquor, was plenty wide, so he was able to pull right next to where their contact leaned against the wall.

He and Blaze got out and Michael circled the car, his gaze sweeping the entire area. A nervous contact was not a good thing, and an agent never took even the best of them for granted. When he had discerned that no one else lurked nearby, he addressed Lenny.

“What do you have for me?”

The other man pulled a scrap of paper from his jeans pocket and passed it to Michael. Who noticed how badly his hands shook. He gave Lenny a long, hard look, not liking how the man flinched under his gaze, unable to meet his eyes. The sinking sensation in his stomach was a feeling he knew all too well. Turning his attention to the paper, he held it up to catch the light from the dim bulb near the employee’s door.

“An address?”

Lenny was fidgeting with a thread on his jeans. “That guy you’re looking for? That’s where you can find him,” he said, voice quavering a bit.

Michael fought to keep calm. “Says who?”

“Just a guy. Someone who knows someone. That’s how it goes.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah.”

He let the man stew for a long minute, exchanged another glance with Blaze. His friend’s skepticism didn’t escape him. He felt the same, but what else did they have going for them?

“All right. I’m going to check this out because you’ve always been straight with me. But I’m warning you now, if you’re setting me up, you’d better pray I’m dead before this night is over. You got that?”

“Y-yeah, but I’m not. I swear.” A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.

“And if I am dead,” he continued, “you’d better pray that whatever amount of money you get paid is enough to ease your conscience for the rest of your life. You got anything else to say, Lenny?”

“N-no. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Pulling out his wallet, Michael dug out a hundred, grabbed Lenny’s hand, and slapped the money in his palm. “For your trouble. Take a good look at it, Lenny.” The younger man stared at the bill. “The only blood on
that
money will belong to the monster who killed my wife, the same bastard who’s trying to kill me and the people I love. And if I’m gone, he’ll off you, too, no matter what lie he spins for you. Remember that.”

“That’s real interesting, but you’re off base. I-I don’t have anything else, okay? See you around.”

They watched as he disappeared inside, and then returned to the car. Inside, Blaze drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “You’re right, he’s scared. But that doesn’t mean the tip isn’t legit.”

“Do you honestly believe that?” he asked dryly.

“No. Let’s plug this address into the GPS and see what we get.”

Michael read it off while Blaze punched the information into the small, handheld unit. After a moment, the map popped up, along with the mileage. “Hell, that’s all the way across the county from here.”

“Do we check it out?”

“I don’t see what other choice we have.”

But as they drove, the tension in the vehicle increased with every mile. About twenty minutes in, Blaze pulled over in the parking lot of a fast-food place and shook his head.

“I’ve got bad vibes about this.”

“Me, too.” Michael tugged at the ball cap, wishing he could tear off the wig and scratch his scalp. The damned thing was hot and itchy. “Turn around. We’ll send a team out there at daybreak if necessary. But something tells me that we got sent on a snipe hunt.”

Blaze whipped the car back in the direction they’d come and hit the gas. “Snipe hunt?”

“Means being sent on a search for something that doesn’t exist. My dad used to send me on snipe hunts when I was little, until I found out there’s no such thing as a snipe.”

“Never heard that one.” He laughed. “Kinda mean, though.”

“No kidding. He—” The phone in his jeans buzzed again. Pulling it out, he raised a brow. “Guess who?”

“Lenny.”

“Bingo.” He answered the call. “Ready to level with me?”

“Michael, don’t go to that house,” Lenny rasped. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a diversion.”

He squashed the anger rising in his chest. “We figured as much. Tell me who gave you that address.”

“Robert Dietz,” he said, his misery clear. “Came by in person last night. Said I was to give you the address and wait for his call. Said he’d tell me what to do next.”

“You completed the first part. So did he call?”

“Yeah, a few minutes ago. He instructed me to wait three hours before I called you, but I can’t do it, man. I know he’s planning something bad and I don’t want no part of it, no matter how much I need the cash.”

“How much cash?”

“Ten grand.”

Michael swiped a hand down his face. “You never would’ve lived to see that money. Believe that. What’s the message he gave you for me?”

“He said wait three hours, then call and tell you that he has what’s most valuable to you.”

The blood drained from his face. “Oh, my God. My house. Hurry,” he yelled at Blaze. “Lenny, what else?”

“He gave me another address, for a warehouse. You ready?”

“Yes, give it to me.” He memorized the information. “Is that all?”

“He said come alone and unarmed, and then he hung up.”

Right. Dietz must be totally mental to think he’d follow that last instruction.

“Okay. Lie low until I can get by to see you.”

“You gonna kill me? I’m dead, anyway, if you don’t get that fucker.”

“No, I’m not going kill you, though it’s a good thing your neck isn’t in my hands right now. Talk to you soon.” He laid his head back on the seat, trying not to be sick. “Hurry, for God’s sake.”

“I am. Emma’s with them,” he reminded his friend, his face a mask of rage.

“Dietz was counting on having three hours’ head start. Maybe we’ll get there before he does.” Quickly, he placed a call to the house. The phone rang and rang, and cold fear gripped him. “Nobody’s answering at home.”

“Try their cell phones.”

He did. Bastian first, then Katrina and Emma. There was no way
none
of them would answer when they knew he and Blaze were out on an op.

The next call he placed was to one of his agents who regularly coordinated emergencies like this one. When Lawrence answered, he ordered two teams to be sent immediately—one to his estate, and the other to the warehouse. Both were to approach with stealth.

Please let us be in time.

If anything happened to them, he might as well be dead.

But Dietz would die first.

Bastian inspected his third glass of cabernet and mused over how quickly the first two had gone down. He supposed he should monitor his alcohol consumption, but for the life of him, he couldn’t think why.

Oh yes. That little detail about his lover being out in the city, possibly in danger, and the idea of Bastian suddenly getting an emergency call and having to rush off—that’s why.

With regret, he set the glass aside and tried to focus on the women’s conversation. But chatter about every subject from home decorating to which brand of bra was the most supportive gave him the yawns. His assertion that bras should be banned was met with giggles before they went back to talking about girly things.

Emma stood and stretched. “I have to hit the powder room. Would you be a sweetie and get us another bottle of white?” she asked him, smiling impishly.

“Sure. Be right back.” He needed an excuse to get up and do something, anyway.

Picking up his glass, he headed to the kitchen for another bottle and to dump the remnants of his wine. Now that his worry about Michael had returned, no way could he take another sip. Ridiculous, because the man had everything under—

Three steps into the kitchen, he froze. Two legs clad in dress pants were sticking out from behind the big island. “What the . . . Simon?” Hurrying over, he plunked down the glass, skirted the island, and crouched beside the elderly gentleman, wincing some at the pain in his healing leg. “Simon? Shit!”

With two fingers, he pressed the side of the man’s neck, holding his breath until he found a pulse. It was slow but steady. But his relief was short-lived. “Dammit.”

Blood. A small pool of it around the man’s head. Had he slipped and fallen, then hit his head on the island? Or had a stroke or a heart attack and then fallen? Christ, he had to call an ambulance. Now. Bolting to his feet, he spun and reached for the phone on the counter.

And found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. A weapon held by a very smug Robert Dietz.

“Don’t make a sound,” Dietz whispered, a maniacal grin plastered on his face. “Turn around. Any heroics, and I shoot you like I did that worthless security man, then the others.”

Seething with hatred, he put his back to the man, keeping his hands visible. “What did you do to Simon? He needs help.”

“Gave him a headache. Perhaps he’ll recover to seek another employer, since his present one will be deceased.” Cold metal pressed into his temple. “Walk.”

Slowly, he walked into the living room, fervently wishing he had a way to warn the women. When they came in, Katrina was still on the sofa, waiting for more wine. Emma hadn’t returned, and he hoped she saw what was going on before she came back.

Katrina must’ve sensed their movement, and swiveled in her seat. “Took you long enough to find—” Her eyes widened and she gasped. “How did you get in here?”

“Your security man was good enough to override the alarm system before I put a bullet in him for trying to hit the silent alarm.”

As Bastian was forced to move around the end of the sofa, he caught Katrina’s gaze and glanced desperately at Emma’s wineglass. She nodded imperceptibly to let him know she got the message. Dietz shoved him into a chair, and while the man was distracted, she deftly snatched the empty glass, laid it on the floor, and pushed it underneath the sofa with her heel. Smart girl.

“How do you plan to get away with this? Michael will be back soon, and he’ll know something is wrong the minute he arrives,” she declared, a little louder than necessary. In his self-important glow, Dietz didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh, we have a while yet. I sent him on a couple of fool’s errands to buy myself some time. We’re going to have such fun together.” He laughed at his own sick joke. “What should we do first, I wonder? Shall I tie up lover boy here and make him watch while I fuck his lovely whore? Or just shoot you both in the head and wait to see Michael’s reaction before I kill him, as well?”

A furtive movement from the hallway leading to the powder room shot Bastian’s adrenaline into overdrive. He had to make sure Emma knew their captor’s identity without a doubt, and how he’d gained access to the house. “You’re a big man, aren’t you, Dietz? Shooting a guard and knocking out a helpless old man? And you had to do it all by your lonesome, since Michael broke up your group of Liberation assholes and, oh yes, blew Tio’s brains out.”

The shadow in the hallway retreated just as a blow connected with the side of his head. He slumped, gritting his teeth through the waves of pain, riding it out through sheer will. He couldn’t pass out and leave Katrina to this lunatic’s mercy.

How much longer could he keep baiting the fucker before Dietz made good on his threat and pulled the trigger?

He took comfort in the fact that Emma was, even now, calling in the cavalry.

“For your information, I’m not alone,” Dietz hissed. “My men are waiting for Ross. He’s going to have quite a surprise in store.”

“If you say so.”

Hurry, Michael.

As they sped the last few miles toward the estate, Blaze’s cell phone rang. Blaze snatched it off the dash and barked a hello. Michael listened anxiously to the one-sided conversation.

“Slow down, angel. What?” Pause. “Dietz? Shit!” Pause. “Okay, you did good. Now get out of the house and—What do you mean you can’t?” Pause. “All right. Stay out of sight. We’ve got a team on the way to intercept them. I love you too, angel.” He pitched down the phone. “Fuck!”

“Tell me.” Michael could barely breathe.

“Dietz got in the house. Emma said he shot John and knocked out Simon. He’s holding Katrina and Bastian at gunpoint in your living room.”

“Fuck!” What a nightmare. When would this be over? “Why can’t she sneak out?”

BOOK: I Spy a Dark Obsession

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