Assassin (Hunter Mercenary #14)

Chapter Fourteen

Chartres Street

Six P.M.

Sun Going Down

Thursday

N ever let anyone tell him that his senses were starting to dull with age, because they weren’t. As Reaper was driving around the block, moving his car so he could watch the main house at different angles, and not be seen, that’s when he felt off.

Why?

Because the sensor that turned on the lights in the walkway between the two buildings that led to the courthouse of the Hunter’s home was on.

There were only a few ways that could happen.

Someone triggered it by walking on the stones and setting off the motion detector, or someone inside turned it on. The gate went to the ground, and there was no way an animal could wander through there.

It looked like moving his vehicle had been something beneficial.

Something sketchy was going on.

Parking, he was already in his vest, and he checked his sidearms and the other weapons on his person. Somehow, he doubted that The Hunters came home early.

When he last checked in with Elizabeth, they were at the new location.

Yeah, this was bad.

As he approached the gate, he checked the security cameras, and saw that they’d blocked them. Oh, well, two could play that game.

He overrode the code.

Thank you, Remington.

As soon as they kicked back on, using his phone and the app that gave him access to the inside of their home and courtyard, he saw them.

There were two shadows.

Women.

Oh, well, welcome to the web. It was time to be a spider.

Unlocking the gate with the code instead of going over it like they likely had, he walked down the pathway, he was watching the two women inside the house. They were putting something under the cabinets in the kitchen by the gas line.

A bomb.

Well, shit.

Then, they went into the living room, and by the fireplace, they pulled off a wooden panel and did the same thing.

Not only did he have two assassins, but two bombs. Hopefully, he had time. The people had to be stopped first.

Watching them signal each other, saying not a word, he knew immediately who they were.

KGB.

He’d tracked assassins from Russia before, and they were trouble.

As he found a place in the shadows of the patio, tucked behind a bush, he watched as the first one came out.

Using his silenced gun, he let her get to the walkway and then, popped her in the back of the skull with a bullet.

She went down.

When her friend came out, she saw her legs, and began moving toward her, worried.

Whoever trained these two didn’t do a good job. In a situation like this, you handled the person doing the killing before heading to the person who was down.

When she was close by, he jumped out, tackled her, and they rolled around on the stone patio.

Then, she was up.

Oh, and feisty as shit.

She began fighting, pulling everything out of the book to stop him. He was blocking her way out, so she had no choice. When she went to kick him in the balls, it didn’t work.

Why?

Smart killers that had testicles wore cups.

The look of surprise shocked her.

Then, he had her by the long black ponytail, and yanked her toward him.

Normally, he’d question her.

Only, tick tock, they had bombs inside.

So, he knew enough about her fighting that she was a KGB killer.

That meant she was useless.

She’d never talk.

So, he cut her throat.

She went down, and as she did, he raced his ass into the kitchen and removed the explosive device by the gas line. As quickly as he could, he cut the correct wires, and stopped it.

Then, he was at the fireplace, and saw he only had fifteen seconds left.

Well, he’d better hurry, or he was going up with Chartres.

When he cut the last wire, the timer was on five, and he was finally able to breathe.

That’s when he heard the click of a gun from behind him.

Immediately, his hands went up.

“Turn around,” Boone said.

When he heard the voice, he relaxed. As he turned, he saw it was one of The Hunters.

“Hello, Boone.”

The man recognized him. They’d come in and seen the two dead bodies in the courtyard.

“What the hell, Reaper?” Boone said as he stood there with Dimitri and Heath.

He held out the device.

“I was circling the block. Elizabeth put me on duty here to watch the house. I think she suspected Alexsandr to hit here. As I was in the back, the courtyard walkway light was on, and the cameras were blocked.”

Oh, boy.

“Of course, he’d send someone,” Dimitri said, not very comfortable around the man. “They will be his assassins. You didn’t hear this from me, but after Alexsandr had his heart broken, he only surrounded himself with well-trained and brainwashed women. He numbers them. He doesn’t even give them names.”

Of course, he did.

“What a dick,” Boone said.

Dimitri nodded.

“Yes, among other things.”

Lewis was curious.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked. “Did you come back to pick something up?”

Boone jerked his head toward one side of the house.

“Mr. Croft has family in the adjoining house. We came to pick up and get them to Area Fifty-Two.”

Oh, he got it.

They’d gotten lucky. Had those bombs gone off, Mr. Croft’s family would be…dead.

“Well, I’m going to call into Elizabeth and see what she needs me to do with the bodies and explosives.”

Boone gave him a fist bump.

Thank God they had a spider living nearby in his web. This place would have been toast.

AGAIN.

“I’ll likely be heading to Area Fifty-Two later. Give the Major a heads-up, and watch your back during transport. Clearly, his assassins are here.”

“Before him?”

Dimitri shrugged.

“They normally travel with him.”

Well, then, they had a problem. If they were here, then the chances were, so was he.

“I’ll pass the news along to them.”

Boone, Dimitri, and Heath went back out to the courtyard, leaving Lewis to make the call.

The man first took pictures of the dead assassins, mainly the tattoos on their wrists.

Like Dimitri had said, Alexsandr gave them numbers, and he’d just killed Two and Three.

Yeah, that had been close.

When he dialed Elizabeth’s number, it didn’t take her long to answer the call.

“Yo. Reaper.”

“We have a problem,” he said.

She laughed.

“Oh, I have a bigger one. Somehow, Alexsandr Dominik made it into the country. I’m on my way there now to warn Maura and the Hunters.”

Oh, well…

“I can confirm it. I was just babysitting Chartres, and I took out two women. They were planting bombs. Dimitri was here, and he told me off the record that he numbers his assassins. Two and Three are dead.”

Well, shit.

It appears that he’d pulled a wild card too, to catch them off guard.

“Are you safe?” she asked.

He began laughing.

“Awwww, you care. Want to run away with me and we can have some really fantastic sex on the beach?” he asked.

Ethan took the phone and gave the man the dirtiest of looks possible.

Reaper covered.

“The drinks. I meant the drinks. You know, sex on the beach with an umbrella in it and fruit?”

Blackhawk lifted a brow.

Oh, he didn’t believe that for a damn second.

“Don’t make me mean, Reaper.”

The man laughed.

“Man, chill out. She’d kick my ass. Who are we kidding?” he asked. “She’s attached to you. You’re the love of her life blah, blah, blah.”

Ethan laughed, but inside, he was all turmoil.

Why?

Gene.

He’d only spent two days with him, and that lure of him…it was already difficult. He’s never cheat on his wife or Chris, but he knew one thing.

He might still be in love with the man.

That was a problem.

A big one.

Elizabeth took the phone back so she could handle this call.

“What do I do with the bombs?” he asked.

Well, not play with them.

That was for damn sure.

“Uh, get it out of there. Call Maura, but if I know her, she’s going to want you to hold onto them.”

He was appalled.

“ HOLD ONTO IT ? Like put it in my pocket and walk around with my dick about ready to blow off with Russian incendiary devices next to it?”

She snorted.

“You’re literal. Call in backup and head to the new location to report in. I’m heading there too. I’ll be landing in two hours. Meet me outside.”

He could do that.

“I’ll ditch the bodies, and clean up the mess before so no one smells rotting Russian.”

Yeah, no one needed that.

She preferred NOLA to smell like good coffee and gumbo.

“Thanks, Reaper.”

He wasn’t done.

“Oh, and tell your people how goddamn lucky they got.”

She was aware.

This was getting tricky.

It looked like she was about to break all kinds of rules in New Orleans.

Again.

Oh, her boss was likely going to kick her ass.

* * * H U N T E R – C R O F T * * *

Area Fifty-Two

Forty Minutes Later

Thursday

Evening

When they returned, MATE was the first to alert them that there were strangers in the car that was approaching the building.

Then, she offered to blow them up.

“MATE! No!” Maura said. “We can’t blow things up. That’s never the first choice.”

Zayn shook his head and reminded them of one thing.

“I told you that she’s trouble. It’s all fun and games until someone goes kablooey.”

“Let them in,” Maura ordered, and MATE did as she was asked.

As Maura, Greyson, and Jagger went to the garage under the building, they found Boone, Dimitri, and Heath with two other people.

Greyson did the introductions again, even though they met them in Boston .

“Maura and Jagger, you remember my daughter, Alyona and her boyfriend, one of our security guys, Ajax.”

They shook hands.

“Yeah, welcome,” she said, noticing that Alyona looked like shit.

Her eyes were red rimmed, and she appeared to be scared.

That was…odd, but who was she to question it?

“Come on up, and we’ll talk.”

Boone touched Maura’s arm.

“We ran into Reaper. There were issues at the house,” he said.

She lifted a brow.

That had their full attention.

“What?” Jagger asked.

Boone broke it all down. When he was finished, Maura shook her head.

“He’s already here. Everything we know about him tells us that he travels well protected. Those are going to be his security.”

Alyona said nothing.

Her heart was racing a million miles a minute.

“Shit,” Jagger said. “He slipped in, and we have to figure a way out to find him.”

Boone reassured them.

“Reaper was calling Elizabeth. I’d bet we’ll hear from her shortly. I say we carry on, and when she calls, we adjust. It’s almost time for you guys to head out, and we can’t miss this tour.”

They were aware.

Remmy and Calyx were already getting ready to head out on this double date.

As soon as they reached the upstairs, everyone relaxed when they saw who it was.

In fact, Jinx headed their way, and she hugged Alyona. As soon as she did, she looked surprised.

When she set her free, she explained.

“I’m Jinx. Heath is my brother,” she said. “Welcome to the family.”

That was all she had to hear.

Knowing that she was part of another family was very cathartic.

“Yes, my sister, Nikita has told me about you. She loves you so very much.”

The feeling was mutual.

Maura finished up the introduction for the rest of the family.

“This is Ajax Hawk, and he works for Gideon Security .”

Heath grinned.

“He’s also her boo,” Heath added. “The man follows her around like a puppy. Poor Aly trips on him all of the time.”

The man pointed at him.

“Hey. She doesn’t trip on me!”

Heath shrugged.

“I mean, she doesn’t have Niki’s knockers, but she’s pretty and all, so I get it.”

Alyona laughed at the man’s comments. Heath was a lovable teddy bear until you made him angry. Then, he was a nightmare.

“Thank you, I think.”

Greyson didn’t give anything away, and that surprised Alyona. It appeared he was keeping her safe, and she appreciated that.

“Anyway, they are here with us because I don’t like leaving my children unprotected. She’s part of our plan B, but so far, so good.”

Ajax cleared his throat.

“I’m literally right here and it’s my job to protect the people in the family.”

Greyson patted him on the back.

Somehow, he didn’t think that was meant to be reassuring. Okay, maybe he did follow Aly around a whole lot, and she did trip on him.

Sue him.

She was a runner.

“Well, welcome,” Jagger said. “This is our family. Thank you for coming to help us.”

Before anyone could say anything, Maura got ready to update the family, but she needed something first.

“Zayn, I need a favor.”

He lifted a brow.

“What?”

She went there.

“Keep your goddamn mouth shut.”

He stared at her in surprise.

“Where did that come from?” he asked, a little caught off guard. “Why are you asking me to do that?”

She explained.

“Elizabeth is likely going to call in at some point, or pop up making you look like a dick. There’s your warning not to do it.”

Now, he got it.

He actually laughed.

“Thanks for the heads-up. I owe you one, Major,” he said.

Then, she delivered the bad news.

“Boone went with Dimitri and Heath, and they encountered Reaper.”

That was all she had to say.

They knew that wasn’t good.

“Uh-oh,” Remmy said. “He doesn’t come out unless there’s a situation.”

She was well aware.

“Apparently, two assassins showed up at Chartres. Alexsandr knows where we live.”

Dimitri pointed out one thing so they were all on the same page.

“Where he goes, his assassins go. It’s rare he sends them out before him, but then again, it might have been easier to get them here first to test the route.”

They glanced over at Merry.

They needed to know which it was because one bought them time, and the other meant time was up.

“Has anyone used that airport in the last couple of days?” Maura asked.

She looked.

Running the software, she got her answer.

“Yes, today, but it was an American businessman,” she said, putting his face on the screen. “John Wellman, out of DC. He’s a military contractor.”

That wasn’t odd.

So far.

“Who was on the flight?” Jagger asked, hoping they could get the manifesto.

Merry hit a key.

“MATE, scan the media and see who was coming back,” she said, not sure if the flight itinerary would be logged or not.

It only took MATE a few seconds.

“There is no manifesto recorded with the FAA. Media coverage says that his wife and children were on the flight. They were coming back from a trip to Paris. It is all over the media that they will be in NOLA. John Wellman has a vacation home here.”

That didn’t really help them.

“Okay, so we know that the assassins are here, and that Reaper took out two, but we aren’t sure if that flight had the legit people on it.”

Greyson’s right-hand man shared what he could.

“He travels or has multiple,” Dimitri said. “The lower the number he’s given him, the more valuable to him.”

Alyona thought about the tattoo that had once been on her from him.

She’d been One.

Thankfully, she’d had it removed.

“Then we have to move fast,” Maura said. “If he’s not here, he will be soon. If he is here, we have a whole other set of issues.”

On that, they all agreed.

When MATE went crazy beeping, Merry rolled over to the screen.

“What did you find?” she asked MATE, who appeared sitting on the consol.

She hopped off and headed toward Maura, and both Alyona and Jax stepped back.

“What the hell is that?” he asked, protectively putting Alyona behind him.

MATE focused on him.

“I’m MATE. You can call me Zen or MATE. I’m the computer here.”

He said nothing.

What was he supposed to say to that?

The computer was walking around the room.

Greyson sighed.

“They are so damn lucky,” he muttered.

Yeah, Jax was pretty sure the boss had lost his goddamn mind.

“MATE, focus,” Maura said, getting her attention so they could find out what she learned.

“Yes, Major,” she stated, giving her what she wanted. “That was the system running the account number Merry asked me to find. I located it.”

Well, hot damn.

“Tell us about it, MATE,” Jagger said, holding his wife’s hand in his.

Mate sat beside Zayn, likely because she knew he hated it. When she went to put her hand on his knee, it went through his body.

“It’s touching me,” he whispered. “Make it stop. Please.”

Maura laughed.

The tone in his voice was somewhere between panicked and shitting his pants.

“MATE, you know that freaks him out.”

She smiled.

It was clear she was aware.

“Anyway, the tech that you found at the dry cleaner’s, was definitely linked to an account. Only, it’s not an account number, per se.”

They were all confused.

“So we can’t drain his money dry?” Jagger asked, getting bummed out.

Mate shrugged.

“Not quite, J.”

They all stare at her, and then, him, waiting for Jagger to protest the use of that nickname. It was clear when he didn’t that he was just tired.

“Then what, MATE?” Maura asked.

Merry sighed.

“I’ll tell you because she’s dragging this out for attention, and the Major hates that,” she said, going there.

“Thank you, Merry,” Maura stated.

She dove in.

“Well, it seems that it’s an account to a bank but not an actual account-account. It’s likely to a safety deposit box. It’s not something I can hack into. I’ve tried. It’s a wall. That tells me it’s something tangible and solid.”

Greyson got it.

“I have five accounts like that,” he admitted. “I know what kind of account she means. They show up on my statements, but I can’t deposit into them since they are physical locations.”

They all looked over.

He explained.

“It’s a box I’ve set up for each of my children. Inside, are important things I’ve left them. The banks give them account numbers to keep track of them. Merry won’t be able to get inside of it digitally. The only way is the old-fashioned way.”

Well, that was a problem.

For.

Them.

“Do we know what’s inside?” Maura asked, hoping it was referenced somewhere.

Merry shrugged.

“I can’t be sure, but the correspondence in the email where I found it made it seem like there’s some pertinent shit in there. It might be additional listings of places that Alexsandr owns or is trying to own.”

Greyson got it.

“Real estate?”

She nodded.

Now, Maura was pacing. She didn’t like any of this. If he was here now, or about to land, if he went to that bank and got a list of safe places, they’d be chasing him forever.

That wasn’t going to work.

“We can’t risk it’s more money, names, or intel. For all we know, Artemis gave him intel about everyone else here. He knows about the three of us, but you guys…”

That did not bode well.

Not.

At.

All.

“Fuck no,” Zayn said. “We can’t risk that. We have kids. That shit can’t get out.”

She was aware.

“That means only one thing.”

Jagger knew.

“We have absolutely no choice. We have to beat him to that box,” Jagger said, looking at his watch.

Rogue had a sneaking suspicion he was going to be going on a mission when they got back from the swamp tour.

Greyson sighed.

“The banks are about to close. There’s no way we can get to it now.”

It was his turn.

Rogue cleared his throat.

“While you’re insulting me, I’ll just take this moment to remind you that I’m more a thief than a mercenary. If you need a locked box in a safe in a bank, I’m kinda the guy you want to go in. This is what I do. I’ll just need a team of people to help me break in.”

Greyson nudged Alyona, and she knew what he wanted her to do.

Overcome the fear.

She was relying on what Jax had said. Her face was changed, and her tattoo was gone. She should, in theory, be safe, unless he heard her voice.

Alyona was honest.

“I can get into just about any place. I’m really good at secured buildings.”

From beside her, Ajax didn’t like that.

“Not without me,” he said. “You’re not wandering around alone.”

The group didn’t know why he was hovering, but she’d be safe with Rogue.

Jinx raised her hand.

“Rogue and I break into banks for date night. If you want us in that bank, we can get into that bank vault, and clear it out. I can use Alyona’s help as Rogue handles the tech part.”

Maura had to weight the pros and cons of the situation beforehand.

“This could be a trap.”

It could be.

Only, what choice did they have?

She picked up a marker, went to a clear wall, and began scribbling things. As she did, they were transferred to MATE, and she was deciphering the math.

“Uh, what is that?” Dimitri asked.

It looked complicated.

The man next to him explained.

“Math,” Jagger said. “She’s running the statistical probability of us needing that box, and the risk it’s going to cause to the team. If the probability is low, we’ll go in, but not if the risk is high.”

“So she’s ‘Rain Man-ing’ the shit out of it?” Heath asked.

Jagger lifted a brow.

“Uh, in a way, I guess. That’s her thing. She’s a math genius. That’s why the military used her probability in the field.”

If he said so.

To most of them, math shouldn’t be mixed with letters. That was hella weird.

As for Maura, it didn’t take long.

They all stood there, and when MATE got the last calculation, she chortled in the laugh they’d come to attribute to her.

“What’s funny, MATE?” Merry asked, not batting an eye at the sound.

Only, she didn’t get to say anything.

Maura did.

“We gotta go in. We can’t risk that Fang, or any of the other people who work for him, put something that will take this from our favor to Alexsandr’s. Rogue and Jinx have to go in.”

“And me,” Alyona said. “I can do it.”

They all glanced over at Greyson for confirmation on that. This was a joint venture, so they all had to be open for anything.

He reassured them.

“She’s exceptionally good at it. She won’t drop the ball. I promise.”

That her father was taking her side, and supported her mattered. She hugged him, and he kissed her on the top of the head.

“You’ve got this, Honey,” he said to her whispering so only she’d hear.

Maura knew that they needed to get moving.

“Then, after the adventure tour tonight, we wait until it’s really late, and we go in there too. Like I said, I thought it was going to be a late night, and it is.”

It sucked that she was right. They had those new rooms to crash in, and they really wanted to.

Rogue took over.

“I’m going to need the bank schematics, and I need all of the fun toys that we have here that are going to make us ghosts. We’ll work out the plan before we go in, but I’m going to need a get away driver in case we get out and it goes to hell.”

That Rogue might be going into the building too told them all they needed to know.

It was either going to be difficult, or he didn’t trust Alyona enough to let his wife be at her mercy if she fucked up.

Because he wasn’t letting his girl go alone, Jax raised his hand.

“Like I said, I’m in. I’ll be the lookout or driver. I can handle it.”

Maura looked around.

“That works for me,” Rogue said, glancing over at his woman. “Baby, date night at the bank?” he asked, knowing she would be up for it.

She went into his body and leaned against him.

“I do love breaking and entering to steal what’s in a safety deposit box.”

Yeah, him too.

They were sick like that.

Well, it looked like their minds were made up, and the statistics were in their favor.

They had another job to do.

Just as they were about to get moving, the alarms began going off, and MATE lit up, well, Matrix did.

“What the hell?” Zayn asked.

Their AI warned them.

“Someone is approaching the building,” MATE said. “They are using blocking devices, but I can still see that they are there.”

Maura headed that way.

This wasn’t good.

They just got this building.

What the hell?

Had someone followed Boone and the team back in? She hoped not.

“What do you see?” she asked.

MATE kept talking.

“Someone is at the door, trying to gain entry. They are using tech.”

They all held their breaths.

Well, except for Boone. He was pretty sure he knew who it was going to be, but before he could warn them it was likely Reaper, they were already taking this system for a spin.

Maybe it was good to see what Area Fifty-Two could do.

“MATE, unblock them,” Merry said, knowing what Mate could do. She’d been playing with the toys. “Pixilate the picture so we can get an ID.”

The system hummed.

When MATE got through it, they saw a very familiar face.

It was Reaper.

“What is he doing here?” Jagger asked, as everyone calmed down. The man couldn’t just show up like a normal human being. He had to always creep in.

Like a Spider.

Boone raised his hand.

“He mentioned he was heading this way after he contacted Elizabeth.”

Jagger stared at him.

“And you neglected to tell us that? We could have shot him.”

Boone laughed.

“One, it’s Reaper, and shooting him is the least of your problems. Two, I was curious to see if we were really secure here. We had a test run. This was testing a hypothesis, in a way. The place is secure. You’re welcome.”

Well, the man was right.

“Let him in, MATE.”

She warned them.

“He has explosives on him,” MATE admitted. I’ve scanned him, and he’s carrying something.”

Jagger didn’t like this, but he knew that Lewis was their friend. He wouldn’t betray them. When he glanced over at Boone, he shrugged.

“If he’s carrying bombs in his pocket, get him an eval. It might be the ones that had been planted at Chartres.”

That was probably a good idea.

Spiders were loco.

“Again, MATE, let him in,” Maura said.

As soon as Maura made the call, both Snakes moved closer to their husbands to protect them.

Spiders and Snakes didn’t play in the same location for a good reason.

They were too much alike.

MATE unlocked the doors, and Reaper must have thought it was his skill because he crept in. They could see him on the camera ducking behind the vehicles.

“MATE, go scare the bejeezus out of him,” Maura said. “Hologram him so he pisses himself. That’s his punishment for breaking and entering.”

That was all she had to hear. MATE curtseyed and disappeared.

Well, maybe this could be fun after all.

On the screen, they watched him moving through the cars, really believing he was not seen.

“Well, at least we know the security here is superior to CIA security,” Dakota said. “Because CIA only gets you to the door. You gotta do the rest. MATE is a good watchdog.”

Greyson sighed.

“I’m so jealous,” he admitted. “I need this in my life. I’m about to do something pathetic.”

They all looked at him.

“What?”

“Bribe a Fed.”

That was amusing for a few reasons. She wasn’t exactly bribable, and it was illegal as hell.

On the screen, Reaper went to walk around a car, and MATE appeared, and then disappeared.

The man spun, just catching her out of his peripheral. He was about to get surprised.

He pulled a gun, and went into Spider mode. He was playing hide and seek with a hologram, and it was fun to watch because he wasn’t going to win.

She kept popping in behind him.

It was when the lights went out, and then on, and she appeared in front of him that he looked to nearly have a stroke.

“What the fuck,” he muttered.

“Mr. Spider, you could have just knocked on my door,” MATE offered. “Elizabeth has you on the list of people who have access—even though you’re carrying bombs in your britches.”

He literally stared at her like she was ghost.

MATE being MATE went there.

“Ooooohhhh repent,” she said, making everyone upstairs nearly piss their pants.

When Reaper started looking for a way out, Maura laughed, and pushed a button.

“Lewis, what the hell?” she asked over the com.

He looked relieved that he wasn’t being haunted by whatever this was.

“Major, that’s not funny. What the hell?”

They all laughed even more.

“I mean, it kinda is,” she said. “MATE bring him upstairs.”

She did her job escorting him.

“Follow me, Lewis Faulkner, AKA, Faulk. AKA, Reaper. AKA The Red Queen Slayer.”

Now, he actually laughed.

It was hard to be upset when those were names that mostly were only known to Elizabeth—especially the last one.

As MATE led him upstairs, he didn’t ask any questions. He wasn’t talking to a hologram. That was ridiculous.

Once in the main room, he was curious.

“How did you know? I was using…”

She pointed, and played the footage of him trying to break into the place for him.

Lewis just watched.

It was insane.

“Well, shit. That just decrypted CIA tech. I need a copy of that software.”

MATE winked at him.

“Play your cards right, and you can have all of me,” she said, purring. “I hear you like a redhead,” she offered, and her black hair went red.

He stared at her.

Then at Maura.

“Uh, did your AI just flirt with me? Can AI do that?” he asked.

Zayn nodded.

“Oh, it can, and is. It’s freaking insane, and scary,” he said. “She’s going to kill us all. I’m calling it. Now she wants to mate to have spider babies.”

MATE just smiled.

Then, she scared the big man.

“BOO!” she shouted, and Zayn jumped.

Only, Zayn wasn’t amused.

“I hate Elizabeth! What the hell were we thinking? This thing is programed with her mental illness!”

Likely.

Since Lewis was there, Maura did the introductions. She knew he had met Dimitri and Heath.

“Major Lewis Faulkner, this is Greyson Croft and his associates.”

“Oh, I know who they are,” he said, scanning the room to see what this place had in it. Elizabeth had gone over the edge on this one. “The CIA had a folder on him.”

HAD being the operative word.

“It doesn’t anymore?” Greyson asked, wanting to be sure. “On any of my family?”

He shook his head.

“Nope.”

That made the Russian in the room curious as hell.

“How do you know?” Dimitri asked, suspiciously. He didn’t trust the government, even if he liked Elizabeth.

Reaper shrugged.

“Who do you think Elizabeth paid to steal it and erase any digital information. You were wiped by me.”

Well, thank God.

Immediately, Dimitri calmed down.

“Anyway, what’s up?” Maura asked. “I hear you had a run in with some ladies.”

He laughed.

“Oh, you could say that. We got issues,” he said, pulling out his phone. “Hey, MATE, can I send you some pictures?”

“Oh, are they dick pics?” she asked, grinning.

Reaper frowned.

“Why do I feel dirty?”

Maura just laughed.

“MATE, take the pictures he sends you, and stop being pervy to the guests.”

MATE sighed.

“FINE.”

When the pictures chimed, she put them up on the screen. On it, there were two wrists, and on them, a beautifully tattooed Two and Three.

Immediately, Aly rubbed her own wrist, where she’d had a tattoo from Alexsandr.

“Oh, boy,” Maura said, knowing what they were. Dimitri was right.

Reaper continued.

“Do you want the bad or the nightmarishly bad first? For the record, there is no good.”

Well, that was ominous.

Maura didn’t know what the other part could possibly be about.

“Uh, the bad?” she asked, choosing the unknown.

He shared what happened earlier with a particular cop that was annoying.

“You guys were gone, and the homicide captain paid us a little visit.”

Maura sighed.

Oh, boy.

That was bad.

“He was banging on the door, and acting a fool. He’s going to be a problem.”

Maura wanted to see it.

She needed to know what they were up against. Elizabeth allowed him to leave, and that was problematic since Tommy had been one of them. He knew EVERYTHING about them.

“MATE, loop the security camera footage to here please.”

They all watched.

“If that’s not bad enough, I was sitting there, minding my own business, and when the sun started going down, I saw motion around your home. This is the nightmarishly bad, and related to the two tats.”

Jagger lifted a brow as they waited.

“Long story short, that I’m sure Boone has already told you about, I hacked into your security to have a visual. Someone, and I don’t know who, tried to blow your home up.”

This was definitely problematic along with Tommy.

Lewis continued.

“I killed two women inside Chartres placing the mother of all bombs. Those tats belonged to them. I’m pegging them as KGB. They moved like they’re assassins.”

He pulled something from his messenger bag.

When they saw it was a bomb, they all stepped back.

“It’s not live. I pulled the detonation caps, but this is a powerful little death knocker. It looks very Russian to me, but I figured you’d want to see it.”

Dimitri moved closer.

“That’s definitely KGB. I’ll stand by what I said earlier about who it likely was. I’ve seen devices like them before.”

“Do we have a visual on the women?” Maura asked MATE.

“We do once Reaper used his software to unblock theirs. Chartres has good security, but it’s not Area Fifty-Two.”

Clearly.

She pulled it up, and they saw their faces.

That’s when Maura noticed that Alyona looked away, like she knew something.

“Hey, Alyona. What’s up? Do you know them?” she asked, needing to know.

Greyson tucked her under his arm, and reassured her.

“They won’t hurt you. I trust everyone here, and those women are dead. Reaper killed them.”

Maura didn’t understand.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Greyson didn’t give them everything in case they didn’t need to know.

“Like Nikita, Alyona was KGB.”

Maura focused on her.

“And you know them?”

She nodded.

“Alexsandr has women he trusts. He deprograms them from wanting to be their own people so that they become his. Then, he makes them property.”

Why did that sound horrifying?

“What do you mean?” Jagger asked.

She explained.

“The KGB gives him free reign to pick the most beautiful, deadly women in the ranks to be his. He picked one for his wife, and the other five as his assassins. They go with him EVERYWHERE .”

“And they never leave his side?” she asked.

She was honest.

“It’s rare. The only time I know of that happening is when he sent his favorite one ahead, the one he was to marry, and she came into the US alone. He trusted her the most.”

Yowza.

That didn’t bode well for them.

“Do you think he’s here?” she asked.

She nodded and shared what she could.

“That’s Kira Sokolov, or it used to be. Now, she’s known as Two. He doesn’t want them to feel human. They are machines made to do his bidding. He took their names. He took their dignity, and he broke them so he could build them back up.”

They all listened.

Maura understood that. In the Marines, during bootcamp, the drill sergeants did the same thing. They broke you to build you back into a team or fighting machine.

She stared at the other one.

“That’s Polina Alekseev. She was given the name Three.”

Maura was not happy.

“He likely traveled with five women when he came here, and if you killed two of them, the other three are still around.”

Jagger made her stop.

“If you had to bet everything on this, would you say he’s one hundred percent here?”

She nodded.

“You’ve missed him. He’s definitely here, and now, harder to stop.”

Well, shit.

That wasn’t good.

How the hell had they missed him?