Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
And then the van stopped about twenty yards away, and a door opened. A man stepped out and a light flashed. Morse code. Kev breathed a sigh of relief as he unfolded himself from behind the pallets. He stepped out into the meager light and waved. The man hurried toward them.
It was Hawk. “You two okay?”
Kev helped Lucky jump down from the loading dock. “Yeah, we’re fine. Three dead tangos in there. No idea how many there were or where the rest are.”
The van pulled up and the door slid open. “Hey,” Iceman said, “didn’t anyone ever teach you not to accept rides from strangers?”
Kev laughed as he let Lucky go in front of him. Iceman tugged her into the van, and Kev and Hawk followed. “Yeah, well, they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Kev put an arm around Lucky as soon as he sat down and tucked her into his side.
He didn’t care if the guys had heard them or not, but now that they were safe—for the moment—he wasn’t wasting the opportunity to be close to her.
This night wasn’t over, and there was still a job to do—and he had no idea what would happen next.
If he had his way, he’d put Lucky on a plane out of here right now.
It wasn’t up to him though.
“We got caught behind a pileup in the city,” Matt said. “Your comm link went out but we still had the GPS. We had no idea what we’d find when we got here.”
“It’s all right. We held our own.”
“Tell us what happened.”
Nick Brandon shoved the van in gear and tore out of the parking lot while Kev repeated everything they’d been through, with input from Lucky.
“Jesus,” Iceman said. “Those are some incompetent fucks. Dude actually stuck the rifle in first? Amateurs.”
“Al Ahmad probably figured he’d finish the job at the school and then deal with you two later.
Here,” Hawk said, handing Kev new pistols.
Thankfully HOT traveled with extras. Kev tucked them into his holsters and breathed a sigh.
It felt good to be armed again. Billy gave him a new earpiece and mic, and Kev dropped the old ones into Billy’s hand.
“Thanks for coming to get us,” Lucky said softly.
“Told you we’d have your back,” Hawk chimed in. “Though you only needed us for a ride out, it seems.”
“He might have planned it this way,” Lucky said. “Divert us, divert you—and complete his plans before we can react.”
Billy’s fingers were flying across his computer screen. He looked up and grinned. “Yeah, well, he didn’t count on the king being late. He’s running almost an hour behind schedule.”
“Copy that,” Matt said. “We’re still going in.”
“If he knows we escaped, he’ll call off his plans,” Lucky said.
Matt looked grim. “It’s a chance we have to take.”
“If he sees us there,” Kev added, “he’s going to know the game is up.”
Matt shrugged. “Either way, it’s our best chance. We have to take it.” He looked directly at Lucky. “Can you still do it?”
She pulled in a breath. “Yes. Hell, yes. He has to be stopped.”
Kev’s heart swelled with pride. She’d been through hell and back with that monster, and yet she still wanted to go after him. Tough and determined, that was his Lucky.
She pulled away from his embrace and reached for his tie. “If we’re still going in, we have to fix this.”
Her scent drove him crazy, but now wasn’t the time to do anything about it. He let her fuss over his tie, his throat feeling tight as he looked down at the top of her head. She was his now, and that thought filled him with quiet joy. His.
He was still getting used to what that meant. She smoothed his lapels and then ran her fingers through his hair. It was a sensual shock to his system. Another second and he’d grab her wrists to halt the torture, but she leaned back and studied him with a critical eye.
“There. At least you don’t look like you were in a cat fight anymore.”
She reached up and fixed her hijab a little tighter before smoothing the silk of her abaya. It was wrinkled, but there was nothing they could do about it now. He glanced at his team, saw that most of them were busy looking anywhere but at the two of them.
It didn’t matter whether they approved or not, but it bothered him that maybe they were thinking of Marco and wondering what would be happening if he were still alive. Hell, he wondered that too. But that wasn’t the hand they’d been dealt.
“There’s not going to be a lot of time,” Matt said. “We’re inserting together, and then you can make your way to the ballroom through the maintenance corridor.”
Kev nodded. It’s what he’d have chosen to do too, given the circumstances.
Soon they rolled to a stop and shoved open the van doors.
Billy and Flash stayed in the van to monitor the comm links while the rest of the team piled out at the rear of the school.
It was dark now and there was activity near the rear entrance, but the team didn’t go that way.
Instead, Matt led them to a fire escape on the side of the building.
Iceman scaled it first and reported the all clear.
One by one, the rest of them went up. Kev sent Lucky ahead of him. When they hit the roof, they ran for the entrance. Iceman popped it open, and then they were inside, heading down the stairwell that came out into the school’s maintenance area.
Matt gave a signal and everyone stopped. “Everyone in position in three minutes.”
They checked their watches to make sure they were still synchronized, and then Kev drew his MK23 with the suppressor and led Lucky toward the ballroom. There was a chance they’d run into someone on lookout, but he’d deal with them effectively and swiftly if so.
Lucky clutched the tail of his jacket as they crept through the darkened corridor.
They could hear voices coming from inside the ballroom and the tinkle of plates and glasses from the kitchen where the caterers had set up.
There was a bright light shining from the kitchen up ahead, and men rotated in and out of the doors with trays as they went from the kitchen to the ballroom and back.
Kev stopped as they got closer and pulled Lucky into the shadows.
As soon as it was clear, they hurried to another door that opened onto the ballroom, and Kev holstered his weapon.
“You ready?”
“Yes.”
He kissed her swiftly and then opened the door and they slid through.
A lady looked up as they walked in, but she only smiled and went back to her conversation.
Kev took Lucky’s hand and walked casually around the perimeter, studying the crowd.
People milled in clusters while a string quartet played in one corner.
The men and women glittered in their evening clothes.
Most wore native dress adorned with shiny embroidery, but there were a few tuxedos and modest evening gowns.
The school girls gathered into small groups where they talked and laughed together while their parents chatted with school officials and teachers.
A photographer circulated, snapping photos. Kev grabbed two glasses of something fizzy from a passing waiter—not champagne, since alcohol was forbidden in Qu’rim—and handed one to Lucky.
“Don’t drink it,” he said under his breath. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with the stuff, but why take that chance? They didn’t know what Al Ahmad had planned and had no idea how he would execute it. Drugging a crowd with poisoned drinks was definitely within his capability.
She nodded, her gaze straying over the crowd. He knew she was searching, hoping like hell to find Al Ahmad, but the truth was they didn’t even know if he would be here or not.
He took her hand again and they started to circulate.
The headmaster came up to them and chatted about the upcoming article that he and Flash were supposedly doing.
Kev was beginning to feel on edge the longer they stood in one place, but finally the man’s cell phone rang and he excused himself to take the call.
“King’s car just pulled up.” It was Matt’s voice in his ear. “Showtime, Big Mac.”
“Copy that.”
Lucky’s gaze collided with his. “What?”
They hadn’t given her an earpiece or a mic, so she didn’t have access to the reports coming through.
“King’s here. If our boy’s going to make a move, it’ll have to be soon.”
She searched the crowd, desperation and frustration clouding her expression. “There are too many people. He could be anyone. He could have changed his face…”
The main doors burst open a few seconds later as the king and his party strode inside. The entire ballroom sank into curtsies and bows, and a hush passed over the group. Even the quartet stopped playing.
“Six men,” Kev said softly. “Only two appear to be bodyguards.”
“Copy.”
He bowed even as Lucky curtsied. Her head was still up, studying the men, searching. And then her grip on his hand tightened as she sucked in a breath. “I think maybe… it could be… Dammit, I can’t tell.”
Kev looked at the knot of people she was watching, but he didn’t know what he was looking for.
The men wore traditional robes, and they had all bent forward in deep bows.
But one glanced up, his eyes glittering as he watched the king’s party.
It didn’t mean anything, and yet there was a certain coldness in his gaze.
Whether or not he was Al Ahmad, he definitely wasn’t a fan of the current king.
There was a hush and a murmur, and Kev realized that the waiters had set down their trays. That shouldn’t be odd, and yet…
“Something’s happening,” he said, alarm churning through him.
One of the waiters stood tall as the king passed. He cried out in sharp Arabic, opening his robes as he did so. The two bodyguards drew their weapons, but the man said something else and they dropped the guns to the floor and kicked them away. Two of the other waiters grabbed the guns.
“What the fuck is happening?” Matt said over the comm.