Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
Duke
Since I’d gotten off the phone with Serena, I’d been hard as a rock, contemplating both quick and slow with my vixen. The big problem was going to be getting some alone time to explore each other. I didn’t do girlfriends, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t spend more than my usual night or two with her. Right? Suddenly, my brain and body were all about making deals.
My phone buzzed with a call from Jordy. “What do you have?”
“She just got a text from the same number as the threatening call yesterday.”
I tensed, pushing aside my daydream. “What does it say?”
“You didn’t obey. There will be consequences.”
“Asshole.” My blood boiled. “Any luck tracking it down?”
He laughed. “You should know that’s impossible if the guy knows what he’s doing, and so far, this guy does. Still voice-over-IP bounced a million ways. But Winston is making progress on the car.”
“Put me on speaker.”
Winston’s voice carried anger. “Too fucking many black or dark Suburbans in this town, but with her note that he had no front license plate, I narrowed it down. So far I’ve tracked him to West Hollywood, but I’m still going through footage and don’t have where he parked yet.”
“License?”
“Only a partial. It has mud on it.”
“Convenient.” That was an old-school trick. “Good work, Winston. Let me know when you find it. I’d like to pay this dirtbag a visit.” I clenched my fist and visualized breaking somebody’s nose, to start with.
“You got it,” he said.
“And?” Jordy asked.
“And what?”
“And what about me?”
Remembering Serena’s lesson, I dutifully told him, “Thank you for everything, Jordy.” She’d already trained him to expect it. Then, I ended the call, leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes, and visualized something better than breaking the asshole’s nose—Serena in my bed, her hair fanned out on the pillow and a sheet splayed across her waist, revealing those luscious tits, tits that called to me.
Who the hell am I? It had been one fucking day, one fucking make-out session, or rather one finger-fucking session, and hell, all of her called to me in a way I wasn’t used to.
Maybe it was that we’d been interrupted before I got off. That had to be it because this wasn’t me. Old Cobra would’ve been calling up Ursula for a sure thing. Maybe this was like that sci-fi TV show where the alien gave off super pheromones, like a love potion to anyone around.
Yeah, that could be it.
Two hours later, Lucas called. “I’m outside. Let’s go. We found the Suburban.”
I bounded down the stairs of the office building and jumped into Lucas’s Aston Martin DBS. I didn’t like the poor visibility in this low sports car, but with a V12, it sure could haul ass. It was even faster than the company Porsche Turbo GTs. The exhaust sounds were music to any car guy’s ears. And it made a statement to arrive in a James Bond car.
“Winston didn’t call me,” I said as he took off going east.
“I told him not to.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because I couldn’t have you race off there alone. It’s in West Hollywood.”
“Do we know who was driving?”
“It’s parked behind Babushka Irena’s restaurant.”
I whistled. “Holy shit.” That was Russian mob territory. West Hollywood had the highest concentration of Russians in the country outside of New York City.
“Exactly. We’re going to pay Igor Yaroslavsky a visit.”
Yaroslavsky ran prostitution and drugs, but a lot of his money came from a protection racket. He laundered the money through his legit businesses—car washes, refuse hauling, laundromats, and beauty salons.
I checked that my weapon had one in the pipe and de-cocked it.
Lucas stated the obvious. “Nobody goes in there alone. Winston will meet us. It’s pucker time, and I wish we had Brett along.”
I nodded. Lucas could handle any five men all by himself, so it said a lot that he wanted both me and Winston with him. “When’s Brett getting back?” Winston was a good man in a fight and a damned good shot, but there was nothing like having our brother, Brett, at our backs.
“Not soon enough, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Copy that.” I’d hoped Lucas had more info than I did since he’d been in Omega before Brett, but apparently not.
Brett had gotten the call from the secretary of defense himself, which could only mean Omega needed him. In our family, you didn’t say no when SECDEF called. Duty was a part of our DNA.
Mentally, I crossed my fingers that we’d get him back in one piece. It sucked not knowing where he was or what he was up against, but I understood operational security and hadn’t insulted him by asking about the op.
A few minutes later, we stopped in front of the restaurant, and Lucas made a call. “You ready?”
When he hung up, we got out, garnering our share of stares with the expensive car.
A pair of sketchy-looking kids walked up. “Nice car. We watch it for a hundred bucks.”
Lucas pointed a finger. “You’ll watch it for free.”
The taller of the two laughed.
“Anything happens to it, and you answer to Mr. Yaroslavsky.”
The kid stopped laughing and went pale. His buddy nodded.
Winston pulled up behind us.
“This car too,” Lucas instructed.
“The vehicle and plates are stolen,” Winston reported as we walked toward the door. “The car is still behind the restaurant.”
“Calm and cool,” Lucas said. “Let me do the talking. Winston, bring your ID?”
He smiled. “Sure thing.”
We followed the boss inside.
Lucas spoke in Russian to the lady who greeted us, though all I caught out of it was Lucas Hawk .
She scurried off, and two big goons emerged from the back—one with a buzz cut and the other with no neck. They were both packing. Buzz Cut had his in an obvious shoulder holster, and Idiot No Neck had a Glock tucked into the front of his pants, easy to reach, but also an easy way to shoot your own dick off since a Glock had no safety.
Buzz Cut spoke. “Mr. Yaroslavsky not here.”
“I’m Lucas Hawk. He’ll talk to me, or we’ll have a dozen FBI agents in here in sixty seconds flat.”
“You not cop,” Buzz Cut scoffed.
“He’s FBI.” Lucas thumbed in Winston’s direction, never taking his eyes off the two.
Winston flipped open his old FBI creds. He’d kept a copy for just such an occasion, and he still trimmed his hair and dressed like he was in the bureau.
Sweat appeared on No Neck’s forehead.
Lucas checked his watch. “Fifty seconds. If we don’t call them off, they’re coming in.”
The next ten seconds were tense. Buzz Cut’s eyes shifted left and right as a vein throbbed at his temple. He’d get blamed for sure if a bunch of FBI agents joined us, but he’d been told to send us away.
“Come,” No Neck said, making up Buzz Cut’s mind for him.
Winston lifted his phone and placed a quick call I knew was fake. “Hold fast.”
We entered a back room. “Ah, Lucas Hawk,” exclaimed the rotund man sitting at a table. “What bring you here?” He made it sound like he and Lucas were old friends. “Sit.”
Lucas didn’t accept the invitation. “Igor, it’s come to my attention that you are bothering someone under my protection.”
He laughed. “I bother no one.”
“Her name is Serena Benson.”
Igor’s twitchy eye gave him away. He knew the name.
Lucas continued, “Igor, you don’t want me as an enemy.”
“I know nothing.”
“He’s lying,” I spat.
Lucas fixed me with a glare and turned back to Yaroslavsky. “Bullshit.”
Igor’s fist hit the table, and his eyes narrowed. “You in my house.”
“You’re in my town, Igor.”
“Big talk,” the Russian scoffed.
Lucas’s hand balled into a fist. “You know my reputation. Back off, or you won’t like the consequences.” Then he raised the finger—the finger of death.
Igor’s eye twitched. He’d heard the stories. “I only acquire information and supply car to man,” he said, looking away.
That confirmed that these Russian dickheads were involved in the attack.
“Well, you’re fuck out of luck because she doesn’t have it,” Lucas countered, lowering the finger.
“My information say different.”
“You should double-check.”
“Can not.”
What the hell did that mean?
“She lie to you.”
Lucas wasn’t done. “The car that ran her off the road is behind this restaurant. I want the driver.”
Igor twitched again. “Not my business. I only supply information and clean car.”
“Who the fuck is the driver?”
“Independent contractor. I don’t know him.”
“Who? I want a name.”
The staring contest lasted five seconds before Yaroslavsky gave in. “I look into it.”
I expected Lucas to push, but he only said, “Noon tomorrow or we have a big problem.”
I couldn’t ask any questions until we were outside and secure in the car. But once the door closed behind me, I nearly burst. “What happened? We should have pushed for the name. Now we have to wait a day.”
Lucas shook his head. “We won’t have to wait long. He’s going to give the guy a head start to get out of Dodge. Anything less and he loses face.”
“But—”
“But nothing. We’re on his turf, and we got another clue when he said he couldn’t double-check his information. His source is either in the wind or dead. Just in case, we’ll look for bodies.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it. I hadn’t picked up on that. Lucas was as smart as he was lethal.
“She’s not safe until we figure out what they’re after,” he added. “Igor is only a middleman. We take him out of the picture, and whoever is behind this gets somebody else.”
Winston nodded, exited the car, and drove off in his vehicle.
“You have to find out what Serena knows,” Lucas told me. “It’ll be some detail she doesn’t realize is important.”
I nodded as Lucas waved at the two kids and sped away.
Things looked a lot less rosy now than when he’d first told me we’d tracked the Suburban.
A few minutes later, his phone rang. He put it on speaker. “Jordy, what have we got?”
“He made two calls, one to a local burner phone that took the call driving south on the four-oh-five and then went dark.”
Lucas grinned. “That’ll be our guy. Watch for the phone to go live again, and let us know the minute it does. It might end up in another state. What about the second?”
“He called Miami. I’ll have to get back to the office to identify who took it.”
Lucas braked for the next light. “Good work, Jordy.”
“What did he say on the call?” I asked Jordy.
“Hi, Duke. That would be a major miracle, and I deal in minor ones today. Numbers only.”
“Thank you, Jordy.”
“You’re welcome, Duke.” The call disconnected.
“How did he?—”
Lucas didn’t let me finish. “Howard Hawks once said…”
I waited for another of his corny quotes.
“Fortune favors the prepared.” He glanced over and smiled. “I had Jordy set up behind the restaurant to spoof the local cell tower.”
Yes, definitely as smart as he was lethal.
Serena
At the end of the day, Katelyn walked out with me again, and we rode down in the same elevator to the lobby.
She pulled me to a stop. “Pinch me. I must be dreaming.” She pointed out Duke, who hadn’t noticed us yet. “Is he for real? Leo never came to pick me up. Let me know when you’re done with him. I could use a man like that.”
“Oh, he’s real.” I didn’t address her request. Duke wasn’t one to be passed along.
“He’s one mighty fine specimen.”
“He can cook too,” I bragged, although I had yet to taste it. But Constance wouldn’t steer me wrong.
“Can I meet him?”
She was taking this pass-the-boyfriend-along thing way too far.
“And let you charm him away? No, thank you. He’s mine, and we have to get going.” We did because we had to meet Constance on Veteran Avenue to pick her up.
“Okay, already. I get it. See you tomorrow.” Past security, Katelyn turned left for the other doors.
I walked up to Duke and planted a kiss on him, pulling back before I’d gotten my fill. “Have to keep up appearances for Katelyn.”
“Right.” He pulled me back in.
I surrendered to him as my sense of where we were evaporated. The electric feel of his body against mine and the sinful taste of him pushed all rational thought aside.
His arm around me flattened my breasts against him, and I wished for fewer onlookers and a lot fewer clothes between us as our tongues dueled. It was all I could do to keep my hands at his neck instead of cruising over his body the way they craved. I loved that I was making him hard, and I desperately wished my words to Katelyn had been real.
He broke away and stuffed both hands in his pockets. “Is that good enough?”
Dreamily, I nodded. “For now.” My heart thumped in my chest, wanting later to come pretty damned soon.
Constance walked by us without a glance.
Duke
Serena was nervous as a mouse at an owl convention all the way to the car. “What are we going to tell her?” she finally asked.
“Constance?” I shrugged. “The truth. We had to make it believable for your coworker, that’s all.”
“I guess.”
“Or the other truth,” I teased.
“Which is?”
“That you want to test drive my big cock.” I laughed.
She punched my shoulder—hard. “You’re terrible…and conceited.”
“Only if it’s not the truth.”
She punched me again. “Grow up. I don’t talk like that.”
I laughed again. “But you think like that.”
She joined the laugh and then hauled back and punched me again.
“Struck a nerve, did I?”
All I got was a glare and the silent treatment the rest of the way to the car.
We picked up Constance on Veteran as planned. She chose to ride shotgun, leaving Serena in the back.
“What was that?” she asked as soon as she’d closed the door.
I started us off. “What was what?”
“The kissing, of course.”
“Katelyn walked out with me yesterday,” Serena explained. “And she saw me with Duke, so I had to explain him away as my boyfriend. She followed me out again today.”
“So it’s the cover, same as we planned for the barbecue,” I added.
Constance poked my shoulder. “Tough gig.”
I chuckled. “If you recall, I suggested you be her date to the barbecue. Then you two could make out.”
“Not with my family,” Serena complained.
Constance made a face. “Yeah, we’ll stick with the original plan.” Then, she launched into a discussion of what she’d observed today. It seemed we’d gotten past the kiss. “And her boss is an ass.”
“Amen to that,” Serena agreed.
Constance kept checking our mirrors. “The CID agent in charge doesn’t like me.”
I changed lanes. “Will he be a problem?”
“I don’t expect so. My letter from his boss’s boss’s boss tells him to stay out of my business. That should cover it.” She sighed. “I heard you had an exciting meeting with the Russians.”
“Jordy?”
“Yep.”
“What Russians?” Serena asked. “Why would Russians be after me?”
I checked my mirrors again. “He said he was only hired to get information—the information that points to you having the USB drive—and then he provided a car to somebody unknown.”
“Oh.” Disappointment tinged Serena’s voice.
I added the good news. “Lucas doesn’t want to push him too far, but we did get him to call the perp.”
Serena unbuckled and leaned up between the seats. “You found him? Who is he?”
“No name,” I said as we reached a stoplight. “But we have a phone number to track. For now, he’s keeping the phone off, so we have to wait.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Put your seatbelt on,” I ordered. “If we’re followed, the ride could get hairy.”
“You don’t have to be so bossy.”
Constance raised a brow and smirked.
“Serena,” I intoned calmly. “Would you please put on your seatbelt? It’s for your safety.”
She moved back and buckled in. “Was that so hard?”
I gritted my teeth but kept my tongue in check.
Constance turned and did the client-calming for me. “It’s very good progress.”
“That means I can get my life back soon, right?”
“No. It can take time to find a man like this,” Constance explained.
With that, everything in me deflated. Serena sounded like she’d be happy to finish with us and be done with me, all before we’d even started. I had a very unprofessional desire for this assignment to go slowly.
As if to point out my ridiculous feelings, an hour later my phone buzzed with a text.
URSULA: Are you around?