Chapter 5
“Hello, Chloe.”
She’d seen him coming if her cheeky look of anticipation was any clue.
“Dane. I’m not surprised to see you.”
Damn. That meant the feds had beat him here.
“I understand you have a guest who looks like this.” He slipped the photo toward her.
She nodded. “She’s not in right now.”
“Any idea where she may have gone?”
“What’s it worth to you?”
“Depends. What did you tell the feds?”
“Nothing. They didn’t ask.”
Dane smiled. The smug bastards. They probably had a net on the island and her credit card being tracked in case she was stupid enough to use the same one twice.
But that all depended on how well financed she was.
And since this job was personal, Dane figured she was on a tighter budget than usual. The feds probably figured that too.
Dane slipped another fifty from his pocket. He heard Acer snicker even from the distance he’d stayed to keep an eye on the front entry, hallway, and elevators.
“You on an expense account?” Chloe had always been more enterprising than smitten.
Dane ignored Acer and ignored the lady’s veiled request for more money as he smiled at her. “Where did she go?”
Chloe gave him the name of an exclusive spa and Dane didn’t bother to ask how she knew.
He and Acer walked back to his rusty old Jeep parked out back. When he slipped inside he pulled out his phone and tapped on Shana’s Icon. A cartoon of Wonder Woman.
“Did I wake you?”
“No. Yes. It was time for me to wake up and take my meds anyway. Did you find her yet?”
“No. Can you meet us at Sea Spa Salon in fifteen?”
“I’ll be there.” The smile in her voice was unmistakable. That made him feel marginally better about involving her. He said goodbye and ended the call.
“I thought you wanted to keep her out of it?” Acer said.
“I do. Mostly. But if Stravana’s in a spa, Shana will have better access and be able to take her by surprise. Besides, if Stravana has seen any newspapers or TV news since she arrived she’ll have seen my face, probably shown prominently next to the governor’s.”
“Good points. Always thinking ahead.”
To keep a low profile, he parked the Jeep two blocks away. As they walked toward the Sea Spa Salon. She hadn’t taken her rental car, so they couldn’t confirm that Natalia was there, but he had a feeling.
“She’s here. Let’s wait on the corner for Shana.”
They didn’t have long to wait. Shana pulled up under the awning to the valet in Dane’s sporty Jaguar.
She’d taken it over since their beach shack got blown up, insisting it did no one any good staying in storage.
Dane only pretended to mind. His Swiss bank account was healthy enough to take the hit if the car got destroyed and needed replacing.
He didn’t tell Shana that. Not because he didn’t trust her with his money, more because he didn’t want her being overly impressed by it.
Money and avarice were her Achilles’ heel, her one flaw.
He smiled watching her get out of the car dressed as a spoiled woman ready for a spa day.
Walking in the front door, she barely acknowledged him and Acer as they moved in. But he saw the flick of her wrist in his direction, subtle enough so that the doorman who greeted her and opened the door never noticed. The doorman didn’t stop him and Acer when they slipped inside.
“You going to try the same bribery for intel at the desk?” Acer whispered.
“Something tells me that method wouldn’t work as well here.”
“There’s always the flirtation method.” Acer snickered.
“Go for it, big man.” Dane figured they had nothing to lose as they watched Shana talking to the receptionist. “Or we could leave it to Shana.”
Shana laughed and the receptionist smiled. The love of his life walked off in the direction of the ladies’ dressing rooms with a sure fast clicking of her heels.
“We can’t follow her,” Acer said.
“No. But we can order up a massage.” He walked toward the appointment desk and said under his breath, “Unless you’d rather have a facial.”
Acer snorted.
Dane opted for the massages, taking a chance that he’d be able to look around behind the scenes once he got to the locker rooms.
Down a short carpeted corridor, they reached a second reception area where a young lady greeted them with robes and instructions to relax in the lounge and have a glass of wine or lemon water while they waited.
“I was wondering if you might have seen my fiancée,” Dane said. “She came in a short while ago and I was hoping to catch up with her. Maybe have a couples’ massage.”
“What’s her name?”
Damn. She would ask that. Dane had no idea what name Natalia might be going by and he tried bringing the list of her aliases to mind.
“Natalia,” he said, playing it safe by leaving off the last name. She used her first name often enough for him to play the odds. “She’s tall, dark hair, gorgeous. Unforgettable olive complexion.”
The receptionist’s eyes twinkled as she grinned. “Of course, Mr. Blaise. She’s in the seaweed wrap right now. Let me show you to her.”
“I’ll wait here,” Acer said.
Dane followed the woman around a corner and through a glass door into an atrium like room with stone, rocks, an artificial waterfall, and multiple benches and tubs, most occupied.
Shana stood near a low wooden table where a woman who looked exactly like Natalia Stravana sat up, wearing only a towel.
“Ms. Strahan, I have a surprise for you,” the receptionist called, heading in Natalia’s direction.
Both Natalia and Shana turned to see him as he passed by the receptionist. He quickened his steps when Natalia began to rise. She was going to bolt.
Shana blocked her, but Natalia gave her a kick that nearly made Dane’s head explode with horror.
He dove at Natalia, forgetting about subtlety or finesse, and overpowered her, tackling her to the floor, holding her arms behind her back.
Natalia screamed, “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Call the police someone.”
Shana recovered and took control.
“Yes, please do call the police. This woman is wanted for questioning for threatening the governor.” Shana was fully clothed and pulled plastic tie handcuffs from her bag and handed them to Dane.
As he fastened the ties to her wrists, Dane instructed the stunned spa attendant to get Natalia’s clothes and personal things. With Shana’s assistance, he lifted her from the floor and pushed her back toward the locker room.
“Sorry for the interruption,” he said to the roomful of stunned patrons. To Shana, he spoke in a lower voice. “Are you all right?”
She nodded, but he saw the spot of blood on her blouse where her stitches were and winced. He yanked at Natalia’s cuffs, twisting them. He wanted to hurt her for hurting Shana.
Shana placed a hand on his arm. “I’m fine.” Her words were firm, calm.
He heard sirens in the distance and knew the police would be there in a few minutes. It couldn’t be going this easy.
“I’ll go with her to get some clothes on.”
“Not without me watching. Nothing personal, Ms. Stravana.”
They dragged her into the locker room as he grabbed her clothes from the attendant. A security guard had joined her by now.
“I’ll help,” the guard said, snipping the plastic tie off. Neither of them got far before they heard a commotion coming from the front lobby area. Too quick for the police.
He pulled a coat from the bag and threw it over Natalia’s shoulders. Shana still had a grip on the woman, and though she was surrounded by the security guard and Dane, he knew Natalia had skills and would make a move.
“Is there a back way out of here?” he asked the security guard.
She pointed, looking confused. Dane didn’t give her time to figure it out.
He and Shana grabbed Natalia and ran with her. He had her in a semi-choke hold to keep her from making a move, but that slowed him down. Shana got to the door and threw it open before he had a chance to tell her to wait.
If it was the feds, they’d have the rear covered.
Unfortunately, Dane was right.
“You . . . bitch!”
Shana struggled to hang onto the woman, but Stravana had skills and she twisted away, leaving Shana on the floor.
She supposed she ought to be thankful the woman had left her without a broken arm.
As it was she felt more embarrassed than anything as she leapt to her feet, not easy in heels, and gave chase.
Dane was right behind her and the two FBI special agents who’d been outside the door right there waiting followed. Natalia had a head start and although she was barefoot and half naked except for her coat, she didn’t let that stop her as she ran back through the spa’s winding hallways.
The federal agents were shouting the way they always did, but she didn’t stop, losing Natalia around a corner. Shana took a chance and went right.
“Shana,” Dane called out. She turned in time to see him being manhandled by the two agents with their guns drawn and pulling his arms behind his back as if he were a fugitive. Maybe technically he was. But not really.
“Go after her,” he shouted.
“Don’t bother,” Special Agent Richards said. “We have all the exits covered. You almost blew it for us. We’re bringing you in for interfering in—”
“That’s bullshit.” Shana turned away from the hallway and approached the agents, who were dragging Dane to the front lobby past the reception desk, making a spectacle of him.
She caught up to them before they got to the front door.
“Is this really necessary? We’re on the same side here,” she said.
“Absolutely necessary. No way should either of you be involved in this, but especially not him. He’s in violation—”
“The hell he is. No way.”
“Call Kimble,” Dane said. She nodded, meeting his eyes and wanting to smack the two agents silly. “I will. Where are you taking him?”
“To the lockup at State Police headquarters. You’re familiar with the place, I presume?”
“I’ll meet you there, Dane.” She wanted to say so much more. She wanted to throw her arms around him and . . . well, take him from their grip. She might be able to do it, but there were more of them. She saw two SUVs outside the front door from where they stood.
He said nothing, gave her a look. That special look he had that made her heart and soul flutter. No matter how much he drove her mad sometimes, he always ended up affecting her that way.
The two FBI agents pushed him through the door and she followed. She watched as they shoved him into the back of one of the SUVs, and when they took off she looked around for Acer. He came from around the side of the building and met her at the Jeep.
“What the hell?” he said.
“They’ve been wanting to get him back in jail and they found an excuse. Or so they think.”
“What about Stravana?”
She shrugged. “They’ll corral her somewhere.”
As she spoke she heard the shouts coming from inside the spa and she and Acer stepped aside in time for several agents to spill from the building, hauling a bleeding and bruised Natalia Stravana with them.
“What did you do to her?” Shana said to one of the agents.
“None of your damn business, lady.”
Natalia said to Shana, “It’s your fault.” The men stopped while they waited for a Suburban to pull to the curb.
Shana said nothing, didn’t move, didn’t back down.
Natalia, being skilled and held by her arms, used the men for leverage as she kicked her leg up and barely missed Shana, who ducked away.
Shana went into defense mode and struck back with a kick of her own, but Natalia ducked aside and Shana hit one of the agents square in the jaw with her heeled foot.
“Damn!”
It all happened in a split second, the surprise advantage almost allowing Natalia to escape as one of the men lost his hold. Acer stopped her though, and Shana grabbed her before the two men recovered. Then the shouting started and weapons were drawn.
Within the next two seconds, Shana found herself in plastic cuffs with her hands behind her back. The agents shouted at her as they shoved her into the back seat of a Suburban.
“This is ridiculous. You know I hit him accidentally when Natalia ducked. You can’t arrest me for self-defense.”
“We can and we did. You’ve interfered in in the arrest. We’re taking you in.”
“Acer, call Kimble.”
He stood on the curb and nodded, his game face on as if they were in special operations mode.
Or so she fancied, as she sat with her wrists behind her and adrenaline-fueled tension coming off the three agents, two men and a woman.
None of them were interested in listening when she tried to ask them to give Acer her bag with the car keys.
As it was, he was left with two cars and no keys, but she supposed he’d been in worse fixes.
All he had to do was get an Uber ride. It wasn’t the middle of a jungle somewhere.
Like he and Dane had been on more than one occasion.
Those were the kind of operations that Shana never wanted Dane to go on again.
Ever. Shuddering, she forced herself to breathe deep, calm herself, even as she felt the ache of the knife wound, reminding her that the kind of operations they engaged in weren’t exactly walks in the park even though they weren’t in a jungle.
“I don’t know why you’re bothering to take me in. I’ll be out within the hour,” she said. It was a cheap ploy for information. The agent in the passenger seat turned to answer her.
“FBI and Homeland Security are handling the threat against the governor. You might say we’re putting you and Blaise in jail for your own good. That seems to be the only way he’ll stay out of the way.”
“Oh yeah? Now that you have Natalia Stravana, your job is over, right? No need for concern. Maybe you need to leave the island. Stay out of our way.”
FBI Agent Smarty Pants laughed, but made no further comments. He gave nothing away about whether or not they were looking for a second threat. She watched the trees pass by the car windows. They were only two blocks from the station.
“I have a question for you, Ms. George,” the driver said. “Who gave you the intel on Stravana? How did you find out about the threat against the governor?”
She said nothing, continued to stare out the window. They couldn’t arrive fast enough for her. She needed to lay her eyes on Dane, make sure he was okay. Silly, because of course he was okay. This was not a wild jungle. Not literally anyway.
“Not talking?” The driver pulled the SUV into the parking lot.
Dane was being dragged from the back of an identical SUV in front of State Police headquarters.