Revenge A Charlie and Will Short Story #2
Charlie smiled at the immediate urgency in the billionaire’s voice. He could imagine him rolling over to grab his phone to summon a pilot and ground crew to prepare his plane. Izzie was always eager to help and just as eager to jump into the middle of trouble, which terrified Kairo.
“All right. You’re on speaker now. This had better be good. Let me guess, Max unearthed some ancient Egyptian tomb, and he’s unlocked the mummy’s curse,” Kairo teased.
“Can’t be. Ed and Max are in Lisbon for a guest lecture,” Izzie corrected him.
Charlie shoved a hand through his hair, smoothing it while he frowned at his reflection in the dark window. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I thought you were still in Gaoxing.”
A low sigh tumbled from Kairo. “It’s fine unless this is a social call. Then fuck you, I’m going to sleep.”
Charlie snorted. “Whenever have you ever known me to make a social call?”
“True. So it’s a job.”
“Really?” Izzie gasped, his voice filling with hope and excitement.
“Not a job, per se. More like…”
“What?” Kairo pressed.
“Revenge,” Charlie said through clenched teeth.
“Oh, really now…”
“Will encountered an asshole in the park when he was walking Oscar. The prick insulted his cat’s intelligence and accused Will of torturing Oscar by putting him on a leash.”
“That is bullshit!” Izzie exploded, causing Charlie to jerk his phone away from his ear.
“No one loves or treasures that cat more than Will does. Oscar is a smart cat. It’s just a different kind of smart.
A free, independent spirit that loves Will as much as Will loves him.
Besides, Oscar loves his walkies! You need to burn this evil man. ”
Charlie had almost forgotten that Izzie was Oscar’s self-proclaimed cat uncle, and he’d sent many gifts to Paris already to pamper his precious nephew. Charlie had also jealously watched as Will spent many hours sending Izzie endless pictures and videos of Oscar since he’d gotten the cat.
“That might be a bit extreme, love,” Kairo coaxed.
“It’s not. This man needs to pay for what he’s said. I’m calling the pilot. We’re flying to Paris tonight. Charlie and Will need our help.” Izzie’s voice was trembling. Charlie swallowed his bark of laughter at the sound of Kairo’s little growl.
“No, baby. It’s late. Let the pilot sleep,” Kairo cooed. “Maybe Charlie just needs me to do a little research. I can do that from here. In the morning. After I’ve had at least six hours of sleep.”
“But what about Oscar and Will? They must be heartbroken.” Izzie pleaded, his tone verging on a pathetic whine.
Charlie needed to intercede before Kairo hacked his bank account again and drained it out of spite.
“Actually, I was just looking for Kairo to do a background check on this guy. Dig up some basic info. His name is Jacob Tanner. Internet security specialist. I’m guessing he’s in Paris on a job.
I need to know where he’s staying and other basic details. Say, in the next twenty-four hours.”
“See. Just some digging,” Kairo coaxed.
“Are you sure you don’t need us there?” Izzie pressed.
“Let’s see what Kairo turns up first. If I need help getting revenge, I promise you and Kairo will be the first ones I call.”
“Yes, because we’re the closest,” Izzie argued. “Alexei and Soren are in Scotland. That’s not nearly close enough.”
Oh…that was tempting. Alexei and Soren were so very good at chaos and mayhem.
“He looks like an asshole,” Izzie sneered, and Charlie had to stuff down a chuckle, because the Greek billionaire wasn’t wrong.
Jacob Tanner did look like a giant asshole as he said something animatedly to Alexei as they sat at the hotel bar two nights later.
The former assassin was trying to look interested in whatever he was saying, but Charlie suspected Alexei was mentally listing all the ways he could kill this man.
Kairo had confirmed that Tanner was in town for the week doing some consulting work for a large Paris corporation before he was headed back to St. Louis. If they were going to strike, they had to do it fast. Charlie was determined to make his stay in Paris a memorable one.
“Has he done it yet?” Izzie demanded. The man was almost bouncing in his seat, nearly giving away that they were watching Tanner from a distance. Izzie still needed to learn the definition of words like covert and discreet.
“About ten minutes ago.”
“What?” Izzie gasped. He shifted in his seat to stare at Charlie. They were both wearing suits, looking like businessmen unwinding with a couple of drinks after a long day of meetings. They weren’t the only ones, as at least a dozen other people filled the bar, drinking and talking.
The H?tel de Jobo was an eclectic choice of boutique hotels in the eleventh arrondissement, about halfway between the Bastille and Notre Dame.
Most of its furnishings were in black or shades of red in a sort of playful gothic style.
The important thing was that it had a bar on site, giving Alexei a chance to work his magic as he chatted up their target.
Normally, this kind of interaction was Soren’s job, but the thief had been busy until about ten minutes ago, targeting a housekeeper for a quick lift.
“Alexei made the drop in the guy’s drink as Tanner was leaving to go to the restroom, and when Soren came up to order a beer from the bartender,” Charlie explained.
“No!” Izzie gasped. “I watched Alexei the entire time.”
“You looked away for a second at Soren because you recognized him. A second was all it took.” The target had just shifted away from his drink as he slid off his stool at the bar.
At the same time, Soren distracted the bartender so he wouldn’t see Alexei tampering with the other man’s drink.
They arranged for him to have a mild sedative to put him into a deep sleep, allowing them to work without the risk of discovery.
“Can you stop giving Izzie tips?” Kairo growled in his ear over the tiny communication device they were all wearing. “He doesn’t need to know these things.”
“Of course I do,” Izzie whispered. He lifted his drink and took a sip to hide his wide grin.
“We ready?” Charlie inquired.
“Cameras are under my control. I’ve got backup control of the door locks in case Soren couldn’t come through.”
“Fuck you,” Soren broke in softly. “I got the master key card with no problem.”
“Ed just checked in. He and Max have Will on camera doing touristy bullshit. His alibi is secure.”
Charlie smirked as he took a drink of his scotch and water. Everything was in place. It was time to get his revenge for his love and his furry son.
Fifteen minutes later, their target was stumbling away from the bar, blinking heavily. The potent combination of alcohol and sedative was mixing in his system. He would be lucky to get out of his suit before he passed out.
Kairo gave the all-clear call less than thirty minutes later after watching the asshole through a tiny camera he’d hidden in his hotel room while he was in the bar.
Charlie paid the bar tab with cash and took Izzie up to the eighth floor where Soren and Alexei were already waiting for them.
They slipped on gloves and used the master key card Soren had swiped off the housekeeper to sneak into Tanner’s room, where they found him loudly snoring, stretched out on top of the covers, still wearing his suit.
They stood by the bed, grinning like lunatics. Soren pulled around the backpack he was carrying and withdrew a black leash and a coiled bright-red rope. “Who wants to tie him up and who wants to decorate?”
“Oh, shibari,” Izzie whispered, his expression scrunching up. “I’m out of practice. I think I’d be better at decorating.”
“Yet another thing I didn’t know about you.” Alexei giggled. “We need to get together and swap stories.”
“No, you don’t,” Kairo muttered.