Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries Book 11) (24 page)

“Hey, where are you…” Hutch’s question died out as Case took off toward the park.

He jogged across the street, careful to avoid traffic, but he needed to be there. Needed to be where he was sure Theo had sat and planned and plotted. Theo would have gone about it in a methodical fashion. He was a great planner. He wasn’t always great at executing the plan and could definitely make mistakes in the field, but his brother had been excellent at planning an op. He would have had that studious expression on his face that Case joked he had when he was either planning something or constipated. Then Theo would send Case his happy middle finger and they would both laugh.

He wasn’t laughing now.

“What’s going on?” Hutch asked as he caught up. “I’m sorry about what I said back there. I will get this done.”

“Ah, you come back,” a feminine voice said. “You like your usual? I have…missed you.”

Case turned and saw a young woman, likely around twenty, standing next to an ice cream cart. She was dressed in a white T-shirt with an ice cream on the front, her dark hair in a ponytail. “You know me?”

He knew the answer before she said a word, before her eyes flared in obvious confusion.

She shook her head. “No. I’m sorry. I was mistaken. You look like someone who used to…what is the word? Uhm, he would relax here in the afternoons. He was nice American man.”

And she was into him. It had been there in the way her smile had dimmed when she’d realized he wasn’t Theo. It had always been like that. Women flocked to Theo and his good-natured charm. It was good to know his brother still had some charm, that it hadn’t been burned away by whatever Hope had done to him.

“He was my brother and he and I got separated. There must be something wrong with his cell because he was supposed to meet me at the hotel yesterday, but he didn’t get there. I’m worried about him. He’s been down here for a while, but I just got in. I thought I might find him here. He talked about how much he liked this park.”

The girl blushed and Case knew he had her. She’d had a thing for his sunny, happy brother.

“He’s such a nice man,” she said in her thick Colombian accent, her lips curling up. “I mean he’s not all soft or anything. But was nice to me.” She frowned a little. “I think he might have been involved with someone rough.”

“What do you mean?”

She glanced behind her as though trying to make sure no one was there. When she turned back, her voice was hushed. “He had one friend who seemed nice, but then another one showed up and they argued. The other man was very short with him. I don’t think Tomas wanted to go with him. I didn’t see him again after that. Do you think he’s in trouble?”

Tomas? Was that the name Hope had given him? Kai had warned Case that Hope would likely have tried to rewire Theo’s entire life. Case didn’t understand the technology, but Kai had explained that through a combination of drugs, torture, and reconditioning therapy, Theo would forget his old life and believe whatever Hope told him.

It seemed to Case that Theo was bucking her training a bit, but his brother was definitely in trouble.

He couldn’t scare the crap out of the girl though. “I’m not sure. I need to find him though. Is there anything you can remember? Did he tell you where he was staying?”

“He just said he was staying around. At first I thought he was probably at one of the big hotels, but I saw him on the bus one day.” She blushed.

He couldn’t have her too embarrassed to speak. “It’s okay if you followed him. My brother is a good-looking kid. Rather like myself.” He could turn on some charm. “I’m sure he would be flattered that you liked him enough to follow him.”

“I’m not into guys, but even I know he’s pretty hot,” Hutch said with a grin. He pulled out some cash. “Could I get a cone? Chocolate.”

She laughed, her shoulders relaxing as she went about her work. It was obvious they’d put her back at ease. “Of course. It was a silly thing to do, but I was curious. He got out in an industrial part of the city. I stayed on the bus, but the building he went into looked like a clinic of some kind. He told me he worked security. I assumed he was a guard at the clinic. You might look there. He hasn’t come back here for a week. I think perhaps that bank robbery scared him off. I know I was scared. Please tell him it’s peaceful here again.” She held out the cone. “
Sal
?”

“Sal?” Hutch shook his head. “Nope. My name is…”

“She’s asking if you want salt.” At least one of them spoke a little Spanish. And Case had listened to a bunch of Mia’s stories in between long sessions in bed. When the group would sit and have meals together, she’d talked about her adventures in South America and a few of the odd things she found fascinating. Mia liked to try the local cuisines and apparently one of the customs here was putting salt on their ice cream. Hutch was not as open to new experiences as Mia. “He’s a pure sugar boy, miss. And I’m going to need you to write down that address for me.”

His heart started to race a little. His brother was here. He could feel it.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Mia glanced down at her cell phone before picking it up. There was no way she could avoid this call. If she did, Drew would send someone after her. She might be able to dodge one, maybe two calls without her oldest brother sending in a security team, but this was his third call in as many days and he would get antsy.

She knew most people would call him overprotective and overbearing, but most people hadn’t been forced to save their younger siblings. Whenever she got frustrated with Drew, she reminded herself that he was the one who’d seen their parents’ bodies, heard the shots that killed them. Drew had been the one who’d come to her room, lifting her six-year-old body up and holding her tight as he guided them out of a burning house. He’d been the one to figure out they’d been locked in. He’d been the one who’d broken through a window so his siblings could live.

It’s going to be okay, Mia. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’m going to keep you safe.

She sighed. Yeah, Drew might remember the horrors of that night, but what she remembered was how brave her brother had been. She owed Drew everything, including being all right with his need to know she was okay. Mia flicked her hand across the screen. “Hey, Drew. Sorry I hadn’t called you back. I was sleeping. Had a crazy day researching yesterday and it went pretty late. The libraries here don’t get great cell reception. What time is it?”

Her brother’s silky voice came over the line with the soft growl of a predator. “It’s time to explain why my airplane apparently carried three corpses in it.”

Damn the freaking cartel. Why could no one offer good service these days? Three little bodies. It was all she’d asked. Except she hadn’t actually asked. She’d let the boys handle it. She should have damn well known that cleaning up after a couple of murders was definitely woman’s work. “It was no big deal.”

Sometimes when Drew was quiet, there was a silent scream in the air. This time it was nearly deafening. It was a relief when he finally spoke again. “No big deal?”

She knew her brother well enough to hear the threat behind those quiet words. “Drew, it was fine. A couple of your employees turned out to be kidnappers. That’s all. Case took care of them. I took care of the plane. And that was days ago. We’ve had zero kidnapping attempts in a whole four days. So it’s no big deal. But the Morel Cartel is getting a hearty bad review on their cleaning services. Surely there’s some kind of Deep Web Angie’s List and I’m trashing them there.”

Sometimes the best way to deal with overprotective men was to brazen right through.

“Put Case on the phone,” her brother commanded.

“He’s not here.”

There was another pause. “All right. I’ll be down there in roughly ten hours. I’m calling the hotel and sending a security detail.”

Score one for Case Taggart and his horrible taste in lodging. “I’m not at the hotel and I’m not alone.” She yawned and stretched, her every muscle a little sore because Case believed in a certain athleticism in his lovemaking. Days of being Case’s lover had turned her into a satisfied kitten. “And you are seriously killing my buzz, big brother. I should be lying in bed thinking about how amazing this morning was, but no.”

“I don’t even want to know what you mean by that. Mia, this is serious.”

She put him on speaker and found her robe, wrapping it around her body. “I know, but Case and his team are working on it. I’m safe. I’ll be home as soon as the job’s done. I’ll have Case send you a report on what happened on the plane. I suspect it was nothing more than a plot to get money out of you. It wouldn’t be the first. I’m sorry it scared you. I did intend to get that cleaned, but apparently the job got screwed up. Should I be worried about the authorities? Did the airport call them in?”

That would be a problem.

“No, your cartel connections were quick. I tried to contact the pilot a few hours ago to ensure you had everything you needed and that the plane was getting a thorough inspection before you came home. I couldn’t get him on the line, so I called the airfield and talked to the manager. Funny thing was, he said he’d never seen the pilot I hired. He described the pilot as a pretty blonde girl who brought in a bunch of suspicious-looking men and he was worried you’re in over your head.”

“Not at all. I performed admirably.” It had been a while since she’d landed a plane. She needed to fly more often. She was getting soft at 4L. At least she knew the bodies wouldn’t be a problem. “I’ll have Case and the team send you the names of the people who got past your human resources. They’ve already got the identity of the flight attendant and her long-standing criminal record.”

“Damn it.”

She felt bad playing on his guilt, but sometimes she had to use every tool in her arsenal. She moved to the window and drew back the heavy curtain, peeking out. Light streamed through but she saw exactly what she’d expected. The small courtyard had a couple of tables and chairs close to the tiny swimming pool that might or might not serve as its own unique biosphere. Ezra sat with Michael. They’d found a deck of cards and seemed to be passing the time in a leisurely fashion.

“It’s all right, Drew. I’m meeting with my contact sometime in the next couple of days. I’ll be home after that and we’ll talk about it. Until then I’m going to let Case call the shots.” When it made sense for him to.

“Case isn’t there.”

“No, but I’ve got two bodyguards on my ass. When Case gets back, I’ll have four. Four big, strong, well-trained men and I’m sleeping with their leader.”

“And Ian Taggart knows about this mission of yours?”

Sometimes her brother made her feel like a lying five-year-old. “He knows where we are and that Case is helping me out. You can call him.”

“Yeah, well he better not send me a bill. That asshole charges through the roof. I did not sign off on four full-time guards. Do you have any idea how much Taggart would bill for that?”

Thank god. If her brother was bitching about costs, he wasn’t thinking about screwing up her life. “It’s cool. I’m paying for the whole thing with my body.”

Her brother groaned. “I did not need to hear that.”

She saw a man moving in the background, walking from the office toward the rear of the west building. He wore a hat low on his head and walked with slow grace. Ezra’s head came up, looking at the man, but he turned back to his card game. Drew continued to rant about not hearing about her sex life.

The man’s face turned slightly and she recognized him.

Tony. Tony was here. The time was now. Somehow he’d located her and this might be the only shot she had at getting him to talk.

“Drew, I have to go. I’ll call you later.”

“Have Taggart call me.”

She clicked the phone off before he could ask for more. As quickly as she could, she ditched the robe and found her jeans, pulling them on and reaching for a T-shirt. She knew she should put on a bra, but there wasn’t time. She had no idea when he would surface again. They could be waiting for days. Especially since he’d very likely figured out she hadn’t come alone.

Crap. She was going to lose him. He would sink into the background and she might not get another lead from him again. Shoes. She needed shoes. What the hell had Case done with her bag? He was a slave to organization, apparently a leftover habit from his Navy days.

Good in bed and a neat freak. She was a lucky girl.

Her shoes were lined up on the floor of the closet. She’d only brought three pairs. Sneakers, flip-flops, and a single pair of killer heels she’d intended to go with the cocktail dress she’d brought hoping to get Case to go to dinner with her. She shoved her feet into the flip-flops and realized her problem. There was zero chance that Ezra and Michael would allow her to go running off after a former CIA agent.

The bathroom. There was a window. It was a little high, but she might be able to make it. Her heart was pumping. Tony might already be gone. He might have taken one look at Ezra and Michael and fled the scene entirely. She had to shove her body out that window and pray she didn’t get stuck.